Fish Meat – Chapter 189
by Little PandaThe Fourth Year of Zhao Wu
Secrets in the Sleeve (9)
Zhen Wenjun knew Wei Tingxu came to the Empress Dowager’s flower viewing gathering with a purpose, but truly hadn’t expected her to directly meet with Empress Dowager Geng. Zhen Wenjun hid in the shadows, seeing Ah Liao leave the side hall and return to the crowd, then followed after.
The two weaved through the crowd one after another, and Zhen Wenjun roughly understood why Wei Tingxu came here.
Wei Tingxu’s actions were scattered like a spider’s web, seemingly disordered yet with a very clear purpose that had never changed – to dismantle Li Yanyi’s power piece by piece, to break each of her tightly clenched fingers one by one, and after dismantling her armor would come the moment to pierce her heart.
Empress Dowager Geng was Li Yanyi’s most important backing, not only revered as Empress Dowager but also controlling the entire Geng family’s power, and the Geng family remained the maternal relatives Li Yanyi needed to rely on. Wei Tingxu had previously schemed to split Li Yanyi and the Geng family, but Li Yanyi didn’t fall for it, playing the balance of power just right, even making Geng Bai behave himself.
After testing the waters, Wei Tingxu knew Li Yanyi wouldn’t move against the Geng family, but her plan to borrow a knife to kill hadn’t stopped. Since she needed to strip away the Geng family, why not directly provoke the Empress Dowager, loosening Li Yanyi’s foundation in one move.
Ah Liao took a bite of a rosy sweet peach, her eyes scanning through the crowd. After a while, they fixed on someone, her hand searching for something in her sleeve as she slowly approached that person.
The person Ah Liao approached was the wife of Left Minister Zuo Yun.
Lady Zuo was chatting and laughing with the ladies from the Bo and Lin families when a mysterious breeze swept past her from behind, making her whole body tense uncomfortably. She turned around alertly to see that Zhangsun Ran had just passed behind her.
Hadn’t this person said she had official duties? Why had she returned? Lady Zuo couldn’t help but feel uneasy, staring at Ah Liao even more rudely.
Ah Liao passed through the crowd and struck up a conversation with a lady, quickly giving her a beautiful round jade stone. When the lady took the jade, who knew it would change color at her touch – its originally smooth and pure surface immediately revealed wave-like blue patterns, causing the young lady to cover her mouth with an “ah!”
“What is this? How can it be so magical?”
“This is called Blue Ocean Jade,” Ah Liao said.
“It shows blue ocean patterns when placed in one’s palm?”
“No, only when placed in a beautiful woman’s palm will it show patterns.”
The young lady’s face turned red as she giggled, while Lady Zuo immediately understood and withdrew her gaze in disgust.
Just as Ah Liao was about to say more, an arm grabbed her and pulled her aside.
“You… eh? Wenjun jie? You came too?” Ah Liao was about to curse but, discovering it was Zhen Wenjun who grabbed her, immediately put on a pleasant face.
“I saw everything.”
“Hmm?”
“What you did.”
Ah Liao chuckled twice: “Don’t be like that, Wenjun jie. I just saw the lady standing alone looking lonely, so I merely performed a little trick to relieve her boredom.”
“I’m not talking about that.” Zhen Wenjun tilted her head toward Lady Zuo’s direction, “I saw you leave something near Lady Zuo.”
Ah Liao’s expression changed slightly, and she suddenly threw herself into Zhen Wenjun’s embrace. How could Zhen Wenjun have expected Ah Liao to be so shameless in public? Unable to dodge in time, her chest was nearly flattened by Ah Liao’s iron head, the “thud” causing everyone around to turn and look.
“Dizzy, so dizzy, Wenjun jie… I think I have heatstroke.”
Ah Liao pretended to faint, forcing Zhen Wenjun to drag her aside.
In a secluded spot, Ah Liao still kept her body limp, trying to stay in Zhen Wenjun’s embrace a while longer. Zhen Wenjun stepped back, and Ah Liao nearly fell flat. If she hadn’t steadied herself in time, she would have gotten a mouthful of dirt.
“Speak up.” Zhen Wenjun had learned to be clever, staying two steps away so she could dodge in time if Ah Liao tried to crash into her again.
“Ah, sister, why did you come to meddle in our plan?” Ah Liao looked back to ensure no one was eavesdropping.
“Meddle? Oh, so you are indeed setting up a scheme. Lady Zuo’s life or death should be irrelevant to your grand plan – are you trying to use Lady Zuo to eliminate Left Minister Zuo?”
Zhen Wenjun hit the mark, startling Ah Liao, who hurriedly covered her mouth.
“You’ve already said it, what’s the point of covering your mouth now?”
“…This is why I hate you clever people, just a few words and you lead someone straight into a trap.” Ah Liao said rebelliously.
“You’re not stupid either, you just use your cleverness elsewhere.” Zhen Wenjun said, “What did you plant on Lady Zuo? Don’t tell me you won’t even spare the life of an outsider like her?”
Just as Ah Liao was about to speak, someone emerged from behind her and answered instead:
“It’s just a few small insects, they only parasitize men to drink their blood, Lady Zuo won’t be in danger. Even if she accidentally gets bitten by these insects, it would only result in weakness of limbs and needing eight shichen [14 hours] of sleep daily for two or three years.” Wei Tingxu had appeared at some point, “When did Furen arrive without saying a word? This morning when I saw you at the tea pavilion, I thought you weren’t planning to attend the gathering. If you were coming, you could have told me – we could have shared a carriage and let all the ladies see our loving relationship, physically promoting the Haina reforms and same-sex marriage.”
Zhen Wenjun was already embarrassed about being so concerned with Wei Tingxu’s actions, and now being caught by the person herself, she couldn’t help but blush, though she quickly regained her composure after her gaze briefly wavered.
“Why does the Secretariat Supervisor need to speak such pompous words? The Empress Dowager suddenly held this gathering, and I naturally came to gather intelligence. Wei Tingxu, you want Lady Zuo to bring that insect back to the Zuo residence, to have it parasitize Zuo Yun and force him to retire due to illness. But Lady Zuo will encounter many men on her way home, even the carriage driver is male – how can you ensure she’ll bring the insect back to infect Zuo Yun?”
Wei Tingxu didn’t hide anything: “Is the General worried for me? These insects are quite picky about their hosts. Only those who have been taking kuijiao will have blood that these insects find appetizing. Zuo Yun has been secretly taking Furong Powder, and due to his status, he doesn’t dare to purchase it openly, only buying in secret. What he doesn’t know is that all the Furong Powder he’s bought has been laced with kuijiao by Ah Liao.”
“The Secretariat Supervisor is more honest than before. Never mind whether the insect will be discovered or if Zuo Yun will actually retire – even if he does retire, won’t the Emperor just support someone else from the Zuo, Lin, or Bo family to take his position? Wouldn’t all this be for nothing?”
“It seems the General is quite interested in my planning. You’re mostly correct, though still somewhat naive regarding the details. If you want to know the answer to this riddle, you need only wait and see.”
With that, Wei Tingxu linked arms with Ah Liao, and the two left Changning Palace like close sisters.
After walking a few steps, Wei Tingxu finally couldn’t hold back and suddenly began coughing violently. Ah Liao asked her:
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
Once in the carriage, Wei Tingxu removed the powder from her face, revealing her true complexion – though lacking in vitality, it wasn’t deathly pale. However, the pain in her joints from kneeling too long by the ice mountain was real.
Ah Liao clumsily massaged her legs and asked: “What did the Empress Dowager say?”
Wei Tingxu leaned back with closed eyes: “The Empress Dowager has survived since Emperor Ming’s time until today – how could she be easily manipulated by me? She naturally wants Xie family’s Ah Xin’s life, but doesn’t want to get her hands dirty. However, if she believes even one word out of ten from my pleading, today won’t have been wasted.”
Ah Liao asked puzzled: “What if the Empress Dowager refuses to act?”
Wei Tingxu, still with closed eyes, gave a cold laugh: “She won’t have a choice.”
The carriage reached the busy market and stopped just before crossing a bridge. Ah Liao lifted the curtain and asked: “What’s wrong?”
Xiaohua and the driver sat at the front, and Xiaohua said: “There seems to be a wedding procession ahead blocking the bridge path, the horses can’t run up.”
Wei Tingxu coughed twice and said: “Then let’s get out and walk up.”
Xiaohua tried to persuade her: “My lady doesn’t look well, perhaps you should wait in the carriage for a moment.”
Wei Tingxu shook her head, still coughing, but insisted on leaving the carriage.
Ah Liao found her insistence strange, but when Wei Tingxu glanced back before getting out, Ah Liao understood and helped her descend.
Two young eunuchs sent by You Changshi were dressed as common people and blending into the market crowd, their eyes fixed on Wei Tingxu’s carriage. When the carriage stopped and Wei Tingxu emerged, they became less obvious, pretending to busy themselves while occasionally focusing on their prey.
Under the bright sunlight, what little color remained in Wei Tingxu’s face vanished. When she stepped down from the carriage, Xiaohua wanted to help her, but Wei Tingxu secretly signaled her not to come closer, as it would make the act seem too fake. However, Xiaohua didn’t think Wei Tingxu was acting – she was already breaking out in cold sweat.
The driver and Xiaohua guided the carriage up the bridge together. Because the arch bridge was crowded and had no railings on either side, they walked very carefully, afraid of bumping into anyone and even more afraid the horse might get startled and fall. They struggled to clear a path for Wei Tingxu through the crowds of market-goers, flower-viewers, and wedding-goers.
Ah Liao followed behind Wei Tingxu and saw her suddenly stop at the highest point of the arch bridge.
“Tingxu?” Ah Liao called out and was about to grab her, but unexpectedly, Wei Tingxu collapsed sideways without warning.
“Tingxu!” By the time Xiaohua turned her head at Ah Liao’s frightened cry, it was too late.
Wei Tingxu fell from the bridge in the brief moment she lost consciousness, not knowing what had happened until water choked her nostrils, causing her to struggle as water rapidly rushed into her body.
Her body had not a trace of strength, and there was nothing nearby she could grab to control her sinking – her body sank extremely fast.
The voices of people grew distant as the whole world became increasingly blurry and painful. The feeling of suffocation wrapped tightly around her as water filled her unresistingly.
This was an unmistakably clear sensation of approaching death.
Would she die here? If she really died in this place, what an enormous joke it would be…
She seemed to return to that water prison in Rangchuan, where people had broken her legs and thrown her in, the water continuously rising while her legs had no strength, as she struggled at death’s edge with all her might.
Hell was just an inch beneath her feet.
No one came to save her.
…
A dark shadow drew closer, someone swimming toward her at extreme speed.
Wei Tingxu instinctively reached out toward that person, and just as their fingertips touched, she was firmly embraced.
She wrapped her arms around that person, clinging to her only lifeline.
That person could control their body freely in the water, carrying an adult without any disruption to their movement, legs kicking rapidly while one arm held Wei Tingxu and the other reached toward the surface.
A powerful waist drove them upward, quickly breaking through the water’s surface. The chaotic noise of the human world made Wei Tingxu dizzy, her limbs as soft as soup dumplings. Her rescuer turned her over to lie across bent legs, helping her expel all the water.
Xiaohua had wanted to jump in to save Wei Tingxu the moment she fell in, but by the time she had this thought, someone had already gone in.
Zhen Wenjun.
Xiaohua knew it was Zhen Wenjun who jumped into the water.
Zhen Wenjun had actually reacted faster than her.
Xiaohua had never doubted her own loyalty to Wei Tingxu, a loyalty that gave her the courage to risk her life without hesitation.
What she hadn’t expected was that there was someone in this world who could be even faster than her.
Zhen Wenjun naturally didn’t have such loyalty, but she had something else – instinct, the instinct to follow.
Ah Liao and Xiaohua stood on the shore watching as Zhen Wenjun unsurprisingly rescued Wei Tingxu, helping her expel the water. As a physician, she naturally knew how to provide aid, and Wei Tingxu soon regained consciousness.
The first thing she saw upon awakening was Zhen Wenjun, completely soaked, water still dripping from her hair tips.
Zhen Wenjun was catching her breath, and seeing the person in her arms finally out of danger and conscious, her tense expression slowly faded as she prepared to let go.
Wei Tingxu suddenly grabbed her collar.
“Don’t repay kindness with…” Before Zhen Wenjun could finish speaking, unexpectedly, Wei Tingxu forcefully embraced her.
Zhen Wenjun was slightly stunned, hearing the surrounding crowd’s discussion.
“Isn’t that General Zhen who eliminated the Lanwan Bandits [่่ ่ณ | lรกn wร n zรฉi]?”
“And isn’t that the Secretariat Supervisor in her arms?”
“They’re the first female-female married couple, aren’t they? Such devotion to risk life and death, they must truly be deeply in love.”
The more people talked, the redder Zhen Wenjun’s face became. When she tried to pry Wei Tingxu off herself, she discovered Wei Tingxu’s body was trembling uncontrollably.
She was silently terrified.
Zhen Wenjun sighed helplessly, lifted her up in her arms, and carried her into the carriage.
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