Fish Meat – Chapter 215
by Little PandaThe Fifth Year of Zhao Wu
Jointly Chasing The Lost Deer (11)
“Yes, frequently.”
The four-wheeled cart was covered with thick, warm fur, and there was also a soft blanket. Xiaohua used to arrange it this way, identical to the one Wei Tingxu had once ridden.
The four-wheeled cart rolled over the stone-paved road and came to a quiet stop beside Wei Tingxu. Zhen Wenjun sat down at Wei Tingxu’s side, looked up at the rare clear blue sky of winter, and rolled up her sleeves to reveal the iron bracers she always wore. The once-new iron bracers were now very old, covered with scratches from swords and blades.
“The iron bracers have saved me many times. Every time she saves my life, I offer her a cup of wine,” Zhen Wenjun said. “I’ve fought several battles these past few years, and I haven’t lost many. It’s not because I’m particularly brilliant at deploying troops and commanding generals, but because I always remember one thing, something Lingbi taught me with her life. I cannot be soft-hearted.”
Initially, because of old affections, she had let Ah Xun go once. In return, Lingbi died tragically. Even now, recalling that long, rainy night in the eleventh year of Shenchu, she felt unbearable heartache. If she could have one chance, she would definitely risk her life to save Lingbi’s.
But there was no such chance.
“Just on the way to Runing, I fought several battles with Chongjin. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are also many women and children around thirteen or fourteen years old in Chongjin’s army. This time, Chongjin was indeed determined to take Runing and mobilized the strength of their entire tribe. Once, I captured more than six thousand people, half of whom were women and children.”
“And then?”
“There was no ‘and then.’ I killed them all.”
Wei Tingxu made no comment.
“After killing them, I drank with Bu Jie, Zhu Maosan, Ah Xi, and the others. I drank a little too much. I asked them if I did the right thing, that I should have spared those prisoners, since they were all women and children. Bu Jie said that on the battlefield, there is never right or wrong, only life and death. Those people may seem like women and children, but so what? They are still soldiers and will still kill with swords, no different from men. The Chongjin people are fierce and warlike. They won’t be grateful if you spare them, they will only look for an opportunity to kill you again. If the general is soft-hearted today and spares their lives, tomorrow it will be the people of Da Yu who die. The general is merely exchanging the lives of the foreign wolves who invaded our Da Yu for the lives of innocent Da Yu citizens.”
Wei Tingxu: “Bu Jie is right. In fact, you already understand this in your heart. It’s just that you’ve heard so many stories of benevolence and kindness since childhood, and you are naturally a kind person. Killing women and children is somewhat contradictory to your understanding.”
Zhen Wenjun looked at her and smiled gently: “If it were before, I would have thought you were cold-blooded, and your words were meant to punish the heart. But Lingbi’s death and being in this chaotic world for these years have taught me that it is right to not change one’s original intention, and it is also right to carve a ruthless heart. The mistake is not distinguishing the occasion, and the mistake is being lenient to the wrong person.”
“Was it because of Lingbi’s last request that you showed mercy with that sword of yours back then?”
“I don’t want to answer that question.”
Wei Tingxu’s shoulders shrugged slightly, probably wanting to laugh but not daring to laugh too hard, fearing that her wounds, which hadn’t fully healed, would split open.
“You, who used to speak without reservation, now know how to refuse. Wenjun, you’ve grown up.”
“I never told you, I’m twenty-two this year.”
“Yes, you’re four years younger than me.”
As expected, she had always known, she knew everything.
“I think of Lingbi every day, and these days I also think of Xiaohua more often. I remember when the two of them accompanied me on my travels throughout Da Yu, they were only half-grown children, working hard and caring for me without complaint, never saying a word of resentment. They were my companions who grew up with me since childhood, and also my important right and left hands. You know, my legs have always been inconvenient, and they were also my legs, taking me to many, many places. Whether you believe it or not, I thought that after completing my great undertaking, I would let them be free to do what they liked, leave me, leave Runing, even leave Da Yu, it would be fine. I wouldn’t interfere with anything they did. Lingbi liked to travel among mountains and rivers, and Xiaohua liked cooking. I originally thought…”
This was only half a sentence, Wei Tingxu didn’t finish it, and Zhen Wenjun was waiting for her to speak.
There was no continuation.
The two sat in the sunlight, and for a long time, neither of them spoke.
Zhen Wenjun got up and brought over a brazier and placed a tea kettle1 on it, to boil water. When the water was slightly boiling, she pinched some salt and sprinkled it on top, then slowly skimmed off the foam.
Wei Tingxu leaned her head against the vermilion-lacquered pillar, her eyelids heavy: “You know how to brew tea.”
“Yes.” When the water boiled again, she scooped out a spoonful of water, added the already brewed and ground tea leaves2. “I watched Xiaohua brew tea for you, and this is how she did it.” When the water boiled for the third time3, the spoonful of water that had been scooped out earlier was poured back in, and the tea was considered brewed. Zhen Wenjun poured the tea and the *tanghua*4 into a teacup and handed it to Wei Tingxu:
“It should be to your taste.”
Wei Tingxu took the teacup and looked at it for a moment: “This teacup, you brought it out from Zhuojun Mansion.”
“Yes,” Zhen Wenjun said. “After Runing was captured, I returned to Runing through the underground waterways to look for Ah Mu. I didn’t find Ah Mu, so I went to Zhuojun Mansion.”
“How was Zhuojun Mansion?”
“It had also been looted, I only found two teacups.”
“This is mine.”
“Yes.”
“Where is yours?”
“In the box in the room.”
“Thank you.”
“What is there to thank?”
“Thank you for rescuing it. It proves that Zhuojun Mansion once existed.”
Zhen Wenjun pouted and said nothing.
Wei Tingxu quietly finished the tea. After putting down the teacup, a wave of warmth spread from her throat into her body, bringing some warmth and comfort to her body, which had been frozen for many days.
She said: “Xiaohua’s death, the death of many loyal guards of the Wei family, was my mistake.”
The attack on Runing was the most important event at the end of the fifth year of Zhaowu, and it was a crucial link in Wei Tingxu’s plans.
At the beginning of Li Yanyi’s enthronement, before Wei Tingxu went to Road to Ten Thousan Directions, she had already found Li Feng. Li Feng was indeed a descendant of Li Ao. He should have been a phoenix among men, a crown prince raised in the palace without worries about food and clothing, but he was reduced to stealing rice and grain everywhere in Yanxing.
After finding Li Feng, she remained passive, waiting for an opportunity, the opportunity of Da Yu’s internal chaos.
The weakness of the central government was known to all. Even though Li Yanyi was diligent in government affairs and forcefully promoted reforms, these reforms were merely paving the way for Wei Tingxu’s entry into officialdom and could not prevent the collapse of the Yu5 dynasty’s edifice. All the feudal lords were secretly building up their strength. As soon as Li Yanyi died, the fate of the young heir would ignite the final fuse. Wei Tingxu had been waiting for the internal strife of the feudal lords, waiting for them to consume each other before revealing her trump card.
Initially, Bo Chishen had won several victories in the north, and Chongjin came to offer tribute and sue for peace. Wei Tingxu saw all this and guessed that it was a conspiracy by the Chongjin people, aiming to make the Da Yu central government relax its vigilance. Wei Tingxu had anticipated that Chongjin was determined to succeed this time, but the speed and ferocity of Chongjin’s southward advance were beyond expectations. Wei Lun’s suicide not only saved the Wei family from Li Yanyi, who had gone on a killing spree after being poisoned, but also coincidentally avoided the attack of the Chongjin army.
In recent years, Wei Tingxu had eliminated her confidant, Xie Fuchen, and also successfully killed Li Yanyi, which greatly boosted morale. All that remained was to send Li Feng back to Runing, and their Wei family would occupy the best position.
Wei Jing’an had always been the vanguard. He led the troops at the forefront and moved very quickly. Zhangsun Wu led the main force closely behind. Wei Tingxu, with more than ten thousand soldiers, did not follow the main force, but took another route to avoid attention and ensure safety.
Wei Tingxu advanced unhurriedly along the safe path cleared by Wei Jing’an. The journey to Runing was long and tedious, so she began to organize a list of all the military generals and strategists of the Wei family and the Zhangsun family, as well as the civil officials who could be placed in the central government in the future.
After counting, she was very worried about one thing. The two families had many capable military generals, and both the direct line and the collateral branches were very united. This was the strongest point of the two families.
But they also had a weakness.
Although there were many strategists, there was not a single outstanding one, a prodigy who could determine the outcome with one move.
Seeing Zhen Wenjun’s rapid development in recent years, she knew that Bu Jie had played a crucial role, which made Wei Tingxu’s desire for a capable strategist even stronger.
Cao Fei of Yanxing was the first choice of strategist she wanted to recruit.
Initially, she had intended to recruit Cao Fei and sent countless people to persuade him, but all failed. This had nothing to do with whether Zhen Wenjun was interfering. Zhen Wenjun herself had also failed to obtain Cao Fei. Cao Fei was eventually recruited by the Marquis of Fan County. This marquis quickly established his own power after Chongjin broke through Runing, becoming a local hegemon.
Yanxing, as a small county town near Runing, was a strategic fortress that could be used for both attack and defense.
It would be easy for their Wei family and the Zhangsun family to become fatigued from driving straight in from the south, and Runing was definitely heavily guarded, and it was absolutely impossible to capture it in a short time. Wei Tingxu ordered Wei Jing’an and Zhangsun Wu to go first and launch a surprise attack while Runing was unprepared. It would be best if they could succeed, but if they couldn’t, they should not engage in a hard battle.
She wanted to take Yanxing as a stronghold. It was highly likely that Runing would not be so easy to capture, and the army would have a place to retreat to if they had Yanxing. And as long as Yanxing was in hand, it could be connected with many cities in the south, and then it would be a good opportunity to point the sword at Runing. Once the true dragon returned to his position, what would be the point of those local feudal lords?
Thus, the troops were divided into two groups. Wei Tingxu led more than 10,000 people and moved very slowly, heading towards the small county town of Yanxing.
Wei Jing’an knew that his sister was intelligent, but after all, she had no experience in leading troops and fighting battles. Although Yanxing was small, she could think of its importance, and others could also think of it. It was probably not so easy to take. Before leaving, Wei Jing’an left behind Wei Xian6, who had followed him for many years and had extensive experience in attacking cities as a private soldier, to help Wei Tingxu clear the way.
This Wei Xian was the nephew of the concubine-born elder brother of Wei Lun’s father. He was eight chi7 tall, was born with divine strength, and had a tiger’s back and a wolf’s waist8. He was very brave and was best at fighting on horseback. Every time the vanguard was formed, his name was sure to be on the list. Wei Jing’an left Wei Xian behind and instructed him before leaving to obey Wei Tingxu’s arrangements no matter what.
Wei Xian was solely focused on rushing to Runing and tearing off the heads of a few *Saohu*9 to vent his anger. He did not expect, as they were about to reach Runing, that Zilian would leave him with that crippled sister to attack some Yanxing! What kind of attack did that small county town of Yanxing need? The city walls made of small mud bricks would break after a couple of hits. Anyone could be sent. Why was he, great talent, being used in this minor, unimportant matter? Could it be that Zilian had some issue with him!
Wei Xian had a belly full of anger but had nothing to say. After all, the Wei family was now powerful. If they could really gain power in the central government, he could also get a lot of benefits. Moreover, he had heard that Zizhuo sister had contributed a lot over the years. After all, she was of the direct line and had become some kind of first female official. She could be considered someone who had a say in the family.
Wei Xian comforted himself for a while and then stayed by Wei Tingxu’s side. He came to the outskirts of Yanxing, set up a large camp, and worked with Wei Tingxu overnight to develop a plan to attack the city. Everything was ready, just waiting for the report from the spies, and they would attack Yanxing at dawn tomorrow.
But just as the sky was about to break, Wei Xian, who had already mounted his horse, received the order to stay put. This order really puzzled him.
It turned out that the spies had reported back that the person defending the city this time was Cao Fei.
Hadn’t Cao Fei already left Yanxing for Fan County? How could he appear here again?
This doubt was answered after a slight turn of thought.
Everyone saw the importance of Yanxing. Wei Tingxu wanted it, and others certainly didn’t want to give it. In order to prevent the Wei family from ascending to the top, the Marquis of Fan County sent Cao Fei to guard this place. After all, Cao Fei was a native of Yanxing and had all the advantages of the weather, geography, and people in defending the city.
Wei Tingxu knew that Wei Xian was valiant. She was afraid that under his strong attack, it would not only be the city gates of Yanxing that would not be preserved, but also Cao Fei’s life. Even if Cao Fei was not killed in the chaotic battle, he was very likely to commit suicide after the city fell to thank his lord.
She didn’t want Cao Fei to die in Yanxing; she wanted to win over this strategist.
To be on the safe side, the attack plan was temporarily canceled. Wei Tingxu was planning to take a long-term approach when someone suddenly came to report that Wei Xian had led troops to Yanxing and was forcibly attacking the city.
Upon hearing this, Wei Tingxu knew that Wei Xian had disobeyed her orders and had gone out on his own. Wei Tingxu ordered Xiaohua and the army to rush to Yanxing to provide support. When she arrived at Yanxing, she saw that Wei Xian was indeed formidable. With only three thousand soldiers, he had broken through the city gates and had not killed Cao Fei, but had merely placed him under house arrest in a small house.
Wei Xian said: “Does Zizhuo sister think I’m a simple-minded brute? I could tell long ago that you wanted this person as a strategist. Now I’m giving him to you!”
Wei Tingxu ordered Xiaohua to lead people to search inside and outside the city. After the search, she walked into the small house.
Cao Fei was sitting upright in the house, drinking wine as if no one else was present.
After drinking six cups in a row, he was slightly tipsy. He finally put down the wine goblet.
“I’ve always wanted to see your true face but never had the chance. I’ve finally seen you this time. You are much younger than I thought,” Cao Fei’s voice was loud and clear, not like an ordinary weak scholar, but like someone who practiced martial arts. “But unfortunately, you and I are on different paths and cannot work together10. Please return.”
Before Wei Tingxu could speak, Wei Xian, standing aside, sneered: “You pretentious old thief, trying to gain some advantage. You have no say in this matter now. This Yanxing has already been captured by our Wei family. Your dog life is in my hands. If I want you to live, you live. If I want you to die, there are eighteen roads to the underworld, choose any you like!”
Cao Fei looked coldly at Wei Tingxu: “Is this also the meaning of the Wei female master?”
Xiaohua stood beside Wei Tingxu, wearing a tough suit of soft armor, holding a newly forged heavy hammer. If Cao Fei dared to make trouble, she would smash his head in the first instant.
Wei Tingxu did not contradict Wei Xian: “Today, you held firm until the last moment, repaying your loyalty to Lord Shang. Lord Shang’s Cao *Gong*11 is dead. Now Cao Gong is my, Wei Zizhuo’s, strategist.”
Cao Fei laughed loudly: “Are you asking Cao to be a two-surname family servant12?”
“Cao Gong changing masters is precisely to support the true dragon. The people of the world will only praise Cao Gong for forsaking darkness for light, and praise Cao Gong’s loyalty and courage. Even if some gossipy rustics say a few idle words, why should Cao Gong take it to heart?”
Cao Fei narrowed his eyes and looked at Wei Tingxu: “Truly sharp-tongued and eloquent. If I don’t submit today, what will you do?”
“Naturally, kill you.”
Cao Fei sneered: “Insolent brat!”
“Cao Gong has ambushed a thousand assassins around the hut. They are waiting for the wine goblet that Cao Gong never lets go of to fall to the ground, and then the assassins will emerge from the shadows and chop me into mincemeat. Is that what Cao Gong is thinking?”
Cao Fei’s gaze sharpened.
Xiaohua tossed a round object beside Cao Fei. It was a human head.
Cao Fei recognized it. This person was the leader of the axemen he had ambushed around the hut.
“Cao Gong’s last move has been dismantled by me,” Wei Tingxu said, enunciating each word clearly. “Cao Gong, do not betray my good intentions. A person only has one life. If you choose the wrong direction, there is no turning back.”
Cao Fei’s smiling face sank. His unrestrained smile underwent an obvious change, becoming a smug grin hidden beneath the skin and muscles. This change made him seem like a different person.
This was his true face, a sinister viper.
“In the end, you are too young and arrogant. You should know the principle that there is always a sky beyond the sky, and a person beyond a person13. Today, I will teach you a good lesson. I hope you will remember it.” Cao Fei stroked his thick, black beard. Outside the house, there was a sudden burst of screams, followed by continuous wails of agony.
Wei Tingxu looked up, and the roof tiles shattered. Dozens of soldiers wearing bat-wing suits charged down into the small house.
The scene outside the house, which she could not see, was even more spectacular. Tens of thousands of “bats” glided down from the sky, bringing with them clouds of arrows. Wherever they went, Wei family soldiers were shot and killed.
A pair of blades had already reached Wei Tingxu. Xiaohua shouted loudly, and the heavy hammer danced in the air, knocking away all the approaching assassins.
“Go!”
Footnotes
- 茶铫 | cháo diào | A specific type of kettle used for brewing tea, often made of earthenware or metal
- 茶末 | chá mò | Finely ground tea leaves, often used in Tang Dynasty tea brewing methods, in contrast to the later use of whole tea leaves, and slowly stirred with bamboo tongs竹筴 | zhú jiā | Bamboo tongs or chopsticks used in the tea brewing process, to avoid imparting any metallic taste to the tea
- 三沸 | sān fèi | “Three boils” refers to a specific stage in Tang Dynasty tea brewing, describing the different appearances of the boiling water and their corresponding actions
- 汤花 | tānghuā | The foam or ‘bloom’ that forms on the surface of properly brewed tea; in ancient times, the patterns and longevity of the tanghua were considered indications of the tea’s quality and the brewer’s skill
- 聿室 | Yùshì | Refers to the ruling house/dynasty of Da Yu; ‘Shi’ means ‘house’ or ‘chamber’, metaphorically representing the dynasty
- 卫先 | Wèi Xiān
- 尺 | chǐ | A traditional Chinese unit of length, approximately 33 cm or 13 inches. Eight chi would be roughly 2.64 meters or 8.6 feet
- 虎背狼腰 | hǔbèi láng yāo | A descriptive phrase for someone with a strong and imposing physique
- 骚胡 | sāohú | A derogatory term for northern nomadic tribes, often carrying connotations of barbarity and uncivilized behavior
- 道不同不相为谋 | dào bù tóng bù xiāng wéi móu | A quote from Confucius’ Analects, meaning ‘Those whose principles differ cannot work together’
- 曹公 | Cáo Gōng | Gong is a term of high respect and authority, translating into Duke, but context and position of this individual is more like Lord/Sir/Master; it can be used for an official, advisor, or someone highly respected
- 两姓家奴 | liǎng xìng jiā nú | A derogatory term for someone who serves two masters, implying disloyalty and lack of integrity
- 天外有天，人外有人 | tiān wài yǒu tiān, rén wài yǒu rén | A proverb meaning there is always someone better or something greater; there are always limits to one’s knowledge and abilities
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