Fish Meat – Chapter 66

The Ninth Year of Shenchu

Needle Tip versus Wheat Awning (Part 3)

Li Ju has not closed his eyes for two nights. Even the empress has come to the imperial study twice, bringing a pile of tonics to advise the emperor to take care of his health.

But he cannot sleep, nor does he dare to.

The other day, he merely took a nap at noon and unexpectedly dreamt that Da Yu’s border defense was lost. Fierce Hu tribe war horses charged straight in, without a single military general able to resist. Runing city fell, the entire forbidden garden turned into a sea of fire, and he and the empress had no escape route, burned into charcoal.

Upon waking, Li Ju was extremely haggard, with a bad premonition. Despite Xie Fucheng’s letter stating that secretly conscripting soldiers was progressing fairly smoothly, Li Ju always felt that Li Yanyi could not possibly have no actions at all. However, Guozhang (father-in-law) Feng Kun brought news that said Li Yanyi stirred trouble at Nanya and withdrew unscathed, then continued to Suichuan, traveling nonstop with almost no time to rest, seemingly determined to take Suichuan.

Previously, Wei Ziyun wanted to go to Suichuan to relieve disaster and establish merit. Xie Fucheng’s clever plan dragged him back, and it was just short of taking his head. Although this head was not chopped, now the Suichuan matter has finally fallen into Li Ju’s hands. Guozhang Feng Kun’s nephew, Hong Ai, assumed the position of Suichuan’s governor, having already arrived in Suichuan, actively organizing grain and disaster relief. His nephew is young and promising, with brilliant literary talent and familiar with military strategy, considered an all-around talent. Feng Kun has high expectations for him and even recommended him to Li Ju. Li Ju very much likes the mature and steady Hong Ai and plans to use the Suichuan disaster relief as a stepping stone to greatly promote him. Now, the Wei family and Zhangsun family are extremely strong, and the position of Shangshuling (Chief Minister or Secretary-General) was seized by them, making Zuo Xu take office, which originally made Li Ju very displeased, further cutting into the already thin emperor’s wings. The people at his side are all past their prime, with most suffering from chronic illnesses that are difficult to cure, making it uncertain if they can survive this year. Li Ju must quickly cultivate a backbone force and inject fresher blood. The Suichuan struggle is already imminent, and the marriage alliance team has already exited Beihai Pass, but Chongjin’s peace letter seems to be coming a bit slowly. All matters are hanging in the air, and Li Ju’s heart is half-hanging as well, unable to eat or sleep, only hoping for everything to proceed smoothly.

Li Ju felt vexed and picked up the tea bowl on the table, only to find the tea had already cooled. His glance caught the little eunuch serving beside him quietly dozing off. Just as he was about to get angry, an urgent report suddenly came, and the little eunuch abruptly woke up, hurriedly wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth to open the door. The door had just opened a crack when Feng Kun pushed the little eunuch aside without a word, striding into the hall with a face as pale as paper, and without even performing the usual courtesies, he said directly, “Your Majesty! Something has happened!”

Li Ju’s intuition told him it was bad, so he asked, “Could it be that there is a problem with the peace negotiation?”

Feng Kun told the eunuch to quickly leave, then closed the door and said, “This morning, I received a secret report that said Princess Demu’s marriage alliance team was ambushed, and the ambusher was none other than Chongjin’s Prince Tan!”

Li Ju was so surprised that he bounced up from behind his desk: “How is this possible!”

“Although our peace negotiations with Chongjin have always been conducted in secret, it is absolutely impossible to completely avoid the ears and eyes of the Empress Dowager and the eldest princess. I guess that the ambusher could not be Prince Tan, as Tan has no reason to kill the marriage alliance princess. It must be that Li Yanyi’s faction got wind of it and quickly acted, not wanting Your Majesty to ally with Chongjin. If such an alliance were formed, Your Majesty joining hands with the Hu tribe would leave Li Yanyi with no chance of victory, so they ruthlessly struck.”

Li Ju thought for a moment and said: “The marriage alliance princess is merely a pretense. For the king of Chongjin, what he really wants is the annual tribute of gold and grain. A marriage alliance princess, if she dies, we just seal another and send her over.”

Feng Kun sighed and said, with heartache: “If it were just a dead marriage alliance princess, it would be fine. But Li Yanyi’s faction is extremely ruthless and cunning. Not only did they kill Princess Demu, but they also pretended to be the marriage alliance team and took the opportunity to kill Prince Tan. Although we retook the three counties occupied by Chongjin, this action has already angered the leader of Chongjin. This way, not only are peace talks hopeless, but it also puts the entire Da Yu in peril! The lives of thousands of Da Yu people unexpectedly do not surpass Li Yanyi’s wild ambition, Your Majesty!”

Li Ju, with eyes almost spewing fire, said: “Li Yanyi is indeed hateful. A fierce battle with Chongjin is hard to avoid, but now it is the Hu tribe’s horse-raising spring, so presumably they will not rashly attack. How much money and grain do we still have?”

Feng Kun continued: “Your Majesty, the court already has no money and no grain. The army mostly consists of wounded soldiers and disabled generals. If we want to continue fighting, we fear we have no soldiers to use and no grain to distribute. What worries this old minister more is that, according to Li Yanyi’s nature, this may not be all. Plus, by her side is that insidious and cunning Wei family’s demon girl. This plan to sow discord is certainly her scheme.”

Li Ju made an “oh” sound and said: “Is it that Wei Zizhuo who has always been hiding behind? She and my good elder sister are really birds of a feather. In their eyes, do they only see their own benefits? If the marriage alliance succeeds, it is a blessing for the people of Da Yu. One woman can exchange for several years or even decades of peace, saving countless lives! The matter that was about to succeed was stirred by her, and again, how many Da Yu people will die on the battlefield… sigh.” (LP: How pretentious are these people!)

Feng Kun advised him: “Your Majesty, now is the time when the map is exhausted and the dagger is revealed, where life and death hang by a thread; you cannot be indecisive. Our most primary enemy right now is not Chongjin, nor the four major Hu tribes, but Li Yanyi and the Wei clan’s followers. The problem with the Hu bandits is on the surface, but the disaster with Li Yanyi threatens the core. To fend off external threats, we must first secure the internal. If we do not remove Li Yanyi early, continuing to fight with Chongjin will only result in mutual depletion. When both sides are weakened, it will be the day she seizes power. Your Majesty, for the current plan, we need to use their own methods against them! If we can alienate Li Yanyi and the Wei demon girl, we can break them individually, and all difficulties will be resolved.”

Li Ju’s eyebrows did not relax: “But Li Yanyi deeply trusts that Wei Zizhuo without doubt, how can we sow discord?”

Feng Kun smiled, seemingly already having an idea: “Everyone has a weakness. Does Your Majesty not remember that Xie Zhongcheng’s legitimate daughter, Xie family’s Ah Xin, is Li Yanyi’s close friend? If we use her to sow discord, perhaps the major task can be achieved.”

Li Ju looked at Feng Kun and hesitantly said: “But, doing this to Xie Zhongcheng, wouldn’t it be…”

Feng Kun cupped his hands and said: “Your Majesty, do not show womanly benevolence!”

“You go out first, let me think.”

After Feng Kun left, Li Ju sat alone in the imperial study for a long time, then suddenly called for someone.

“Come here!”

The little eunuch hurriedly came in from outside the hall: “Your Majesty, what are your orders?”

“Have Yan Ye from the Xie family come to see me.”

“Yes!”

After all, they had returned to Suichuan. Although Wei Tingxu took them to settle in Quxian, a major town in the southwest of Suichuan, and not to Qixian, they could still run into Xie Taihang’s family in Nanya. Returning to Suichuan, it was hard to ensure they wouldn’t encounter people related to Xie Taihang. Zhen Wenjun thought that since she had previously disguised as a Hu merchant when selling grain, she still had the full set of clothes, and the big fur hat on her head almost swallowed her eyes. The wind in Suichuan was strong, providing a perfect excuse to cover her face with cloth to block the wind, sand, and acquaintances.

Actually, according to Xie Suishan, that year Xie Taihang kidnapped their mother and daughter and then used the excuse of Sun Mingyi’s remaining party seeking revenge, creating the illusion that their mother and daughter were already dead. Presumably, even if Qixian old acquaintances met her again, they might not necessarily connect her with the gardener’s daughter from that year.

In any case, she hoped not to encounter acquaintances and not to stir up additional trouble.

Quxian did not have Fengxi’s bustling streets or splendid lights, nor even a decent market. Since entering the city, there were disaster victims, clothed in rags, crouching on the roadsides everywhere. These people were all commoners of Quxian. Zhen Wenjun saw a pregnant woman with a large belly lying on the roadside, her life or death unknown, which truly frightened her, so she climbed down from Yunzhong Feixue. That pregnant woman had only a few ragged strips of cloth on her body, and the blood between her legs had already coagulated. Her gray face was motionless like a corpse. When Zhen Wenjun took off her own coat to cover her, someone else had already placed a brightly colored jacket, embroidered with hundreds of birds, on the pregnant woman, covering all indecent parts.

The bright red and green colors suddenly appeared in front of her eyes, and after seeing so much gray and dull famine colors, Zhen Wenjun was dazzled.

This shocking color combination and terrible taste, why does it look so familiar?

“Eh! Sister Wenjun! Is that you! What a coincidence!”

Zhen Wenjun glanced sideways, seeing a quite neutral pretty face under a purple-gold crown; who else could it be but Zhangsun Ah Liao.

“Young Master Ah Liao.” Zhen Wenjun expressionlessly saluted the still cross-dressed Ah Liao, “It’s not a coincidence, Young Master Ah Liao must have come because you have an appointment with my elder sister, right.”

“Yes, but the fact that you and I dismounted at the same time is quite a fate! It’s been many days since I last saw you; have you grown taller again? Your appearance is even more handsome.” As Ah Liao spoke, she reached out to touch her face, and Zhen Wenjun wished she could do three somersaults to a place where Ah Liao couldn’t reach her, to avoid being polluted by her again upon meeting.

Zhen Wenjun lowered her body to dodge and went to check on the pregnant woman, moving seamlessly, making it completely unnoticeable that she was intentionally avoiding Ah Liao’s outstretched hand.

The pregnant woman had not yet stopped breathing and was only in a coma. There was a very deep wound on the back of her neck. Zhen Wenjun lifted the pregnant woman’s disheveled hair and held it in her hand, carefully inspecting it.

Zhen Wenjun said with regret: “It seems to be caused by an axe or hammer strike. She has no other personal belongings on her body, likely having encountered robbers who knocked her out and took everything, even her clothes disappeared. Those who did such a beastly act might not be Jixi tribe people, but our own Da Yu compatriots.”

Ah Liao: “Eh? Turns out she’s a beauty! Look at this charming appearance, so appealing! It seems I’ve picked up a treasure again today.”

Zhen Wenjun: “…”

Wei Tingxu’s voice came from the carriage: “Is Ah Liao here?”

Zhen Wenjun’s attention was just attracted away by Wei Tingxu’s voice when Ah Liao took the opportunity to grab her hand and affectionately said: “Sister Wenjun, this pretty girl is mine, please don’t fight with me for her.”

“I don’t have that hobby…”

Ah Liao seemed not to fully believe her answer, squinting and leaving a thought-provoking expression, then, unafraid of dirt, squatted down to lift the pregnant woman.

Ah Liao wasn’t very strong, wobbling and almost falling while holding the pregnant woman. Zhen Wenjun quickly caught her, and together they brought the pregnant woman onto Ah Liao’s carriage.

Ah Liao’s carriage was a huge round shape, covered with light blue curtains that perfectly matched her style, tightly concealing the interior. From ten steps away, the scent of cosmetics inside could be smelled. Ah Liao thanked Zhen Wenjun for her help and lifted the curtain, releasing a strange fragrance that almost made Zhen Wenjun faint. Once she recovered and looked inside, she was even more shocked and speechless. The interior was filled with candle stands and soft cushions, warm like spring, and all she saw were slender arms and legs. Zhen Wenjun thought she was seeing things, stunned to look again, and found the carriage full of delicately featured beauties lounging, sitting, and grooming each other’s hair. On the small table were fresh vegetables, fruits, and various shiny hair ornaments. The moment Zhen Wenjun lifted the curtain, everyone looked over, making her dizzy.

Is this really a carriage? Zhen Wenjun felt like she had opened another world.

“Sisters, take good care of her, I’ll meet with Tingxu and then return,” Ah Liao said, as she and Zhen Wenjun helped bring the pregnant woman onto the carriage. A lady in a goose-yellow long dress came forward and assisted the pregnant woman onto the soft cushion, softly saying to Ah Liao:

“Leave her to me; you should focus on your important matters.”

This lady was very beautiful, appearing to be only about sixteen or seventeen years old, her demeanor was poised and elegant, completely different from Ah Liao’s frivolous demeanor. Zhen Wenjun couldn’t help but look at her twice.

Ah Liao was very gratified: “Ah Liao is still caring, I’ll leave this to you.” After speaking, she jumped down from the carriage without stopping to find Wei Tingxu, saying, “Tingxu, oh Tingxu, this time you’ve really caused me trouble.”

Zhen Wenjun knew Ah Liao was peculiar and that she always traveled with a large number of female companions, but hearing about it and seeing it with her own eyes was still a different shock.

As Zhen Wenjun was about to board Wei Tingxu’s carriage, someone suddenly pulled her. She turned to look and saw a ragged and dirty-faced man holding onto her pants, saying:

“Little lady, be kind, give me something to eat.”

Zhen Wenjun was about to speak when she suddenly felt something was wrong. This man’s eyes were not dulled by the torment of famine; instead, they had a kind of firm light. Suspicious, Zhen Wenjun looked again and realized this person was Yan Ye!

“You!” Zhen Wenjun didn’t expect him to be so bold. Wei Tingxu often mentions Xie Fuchen, and as Xie Fuchen’s strategist, perhaps Wei Tingxu already knows this face well. Last time he appeared in disguise, now he only smeared some dirt on his face, making it extremely easy to be exposed.

Seeing two guards already looking in their direction, Zhen Wenjun quickly raised her voice and said: “What? You still have swaddled infants at home? Alright, you’re really lucky, our lady is kind-hearted and indeed brought some grain. Follow me.”

The grain-carrying carriage was at the back of the convoy, with only two guards standing straight there.

Zhen Wenjun led Yan Ye to the back, got on the carriage, and scooped a sack of rice for him.

“Thank you, thank you kind lady. You and your parents will surely live long lives.” Yan Ye handed a thin item to Zhen Wenjun when receiving the sack of rice.

Zhen Wenjun held it properly, pouting displeasedly, said: “You live one more year, that’s one more year!”

Yan Ye laughed twice and left.

Inside the carriage was just a cover, and Zhen Wenjun rubbed out the item in her hand, finding it was a leaf with four characters written on it: “demon woman’s handwriting.”

They actually want Wei Tingxu’s handwriting? What are they planning to do?