Pursuit of Jade
Chapter 29
With those black-clad assassins who could come for her life at any moment gone, Fan Changyu no longer had to rush to sell off her belongings and leave Lin’an Town.
As for her business with Yixiang Restaurant, they simply settled on a long-term arrangement. Once the meat shop reopened, the Yixiang Restaurant name brought it considerable prestige, and the braised-meat business did even better than before. It was even beginning to outshine Wang Shop.
The day before New Year’s Eve, when she returned home from the shop, she spotted a rather impressive carriage parked at the entrance to the alley. She assumed the Song mother and son had come back again, but when she entered the alley, she found quite a crowd gathered in front of her own house.
Thinking something must have happened at home again, Fan Changyu squeezed through the crowd. “Excuse me, make way…”
One of the neighbors asked, “Changyu, do you have some wealthy relatives?”
Fan Changyu was puzzled. “No, I don’t.”
The neighbor asked again, “Could it be relatives from your husband’s family? I saw the carriage parked at the entrance to the alley. It’s even more impressive than the one the Song family had when they moved last time!”
Only then did Fan Changyu realize that the owner of the carriage parked outside her house had come looking for her family.
Someone beside them chimed in, “That carriage the Song family had on moving day wasn’t theirs in the first place. They rented it from a carriage company!”
There was already a hint of disdain toward the Song family in their words.
Granny Kang stood at the entrance to her own house, showing off a gap-toothed grin. “A bunch of people who suck up to the high and trample the low. Once Yan Ge’er passes the imperial examinations in the capital and becomes the Zhuangyuan, what kind of carriage couldn’t he afford!”
Fan Changyu was puzzled and paid no attention to the neighbors’ idle questions. Only after she entered the house and closed the courtyard gate did she see that there truly was a noble young gentleman seated at the square table in the main room, dressed in brocade robes and a jade-buckled belt.
When he saw her, he smiled and nodded in greeting. Not knowing who he was, Fan Changyu simply imitated him and nodded back.
“It’s already late today, so one won’t disturb Yan Gongzi and Furen any longer.” As he spoke, he rose and gave Xie Zheng a bow. When he turned to Fan Changyu, the smile on his face deepened slightly.
Xie Zheng sat on the other side of the square table. His expression was indifferent, and though he wore nothing more than ordinary cloth clothes, his bearing still faintly surpassed that of the noble young gentleman, “Safe travel. I won’t see you out.”
Fan Changyu knew Yan Zheng had that same foul temper of his. Since he hadn’t bothered to get up from his stool, Fan Changyu nevertheless made a show of courtesy and escorted their guest to the front gate.
After closing the gate again, cutting off the prying eyes of the neighbors outside, Fan Changyu finally asked Xie Zheng, “Who was that?”
Xie Zheng replied, “The owner of the town’s bookshop.”
Fan Changyu picked up the teapot on the table and poured herself some water. “I remember the owner of the town’s bookshop was an old man with a beard?”
“That’s the manager. The actual owner has always lived in the main city of Jizhou.”
The last time Zhao Xun had come looking for him, everyone living in this alley had gone out to work and make a living, so no one had seen him. But today, with the year drawing to a close, every household was idle at home. News had spread from one person to ten, then from ten to a hundred, causing such a huge commotion.
Only after the tea had poured out did Fan Changyu realize that it was cold tea. She took a sip from the cup of cold tea in her hands, then glanced at the half-empty teacup left where the noble young gentleman had been sitting. Unable to help herself, she said, “You serve the guests cold tea?”
Xie Zheng raised his eyes to look at her. From that one glance, Fan Changyu could plainly read the words, What else would I do? For a moment, she was at a loss for words.
Xie Zheng noticed that she had bought another packet of dried tangerine-peel candies. He pushed the red-paper-wrapped bundle on the table toward her, “I made some money writing model essays. You keep it.”
Fan Changyu peeled away the outer layer of red paper, and the look of astonishment in her almond-shaped eyes could not have been greater. Inside were four silver ingots!
Before she had started selling braised meat, her meat shop could not make this much money in an entire month!
Fan Changyu stared at him in disbelief. “Is writing model essays really this profitable?”
Xie Zheng picked up the coarse porcelain cup before him and took a small sip. His knuckles, their dark scabs now fallen away, were long and straight like bamboo, their tendons and bones sharply defined.
“The model essays I wrote before sold well, so the bookshop gave me a share of the profits. Of these forty taels, some are also the advance for the next batch of model essays.”
The few pieces of essays he had written had indeed stirred up quite a storm throughout the capital. Zhao Xun might have been a mere merchant, but he had some ability after all, having managed to hold on to his family business while surrounded by wolves. While having the essays widely reprinted across the various prefectures and sold to scholars preparing for the examinations, he had also concealed where those pieces had originated.
During those few days when the Fan family fell into trouble, his uncle was still conducting a blanket search of every bookshop. Otherwise, there would have been more than twice as many death warriors sent to this little town.
The silver was not exactly something Zhao Xun had given him specifically to curry favor with him, either. Going by the value of those few essays alone, they would truly have been worth a thousand jin of gold if sold.
All the bookshops under the Zhao family’s name had already made a fortune these past few days by reprinting his model essays.
Afraid that she might become suspicious, he had deliberately asked for only forty taels. He had not expected her to think even that was too much.
Fan Changyu looked at the gleaming silver ingots beside her, then at Xie Zheng, “The bookshop owner came all this way to find you just because he took a liking to the essays you wrote?”
Xie Zheng nodded. “The war in Chongzhou remains unresolved, and factional struggles in court continue unabated. The picture of the devastation in Chongzhou that I wrote about may be rather superficial, but it is something the other scholars have never experienced themselves. That is why it has sold so well.”
Seeing that Fan Changyu had not been happy at the sight of the silver at all, but had instead fallen silent, he unconsciously furrowed his brow.
The next moment, he heard Fan Changyu say, “Actually, you don’t have to lie to me. I know.”
The fingertips Xie Zheng had resting against the wall of his cup tightened slightly. “What?”
Fan Changyu raised her eyes to look at him. “For the bookshop’s owner to take such a liking to you, you must have quite a gift for writing. You must have studied a great deal before. You were afraid that I’d take out on you what happened with my former fiancé—that he passed the provincial examination and then broke off our engagement—so you’ve been lying to me all this time, telling me your learning was only mediocre, right?”
Hearing that this was what she meant, the tension in Xie Zheng’s fingertips against the cup finally eased somewhat.
Before he could answer, Fan Changyu continued with a frown, “I’m not as narrow-minded as you think. There are plenty of scholars in this world. Just because my former fiancé was a heartless bastard, that doesn’t mean every scholar under Heaven is heartless too, right? I understand that much. You don’t need to worry about things that haven’t happened.”
Xie Zheng lowered his eyes. “I apologize.”
Fan Changyu waved a hand to show that it was nothing. She had hidden the fact that she knew martial arts from her neighbors before, too. This was his own ability; whether he told her about it or not did not harm her in any way. There was nothing for her to take offense at.
Fan Changyu was simply curious enough to ask, “If you’ve read so many books, why didn’t you sit for the imperial examinations? Why become an armed escort instead?”
Xie Zheng replied, “The things I want to do cannot be accomplished through studying.”
They had been living under the same roof for nearly a month, and this was the first time Fan Changyu had ever asked him in detail about himself. Since the conversation had already come this far, she followed up, “What is it you want to do?”
The wind blowing through the passageway lifted a loose strand of hair at Xie Zheng’s temple. He looked toward the thick layer of snow piled atop the courtyard wall and the mist-shrouded horizon, his eyes growing distant and unfathomable, “Just as you want to keep running the meat shop your father left behind, I want to finish what my father left undone.”
Fan Changyu lowered her head and thought for a while before suddenly widening her eyes in surprise. “Don’t tell me your family runs an escort agency?”
Being an armed escort was a hard life. Otherwise, who would risk their lives for that little bit of silver?
He was well-read, highly skilled in martial arts, and worked as an armed escort. After thinking it over from every angle, Fan Changyu could only conclude that he must be the young master of an escort agency—that was the only status that made sense for him.
Xie Zheng hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Fan Changyu suddenly understood. “No wonder you’ve always said you’d leave once your injuries healed.”
She pushed the forty taels of silver back toward him. “Keep this money for yourself. There are so many things that’ll cost money when you rebuild the escort agency! When the time comes for you to leave, I’ll see how much money I have on hand. If I have enough to spare, I’ll give you some more!”
This was not the first time Xie Zheng had heard her speak of the two of them going their separate ways. Aside from the wounds on his body that were still not fully healed because of how ghastly the cuts from his external injuries looked, his internal injuries had already recovered to roughly seventy or eighty percent. Zhao Xun’s visit today had also been to inform him that he had secured the 200,000 shi of grain. traditional unit of grain volume/weight
It would indeed not be long before he left.
Hearing her speak of it again now stirred a strange feeling in the depths of his heart.
He raised a hand and pressed down on one of the silver ingots, stopping her from pushing it back toward him. His tone carried a hint of firmness, “It’s for you. Payment for the medicine.”
Fan Changyu still refused. “When you agreed to marry into my family as a live-in husband, we already agreed that I’d treat your injuries. How can I take your money now? Wouldn’t that be going back on my word? You’ve already had a hard enough time earning this money, writing model essays in the house against the cold wind while you were still injured…”
His grip on the silver ingot did not loosen in the slightest. His dark eyes fixed on her, “Candy money?”
Fan Changyu froze for a moment before realizing that he meant the money she had spent on buying him candy. She answered honestly, “But candy doesn’t cost that much silver…”
“Then keep it for now. Buy more later.”
“Even if you buy candy until your injuries heal and you leave, it still won’t cost that much…”
Fan Changyu stopped halfway through her sentence and suddenly fell silent.
“Buy more later”—did he mean that there was going to be a later for the two of them?
The firewood burning in the brazier gave a sharp crack, sparks scattering in every direction and finally breaking the silence in the room.
He repeated the same thing, “Keep it.”
Fan Changyu did not look at him. Instead, she stared at the hand pressing down on the silver ingot for a while before asking, “What kind of candy do you like?”
Hearing her ask that, Xie Zheng withdrew his hand, “You decide what to buy.”
That night, when Fan Changyu went to sleep, she, who had always been a sound sleeper, found herself staring at the canopy above her bed, unable to sleep.
She might have been big-hearted, but she was not made of wood.
Yan Zheng might have had a temper and a sharper tongue than most, but he was a good person. Otherwise, he would not have taken Changning and fled after bandits had broken into their home.
He was handsome, literate, and possessed an impressive set of martial skills.
She knew he was only staying here temporarily and would eventually leave, which was why she had always regarded him as a passing traveler in her life.
But today, he had given her such a large sum of silver and told her to keep buying candy for him in the future?
Fan Changyu suddenly felt a strange mess of emotions stirring in her chest.
She tossed and turned like a pancake on a griddle, and did not finally drift into a fitful sleep until dawn was nearly breaking.
The next morning, as expected, she woke late, faint dark circles showing beneath her eyes.
Fortunately, the meat shop would be closed on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, so it did not matter that she had slept in.
Yawning, Fan Changyu got up to make tangyuan. Outside, children were still playing with firecrackers in the alley, and the entire town was steeped in the peaceful, festive atmosphere of the New Year.
Yet Chongzhou, only one prefecture away, had just suffered a crushing defeat.
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
In The Capital.
The streets were festooned with lanterns and decorations, brimming with the festive spirit of the New Year.
An eight-hundred-li emergency military dispatch passed through Yongding Gate, but instead of being delivered to the imperial palace, it was diverted to the residence of Prime Minister Wei.
A relay rider raced down the narrow lane like a shooting star, while on either side, frost and snow weighed down the branches of elm and poplar trees.
The atmosphere outside the Wei Residence was stern and forbidding. Two stone lions stood guard, their fierce faces gripping precious orbs beneath their paws. Armored guards stood arrayed in a formation like wild geese, weapons at the ready. Snow blanketed the tops of the walls, and even the sparrows seemed unwilling to land on the withered branches here.
The courier tumbled from his horse and pulled the military dispatch from his robes, raising it high above his head, “Emergency dispatch from Chongzhou!”
The guards at the gate paled. They took the dispatch and hurried inside, handing it to a soldier within the residence. Only then did the soldier rush to the study and present it, “Daren, an emergency dispatch from Chongzhou!”
Before long, the study attendant opened the door and came out to collect the dispatch.
The entire process was carried out with strict precision and speed. Every intelligence report delivered to the Wei Residence’s study each day was brought in this manner.
The attendant closed the study doors and walked almost soundlessly across the floor. With utmost respect, he presented the military dispatch to the long-bearded old man seated behind the red sandalwood desk, reviewing memorials. “Chengxiang, an eight-hundred-li emergency dispatch from Chongzhou.”
A strong, sinewy hand took the dispatch. After reading it, the old man slammed it down heavily on the desk. “I should have known that unfilial son of mine wouldn’t be able to hold the situation in Chongzhou! The autumn harvest only just ended—why can’t we requisition grain from the entire northwest?”
The attendant did not dare utter any sound.
The old man rose. He was dressed not in fine brocade, but in an ordinary cloth robe. With his hands clasped behind his back, he gazed out at the deep snow beyond the window. His phoenix eyes were long and narrow, and his figure was upright and imposing.
He was none other than Wei Yan, Prime Minister of Great Yin, who had held the reins of the imperial court for more than a decade.
After a moment’s thought, he said, “Tell that unfilial son of mine to come crawling back. Send He Jingyuan to hold the line in Chongzhou for now.”
The two most useful blades he had ever wielded were his Wai nephew, whom he had personally raised, and He Jingyuan. His own son, Wei Xuan, by contrast, was merely an empty-headed fool with plenty of ambition but a stubborn, self-important nature.
The attendant acknowledged the order and was about to withdraw when the man who had occupied the position of Prime Minister and wielded the Emperor’s authority for more than a decade suddenly asked, “Have they found Marquis Wu’an’s remains?”
The attendant shook his head. “No.”
Wei Yan let out a heavy sigh. “That child carries the blood of the Wei family. In temperament and methods, he was the one most like me. What a pity…”
The attendant had served at Wei Yan’s side for many years and could more or less discern his master’s thoughts. Remembering how much greater Wei Yan’s regard for Marquis Wu’an had once been than for his eldest son, Wei Xuan, he ventured, “Perhaps Houyé was merely misled by those treacherous petty men. You raised Houyé for sixteen years. You two may not be father and son by blood, but are closer than father and son. As for the claim that you were the one who had the Crown Prince Chengde and General Xie killed all those years ago—that is nothing but baseless nonsense. Where is the evidence? Houyé has not even seen any evidence himself. There should still be room to turn this matter around. There is no need for you to…”
The attendant suddenly fell silent halfway through. He looked up and met Wei Yan’s cold, forbidding gaze, then hurriedly struck himself hard across the face, “Laonu spoke out of turn!”
Wei Yan merely said, “One day, he will find out. He has already grown suspicious. If I do not finish him off while he is still unguarded, then one day it will be my Wei family lying at the slaughterer’s block.”
The attendant was first taken aback, then said, “Chengxiang is a pillar of the state. Even Houyé could not bring you down. Besides, Houyé is already gone.”
Wei Yan closed his eyes and said nothing.
When he turned back and sat down behind the writing desk, the trace of melancholy had already vanished from his face, “Have the things I sent people to Jizhou to retrieve been brought back?”
The attendant lowered his voice a few degrees. “The black-rank death warriors have yet to send back any word.”
Wei Yan’s expression suddenly turned severe. “What about He Jingyuan?”
The attendant replied, “The spy we planted beside He Jingyuan sent word earlier that He Jingyuan does not seem to know of the thing’s existence.”
Just then, a voice came from outside the study announcing, “Daren, the Governor of Jizhou has sent a fast horse bearing a brocade box.”
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