On the day Yan Guan set out, a few neighbours came to see him off.
Yan Guan had learned medicine from his father since childhood and, after the elder passed away, he had continued to hone his craft well. Most of the villagers had benefited from his skills.
With dark tattoos on his forehead(1) and looking dishevelled, Yan Guan awkwardly pinched the corner of his clothes, softly urging everyone not to come see him off.
"Little doctor Yan, when you reach Liangzhou, write to us after you’ve settled down."
"We will guard the Yan family pharmacy for you."
...
Hearing this, Yan Guan felt a lump in his throat, and thanked them with a choked voice. He had thought it was his fate (to be alone), but he still had people to support him.
Outside the city, the day grew hotter.
The escorting official wiped the sweat off his forehead and sat by the side of the road under a shady tree to drink some water.
Yan Guan had long been unable to endure carrying the seven jin (~3.5 kg) punishment yoke. He was a doctor by profession and rarely did heavy labour, even on ordinary days. He had also been imprisoned for a long time, so his body was even weaker and more frail than the average man.
The officer beckoned Yan Guan over, weighed the yoke in his hand, and immediately pulled back when the iron sheet on top burned him. Walking under the sun—how could it not be scalding?
"Jeez! You’re not that old, but you sure can endure pain," he said as he pulled out the key from his belt and unlocked the yoke. "Loosen up a bit."
Yan Guan, trembling all over, removed the yoke. His shoulders were crushed and torn, flesh and blood mangled. Even the officer couldn't bear to look at it.
Yan Guan had shed all his tears while in prison. No matter how much pain he encountered on the road, it was nothing more than silently applying medicine to his wounds.
After a journey of many stops and starts, they finally managed to deliver him to the border before the beginning of autumn (Liqiu).
"Alright, here are your release papers. When the time comes, someone will come to collect you," the officer instructed as he handed the group over to the local official in charge. He, then, turned around to enjoy a drink and feast at the market.
Since they had been branded with tattoos, they were now slaves and servants, at the mercy of the street ruffians who could beat or kill them at will. No one felt secure.
The man who had earlier asked Yan Guan for medicine had died. The heat had caused his wounds to fester, and he couldn’t hold on.
The official had to escort them, along with other exiled criminals who had been stranded at the border, to Ganzhou, where the royal court (the king's encampment) was located.
The journey was clearly rough. Yan Guan often shrank into the middle of the group, meek and silent, in the hopes of avoiding the whip as much as possible.
The autumn in Liangzhou was colder than winter in the south. Yan Guan trudged along on feet covered in frostbite, and finally arrived in Ganzhou.
He timidly glanced at the government office in front of him. It wasn’t quite what he had imagined—it had flying eaves and upturned corners, giving it a grand appearance.
He had thought the people here would be more barbaric and live in tents. To his surprise, the market wasn’t much different from those in the Liang Dynasty, though there were fewer people—likely due to the influence of Liang culture.
Although Liangzhou was a fiefdom of the Liang Dynasty, most of the officials here were Wugan people.
The envoy who came to greet them was tall and brawny, with a face full of muscle and a coarse beard. He wasn’t exactly polite, but at least he didn’t resort to violence. In a gruff tone, he gave instructions.
Yan Guan and the others stood in a row, waiting for their assignments.
The bearded man walked up to Yan Guan, gripping his shoulders like iron pincers and shaking him back and forth, as if displeased with his frailty.
Yan Guan was terrified that the man would get annoyed and assign him to clean the latrines or something, which would be the death of him. He quickly said, "I know a bit of medicine."
The bearded man raised an eyebrow and gave him a good look over. "You’re a doctor?"
Yan Guan nodded vigorously.
The bearded man let out a slight chuckle from his throat. "Go serve in the royal camp."
The royal camp was where the Wugan royal family lived, but the customs of Wugan were different from those of the Liang Dynasty. They didn’t have many offspring or concubines, so the royal camp was only slightly larger than the government office.
Yan Guan let out a sigh of relief. Working in the royal camp was always a bit easier.
After more than a month, Yan Guan had completely settled into life in Liangzhou. Of course, his current days couldn’t compare to how things were before, but as long as he was careful in his work, he could keep his life intact.
Yan Guan also noticed that the actual masters of the royal camp were few and far between. Most of the time, he was just doing small, menial tasks like sweeping. The physicians in the medical office saw that he had solid skills and a sharp mind, so they often gave him errands to run.
There wasn’t much work to do most days, so the wounds he’d suffered on the journey healed well, and before long, his complexion looked much better.
Yan Guan had always been good-looking, and with some tidying up, he appeared rather handsome and refined. Even though he usually sat quietly outside the medical office, he still drew quite a few glances from passersby.
"Hey, get me some medicine for wounds."
Yan Guan was squatting on the ground when he suddenly heard a voice, startling him. He quickly raised his head.
Standing before him was a young man dressed in luxurious clothes, with fur trimming his collar and cuffs, and a string of wolf teeth hanging around his neck. He was staring at Yan Guan with a rather unfriendly expression.
Yan Guan didn’t know which noble this was, but it didn’t matter—he couldn’t afford to offend anyone. He quickly stood up, bowed, and hurried into the medical office to fetch the medicine.
When he returned with the medicine, Chao Lun finally got a good look at him. The man was rather delicate and handsome. What a pity—he was probably one of the criminals sent over from the Liang Dynasty. Curious, Chao Lun decided to ask.
"What crime did you commit?" he asked, tapping the branded character on Yan Guan’s forehead with the medicine bottle.
Yan Guan shrank his neck, bowed respectfully, and replied, "I don’t know."
"You don’t know?" Chao Lun chuckled at the response, then thought for a moment. "Well, that’s fair—there’s no shortage of unjust cases that no one can make sense of."
Chao Lun was fifteen years old and in the prime of his playful years. He spent his days riding horses and hunting, and injuries were a common occurrence.
He was usually accompanied by fierce guards, but now, seeing Yan Guan, who was as soft and pliable as a dumpling, he felt like teasing him a bit.
"I’m the second prince of Wugan, did you know that?"
Yan Guan was startled. The second prince—that would be the younger brother of the Wugan king! He didn’t know him personally but was terrified of offending him. He quickly knelt down. "I didn’t know…"
Chao Lun waved his hand impatiently. "You Liang people have too many rules. I’ll give you an order."
"Tomorrow, I’m going hunting. Be ready at the hunting grounds."
Yan Guan didn’t know what the prince had in mind, but he didn’t dare refuse.
The next morning, Yan Guan got up at the crack of dawn, packed some medicine for injuries, and hurried to the hunting grounds.
He had seen hunting grounds in Yangzhou before, but they were far smaller than this place. There was no pavilion for drinking tea or resting in the shade—just forests and open grasslands.
Yan Guan squatted obediently under a stone pillar, waiting.
He waited all the way until the afternoon, but no one came. Yan Guan sighed, thinking the second prince, like many nobles, had simply forgotten. Yet he didn’t dare leave, so he walked a half circle around the area and continued waiting.
Chao Lun was a fickle person. He had originally planned to have Yan Guan follow him to the hunting grounds. The man clearly couldn’t ride or shoot, which would have made for some entertaining scenes.
However, Chao Lun quickly found other amusements and went off with a few friends to a restaurant to watch an acrobatic horse performance.
This left Yan Guan in a miserable situation. Autumn had already arrived, and the northern winds were bone-chillingly cold.
Yan Guan had no thick clothing, still wearing the thin robe issued by the government earlier. He tucked his hands into his sleeves and huddled under the stone pillar to block some of the wind.
The sky quickly darkened. Yan Guan looked around, and thought it was better to leave since it seemed like no one would come. He rubbed his numb legs and prepared to head back to the palace.
The rain started without warning.
Yan Guan, carrying the medicine pack, didn’t have time to take cover and was soaked to the bone by the sudden downpour. He couldn’t help but curse, “This godforsaken place doesn’t even have a pavilion!”
Wugan was a nomadic tribe, known for its fierce and untamed customs. While they had relay stations, not many people cared for things like pavilions.
Fuming, Yan Guan started running along the official road. With Liangzhou’s weather, if he caught a cold from getting soaked, who knew how long it would take to recover.
Suddenly, he heard the rapid sound of horse hooves behind him. The rain was so loud that he hadn’t noticed earlier.
When Yan Guan turned around, the herd of horses was already right in front of him.
“Move!” The rider was speaking in Wuganese, and Yan Guan didn’t understand. He froze for a moment, and seeing the horses unable to stop in time, he quickly dodged to the side.
But that only made things worse. The muddy ground in the rain was slippery, and he stepped on something, falling face-first into the mud.
Yan Guan was stunned from the fall. He wiped the mud and water off his face, swaying as he tried to get up, when a hand appeared in front of him, reaching out to help.
“Can you stand?” It was still Wuganese.
Yan Guan couldn’t understand, but when he looked up along the outstretched hand, he saw the person who had nearly run him over. His eyes immediately caught sight of the golden, gleaming belt on the other’s waist, and he thought to himself, I’m in trouble.
He quickly wiped the rain from his face and staggered to his feet, saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you, sir.”
Chao Ge didn’t look particularly pleased. In the dim rain, the horse had bolted uncontrollably, and when he saw someone in front of him, he pulled the reins hard but still startled the person. If the man had been injured, he’d have to starve the beast for a few meals.
When he got a clear look at Yan Guan’s face, he was taken aback. It’s actually him? Chao Ge let out a short laugh and switched to the official language, saying, “What are you afraid of? I told you to get on the horse.” Seeing that Yan Guan wasn’t hurt, he breathed a sigh of relief, though he still thought the horse deserved to be starved.
Without waiting for a refusal, he grabbed Yan Guan by the back of his collar and threw him onto the horse.
Yan Guan, stiff as a lamb awaiting slaughter, lay awkwardly over the saddle, his mind racing with wild thoughts.
He was freezing and began to shiver uncontrollably. The person behind him didn’t seem to be faring much better, urging the horse to gallop faster. The only warmth came from the hot breath blowing against his ear.
Footnotes:青黑的刺字 (qīnghēi de cìzì) = "dark tattoos" ("刺字" refers to punitive tattoos used in ancient times). For more details: Ink punishment, 黥刑 (qíng xíng)
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