Fish Meat – Chapter 190

The Fourth Year of Zhao Wu

Secrets in the Sleeve (10)

When the carriage arrived at the gate of the Secretariat Supervisor’s residence, Ah Zhu, who was about to go out to welcome Wei Tingxu, found herself greeting two people instead.

            

“What happened to my lady!” Seeing Wei Tingxu unconscious in Zhen Wenjun’s arms with a terrible complexion, Ah Zhu rushed forward immediately, followed by all the household servants swarming around.

“She fell in the water,” Zhen Wenjun didn’t want to explain much, “Move aside, she can’t breathe with everyone crowding here.”

Ah Zhu and the others hurriedly made way. Seeing this person who had left the residence right after the grand wedding – and whom they didn’t know whether to address as lord or madam – carrying their lady so brazenly into the residence, Ah Zhu wanted to stop them but felt it inappropriate. Only after Ah Liao shook her head in signal did she retreat to the side with peace of mind.

            

Though Zhen Wenjun hadn’t lived in the Secretariat Supervisor’s residence for long, she had been involved in most of its design and arrangements. After the wedding, almost nothing had changed. Following the corridor and turning two corners, they reached the main courtyard, where she pushed open the bedroom door with one foot and placed Wei Tingxu on the bed.

After lying flat, Wei Tingxu had another bout of violent coughing, clutching her chest in pain with furrowed brows.

Zhen Wenjun helped her remove the half-dried clothes and threw them to the ground, glancing at the wound on her chest which clearly hadn’t fully healed.

            

This wound was Zhen Wenjun’s doing, she knew well. With proper care, it shouldn’t have left any lasting illness, but looking at the current situation, Wei Tingxu had likely started running around scheming before the wound had properly healed. After checking her tongue coating and taking her pulse, she found signs of yang deficiency and depleted orifices. She probably hadn’t been eating well and had stomach discomfort for some time, yet she still dragged such a sick body around plotting against others.

Her constitution was already poor, yet she showed no regard for taking care of herself…

Zhen Wenjun searched the room but found no medicine, so she had to go to the kitchen. She remembered there was a whole wall of medicines there – her suggestion from before, thinking that since Wei Tingxu’s health was poor and she knew some medicine herself, she could help nurse her back to health gradually.

            

She went to the kitchen to gather medicines and instructed a servant to decoct them. The servant held the medicine somewhat uncertainly, but then Xiaohua came in and took it, silently placing it in a bowl and adding water to boil.

Zhen Wenjun didn’t exchange a word with her. When she returned to the room with external medicine, she found Ah Liao was already there.

She put down the medicine box and was about to leave when Ah Liao quickly grabbed her.

            

“You’re the one she wants to see when she wakes up.” Ah Liao rarely spoke with such earnest sincerity, and after a moment’s hesitation, Zhen Wenjun stayed.

“I also have some questions for her,” Zhen Wenjun sat back down, opening the medicine box while speaking expressionlessly.

“Mm-hmm, you ask away.” Ah Liao tactfully disappeared quickly, closing the door behind her as she left.

            

Zhen Wenjun spread the medicine on the medicinal patch, heated it over the oil lamp, and after testing the temperature with her finger, slowly applied it to Wei Tingxu’s chest. The comfortable warmth penetrated the agonizing wound, gradually transforming from external heat into internal clarity. The heavy stone that had been pressing on her chest for days seemed to dissolve, and her breathing became much smoother.

Wei Tingxu slowly opened her eyes to see Zhen Wenjun, her hair still wet.

Zhen Wenjun quickly withdrew her hand, lowering her head to organize the medicine box: “You were willing to risk your life just to fool Empress Dowager Geng’s spies. Fortunately, I reacted quickly enough, or else I wouldn’t have even gotten a glimpse of your three hundred thousand troops before they were lost. Oh well, even if I hadn’t been there, Xiaohua could have saved you. Now that she’s cured of the Ghost Pigeon Poison, forget about the little moat – even if you fell into the sea, she could blow up the ocean to fish you out. I was just being meddlesome.”

            

Wei Tingxu remained silent, just watching Zhen Wenjun ramble on.

Zhen Wenjun snapped the medicine box shut, realizing Wei Tingxu had been watching her for who knows how long. Their eyes met briefly before Zhen Wenjun looked away.

“I’ve left the prescription with Xiaohua, along with the external medicine in this box. Apply it once in the morning and once in the evening, and if possible, once at noon would be even better. Though I suppose the Secretariat Supervisor not only has to compile histories but also scheme against the Zuo family, and probably hasn’t even begun plans against the Bo and Lin families, so you likely won’t have time.”

            

Wei Tingxu smiled slightly and tried to speak, but before the words came out, she was seized by another bout of violent coughing.

Zhen Wenjun frowned, tightening the robe she had changed Wei Tingxu into while unconscious, and properly covering the corner of the blanket that had been lifted for applying medicine.

“Wouldn’t letting me drown today have been exactly what you wanted?” Wei Tingxu said, “You who are now a stranger to me, why did you save me?”

            

“I didn’t save you – I saved those three hundred thousand troops and the future of all under heaven.”

Wei Tingxu showed an expression rarely seen on her face—confusion.

“Setting aside prejudices against the Li family and Wei family, from what I’ve seen and felt, I too understand what the chaotic Da Yu truly needs now. Just like your recent schemes against me, they reflect your plans for this empire.” Zhen Wenjun calmly interpreted Wei Tingxu, “You don’t want to mend the sky [補天 | bǔ tiān | fix what’s broken], you want an entirely new world. Only in a new world can you truly exercise your abilities and rebuild everything.”

            

Wei Tingxu’s chest rose and fell slightly, her breathing smooth, the urge to cough no longer distinct. What was distinct were Zhen Wenjun’s bright eyes.

“You would wholeheartedly lend me your strength,” Wei Tingxu asked her, “Wouldn’t you?”

“If we had been mere strangers passing by, I would. But unfortunately…” There was a glimmer in the corner of Zhen Wenjun’s eyes as she turned away from the person who caused her pain, facing the hanging curtain instead.

            

“You’re angry that I used you.”

“No.” Zhen Wenjun denied firmly, “I said, after that sword thrust, everything from the past was erased for me. But I can’t trust you anymore. Every word you say now, every expression you make, I see ulterior motives in them all. When it’s genuine feeling and when it’s pretense, I can’t tell. What about you?” Zhen Wenjun asked her,

“Can you tell the difference yourself?”

            

Ah Liao sat bored in the pavilion outside, twisting two blades of grass between her fingers to make a grasshopper. When Zhen Wenjun came out, Ah Liao poked the grasshopper’s bottom, and the woven grass creature seemed to come alive, suddenly hopping into the grass.

“How’s Tingxu? Is she alright?” Ah Liao asked, “Is she awake?”

Zhen Wenjun nodded with lowered head, walking toward the bamboo grove in the distance, pushing through it to return to the Zhuo Jun Mansion.

            

Seeing Zhen Wenjun’s low spirits and hint of resentment, Ah Liao quickly followed, also passing through the bamboo grove, brushing off bamboo leaves from her hair as she followed behind: “Tingxu truly fainted and fell into the water by accident today, she wasn’t scheming against you.”

In Ah Liao’s view, there was no reason for anyone to be angry at a beauty in this world. No matter how big the issue, one smile from a beauty would dispel all anger—how could anyone bear to speak coldly to her?

Just as Ah Liao was about to persuade her further, Zhen Wenjun suddenly turned around and shouted: “Wei Tingxu has been crafty and scheming for ages! She manipulated me and my mother before, and now she’s making a big show of being weak, trying to lure me back to good terms? She’s dreaming!”

            

Ah Liao was stunned by this outburst, but then noticed Zhen Wenjun blinking repeatedly, realizing someone was eavesdropping on their conversation. She quickly caught on and stammered, playing along: “Y-you shouldn’t say that. How could Tingxu be acting? She’s truly weak! Otherwise, how could she fall off the bridge for no reason? She’s risking her own life here!”

Zhen Wenjun secretly gave a thumbs up, then raised her voice: “You don’t need to say anything more, I won’t trust her again. Cough cough cough…” Zhen Wenjun coughed as she went inside to change clothes, leaving Ah Liao stunned.

Why was she coughing too?

            

Was this cough real or fake?

Caught in this web of schemes, Ah Liao felt she might split into pieces if this continued much longer.

Ten days later, Left Minister Zuo Yun stood perfectly straight but fast asleep during morning court, his snores thunderous. Li Yanyi and all the ministers in the Taiji Hall were astounded. Someone stepped forward to wake him, but as soon as they touched him, he collapsed with a loud “bang” on the ground.

            

Everyone gathered around, even Li Yanyi came down from the dragon throne, looking at Zuo Yun lying on the ground as if dead.

Moments later, the snoring resumed. The court officials were greatly confused, and even Li Yanyi had never heard of such a thing—how could someone sleep so deeply?

A few days later, Zuo Yun was sleeping like the dead at home, finding it extremely difficult to wake up each day, never getting enough sleep. During a moment of consciousness, he hurriedly wrote a retirement letter to Li Yanyi, stating he had contracted a strange illness that kept him perpetually sleepy. Fearing his life wouldn’t last long, he could no longer serve in a crucial position and wished to take his family back to his hometown to spend his remaining days, hoping for the Emperor’s gracious approval.

            

Li Yanyi certainly didn’t want to approve it, really didn’t want to approve it, but Zuo Yun was indeed ill. Li Yanyi personally brought imperial physicians to examine him several times. During the diagnoses, he remained asleep the entire time, drooling. The imperial physicians said they had never heard of such a strange illness before and weren’t confident they could cure it, only able to prescribe some medicine to try.

After force-feeding him medicine for over a month until his belly was bloated, Zuo Yun showed no signs of improvement.

He wasn’t pretending, and had no reason to pretend.

            

Zuo Yun had barely served as Left Minister for any time at all. The Zuo family, Lin family, Bo family, and the soon-to-be-elevated Geng family were about to form a network of four great families to severely suppress the Wei family and Zhangsun family. Yet at this crucial moment, a hole had been burned in the network, letting in a cold draft that chilled Li Yanyi’s heart.

Since Lin Quan’s death, the Lin family’s resources had thinned, with fewer and fewer capable talents available. The current Minister of Justice Lin Qi barely matched his high position’s requirements, though under Li Yanyi’s personal supervision, he at least hadn’t made any major mistakes. There was one called Lin Yue who showed outstanding qualities, but it was said he had some past entanglement with Zhen Wenjun, and there were fears he might turn coat at a crucial moment – that would be like lifting a stone only to drop it on one’s own feet. After some thought, Li Yanyi crossed Lin Yue’s name off the list of candidates.

After crossing off seven or eight more names, the Lin family had no one left to use.

            

The Zuo family and Geng family had several young talents, but they were all military officers, completely unsuitable for the position of Left Minister.

What remained was the Bo family.

Bo Lan had several brothers, the eldest Bo Yuan being forty-two this year, scholarly and refined, with extraordinary wisdom and strategy, very suitable for the position of Left Minister. If this had been a month ago, Li Yanyi would certainly have had him replace Zuo Yun.

            

But now that wouldn’t work.

Li Yanyi put down the cinnabar brush and rubbed her tired eyes.

The ice mountain used for cooling in the corner of the room had melted into a puddle, and Zhuiyue Army soldiers were cleaning up and replacing it with a new one.

            

If only selecting officials could be as simple as replacing cooling devices.

When first employing the Bo family, Li Yanyi had concerns, after all, Bo Lan and Zhangsun Wu had once been close. But at that time, Li Yanyi had no one else to use, and the Path of Ten Thousand Directions was a world-renowned major project that needed someone with both energy and experience to lead it, and more importantly, someone smart enough not to be led by the nose by Wei Tingxu.

Bo Lan’s father was the Grand Master of Ceremonies, but being advanced in age, he could no longer take charge of the Path of Ten Thousand Directions. Bo Lan had been helping in the Court of State Ceremonial for years, influenced by the environment, learned and intelligent – Li Yanyi was very satisfied with him—except for his friendship with Zhangsun Wu.

            

Li Yanyi had investigated him before. Bo Lan was greedy for money and fond of pleasure, and his friendship with Zhangsun Wu was limited to visiting courtesans together, not any deep bond of brotherhood.

Once someone has desires, they become easy to control. Since Bo Lan liked men, Li Yanyi sent them to him by the carriage-load for his selection; he liked various precious gems, so Li Yanyi rewarded him chest after chest, letting his Grand Master of Ceremonies residence enjoy daily luxuries of fine clothes, jade, food, and wine.

Bo Lan’s father couldn’t control him, the Emperor showered him with endless favor, and now with complete authority over the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, in his prime years, Bo Lan at the peak of his life had inexhaustible energy. Gradually, the male companions at home could no longer satisfy him.

            

He still liked to seek pleasure in the Willow Lane, still enjoyed spending fortunes there, making those young male entertainers who claimed they only sold their art, not their bodies, eventually submit to him with gratitude.

Li Yanyi naturally had no interest in his pleasure-seeking activities. As long as he could properly keep Wei Tingxu in check and complete the Path of Ten Thousand Directions well, everything else was irrelevant, provided he wasn’t discovered and didn’t cause trouble. But a few days ago, when Bo Lan held a birthday celebration for his father, Zhangsun Wu reportedly attended to offer congratulations. With so many witnesses present that day, this news naturally reached Li Yanyi’s ears.

Li Yanyi sensed something suspicious, again feeling that troublesome, inexplicable entanglement, so she had Guang Shaoling follow Bo Lan and report on his every move and action.

            

Bo Lan took one rest day each month, and on that day, he would invariably visit Willow Lane.

Guang Shaoling changed into men’s clothing, appearing every bit a noble family’s young master, and followed him into the largest establishment in all of Runing – the Southern Wind House, where he found Bo Lan.

Bo Lan was elaborately dressed, wearing a black gauze hat and face covering, not wanting anyone to recognize him as the current Grand Master of Ceremonies. Even in these days when same-sex marriage was permitted, a Grand Master of Ceremonies visiting such an establishment would still face fierce criticism if discovered.

            

Most visitors to the Southern Wind House came in disguise, so he wasn’t particularly conspicuous.

One by one, fresh and beautiful young male entertainers appeared on stage, while the young masters below and on the second floor began raising fans to indicate their bids. The bidding fans came in gold and silver varieties – each raise of a silver fan meant adding one hundred taels, a gold fan one thousand taels. Bo Lan didn’t even lift his eyelids for the first dozen or so entertainers; he came today only for “Xiao Shi” [小史 | xiǎo shǐ].

Finally, Xiao Shi, whom all the young masters desired, took the stage, truly beautiful enough to topple a nation. After Bo Lan raised his gold fan several times, only one person continued to compete with him. After a few more bids, the opponent suddenly raised the price by five thousand taels, causing a commotion in the hall, and Bo Lan fell silent. He knew he couldn’t be too conspicuous now, or he might be recognized.

            

Xiao Shi’s first night was bought by that person for twelve thousand taels, setting a record price for the Southern Wind House.

However, that person didn’t keep Xiao Shi for himself, but intended to gift him to another.

“Grand Master Bo.” Zhangsun Wu stood up from below, pointing to Bo Lan in the farthest corner of the second floor, “A small token from an old friend, I hope the Grand Master won’t find it beneath him.”

            

As soon as Zhangsun Wu spoke these words, whispers erupted throughout the establishment. Bo Lan’s face changed dramatically as he quickly covered it and left.

Guang Shaoling, who witnessed everything, also left and reported all events to Li Yanyi.

“Twelve thousand taels to break one of Li Yanyi’s legs – worth it.”

            

That night, Zhangsun Wu came for a secret meeting with Wei Tingxu. Learning that the plan had proceeded smoothly, Wei Tingxu flicked the already rolled memorial on the table: “At tomorrow’s morning court, let this Li dynasty’s realm be turned upside down.”

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