Fish Meat – Chapter 96
by Little PandaThe Ninth Year of Shenchu
Conspiring for Power (6)
The two characters “dog slave” clearly fell into Zhen Wenjun’s ears, stabbing her left chest with a throbbing pain. As the two brushed past each other, she unconsciously lowered her head. Ah Xun was too focused on talking to others to notice the person coming towards her, and their shoulders collided heavily.
Ah Xun felt as if she had hit a piece of iron, the pain was excruciating. She held her shoulder and looked at Zhen Wenjun in astonishment. Although Zhen Wenjun’s figure and facial features were similar to the owner’s, there was still a certain difference between female and male shoulders. To make it as lifelike as possible, she had used pork tied with wooden boards to raise her shoulders. To make it more secure, she wrapped ropes under her armpits to lock the fake shoulders in place. If it hadn’t been tied so firmly, Ah Xun’s careless collision would probably have knocked her shoulders askew.
“โฆSan Lang, be more careful,” Ah Xun said somewhat helplessly after moving her painful shoulder.
So the person she was impersonating was called San Lang. Zhen Wenjun nodded and was about to leave quickly when Ah Xun suddenly called out to her:
“Wait a moment. San Lang, you seem a bit strange.” Upon hearing these words from Ah Xun, Zhen Wenjun naturally couldn’t leave and had to stop in her tracks.
Ah Xun walked up from behind, and countless possibilities of what might happen next and how to deal with them flashed through Zhen Wenjun’s mind.
In fact, before infiltrating the Xie Mansion, she had already gone through all the possible scenarios in her mind. No matter what happened, even if she was exposed on the spot, she had a strategy to escape unscathed, as long as she wasn’t completely surrounded. But she never imagined she would encounter Ah Xun here.
It had been half a year since they last met at the Nanya banquet, where she had risked her life to rescue Ah Xun. At their parting, she had promised to confess everything when they met again. However, since then, she had not only gained Wei Tingxu’s trust but had even become Li Yanyi’s valued strategist, rising to fame. If Ah Xun had been in Runing all this time, she must have heard about it. Although calling her a “dog slave” was heartless, she had no way to defend herself.
As Xie Taihang’s legitimate daughter, it was reasonable for Ah Xun to seek refuge with her clan relative Xie Fuchen after Xie Taihang was divorced and kicked out of the Yao family. However, Zhen Wenjun had also heard about Xie Fuchen’s initial disdain for the Suichuan branch of the family. She didn’t know why the extremely proud Ah Xun would choose to come back to Xie Fuchen; perhaps she had encountered some misfortune.
Encountering Ah Xun in the Xie Mansion now was unexpected and the worst possible situation.
Ah Xun had grown up with her and knew her all too well, but Zhen Wenjun wasn’t quite sure of the relationship between Ah Xun and this San Lang. She had originally planned to keep a low profile, avoiding interaction with anyone, investigate briefly, and then leave quickly. Ah Xun’s appearance had disrupted everything, causing her to lose her composure and collide head-on. Now that Ah Xun had noticed something strange, she could only steel herself and face her, telling herself inwardly not to lose her footing.
Ah Xun circled her, looking for a while, and the two people with Ah Xun also stared at her vigilantly.
Whether or not they had spotted any flaws, Zhen Wenjun stood firmly in place, allowing them to scrutinize her.
Ah Xun patted his broad shoulders, feeling the numbing sensation from the strong muscles, and said with a smile, “It seems that San Lang’s efforts to build strength after being bullied by the Zhangsun family’s boy some days ago have been quite effective. The collision was quite painful for me.”
Zhen Wenjun smiled, but just as her heart was settling, Ah Xun’s smile faded, and she suddenly asked, “But why haven’t you been speaking?”
As Ah Xun’s expression grew colder, Zhen Wenjun knew it would be strange if she didn’t respond.
Zhen Wenjun cupped her hands and spoke, startling Ah Xun: “I’ve caught a cold recently. My throat is swollen and painful, making it inconvenient to speak.”
Before coming, she had eaten a whole Hanyou grass, deliberately burning her throat temporarily. Entering the Xie Mansion, she could encounter people who knew San Lang at any time. He couldn’t keep silent forever, so damaging her voice to change it was the approach she took, along with thickening her voice slightly when speaking to deceive for the time being. After returning, a few bowls of medicine would quickly restore her original voice.
Ah Xun heard that her voice was indeed very hoarse, but the accent was still the familiar Suichuan accent.
The fact that San Lang was from Suichuan was something Zhen Wenjun had discovered when stripping off his clothes. He carried several palm fruits with him. These palm fruits were spicy and sweet, a favorite snack of Suichuan men. She deduced that this person was from Suichuan, and adopting a Suichuan accent while impersonating him would make it easier to deceive others.
Ah Xun indeed believed her: “After autumn begins, the weather becomes unpredictable, and it’s easy to catch a cold. Wait here for me for a moment.” Saying this, Ah Xun returned to her room and brought out a medicine box for her. “The medicine inside was used by my father before. It’s for lung heat and inflammation, and only three doses are needed to see effects. Now that he has passed away, it’s no longer neededโฆ”
Zhen Wenjun accepted the medicine box with thanks, truly not expecting that Xie Taihang had already died.
At the beginning of the year, while still at Nanya, she had heard that Xie Taihang was ill. Afterwards, the Yao family, to curry favor with Li Yanyi, had sent the divorce papers of Madam Yao and Xie Taihang. Zhen Wenjun knew all of this. After leaving Nanya, she didn’t have the time or energy to investigate how Xie Taihang’s illness progressed or where Ah Xun had gone. She never expected that when she next heard news, it would be such a situation.
Mentioning Xie Taihang, Ah Xun’s eyes were covered with a layer of brightness, and her tone was somewhat low. It seemed Xie Taihang had truly passed away.
Of course, Zhen Wenjun hated Xie Taihang. For how he had treated her mother, she wished she could tear him to pieces. Yet, when she actually heard the news of her enemy’s death, her first thought wasn’t of his various misdeeds, but rather the fact that “he was also my father.”
And although Ah Xun had repeatedly called her a “dog slave,” she could still be so gentle to an ordinary household servant.
“Take the medicine with you, remember to take one dose daily, each dose can be boiled into two bowls, one in the morning and one in the evening,” Ah Xun added one last instruction before leaving.
This was Ah Xun, always taking care of her. No matter how many people in the Xie family looked down on her as a servant, Ah Xun had always treated her like a sister.
Only now, time had suddenly passed, and they had become strangers on different paths.
“Thank you, young lady,” Zhen Wenjun bowed solemnly to Ah Xun with her hoarse voice. Ah Xun smiled gently and left.
Tucking the medicine box into her sleeve, Zhen Wenjun continued to investigate the Xie mansion.
It was the golden autumn season, and various trees in the Xie Mansion’s courtyard had begun to shed their leaves. Three or five servants were sweeping with brooms, and Zhen Wenjun also took one, sweeping while moving around the Xie Mansion, exploring almost every corner. She overheard someone mentioning “Master Xie,” saying that Xie Fuchen would return in three days, and ordered people to quickly clean up the study.
The person speaking looked like a steward. The woman called to clean had a severely hunched back, and her hands were blackened, traces left by recurring chilblains (small patches of inflamed skin). The woman said she wanted to request a day off today, as her youngest son was very ill, and if he couldn’t see a doctor immediately, his life might be in danger.
“Well, then you should go quickly. The child is more important,” the steward waved his hand, gesturing for her to leave quickly.
“But what about Master Xie’s study? Aren’t you about to leave the mansion too?” The woman started to worry for the steward.
If not now, when?
Zhen Wenjun stepped forward and said, “I’ll clean Master Xie’s study.”
The steward was startled to see him: “San Lang! What happened to your voice?”
Zhen Wenjun repeated the same explanation as before, and the steward said, “I see your complexion doesn’t look right either! Are you sure you can clean?”
She repeatedly assured him she could, so the steward opened the study, instructed where the books and writing materials should be placed, and then hurriedly left.
Zhen Wenjun knew that a study so easily accessible wouldn’t hide any significant secrets, and her mother was unlikely to be hidden inside. If her mother was hidden in the Xie Mansion, she would most likely be in the dungeon deep within the estate. Given her current identity, it wasn’t convenient to investigate too deeply. It wouldn’t be too late to find a way after coming a few more times to familiarize herself with San Lang and everyone in the Xie Mansion.
She walked into the study with a broom. The study was quiet and elegant, with many scrolls and silk fabrics spread on the desk. Zhen Wenjun picked them up to look; they were military texts like ใWei Liao Ziใ and ใSima Faใ. Remembering that Wei Tingxu’s room also contained many military books, it seemed they must have drawn much wisdom from these to achieve their ingenious and unpredictable strategies. Besides the military books, the study was filled with Xie Fuchen’s calligraphy in various styles, looking as if they weren’t written by the same person. Presumably, Xie Fuchen could easily imitate others’ handwriting.
Upon entering the study, she sensed Xie Fuchen’s formidability from these two details, no wonder he could single-handedly support the emperor and hadn’t fallen from power until now.
The layout of this study was strange, not a regular rectangle, but with triangular sides. Bookshelves were embedded into the walls, making it uncomfortable to look at. Could there be some mechanism in the study? Perhaps leading to a secret room?
Suddenly thinking of this, Zhen Wenjun secretly glanced at the courtyard outside the door. The last servant had finished cleaning and left. She quickly inspected the bookshelves, looking for any turnable or pressable mechanisms.
After searching for a while without finding any secret room mechanisms, an object fell out from a slightly yellowed silk scroll. Zhen Wenjun looked down and saw it was a grass-woven totem. The totem’s outer edge was circular, with what seemed to be a pattern inside.
Zhen Wenjun picked up the totem and turned it over repeatedly. After determining its orientation, she discovered a bird’s head within the circle.
This totem was woven in one go with a tough blade of grass, the bird’s head held high and proud.
She had seen this totem before, she was certain of it.
A strong sense of dรฉjร vu surged in her mind. Long, long ago, somewhere, she had definitely seen a similar totemโฆ Where exactly had she seen it? And why would she have seen it?
Zhen Wenjun was quite confident in her memory and rarely encountered situations where she couldn’t recall things. Moreover, such a totem had strong symbolic meaning; after seeing it, she would certainly have figured out its underlying significance. With such a back-and-forth memory, it was impossible to forget. There was only one possibility: she had glimpsed it unconsciously or seen it when she was very young.
With a “creak,” someone entered the room. Zhen Wenjun’s heart suddenly jumped, but she didn’t immediately throw away the object in her hand. Instead, she slowly put it back into the silk fabric, rolled it up again, and continued to tidy up other books on the shelf.
The newcomer was behind her, seemingly looking for something in the room. She had already prepared what to say, planning to turn around and ask what the person was looking for and offer help. But when she turned around and saw who was behind her, the words got stuck in her throat.
A gentleman in a green robe stood quietly in front of the desk, like an elegant tall bamboo. His inverted triangular black beard was neatly trimmed. He unrolled a scroll, read a few lines, then put it down, his gaze seemingly focused on the scroll: “San Lang, I heard you were ill.”
Though she hadn’t seen this person for many years, Zhen Wenjun would never forget him.
Fang Yuwen, Lord Yunmeng.
This person had been hiding in the Xie family in Suichuan years ago, serving as Xie Taihang’s strategist.
Xie Taihang wasn’t a clever man; the plan to threaten her using her mother’s life was probably orchestrated entirely by this person. He had always been manipulating the situation from the shadows. Afterwards, Zhen Wenjun repeatedly recalled her encounter on the Cold River, analyzing the details over and over. She didn’t always make new discoveries, but every time she thought of the sinister Lord Yunmeng standing behind Xie Taihang, it sent chills down her spine.
After leaving Suichuan, Zhen Wenjun had no news of Lord Yunmeng. She assumed he must have followed Xie Taihang to Nanya, and after his death, came to seek refuge with Xie Fuchen along with Ah Xun. When Xie Fuchen moved from Dongchun to Runing, they naturally followed.
Zhen Wenjun wasn’t afraid of Ah Xun or anyone else in the Xie family, but she had no confidence when facing Lord Yunmeng. Just like now, even though Lord Yunmeng’s gaze hadn’t fallen on her, with just a casual question, she felt the tension of being stared at directly by a venomous snake.
“Hmm?” Not hearing an answer, Lord Yunmeng asked again, still not looking at her.
“Ahemโฆ” Zhen Wenjun cleared her throat, but it remained hoarse, “My throat is a bit uncomfortable. Thank you for your concern, sir.”
“Sir.” Lord Yunmeng suddenly put the scroll on the desk, crossing his hands in front of him. “You call me ‘sir’?”
Zhen Wenjun asked directly, “Is there something wrong with that, Lord Yunmeng?”
Once the two faced each other, it was like an arrow that couldn’t be recalled once released from the bow, and there was no room for hesitation. Any delay in responding would show timidity, making it easy for Yun Meng to detect flaws. Fang Yuwen had always used the title “Lord Yunmeng,” known as one of the Five Sages of Suichuan, and there was no reason to easily change the form of address. So she gambled that Lord Yunmeng was merely testing her.
Of course, she had other plans as well.
Both the Golden Cicada Knife and the blowgun had been coated with Sai Mafei poison, so she wasn’t afraid of him suddenly shouting. She had already confirmed that people near the study had left. With Lord Yunmeng’s weak voice, even if he shouted with all his might, it might not carry very far, and by the time he opened his mouth to call out, Zhen Wenjun would have already taken his life.
She wasn’t afraid of Lord Yunmeng; she knew her strength was superior to his. If she wanted quick satisfaction, she could kill him on the spot.
However, if she took his life immediately, the Xie Mansion would certainly strengthen their defenses, and it might not be so easy for her to disguise herself and enter the mansion again. So, unless absolutely necessary, she would temporarily leave Lord Yunmeng’s head on his shoulders. Knowing his whereabouts was good; after finding her mother, she could kill him anytime.
“You’re my nephew, how can you address me like this? Shouldn’t you be calling me uncle?”
Zhen Wenjun’s eyes widened slightly, already harboring murderous intent.
“It seems you’re still resentful about the day you had a conflict with Zhangsun Wu, and I didn’t step in to help you. I can understand if you don’t want to acknowledge me, but there’s no need to glare. After all, the same blood flows in our veins.”
“โฆ” Zhen Wenjun didn’t speak again.
“I won’t bother you anymore.” Lord Yunmeng left. It appeared he had entered the room specifically to say these words to his nephew. Fortunately, he was inherently somewhat aloof, so even though he wanted to improve their uncle-nephew relationship, he didn’t look directly at Zhen Wenjun’s fake face. Otherwise, he would certainly have noticed some flaws.
“By the way. You’ve already taken care of Xiaoshi’s corpse, right?” Lord Yunmeng had almost walked out of the room when he suddenly threw out this sentence, like five thunderbolts striking Zhen Wenjun, leaving her senseless on the spot.
Xiaoshiโฆ corpseโฆ
Ah Mu is dead?
Zhen Wenjun felt her head buzzing, her throat quickly drying up, and she almost fell to the ground.
His meaning was indeed that her mother was already deadโฆ
It’s not that she hadn’t prepared for this; she had long considered this possibility. But when it became a reality crashing down on her head, Zhen Wenjun was still stunned, tears uncontrollably gathering in her eyes. She quickly bent over and said:
“Uncle, I don’t hold any grudge against you. I’ve already dealt with Xiaoshi’s corpse as you instructed.”
“Hmm.” Lord Yunmeng drew out the sound, satisfied. “Make sure to store all the eyeballs, hair, and fingers you were told to keep. They need to be continually sent to Alai. Master Xie specifically instructed that we must not lose the connection with Alai. Now that Yan Ye is dead, it’s very likely he was killed by Alai. Alai is becoming increasingly difficult to control. That lowly slave only behaves after a lashing. The task of liaising with her will be assigned to you from now on.”
Kill him.
“This person has managed to climb to Li Yanyi’s right hand and killed Yan Ye, which shows she’s very cunning. Don’t underestimate her, or you’ll suffer for it.”
Kill him!
“Send over a whole hand. Master Xie said to choose the hand with three fingers cut off, so she’ll understand the meaning at a glance.”
Kill!
Zhen Wenjun’s spirit surged, and she was about to rush forward to slit Lord Yunmeng’s throat when suddenly the door was roughly pushed open. Two of the Xie family’s servants burst in: “Sir!”
Zhen Wenjun wasn’t able to actually make her move.
“Hmm.” Lord Yunmeng left while talking quietly with these two, leaving behind an almost powerless Zhen Wenjun.
The answer she had been seeking for so long was finally obtained, the worst possible answer.
She walked out of the back door of the Xie Mansion in a daze, tore off her facial disguise and outer clothing, and threw them into the city moat.
Unable to think about anything, her vision was pitch black, and she didn’t even know where she was.
She only remembered that it had started raining again.
Many people were running to take shelter from the rain. She watched everything numbly, suddenly feeling that it all meant nothing. What was the point of avoiding the rain? The clothes would dry again anyway. And why had she been planning so meticulously, risking her life time and again?
Ah Mu had died long ago, long agoโฆ I couldn’t save Ah Mu, I’m useless!
Zhen Wenjun hugged herself, sitting by the river embankment in the heavy rain, crying uncontrollably.
The pain of her heart being torn apart made her wish for death.
That mother who was strict yet gentle with her, who loved her unconditionally and gave her the best of everything, was gone forever. She might have had a chance to save her mother, but she failed to do so.
Regret and anguish cut into her heart like knives, tightly locking her in the abyss of pain.
After an unknown amount of time, the rain above her head was blocked by an oil-paper umbrella. Zhen Wenjun turned her face slightly and saw the wheels of a four-wheeled cart immersed in the rainwater.
“Sister Wenjun, why are you getting soaked in the rain here?” Wei Tingxu, Xiaohua, and Lingbi stood behind her, looking at her with concern.
Zhen Wenjun’s reddened eyes startled them.
“What’s wrong, little monkey?” Lingbi anxiously said, “You can tell us if something’s wrong. Why are you hiding and crying by yourself? It’s as if you don’t take us seriously at all.”
Xiaohua shook her head at her, and Lingbi stopped talking, but her eyes reddened, and tears fell heavily.
They hadn’t seen Zhen Wenjun all day. Lingbi had been looking for her everywhere, and by evening when she still couldn’t be found, Lingbi became thoroughly worried and ran to tell Wei Tingxu. Wei Tingxu had all the servants go out to search for Zhen Wenjun’s whereabouts. As soon as the three of them went out, it started raining, and in the blink of an eye, the light rain turned into a downpour. Wei Tingxu showed no intention of going back, determined to search for Zhen Wenjun personally.
Xiaohua had initially opposed Wei Tingxu going out in the rain. Wei Tingxu had been in the middle of acupuncture, with Doctor Xu, eyes covered, having placed needles all over her back. When they were six needles short, Lingbi came running to report Zhen Wenjun’s disappearance, fearing she might have fallen victim to Xie Fuchen’s schemes. Wei Tingxu immediately had Doctor Xu remove all the needles, got dressed, and was about to go out to search. Doctor Xu advised her to stay still for now, saying that after a full set of needles, she should rest quietly for half an hour to see the benefits. If she went out to search after half an hour, it would be fine, but removing the needles halfway through would harm both her meridians and blood flow.
Upon hearing this, Xiaohua wanted to persuade her, but Wei Tingxu had anticipated her speaking up and glared at her the moment she fastened her belt. Xiaohua could only obediently keep quiet.
After searching outside for over an hour, they actually found Zhen Wenjun by the city moat. Although they didn’t know what had happened, seeing the usually cheerful and strong Zhen Wenjun cry like this broke their hearts.
“Come,” Wei Tingxu extended her hand to Zhen Wenjun.
Her palm faced upwards, fingers slightly spread towards Zhen Wenjun, inviting her, asking her to come over.
“When you’re sad, cry if you want to,” she said. “Cry in my arms.”
The muscles on Zhen Wenjun’s face twitched violently, and she threw herself into Wei Tingxu’s embrace, crying until she lost her voice.
Wei Tingxu stroked the rain-soaked Zhen Wenjun, carefully smoothing her wet hair with her fingertips, using her arm to completely shield her face, not letting anyone see her breakdown.
Lingbi covered her mouth and turned away. Xiaohua opened another umbrella, sheltering both of them.
Wei Tingxu’s bed was very soft, and the fragrance burning in the room was her scent.
Zhen Wenjun emerged from the hot spring exhausted and fell into Wei Tingxu’s embrace.
Wei Tingxu slipped her arm under her neck, serving as her pillow.
Zhen Wenjun reached across Wei Tingxu’s chest, pressing her entire body against her, clinging tightly to her other arm and not letting go. Wei Tingxu lowered her eyelids slightly, holding a handkerchief in her hand. Whenever she saw tears flowing from the person in her arms, she gently wiped them away.
Wei Tingxu didn’t ask her why she was crying.
In the past, Zhen Wenjun might have thought that she wasn’t interested in others’ pain, but her attentive care made Zhen Wenjun keenly feel that her silence had another meaning.
Some pain can be spoken of; the kind of pain that can be alleviated by telling others might not be destructive. The truly mind-shattering pain is the pain of despair, the kind that cannot heal no matter how many years pass, and the kind that cannot be confided to others.
Wei Tingxu understood.
It was precisely because she had experienced the most terrible pain in the world that she was especially gentle with wounds torn open by pain.
No matter how Zhen Wenjun pressed on Wei Tingxu’s arm, tightly gripping her arm and hand, Wei Tingxu had no complaints. Even though her arm had long since become sore and numb, she had no intention of pulling it back.
Zhen Wenjun fell into a deep sleep in her arms. In her dream, she returned to her childhood, truly becoming Zhen Wenjun.
She and her mother saved Wei Tingxu when she was in distress, and afterwards, the three of them hunted and fished in an isolated mountain, living happily together, free from worldly conflicts.
LP: Time for revenge
Damnโฆ ๐
Damn, my tears just started coming out reading this chapter. ๐๐