Taking a concubine
Soon after Liang Hongyu and Han Shizhong's wedding, news reached Zhao Gou. As Eunuch Rong entered the main hall, Zhao Gou was throwing a glass teacup against a pillar. The moment it struck the golden pillar, it shattered into countless sharp fragments. The emerald-colored tea splattered on the bright yellow curtains, leaving a hideous scar. A few pieces of broken porcelain swirled past Eunuch Rong's temples, leaving tiny bloody streaks on his face.
Zhao Gou stared at the tea stains slowly flowing down the pillar and suddenly laughed softly: "What a Han Shizhong... What a Liang Hongyu..."
The laughter gradually grew sharper, finally dissolving into a suppressed roar. He slammed down all the memorials on the desk, and the jade paperweight shattered in two on the tiled floor. "I gave him military power and honor, and he dared..." His breathing suddenly became rapid, "to steal the only person I wanted to keep by my side!"
Eunuch Rong knelt among the shattered porcelain, not daring to look up. All he could hear in the hall was a nearly sobbing voice: "That day in Chuigong Hall, she swore an oath never to marry again. If she broke it, she would die tragically at the hands of the Jin army..." Zhao Gou suddenly smiled foolishly, "Even now, that oath remains... and she still married that rude man... Could it be that for that rude man... she's not even afraid of death?"
Thunder roared outside the window, his face turning pale and blue. He suddenly fell silent, rolling over half a broken piece of porcelain on the ground with the tip of his boot. "Draft an imperial decree to give Liu, the daughter of the Minister of Works, to Marshal Han." A twisted curve rose at the corner of his mouth. "Doesn't he love to marry? I'll let him marry as much as he wants."
The sound of rain drowned out his last whisper: "Hongyu... I want you to see clearly... There is no such thing as a couple who stay together for a lifetime in this world."
After a while, Zhao Gou looked up and saw Eunuch Rong kneeling in the hall. He asked, "Where is the person you sent to monitor Han Shizhong? Why hasn't he brought back any news?"
Eunuch Rong walked up to Zhao Gou and replied, "I'm afraid he was discovered by Han Shizhong and is already dead."
Zhao Gou was so angry when he heard this that he pointed a trembling finger at Eunuch Rong and said, "Go and announce the imperial decree to summon Han Shizhong to the palace. I will punish him."
Eunuch Rong delivered the battle report he had just received to Zhao Gou. "The Jin army has moved south again and has already attacked Shunchang. It would be inappropriate to punish the generals at this time."
After reading the battle report, Zhao Gou tore it to pieces. "I have already surrendered, but I didn't expect that the Jin people would tear up the alliance." Zhao Gou sighed.
He lifted the scraps of paper high in his hand. Like a flock of soulless, hovering gray-white butterflies, they were captured by the deep chill of the hall and began to slowly swirl down. Zhao Gou's gaze followed the smallest scrap, watching it rise and fall until it finally settled in the dust not far from his boots. These helpless, drifting scraps of paper were the truest reflection of his inner predicament: struggling, yet powerless.
Since his ascension to the throne, the Song Dynasty had been in constant turmoil. As an emperor, he lived in constant fear, his youthful spirit eroded. He wanted only to huddle in a corner of Jiangnan, to live out the rest of his life in peace and prosperity. But the Jin army's iron hoofs seemed to never cease their southward advance, leaving him no respite. Even his beloved concubine became someone else's woman. His role as emperor seemed utterly pathetic. And this magnificent palace, this symbol of supreme power, now resembled a vast, ornate prison.
"Forget it. I can deal with him later when we have a real peace agreement." Zhao Gou suddenly remembered something and said to Eunuch Rong, "Go and announce my order to send Yue Fei to Shunchang for support."
Eunuch Rong replied, "Your Majesty, Yue Fei has already gone there after receiving the news." He presented Yue Fei's memorial requesting an imperial decree.
After reading the memorial, Zhao Gou placed it on the table and said, "With Yue Fei here, I feel relieved."
"Go and make arrangements for Liu's matter quickly."
"I'll do it right away." After saying that, he left the hall.
Zhao Gou watched Eunuch Rong's departing figure, his eyes gradually darkening. "I don't believe that you, Han Shizhong, will only be devoted to one person."
The first snow of the fourth year in Shaoxing fell unexpectedly. As Han Shizhong held Liang Hongyu's hand, warming it with his breath beneath the plum tree in the backyard of the Chuzhou Marshal's residence, an urgent military report, delivered over 800 miles, and the imperial decree granting her a concubine arrived at the mansion's gate.
"The Jin attacked Shunchang?" Han Shizhong crushed the wax ball, his eyes suddenly cold and fierce. As he unfolded another roll of bright yellow silk, his knuckles were white from pinching it. Zhao Gou had actually given him Liu, the daughter of the Minister of Works, as a concubine, with the marriage to be held three days later.
Liang Hongyu suddenly pulled her hand away, and the snow from the plum branches fell onto her shoulders. She stared at the scroll of imperial edict and chuckled, "The emperor is trying to pierce our hearts."
On the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Han residence was decorated with lanterns and colorful banners. Liu Rumei sat in her bridal chamber in her wedding gown, anxiously awaiting her future husband. She had long heard that Han Shizhong was handsome, a distinguished military leader, and a key figure in the Song Dynasty. Although she was only to be his concubine, she, like any other woman, admired heroes more than any other man.
When the generals were drunk at the wedding banquet, Han Shizhong suddenly smashed his wine bowl and said: "Today, everyone bear witness that I, Han Shizhong, will never take a concubine in my lifetime!"
Amidst the dead silence that filled the hall, Liang Hongyu smiled as she filled the wedding wine cup. "The Marshal is drunk." She personally led Liu Rumei to the center of the wedding hall and suddenly pulled off her pearl veil. "But my sister, you must know that before you can enter the Han family, you must first pass through my sword array."
Eighteen Beiwei soldiers responded by forming a battle array, their sharp Mo Dao cleaving into a crisscross formation. Liang Hongyu removed her red robe, revealing her silver armor, and tossed another short sword to Liu Rumei: "If you can survive this sword formation, you'll be a member of the Han family. If you can't," she glanced toward the palace, "that's just what someone wants."
Liu Rumei trembled as she gripped her dagger, but was stopped by Han Shizhong as she took a step. He slashed through the sword array with his bare hands, blood dripping down his arm armor onto the wedding blanket. "Hongyu, why are you making things difficult for her?"
"I'm not trying to embarrass her," Liang Hongyu suddenly knocked Liu Rumei's dagger away, pointing the tip of the knife directly at her heart, "I'm teaching her that in the Han family, she has to fight her way out!"
Liu Rumei finally moved into the most remote courtyard in the west wing.
On the day the army set out, Liu Rumei followed the battle, wearing Liang Hongyu's old armor. As arrows rained down from the city walls of Chuzhou, she suddenly lunged at Han Shizhong's back, blocking a poisoned arrow with her body.
Liu Rumei lay unconscious in the military doctor's tent for three days. The high fever from the arrow poison left her mumbling incessantly, and Liang Hongyu personally changed her dressings.
Late at night on the seventh day, Liu Rumei finally woke up. She opened her eyes to see Liang Hongyu sleeping beside the couch, her forehead propped up, the candlelight casting a tired shadow under her eyes.
"Awake?" Liang Hongyu suddenly opened her eyes.
He handed her a porcelain bottle and said, "Take one pill every day at 12:00 AM for ten days, and the remaining toxins in your body will be eliminated."
As the curtains fell, Liu Rumei's fingers trembled slightly as she clutched the medicine bottle. She recalled Eunuch Rong's sinister threat before she was ordered to the Han residence: "If you can't drive a wedge between Han and Liang, your parents will never be released from the imperial prison."
One rainy night after recovering from her injury, Liu Rumei, calculating the exact time Han Shizhong would be alone reviewing military reports, walked into the general's tent carrying ginseng soup. She had deliberately worn a bright red bellyband beneath her gauze dress.
"Thank you for your hard work, Marshal." She bent down deliberately, her collar slipping off, revealing half of her snow-white shoulders. "I've stewed..."
"Put it down." Han Shizhong didn't even look up as he drew a sharp line across the defense map with his red brush. "It's very cold on rainy nights, Miss Liu, you should put on more clothes."
Liu Rumei gritted her teeth and accidentally spilled the ginseng soup. As the soup splashed onto Han Shizhong's robe, she fell into his arms. "Marshal, please forgive me..."
Han Shizhong suddenly stood up and dodged. She fell heavily to the ground, and only heard his cold voice: "Miss Liu, when I met your wife when we were young, I swore in front of her father's spirit that no man of the Han family would marry another woman."
Suddenly, Liang Hongyu's chuckle could be heard from outside the tent. "Sister, this show is much lame compared to the brothels in Bianjing." She leaned against the tent door, holding a wine jug, and tossed a fox fur coat over. "If you want to seduce me, you should dress warmly. If I freeze to death, who will shield me from the arrows?"
Liu Ruyan wrapped herself tightly in the fox fur with a flushed face and ran out crying.
Han Shizhong put down the red brush in his hand and walked forward with a smile on his face, "Why are you here, Madam?"
Liang Hongyu said angrily, "If I don't come, you might be seduced by that vixen."
Han Shizhong hurriedly helped her sit on the military chair and said with a smile, "Madam, why do you say that? Everyone knows that Liu was sent by the government. I, your husband, will not make such a mistake."
Liang Hongyu stood up and placed her jade fingers on his chest. "My husband, are you saying that if she wasn't sent by the government, you would marry her?"
Han Shizhong grasped her restless fingers and pulled her into his arms. The chair creaked under the weight, and Liang Hongyu fell onto his lap, her nose bumping against the cold armor.
"Madam, are you trying to test your husband's loyalty?" He chuckled. "Then today, I'll show you what it means to be impenetrable."
Outside the tent, the rain began to fall harder. He suddenly lifted her up and carried her to the inner room. Liang Hongyu cried out in surprise as pieces of gilded armor fell to the ground one by one, clanging loudly. When the last piece of soft armor was removed, he gently placed her on the military couch, the unfinished defense map still pressed beneath her.
"Han Aman!" She pushed his chest in an angry tone, "The ink hasn't dried yet..."
"Just right." He leaned over and bit open her belt, his warm lips roaming over the arrow scar on her collarbone. "Today, on this map, let's draw a picture of a couple guarding the border."
Liang Hongyu was about to say something, but her lips were blocked. As the candlelight flickered, the wick of the copper lamp on the desk burst into flames, reflecting the lust in his eyes like a raging fire.
"Hongyu..." He suddenly stood up, "Today I will say it again, if I, Han Shizhong, betray you in this life, I will let thousands of arrows pierce my heart and my body will be torn into pieces."
She suddenly lifted her head and kissed him, her salty tears mingling between her lips and teeth. Suddenly, the night watchman's clappers rang out from outside the tent, startling birds that flew overhead. Liang Hongyu chuckled between his breaths, "General, you should save your strength. We still have water formation drills tomorrow."
In the darkness, he grasped her kicking ankle with precision, the cool touch of his silver armor making her shiver with gratitude. "Don't worry, madam," he whispered, biting her earlobe. "The Han army's stamina... is sufficient to march day and night."
A sudden downpour pounded the tent ceiling, drowning out the lingering breaths. The ink on the defense map on the desk gradually faded, resembling a painting of Jiangnan in mist and rain.
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