Fish Meat – Chapter 65

The Ninth Year of Shenchu

Needle Tip versus Wheat Awning (Part 2)

After carrying Wei Tingxu into the carriage, she lay there all the way, no longer in the mood to distribute grain or sit outside to inspect the disaster.

Zhen Wenjun saw her eyes closed with a painful expression and reached out to feel her forehead, finding it hot to the touch.

“Sister, does your throat hurt?” Zhen Wenjun asked softly, sitting in front of the soft couch and holding Wei Tingxu’s hand.

After the question was asked, it took a long while for Wei Tingxu to gently shake her head.

She lifted a corner of the carriage curtain to prevent the cold wind from blowing in and worsening Wei Tingxu’s illness, and just poked her head out.

At this time, the carriage was already continuing on its way, with Lingbi sitting beside the coachman. Hearing the noise, she immediately turned around and asked, “How is the lady?”

“She should have caught a cold, or perhaps was frightened excessively, letting evil wind enter her body. Bring my medicine box; sweating to dispel the evil might help alleviate her condition.”

“Okay!”

Lingbi stretched her legs and jumped off the carriage, searched for a moment in the back of the convoy, found the carriage carrying the medicine box, took it, and handed it in to Zhen Wenjun. Zhen Wenjun picked some ephedra and cinnamon twigs to brew medicine, let Wei Tingxu drink it, and covered her with a thick quilt, waiting for her to sweat it out.

Xiaohua was very worried about Wei Tingxu, standing by the bed and not leaving her side for a moment. While busy, Zhen Wenjun found her in the way. Although the carriage was not small, it was still very troublesome to have a big person standing there while working. She almost bumped into her while holding the medicine box, and almost hit her while taking the medicine stove. If not for being unable to confront Xiaohua, she really wanted to push her out of the carriage to make more space, so even breathing would be smoother. Although not daring to scold, Zhen Wenjun couldn’t hide her true feelings and gave Xiaohua a fierce look. Unexpectedly, Xiaohua was very tactful, taking several steps back, almost sticking to the innermost part of the carriage.

“I am worried about the lady’s safety, I cannot leave,” Xiaohua said, kneeling in the corner with her head lowered. “I want to see the lady wake up with my own eyes.”

Zhen Wenjun saw her eyes filled with tears, and the tip of her nose red, indeed very worried about Wei Tingxu. Even if she was annoyed, Zhen Wenjun didn’t actually drive her away: “No one asked you to leave, it’s just a bit in the way. Just sit there and don’t move, otherwise, if you accidentally knock over the freshly brewed medicine, it won’t be good.”

Xiaohua didn’t respond, seeming to disappear, kneeling in place, motionless, watching Wei Tingxu’s sleeping face.

Lingbi heard their conversation and didn’t dare to come in either, occasionally lifting the curtain quietly to check on Wei Tingxu’s condition.

After feeding Wei Tingxu the medicine, Zhen Wenjun laid her down again, covered her with a quilt, and only then had the mind to recall everything that had just happened while waiting for her to sweat.

Not knowing when it started, she had moved into the closest and most intimate position to Wei Tingxu, and Xiaohua and Lingbi could only watch from their place, listening to her commands and orders.

Wei Tingxu’s forehead gradually showed a little fine sweat, and Zhen Wenjun reached her hand into her clothes. Wei Tingxu uncomfortably murmured and slightly turned her body. Zhen Wenjun patiently coaxed her:

“Be good, I am checking your body temperature and sweating condition; it will be very quick.”

Wei Tingxu frowned, with effort opened her eyes to glance at Zhen Wenjun, who was very close to her, then peacefully closed her eyes again, allowing her to continue.

After sweating, her body temperature quickly returned to normal, and Zhen Wenjun and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Xiaohua still kneeling there, Zhen Wenjun intended to give her a bit of alone time, so she walked out of the carriage, sat next to Lingbi, opened a water bottle, and gulped down several large mouthfuls of water.

Previously, she was very curious about the injury on Wei Tingxu’s back, and now just caught up with this matter, Zhen Wenjun took the opportunity to ask Lingbi: “I saw sister seems very afraid of dogs, what is this about? Actually, I was also quite afraid of dogs as a child, chased for several streets, but sister’s fear is not the usual kind, she is very terrified. Did something happen before?”

Lingbi looked at the official road ahead with beacon smoke rising and lowered her eyes: “This matter, you better ask the lady yourself.”

Zhen Wenjun tore off a piece of jerky and put it in her mouth, chewing until her teeth hurt.

The marriage delegation appointed by the Da Yu Emperor passed Beishui, and arrived at Ji’an County, Mengliang Prefecture, the northernmost part of Da Yu.

Yu family’s Ah Yun, who was conferred as Princess Demu, just turned sixteen this year and had never left Runing City, let alone been to such a bitter cold place. The road to marriage was long, from the flourishing capital to the increasingly desolate north, and there was no chance of returning home, but Ah Yun wasn’t sad. Her parents died early, she was lonely and destitute, and if not for her maternal uncle’s family support, she might have married a poor man’s son and been trapped in worries of subsistence for life. Although the road to marriage was long, she heard that the Chongjin tribe appeared rough and bold on the surface, but the men were very loving and loyal to their wives. She only hoped that the prince who was about to become her husband, Tan, would be as the rumors said, willing to respect and love her. If so, she would be satisfied for life.

Seeing she was about to meet her future husband, Yu family’s Ah Yun lowered the carriage curtain, rubbed her frostbitten fingers, and called a maid to bring a bronze mirror, carefully checking her appearance, fearing any flaws. The maid smiled and said: “Princess, your beauty is unparalleled, there is no second beauty like you in all of Da Yu.”

Yu family’s Ah Yun shyly turned her body, with some trepidation: “Do you think the prince will like me?”

The maid was very sweet-tongued: “What man in the world wouldn’t be moved by the princess’s beauty? I saw on the day of the great conferment, even the emperor looked at you several times!”

Yu family’s Ah Yun’s face grew hot, covering her face wanting to lift the curtain to take a breath, but her hand hadn’t touched the curtain when whoosh, a white-feathered arrow pierced through the curtain, directly nailing the maid between her eyebrows. The maid fell straight down, screams rose outside the carriage, and Yu family’s Ah Yun hadn’t realized what had happened when the carriage suddenly stopped, causing her to fall out, roll several times, getting her face and mouth full of snow. She didn’t care about beauty anymore, struggled to stand up from the snow, seemed to step on something, and looked down to find the headless body of the carriage driver. Yu family’s Ah Yun was terrified, losing color, screaming repeatedly, and falling to the ground. In the icy snow, there were corpses covered in feathered arrows, and more than half of the marriage procession had been killed. In the snow connected to the sky, full of mottled bloodstains, a pair of black fur boots stepped into the red snow mud, slowly entering Yu family’s Ah Yun’s line of sight.

She shivered, lifting her head, recognized the other party’s Chongjin attire, immediately rushed forward, knelt at the person’s feet, and pleaded: “I am the marriage princess of Da Yu! The one to marry is your prince Tan! If you save me, in the future when I become your queen, I will certainly reward you richly! Save me! Save me!”

The person reached out a hand towards Yu family’s Ah Yun, and she shivered, placing her hand on it, just about to get up but heard: “I am here by Prince Tan’s order to kill you.”

Yu family’s Ah Yun saw him grin, his teeth full of black stains.

Before she could say anything else, a cut appeared on her neck, and the flowing beauty’s blood stained the white snow beneath her red.

Five days away from Suichuan, Wei Tingxu had recovered, but her spirits were still not well, always staying in the carriage, not coming out or speaking to anyone. No matter who came to report anything to her or deliver any documents, she only asked Zhen Wenjun to take them and set them aside, not looking at any.

Always only when Zhen Wenjun came to see her did she put down the documents in her hand; she had never been seen so idle and preoccupied. With her like this, Zhen Wenjun didn’t dare mention any past events, only hoping she would get better soon.

After another day’s journey, they would reach Suichuan, and the carriage stopped on the mountain top to rest, planning to depart after nightfall.

Zhen Wenjun and Lingbi were sitting by the cliff, eating rabbit leg meat while watching the sunset when Xiaohua pushed Wei Tingxu over.

Zhen Wenjun quickly stood up: “Sister, why did you come out? It’s windy here, be careful not to catch a cold again.”

Wei Tingxu smiled and shook her head, not minding: “You come.”

Zhen Wenjun handed the half-eaten rabbit leg to Lingbi for temporary safekeeping, pushing Wei Tingxu to the other side of the cliff.

“Fifty thousand carts of grain have already arrived in Suichuan one day ahead of us. Although two carts were lost halfway, it doesn’t matter, now I have something to entrust to you.”

“Sister, please instruct as you wish!”

“All the grain is entrusted to you, and then you must sell it all to the officials.”

“Sell?” Zhen Wenjun didn’t understand, “The grain that was so hard to collect, transported from Nanya from such a far place, and sister actually wants to sell it?”

“Yes. And you cannot reveal your identity, you must make the other party accept so much grain without any suspicion.”

“This…”

“Could it be that sister has no confidence?” Wei Tingxu asked with a smile.

“That’s not the case,” Zhen Wenjun replied very straightforwardly, “This is very simple, I just need to disguise myself as a Hu merchant. No matter where the officials are, they are always holding money but can’t buy grain; only when Hu merchants have grain does it make sense. If they can buy so much grain at once, I’m afraid these officials will be overjoyed.”

“But how can you ensure you look like a merchant?”

Zhen Wenjun’s eyes were bright, responding fluently: “I raise prices on the spot, profiting from the national disaster of Da Yu. If I don’t look like a merchant, who does?”

Wei Tingxu laughed: “Sister is indeed clever, truly a natural moneymaker.”

Without any modesty, Zhen Wenjun also felt she was suited to being a merchant. Whenever money-related matters crossed her mind, countless ideas would explode instantly, and the moment money came into her pockets, she was dizzy with excitement. Her mother did not engage in commerce, and there were no merchants in her upbringing environment; it could only be said that the skill of making money might have been brought out from the womb.

“And don’t say, sister’s high nose, deep eyes, and long eyebrows indeed look somewhat like a Hu person.”

Wei Tingxu’s last words made Zhen Wenjun go back to the mirror for a while.

Previously, she didn’t think she was different from others, but as she developed and grew over the past three years, her appearance gradually changed. Indeed, she somewhat resembled a Hu person. Speaking of which, her mother also somewhat resembled a Hu person.

Zhen Wenjun set off first, taking only four guards, changed into Hu merchant attire, and headed for Suichuan.

Within the Suichuan territory, she easily sold all fifty thousand carts of grain to a governor named Hong, designated by Wei Tingxu. This governor Hong haggled with her for two days before reluctantly handing over 150,000 silver, buying all the grain. Zhen Wenjun took the silver notes back to Wei Tingxu, who refused to take them, saying they were all for her.

Zhen Wenjun did not stand on ceremony and immediately stored the silver notes safely. If it weren’t for Suichuan being too poor to even have a restaurant, she would have wanted another spree at the gold and silver market of Nanya.

With nowhere to spend it, Zhen Wenjun folded the silver notes and locked them in her treasure box, knowing that one day she would be able to spend them. Besides a thick stack of silver notes, the box also contained her mother’s hair. Initially, the Xie family used it to threaten Zhen Wenjun, and after receiving it, she couldn’t bear to throw it away, carefully finding a brocade bag to store it. When she placed it inside, it was black hair; when she opened it again, it had all turned white.

No matter where she goes or what achievements she attains, whenever she thinks of her mother whose whereabouts are unknown, she becomes sad.

Only by finding her mother and rescuing her can she truly have happiness in this life.

At this time, Li Yanyi, who was already in Suichuan, received a total of three large stacks of letters from various places. After unfolding and reading them one by one, she laughed heartily:

“Good Wei Zizhuo, this plan is very clever!”

Secretary of the State Ling Zuo Xu said: “Your Highness is so joyful, I boldly guess, could it be that the marriage alliance matter has been settled?”

Li Yanyi said: “Exactly! The assassins she sent were truly swift, in less than half a month they circled ahead of the marriage escort team, disguised as Chongjin tribe members, and killed that marriage princess Demu, letting a few go back to report to Li Ju. Meanwhile, another group changed their attire, disguised as the marriage escort team, and cut off the head of the welcoming prince Tan. Li Ju, that scoundrel, is probably still stretching his neck waiting bitterly in his Tai Ji Hall! Hahaha, this Wei Zizhuo is truly a clever person!”

Grand Minister of Agriculture Lin Quan listened with a worried frown: “In this way, won’t it anger the Chongjin leader? The northern war has just now gotten a breather; if Chongjin, in anger, gathers all their forces to attack our Da Yu, we lack martial generals and just withdrew fifty thousand exhausted soldiers from the front line. I’m afraid by then we won’t have enough troops, let alone sufficient grain and forage to fight! Although we have gained some money and grain, we still need to relieve disasters and appease public grievances, Your Highness, you also lavishly rewarded the soldiers, and now there’s almost nothing left, Your Highness…”

Li Yanyi carelessly waved a hand and said: “The Chongjin leader has twenty-eight sons; killing this one still leaves plenty. If he were someone who would lose the big because of the small and disregard the big picture due to a moment’s anger, he could not have led the four great Hu tribes to fight with us all these years. Moreover, haven’t we understood after fighting a tug-of-war with them for so many years? The four great Hu tribes always sound the drums of retreat in spring and resume fighting after the autumn harvest. Why do you think they do this? Our Da Yu has distinct four seasons, unlike their northern four great Hu tribes with six months of winter in a year. They grow up fighting bare-chested in the snow and swimming in frozen lakes; marching in winter is easy for them but very unsuitable for our Da Yu soldiers. Now Li Ju wants to marry to cease the war; why did the Chongjin leader agree so quickly? Because spring has arrived, they also need to return to graze and recuperate; they surely won’t waste the precious, rich spring grass for a prince. Also, in that marriage book, besides a little girl dug out from somewhere given the title Demu, there are the three northern counties of Da Yu, one million gold, and eight million carts of grain tribute every year! Li Ju is quite generous; does he know how much flattery and how much people’s blood and sweat are in this promise! The Da Yu actually has to pay tribute to a group of uncivilized beards? That group of self-proclaimed pure and righteous gentlemen, have they ever opened their eyes to see clearly, who really disgraces the ancestors, is it Li Ju or me, Li Yanyi?”

The more Li Yanyi spoke, the angrier she became, kicking a low table flying, scattering brushes, ink, and bamboo slips all over the ground.

Seeing Li Yanyi upset, Zuo Xu and Lin Quan hurriedly said in unison: “Your Highness, calm down.”

Secretary of the State Ling Zuo Xu said: “Your Highness, why don’t we take this opportunity to seize the three northern counties back?”

Li Yanyi turned anger into laughter: “Lord Ling and Zizhuo have coincided without prior consultation. Previously, Zizhuo asked me for thirty thousand elite soldiers to ambush and wait for the opportunity before Demu arrived. The marriage matter made Chongjin lax in defense. When the news of Prince Tan’s death reaches the Chongjin leader, thirty thousand elite troops will launch a swift attack, catching them off guard and in chaos. The remaining twenty thousand troops and the thirty thousand troops I mobilized coordinated from inside and outside, and the three counties have already been taken.” Speaking of this, Li Yanyi savored the intrigue and amusement of the situation, and after a while, said to Zuo Xu, “Lord Zuo, quickly help me send a memorial to Li Ju, greatly congratulating the Emperor on the great victory! Hahahaha!”