Chapter 81. If there's no reward for lichen, something else can compensate.
One by one, the people on horseback tumbled off.
The jade lion flicked its mane, walked around the wooden fence, and looked down at the assembled heroes.
After the warriors at the front had several arms and legs broken, none of them dared to go back on the field.
Xie Yuan's expression was already quite unpleasant.
The arena was quiet. The jade lion strolled leisurely around the center of the arena, but no one else emerged. After a moment of silence, the judge, sharp-eyed and quick-witted, saw Liang Qiuting stand up and hurriedly asked, "Would the King of Nanzhou like to give it a try?"
Liang Qiuting bowed to Xie Yuan and said, "Your Majesty, Nanzhou is a vassal state of Da Lin, and I am a subject of Da Lin. Everything still depends on Your Majesty's will. May I ask if I can do as I please, if I subdue this beast, will the horse be at my disposal?"
Xie Yuan's expression softened slightly, and he said, "If the King of Nanzhou obtains the fine steed, he will naturally be at the king's disposal."
"Okay." Liang Qiuting went to the changing room to change into riding and archery gear and warmed up his legs.
Several guards stood watch outside the side hall on the cliff, while inside, several palace maids served tea. Xie Wenjun and Chen Liangyu observed the horse farm from the fairy pavilion under the eaves of the back corridor of the side hall. A long eight-panel nanmu screen separated the fairy pavilion where the two were from the main hall in front.
An older palace maid led the guards with swords to the back of the screen. The guards reported, "Your Highness, the Earl of Chengyang has sent a visiting card requesting an audience with the General."
After receiving permission, the palace maid took the visiting card, walked around the camphor tree, and presented it to the emperor.
Eight nanmu wood screens completely shielded the celestial pavilion where the two women were located. As soon as the palace maid stepped over the solid barrier, she felt the stuffiness in the air, and her face inexplicably flushed and her heart became restless. However, she glanced around and found nothing amiss. Chen Liangyu and Xie Wenjun sat facing each other, with a low table between them, their clothes straight as if they were on their way to the morning court.
Xie Wenjun glanced at the visiting card briefly, and then Chen Liangyu snatched the three-folded cardboard from her hand.
Her movements were so smooth and fluid that the palace maids standing nearby widened their eyes slightly at Chen Liangyu's inappropriate behavior. This was extremely impolite, and to put it more seriously, it violated the proper relationship between ruler and subject.
Xie Wenjun seemed not to pursue the matter, nor did she care; in fact, she seemed somewhat used to it.
As Chen Liangyu looked around, he teased, "Your Highness, this place isn't exactly secluded. Does everyone know I've returned to Yongdu? Wouldn't wearing a veil only make things more obvious?"
Xie Wenjun said, "If a simple hat could make you unrecognizable, how could you live up to your renowned reputation?"
"Then it's better not to feel sorry for them."
The Earl of Chengyang was a hot-tempered but honest man. At first glance, the words "hot-tempered" and "honest" seem incompatible, but he truly embodied both.
Because of the stalemate between the Imperial Academy and the Gu family, Xie Wenjun and the officials had been deadlocked for many days. The Earl of Chengyang had tried to mediate and reconcile the situation, but both sides were tough opponents. It was difficult for him to act as a mediator. After a while, he couldn't suppress his temper and drove around Yongdu every day to curse people. He cursed people from both sides. During those days, any official involved in this matter would take a detour when they saw the Earl of Chengyang's carriage.
His criticism was spot on.
From Wen Xuan forcing Emperor Zhenyuan Xie Yuan to issue an edict abolishing the women's examination, to later targeting the Gu family of the Cangnan Hanhong Academy, his true intention was nothing more than to expel the Hanhong faction from the court and suppress dissent.
The Earl of Chengyang interfered on both sides, but did not join either side.
Upon hearing the news of Yao Jifeng's death, he spent many days mediating between the two sides, and he played a part in resolving the long-standing stalemate. In the end, the three members of the Gu family were exonerated, the students of the Imperial Academy were pardoned for causing trouble, and Lingjiu Academy was preserved.
The visiting card was sent by the Earl of Chengyang to a younger member of his family.
Neither the younger generation studying at the Imperial Academy nor the officials in the court were involved in this matter. Therefore, Chen Liangyu respected the Marquis of Chengyang's feelings and had no reason not to refuse his invitation.
Xie Wenjun said, "If you don't want to see him, just let him go. There's no need to force him."
"It wouldn't hurt to meet him."
On the other side of the nanmu screen, facing away from the center, was a tall chair. Xie Wenjun sat on it, while Chen Liangyu sat on a side chair next to Xie Wenjun.
Not long after, the boy who had accidentally fired the arrow was brought in by the guards.
As he approached, he could see that the boy was handsome, like a young pine tree in its growth, exuding righteousness and resilience from the inside out—a rare type.
Yue Zhengyang knelt on one knee, his voice still that of a young boy just beginning to change, and said, "Greetings, Princess, and greetings, General."
"What business do you have with the General?"
Yue Zhengyang pursed his lips into a thin line, mustered his courage, and said, "I want to become the General's apprentice and protect my country."
Xie Wenjun leaned towards Chen Liangyu, her clothes brushing against Chen Liangyu's shoulder. She covered her mouth and said, "They've delivered themselves to your door."
Chen Liangyu asked in surprise, "Hmm?"
Yue Zhengyang looked somewhat ashamed, burying his face in his collar, and said, "I originally planned to win the championship in archery and horsemanship before presenting my apprenticeship letter to the Marquis of Xuanping's residence, but I got distracted... I know that the General's requirements for students' qualifications must be extremely high, and I am willing to accept the test."
Chen Liangyu said, "I have no intention of taking on students."
Yue Zhengyang persisted, saying, "I know it won't be easy to become the Grand General's disciple, but please point me in the right direction."
Chen Liangyu looked down at the kneeling boy who refused to get up with great interest, his eyes crinkling as he said, "You've put me in a difficult position. If I point in this direction and you do well, wouldn't I have no reason not to accept you? If I don't point in this direction, wouldn't it seem like I'm deliberately making things difficult and being unreasonable? I'm afraid of your father, the Earl of Chengyang's, words."
Yue Zhengyang blushed and stammered, "I...I...I didn't mean that. My father said that I had to beat the archers from Beiyong in the archery competition before he would have the nerve to visit me and ask me to become his apprentice. But I was not good enough and failed to win. My father said he was too ashamed to come, so I asked my father to present the letter of request on my behalf. Today, it was my rashness that led to this, not my father's intention. Please forgive me, Princess and General."
Chen Liangyu said, "Today was truly a trick by Bei Yong. Your skills are no less than others, so there's no need to belittle yourself. Young Master Yue, you may return."
Yue Zhengyang looked a bit like a wilted eggplant, all droopy and listless. Led by the guards, he retraced his steps, turning back every few steps.
Xie Wenjun seemed to remember something and, unusually, felt compassion, as if she were taking pity on Yue Zhengyang, saying, "If you keep pestering her, maybe she'll take you in one of her days when she's in a good mood."
Yue Zhengyang was delighted to be shown the right path and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness."
Chen Liangyu: "I..."
I didn't say that!
Xie Wenjun's idea this time was really terrible.
If Yue Zhengyang really started pestering her, even if he was indeed a promising talent, she would never accept someone so shameless and persistent as a student.
Next, let's look at the horse farm.
Liang Qiuting hung precariously on the horse's back, about to fall, when he slapped his back and sprang up at the last moment before being thrown off, performing a graceful somersault in the air before landing steadily back on the horse's back.
Chen Liangyu muttered to himself, "He's got some skills."
Xie Wenjun said, "You just praised him as a promising talent, so why are you unwilling to take him on?"
Chen Liangyu said, “There are plenty of hot-blooded young men in the world. Who isn’t impetuous when they’re young, thinking about killing enemies to serve their country and making a name for themselves? But becoming a military general isn’t so easy. Whether it’s just a passing fancy or a real ambition, let’s wait and see in a couple of years.”
The archery competition has ended for today, and only Liang Qiuting and Yu Shizi remain on the field. There's no point in staying any longer, so Chen Liangyu said, "Let's go back."
Xie Wenjun pointed to the jade lion and said, "Don't you want to know who will win the prize?"
"Never mind, it's not going to be mine anyway, so there's no point in looking at it any longer."
As she spoke, her gaze was not on the jade lion, but involuntarily lingered on Xie Wenjun's face for a moment, before she restrained herself and looked away.
It's very strange.
It was not what she wanted.
Each meeting, after a brief and intense joy like the midday sun, was followed by a long period of dampness. She so admired uprightness, yet in this one matter, she lived like a rat hiding in a sewer, unable to see the light of day.
Xie Wenjun's efforts to reform agriculture and sericulture inevitably clashed with the powerful families who controlled the most cultivated land. However, suppressing these families required more than just administrative measures; he needed to control the military.
Xie Wenjun distrusted Hengmiao in the Southern Border, and Hengmiao also realized that the Princess intended to have Zhao Mingqin divide the military power in the Southern Border. Therefore, although he was promoted by Xie Wenjun to command the troops in the Southern Border, he was not loyal to Xie Wenjun. Instead, he was more united with Xie Yuan.
The Changning Guard and Zhao Mingqin's Xuanjia Army alone could not suppress the frequent rebellions of so many aristocratic families. Therefore, her eight thousand heavily armored Eagle Head Army soldiers and two hundred thousand garrison troops became Xie Wenjun's biggest bargaining chip.
Chen Liangyu even felt fortunate that she was able to use military power as a secret bargaining chip to take Xie Wenjun for herself, which she considered a blessing from heaven.
So filthy and disgusting.
She often felt guilty towards Xie Wenjun.
But the thought of Xie Wenjun becoming someone else's wife was unbearable for her, utterly unbearable. Even a male concubine was unacceptable.
If it's just for warming the bed, why can't it be her?
Why can't the person beside me be her?
Chen Liangyu understood perfectly well that she would never have the chance to enter into a lifelong marriage with Xie Wenjun.
The twisted and morbid feelings she harbored for Xie Wenjun were destined to remain hidden forever.
So.
It's good to keep her by my side through this mutually beneficial arrangement.
"What are you thinking about?"
Xie Wenjun reached out, and Chen Liangyu realized that her face was burning hot.
She made an excuse: "I'm upset that the Jade Lion will be taken away by Liang Qiuting."
Xie Wenjun lowered her head and smiled, "You rarely want anything."
want to?
What do you want?
Chen Liangyu's gaze fell on Xie Wenjun's eyes. Her eyelashes were long and thick, and her eyes were a deeper color than most people's. The first thing Chen Liangyu remembered about Xie Wenjun when they first met was her eyes.
Deep and dark.
It's bottomless.
Only now do I realize how captivatingly beautiful those round, doe-like eyes were.
She looked at Xie Wenjun's nose, mouth, neck... and then down, her gaze becoming increasingly indescribable.
When Xie Wenjun looked up, Chen Liangyu's gaze lingered on the area beneath her clothes.
"What are you looking at? Trying to be a pervert?" Xie Wenjun said.
Suddenly, she felt a loosening around her waist, and a breeze from the mountains and forests blew in through the front of her robe. When she regained her senses, she realized that Xie Wenjun had taken the leather belt from her waist.
Stroking and grinding.
A layer of lichen, made of animal hide, was laid under the low table in the fairy tower. It was extremely thick.
When Chen Liangyu calmed down a bit, he was already rolling around on the animal skin carpet with Xie Wenjun in his arms, kissing her passionately.
Xie Wenjun had a long ribbon tied in her hair; when she pulled it, her dark hair fell down to her shoulders.
Chen Liangyu was clutching the ribbon when, without realizing it, the ribbon got knotted on her wrist, and the other end was tied to the leg of the low table.
Chen Liangyu was a little flustered.
This doesn't make sense!
She resisted, but Xie Wenjun pressed her shoulders down and forcefully pushed her back onto the lichen. Her back rubbed against the animal fur, which had a slight prickling sensation.
Xie Wenjun lifted her collar, leaned down, and bit open the ties of her inner garment one by one. "I don't accept students. I ask you, why did you agree to teach me back then?"
"I cannot disobey the emperor's command; I have no other choice."
"Nothing else?"
"My elder brother said there was a reward, but I haven't seen it yet. Will Your Highness repay me?"
Xie Wenjun removed her armor. "I don't have any reward money, but I can offer something else in return."
Chen Liangyu was inexplicably alarmed by her action of removing her armor.
"Your Highness! People will die!"
Xie Wenjun said, "I was afraid that the nail guards would scratch you. Not everyone is as beastly as you."
Xie Wenjun said, "Keep your voice down, don't shout! If someone finds out, it could really be a matter of life and death!"
The slender ribbon was almost torn apart by Chen Liangyu.
She called out, "Your Highness."
Xie Wenjun took a moment to respond to her.
Chen Liangyu gritted her teeth and tried her best to keep her voice clear, "Before the end of the year, when I returned to Yongdu, I did visit the Princess's residence."
They simply did not knock on the door to request an audience.
She climbed to a high place and sat quietly for a long time, gazing at the deep courtyard.
That's not a good place. You can't even see the people inside the courtyard. All you can see are the eaves of the roof and the mud walls outside the house.
She knew that the Princess's residence had already been renovated. When Xie Wenjun came to ask her to take her in, she wondered if there was even a slight possibility that Xie Wenjun shared the same idea.
Xie Wenxi slept soundly that night.
The candlelight flickered across her serene face, her beautiful long eyelashes drooping down to veil her dark eyes.
As night fell, Chen Liangyu put on a half-covering gauze cloak and went out. She walked into the street with an air of nonchalance, not looking where she was going, and didn't even know which alley she had turned into.
A cool breeze blew, making her a little more awake.
A seed, planted at some unknown time, grew under the nourishment of time. I thought it was a delicate daisy, so I let it grow and bloom. But unexpectedly, it blossomed into a mottled deer flower.
The flower's alluring and seductive colors exuded a dangerous aura, enticing her to approach and touch it.
She still finds the strange feelings she has developed absurd.
The soft boots trod silently on the ground. Turning the corner of the alley, a smooth road stretched out before us.
The streets of Shangyong City all looked alike. Standing in the darkness, she couldn't tell which street it was, and just kept walking forward.
As she walked, she remembered.
This was the road she took when she rescued Xie Wenjun from the Bei Yong soldiers and escorted her back to the palace on the day the army returned to Yongdu.
"How did we end up here?"
She muttered to herself, but kept walking forward.
Remembering every detail of that day, I walked that path again, taking each step with such seriousness.
She stopped and stared at the half-person-high stake under the banyan tree when she came to a large banyan tree.
Red Mane was waiting for her here that day. Strangely enough, Red Mane, which never allowed outsiders to approach, surprisingly allowed Xie Wenjun to ride on its back.
Chen Liangyu stood under the moonlight, beside the familiar horse post, silently feeling something cracking in his heart, like shedding its skin.
Looking around, I found the capsules that had grown from the Deer-shaped Moro plant.
The fruit stalk is swelling at an astonishing rate, and the light brown fruit splits longitudinally along the septum, scattering another batch of seeds into the soil.
The flower seeds, like shredded pieces of paper, like broken stars in the sky, cascaded down like the Milky Way, fluttering and scattering in the wind.
She let the wind carry the tiny new seed to each heart valve.
It was only then that she truly accepted the unconventional feelings in her heart.
The side hall was silent, so any sound would be amplified and travel far. Chen Liangyu held back her tears until they reached her limit, her eyes becoming excessively moist, and tears slid down her cheeks. The sound of drums from the horse ranch saved her.
The twelve drumbeats signaled the departure of the imperial carriage.
Time seemed to drag on endlessly. She lost count of how many hours had passed. Even her hands, which were straightening her clothes, trembled, and her legs were so weak she could barely stand.
It was only with Xie Wenjun's help that she was able to barely perform the farewell ceremony in the direction of Xie Yuan's imperial procession returning to the palace.
Chen Liangyu had a bandage mark on her wrist. Xie Wenjun stared intently for a moment, then took her hand and pulled up her sleeve, revealing a section of her arm.
He touched the red mark on his lips, kissed it gently, and then said, "Let's go back."
The Manjusaka festival is drawing to a close, with only the "medical skills" item remaining.
The wind was gentle and the sky was clear.
In the lakeside pavilion of the Xuanping Marquis's residence, Chen Luan and the one-armed Jiang Bojin were engaged in a fierce battle with black and white chess pieces.
Chen Luan stirred the tea foam, looking at the chessboard before him, hesitating where to place his piece. "He wants to gain fame by dying for his cause, so I will grant him his wish."
There were still lingering rumors in the court that the Gu family should be executed.
Jiang Bojin had a head of hair that looked like a bird's nest, always messy and impossible to comb. His sleeves were empty, as he had no forearms and couldn't hold a chess piece, so Chen Luan specially found him a servant to hold the pieces.
“I knew you could do it, just like me! A real man has to be ruthless and fast when he does things. You and that Chen guy are not the same kind of people.”
"Sir, my surname is also Chen."
The game of chess gets slower and slower as it goes on.
"Oh, right, look at me, I forgot about that again." Jiang Bojin asked, "Does Xun Xian have any objections to the Gu family's pardon?"
"Minister Xun pleaded illness."
"Hmph, I reckon he'd rather die than refuse to speak out! A prime minister of a nation, all he knows how to do is run away when things go wrong." Jiang Bojin's eyes and face were full of contempt. "If you say he's mediocre, it's because he's not qualified enough. If you say he's talented, he can barely stand out among the mediocre. It's only because the heroes have fallen and no new talents have emerged that such a mediocre person like him has been given the position of elder statesman and can give advice on the country. Back in our time, even the twelve marquises of the country didn't have a place for him."
Chen Luan said, "I think His Majesty intends to establish a marriage alliance with Bei Yong."
“That’s what I expected,” Jiang Bojin said, his mind wandering from the chess game. He scratched behind his ear with his remaining half-arm. “But right now, the Emperor doesn’t have any princesses of marriageable age. If we want to arrange a marriage, the only option is to send the eldest princess to Beiyong for a political marriage.”
Author's note: I may revise the text.
Thank you for reading this far!
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