Fish Meat – Chapter 163
by Little PandaThe Third Year of Zhao Wu
The Lamp Behind the Curtain, the Sword in its Case (22)
Ah Xin spent several days at Huaichen Mansion, feeling quite uncomfortable.
Li Yanyi couldn’t bring Ah Xin back to the Forbidden Garden. As the Son of Heaven, of course, if she insisted on doing something, most people who valued their lives wouldn’t strongly oppose it – at most, they would gossip behind her back, which would then spread to the common people, merely making this female emperor’s reputation a bit worse. For Li Yanyi, taking someone’s life was easy, but maintaining a good reputation was difficult. Ah Xin’s identity was extremely special, being the daughter of a condemned official whose entire clan was executed. Even though she had merit in protecting the emperor several times, it would be all too easy to pin a crime on her.
Li Yanyi needed to find a suitable opportunity that would silence everyone before bringing her into the Forbidden Garden. This wasn’t even counting the need to deal with Empress Dowager Geng.
Finding a suitable excuse was easy, but convincing Ah Xin was difficult.
Ah Xin’s return this time was mostly out of concern for Li Yanyi’s safety. The arm injury was secondary; what was most important was probably her wariness of Wei Tingxu.
Ah Xin had written to Li Yanyi warning her about the Wei family’s predatory ambitions. It seemed that beyond the generational grudge with the Wei family that made her cautious of Wei Tingxu, she might have known some secret long ago.
Before Xie Fuchen’s execution, Li Yanyi specially permitted Ah Xin to see him one last time. This meeting was absolutely necessary. With Xie Fuchen facing death, he must have entrusted Ah Xin with his most important last wishes and instructions. Ah Xin’s life-risking protection of the emperor gave Li Yanyi reason to keep her, which also meant preserving Xie Fuchen’s final wisdom.
Xie Fuchen certainly wouldn’t want things to go well for either the Li or Wei families. After years of confrontation, how could Li Yanyi not know what kind of person Xie Fuchen was? While Ah Xin would filter out matters harmful to the Li clan, or at least harmful to Li Yanyi, what remained would be the Wei family’s weaknesses.
Xie Fuchen was the person who understood the Wei family’s inner workings most thoroughly in this world.
After Xie Fuchen’s downfall, the greatest threat to the Li clan’s rivers and mountains [meaning: sovereign territory] would definitely come from the Wei family. Moreover, the Wei clan and the Zhangsun clan were extremely close; if these two great families joined forces, they could overshadow half of Da Yu’s power vacuum left by the Xie clan. It would take time to cultivate new forces to counterbalance the Wei and Zhangsun clans, so Li Yanyi definitely needed to have an ace up her sleeve to ensure the stability of the state.
At that time, Li Yanyi knew nothing yet, didn’t know that Wei Tingxu had visited Suichuan as early as the fourth year of Shenchu, and even sent trusted agents to spy on the Xie family there. Back then, Li Yanyi merely wanted to get some leverage on the Wei family for future use. No one had taught her how to be an emperor; even Empress Dowager Geng had focused more energy on the heir to Da Yu’s throne. She wasn’t raised as an heir apparent [crown prince/princess], but when she reached this height, this position, all the wariness and balancing naturally arose in her heart. She could weigh matters herself and knew what preparations were needed to maintain a long-term hold on the throne.
Li Yanyi had long understood that Wei Tingxu was a clever person, knowing that if anyone in the entire country could match wits with Xie Fuchen, it would be her.
However, the depth and reach of Wei Tingxu’s schemes still exceeded Li Yanyi’s imagination.
When Li Yanyi first received mysterious letters allegedly between Wei Tingxu and Wei Lun, whose authenticity was difficult to verify, she merely thought the Wei father and daughter were doing something unknown to her, possibly plotting something, though there might not be evidence to prove their treasonous intentions. But the subsequent investigation report from Ah Yin shocked her greatly.
Wei Tingxu had long targeted the Xie family in Suichuan, sending trusted agents to infiltrate the Xie Mansion. Ah Yin only discovered that there was such a spy, but couldn’t identify who it was, showing how deeply they were hidden. The Wei family had been searching for someone whose identity was also very secretive and impossible to verify. During this time, Wei Tingxu had commissioned hundreds of artists to paint thousands of portraits, even killing many of these artists. Connecting these facts, Ah Yin believed Wei Tingxu was luring out the snake [meaning: setting a trap] to draw her target close.
While Ah Yin couldn’t identify who Wei Tingxu was plotting against, Li Yanyi, who already had vague suspicions, quickly connected the dots and confirmed her thoughtsβthe person Wei Tingxu had been slowly pursuing all those years was the current “Zhen Wenjun.”
“At that time, I was walking toward the Taiji Hall with Ah Yin’s secret documents.” After an intimate moment, Li Yanyi and Ah Xin sat on opposite sides of a table laden with wine vessels and fruit, slightly tipsy from drinking. After holding it in for so long, Li Yanyi finally had someone she could completely trust and pour out her innermost thoughts to. “I don’t understand why Wei Zizhuo would go to such lengths to find Zhen Wenjun from Suichuan. Was it just to make her and the Xie family destroy each other? If it was just for momentary satisfaction, to avenge Rangchuan, why keep her around until now? Isn’t she afraid that one day Zhen Wenjun might discover this secret and seek revenge?” At this point, Li Yanyi’s expression froze, as if returning to the day her arm was broken.
“From what I know of her, there must be another purpose. She might put herself in a dangerous position, but only if there’s potential for greater gain. At that moment, I remembered something.”
Li Yanyi’s gaze returned to Ah Xin’s eyes: “I remembered Wei Tingxu telling me about a secret technique for two women to have children.”
“Two women… having children?” Ah Xin thought she had misheard, “What are you people always thinking about?”
Li Yanyi coughed dryly: “The technique itself isn’t the point; the point is that this technique exists in the Changge Kingdom. At that time, my mother wanted me to establish a male heir, and she kept bothering me about the crown prince matter. When Wei Zizhuo mentioned this technique, I was very intrigued. If I could have a prince with you, what would anyone else have to say? Mother would have to be quiet too.”
Ah Xin’s face warmed slightly, and she unconsciously raised her hand to cover it: “Stop talking nonsense, let’s discuss serious matters.”
“So I sent Zhangsun Ran to search with all her might. When she reached the Changge Kingdom, she only found ruins, but brought back a box from there. This box is extraordinary – it cannot be opened by any means, and even now Zhangsun Ran is still trying to find ways to open it. We all suspect there’s a high possibility that the secret technique is inside; why else would it be hidden so securely?”
Ah Xin frowned: “Let’s get back to the main point.”
“Ah Xin, don’t think I’m talking nonsense, this IS the main point! When I was walking along the Azure Dragon Corridor [an imperial palace corridor], I suddenly remembered this unopenable box and then thought of the Changge Kingdom. Don’t you think something seems odd about this?”
Ah Xin nodded: “Zhangsun Ran and Wei Tingxu are green plums [childhood friends], as close as can be. If such a secret technique existed, why would she need to tell you and have you dispatch Zhangsun Ran to search for it? They could have communicated privately and then presented it to you after finding it, which would still have been meritorious.”
“Exactly.” Li Yanyi couldn’t help but smile with joy as Ah Xin could guess her thoughts with just a hint – this familiar comfort made her beam with happiness. “Wei Zizhuo’s seemingly redundant action wasn’t redundant at all; she just wanted to use my authority to make their trip to the Changge Kingdom appear more coincidental. Her real purpose was simply to have Zhen Wenjun personally go to the Changge Kingdom.”
“Why did she want her to go to the Changge Kingdom?” At this point, Ah Xin was confused.
“You’ve forgotten something,” Li Yanyi’s eyes sparkled brightly, speaking excitedly, “Something you told me long ago.”
Ah Xin tilted her head in confusion.
“You said that for several years after your mother’s death, your father never remarried or took concubines, but he was close to a certain woman. Remember? At that time, the matter was too sensitive, so I told you never to mention it again. As time passed, we ourselves forgot about it.”
Even after all this time, Li Yanyi still couldn’t help but lower her voice when mentioning this.
Ah Xin said: “You mean, the Ruan family…”
“Yes, Ruan Ah Qiong, she was a descendant of the Changge Kingdom. The Ruan family’s ancestors had the surname Su Lan. The Su Lan clan came from the south during the Martial Emperor’s reign to submit to Da Yu. The Ruan family were people of the Changge Kingdom. If I’m not mistaken, Zhen Wenjun, also known as Alai, is the daughter of your father and Ruan Ah Qiong.”
An undisguisable look of shock covered Ah Xin’s face. After pondering for a moment, she said: “You mean Wei Tingxu deliberately took Zhen Wenjun to the Changge Kingdom? To…”
“To make her remember her true identity!” Li Yanyi said firmly. “She must want Zhen Wenjun to confirm that she’s a descendant of the Changge Kingdom, Ruan Ah Qiong’s child!”
“But why would she do this? What benefit would this bring? Or would Zhen Wenjun tell her the secret technique for women to bear children?”
“Ah Xin, you were too young to remember why the Ruan family fell under suspicion. After the incident, Emperor Ming thoroughly erased all traces of the Ruan clan’s existence, so you couldn’t learn the truth from others. But I remember it clearly.” Li Yanyi’s words made Ah Xin’s heart pound.
Li Yanyi continued: “It’s because the Ruan family possessed the royal γSecret Scrollγ.”
“Secret Scroll? What scroll?”
“Even I don’t know its exact contents – imagine how mysterious and important it must be. It’s said that whoever possesses this scroll can control Da Yu’s empire!”
“That sounds mystical – could it be some treasure map?”
“It can’t be something like that – how would a treasure map end up in the Ruan family’s hands? I suspect it’s something unsuitable to keep in the palace, something even descendants shouldn’t know about… Yet Wei Zizhuo has set such an elaborate trap to get the Ruan daughter in her grasp, clearly targeting the Secret Scroll. No one knows where the Ruan family is or where the scroll might be, but Zhen Wenjun is most likely to know.”
At this point, Ah Xin shuddered, her face turning pale: “You mean Wei Zizhuo has always wanted to find the Secret Scroll to overthrow Da Yu’s empire? She wants to usurp the throne?”
Li Yanyi nodded: “Ah Yin’s clues were limited, but combining them with what I know, I can confirm Wei Zizhuo’s treasonous intentions. Her goal isn’t just to destroy the Xie family; even our Li family is among her targets for elimination. Well… what your father did in Rangchuan was under my father’s orders, so it’s not unreasonable for Wei Zizhuo to seek revenge now. You disliked her early on and warned me to be cautious of her. I thought you were biased because of the generational feud, but thinking about it now, I was the one who was careless.”
“What are your plans now?”
“I won’t immediately suppress the Wei family. Their power is too vast right now, especially with the Zhangsun clan in working together in evil. I’m deliberately cultivating the Bo clan for my use, and though I can’t count much on my uncle’s side, I can’t abandon them either. Look at this recent assassination attempt – Geng Yu’s troops appeared rather strangely at the end. I fear the Geng family has fallen into Wei Zizhuo’s trap without realizing it. Neither the Bo family nor the Geng family can currently match the Wei and Zhangsun clans. If Wei Zizhuo decides to rebel, given Da Yu’s current situation, I’m not sure we could suppress her. So I can’t have direct confrontation with Wei Zizhuo – not only must I avoid suppressing her, I need to promote her, make her think I still trust her, so she’ll lower her guard. I’m slowly laying groundwork. If Wei Zizhuo can still be influenced by me, I’ll spare her life for old times’ sake, after all, the Wei family is still a powerful arm of Da Yu. But if she remains uncooperative and still wants to rebel…” Li Yanyi narrowed her eyes, “I’ll show her the methods of an emperor.”
After thinking it through, Ah Xin agreed this seemed to be the only feasible path.
Li Yanyi had indeed matured considerably, though the price of maturity was evident in the distinct line between her brows – a mark left from frequent frowning.
“So, Ah Xin.” Li Yanyi held Ah Xin’s hand, pressing its back against her own cheek, “I need you, need your strategic counsel. Don’t leave this time, stay.”
While Ah Xin was temporarily staying at Huaichen Mansion, after several intimate days together, Guang Shaoling, the Commander of the Zhuiyue Inner Army who was responsible for delivering palace news to Li Yanyi, had accumulated many matters to discuss. Having no choice, she brought his subordinates to Huaichen Mansion to seek an audience with the Emperor.
When Li Yanyi was peeling grapes for Ah Xin, a servant entered to announce Commander Guang’s arrival. Li Yanyi knew her good days had come to an end. She pushed the perfectly peeled, crystal-clear grape flesh to Ah Xin’s lips, sighed, and resigned herself to returning to the Forbidden Garden to deal with those old foxes. She would return to accompany Ah Xin in a few days – she couldn’t risk getting a bad reputation for neglecting morning court because of having a beauty by her side.
Li Yanyi reluctantly left Huaichen Mansion, telling Ah Xin to wait for her return.
After thoroughly analyzing the current situation with Ah Xin that day, and after much pleading, although Ah Xin hadn’t promised to definitely stay, from her expression, at least she wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye. This allowed Li Yanyi to return to the Forbidden Garden with more peace of mind.
Having grown accustomed to sleeping on hard, cold wooden beds, when Ah Xin returned to Runing, sleeping on a soft bed left her with an aching back and sore waist. The old servants at Huaichen Mansion all knew about her relationship with Li Yanyi and were very attentive to her. Even without her saying anything, everyone secretly observed her, and quickly noticed her discomfort with the soft bed, replacing it with a hard bed board that very night.
Only when lying on the hard bed could Ah Xin concentrate on thinking through certain matters.
She had been unwilling to return to Runing, as coming back here reminded her of many unhappy things, along with the hatred that should be embedded in her blood, flesh, and marrow. But if she didn’t return, she would worry about Li Yanyi, and also worry about her only sister.
Returning to Runing marked the true beginning of the battle.
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