Fish Meat – Chapter 101
by Little PandaThe Tenth Year of Shenchu
Iron horses and golden spears (3)
Ah Xin’s response, while appearing solemn, carried an air of aggressiveness, quite different from when Zhen Wenjun had seen her at Nanya.
At Nanya, Ah Xin had something on her mind that she couldn’t express openly; her heart was soft, and the emotions and expressions she displayed were often gentle. But now she had brought her private army to the northern front, arriving from another route. She had just fought a fierce battle for fifteen days against the Tanxi tribe, one of the four major Hu tribes, defeating their army of fifty thousand with her twenty thousand troops and capturing all their weapons and provisions.
Ah Xin’s blood was still hot from the killing when she heard about Mengliang’s fall. The joy of victory instantly vanished, and without a moment’s rest, she immediately led her troops towards Mengliang.
An army of twenty thousand could easily tire from a long march, so Ah Xin took only two thousand men on swift horses to scout the situation in Mengliang first. The rest of her forces were stationed in Xie County, awaiting her orders.
When they reached Cansan Peak, fifteen li away from Mengliang, night had already fallen. Ah Xin had originally planned to climb the mountain under the cover of darkness and build a watchtower at the summit, from where they could observe the situation inside and outside Mengliang city without being easily detected. However, just as they reached the foot of the mountain, they noticed firelight on the peak. Ah Xin instructed everyone to ascend the mountain cautiously.
Ah Xin didn’t believe that the Chongjin people would abandon their warhorses to climb the mountain. It made no sense for them to go up the mountain, and they would lose their greatest advantage. If ambushed in the mountains, they would surely suffer heavy losses.
It was more likely to be civilians who had escaped from Mengliang. But hadn’t these refugees gone to Xie County for shelter? What were they doing at Cansan Peak? Ah Xin, quite curious, led her people stealthily up the mountain, and that’s when she encountered Zhen Wenjun.
Ah Xin disliked Wei Tingxu. She had always felt that it was Wei Tingxu who had bewitched Li Yanyi into treasonous paths. If Wei Tingxu hadn’t been manipulating people, Li Yanyi wouldn’t have thought of seizing power, and so many nobles and ministers wouldn’t have died in vain. Now, with Chongjin’s army massacring indiscriminately within Da Yu’s borders, causing heavy casualties, it was the result of constant internal strife. The Emperor and the Grand Princess at the central court schemed and slandered each other for power. How could the Hu tribes not covet the fertile land of the Central Plains? If Wei Tingxu hadn’t instigated conflict, and Li Yanyi and Li Ju had worked together in harmony, with military and civil officials united as one, perhaps they would have driven away the Hu tribes long ago, and wouldn’t have reached the current state where corpses littered Da Yu’s territory.
Ah Xin had always felt that Wei Tingxu was very sinister, like the witches who used dark magic in the many horror stories she had heard as a child. Her methods were cunning and deceitful, beyond ordinary understanding. What made Ah Xin even more uneasy was that she had no idea what Wei Tingxu was thinking. During the years when Ah Xin was inseparable from Li Yanyi, Wei Tingxu often appeared by Li Yanyi’s side. This child, with crippled legs, sat in a four wheeled cart, and Ah Xin could never sense her emotions or intentions. Yet Li Yanyi particularly valued her, always seeking her opinion on everything. Ah Xin had explicitly stated several times that this person couldn’t be trusted.
“She is a venomous snake,” Ah Xin said. “You keep her and find her useful when she bites others, but you’ll only realize the pain when she turns her head to bite you.”
Li Yanyi never directly addressed her doubts about Wei Tingxu, instead treating her like a child and soothing her concerns.
As time passed, the conflict between Li Yanyi and Li Ju became increasingly sharp and apparent. Eventually, what Ah Xin feared most came to pass. Li Yanyi transformed from a well-mannered Grand Princess into a sycophant who wanted to control everything, and Wei Tingxu played no small part in this. Ah Xin had considered killing Wei Tingxu or exposing everything she had been orchestrating behind the scenes, revealing her identity and letting other political enemies eliminate her. But in the end, she didn’t do it.
The only reason she knew Wei Tingxu’s identity was because Li Yanyi had confided everything in her. If she took advantage of this to cut off Wei Tingxu’s head, she would be too despicable for exploiting Li Yanyi’s feelings.
Although they eventually had little contact due to conflicting family stances, and Ah Xin felt she had severed all ties with Li Yanyi, Li Yanyi didn’t see it that way.
Perhaps it was truly a fated, though troublesome, relationship. Over the years, she and Li Yanyi had often found themselves together again due to various complicated matters. Even when Ah Xin wanted to treat Li Yanyi as a stranger, Li Yanyi repeatedly pulled her back to her side. For Li Yanyi, perhaps their relationship had never truly ended.
The recent Furong Powder incident had caused her great distress. Fortunately, she had sought her mentor, who prescribed her several doses of medicine and treated her with spiritual techniques, finally achieving some initial results. Now, she still occasionally felt unwell, with inner demons lingering, but she could control it. After arriving in the northern frontier, she had to be on high alert every day, leaving Ah Xin no time to dwell on the Furong Powder incident.
It wasn’t until her encounter with Zhen Wenjun that she was reminded of Wei Tingxu, which naturally brought back the taste of Furong Powder. Ah Xin’s heart fluttered slightly, and she immediately bit the inside of her mouth, using the pain to divert her attention.
When Ah Xin said she would recapture Mengliang, Zhen Wenjun wouldn’t have believed it if it were anyone else. But having witnessed Ah Xin’s extraordinary abilities, Zhen Wenjun thought that perhaps she could really do it.
Ah Xin was Xie Fuchen’s daughter, and Xie Fuchen was the main culprit in the murder of Zhen Wenjun’s mother. Ah Xin disliked her, and she was equally displeased with Ah Xin. However, now facing a great enemy, Ah Xin needed Zhen Wenjun to inform her about the situation in Mengliang, and Zhen Wenjun also needed Ah Xin’s help.
The two intelligent women tacitly agreed to set aside their conflicts temporarily. Ah Xin asked why they were here, and Zhen Wenjun proceeded to tell her everything: the process of Mengliang’s fall, how many soldiers had died and how many had escaped, where the pursuing troops had gone, and that Li Ju’s whereabouts were unknown.
After listening, Ah Xin looked at Zhen Wenjun with some surprise: “You’re quite clever, knowing what to pay attention to.”
“And why did you come up the mountain?”
“The Hu barbarians are accustomed to galloping on the plains, with iron horses as their legs. They don’t like climbing mountains. I want to build a watchtower on this Cansan Peak to monitor their every move. Then I’ll formulate a plan to counterattack,” Ah Xin said. “We absolutely cannot lose Mengliang, otherwise, this place will become a stronghold for Hu’er Ji to attack and defend at will.”
“Correct,” Ah Xin agreed with her thinking. “And we must act quickly. The barbarian raiders have stretched their battle lines too long, thrusting in from the north in one fell swoop. They’ve exhausted all their strength in attacking Mengliang and urgently need to rest, regroup, feed their horses, and recover. Once they’ve fully recuperated, our chances of victory will decrease by another tenth.”
Ah Xin hadn’t expected this enchantress’s helper to have such insights: “So you didn’t retreat to Xie County because you were planning a counterattack?”
“No…” Zhen Wenjun said, “There are only a few hundred people here. I’m not so presumptuous. I just wanted to ensure everyone here survives, and I didn’t know that everyone else had retreated to Xie County.”
Ah Xin looked down and noticed a thin thorn less than two fingers’ width from her ankle. These thorns were common in the mountains of Mengliang, frozen rock-hard in winter, and could easily cut someone if they weren’t careful while walking. Marching soldiers usually kept their heads down, prioritizing their lives, and who would pay attention to a few thorns that might only scratch the skin? But this was different. Ah Xin noticed that the thorn near her foot had an unusual pattern, buried under the frozen soil and forming a long horizontal line. Every two palms’ width, some thorns would protrude, appearing as if intentionally hidden. Others might not have noticed, but Ah Xin was accustomed to walking such wild paths and could keenly sense even the slightest irregularity in the atmosphere.
Ah Xin drew the sword from her back, lifted the thorn with it, and asked Zhen Wenjun: “Is this the trap you set? Is it coated with poison?”
Indeed, it was coated with poison.
Earlier, when they had just climbed the mountain, someone saw a string of red berries and reached out to pick them, about to put them in their mouth. Ah Xi shouted, “Don’t eat it! It’s poisonous!” The person had already swallowed the berry, but upon hearing Ah Xi’s shout, immediately spat it out.
“Don’t you find it strange that such beautiful berries suddenly appear in this frozen, desolate mountain? If they were edible, they would have been consumed by various animals long ago. How could they be left for you? These are snake berries, and their juice is highly toxic,” Ah Xi said. “Fortunately, you didn’t bite into it, otherwise you’d be a corpse by now.”
Zhen Wenjun looked back and indeed, they were snake berries. Although Ah Xi usually seemed foolish, she proved quite useful in critical moments.
Zhen Wenjun casually took the helmet off a nearby soldier, picked all the snake berries she could find, threw them into the helmet, and crushed them with a stone before applying the mixture to the thorns. Cansan Peak wasn’t particularly large, so she planned to smear the poisonous juice on the thorns, connecting them to form a preliminary defensive trap around the mountain. If the Hu barbarians did pursue them, anyone who fell into the trap would surely die.
Zhen Wenjun believed she had set the trap discreetly. Having just met her compatriots, she was slightly excited and almost forgot to warn Ah Xin.
Ah Xin, however, didn’t need her explanation and immediately discovered the trap.
“Ahem. Yes,” Zhen Wenjun honestly admitted.
“Next time, use some weeds to cover it, and it will be harder to detect,” Ah Xin said as she stepped over the thorns and headed towards the mountain peak. Zhen Wenjun didn’t mind her and diligently finished setting up all the traps. After inspecting them, she thought for a moment, then went to pull some grass to cover them. She worked until midnight when she could no longer bear the cold and returned to the mountaintop.
When she returned to the peak, it was pitch black. Ah Xin wouldn’t let them light a fire for warmth, only sticking a torch in the ground for light. Otherwise, Hu’er Ji would discover traces of her watchtower before it was even built.
Zhen Wenjun had originally intended to go to the battlefield and was wearing armor. Now that she had escaped, all her clothes were left in Mengliang city. The armor had become freezing cold, and she dared not touch it with her fingers, fearing that a layer of skin would stick to it. Ah Xin was right, but in such cold weather, staying on the mountain without a fire was unbearably cold.
Unable to endure it, Zhen Wenjun took off the ice-cold armor and rubbed her body to keep warm.
“That cold?” Ah Xin glanced around. Not only Zhen Wenjun but the other few hundred people were also shivering with purple lips.
Ah Xin took off her own great cloak and tossed it to Zhen Wenjun.
Zhen Wenjun looked at her in astonishment, not expecting her to do such a thing.
“If you’re cold, come and warm up,” Ah Xin said. She was wearing only a brown jacket, sitting on a hard rock near the torch. The firelight illuminated her face, which was even colder than the winter itself. She didn’t seem like the type of person who would perform such a warm gesture.
Could there be some hidden plot? Zhen Wenjun instinctively became wary and didn’t put on the cloak—after all, Ah Xin was Xie Fuchen’s daughter.
“Don’t misunderstand. I despise Wei Tingxu, so I don’t like you either,” Ah Xin, seeing her concern, said bluntly. “However, Mengliang is now in imminent danger, and it’s time to make use of all available talent. It would be a shame if you froze to death here for nothing. You need to survive and help me reclaim Mengliang.”
After saying this, the soldiers behind her, following her example, took off their jackets to keep the remaining troops warm. At first, the remaining troops were hesitant to accept, but Ah Xin said, “Put them on. You new recruits have weaker bodies and need these. I want you all to stay alive. Recapturing Mengliang will surely be a fierce battle.”
Zhen Wenjun realized that Ah Xin possessed an irresistible authority. Though both were women, she could command these two thousand followers, and even the remaining troops promptly put on the cotton clothes to keep warm after just one word from her.
No wonder Li Yanyi liked her so much and praised her everywhere as a rare military talent.
She was indeed a very formidable person.
After eating some food that Ah Xi had dug up to stave off hunger, the exhausted Zhen Wenjun quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, Zhen Wenjun, who had slept curled up against a tree trunk all night, was awakened by the sound of wood chopping. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that a simple watchtower had already taken initial shape, with five levels of steps constructed.
Ah Xin personally climbed the watchtower to test its stability. She stomped her feet forcefully a few times, and when the tower showed no signs of shaking, she gave a thumbs-up to those below and came down.
Snowflakes fell on her black hair. She wasn’t impervious to the cold; her nose tip and fingertips were flushed red from the freezing temperature. However, she paid no attention to it, giving the illusion that “it’s not cold at all here.”
“Awake?” Ah Xin tossed her a peeled tree root. “It’s quite sweet. Let’s consider it breakfast. Eat quickly, and after we finish, we’ll discuss the plan to recapture Mengliang.”
Seeing Ah Xin’s straightforwardness, Zhen Wenjun immediately began gnawing on the tree root. The root had some moisture and was indeed quite sweet, but it was tough on the teeth. Zhen Wenjun chewed for a long time before she could finally swallow it.
“Whatever plans or ideas you have, share them all,” Ah Xin said as she continued to peel tree roots with a dagger, handing them to the surrounding soldiers once peeled.
Zhen Wenjun said, “Since ancient times, the most commonly used and practical methods for attacking a city have been water attacks, earth attacks, and fire attacks. I suggest we use a water attack.”
“Oh? Why?”
“The Chongjin are a horseback people who grew up on the grasslands. I assume they’re not good in water and probably can’t swim. Ten li outside Mengliang city is the northern part of Xie County section of the Changshui River. We only need to secretly dig tunnels, and at the right moment, breach the dikes to flood the area. The Chongjin army would instantly crumble.”
Ah Xin didn’t look surprised; instead, she seemed somewhat troubled: “I’ve considered this method too, but it’s easier said than done. Do you know how to make a ‘water level’?”
“Water… level?” Zhen Wenjun had never heard of such a thing.
“To use a water attack, you must first set up a water level. Without a water level to measure the terrain’s elevation, not only might the water fail to flood the city, but it could also form ditches outside the city, making our attack even more difficult.”
“Oh, I see.” Ah Xin was indeed experienced; she had thought of things Zhen Wenjun hadn’t even considered.
In fact, in her heart, Zhen Wenjun knew there was someone who should know what a water level was and even how to make one. This person was Bu Jie. Unfortunately, in a moment of weakness, she hadn’t let Bu Jie come along, which was truly a mistake. Zhen Wenjun had feared that as a scholar incapable of even restraining a chicken, he would easily lose his life on the battlefield, so she hadn’t let him come. Otherwise, he could have served perfectly as a strategist.
Zhen Wenjun truly regretted beyond measure.
The news of Mengliang city being captured quickly spread back to Runing, saying Mengliang was massacred, with several tens of thousands of people dead. The Emperor temporarily retreated to Xie County in the west, planning to gather the remaining troops to attack Mengliang again.
How grand the scene was when Li Ju personally led the expedition, the people of Runing still remembered vividly. Just arriving at the front line and losing Mengliang, the next step would be to break through Guanyang? Thinking of the legendarily brutal Hu barbarians, the people of Da Yu became even more terrified and uneasy. The Yellow Earth Righteous Army took the opportunity to cause trouble, vigorously inciting people in various counties to revolt.
The surging Yellow Earth Righteous Army was like locusts, instantly gathering as many as 120,000 people. Taking advantage of the favorable timing, geography, and support of the people, they quickly killed their way to the foot of Runing city. Just as they were about to ram open the city gate, heavenly troops descended unexpectedly, slaughtering these farmers and mountain bandits armed with wooden clubs and iron rakes like falling flowers and flowing water, capturing alive the important generals of the Yellow Earth Righteous Army, and scraping their severed heads onto the city wall.
Chen Zhuna, the leader of the Yellow Earth Righteous Army, was puzzled. Hadn’t all of Da Yu’s armies gone to fight the Chongjin? How could so many people possibly come out to kill? There were at least 100,000 of them.
These 100,000 people were the troops Xie Fuchen had once secretly amassed in Mengliang, which were later forcibly brought to light by Li Yanyi. Personally commanded by Xie Fuchen, they repelled the Yellow Earth Righteous Army, temporarily safeguarding Runing.
While Xie Fuchen was fighting at the city gate, Li Yanyi, on the pretext of delaying military intelligence, killed two more of Xie Fuchen’s students and former subordinates, further dismantling the power of Li Ju’s faction. Xie Fuchen, facing enemies from both front and back, wanted to quickly end the northern war to let Li Ju return to the capital, yet it was not appropriate to send these 100,000 troops to the front line.
Xie Fuchen understood the current situation. The reason for Ah Xin going north, besides her own insistence, also carried Xie Fuchen’s secret orders. Xie Fuchen had her secretly protect Li Ju to prevent assassination by assassins sent by Li Yanyi. Ah Xin already had the status of having private troops, making it convenient to move around Li Ju, and being his own daughter with superior martial arts and many strategies, she was the best choice to protect the Emperor. But he also worried that if his daughter, who had fought wars for many years, continued to expand her prestige at the front line and her reputation grew daily, it would, firstly, boost Li Yanyi’s authority in promoting women as officials and generals. Secondly, the Emperor was suspicious, as it had always been throughout history. He had witnessed how Wei Zixiu died and how the Wei family was gradually forced into their current situation by the previous emperor. He didn’t want Ah Xin to follow in Wei Zixiu’s footsteps.
So he would rather keep the 100,000 troops guarding Runing without deploying them, than give them to Ah Xin.
Now the domestic situation was becoming increasingly severe, and any action would face a host of problems.
Xie Fuchen felt an unprecedented crisis.
The thick city walls blocked out the miasma outside Runing city, but the war reports from the front and rumors spreading through every street and alley still made the women and children in the Situ mansion terrified.
Except for Wei Tingxu.
Wei Tingxu had gone out early, telling Ah Ran she was going to select several pots of wandering flowers.
Wandering flowers bloom quickly, and spring was about to arrive. After selecting and returning, she still needed to arrange them. As the weather warms, the wandering flowers would climb all over the courtyard. When Wenjun returns and sees these flowers, how happy she would be.
Ah Ran said it was so dangerous outside, and they didn’t know when the Yellow Earth Righteous Army would kill their way back again. What if some calamity occurred? With her leg disability, it would be better not to go out.
Wei Tingxu insisted on going out to select flowers, letting Xiaohua follow along, while Lingbi stayed behind to help her prepare the soil, so that when the flowers were bought back, they could be planted directly.
Xiaohua and the shadow guards who always had to stay by her side escorted Wei Tingxu to the flower market, unexpectedly encountering Xie Fuchen there.
Xie Fuchen was standing at the entrance of a shop specializing in various vines and herbs, with attendants moving pots of herbs onto a horse-drawn carriage.
Their gazes met unexpectedly, and Wei Tingxu respectfully called out:
“Sima Xie.”
Xie Fuchen, after seeing her and experiencing a slight tremor initially, quickly regained composure.
The two people stood in the midst of a bustling marketplace, countless people hurriedly passing by them, very few would notice these two strange people staring at each other.
Xiaohua stood behind Wei Tingxu, gripping the handlebars of the four-wheeled vehicle tightly, her arm veins taut, ready to rush forward at any moment and punch Xie Fuchen’s head to pieces. Similarly, Xie Fuchen’s followers, sensing something amiss, stopped their tasks one after another, surrounding them from both sides, glaring at them fiercely, also prepared to pounce and tear Wei Tingxu to shreds.
“Not killing you back then is my biggest regret.” Xie Fuchen spoke of regret, yet his posture was lofty, carrying the arrogance of an elder towards a junior. “I regret not being ruthless because you were still a child. I should have let the dogs eat you, should have had you chopped into mincemeat along with Wei Zixiu. I never thought that a moment of hesitation would lead to letting a tiger return to the mountain, allowing you to scheme against me, to scheme against the entire Da Yu.”
Every word Xie Fuchen uttered was alluding to the past events of Wei Tingxu’s imprisonment. He knew this was an unhealing wound for Wei Tingxu, a nightmare she could never escape throughout her life. Even if occasionally forgotten, in some midnight dream, she would return to the Rangchuan prison of that year, and no matter how favorable her circumstances or how happy she was, she would immediately be engulfed by pain.
This is the psychology of all normal people, Xie Fuchen could be certain.
This was Xie Fuchen’s counterattack, he wanted to make Wei Tingxu suffer, just as he had suffered when he learned the truth.
Wei Tingxu looked at Xie Fuchen indifferently, when she spoke, it was as if she were perfunctorily addressing an unfamiliar rural relative:
“Yes, it’s been nearly ten years since we parted in Rangchuan, Sima Xie has also aged considerably. The events of that time are truly etched in my heart, every time I think of them, they are indeed unforgettable.” After saying this, she turned back to ask Xiaohua, “Have all two hundred pots of flowers been ordered?”
Xiaohua’s throat rolled, for some reason, Wei Tingxu at this moment made her nervous: “They have been ordered.”
Wei Tingxu: “Then let’s go back. It seems it’s about to snow again, Sima Xie should also return early, in a while when ice forms on the ground, it won’t be easy to walk.”
Xiaohua pushed her past Xie Fuchen. The killing intent of Wei Mansion’s shadow guards pressed down from above, Xie Fuchen’s followers also did not yield at all, their fighting spirit intense.
Xie Fuchen, however, stared at Wei Tingxu’s thin retreating figure, lost in thought, some things he gradually understood.
Not having put Wei Tingxu to death back then, now this woman had indeed become his greatest crisis, even a crisis for the entire Da Yu.
This was his most fatal mistake.
After leaving the flower market, Xiaohua couldn’t help but ask:
“Young Lady, could it be that Lingbi is also part of the plan?”
Wei Tingxu didn’t turn back to look at her, not knowing where she was looking, perhaps admiring the snowflakes that were indeed falling in flurries.
“At first, I thought I could control everything, but now I realize that the human heart is the most difficult thing to grasp.” Wei Tingxu raised her hand, the snowflakes of the last snow of spring in the tenth year of Shenchu fell on her slender fingers, “For her, for me, it’s the same.”
Xiaohua asked about Lingbi, but who was on Wei Tingxu’s lips was unknown.
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