Fish Meat – Chapter 247

The Tenth Year of Shunde

Like Snapping Dried Twigs and Pulling Up Rotten Wood (14)

The army’s main camp was heavily guarded, especially near the commander’s quarters, with layers of checkpoints and sounding night watches. Forget assassins; even a fly would be spotted clearly. Other areas were also guarded, but on rotation. Yao Zhaoyi had always been watched by Xiao Xiao. Being a disabled person unable to walk, Xiao Xiao wasn’t worried about her running off, so the watch wasn’t overly diligent.

            

Who could have imagined the Yao family would send someone to kill her.

The one who killed her was a Yao family member!

The previous night, Xiao Xiao had helped Yao Zhaoyi wash her hair, taking great effort to comb out her tangled long hair. Yao Zhaoyi lay there, silent as usual. Xiao Xiao had always been talkative, capable of chatting all night without needing a response.

            

“We’re about to attack Da County. Tomorrow we’ll have soup noodles​¹, the kind with meat slices. I’ll save a bowl for you.”

Huaiyang and Nanya were adjacent, so their dietary habits were similar; naturally, she knew what flavors Yao Zhaoyi liked. Xiao Xiao knew Yao Zhaoyi definitely liked soup noodles; it was the staple food for people from Nanya, who enjoyed adding meat slices and crushed peanuts.

“If you don’t say no, I’ll assume you want some. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely remember to add a spoonful of sugar for you.”

            

Yao Zhaoyi was finally amused into a smile. “I don’t eat sugar.”

“Eh? Don’t you Nanya people all like adding sugar to your soup noodles?”

“I don’t like it.”

            

“In my lifetime, I’ve finally found a Nanya person with normal taste. Plain soup noodles with meat, got it.” Xiao Xiao nodded in strong agreement. “Good thing you don’t add sugar, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to continue this conversation.”

Yao Zhaoyi’s lips moved; Xiao Xiao took it as a smile.

The next day, Xiao Xiao ate her fill, added three large slices of meat to the soup noodles, and strode eagerly out of the camp.

            

“Hey, hey, General! Everyone gets one slice, how can you be so unfair! Taking three!” someone behind her heckled.

“The General isn’t eating it herself, save your breath.”

“Who’s the General giving it to?”

            

“To the beauty, of course.”

Xiao Xiao hooked a piece of firewood with her foot, sending it flying towards the forehead of the person laughing and joking about her. Amidst a chorus of wails, Xiao Xiao, blushing slightly, steadily carried the bowl of soup noodles and dashed like the wind towards Yao Zhaoyi’s location.

She was the first to spot the assassin.

            

Twenty paces​² away, Xiao Xiao noticed something amiss in the darkness. Yao Zhaoyi always sat on the flatbed cart; why was there an extra figure now?

“Who’s there!”

Xiao Xiao shouted, the bowl of soup noodles she had been carefully carrying instantly spilling onto the ground. Hearing the commotion, the dark figure immediately pulled back and was about to use qinggong​³ to escape. Xiao Xiao picked up a stone and threw it with all her might, hitting the assassin squarely on the ankle. The assassin winced in pain but gritted their teeth and continued to flee. Xiao Xiao put two fingers to her lips and blew a sharp, clear whistle that alerted the entire military camp.

            

Soldiers quickly pursued the assassin. When Xiao Xiao ran to Yao Zhaoyi’s side to help her up, she discovered her throat had already been cut; blood surged out like a frantic hot spring gushing from its source.

Yao Zhaoyi clutched her neck, staring at Xiao Xiao, guttural sounds escaping her throat as her face rapidly turned a terrifying, deathly pale.

“Medic, medic!” Xiao Xiao yelled frantically while tearing off her sleeve to try and bandage the wound. The army medic arrived quickly, but it was already too late.

            

By the time Zhen Wenjun and Wei Tingxu arrived, Yao Zhaoyi was already dead.

Xiao Xiao still held her in the same position, her hands, clothes, and face covered in Yao Zhaoyi’s blood, which had already grown cold.

The assassin was captured and brought back. One of the soldiers had spent a long time in Nanya and had some past dealings with the Yao family. “This person is from the Yao family. You can tell from his martial arts style.”

            

“A Yao family member?” Zhen Wenjun found it hard to believe. “You’re from the Yao family, yet you came to kill Yao Zhaoyi?”

The assassin laughed loudly, then bit down on a poison sac hidden in his tooth and killed himself.

Wei Tingxu said, “It seems the Yao family is prepared to win at all costs.”

            

“But she’s family…” Xiao Xiao questioned, “For the sake of victory, can you even kill family?!”

Her question hung in the air, but no one answered.

Lying on the flatbed cart looking up at the night sky, Xiao Xiao tried hard to find the Ziwei Palace​⁴. Unable to find it, she asked Zhen Wenjun.

            

Zhen Wenjun sat beside her, letting Xiao Xiao rest her head on her shoulder, patiently pointing out the stars one by one.

Xiao Xiao found the Ziwei Palace, committed it to memory, then asked about Zhen Wenjun’s past conflict with the Yao family. Zhen Wenjun recounted it all, starting from the Battle of Yanxing.

“So, Yao Zhaoyi’s disability was something she brought upon herself. She initiated the challenge, so she had to bear all the consequences. I lost control just now, saying something so childish. Anything can happen on the battlefield; I shouldn’t make a big fuss over nothing.” Xiao Xiao paused, then said, “I understood these principles long ago, but Ah Mu, I’m hurting. I’m still hurting badly.”

            

Zhen Wenjun smoothed her hair, strand by strand, carefully separating them, her five fingers like a comb through Xiao Xiao’s poorly kept hair, murmuring in her ear:

“I’ve lived for over thirty years, and two things are unforgettable to me. The pain those two events brought me at the time is something I can never forget for my entire life. The first was in the ninth year of Shenchu, when after three years of effort, I received news of my mother’s death. Although it later turned out to be false information, and your Ah Po is still alive now, it was unacceptable for me back then. I still clearly remember the feeling when I learned my mother was no longer in this world. Truly, I was utterly devastated​⁵. I suffered and blamed myself for a long time, but there was no other way but to slowly accept it as time passed.”

Xiao Xiao asked, “What about the other one?”

            

Before Zhen Wenjun could speak, Xiao Xiao’s eyes lit up as she quickly answered herself, “I know! The first year of Zhaowu, the year you married Wei Zizhuo and learned the whole truth!”

“Don’t be disrespectful, calling her directly by name.”

“It’s just you and me here anyway. Don’t worry, if outsiders were present, I’d still call her ‘Ah Mu’.”

            

“So, when did you find out about the matter between Zizhuo and me?”

Xiao Xiao said proudly, “Don’t forget, I was the one who first discovered her secret. Although I didn’t know exactly what it was back then, my intuition is sharp; if I say there’s a problem, there’s a problem. I figured out the real truth myself over many years afterward. Actually, I still have some questions. Ah Mu, are you going to tell me everything?”

“Why not?”

            

Zhen Wenjun had never fully recounted the years of grievances between her and Wei Tingxu to anyone. She herself was resistant to the topic and unwilling to bring it up often. It was the most painful wound in her life. She once thought she could never let it go, but the ways of the world are strange. The deep-seated hatred from back then had now become just one among countless old scars. It might be longer, darker in color, but it wasn’t significantly different.

She remembered the feeling of pain, but she no longer felt the pain itself.

“Back then, I also asked countless ‘whys,’ but no one could give me an answer. Everything that happens to us, it just happens like that. It won’t give you a heads-up, much less ask if you’re willing. It happens, and accepting it is the only path you have. Acceptance might be very painful initially, but once you face it and understand it, you’ll find it’s not so terrifying after all.”

            

Xiao Xiao grinned and asked her to tell again the story of her first time on the battlefield in the Northern Frontier, being routed by the Chongjin people and fleeing frantically. Pestered relentlessly, Zhen Wenjun recounted it. Xiao Xiao listened, laughing wildly, until finally, wiping away tears, she snuggled into Zhen Wenjun’s embrace and fell asleep.

“Aren’t you afraid of catching a cold sleeping out here? Hmm?” Zhen Wenjun poked Xiao Xiao’s head.

Xiao Xiao hugged her tighter. “It’s not cold with Ah Mu here.”

            

Yao Zhaoyi died, yet she entered Xiao Xiao’s dreams, living forever in her heart.

Her death also had repercussions elsewhere.

Yao Lin, when making the decision to kill his own daughter, was also anguished. He only felt somewhat better after being repeatedly consoled by Ge Sheng. Ge Sheng had people spread the news of Yao Zhaoyi’s death throughout the army, claiming the Wei clan faction had vicious hearts​⁶, not even sparing a disabled woman.

            

Yao Zhaoyi’s death was like a burning torch thrown into a pile of dry firewood, quickly igniting the morale of the Yao family soldiers. Wei Jing’an’s vanguard force attempted a forced crossing of the Wei River and met strong resistance. The two sides fought fiercely on the banks of the Wei River.

A month earlier, they had already captured Sui County. Li An had indeed hidden quite a few troops in Sui County, but not all of them. Now, besides the Yao family, Li An’s remaining forces had also arrived as reinforcements. Zhen Wenjun ordered Zhangsun Wu and Xiao Xiao to each lead two detachments, bypassing the main bridge used by the vanguard, to set up ropeways​⁷ for crossing the river, swiftly cross the Wei River, and outflank the enemy from both wings.

The original main bridge had long been dismantled by the Yao family; the current main bridge had been painstakingly erected later during the back-and-forth struggle.

            

Zhen Wenjun knew that to defeat the Yao family, crossing the river steadily and swiftly was crucial. Wei Jing’an’s vanguard crossing the main bridge would draw the Yao family’s attention, while the remaining troops absolutely had to surround them unexpectedly from the sides. This was the most effective offensive strategy to counter the Yao family’s formation.

During the stalemate with the Yao family, she hadn’t been idle. Instead, she trained the soldiers day and night, ensuring they mastered the method of securely setting up ropeways. She personally inspected the terrain on both banks of the Wei River. The current was too swift; trying to swim across would likely result in being swept away. Ropeways were the safer approach. There were few trees and rocks on the banks, making the conditions for setting up ropeways very strict. Only twenty ropeways could be set up at a time; otherwise, if a ropeway broke, soldiers falling into the river would be even more dangerous.

Each ropeway could only accommodate two people descending simultaneously, so reaching the opposite bank required a certain amount of time. If her main army’s movements were even slightly delayed, allowing the Yao army to discover them, the flanking strategy would not only fail, but the troops who arrived first would very likely be completely wiped out.

            

This was a battle against time.

The three Yao sons and Ge Sheng all had extensive battlefield experience. Seeing Wei Jing’an’s vanguard arrive while the main army was slow to appear, they knew a trap awaited them. Ge Sheng ordered archers to aim at the opposite bank; if anyone attempted to force a crossing elsewhere on the Wei River, they would unleash a volley of ten thousand arrows and shoot them all down.

Wei Jing’an’s side was caught in a bitter struggle. Simultaneously, Zhen Wenjun ordered the main army to cross via the ropeways.

            

The so-called ropeways were merely long, thick hemp ropes. Soldiers skilled in swimming tied safety ropes around their waists, swam to the opposite bank, found low ground, and secured the ropes firmly. Others wrapped their palms with cloth, gripped the hemp ropes, and descended to the other side.

As soon as Zhen Wenjun’s side began crossing, the Yao family archers showed no mercy. The unified sound of bows being drawn echoed, and a black rain of arrows descended, piercing the bodies of soldiers on the ropeways, sending them into the raging current amidst continuous screams.

Zhen Wenjun personally climbed onto a ropeway to live and die together with her soldiers, instantly boosting the entire army’s morale. The speed of crossing via the ropeways increased rapidly. More and more bodies of those shot down fell into the river. It’s unknown which corpse happened to get snagged on rocks at the river bottom, subsequently catching several more, until thousands upon thousands of bodies piled up, actually damming the river. A quick-witted centurion​⁸ immediately found sandbags and wooden planks, constructing a bridge over the torrent. This further quickened the river crossing speed. Xiao Xiao and Zhangsun Wu had already flown across the Wei River, treading on corpses, and even the cavalry charged towards the enemy lines, galloping across the watery path forged of flesh and blood!

            

Yao Lin stood atop the high city walls of Da County, watching the enemy army ferociously crossing the Wei River, his heart burning with anxiety!

“Ah Fu, don’t panic! We still have many tricks up our sleeve!” His second son, Yao Erwen​⁹, grasped his arm, urging him to remain calm, and quickly directed the archers on the wall to equip their arrows with fire oil​¹⁰. They shot in unison, igniting the ropes and setting people ablaze. Amidst screams of agony, the hard-won ropeways snapped, and soldiers were burned beyond recognition.

But the Wei River was right below; no matter how fierce the fire oil, it was extinguished upon meeting water. The fire arrows reaped a harvest, but soon lost their effectiveness.

            

Zhen Wenjun was also wounded in the shoulder by a fire arrow. Enduring the pain, she pulled the arrow out, rolled on the ground to extinguish the flames. The enemy’s main force was already before her. Zhen Wenjun grabbed her horse halberd​¹¹, leaped onto her steed, and charged unflinchingly into the enemy formation.

Close-quarters combat, blood blurring vision, once again immersed in the perilous battlefield, once again parrying, thrusting, cutting down enemies with abandon—Zhen Wenjun’s blood boiled anew.

She belonged to the battlefield. Deep within her heart, there was a tremor of dominance, a feeling deeply implanted long ago.

            

Picking up the horse halberd, she understood even more clearly what kind of person she was.

Zhen Wenjun was absolutely a king on the battlefield. None of the Yao family soldiers who faced her directly survived more than ten rounds. Even Ge Sheng was terrified, saying, “This Zhen Wenjun isn’t like a normal person, more like a demon general from hell!”

Yao Erwen spat, grabbed a saber, and charged down the city wall, wanting to test himself against Zhen Wenjun.

            

Just as he was about to clash head-on with Zhen Wenjun, a seemingly crazed fierce horse rammed into him from the side. He hastily pulled his reins to dodge, but simultaneously received a slash across his back, making him grimace in pain.

“You dog thief, you think you’re worthy of challenging my Ah Mu?” The fierce horse wheeled around. The young woman atop it wielded a long cavalry saber with both hands, controlling the horse solely with her legs, yet sat remarkably steady upon the fierce steed. “Beat me first!”

Xiao Xiao kicked the horse’s belly, and the fierce horse charged forward again. Yao Erwen roared and charged towards Xiao Xiao.

            

---

---