The Han Dynasty began moving before breakfast.
This felt inconsiderate.
I stepped out of my rooms and found two servants carrying a chest across the courtyard.
Another three were tying bundles beneath the gallery.
Xu An stood beside an open cart while an older steward argued with him about whether a lacquer screen was worth the space it occupied.
I stopped.
Looked around.
Then went back inside.
Qiao’er caught me before I reached the door.
“Young Master.”
“I saw nothing.”
“You are already awake.”
“Then I intend to correct that.”
She stepped into my path.
I looked at her.
She looked at me.
Neither moved.
Behind her, somebody carried another chest past.
I sighed.
“This was theoretical yesterday.”
“Apparently not.”
“Government should require notice before becoming real.”
Qiao’er ignored this.
Naturally.
Mother was in the eastern courtyard with half the household laid out around her.
Chests stood open.
Silk had been separated from clothing.
Jewelry sat under guard.
Records occupied an entire table.
Servants moved between everything with lists in their hands while Mother decided what would go west first, what could follow later, and what could remain behind.
The list I had asked Qiao’er to make weeks ago sat open beside her.
I recognized it.
That was unpleasant.
Nothing good had ever followed somebody taking one of my ideas seriously.
Mother looked up.
“You’re late.”
“It is morning.”
“Yes.”
“I fail to see the contradiction.”
She returned to the list.
“We may begin sending part of the household west within several days.”
Several days.
That was faster than I expected.
“How much?”
“Not everyone at once.”
Good.
“The women and children first?”
“Some. Valuables. Records. Clothing. Anything we would regret leaving if the roads worsen.”
Servants were already arguing over what deserved cart space and what could be abandoned.
My retirement had become very organized.
Mother touched one of the slips.
“There is also the residence near Yanshi.”
I frowned.
“What residence near Yanshi?”
She looked at me.
I reconsidered.
“Of course. That residence.”
Qiao’er lowered her eyes.
I ignored her.
Mother continued.
“Some of my things remain there. Several chests belonging to the inner household. Winter clothing. Cloth. Two boxes of records. There are servants as well.”
“Bring them here.”
“That is the intention.”
“Good.”
Mother looked at Qiao’er.
I looked at Mother.
Then Qiao’er.
Then back to Mother.
“No.”
Qiao’er had not spoken.
Mother had not spoken.
I had learned.
Mother’s eyebrows rose.
“What are you refusing?”
“Whatever the two of you just decided without consulting me.”
“We decided nothing.”
“Excellent. Keep it that way.”
Mother folded her hands.
“Qiao’er will go.”
There it was.
“No.”
Qiao’er looked at me.
Mother did not.
“She already knows which of your possessions matter.”
“I own seven horses. Clearly nobody knows which of my possessions matter.”
“Exactly.”
That was unnecessarily effective.
I tried again.
“Send Xu An.”
Xu An, who had just entered carrying another bundle of slips, stopped.
Mother looked at him.
Then at me.
“To sort the women’s household?”
Xu An immediately looked elsewhere.
Traitor.
“He has eyes.”
“So do you.”
“I am not volunteering.”
Qiao’er spoke.
“I know Lady Song’s list.”
I turned toward her.
“Why?”
“You asked me to make it.”
Right.
Past me continued creating problems for present me.
Mother said, “She knows what belongs to you, what belongs to me, what can be abandoned and what cannot. I need someone I trust to make decisions without sending a question back to Luoyang every hour.”
That was reasonable.
I disliked it immediately.
“Where exactly is this place?”
Mother gave the location.
East.
Not far enough east to make me panic.
Far enough to make me unhappy.
“Hulao is still held?”
“Yes.”
“Any coalition troops west of the pass?”
“None that we know of.”
I looked toward Xu An.
He understood.
“The road to Yanshi is open,” he said. “Household carts used it yesterday.”
“How many guards?”
Mother stared at me.
“What?”
“With Qiao’er.”
“Eight.”
“Eight what?”
“Men.”
“I assumed they were not ducks.”
Qiao’er’s mouth moved.
I ignored her.
“Mounted?”
“Four.”
“Two carts?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Tomorrow by evening if nothing delays them,” Mother said. “One day to sort what remains. Then back.”
Two days.
Three at most.
Behind our own line.
On an open road.
Before the full evacuation began.
I knew what happened when entire cities tried to move at once.
Carts vanished.
Prices changed.
Roads clogged.
People who could have left comfortably waited until leaving became difficult.
I had told Miss Yue exactly that.
If Qiao’er had to go east at all, now was the safest time.
I hated reaching that conclusion.
Qiao’er noticed.
“Young Master is worried?”
“About the carts.”
“Of course.”
I looked at her.
She looked perfectly serious.
That made it worse.
“When do you leave?”
“After midday.”
Too soon.
Which was stupid.
Soon was good.
Soon meant the road was still open.
Soon meant she returned before the larger household began moving.
Soon was exactly what I wanted.
“Fine.”
Mother returned to her lists.
Qiao’er did not move.
I pointed at her.
“You.”
“Yes, Young Master?”
“If anything changes, forget the inventory and come back.”
Her expression shifted slightly.
Then she nodded.
“Yes, Young Master.”
Good.
Completely reasonable.
Nothing to worry about.
Qiao’er packed less than I expected.
This offended me.
I stood beside the first cart and looked at one small chest, two wrapped bundles and a basket.
“That’s everything?”
“For two days.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“You do not know that.”
She looked at me.
“Young Master was the one who said three at most.”
I disliked having my own words used against me.
The guards waited near the gate.
Four mounted.
Four walking.
Mother had kept her promise.
Qiao’er turned back to me.
“Anything else?”
I thought about it.
Nothing useful came to mind.
“Come back before Mother finds another use for you.”
Her brows rose.
“Is Young Master worried about losing an attendant?”
“I am worried about replacing one. Interviews sound exhausting.”
There.
Normal.
Much better.
Qiao’er smiled.
Then climbed into the cart.
I stepped back.
She looked down at me.
“Two days.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“Return in one and I will accept your correction.”
Her eyes softened.
Only slightly.
“Then Young Master should prepare to lose.”
The driver clicked his tongue.
The oxen moved.
I watched the first cart pass through the gate.
Then the second.
The guards followed.
Qiao’er looked back once.
I lifted a hand.
Then she was gone.
Two days.
Three at most.
Behind the pass.
Eight guards.
Two carts.
A road still under our control.
It was probably safer than remaining in Luoyang while the entire government tried to fit itself onto the western road.
I had made the correct decision.
This did not make me feel better.
Father summoned me before Qiao’er had been gone an hour.
I began to suspect he could smell free time.
Li Ru was already with him.
So was a man I did not know.
That improved the meeting considerably.
Famous people had become exhausting.
Father pointed toward the western route.
“Xin’an.”
I looked at the tablet.
Then at him.
“What about it?”
“You are going.”
I waited.
Nothing else.
“Why?”
“You wanted west.”
“Personally.”
Father ignored that.
Li Ru said, “If the court moves toward Chang’an, the route through Xin’an matters. We need to know what can be received there, what can pass through quickly and what will block the road.”
I stared at him.
“You have people for this.”
“Yes.”
“Excellent.”
“You are one of them.”
There it was.
I looked back at the route tablet.
Xin’an was west.
More importantly, the coalition was east.
Very far east compared to Xin’an.
“How much fighting?”
“None expected,” Li Ru said.
I looked at him.
“Expected by whom?”
“Me.”
That was annoyingly reassuring.
“How many soldiers?”
“Roughly ten thousand in the area.”
I looked up.
“Ten thousand?”
“Approximately.”
“And there is already a general?”
“Duan Wei.”
“When do I leave?”
Father stared at me.
“Yesterday you complained about inspecting one storehouse.”
“Yesterday there weren’t ten thousand soldiers between me and Yuan Shao.”
That satisfied him.
Mostly.
The road west felt better with every li.
Luoyang disappeared behind us.
No coalition banners.
No famous heroes.
No messengers arriving from Hulao.
Just road.
Carts.
Soldiers.
The occasional official convoy already moving supplies toward the interior.
For once, history appeared to be happening somewhere else.
I approved.
Xu An rode beside the carriage.
I had refused a horse.
This time nobody argued.
Progress.
We reached Xin’an the following afternoon.
The first thing I saw was the fortification.
The second was soldiers.
A great many soldiers.
Men drilling.
Men carrying bundles.
Men leading horses.
Men repairing equipment.
Men who looked as though they knew exactly which end of a spear should face the enemy.
I felt safer immediately.
An officer met us near the entrance.
“General Duan is waiting.”
Excellent.
A general.
Not me.
This assignment continued improving.
Duan Wei was not what I expected.
Mostly because I had expected nothing.
He was perhaps in his forties, weathered rather than imposing, with a trimmed beard and the expression of a man who had already received three problems that morning and suspected I was the fourth.
He bowed appropriately.
“Young Master.”
“General Duan.”
His eyes passed over me.
My carriage.
Xu An.
The small household escort Father had sent.
Then back to me.
I knew that look.
He had heard things.
Probably the horse.
Definitely the horse.
Good.
Let him.
Duan Wei said:
“His Excellency said Young Master would inspect the stores, roads, and preparations for movement west.”
“Unfortunately.”
Duan Wei paused.
“Anything concerning transport or supplies will be placed at Young Master’s disposal. Military dispositions remain my responsibility.”
I stared at him.
He had said it carefully.
Very carefully.
He clearly expected me to object.
Instead, relief washed through me.
“General Duan.”
“Young Master?”
“I think we are going to get along.”
For the first time, his expression changed.
Only slightly.
He had no idea what to do with that.
Good.
Behind him, thousands of soldiers occupied walls, yards and roads.
A competent general commanded them.
The coalition was east.
Qiao’er was safely behind our lines.
Mother would soon move west.
And, most importantly, not one of these soldiers belonged to me.
For the first time in weeks, Father had sent me somewhere sensible.