Border Princes (4)

"Luoran city sent raiders to our border villages first," she replied. "I only returned their visit with ten times the interest."

Halun heard about the Luoran attacks on the Yandi villages at the border. He was also sure Kelian and Lieshan received the same news.

Everyone in their region suffered the same winter's harshness. Snow and ice often closed the major supply routes to the border. Without enough food stored, border cities or villages faced the choice of stealing or die starving in the freezing cold.

Border cities and villages often launched winter raids on their foreign neighbours to steal livestock or food, even if the governing prince forbade it.

"That's why you—"

Halun tugged Kelian's sleeve, warning him not to ask further. The brutal retaliation was justified. An empire's pride laid on their territories being untouched by others.

In Yinyue's position, Halun would also destroy the city.

The unfortunate Luoran paid the price of being set as a deterrent and an unforgettable example to the others not to venture near Dayan's borders.

For the deaths of a thousand people, Luoran, a city of over twenty thousand, paid with their lives. Halun's travelling winter traders reported what they saw in Youyu when they delivered the grain. Plumes of smoke rose behind the faraway hills where Luoran stood.

Halun guessed from their reports that the city burned for two or three days.

Passing traders also told his traveling traders that Luoran vanished. No survivors. The entire city razed to the ground, only leaving blackened land with charred bones trampled to the ground.

Despite Yinyue's size, Halun felt overpowering pressure radiating from the Grand Prince — an aura of power mixed with a familiar death scent. To him, this was no young prince.

"The bastards are that dumb, huh," Lieshan muttered.

"Or desperate. Something happened to their crops," Halun said. "They requested to buy large amounts of millet, wheat, and soybean from us."

"Oh yeah, they also asked us," Lieshan said.

Halun and Lieshan looked at the quiet Kelian.

"Why didn't they just raid you?" Lieshan blurted out.

"Oh, pick on the poorest and smallest state again!" Kelian sulked and lowered his head. "We didn't have enough in our stores."

"True, because we sold some of our grain to Youyu," Halun said.

Lieshan chuckled. "Ah, so they will still end up with nothing after wasting time and effort to raid your borders…no wonder."

Kelian clenched his fists at the snide remark, but Halun shot him a look to remind him to stay silent about the locust problem this year to the others. Food supply affected the national security of a state. And both of their states were affected.

"Any more questions?" Yinyue asked while swirling her finger around the rim of her teacup without a care.

All of them shook their heads.

"So anything to do with Gaoyang…," Yinyue sifted through the pile of bamboo strips on her sides with her fingers and held one up. "Not approved."

She flipped it to the centre where all the problematic strips went. Halun sensed her hatred of Gaoyang, even under the cover of her nonchalance. He had an uncanny feeling it had nothing to do with Luoran.

"Origin or destination?" Halun asked to be sure.

"Both," she replied. "But that's my business. You decide on what's good for your nation."

Her words sounded like a veiled threat. What's good for their nation? Not offending the Grand Prince of Dayan is a good thing for their nation. The Dayan Empire was also their biggest trading partner.

Without hesitation, Kelian and Halun sorted through their piles for any exports linked to Gaoyang, while Lieshan rubbed his chin, looking at one strip, deep in thought.

"Kelian, does Youyu mine a lot of copper ore?" Lieshan asked as he picked up another strip and then another.

Kelian shook his head.

His ruling family controlled all the mines in Youyu state and they kept records of the ore extracted. They sold small amounts of ore to the other states for essential goods, like harvested crops or gold.

"How about you, Halun?" Lieshan asked.

Like Kelian, the Taotang ruling family owned all mines, be it iron, tin or copper, and they too kept a record.

Halun's fingers sorted through the bamboo strips and picked up one. "A small amount of copper ore for export to Gaoyang."

"Look at these three strips." Lieshan placed the strips in front of them.

Kelian inspected the strips and frowned. The export didn't match with the ore exports in the official border records.

His ruling family banned citizens from owning a mine. The amount of ore recorded on the strip could only come out from a private supply.

"If there's a problem, just chuck it into the middle pile," Halun said while stamping his approval on one bamboo strip.

"Gaoyang is accumulating tin too," Lieshan said. "Ours go to Gaoyang via Youyu. The amount of tin and copper ores may forge an arsenal of weapons. You only need two parts copper to one part tin to make a sword."

Yinyue looked up from her pile, now half cleared.

"But this route is unusual," Kelian said while pulling out a folded cloth map and unfolded it, placing it on top of the growing middle pile for all to see. Every part of the tiny Youyu state's borders etched on top. "Red outline shows my territory. We handle crops and livestock at the border most of the time. Not ore."

His finger moved to an area outside the red boundary next to Gaoyang and he said, "If we sell ore to Gaoyang…which is never, it goes out through the eastern side of our state and that's not under my control. Likewise, if we sell to Taotang, the western side of my state, which I also don't control."

Halun eyed Yinyue from the corner of his eye, but a mask blocked all facial expressions except for her eyes. If eyes were windows to a mortal soul, she didn't seem to have one, especially with her glacial stare.

She didn't care.

Kelian failed to read the body language of others again. Halun flipped a bamboo slip in his hand onto the middle pile.

"Lieshan…" Halun said, taking a deep breath in resignation. "Maybe they ran out of mirrors and pots? Copper and tin are also used to make those items."

"But how would you know?"

"I don't. Even if they forge weapons, there's nothing we can do about it. There're other states willing to sell if any of us don't want to," Halun replied.

Halun turned to Kelian and patted him on the shoulder. "My friend, I used to think you acted like an idiot."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

Halun tapped on Kelian's displayed map. "Now, you've proven to me it wasn't an act."

"Wait, are you calling me an idiot?" Kelian asked, blinking his eyes.

Yinyue snickered. She knew what Halun meant. Kelian's map showed the defences marked on his border — such a map in his enemy's hands would pose a threat to his state.

She felt something fall on her lap while Halun continued insulting Kelian. It was a bamboo strip. She picked it up to look.

Instead of a trade export record on the bamboo strip, there was a written message from Halun. She glanced at Halun and Kelian arguing while Lieshan watched them.

Nothing was what it seemed.