To my younger brother, Yutang, Since we parted, four years have passed in the blink of an eye. No letters hav…
To my younger brother, Yutang,
Since we parted, four years have passed in the blink of an eye. No letters have come between us, yet my thoughts of you have only grown stronger. Whenever I remember how we rode side by side across the wilds of Youzhou in our younger days, I cannot help but face the wind in tears, grieving in silence.
Ever since Youzhou fell, Finesteed Hamlet has known nothing but calamity. Eight years have passed now. Time and again I told myself the times might yet turn, yet with every step we only drew nearer the brink, suffering one humiliation after another, until we came to this day.
It is not that the Khitans do not prize horses, nor that they do not value men. They had long coveted our family's art of horse training. Under the banner of the Northern Vow, they feigned goodwill and sought our secret methods. Yet Jingtang, young though he was, was quick of mind. Once he saw through their vile scheme, he refused them even unto death. The northerners then executed him under the false charge of colluding with the Northern Vow.
By that time our whole clan had already fallen into enemy hands. Only when news of Jingtang's death reached us did we understand that the purge had begun. By good fortune we met Gu Pan and a band of fellow Fireflies, who risked their lives to carry word across the border and bring us aid, and so we escaped. Yet in the chaos of flight, the elders of the family, fearing they would expose us to the enemy's spies, chose of their own will to remain behind in the old house. Only after we had fully left Khitan lands did we learn that all our kin in Youzhou had perished. Not one returned alive.
When we reached the banks of the Hutuo, there was no time left for grief. We bent all our strength to rebuilding Finesteed Hamlet. Yet the loss of our homeland, our hatred for the Khitans, and the blood debt of our murdered kin have not left my heart for a single day. In the seventh year of Tianfu, a new emperor ascended the throne and cast aside the policy of serving the northerners. It seemed he truly meant to recover Yanyun. I judged the time ripe, and through my wife Gu Pan's introduction, I accepted a charge from the Northern Vow and succeeded to the leadership of Flying Horse. Along the border, I received wandering heroes passing to and fro, furnished warhorses to the court, and prepared saddles and tack for the coming campaign. I also changed the manor's name to Furious Horse Manor, to vent the anger long pent up within me, and in the hope that one day furious steeds and bright-clad riders might wash away this deep grudge.
Yet you once tried to dissuade me. You said, "The court is fickle and cannot be trusted. The struggle between Jin and the northern foe may collapse at any moment. Better to move south and lie low, waiting for a better day." Looking at things now, your foresight was far greater than mine.
But whose hatred in this world belongs to the Qi family alone? Nor are treacherous men found only among the northerners. When the Jin army marched north, Du Chongwei came personally to the manor, and even then the signs had begun to show. Though commander of the army, he gave himself over entirely to luxury, with no heart for serving the realm. Yet because he was kin to the imperial house and close to those at court, he used that power to force us to hide away the wealth he had wrung from the people. At first we did not know it had all been squeezed from common folk. Only later, when Yanrong's younger kinsman took in two orphaned vagrants, did we learn that the villain Du had seized the grain from their parents' mouths and left them to starve. Gu Pan meant to find a chance to report this in secret to the Northern Vow, but was seized before she could act.
My brother Yutang, the defeat of the Jin army is already plain to see. Everyone in the manor now stands in peril from one day to the next. By lamplight I write this letter as a final farewell. This time, Gu Pan and I will lead the Flying Horse disciples to Zhongdu Bridge. In truth, it is our final gamble. Once I railed against Heaven's cruelty, that the Qi family should suffer three great calamities, with the living left no road to take and the dead denied even a place to rest. Yet now, brush in hand, I understand at last: though the times have turned with fearful speed, the fault lies with me. I lacked foresight, and I have failed our kin.
The world is uncertain, but it is fortunate indeed that you have already taken your young son south. May you find a place of lasting peace. Keep hidden in your heart the will of the thousand-li steed still bound to the manger, and wait for the day when the furious horses cry out once more.