Fish Meat – Chapter 217
by Little PandaThe Fifth Year of Zhao Wu
Jointly Chasing The Lost Deer (13)
Xiaohua’s desperate resistance bought Wei Tingxu precious time to escape, but they still couldn’t break through the inescapable net cast by the Yao family. They remained trapped in the city, specifically in the mansion where Zhen Wenjun had seen them.
The mansion was heavily surrounded, and several attempts to break in had been repelled by Wei Tingxu’s remaining guards.
Those who had survived until now were all exceptionally skilled martial artists, each capable of taking on ten opponents. Gathered in the mansion, they were a force to be reckoned with, killing anyone who dared approach, regardless of their skill. The small mansion and the guards’ flesh and blood were Wei Tingxu’s last armor.
After several waves of attacks, the enemy had suffered significant losses. Perhaps due to fatigue from continuous fighting, their attacks became less frequent and intense, eventually ceasing altogether.
Until late into the night, there was only the sound of people moving outside the mansion, but no attacks.
Wei Tingxu had been waiting for Xiaohua to appear, just as she had countless times before in desperate situations. Xiaohua always managed to appear at the most dangerous and critical moments. Moreover, she had been a disciple of Master Chongguang1 since childhood, his last disciple. With years of diligent practice and a natural talent for martial arts, although her external martial arts skills might not be considered the absolute best, no one within the borders of the Yu Kingdom would dare to object if she were called a “top expert.”
She had always turned misfortune into good luck; it had always been that way.
But this time, she didn’t return.
The night grew deeper, and the wind outside grew stronger. Wei Tingxu sat in the main hall, wrapped in a thick blanket to ward off the cold. The guards split into two teams: one to monitor the surroundings, the other to search the mansion for food and water, and hopefully, something to provide warmth.
They found some steamed buns that had hardened like rocks and a water vat. They lit a charcoal brazier, warming the room slightly. Only slightly.
At this moment, Wei Tingxu realized that Xiaohua was dead. She wouldn’t be coming back.
Facing the bloody reality, she became completely clear-headed. Her mind, previously clouded by blood and flesh, revived.
“They’re deliberately not attacking.” Sitting before the charcoal brazier, Wei Tingxu’s words drew everyone’s attention, sending a chill down their spines.
The firelight from the brazier reflected in Wei Tingxu’s bright eyes, like a fire rising within them.
“We only have this many people left. The number of people outside could be a hundred times ours. Even if we hold our ground, this small mansion is just a small mansion, not the sturdy city walls of Runing. They have so many men and weapons. If they truly want to take our lives, why aren’t they attacking? Breaking through this small mansion would be more than enough for a thousand people.”
“That’s right,” someone agreed. “They can also fly! If they attacked directly from above, we wouldn’t be able to stop them!”
Another person said, “I’m afraid their bat wings can only be used once. I had the good fortune to carefully study the bat wings made by Commandant Zhangsun. They are very sturdy and can safely carry the weight of an adult man, allowing for repeated use four or five times. But these people’s bat wings are just imitations of the form; they can only be used once, or perhaps not even once. Several of them fell to their deaths when they descended.”
Wei Tingxu said, “Even if they can’t fly, a strong attack would certainly succeed. Everyone fears that delays may lead to trouble.”
“In your opinion, why aren’t they attacking?”
Wei Tingxu’s eyes gleamed. “I’m afraid someone has already disguised themselves as a member of the Wei family and gone to inform my second brother, saying that I’m trapped in Yanxing and need military support. This way, my second brother and Zhan Ying will definitely send troops to help.”
A guard was startled. “So that’s it! They’re using you to lure the main force here, so they can wipe them out in one fell swoop!”
Wei Tingxu vigorously rubbed her legs, bending and flexing them with gritted teeth, trying to restore feeling to them.
“We can’t stay here any longer, or we’ll only endanger the main force.”
“We will do whatever you command!”
Wei Tingxu looked in the direction of the darkness. “Once the reinforcements attack the city, they will have to deploy troops to defend it. When the enemy’s attention is divided, that will be our chance to escape. As soon as we hear the sound of the city being attacked, we’ll charge out. We must break through in one go and not delay. Every moment we delay will bring our comrades closer to danger. But let me be frank, I don’t think our chances of successfully escaping are very high. The most likely outcome is that we’ll all die here.”
Her words didn’t cause panic. Most of those present had experienced life-and-death situations and were well aware of the current situation.
“Charging out is death, but waiting here is even less likely to lead to survival,” someone said. “We’re just bait now. Once the big fish is hooked, how can we survive? It’s better to fight to the death; perhaps there’s a sliver of hope.”
“That’s right! We’ve been walking on the edge of a knife for so many years, what is there to fear? Don’t worry! As long as I have a breath left in me, I will escort you out of here!”
Wei Tingxu glanced at Li Feng and Ah Qiong, who were huddled in a corner. “It’s to escort the Emperor out.”
Li Feng was shivering in his sleep, vaguely hearing the sound of people talking, but he smacked his lips and didn’t bother to open his eyes.
“Yes!” The guards understood the priorities.
“After that, I met up with you.” Wei Tingxu finished her tea, her body warmed by the sun. “Thanks to your selfless help, I can now bask in the warm sun and drink this good tea.”
Zhen Wenjun shook her head. “Your life was saved by Xiaohua and all the guards working together…”
Hearing about Xiaohua’s death, Zhen Wenjun felt extremely uncomfortable.
The earlier years of her and Xiaohua’s rivalry, and her later guidance of Xiaohua’s external martial arts skills, all seemed vivid. Xiaohua had always been Wei Tingxu’s closest confidante. The trap set by Wei Tingxu and Wei Lun was unknown even to Lingbi, indicating its extreme secrecy. How many people in the Wei family knew about it? Xiaohua was one of them, demonstrating the level of trust Wei Tingxu had in her.
Wei Tingxu saw that Zhen Wenjun had something unsaid, hesitating, so she kept her gaze on her face, waiting for her to speak.
Zhen Wenjun indeed had a question she wanted to ask. Asking it after today might seem naive.
“Lingbi is dead, and Xiaohua is gone too. Your father and so many people from the Wei family have died for the Wei family’s great cause. Have you ever regretted it?”
“Regret?” The way these two words came out of Wei Tingxu’s mouth was not a question, but a rhetorical question.
Zhen Wenjun suddenly felt that even asking it now was very naive.
“I don’t regret it, and I can’t regret it. Otherwise, their deaths would be in vain.”
Wei Tingxu almost melted into the winter sunlight, but her words were more chilling and resolute than any harsh winter.
Zhen Wenjun had never seen anyone as contradictory as her, as if all the beauty and cruelty in the world were fused within her.
Harboring both deadly poison and beauty, weakness and bravery, a body as fragile as paper containing the most resolute soul in the world.
“If there were things that made me waver slightly before, Xiaohua’s departure is like an anchor2. I have never been as determined as I am today.”
The two sat until the sun gathered its last rays, and the temperature dropped sharply before leaving the courtyard.
After that, they didn’t say anything particularly special, didn’t talk about strategies or the future, just casually chatted about past events, about Lingbi and Xiaohua, as if they were two friends who had traveled far away and were temporarily not by their side.
The Wei Tingxu before the Yanxing siege was perfect, her calculations flawless, like a god residing high in the heavens. But after being besieged in Yanxing and losing Xiaohua, Zhen Wenjun also witnessed her most disheveled state, which made her even more real.
They talked about many past events, about the false age, and even about the name “Zhen Wenjun.”
“Did you come up with this name?” Zhen Wenjun asked as she carried her onto the four-wheeled cart and pushed her back to the room.
“Yes.”
“Why did you choose such a name?”
“Zhen3 is also false, and false is also true.”
“What kind of messy reason is that? What about the two characters ‘Wenjun’?”
“It’s a name I really like.”
Zhen Wenjun interrupted her before she could continue, fearing she might hear something like, “If I had a daughter, I would name her Wenjun.”
“Then the Wandering flower, was that also something you made up?”
“You probably don’t remember, but the first time you and I met was in a flower shop that specialized in Wandering flowers.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“Why would I lie to you? It was that small flower shop in Qi County, the one run by Old Xu that you often visited.”
At this point, Zhen Wenjun stopped in surprise, racking her brains, trying hard to remember. She remembered Old Xu’s shop. When she was still in Qi County, her adoptive father had passed away, and her mother had difficulty walking, so the task of purchasing seedlings was given to her. The Wandering flowers in Old Xu’s shop were very beautiful and expensive, specially supplied to wealthy young masters and ladies for their enjoyment. Although she liked them, she didn’t dare use the Xie family’s money for buying flowers to satisfy her own desires. In fact, she was a good money-maker at that time, but her mother didn’t let her show off her skills to avoid being targeted. So every time she passed Old Xu’s flower shop, she could only linger outside, looking and looking. She went often, but never bought.
“So you started observing me from that time?” Zhen Wenjun was surprised. She had thought that their first encounter was on the lonely boat on the Han River, separated by a hanging curtain, but it turned out to be even earlier than that.
Zhen Wenjun had an extraordinary talent. If she deliberately remembered someone, she wouldn’t forget them even after several years, let alone Wei Tingxu’s face. It was difficult to forget, even for someone with a bad memory. It was clear that Wei Tingxu must have been hiding in a very secluded place to observe her, without giving her any chance to notice.
“I needed to determine what kind of person you were, to confirm some things before I dared to bring you into the game. Otherwise, if you suddenly went out of control halfway through the plan, it wouldn’t be just my life at risk.”
“To determine if I was a person who valued relationships, to determine if I could be manipulated by you.”
Wei Tingxu did not deny it.
“So how long did you observe me in secret?”
“From the end of the fifth year of Shenchu until the sixth year of Shenchu, I was always in Qi County.”
After exposing Wei Tingxu’s scheme and personally killing Fang Huaiyuan, the two had a falling out for a period of time. Later, due to related interests, there were many interactions on the surface and undercurrents in private. Now that Wei Tingxu had rescued her mother and returned her, she realized that this was the first time the two of them had put down their guard, crossed the rift, and spoken frankly about past events.
She found that she was not so angry anymore.
She asked herself, if Wei Tingxu died in Yanxing, would she be happy, joyful, and feel that her revenge had been achieved? No, she wouldn’t. She would only be sad and regretful for the rest of her life.
“The fifth year of Shenchu, that was a long time ago. What was I like back then?”
Zhen Wenjun’s next words surprised Wei Tingxu.
She had thought that she would remain silent for a long time, thinking of many past events and feeling uncomfortable, but she didn’t expect her tone to be so relaxed.
“At that time, you were thin and dark, just a little dot. You weren’t noticeable at all in a crowd.”
“…”
“Who would have thought that that little dot would become today’s great general.”
Zhen Wenjun joked, “How come I remember that I was always a head taller than others my age? Don’t tell me you mistook someone else for me.”
“How could I have mistaken you? I observed you for a whole year. I know all your little habits.”
Zhen Wenjun suddenly thought of something. “Could it be that the refugees from Qi County entering the city was also your plan?”
Her words made Wei Tingxu laugh. “Do you really think I’m omnipotent? The refugees from Qi County entering the city was due to Xie Suishan’s stupidity, don’t blame it on me.”
Zhen Wenjun laughed. “Even if it was Xie Suishan’s stupidity before, your scheming against me and my mother afterward was real.”
“That’s the feud between our two families. Seriously,” Wei Tingxu turned to look at Zhen Wenjun, extremely serious, “if you want to kill me, I have no complaints. But can you give me a few years? The Wei family’s many years of effort and my father’s last wish cannot fail in my hands. Naturally, the great cause that the Wei family seeks is also my lifelong goal. Da Yu needs a strong central authority that can drive out foreign tribes and stabilize the four seas, a country where everyone can eat their fill, without Furong San, without Zuisheng Mengsi4, without famine, where everyone can display their talents and ambitions. I can quell the bandits and give the people a prosperous world. I can’t guarantee what will happen before that, or how many people will die.”
“Do you know that in the eyes of the people now, you are the evil person who disregards human life?”
“I don’t care about the voices of ants. I care about the plan for the ages, about the future that no one living today can see.”
Zhen Wenjun said, “It’s just that the master of that future won’t be surnamed Li.”
Wei Tingxu smiled. “I was once at the mercy of others. I understand that the only way to avoid being framed and abused in this world is to take control of it yourself, to make it the pen in your hand, to draw the world you desire. You must be thinking the same way now. You’ve always thought that way. Wenjun, when the next prosperous era arrives, you can take my life at any time.”
Footnotes
- 崇光大师 | Chóngguāng Dàshī
- 定海针 | dìng hǎi zhēn | Literally “sea-stabilizing needle”; a metaphor for something that provides stability and certainty
- 甄 | Zhēn | A homophone for “true” (真)
- 醉生梦死 | zuì shēng mèng sǐ | Literally “drunk in life, dreaming in death”; a phrase describing a life of dissipation and escapism, often associated with drug use
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