Chapter 46 False Alarm! Come with me!
"Didn't I give you money?" Chen Liangyu said.
The fields on the outskirts of the city are not expensive, costing only one and a half ounces per acre.
The money pouch she handed him at the dock at the end of Jinshu Lane that day contained at least four and a half taels of silver, along with some copper coins. That was enough for him to buy two acres of land and have enough left over for a year and a half of expenses.
"It's all used up."
The man didn't dare look at her, and whispered, "To use for travel expenses."
Still carrying the firewood, from the fight, pushing, and running, the fake stubble on his face had split open at one corner.
money for the journey?
"Are you from Liangxi?" Chen Liangyu asked.
The man shook his head. "No."
"Have you practiced martial arts?"
"I know a little about it."
Chen Liangyu remained silent for a long time.
The man raised his eyelids and secretly glanced at her, seeing that Chen Liangyu had her eyelids lowered, and he didn't know what she was thinking.
It wasn't the day of worship, so the mountain god temple was deserted. Inside, a huge statue of the mountain god stood, depicting a goddess, with offerings laid out below the altar for the mountain god.
The sounds of fighting outside gradually subsided.
“Back in Yongdu, you at least knew how to earn your own living, but now…” Chen Liangyu felt that the following words were a bit harsh, so he didn’t finish them.
Perhaps there was simply no other way.
Or perhaps, everyone has their own ambitions.
The man was a little surprised.
She looked down at her tattered clothes. She looked like a beggar.
She instantly understood Chen Liangyu's meaning, and felt incredibly embarrassed. She was still wearing the porter's clothes she'd worn years ago; she had no money for new clothes, nor was it necessary, so she'd only worn this one all these years. But linen clothes were easily torn, and she'd patched and mended them repeatedly, her whole body filthy. They must have mistaken her for a real beggar.
“I carry firewood up the mountain for people. I get five coins for a bundle of firewood.”
She hesitated, trying to subtly explain that she hadn't begged for food.
Her face felt a little itchy, so she reached out and scratched it a couple of times, making her stubble even drier.
"..."
She and Chen Liangyu locked eyes, both remaining silent. She simply tore off the stubble and found new stubble to stick on her face.
Chen Liangyu examined her for a moment; she had calluses on the back of her hand. Chen Liangyu also had calluses on the back of her right hand and the inside of her thumb, which were from drawing a bow.
"What's your name? Where are you from? Who is your father?"
“Bu Ping’er,” she said, “my father…has passed away.”
His surname is Bu.
Among the military generals in the court, who has a name and surname, is there anyone with the surname Bu? Chen Liangyu wondered.
The walls of the mountain god temple are painted with colorful murals. Looking at them in sequence, they tell the story of a goddess ascending to heaven and protecting the mountain people.
It seems someone once lived here. There's a stove built of rubble, with a chipped pot hanging above it, and several traces of fire. Straw is laid along the wall, creating several flat pits, and there seem to be dried bloodstains in them.
Rong Jun searched the mountain god temple thoroughly, fearing someone might be hiding somewhere. The temple wasn't large; aside from behind the mountain god statue, there was almost nowhere for someone to hide. He had already searched the area behind the mountain god statue three times already.
He actually managed to pull someone out of the pile of dirt behind the straw mat.
“Where did this brat come from?” Rong Jun asked.
He was a little beggar. Still a child.
He was so scared that he didn't dare to move, and Ren Rongjun held him up.
He seemed happy to see Bu Ping'er, but then he glanced at the people in the courtyard and house, all carrying weapons, and his eyes were filled with worry for Bu Ping'er. He was also pleading for help.
As soon as Rong Jun let go, the little beggar landed and immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowing to Rong Jun repeatedly, making "uh uh uh" sounds.
While kowtowing, he clasped his hands together and swayed them up and down as if performing a traditional Chinese greeting.
He was actually a little mute. He was begging for mercy.
It didn't seem like he was begging for mercy on his own behalf. He kowtowed and pulled Bu Ping'er hard, as if urging her to kneel down and kowtow with him.
Bu Ping'er pulled the little beggar up, held him close to her chest, and said, "My brother is mentally challenged."
The little beggar seemed to disagree with this statement, struggling twice in protest.
“You’re quite skilled, come with me,” Chen Liangyu said.
Xie Wenjun sat on the stone bench, shifting her gaze from that spot to her toes. She rested her chin on her knees, picked up a straw, snapped it into pieces, and threw it on the ground.
Then Chen Liangyu said, "I will give you the opportunity to make a name for yourself."
Xie Wenjun picked up the pieces of straw that she had broken into pieces and tried to piece them back together to see if she could put them back together.
"If you have the courage, you won't have to do hard labor like carrying goods and firewood anymore."
Bu Ping'er's hand trembled as she applied the fake stubble. It was crooked.
She stiffly raised her head, her eyes flashing with ecstatic joy, but then turning to hesitation and struggle. She turned her head to the right, staring south, and after a moment's hesitation, shook her head in refusal.
"I'm waiting for someone."
"Waiting for whom?"
Bu Ping'er surveyed the room full of soldiers, her face revealing apprehension and fear. She responded to this question she didn't want to answer with silence.
Xie Wenjun couldn't piece the straw together. She got up from the stone bench and walked to the two of them. "Like you, if I don't want to answer, I won't."
Chen Liangyu shrugged.
A voice came from outside: "Your humble servant greets the Princess and General Chen! The assassin has been brought to justice. Your subject, Du Peisun, arrived too late to rescue Your Majesty and deserves to die!"
Immediately following was a voice: "Your subject Qiu Renshan arrived late to protect Your Majesty, and deserves to die ten thousand times!"
Qiu Renshan? Chen Liangyu raised an eyebrow. "Oh, an acquaintance."
Bu Ping'er froze, her eyes wide, unable to hide her fear and apprehension.
The little beggar was nearly suffocated by her stiff arm.
"It's safe now, you can go." Chen Liangyu thought of something, took Yuan Rong's handkerchief, borrowed some blood from the injured Donggong guard, and traced four words on the handkerchief with her fingertips: Find Chen Liangyu.
He took out the general's seal and stamped it.
"Keep an eye out for recruitment notices. If you're willing, come find me anytime."
Bu Ping'er trembled as she took the handkerchief with the seal, carefully folded it, and tucked it into her clothes, keeping it close to her body.
She pulled the little beggar along and followed Chen Liangyu and Xie Wenjun out the door, hiding and avoiding Qiu Renshan as they ran away.
"Lord Qiu, it's been a long time. How are you?" Chen Liangyu stepped out of the door and greeted the acquaintance.
Qiu Renshan said, "I dare not. I am only a sixth-rank prefectural assistant, and I am honored that the general still remembers my name."
Xie Wenjun said "Rise," and Du Peisun and Qiu Renshan then stood up to reply.
"Why is Lord Qiu here?" Chen Liangyu asked.
Qiu Renshan said, "I was originally the magistrate of Yanjiang County. After investigating several cases of smuggling salt, I was transferred to Chong'an County as the prefectural assistant."
Who ordered the assassin?
"The assassins have all been killed, and no confessions were left."
Chen Liangyu's expression darkened. "No survivors?"
Dozens of assassins in black, attempting to assassinate the royal family, should certainly be captured and interrogated. Leaving none alive is an utterly reprehensible mistake, even for civil officials like Du Peisun and Qiu Renshan.
Unless someone is afraid of being exposed and is unwilling to be interrogated.
Qiu Renshan said, "They were all desperate criminals. When they saw the government troops surrounding them and they couldn't escape, they committed suicide."
Xie Wenjun said, "Minister Du, Minister Qiu, how did you two know that I and General Chen were in Liangxi City? You even foresaw that I would be assassinated and came to my rescue at just the right time."
Du Peisun replied, "Your Highness, it was Prefect Qiu who received intelligence from the Yongjia City garrison that Your Highness and General Chen were both in Chong'an and heading towards Liangxi City. Therefore, he mobilized troops to guard against any unforeseen circumstances."
Xie Wenjun glanced at Du Peisun and then at Qiu Renshan with an ambiguous expression, and said, "You two have done a great service in saving the Emperor. I will remember it."
Another round of polite exchanges ensued.
Du Peisun and Qiu Renshan were well-prepared and even had a carriage ready to take them down the mountain.
The path in front of the mountain god's temple was no longer a rugged, winding trail, but a six-foot-wide official road. Looking into the distance, one could even see a vast plain. At the end of the plain, there were still green mountains, and it seemed that herds of horses were running.
Du Peisun said, "That's the southern horse farm. As the saying goes, 'Looking at the mountain makes a horse run itself to death.' It looks not far from here, but a round trip would take a whole day and night."
There was a horse barn in each of the six directions of Zhonglin: east, west, south, north, southeast, and center. These were pastures for raising and storing warhorses.
They also stocked up on hay, black beans, and millet to prepare fine feed for warhorses.
These six stables were also often places where prisoners were exiled.
Chen Liangyu and Xie Wenjun rode together.
Strange. Strange everything.
An assassination attempt was made inexplicably, and Du Peisun and Qiu Renshan rescued the emperor in a completely nonsensical manner.
The two women exchanged a glance, and both understood what was going on.
Someone orchestrated and acted in this whole thing, treating the two of them as characters on a stage, and put on a performance riddled with flaws.
No wonder those assassins in black lay in ambush for so long without making a move, only attacking when they got close to the main road. Their arrows seemed to have eyes; they couldn't aim at her and Xie Wenjun at all.
If it was done intentionally, then it makes sense.
Even assuming the information truly came from Qingge, they could simply attribute the rescue to Qingge and pretend ignorance. This way, they could claim all the credit for saving the emperor, and if the princess was assassinated, they could easily absolve themselves of all responsibility and remain uninvolved.
The fact that Qiu Renshan is so eager to show his face in front of the princess must mean that he has had enough of his time in exile and wants to find an opportunity to return to Yongdu as the head of the Ministry of Personnel.
Having served in the Ministry of Personnel for many years, he was very astute in grasping the timing of official promotions and transfers. He sensed an opportunity. In the current situation, if he bet on the right horse, it would be a meritorious act of supporting the emperor; if he bet on the wrong horse, it wouldn't matter. Princess Jiangning was just a princess and had no possibility of seizing the throne. No matter who succeeded to the throne, she would be the new emperor's younger sister and the only eldest princess of Daqing.
This deal is a sure thing, you can't lose money.
It turned out to be just a false alarm.
"A mediocre person makes mistakes!" Chen Liangyu was both annoyed and helpless about Qiu Renshan's actions.
Xie Wenjun had other considerations and did not get angry with Qiu Renshan's recklessness. "Qiu Renshan has been in the Ministry of Personnel for many years and has a lot of dirt on people. It is not a bad thing for him to come and surrender now."
"Does Your Highness think Du Peisun is truly confused, or was he tricked into coming by Qiu Renshan?" Chen Liangyu asked.
Xie Wenjun said, "No, he's just pretending to be confused. This man is very good at protecting himself. He knows that Qiu Renshan is not comfortable here and he is afraid that Qiu Renshan will cause him trouble. He probably wanted to get rid of this big shot a long time ago. Qiu Renshan has set up the stage, so he came along to perform a show and let Qiu Renshan leave on his own merits so that he won't offend anyone."
Another way to say "to protect oneself wisely" is to "play the peacemaker."
This is very much in line with Du Peisun's style of doing things.
Chen Liangyu lifted the curtain and glanced out; the grassland was vast, and the landscape was a verdant expanse.
Thinking of Bu Ping'er, she turned to Xie Wenjun and asked, "Have there ever been any military officers in the court with the surname Bu? Perhaps they were convicted of a crime?"
Xie Wenjun said, "I don't know. I don't recall ever having that experience."
The first military general she learned about after being brought to the Eastern Palace by Xie Yu was Zhao Zhouqing. Unfortunately, she remembered his name from the news of his demotion.
"You know that woman? I've never heard you mention her before," Xie Wenjun said.
Chen Liangyu said, "We've met once before."
Author's note: Thank you for reading this far!
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