Chapter 58 Finding a job is really hard! What…
Liao Palace? Noble Lady?
Is that what he meant?
The moment he heard the woman speak, Fusu gasped. He immediately looked around; though there were lush, towering trees, he felt a draft everywhere.
I was just complaining that Uncle Ba was making a mountain out of a molehill, but now I just think that four guards are a bit too few.
This is a former palace maid of the Liao Dynasty! A valuable intelligence agent who possesses firsthand information about the Liao royal family and nobility.
Fusu immediately asked, "Which character is the 'Bodhi' in your name?"
Apu replied, "It is the Bodhi that is 'Bodhi has no tree'."
Fusu blinked.
It was no secret that Buddhism was the state religion of the Liao Dynasty. The name Apu, in fact, confirmed her origins.
Su Shi was also surprised. However, compared to Fusu's wariness, he was more curious: "Where did you work before?"
"For the past year, I have been accompanying the noblemen on their hunting expeditions, and the places I serve have not been fixed."
Unlike the Central Plains where "a son of a wealthy family would not sit under a leaning roof," the Liao Dynasty's Nabo system involved the emperor migrating with the seasons, reflecting a strong nomadic characteristic. Each season—springtime, summer, autumn, and winter—had its own designated location.
Through this detail, Fusu immediately concluded that Apu's claim of origin was true. Someone who had never lived in the palace, even if they wanted to deceive others, would only make a ridiculous claim like "the Eastern Palace Consort makes pancakes, the Western Palace Consort flicks green onions," and would never know such specific details.
It seems that Uncle Ba was also aware of this.
Seeing their interest, Apu took the initiative to recount many old stories about the Liao palace. For example, the noble lady she served was Yelü Tri, the youngest daughter of the Liao emperor Yelü Zongzhen.
"Judging by the years, the princess should have been married by now."
"And who are you...?"
Fusu fell silent after asking only half a question. He noticed that Apu's face had suddenly turned deathly pale. It couldn't have been a pleasant experience, otherwise, how could she have ended up in the Song Dynasty?
The atmosphere froze for a moment.
Su Shi seemed to want to say something, but Miaowu stopped him.
Third Sister patted Apu's arm, seemingly to comfort her. Apu responded with a reassuring smile: "I'm fine."
Then, she met Fusu's bright eyes directly, and said in a serious tone, "I just heard from Master Jingjue that the guards watching us are servants under the command of a noble lady of the Song Dynasty, and you are a noble lady living in the Song Palace, is that right?"
Fusu's brow twitched: "Yes."
Apu suddenly knelt down: "I beg you to send troops to destroy the Liao Kingdom."
Fusu: "???!!!"
He quickly helped the man up: "What happened? What grudge do you have against the Liao Kingdom?"
Apu said, "Crown Prince Yelü Hongji is addicted to alcohol and kills people whenever he is drunk. Once, after getting drunk, he believed Yelü Yixin's slander and had my sister dragged out and beheaded as a warning because my sister had just given him a word of advice. And my son, who was still an infant... was also buried alive and killed because he once dreamed of an ominous person who looked like a child!"
"how so?"
Su Shi and Miao Wu were both startled. For their age, the idea of massacring or burying people alive was far too gruesome. They exchanged a glance, seeing a similar horror in each other's eyes.
The Liao Dynasty, uncivilized and uncivilized, was indeed terrifying.
Fusu was slightly more accepting. After all, customs were still quite primitive during the Qin Dynasty. He said he had heard many similar stories—of course, he would never agree with them. What he noticed was something else entirely.
Yelü Hongji, Yelü Yixin.
This was a pair of incompetent rulers and treacherous ministers, well-known even to Emperor Fusu. The famous virtuous Empress Xiao Guanyin was framed and killed by these two. So, they were already in cahoots when Yelü Hongji was still the crown prince?
No wonder Aputhu's tone was so strange when he spoke of the Liao princess. She was both his former master and the younger sister of his enemy. Anyone who could treat her with equanimity would have already achieved physical immortality.
Apu continued, “When I heard the news, I was heartbroken. It happened to be during the Liao Emperor’s summer hunt, so I secretly ran away. In the middle of the night, I dug up my son’s… and buried him. I didn’t want to live anymore, so I simply threw myself into the water and died. When I woke up, I found that I had been rescued, but they said they wanted to sell me to the Song Dynasty. So I followed them all the way south and was sold to a family as a servant.”
Fusu immediately grasped the key point: "So you're willing to go south with them? Do you still remember the way we came?"
“I remember everything,” Apu said.
Rather, it's more accurate to say that after being rescued, she developed a desire for revenge. She even hated herself for not immediately seeking revenge against Yelü Hongji after discovering her sister's and son's bodies.
I heard that the Song and Liao dynasties were enemies.
She went to the State of Song to lie low, and finally waited for this day.
“I heard from the young master that you are noble people who keep their word. I want to use everything in my mind to exchange for Yelü Hongji’s life.”
Anyone who saw the expectation and determination in her eyes would be moved. At least Miaowu and Su Shi were deeply shaken. They followed Apu's gaze towards Fusu's direction, as if waiting for an answer.
Fusu, however, said, "The Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty are brotherly nations."
"..."
The light in Apu's eyes went out.
Fusu then said, "Yelü Hongji and Yelü Yixin, having committed many unrighteous acts, will surely perish. Heaven will surely punish such cruel and immoral people."
"So I will do my best. But I can't guarantee that I will be the one to kill him." Maybe one day, the old man will not be able to stand by and watch him commit so many evil deeds, and a bolt of lightning will strike him dead.
Apu understood. She immediately performed a deep bow—a prostration known in Buddhism: "I understand, I will tell you everything I know."
Fusu: "Let's not delay, let's go."
He led Apu aside, took a piece of paper, and began drawing a map with his bare hands, listening to her narration. Miaowu and Su Shi, on the other hand, continued to inquire about the backgrounds of the other two women. Although their origins were not as extraordinary as Apu's, their tragic circumstances were no less so.
For example, Third Sister came from Jizhou, one of the Sixteen Prefectures. She was sold off by her desperate parents. She was bought by a scoundrel and constantly beaten and verbally abused. Another woman, Ayu, was given a name by her husband's family. She was sold to the countryside and, due to health reasons, could not have children, leading to an even more miserable life. She was always hungry and cold. So when people from the Eighth Prince's mansion came to her door, she immediately went with them, not caring at all that they were swindlers. After all, it couldn't be worse than her current situation.
"There were eighteen of you originally, so how come there are only three of you here now?"
Su Shi asked curiously.
"Shh, don't ask."
Miaowu glared at the man: "Aren't you just reopening old wounds?"
But the two men's answers surprised them: "The rest of the people had their own children and didn't want to stay with us."
Actually, some of them were doing quite well, while others were worse off than A-Yu. But when the Eighth Prince's men came knocking, and they heard they could live in separate courtyards with their former sisters, they were all happy to oblige. Bringing their children... that was barely acceptable. But what if they brought their husbands or the whole family? Well, then there was no way to arrange it.
So, only the three of them remained out of the eighteen.
Miaowu stammered and repeated, "You're...having a child?"
Su Shi's mouth gaped open, unable to comprehend it.
They were five and seven years old, respectively. No one usually talked to children their age about marriage.
Now, after hearing what Third Aunt said, everyone was completely bewildered. Logically speaking, having a child should be a good thing, so why does it sound like they're trapped?
Third Sister nodded and said, "Yes."
She touched her stomach, still shaken.
Thankfully, thankfully she didn't get pregnant with that scoundrel's child. Otherwise, given that man's character, he would have sold their child sooner or later! Then, the child would have been just as miserable as her mother, not even knowing where she came from.
Miaowu made a decision in a second: "Then I don't want to have children."
Su Shi was about to speak when he remembered that he was a man and could not give birth: "Then I... don't want my elder sister to give birth."
The two exchanged a glance, as if they had reached some kind of consensus.
They asked San Niang and A Yu many questions. These two had come from the north and had lived among the common people for many years. The scenery they had seen was all unfamiliar to them, and everything they said amazed them. Their reactions further fueled their conversation, and they talked even more.
Waterwheels, embroidery rooms, brothels...
But in the end, A-Yu's words silenced them.
Between her and San Niang, she was the quieter one. San Niang was initially a little afraid of people but not of children. She would answer whatever Miao Wu and Su Shi asked, and sometimes she would even talk about other things herself. But A Yu was different; her eyes were more direct, and when asked, she would only blankly answer with a few words.
But she took the initiative to speak:
"My two esteemed guests, could you find some work for me and Third Sister?"
Miao Wu and Su Shi were both stunned.
Fusu was engrossed in drawing the map—Apu spoke of the mountains and rivers she had seen without the slightest hesitation. Either she was a genius at surveying and mapping, or she had revisited those memories countless times, which was why they were as vivid as ever. With just a few strokes, she described the distribution of the sixteen prefectures she had visited.
Fusu made up for the places she hadn't visited.
This solved a major problem for Fusu. He could recite the map of China by heart; he knew it by heart from his geography lessons. But since he was born in the Northern Song Dynasty, how could he openly know the distribution of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun?
That was a place that his grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-uncle had never been to.
"Excessive wisdom borders on the demonic," but is this the kind of demonic approach?
Apu's appearance made him extremely happy while painting. He even secretly corrected her occasional mistakes. He could guarantee that the version he had was more detailed than the official version in the collection—that was the result of countless attempts to draw provincial boundaries in his previous life.
As a result, when Fusu was sketching the shape of the peninsula near the Bohai Sea, Miaowu and Su Shi appeared.
"Su'er/Zhao Xiaolang, come and help us think of something. What can Third Sister and A Yu do?"
"do what?"
Fusu was confused: "Isn't Third Sister embroidering?"
“But her vision has become blurry lately. Her embroidery is also not very fine, and the embroidery shops often try to lower the price of her work.”
Fusu remained silent.
He had foreseen this last time; embroidering in the dark is extremely harmful to the eyes. He didn't expect it to come true so quickly.
"well……"
Su Shi also wanted to sigh: "Ayu's hands are rough and she can tear the needle and thread, so she can't do embroidery business. In the countryside, she does manual labor. But in Bianjing, everyone thinks that she is a woman and has no strength. Living in Xiangguo Temple, she can't serve her master's house all year round."
"Zhao Xiaolang, do you have any ideas?"
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Author's Note: The cotton from the Honglu Temple: I heard someone's dozing off? Wait, I'll turn myself into a pillow right now! [Sunglasses]
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