Fish Meat – Chapter 107
by Little PandaThe Tenth Year of Shenchu
Iron horses and golden spears (9)
In fact, regarding the matter of killing Li Ju, she shouldn’t have hesitated. Any hesitation was an insult to her mother who was tortured to death and to Wei Tingxu who was scarred all over and had narrowly escaped death nine times.
It can’t be denied that Ah Xin’s words made her confused, even striking like an alarm bell in her chest. In this world, there will be more and more things that will confuse her and that she won’t be able to understand, just like when her mother first started teaching her to study classics such as 《Zhou Yi》, 《Shang Shu》, 《Er Ya》, first letting her read aloud and memorize, then slowly teaching her the meaning of each sentence.
Zhen Wenjun’s brain was good at remembering quickly, but what she remembered was only the words and sentences. Even to this day, she might not fully understand their profound meanings. Perhaps she needs a lifetime of time and experiences to slowly precipitate and slowly interpret, and more likely, she won’t be able to interpret them in this lifetime.
At least Wei Tingxu’s scarred body made Zhen Wenjun pull herself together, knowing what kind of wolves she was facing. They were not only inherently brutal but also labeled themselves as “Qingliu” (upright officials), deceiving so many people. Zhen Wenjun absolutely cannot be deceived as well.
Just as the Wei family led their private army to kill in the northern frontier, Li Ju was stopped by the most difficult hurdle of his life.
The arrow that hit him was smeared with poison.
All the arrows in the hands of the Chongjin archers were smeared with poison.
On the battlefield, whether commanders or soldiers, most wear armor and helmets. The power of bows and arrows is limited, and they are mostly used for long-range attacks. It’s not so easy to penetrate the enemy’s protective gear and kill with one arrow. In most cases, many people shot full of arrows like porcupines can still run three li (about 1.5 km). So on today’s battlefield, whether it’s the ancient countries of the Central Plains or the surrounding nomadic tribes, everyone knows to smear poison on arrowheads. As long as the enemy is hit, even if it doesn’t penetrate the heart and lungs, it will cause death by poison.
Li Ju could have recovered within seven days, leaving only a shallow scar the size of a fingernail, if he had worn protective gear. Even the most rudimentary wooden armor could have blocked the arrow well, and he wouldn’t have fallen from a height.
The words “if only” are easy to say, but since ancient times, no one has been able to solve them.
Li Ju lay on the bed, his two eyes already unable to see things clearly.
“How is His Majesty really doing, can the poison be completely eliminated?”
He could vaguely hear some sounds; this was the voice of Xia Jing questioning the doctor. He could hear a few words, but couldn’t string these words together to form a complete meaning in his mind.
Xia Jing also knew that his consciousness was confused. Even though his eyes were still open, if she asked him ten questions, he could only answer two words. So when Xia Jing questioned the doctor, she didn’t move far from Li Ju’s sickroom, just pulling the doctor to the doorway before speaking.
“This… This old subject also dares not be certain what exactly His Majesty’s poison is. It’s just that now the toxin has entered the flesh and skin. If we could scrape away the flesh to remove the poison, there might still be a glimmer of hope. But now it’s not just the poison. His Majesty fell from the city wall and hit here… that’s the fatal injury.” The doctor pointed to his own head with a bitter expression. Originally, he was already very unwilling to be dragged to the northern front, who knew that coming to the northern front he wouldn’t encounter any wounded soldiers or disabled generals, but was directly pulled to save the Son of Heaven. He was just a small doctor in the Grand Princess’s household, specializing in creating dietary plans for Li Yanyi according to seasonal changes, to prevent her from getting too hot or cold, a veritable health preservation doctor. Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the northern front, he was forced to become an “imperial physician”. He explained for half a day that his experience was shallow and his medical skills were insufficient to treat the Son of Heaven’s injuries, but the other doctors ran away too quickly. Xia Jing only caught him, almost wrenching his arm off, shouting in a coarse voice:
“What’s the difference?! All doctors can treat illnesses! Now the Son of Heaven is seriously injured and bedridden, yet you keep making excuses. What are you up to? Could it be that the Grand Princess instructed you before departure not to treat the Son of Heaven? Were you already planning for the Son of Heaven to meet his end before coming to the northern front?! Speak! Is it the Grand Princess who instigated you to do this?!”
Suddenly accused of such a serious crime, the doctor was terrified: “No, no, no, I never said such a thing! Don’t frame me! I just…”
“Then that’s good! You must cure the Son of Heaven. Otherwise, you know what will happen to you!”
This doctor had been married for over ten years and only gave birth to a son last year. The good days were still ahead, and he really didn’t want to die in a foreign land, so he gritted his teeth and went ahead. Unfortunately, Li Ju’s injuries were too severe to save. Even if Hua Tuo were alive or Bian Que reborn, it would be difficult to cure him.
Seeing that his expression didn’t look like he was joking, Xia Jing understood the seriousness of the situation. Her vision went black, and she let out a heavy “Ai”.
“At such a crucial moment, the Son of Heaven actually…” Xia Jing lowered her head in thought, suddenly realizing something, she raised her head to look at the doctor.
The doctor saw her arm secretly reaching for the long sword at her waist, and in shock, turned to run. Xia Jing caught up in two steps and slashed him on the back. The doctor cried out in agony and fell to the ground. Xia Jing stepped on him, her sword piercing through his throat. When she pulled it out, blood sprayed onto the floor and walls of the long corridor.
“Relay my order…” Xia Jing said to the Huben soldier who had been waiting behind her, “Any doctor who has had contact with the Son of Heaven, kill without question!”
“Yes!”
Whether it was an illusion or not, Zhen Wenjun wanted to find a doctor to look at her wounds but couldn’t find one. Wei Tingxu said she had brought over a hundred doctors to the front line, and just a few days ago they were all in the city treating the wounded. How did they all disappear in the blink of an eye?
“Li Ju is about to die.”
After hearing about Zhen Wenjun mentioning that all the doctors had disappeared, Wei Tingxu quickly came to this conclusion.
Zhen Wenjun’s thoughts turned and she understood: “So that’s it. Li Ju’s life and death are of great importance. If he dies on the front line, it will not only cause the Chongjin army to immediately crush the northern front, but it will also allow the Grand Princess to tightly grasp the Forbidden Garden. So even if he’s already dead, this news of death cannot be spread. So they killed all the doctors who knew about Li Ju’s condition.”
Wei Tingxu smiled: “This move is truly a case of trying to cover up but revealing more. Originally, no one knew he was about to die, but now the large-scale killing of doctors completely confirms that Li Ju is barely clinging to life. However, I estimate that before coming to the northern front, he must have left an edict, very likely choosing one among the princes to inherit the throne…” Thinking of this, Wei Tingxu immediately asked Zhen Wenjun to find brush and ink. She quickly wrote five completely different letters with hidden character verifications, and gave them to five messengers, asking them to set off for Runing at different times to convey the news to Li Yanyi.
Li Yanyi soon received the secret letter from Wei Tingxu. The letter contained two lines from 《Short Song》: “Zhou’s Western Lord Chang, possessed this sacred virtue. Dividing the world in three, he owned two parts.” Comparing with the code they had previously agreed upon, “three” meant Li Ju was about to die, “two” meant “eliminate the princes”.
Li Yanyi had long memorized all the code words. Even if others saw this secret letter, they would not understand its meaning. In this world, only Li Yanyi and Wei Tingxu knew.
Li Yanyi had been prepared early on.
Although she didn’t know which prince Li Ju would pass the throne to, the targets were still easy to determine.
There were 28 princes in Da Yu. Excluding those too young and ignorant to be entrusted with important tasks and those old and frail with half their bodies already in the ground, and then removing the six from Li Yanyi’s faction, only three remained — Prince Fengyang Li Mao, Prince Mingjiang Li Hui, and Prince Huai’an Li Ge. Li Mao, at 43, was in his prime, but long-term use of Furong Powder had caused him to lose all his teeth; Prince Mingjiang Li Hui was originally a young talent, but he was extremely lecherous. Li Yanyi had been continuously sending beautiful women and fine wine to his prince’s mansion for six years, making him indulge in wine and women and waste his time. These two were not to be feared. The only one left who was most likely was Prince Huai’an Li Ge. Li Ge, curtesy name Kangsong, had been praised as a prodigy since childhood. Although he wasn’t particularly close to Li Ju, he was the only prince who had publicly criticized the “drug policy harming the country”.
Li Yanyi and Wei Tingxu both felt this person was the most likely.
Li Yanyi knew that killing Li Mao and Li Hui wouldn’t be difficult. She had long planted chess pieces around them. When the time came, a slash across the throat would do. The difficulty lay in how to take Li Ge’s life.
Wei Tingxu told her that as long as they were human, they would have weaknesses. Li Ge seemed perfect, but that was because they didn’t know enough about him. As long as spies watched him day and night without stopping, he would surely reveal a flaw.
A month after Zhen Wenjun went on the northern expedition, they finally found Li Ge’s flaw. Li Yanyi and Wei Tingxu exchanged smiles — this flaw was fatal.
Li Ge turned out to be obsessed with alchemy.
When Wei Tingxu was about to follow Wei Jing’an to Mengliang, Li Yanyi had already secretly made her move. Li Ge had taken the first dose of poison mixed into his alchemical pills.
“I await your triumphant return!” Li Yanyi, dressed in a brocade robe, stood at the gate of Runing City in spring. Wei Tingxu could already see the determined air of a ruler in her eyes. “By that time…” Li Yanyi looked back at the towering city walls, this ancient capital of three dynasties, “This place will change hands.”
Actually, Li Yanyi very much wanted to go to the front lines. In their designated plan, she was supposed to fight a few battles on the front lines to win people’s hearts. But later, Li Ju’s unexpected insistence on personally leading the expedition changed their plan, quickly shifting from winning public support to taking Li Ju’s life. This was a risky yet extremely effective strategy. As long as Li Ju could die, everything else could be dealt with.
Li Yanyi had been maneuvering against Xie Fuchen in Runing. Each controlled their own chess pieces, waiting for the opportunity to checkmate and completely destroy the other. Li Yanyi couldn’t leave Runing, and naturally, Xie Fuchen didn’t dare to leave either. The two restrained and fought against each other. As Xie Fuchen gradually weakened, even heaven seemed to be helping Li Yanyi. Moreover, the Wei family’s formidable strength continued to be revealed externally.
After Wei Lun’s eldest son Wei Zixiu was killed, Wei Lun had his remaining children suppress their talents and abilities and keep a low profile. Wei Jing’an had always admired his eldest brother, and among all the brothers, only he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the eldest. Because of this, it wasn’t until he was 25 that Wei Lun let him work as a minor functionary under the Sikang Colonel, occasionally supervising and inspecting around Runing, a position as insignificant as could be.
Wei Jing’an’s belly full of grand talents and ambitions wasn’t worn down by the day-to-day boring inspections. The loneliness made him even sharper. Fearing discovery, he could only practice martial arts and study in the dead of night. He knew why his father wanted him to keep a low profile – he wanted to avenge his elder brother and vent this anger for the Wei family!
Now that the best opportunity had finally come, Wei Jing’an could at last release that wild horse in his heart. He wanted to trample these pitiful dry grasses, to charge north with sword in hand, to let the Chongjin people know the might of Da Yu men!
Wei Jing’an, the second son of the Wei family who had been lying low for many years, finally found the opportunity to fight on the battlefield. The power concealed in his body for nearly ten years erupted, like a fierce dragon wreaking havoc in the wild.
The Wei family’s accumulated strength was finally unleashed. Both Wei Jing’an and Wei Tingxu were extremely lethal.
Meanwhile, Xie Fuchen’s two legitimate sons were already dead, and his daughter Ah Xin had become distant from him after she turned 20. The reason for this had much to do with Li Yanyi. Xie Fuchen knew this and had never blamed Ah Xin for anything. In fact, when he learned that Feng Kun had used Ah Xin as a pawn to drive a wedge between Li Yanyi and Wei Tingxu, he was furious. Using Wei Tingxu’s strategy, he completely wiped out the Feng clan. However, this didn’t feel like enough retribution to him.
Apart from the legitimate line, most of his children born of concubines weren’t smart enough to satisfy Xie Fuchen. His wife had died too early, leaving only two sons and a daughter, and then Ah Qiong, whom he met later…
Spring was about to come to an end, and the stars in the sky were becoming clearer and clearer.
Sitting in the courtyard, Xie Fuchen kept turning over the small bamboo slip in his hand, on which was written the news of Li Ju’s serious injury.
A cup of cold wine sat alone in front of him, like a crescent moon in the cup.
Actually, there was still one chance, still one way to instantly reverse the current extremely passive situation. If he just spoke up, Wei Tingxu would die, and without this important strategist, it wouldn’t be too difficult to bring down Li Yanyi.
This was, of course, the best-case scenario, but what if there were unexpected events? What if he ultimately couldn’t completely control the situation? Just like before he entered the game, he thought he had considered thousands of possibilities and had a flawless strategy, who knew that today he would face a situation where he might lose everything.
He opened his palm, as if seeing again that hand darkened by years of warfare, tracing his palm lines and saying:
“The brain lines are as fine as spider silk, truly a person of great talent and extraordinary intelligence. However…”
“However what?” Xie Fuchen’s long eyelashes fluttered, gazing at the woman before him with a smile as sweet as honey. The woman poked his palm and said:
“However, your life is short.”
Xie Fuchen laughed heartily: “Just because I borrowed your sword for a bit of play yesterday, you’re cursing me today?”
“No.” The woman opened her own palm, “I’m serious. Look, my life line is even shorter than yours.”
At the time, he thought it was just a joke and had long forgotten about it, yet unexpectedly remembered it again tonight.
Who would have thought that Ah Qiong, besides possessing unparalleled wisdom and courage, could actually read palms.
Xie Fuchen chuckled, taking a drink with each laugh. In the lonely night with a long wind, a pot of wine was quickly finished.
Just as everyone was holding their breath waiting for Li Ju to truly breathe his last, intending to tightly conceal the news of his death and first repel the Chongjin army, or to dig three feet into the ground to unearth the matter of his passing to announce it to the world for their own purposes, Li Ju suddenly got up from bed.
Xia Jing and Ah Xin, who had been guarding outside, immediately entered the room upon hearing the movement. They saw Li Ju wearing a thin single layer of clothing, standing in the room full of medicinal smells, about to open the window.
“Your Majesty!” Xia Jing hurriedly said, “Your Majesty’s serious injuries have not healed, you cannot open the window! If you catch a cold again, I’m afraid it will harm the dragon body!”
Li Ju turned to look at her, and Xia Jing’s face overlapped with Empress Dowager Geng’s face.
Empress Dowager Geng also always stood behind him like this, not allowing him to do this or that.
“When did it become your turn to be so talkative about my affairs?” Li Ju asked softly.
“This subject dares not.” Xia Jing was left speechless by Li Ju, kneeling at the door without leaving, looking bewilderedly at Ah Xin. Ah Xin said nothing, just carefully watching Li Ju.
Li Ju opened the window. The wind was still cool, but he seemed to smell some flower fragrance.
“How long has this sovereign been unconscious?” Li Ju asked.
“It has been… twenty days.” Seeing Li Ju suddenly energetic, Xia Jing was very panicked inside.
This was the appearance of a final burst of energy before death, fearing the Son of Heaven might pass away at any moment.
“To think I’ve been unconscious for so long… Xie clan.” Li Ju pointed at Ah Xin, “Why aren’t you guarding Mengliang, but instead watching this sovereign here? Cough cough cough… You, go quickly, don’t worry about this sovereign!”
Both Ah Xin and Xia Jing were very confused. Could it be that Li Ju’s injuries were accidentally cured by Li Yanyi’s unlucky doctor?
Li Ju indeed had a strong life force.
That unlucky doctor originally only knew how to prescribe remedies for women’s health. When he encountered the severely injured Son of Heaven at the front lines, he was truly terrified. After reluctantly prescribing a few doses of medicine through guesswork, Li Ju’s condition worsened. The doctor felt his pulse, which was already too weak to save. Thinking that he would have to accompany the emperor in death anyway, he decided to take one last gamble, leaving life and death to fate.
The doctor administered another large dose of potent medicine and used acupuncture to drain blood from the skull, causing Li Ju to vomit for three days and nights with a splitting headache, which actually expelled a lot of toxins. Then using various precious medicinal materials to sustain his life, he fought poison with poison, and Li Ju survived. The Son of Heaven’s life was saved, but unfortunately, the doctor himself could not see this day.
Ah Xin stayed in Xie County for two more days. Seeing that Li Ju’s condition was getting better and better, showing signs of stable recovery, and with Xia Jing and other Huben soldiers watching over him, Ah Xin, whose own injuries were almost healed, immediately rushed to Mengliang to fight a battle to the death with Ha’erci.
Zhen Wenjun knew that Ah Xin had left Xie County for Mengliang, where Wei Jing’an was also present. The current state of excitement in Mengliang was completely imaginable. Zhen Wenjun very much wanted to go to Mengliang to lend Wei Jing’an a hand and kill the barbarian enemies. If she were to mention this to Wei Tingxu, she would probably agree, after all, helping the Wei family members achieve merit by killing enemies was a first-rate good deed.
Unexpectedly, before she could go to Mengliang, she accidentally stumbled upon a huge conspiracy.
When Wei Tingxu came to the northern front, she not only brought Zhen Wenjun’s warhorse Xiaoxue, but also several carts of rice and meat. Over the past few months, Zhen Wenjun had eaten everything from tree bark to roots, inside and out, until her mouth was almost worn out, nearly forgetting the taste of meat. Wei Tingxu specially cooked a large pot of braised pork trotters, and Zhen Wenjun could smell the aroma from a hundred paces away.
“Wenjun, am I hallucinating from hunger?” Ah Xi, who smelled the meat aroma along with her, clung tightly to her, nostrils flaring.
“No, it’s definitely meat!”
“And it’s pork trotters!”
“With spices!”
“Oily and glutinous!”
“Oh, my mother!”
The two of them ran wildly towards the smell like they were hunting barbarians, unexpectedly ending up at their own doorstep. They looked at each other in confusion, carefully pushed open the door, and were nearly overwhelmed by the meat aroma that greeted them.
The familiar little dilapidated house had been completely renovated by Lingbi and Xiaohua. The damaged, drafty corners and cracks in the walls had all been repaired, the uneven table and broken-legged chairs had all been fixed, and even the bedding was neatly folded. Wei Tingxu sat behind the wooden table directly facing the main door, her face like beautiful jade, wearing a purple sable coat, smiling at them.
“Oh my goodness.” Ah Xi nearly fell backwards, “Where did this fairy sister come from?”
Actually, the small house was just tidied up, with the furnishings basically unchanged. It was Wei Tingxu’s presence that truly made this humble abode shine.
Zhen Wenjun glanced at the constantly steaming pot on the stove, where Xiaohua and Lingbi were adding firewood.
That’s where the aroma was coming from!
Just as Zhen Wenjun was about to reach out to lift the pot lid, Lingbi swatted her hand away with a piece of firewood.
“Who said you could reach in? It’s not done cooking yet!” Lingbi said disdainfully, “And with the lady here, you’re trying to grab food before she speaks, what kind of manners are those!”
Zhen Wenjun felt extremely wronged: “I, I, I just wanted to see if there were really pork trotters inside! I’m almost starving to death!”
Wei Tingxu said in a gentle voice: “Lingbi, stop teasing her, it was cooked for her to eat in the first place.”
Unexpectedly, Wei Tingxu changed from her usual coldness, speaking quite indulgently, making Zhen Wenjun feel surprised by the favor. However, Zhen Wenjun was still a bit worried and tentatively asked:
“Sister, this pot of pork trotters isn’t… um, it wasn’t cooked by you personally, was it?”
Wei Tingxu’s smile remained unchanged: “Fine, let’s distribute this pot of pork trotters stewed by Xiaohua to the other soldiers. Everyone has been working hard, they must also want to taste some meat.”
“No, no, no, Sister, I was wrong. Please don’t give it away. I’ve finally got my hands on some meat.” Zhen Wenjun apologized at lightning speed.
When the cooked pork trotters were brought out, much of the meat had already melted into the soup, turning it white. With a large pot of fragrant pork trotters and her long-unseen loved one before her eyes, what could be more blissful than this?
Zhen Wenjun took a bite of the soft and tender pork trotter, the meat melting in her mouth, bringing tears to her eyes.
It’s so good to be alive, so good to be alive…
Ah Xi was swallowing saliva while hiding in the corner. Zhen Wenjun noticed she hadn’t come over and said while gnawing on a pork trotter: “What are you doing, Ah Xi! Come eat the pork trotters! They’re so delicious you could eat your own hand!”
“I… I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to go over.” Ah Xi said this, but her legs had already taken several steps forward.
“It’s fine, you’re Wenjun’s friend, so you’re our guest.” Wei Tingxu was unusually kind today, “Come and eat some…” Before she could finish the last word “ba”, Ah Xi had already flown to Zhen Wenjun’s side, her eyes sparkling with excitement:
“Then I won’t stand on ceremony?!”
Zhen Wenjun picked up a big piece for her: “Eat, eat, eat! Don’t be polite!”
Seeing Ah Xi eating with enthusiasm, everyone at the table in harmony, Zhen Wenjun thought of her mother.
Mother, look, these people might be the family I’ll protect from now on.
After eating and drinking their fill, Zhen Wenjun and Lingbi went outside the city to dig for wild vegetables.
Although spring in the north is short, it still has some warmth. The wild grass that had been buried under the frozen soil for an entire long winter was now pushing up with all its might. The two of them dug with increasing enthusiasm, pulling from the edge of the city wall all the way to the wild woods in the outskirts.
Wei Tingxu had brought her Yunzhong Feixue. She stroked the horse she hadn’t seen for a long time with familiarity, seeing that Lingbi had walked all the way without any intention of stopping, seemingly wanting to go deeper.
“We’d better not go any further out, who knows what dangers might be in the wild. Even if we don’t encounter the Chongjin, meeting a few snow wolves could easily cost us our lives.” She shook the bamboo basket half-full of wild grass, “These are enough for several meals.”
“Huh? These? After washing, I’m afraid it’s not even enough for half a mouthful for you.” Lingbi peered into the deeper part of the woods and said, “I see a large patch by that rotten log, more than all we’ve pulled so far combined. Let’s pull that patch and then go back.”
“That far?”
Lingbi laughed and said: “If you’re afraid, you can go back first.” After saying this, she walked straight towards the log.
Zhen Wenjun knew that she was used to being bold due to her martial arts skills, and now with Wei Tingxu not by her side, there was even less to worry about. For the sake of providing more food for the hungry wounded soldiers in the city, Sister Lingbi was willing to take risks. Zhen Wenjun also followed.
They encountered neither barbarian enemies nor snow wolves, but a fast-moving military messenger riding past.
The person was riding a small horse that ran extremely fast, its hooves wrapped in cloth, making very little muffled sound as they hit the ground. This person flashed by like a ghost in the stark white forest.
Zhen Wenjun still recognized this person as one of the Huben soldiers who had been protecting Li Ju.
Strange.
Zhen Wenjun and Lingbi hid behind a tree fork, puzzled.
Li Ju’s severe injuries had not yet healed, and Li Yanyi’s forces had entered Xie County. At a time when manpower was needed, why would Xia Jing allow her subordinate to leave Xie County? Judging by the direction this person was heading, it was towards Mengliang.
This Huben soldier didn’t look like a messenger, but rather an assassin.
What was he going to do in Mengliang?
A terrifying thought suddenly flashed through Zhen Wenjun’s mind, leaving no time for further consideration. She immediately piled the bamboo basket onto Lingbi’s arm and jumped onto Yunzhong, preparing to leave.
“You! Where are you going?” Lingbi asked in a lowered voice.
“You go back first, I’ll be back soon!” Zhen Wenjun had no time to explain, kicked the horse’s belly, and quickly followed.
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