Fish Meat – Chapter 71

The Ninth Year of Shenchu

Needle Tip versus Wheat Awning (Part 8)

The Eldest Princess stayed in Quxian for two days before setting out to the next county to continue distributing grain. On the day of her departure, the common people of Quxian city lined the path to send her off, all praising and acclaiming the Eldest Princess endlessly. Wei Tingxu did not accompany her; instead, she idly remained in Quxian, not instructing Zhen Wenjun to do anything, seemingly waiting for something.

Xiaohua’s toxin had already spread throughout her body, leaving her weak and powerless, only able to rest in bed. Zhong Ji continuously used cotton cloths day and night to absorb the poison exuding from her body, not closing her eyes for two days and nights. Lingbi went to see her a few times and returned to tell Zhen Wenjun that Xiaohua was in a terrible state, her body swollen with poison gas, even bigger than two women. It coincided with the ten-year poison attack period of the ghost dove, and it was uncertain whether she could endure this ordeal.

Wei Tingxu often stayed by her side, accompanying her with chatter, and Xiaohua’s mental state was still relatively good. Zhong Ji mentioned that the poison spreading throughout her body caused bone-gnawing pain, which was very hard to endure. Since starting the detoxification, Xiaohua hadn’t uttered a single complaint or cried out in pain, which Zhong Ji greatly admired.

“Lady Xiaohua is truly a hero; I have never seen such a determined person,” Zhong Ji sighed. “I once asked her what belief supports her through the difficult days, and she said she only wishes to quickly heal and return to the lady’s side to assist her. Lady Wei is truly enviable to have such a virtuous helper like Xiaohua.”

Zhen Wenjun observed Zhong Ji’s wholehearted focus on Xiaohua, seemingly unlike another spy from the Xie family. In contrast, Doctor Xu often went outside, seeing patients one day and brewing medicine the next, collecting small amounts of silver, often sitting by the stove with a broken fan, humming songs while boiling medicine, appearing quite leisurely.

Zhen Wenjun secretly followed him a few times, observing him shuttling through the market, helping disaster victims with their illnesses, not appearing as if he wanted to deliver messages to anyone. However, the Xie family’s act of sending Ah Xin to their door made her even more suspicious that there might be other spies besides her, feeling that the Xie family was well aware of the situation on Wei Tingxu’s side. Doctor Xu and Zhong Ji were the biggest suspects; which of these two people is the spy, or are both of them?

Having a pair of hidden eyes secretly watching her always made her uneasy. She pondered deeply how to make this person reveal their true form, while Wei Tingxu remained leisurely, daily carving wood, only chatting with Zhen Wenjun about everything under the sun, the battles on the northern front lines of Da Yu, and discussing various dukes and ministers around today’s emperor, all with a completely relaxed demeanor.

Zhen Wenjun was very confused, holding back for two days before she couldn’t help but ask Wei Tingxu: “Doesn’t elder sister have anything to instruct me to do?”

Wei Tingxu, carving wood, didn’t even lift her head and asked: “What does younger sister want to do? The grain has been distributed, and the disaster victims are busy expressing gratitude to the Eldest Princess. We’ve labored for a long time, so why not take this opportunity to rest a bit?”

Zhen Wenjun collapsed on the table opposite Wei Tingxu, like a puddle of mud, extremely bored: “Elder sister, just casually assign me some work to do. Being idle these few days has made my bones all soft; it might be more comfortable if elder sister hit me with two sticks.”

“Truly just a mischievous monkey, having leisure days and still thinking about getting hit?” Wei Tingxu put the already gradually formed wooden puppet into her sleeve and waved to her, “Come over.”

Zhen Wenjun quickly got up, taking three steps and two hops to jump to Wei Tingxu’s side, imitating the guards’ posture by clasping her fists in salute, “Elder sister, whatever you need, just instruct.”

Wei Tingxu poked her forehead once with her index finger: “Carry me to the study.”

Zhen Wenjun’s heartbeat instantly sped up, as the words “study” released a strong signal.

Since the day she attempted to secretly take Wei Tingxu’s handwriting and was caught by a guard in the act, with Ah Xin and the Eldest Princess’s matters following in quick succession, she hadn’t had a good opportunity to go alone to Wei Tingxu’s bedroom, let alone such an important place as the study. Despite Xiaohua being bedridden and Wei Tingxu’s travel matters requiring her personal service, firstly, no matter how courageous she was, she dared not act in front of both Wei Tingxu and Lingbi. Secondly, she always felt that the guard who loves to intrude was secretly observing her, and if she rashly acted, she feared being caught red-handed in the act.

Today, that guard was on duty at the outer courtyard, and Lingbi, having received Wei Tingxu’s order early, was nowhere to be found. Now, it was only Wei Tingxu and herself, and if she didn’t act now, when would she?

As a result, when the two arrived at the study, Zhen Wenjun thought it would be like before with Xiaohua, helping Wei Tingxu organize the letters, burning what needed to be burned and keeping what needed to be kept. Unexpectedly, she didn’t get any idle work; instead, Wei Tingxu directed her to take the books from the box, bundle by bundle, move them out, wipe the dust, and sun-dry them. Wei Tingxu, sitting on the side drinking tea, continued carving the wood in her hand, occasionally reminding Zhen Wenjun which books were more precious and needed extra care.

After one round, Zhen Wenjun felt her arms and legs were almost not her own, collapsed tiredly by Wei Tingxu’s leg, and heard Wei Tingxu’s slightly sly voice asking her: “Comfortable now?”

Zhen Wenjun gritted her teeth: “Comfortable, extremely comfortable.”

“For these few days, just come and help me take all the books from the box out to sun properly. They’ve been stifled all winter, and if not well sun-dried, they might get worm-eaten.”

Zhen Wenjun responded: “Yes.”

While organizing the books just now, she noticed many annotations made by Wei Tingxu on the volumes. Compared to letters, this kind of handwriting was the most unguarded, with the habitual pen style and strength vividly displayed. If she rashly stole letters, it would inevitably arouse suspicion from Wei Tingxu and that guard, but what if she imitated the handwriting?

She secretly noted Wei Tingxu’s writing habits in her heart and practiced a few times after returning. Taking advantage of the days she helped Wei Tingxu organize books, even though it was right under Wei Tingxu’s nose, she could openly compare the differences between her imitation and Wei Tingxu’s handwriting. By the time the book organizing was finished, she had pieced together a set of characters extremely similar to Wei Tingxu’s.

Zhen Wenjun specifically chose all common words, so even if discovered by Wei Tingxu, there would be no way to investigate the origin of these words. She wrote the characters on silk cloth, cut them into small cloth pieces, and stuffed them into steamed buns.

Li Yanyi released several hundred carts of grain for disaster relief in Quxian, but there were still unfed disaster victims everywhere in Quxian. Especially some children who had lost their parents, in the chill of spring, were almost without clothes to cover their bodies. By day, they squatted in front of large households begging for a bit of food, and at night, they hid in broken shacks, huddling together for warmth. Wei Tingxu saw their pitiable state and had people take the daily leftover steamed buns and soup to the children in the street shacks.

The timing and conditions were perfect for action. Zhen Wenjun hid the steamed buns stuffed with cloth pieces in her sleeve, carried a basket full of food, and went out, arriving at the shack where she had arranged to meet Yan Ye. She distributed food while searching for his whereabouts. Before long, Yan Ye appeared on his own, and Zhen Wenjun took the steamed buns from her sleeve and gave them to him. He thanked her and vanished into the crowd…

Upon returning, Wei Tingxu called her over, saying there was a gift to give her. Zhen Wenjun was surprised:

“What special day is today that elder sister actually wants to give me a gift?”

“What, you don’t know?” Wei Tingxu appeared even more surprised, holding something covered with cloth, as if certain that Zhen Wenjun would surely remember, smiling as she looked at her, waiting for her to speak.

Zhen Wenjun stood awkwardly and nervously in place, her smile stiff, her eyes darting around. With great determination, she suddenly realized and heavily exclaimed “oh,” joyfully saying: “Elder sister actually still remembers! Really… I myself had forgotten!”

Wei Tingxu lifted the cloth and handed the wooden puppet in front of her: “Does it look like you? These years, following by my side traveling south and venturing north, you’ve always been busy, and I never celebrated your birthday. This year, having some leisure, I thought to personally make a sincere gift for you, as a gift for your seventeenth year.”

Zhen Wenjun took the wooden puppet and saw it was vividly lifelike, almost exactly like herself, with a mischievous monkey’s look. She noticed several injuries on Wei Tingxu’s fingertips, not expecting Wei Tingxu to be so attentive to her.

“How is it? Do you still like it?” Wei Tingxu, seeing her holding the wooden puppet with no reaction, asked.

Zhen Wenjun tenderly stroked the puppet, and her eyes slowly filled with tears.

“I like it, especially, especially like it.” These words were truly heartfelt, and as tears welled up, her voice became somewhat hoarse, “I didn’t expect elder sister to care for me this much, I… being by elder sister’s side is really too good.”

“Why are you still crying on such a good day? Come here.” Wei Tingxu beckoned to her, and Zhen Wenjun, holding the puppet in her arms, knelt in front of Wei Tingxu. Wei Tingxu wiped her tears away with a handkerchief, holding her pretty face and looking at her carefully.

“In the blink of an eye, sister is already seventeen, still crying at the drop of a hat.”

Zhen Wenjun wanted to say sweet words, but Wei Tingxu continued: “You should be getting married, yet still act like a child.”

Zhen Wenjun was choked for a moment and immediately hugged Wei Tingxu, placing her face against her leg: “I don’t want to marry! Sister, don’t make me marry, okay? I want to always stay by sister’s side, serving sister!”

“You’re speaking like a child. Alright, alright, stop crying first, or else your eyes will be swollen tomorrow.”

At this moment, there was still some element of acting involved, but Zhen Wenjun’s heart was genuinely souring. Wei Tingxu truly wasn’t bad to her, but in the end, she was just a spy, having just secretly passed Wei Tingxu’s handwriting to the enemy. Thinking of her and Li Yanyi’s pretentious behavior, it seemed to be covering up some suspicions. Although she didn’t know exactly what had happened, Zhen Wenjun guessed perhaps the matter with Ah Xin had further developments, and that stratagem might not be simple. Wei Tingxu didn’t tell her because she didn’t want more people to know. When it comes to guessing others’ thoughts, the fewer who know, the better, to avoid exposing flaws and adding unnecessary trouble. She and Li Yanyi kept some things in their hearts; would that handwriting cause more incidents? The answer is certain. Actually, the more incidents, the more value Zhen Wenjun has as a spy, which was her strategy from the beginning. But now she encountered the most terrifying problem: she gradually developed real feelings for Wei Tingxu.

If the Xie family now let her act to kill Wei Tingxu in exchange for her mother’s life, could she do it?

Her answer is: she doesn’t know.

She must thank Xie Fuchen for taking over her mother from Xie Taihang’s hand, only needing information and not assassination. Otherwise, she would fall into a more difficult situation.

Zhen Wenjun told herself that Wei Tingxu is merely a weight she must hold in her hand, and she absolutely must not become emotionally involved, no matter what kind of emotion.

Li Yanyi’s footprints have almost covered the entire Suichuan, from Quxian all the way north, even reaching Qixian, which is mostly occupied by refugees and almost taken over by the Hu tribe. Suichuan’s counties are not without greedy officials like County Magistrate Hu, but naturally, there are also good officials who love the people as their children and are pure and upright. Along the way, Li Yanyi not only released grain but also punished evil and removed traitors, receiving praise and deep welcome from the people everywhere.

When this matter reached Li Ju’s ears, he already had little feeling. He knew better than anyone what kind of person his elder sister was.

Li Yanyi was very skilled at superficial work, relying on her status as the Eldest Princess to leave the Forbidden Garden and run around, without veteran ministers following behind saying the Emperor should be prudent, prioritize safety, and for the sake of the people and stability, should not wander. National affairs were heavy and required his personal review, leaving him busy and overwhelmed, also repeatedly provoked by Li Yanyi’s tricks to great anger. Li Ju had been tempered to have no temper.

Initially, when Yao Wei resigned, the Shang Shu Ling¹ position became vacant, and Li Ju, of course, wanted his trusted aide to take over Shang Shu Tai, but unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager intervened and personally appointed Zuo Xu to succeed. This Zuo Xu is Li Yanyi’s teacher, are they not united against a common enemy? Zuo Xu’s immediate appointment left Li Ju with no place to vent, and he no longer went to Shang Shu Tai², instead having Feng Kun and Xie Fuchen come to Tai Ji Hall or the study to see him. Now, in charge of people’s livelihood is Situ³ Wei Lun, in charge of rites is Shaofu⁴ Zhangsun Yao, in charge of finance is Dasinong⁵ Lin Quan, and the decision-making Shang Shu Ling Zuo Xu are all Li Yanyi’s people. This aggressive group has created a one-hand-covering-the-sky situation, eyeing his throne. And standing behind him, besides a group of veteran ministers, only Feng Kun and Xie Fuchen can contend against the Wei faction.

Xie Fuchen is the Imperial Censor Zhongcheng, responsible for supervising officials, and in his early years, he accomplished several significant things, earning much praise. If not for his many years in court, with disciples and former subordinates everywhere, the young Emperor might not have gained the support of veteran ministers. Xie Fuchen is his legs, the pillar that allows him to stand in Tai Ji Hall; Guozhang⁶ Feng Kun, though noble as Piaoji General, but since Da Yu’s founding, to prevent foreign relatives from gaining power, each Guozhang is given this title. Piaoji General is noble as first rank, but holds no real power, with military power still in Sima’s⁷ hands.

The current old Sima, who holds military power, is a descendant of loyalty and bravery. Although he is quite close to the Eldest Princess, he has always been offering advice and planning for Li Ju. He is the only neutral faction holding significant power in the current dynasty, and it is thanks to his consistent neutrality that the fratricidal conflict between Li Ju and Li Yanyi has not yet been decided. To put it bluntly, Li Ju feels that if military power were to fall into Li Yanyi’s hands, he might have lost his life long ago. Da Yu indeed has few soldiers, but even a starved camel has a pile of carcasses. The Da Yu army, along with all aristocratic private troops and unregistered villagers combined, still totals at least 150,000 troops. This is Da Yu’s last strength, and Li Ju wants to keep it firmly in hand, waiting for the day to rendezvous with the secret garrison.

This old Sima is already over seventy, and previously, due to special reasons, he had not retired to return to his hometown. Last month, he finally submitted a retirement memorial, requesting Li Ju to release the Sima position. Li Ju understands that the old Sima is ultimately old and tired and wants to stay away from the center of the whirlpool. Since Yao Wei, a trend of retirement has risen in the court, which he can understand.

Li Ju has already drawn a big red circle on the memorial and stamped it with the seal, yet has not publicly announced it. He wants to wait for Xie Fuchen to return from the north and immediately take over the Sima position. Previously, losing the Shang Shu Ling was due to hastily leaking news, allowing Li Yanyi and the Geng family to seize the opportunity. This time—Li Ju tells himself, this time he must keep it secret and absolutely cannot fail again.

Li Ju’s appointment decree has just been sent from the capital, and Xie Fuchen is already on the way back.

Of course, it is not because the monarch and minister have a tacit understanding.

Three days ago, an urgent letter reached Mengliang, where Xie Fuchen had been lurking for many days, blown by the cold and strong north wind. Despite being seriously ill, he was still implementing the secret garrison plan, and after receiving this letter, he fell ill on the spot.

The first letter Xie Fuchen received was from Wei Tingxu, and it was an extremely vicious letter.

Wei Tingxu asked Li Yanyi for Liu Feng, first to see how much Li Yanyi truly guarded against her, and second, she indeed wanted to use Liu Feng specifically to investigate Xie Fuchen’s whereabouts. Liu Feng, indeed an experienced old general, confirmed Xie Fuchen’s location, who had been hiding in the clouds and mist, in less than a month after going to Mengliang.

Wei Tingxu has never been a person to let others attack without retaliation. She returns tooth for tooth; if someone hits her three punches, she will definitely respond with three cuts. This time, the matter of sowing discord between her and Li Yanyi cannot just end like this.

Li Yanyi and she are both smart people who would not mess up their plans at a critical moment. Li Yanyi could let Liu Feng go without asking more questions, indicating she has not fallen into this plan—at least not yet. But the feeling of being plotted against still makes Wei Tingxu feel as if there is a thorn in her throat.

This matter is naturally the doing of Li Ju’s faction, but the Wei family and the Xie family have been countering each other for so many years, and Wei Tingxu somewhat understands Xie Fuchen. Xie Fuchen always prides himself as the head of Qingliu, adhering to the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues, and is revered as a great Confucian of the time. This great Confucian would absolutely not, to suppress political enemies, force his biological daughter to use Furong Powder or even send her to someone else’s bed. Not only would he not do it himself, but knowing others did it would anger him for years—just like when Ah Xin and Li Yanyi’s private affairs were spread as songs throughout Dongchun. After Xie Fuchen learned of it, he severely punished Ah Xin with family law, and was so angry he fell seriously ill, not attending court for three months.

Therefore, Wei Tingxu speculates that Xie Fuchen, who has been in Mengliang, should not be the mastermind of this plan to sow discord. Perhaps it was Li Ju’s own idea or maybe that guozhang’s scheme, it doesn’t matter, anyone is fine. From Qingliu’s standpoint, using Ah Xin as a lead is very risky; discord might cause discontent among one’s own allies. This is a risky move, and the planner must have been mentally prepared to bear the risk.

Since that’s the case, don’t let this preparation go to waste.

As the head of the Xie family, Xie Fuchen must know about this matter. If he doesn’t know, Wei Tingxu will let him know.

Xie Fuchen fell ill and couldn’t get out of bed, and Liu Feng wanted to investigate his news but had no opportunity. Xie Fuchen almost never stepped outside, staying indoors all day. Liu Feng guarded for ten days without any news, only people delivering medicine going in and out.

Liu Feng sent this matter back to Suichuan, and after receiving the news, Wei Tingxu vaguely sensed some implications.

“Xie Fuchen truly can keep calm. The message I sent in the name of the Xie family clan, he can actually remain still, probably has already guessed that it is our stratagem of sowing discord.”

In the small room late at night, with an oil lamp in front, Ah Liao and Wei Tingxu sat face to face, two wine cups at hand.

“He must be very angry, but he certainly will not directly demand an explanation. Both the Eldest Princess and I can suppress suspicion, let alone Xie Fuchen; he will not go to demand accountability. However, whether or not they mention Ah Xin’s matter, Xie Fuchen will be cautious of Li Ju and others, and Li Ju, fearing Xie Fuchen’s revenge, will naturally add an extra layer of vigilance.” Wei Tingxu drank the wine in one gulp, “We will use their own way to treat them.”

“That matter…” Ah Liao leaned closer, “Is it about time to start?”

“Exactly.” Wei Tingxu’s face, with the smell of wine, exuded a dangerous aura, “This stratagem of sowing discord is perfectly used here, we must thank the person who devised it. Xie Fuchen will soon have the opportunity to attack Feng Kun, to avenge his daughter, and Li Ju won’t be able to say a single extra word. Aren’t Xie and Feng called the backbone and legs of Da Yu? I will first break one leg.”

1. Shang Shu Ling: This was the head of the Shang Shu Sheng (Department of State Affairs) during certain periods in Chinese history. The Shang Shu Ling was responsible for overseeing the administration of government affairs and served as a key advisor to the emperor.
2. Shang Shu Tai: This refers to the Department of State Affairs itself, which was one of the highest governmental bodies in ancient China. It was responsible for implementing imperial decrees and managing various aspects of state administration.
3. Situ: This was a high-ranking official in charge of civil affairs, akin to a Minister of Civil Affairs. The Situ was responsible for overseeing the welfare of the people, including matters related to agriculture, education, and local governance.
4. Shaofu: This position was responsible for managing the imperial household’s finances and supplies. The Shaofu was in charge of producing and maintaining the resources needed for the emperor and the royal court.
5. Dasinong: This title refers to the Minister of Agriculture, who was responsible for overseeing agricultural policies, managing state lands, and ensuring food supply for the population.
6. Guozhang: This is a term used to refer to the emperor’s father-in-law, often translated as “Imperial Father-in-law.”
7. Sima: A historical title in ancient China that refers to a high-ranking military official or general. The title originated during the Zhou Dynasty and evolved over time. In various Chinese dynasties, the Sima was responsible for overseeing military affairs, including the command and organization of troops.