Chapter 96 Swallow on the Beam
When Yan Dibai returned under the stars, everyone was already asleep, only Little Grey wagging its tail to greet him.
He ignored her and walked straight to the bedside. Qingqing felt a heavy gaze in her sleep. She opened her eyes groggily and saw Yan Dibai standing by the bed, his shadow dark and imposing.
"Why are you standing here instead of sleeping?" she asked, startled.
Yan Dibai sat down sideways, his face expressionless, the aloof demeanor he only revealed in private.
He lifted his eyelids and said, "Sing a song for me."
Caught off guard, Qingqing asked, "Didn't you say I sing badly?"
Yan Dibai remained silent for a moment, then said, "No."
Qingqing leaned over to look at him: "What bad thing did Wu Yinchi Luo say to you?"
Another long silence followed.
"……No."
He said no more, pushed the dog's head away with his toes as it kept trying to rub against his leg, took off his clothes, and squeezed Qingqing in a little more.
Sleeping in the same bed had become a habit for the two of them; putting aside the awkwardness, at least it was warm. But tonight, Yan Dibai seemed restless.
"If it's not serious, you can tell me," Qingqing muttered as she turned over, her breathing quickly becoming even and long.
But... it's strange. I clearly feel that my body has entered a sleep state, but my consciousness inexplicably remains.
She could even clearly perceive the rustling sounds around her, and a pair of lean arms encircling her from behind.
A heat that didn't belong to her burned against her skin through a layer of cloth. Qingqing instinctively stiffened, then felt another itch on her neck, and a hard object pressed against her buttocks.
She suddenly opened her eyes.
Yan Dibai did not go any further. He gently brushed away the hair that was wrapped around her ear. He sighed almost imperceptibly.
She was perfectly fine in his arms.
How could it disappear?
Yan Dibai closed her eyes, trying to forget her conversation with Wu Yinchi Luo.
The softer the body in his arms, the more acute the unease became. Every word and phrase replayed vividly in his mind.
...
"Emperor Taizu and my ancestor were respectively a horse herder and a sheep herder. They were among the surviving members of the Xianbei royal family that was overthrown. However, neither of them can speak the Xianbei language anymore."
In the warm glow of candlelight, the young man sat upright, recounting the inside story that had been buried for two hundred years and was unknown even to the royal family of Yan and Jin.
"Later generations do not know about that period of history. According to my grandfather, it was Emperor Taizu himself who did not allow it to be written in the history books."
It's no wonder that Wu Yinchi Luo was embarrassed; the truth is, this founding emperor of Yan and Jin was not a normal person.
Yan Chong, whose original name was Wu Yinze, was a household slave of the Liang family, one of the local powerful families in Yongzhou.
The Liang family was a quintessential scholar-official family, known for its shrewdness and wisdom. Naturally, they educated their children in poetry and literature. The head of the Liang family had seven sons but only one daughter. While the seven sons were all skilled in martial arts, this one daughter excelled in poetry and literature. By the age of twelve, she possessed a vast knowledge of astronomy and geography, and composing poems was a piece of cake for her.
It was winter, and as in previous years, Lady Liang went into the mountains to gather inspiration, but she accidentally fell. When she awoke, she had forgotten her past and did not recognize her parents. She even defied the world's opinion and attempted to use her talent to enter the imperial court as an official.
Terrified by her outlandish ideas, her family sent her to a separate residence that very night and confined her. Extremely bored, Lady Liang took pleasure in teaching her servants to read and write. However, the servants were mostly timid and dared not approach her. Unable to find anyone, Lady Liang set her sights on Wu Yinze, who went out early and returned late to herd horses.
Things quickly spiraled out of control.
"And then?" Yan Dibai asked dryly.
The house echoed with a hissing voice, “...The Liang family wanted to kill the founding emperor, but Liang Niangzi stopped them. Later, Liang Niangzi was forced into marriage by her family, so the founding emperor led the Hu people into the city, publicly snatched the bride, and thus raised an army.”
Wu Yinchi Luo's original intention was simply to get closer to Yan Dibai, but he did not expect that His Majesty would ask such detailed questions and insist on hearing about these less-than-glorious deeds.
"What I'm asking about is what happened to Emperor Taizu and Empress Dowager afterward?"
Wu Yinchi Luo looked troubled, carefully considering his words:
"Well... according to the elders in the clan, the Empress Dowager didn't seem to be doing this willingly. After the marriage, she often argued with the Emperor Taizu and repeatedly mentioned wanting to return home..."
However, when they took her back to the Liang family's former residence, the Empress said that it was not her home.
Everyone suspected she had lost her mind.
In the twenty-first year of Liang's imprisonment, he suddenly fell seriously ill. Wu Yin sought divine intervention and medicine, even going so far as to listen to foreign monks and introduce Buddhism, and extensively repair Buddhist temples, but still could not save Liang's life.
Unable to find a suitable place, Wu Yin took her into the Old Mountain, but then left alone. Empress Liang... vanished from that point on.
Wu Yin then dispatched Buddhist and Taoist sorcerers to seal off the mountain, set up formations, and construct a mausoleum. Three years later, they also entered the mountain, but were never seen again. Only a cenotaph remained.
Yan Dibai's knuckles suddenly turned white.
Willingly? He sneered inwardly. It was probably just an excuse from Wu Yinzhi to avoid offending the powerful. Judging from those scattered words, Liang had probably never loved Wu Yinzhi.
...
Everything went smoothly, and Yan Dibai was originally very happy today.
He listened patiently to Wu Yinchi Luo's conversation, thinking there was an interesting story behind Yanxiao Ridge.
I wish you were a swallow on my roof beam, so we could meet year after year.
Upon hearing that Empress Zu's surname was Liang, Yan Dibai immediately understood why Wu Yinze had changed his surname to Yan.
His affection for Lady Liang was profound and enduring.
But why is she unwilling? Why does she insist on leaving? And where is she going?
He unconsciously pulled the warm body in his arms tighter—"a very far place"...does she want to go too?
Waves of panic lingered in his chest. Yan Dibai tormented himself as he recalled past events, spending a sleepless night.
As dawn broke, he stared expressionlessly at the girl's fair and rosy sleeping face, and suddenly made a decision.
"Once we take Yongzhou, we will hold our wedding ceremony."
He couldn't wait to deal with Wang Fei slowly; he had to be faster and more ruthless, nipping any possible variables in the bud.
Yan Dibai got up, dressed, and went straight to the stables prepared by Rangwu Yinchi Luo.
Liangzhou was lush with grass and strong horses. Zhu Rong's fiery red-maned steed, Fire Dragon, was idly chewing grass. Seeing him arrive, it snorted defiantly.
Yan Dibai scoffed: "What a beast."
-
The door had barely closed when Qingqing opened her eyes wide, frantically touching her bottom as if the horrifying sensation was still there.
Qingqing gripped the headboard and repeatedly inhaled and exhaled to calm herself down.
How many times had Yan Dibai done this without her knowing?
Qingqing dared not think about it.
"…!" She was going crazy!
Who exactly is this "suspected white moonlight" that the system is talking about?!
Since waking up that day, she has searched for a bunch of people, but none of them meet her criteria.
Feeling anxious and heartbroken, Qingqing kept pulling at her hair. But no matter how she pulled, it was no use. She sat there blankly for a while until a servant came to invite her to a banquet, at which point she let out a deep sigh.
I put on my clothes and went to the drill ground.
Wang Fei sat in the main seat, sneering as he waited for everyone to arrive.
Qingqing saw Yan Dibai pouring wine for Wang Fei from afar. After hesitating for a moment, she pretended that nothing had happened and sat down next to him.
Everyone had arrived, and Wang Fei raised his cup: "Last night Your Majesty and Her Majesty rewarded the army for their hard work; let us drink to our hearts' content today!"
Qingqing frowned.
Wang Fu is settling scores later.
The Emperor and Empress's unauthorized rewards to the army and their attempts to win over the people last night had thoroughly enraged him. Upon hearing this news this morning, Wang Fu smashed the washbasin.
A pair of begging puppets, acting like emperors!
Wang Fu watched Yan Di drink the wine in vain. He then raised his cup, his words aimed directly at Qingqing, and said viciously, "Which one? Is it sweeping, serving, singing and dancing... or... sleeping with her?"
Everyone present paled. "General!" This Wang Fei is so annoying, making fun of women!
Wang Fu glared angrily: "How so!"
They looked at each other in bewilderment after being shouted at. Zhao Xu was not there, and no one dared to step forward. So they all stiffened their necks and dared not speak again.
Qingqing's brows furrowed, and she was about to speak when Yan Dibai forcefully gripped her hand under the table.
He still had that easygoing look on his face, and raised his hand to give a high five.
Two servants responded and led the magnificent but irritable fire dragon steed.
“Yesterday’s actions were due to my lack of foresight,” Yan Dibai said sincerely. “I have specially sought out this fine horse to apologize to my brother Wang Fu. A fine horse from Liangzhou is meant to be ridden by a hero like you.”
Wang Fei raised an eyebrow, surprised that the young emperor was so sensible. Considering his reliance on the Wang family, he wasn't surprised at all.
My gaze fell upon the horse's strong muscles; it was indeed an extremely rare and precious steed.
It seems he had prepared to present this treasure long ago.
Wang Fu's anger subsided slightly. Confident in his superb horsemanship, he immediately adopted a pose:
"It was a slip of the tongue by Your Majesty. Since Your Majesty is so sincere in apologizing, it would be impolite of me to refuse."
Wang Fu summoned a horse trainer, and after confirming that it was indeed a horse, he carefully observed the spirited steed.
The horse paced restlessly, its breathing heavy. It was clearly not fully tamed, but Wang Fu, wanting to show off his skills and teach the arrogant emperor and empress a lesson, ignored the guards' advice and strode forward.
He yanked the reins hard with his left hand and stepped into the stirrup with his right foot. The movement seemed fierce, but due to days of drinking, his steps were somewhat unsteady.
Just as his center of gravity was about to shift, the Fire Dragon Steed suddenly reared up, let out a violent neigh, twisted its body, shook its head, and kicked wildly with its hind hooves!
Caught off guard, Wang Fei was slammed to the ground by a tremendous force! He hurriedly tried to roll away, but the fire dragon steed roared and deliberately stomped on him!
With a sharp "crack," Wang Fei's face turned deathly pale. "Ah!!"
An uproar erupted on the drill ground.
"Medical officer! Quickly!" Helan Rong was the first to step forward and give orders, "Oh no, the young general has broken his tibia!"
While the other lieutenant generals were still in shock and doubt, he took the lead and bowed directly to Yan Dibai:
"The army cannot be without a leader for even a day! I urge Your Majesty to take charge immediately!"
Yan Dibai strode down, "Brother, how are you?!" He grabbed Wang Fei's trembling hand and snapped his wrist, completely eliminating any possibility that he would ever write a letter to complain again.
Wang Fu was in extreme pain and anger, but Yan Dibai took the opportunity to stuff a handkerchief into his mouth, leaving him only able to let out a "woo woo" wail.
"All soldiers, heed my command!" The young emperor rose instantly, his gaze sweeping across the entire assembly of generals like lightning, his imposing presence undisguised.
"General Wang was wounded for the country and needs to rest for a hundred days! During this period, military affairs in Liangzhou will be temporarily handled by Military Advisor Zhao Xu and General Helan Rong. In case of major events, I will make the decisions!"
"This matter is classified as a military secret and must not be disclosed to outsiders. Anyone who disobeys this order will be punished as a traitor!"
The generals looked at Wang Fu, who was writhing in pain on the ground, and then at Yan Dibai, whose expression was solemn. Although they felt that this matter was sudden, they saw that the emperor had handled it properly and made reasonable arrangements. They could only accept the order in unison: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
The entire Liangzhou region suddenly changed hands again.
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