Fish Meat – Chapter 171

The Fourth Year of Zhao Wu

Double Silk Net (6)

Step by uneven step through the thick snow, not knowing what lay hidden beneath, Zhen Wenjun stumbled unsteadily.

            

She was pregnant, carrying Xie Fuchen’s child!

The Eastern Palace was bathed in blood—Emperor Ming had been impersonated by Prince Rui.

Inside the wooden box lay a Secret Scroll, perhaps evidence of Emperor Ming’s usurpation of the throne.

            

“Put the wooden box here. You’ve struggled enough these days. The rest, Wenjun and I will figure out.”

“She’s manipulating you. Ah Juan isn’t really mute at all. I saw everything—she’s been deceiving you all along!”

Hot tears rolled from Zhen Wenjun’s unblinking eyes, falling without her even noticing.

            

Now, speaking of evidence, there was far more than she had imagined.

Fragments of memories flew against her forward path, piercing her heart one by one. All the happiness and anxieties now seemed like a foolish one-person show. The person who had arranged everything watched from behind the scenes, observing the puppet’s joys and sorrows on stage, planning the next move, plotting which territory to conquer next.

Pain weighed heavy on Zhen Wenjun’s heart as she struggled to breathe, yet the air remained thin.

            

Not far away stood her new marital residence with Wei Tingxu, red silk lanterns hanging from the open main gate all the way into the compound, casting a festive glow in the dark sky.

Zhen Wenjun pulled out the Golden Cicada Knife from her belt, gripping it tightly between her fingers.

The long sleeves of her wedding dress covered her hands. As she walked back into the residence, countless guests were still present. Whatever they said to her never reached her ears, and she didn’t even know what expression she wore on her face as one crystal-clear realization surfaced in her mind.

            

The Secret Scroll that Emperor Ming had desperately searched for was painstakingly sent back to Changge Kingdom by Ah Mu, only to be brought back through an “unfortunate coincidence”.

A secret technique for women to bear children with women?

Zhen Wenjun’s lips twitched—she feared the wooden box contained no such technique, but rather evidence that could overthrow the Li family’s dynasty, the Secret Scroll that Wei Tingxu had gone to great lengths to obtain.

            

When they were supposed to establish the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, they had clearly reached the Liuhuo Kingdom, yet diverted to the Gulun Grasslands. Why?

Because Wei Tingxu wanted to find the wooden box, to find her crucial weapon for usurping the throne.

The moment Zhen Wenjun stepped into the ruins of Changge Kingdom, she felt herself returning to her ancestral land. Everything there was familiar to her. Upon seeing the Dark Bird Totem, she became fascinated with her own origins, desperately wanting to know where she came from.

            

Once she unraveled the mystery of her identity, the method to open the box would be within reach.

But how did Wei Tingxu know that understanding my identity would lead to opening the box?—At this thought, Zhen Wenjun stopped in her tracks.

The guests were frightened by Zhen Wenjun’s terrifying expression. No one followed her; they all stood courteously in the courtyard, occasionally casting curious glances at her as she stood suddenly still in the corridor.

            

Why? How was she so certain?

Zhen Wenjun extracted useful clues from her vast memories and quickly understood.

Because Wei Tingxu had discovered the whereabouts of Ruan family’s Ah Qiong and her child from the very beginning, knowing they were at the Xie family residence in Suichuan. Only after discovering this did Wei Tingxu begin laying out her grand scheme.

            

Ah Qiong, the sole survivor of the Ruan family, was the person most likely to know the scroll’s whereabouts. Getting revenge on Xie Fuchen was merely a side task—Wei Tingxu’s true target was always that Secret Scroll. The plan to kill the Li family heir and overthrow the entire Da Yu regime—that scroll was the key.

Lord Yunmeng, Fang Huaiyuan, was her most important first piece on the board.

Judging by his age, Fang Huaiyuan was likely Wei Lun’s confidant. During Wei Tingxu’s childhood, Wei Lun must have helped her perfect the plan and recruit talent before stepping back. Everything afterward was carried out by Wei Zizhuo, a shadow figure of the Wei family. Wei Lun had an even more important task: diverting the attention of Xie Fuchen and Li Ju, allowing Wei Tingxu to secretly lay a solid foundation.

            

No one in the Xie family discovered Fang Huaiyuan’s true identity, but Ah Mu, being shrewd, surely sensed his ill intentions. Ah Mu didn’t know whose man Fang Huaiyuan was, but she knew he was dangerous. Perhaps when they first confronted each other, Fang Huaiyuan had threatened Ah Mu to hand over the box, but she refused.

Fang Huaiyuan certainly didn’t dare act recklessly—if something happened to Ah Mu, no one else in the world would know the scroll’s whereabouts.

Back when refugees entered the city, Fourth Aunt Xie was killed by them. Zhen Wenjun couldn’t save her life. When Ah Mu learned of this, she knew disaster was imminent. Xie Suishan would surely seize the opportunity to kill both mother and daughter, which was why she risked cooperating with Fang Huaiyuan.

            

Without knowing the complete story, Zhen Wenjun guessed that Ah Mu must have used the scroll’s location as leverage, having Fang Huaiyuan help them escape Xie Suishan’s clutches. This scroll was of grave importance—if it fell into the wrong hands, the Li family’s dynasty would be doomed.

Ah Mu perhaps didn’t care much about the Li dynasty’s fate, after all, she knew better than anyone how Emperor Ming had treated the Ruan family. But Ah Mu knew clearly that regardless of who sent Fang Huaiyuan, once they handed over the scroll, death would be the only path for mother and daughter.

That’s why Ah Mu had hidden with her in the carriage carrying the New Year’s gifts, hoping to flee far away.

            

Wei Tingxu must have been watching all of this unfold from behind the scenes. With her intelligence, she would have easily guessed Ah Mu’s plan, having Fang Huaiyuan persuade Xie Taihang to intercept them on the road with skilled fighters, capturing Ah Mu with her crippled leg! Cutting off three of her fingers! Making twelve-year-old Alai watch it all, piercing her body with an iron fork, throwing her into that filthy old corridor, threatening her into this whirlpool of schemes…

Even a servant could discover these facts—Wei Tingxu must have known long ago. She had known everything from the start.

Xie Fuchen had unknowingly imprisoned Ah Mu for some time, and during this period, it was likely Fang Huaiyuan who was responsible for interrogating Ah Mu about the scroll’s whereabouts. For the sake of both mother and daughter’s lives, Ah Mu never spoke. She was determined that as long as she remained silent, Fang Huaiyuan wouldn’t dare kill her or her child—otherwise, in her rage, she would never speak again for the rest of her life.

            

Perhaps Ah Mu vaguely sensed that Fang Huaiyuan wasn’t Xie Fuchen’s man, but regardless, he still couldn’t be trusted. Ah Mu would never tell.

On the other hand, after using Zhen Wenjun to kill Xie Fuchen, letting him die in agony, Wei Tingxu continued to use her, slowly guiding her to discover her own origins, thus inspiring her to open that wooden box.

Thinking of this, Zhen Wenjun’s heart ached as if dying.

            

She could have understood it all.

During these days of discovering clues, Zhen Wenjun had spent many sleepless nights in self-reflection. Looking back to the beginning, when Wei Tingxu was plotting everything, this mother and daughter from the Ruan family were nothing but ordinary pawns to her. She even hated them because of past connections. Using another’s knife to kill [jie dao sha ren – 借刀殺人, idiom meaning to use someone else to do one’s dirty work], blood debts must be paid in blood—setting aside all emotions, she could understand Wei Tingxu.

All these days, Zhen Wenjun had believed that Wei Tingxu had reluctantly fallen in love with the person she was meant to manipulate, which must have been awkward for Wei Tingxu. After they confirmed their relationship, Zhen Wenjun thought she understood clearly, believed that Wei Tingxu had truly fallen in love with her. Their love had been so difficult to achieve that she didn’t want to pursue or blame too much. For the sake of love, Wei Tingxu surely wouldn’t continue to torture Ah Mu—everything could still be remedied.

            

But she had thought too simply.

So Wei Tingxu was still using her.

Just a few days ago, she was still guiding Zhen Wenjun to open that wooden box.

            

Zhen Wenjun couldn’t distinguish which of her words were true and which were false. When she spoke of retiring, of traveling the lands to only discuss matters of romance, Zhen Wenjun didn’t know whether she should feel happy.

Wei Tingxu’s heart was like a spider’s web, untouchable and impenetrable, yet one easily fell into her web, becoming her prey.

Zhen Wenjun’s legs weakened as she walked along the corridor toward the inner chamber.

            

She knew Wei Tingxu was waiting for her inside—today was their wedding day.

“Wenjun, stay by my side. Wherever you are is our home.”

“Tingxu, I want to return to Runing with you, to see the Wandering Flowers you planted for me.”

            

“I will continue to grow until I become someone worthy of sister’s trust.”

“I’m not mistaken—you are the Zhen Wenjun I’ve been searching for. Heaven has blessed us with this reunion. Wenjun, live with me from now on.”

“That Xie family woman said you were their spy… that you came to the Wei family to kill the lady, is that true?”

            

“Promise me… don’t kill the lady.”

All these memories and that voice from Lingbi echoed in Zhen Wenjun’s ears like a curse. As she reached the inner courtyard entrance, hesitating over what expression to wear as she entered, she suddenly heard a man’s whisper.

Though it was just the faintest whisper, Zhen Wenjun recognized it.

            

That sound made every hair on her body stand on end!

Lord Yunmeng! Fang Huaiyuan! That treacherous dog!

“Why have you come?”

            

The moment she saw Lord Yunmeng, Wei Tingxu’s face changed dramatically, slamming her round fan onto the table with a “pak!” Having expected Zhen Wenjun but finding Lord Yunmeng instead, she knew something was terribly wrong.

“My lady.” Lord Yunmeng was covered in snow, his clothes soaked through in large patches. He bowed to Wei Tingxu and whispered something that made her shudder in terror, immediately standing up.

“Come with me.”

            

Just as the two were about to leave, a barely perceptible burst of forceful wind suddenly came from behind. Lord Yunmeng’s sensitivity, honed from years of walking on knife’s edge, made him quickly draw the long sword from his waist, thrusting it backward at an angle before even seeing who approached.

Zhen Wenjun raised her hand to block, grabbing his wrist and twisting it backwards. Under the intense pain, Lord Yunmeng’s sword slipped from his grip. Zhen Wenjun lifted the sword handle upward, and before Lord Yunmeng could clearly see her movement, she had reversed the sword’s direction, thrusting it toward his chest.

Lord Yunmeng was horrified, with no time to retreat. Just as the sword was about to pierce his chest, Wei Tingxu stepped forward to shield him.

            

“My lady!” Lord Yunmeng cried out. When Zhen Wenjun’s and Wei Tingxu’s gazes met, she saw in Wei Tingxu’s eyes a certainty—a confidence that Zhen Wenjun wouldn’t harm her.

The sword didn’t stop. Zhen Wenjun thrust with savage force, the blade piercing through Wei Tingxu’s chest and into Lord Yunmeng’s body behind her.

Though only suffering a flesh wound, Yunmeng could still move. Clutching his injury, he turned and fled. Zhen Wenjun pressed down on Wei Tingxu’s shoulder, pulling out the sword with a “whoosh,” then roared “Die, you treacherous dog!” before charging after Lord Yunmeng.

            

Lord Yunmeng ran frantically toward the courtyard, knocking down several servants, tearing down carefully arranged curtains, and desperately throwing silk lanterns at Zhen Wenjun. She saw nothing else—only Fang Huaiyuan, nothing but Fang Huaiyuan!

The sound of their frenzied footsteps echoing from afar startled the wedding guests in the courtyard.

Li Yanyi had already left, but many high officials and renowned scholars remained. Lord Yunmeng was about to rush into the crowd, causing chaos.

            

He wanted to hide among the people and escape in the confusion!

Dream on!

Zhen Wenjun raised the long sword, using every ounce of strength to hurl it at her enemy’s back. The sword flew with a “whoosh,” piercing straight through Lord Yunmeng’s chest, pinning him cleanly to the ground!

            

The crowd gasped in shock, scrambling backward.

Zhen Wenjun rushed forward to grab Lord Yunmeng and turn him over, fearing he might still have some trick to escape.

When she flipped him over and confirmed this face indeed belonged to her most hated enemy—one she could never forget in this life or the next—her long-suppressed grief and rage erupted like a volcano.

            

Punch after punch, each blow infused with all of Zhen Wenjun’s grievances and fury, she beat Lord Yunmeng to death right there.

Only when the unrecognizable Lord Yunmeng had breathed his last did Zhen Wenjun, hands covered in blood, stagger to her feet, gasping for breath.

The surrounding clamor of voices flooded back into her ears as she heard the crowd’s discussions.

            

“Who is this person?”

“The bride killed someone?”

“He was beaten to death? What kind of grudge would warrant such brutality…”

            

Zhen Wenjun, her face splattered with blood drops, looked at them, scanning each person, as if ready to devour every member of the Wei family with her eyes.

“This man wounded Wei Tingxu—he was an assassin,” Zhen Wenjun said, enunciating each word. “The wedding banquet ends here. Please leave. I apologize for any inadequacies in our hospitality.”

After she spoke, everyone was terrified by her sinister tone and appearance, remaining frozen in place.

            

Zhen Wenjun yanked out the sword, causing the corpse to twitch.

“Leave!”

The crowd was horrified and fled quickly.

            

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