Chapter 11 Jade Pendant
"Eighteen years ago... I was eighteen, Xiurong was fifteen, and we promised each other our lives. But the Lan family despised me for being so poor, so why would they marry her to me?"
As Feng Yi spoke, he looked at Lan Xiurong who was sitting against the pillar. He exchanged a glance with her and sighed.
"So, when the imperial court was recruiting soldiers, I thought I couldn't make it in my hometown, so I decided to join the army. As long as I didn't die, I would fight to the death and make military achievements. Maybe I could even make it. So I enlisted, hoping to make it..."
Unexpectedly, he never got the chance to make military achievements. He and a group of newly recruited soldiers were sent to the northwest desert, not far from the border with the Uighurs, to guard a small and unimportant pass.
The commander of the pass at that time was called Yao Gaotu, who was in his thirties or forties and still a sixth-rank Zhenwei captain. He had only a daughter at home. During the years of waiting, he always felt that his future was hopeless. He was thinking all day about making a fortune and returning home quickly - otherwise, he was afraid that he would die outside and would not even have children or grandchildren to collect his body.
Qiandeng frowned slightly when he heard this.
Cui Fufeng looked at her. Without saying anything, they both remembered the female historian who committed suicide in Princess Gao's mansion.
Yao Gaotu was punished for plundering and thus received no pension after his death. His daughter was sold into the imperial court and, out of hatred for Prince Changhua, became a tool for Princess Gaoguo to frame her.
In front of Qiandeng's eyes, the bloodstains that were quickly washed away by the Taiye Lake seemed to appear again.
But Feng Yi had no idea of the connection and just continued talking.
At that time, King Changhua stationed his troops in Huangsha Valley and gathered hundreds of passes in the northwest to resist the powerful enemy in the north, including the passes guarded by Yao Gaotu.
However, this remote pass is not a strategic location. Apart from the army delivering supplies once every ten days or half a month, no one passes through it. It is possible that they may not be able to light a beacon fire even after guarding it for ten or twenty years.
When the group of people became less hungry, they would go out to hunt wild boars or yellow sheep, and they lived a decent life.
But Feng Yi was always thinking of Lan Xiurong. When he thought about spending the rest of his life here, he was always secretly anxious and wished he could have a few big battles to get promoted and make a fortune.
These dry and withered days finally came to an end when Yao Gaotu took them hunting.
They encountered a group of tea traders in the desert. Strangely, at the end of the group was a Uighur man wearing gorgeous clothes, riding on a horse with a young and beautiful woman behind him.
The man had a high nose, deep eyes, and a beard, and looked very sturdy. He didn't pay much attention to Yao Gaotu and the others, and looked down on people with a look of disdain, which showed that he was of high status. The woman was in her early twenties, and was as beautiful as the clear and winding river on the grassland in spring and summer, but her face was pale and she looked distraught.
Having served as a soldier in the wilderness for many years, Yao Gaotu's eyes were glued to the woman and he couldn't move them away. He stared at her like a wolf seeing meat.
Seeing his expression, the man whipped him with his horsewhip and cursed, "How dare you, a stinky soldier, look at my woman?"
Judging from his accent, he wasn't from the Central Plains. This area wasn't far from the border with the Uighurs. Ever since the Tang Dynasty borrowed troops from the Uighurs during the An Lushan Rebellion, the two sides had often fought together against the enemy, so their relationship was quite good.
But Yao Gaotu was whipped in front of his subordinates, and how could he swallow this anger? He immediately drew the knife in his hand and was about to chop someone.
The man pulled out a copper token from his pocket and tapped it against the back of his knife, arrogantly displaying his identity: "Don't think you can act recklessly just because I'm alone. My men will be here soon!"
The letter was inscribed in Uighur script on one side and in Chinese on the other. Feng Yi could barely read a few characters and recognized the words Uighur, Gesa, and Xiangwen.
Gesa is one of the nine clans of the Uighurs, and Xiangwen means general. This person's status in the Uighurs is naturally not low.
"What what?"
Upon hearing this, Mingjiu suddenly jumped up, pointed to his right forehead and asked loudly: "This Huihe Xiangwen you mentioned, is there a black spot here, about this size?"
He saw him circle his fingers and make a fowl egg-sized gesture. Although it happened seventeen years ago, Feng Yi still remembered it vividly. He nodded and said, "Yes, he seems to have a dark blue birthmark on his right forehead."
"He's my mother's sister's eldest son!"
"Cousin." Jin Tang translated for him weakly.
"He disappeared when I was a child. I just remember he had a birthmark on his face!" Ming Jiu shouted, staring at Feng Yi and asking, "Did you kill him? That's why he can't come back?"
"No!" Feng Yi immediately shook his head in denial. "When Captain Yao saw the sign, his expression changed. His face turned purple as he sheathed his sword. He simply shouted, 'What are you looking at?! The Tang Dynasty and the Huihe people are uncle and nephew. We have always been friendly. How could we let a mere misunderstanding or conflict ruin our relationship?'"
Seeing that he was sensible, the Uighur sneered smugly, took back the letter and hung it back around his waist.
When he received the letter, everyone's eyes followed his hand to the jewel-studded gold belt around his waist. They also saw a piece of beautiful jade as big as a duck egg tied to it, which was surrounded by a bright light and extremely moist.
Just like the beauty next to him, people can't help but stare at her for a second longer.
The Han people loved to wear jade, but the Uighurs, being a people on horseback, did not favor such fragile things. But this piece of jade was truly exquisite, with two strands of green and purple intertwined on a rich white awning, with a hint of red in the upper left corner, like two azure dragons darting to grab a pearl, a truly unforgettable sight.
Perhaps that is why even this Uighur nobleman couldn't let it go and kept it with him.
While Feng Yi was describing, Qiandeng suddenly heard a slight rustling sound of clothes.
She glanced at Jin Tang out of the corner of her eye and saw that his face looked a little strange. His hand moved tremblingly to his waist to cover his jade pendant.
However, it was too late. Feng Yi's finger was already pointing at him, saying, "Although it's been a long time, I still remember it vividly. That piece of jade seems very similar to the one that Young Master Jin has."
Jin Tang was startled and was clutching his jade pendant in confusion. Ming Jiu had already raised his hand and pulled the jade out of his hand, showing it to Feng Yi: "This?"
Feng Yi confirmed: "It is this pattern, but Master Jin's piece seems to be thinner, not the oval shape of a duck egg."
Mingjiu pinched the jade pendant with his fingers and said, "That's right. We Huihe people like thick and heavy ones, while you Han people like thin and shiny ones!"
As he said, this jade pendant is crystal clear and exquisitely carved with blue, purple and red colors. It is obvious that the craftsman used the traces of two blue and purple lines intertwined to carve out the pattern of two dragons playing with a pearl, which is truly a work of art that is so ingenious.
Jin Tang was furious and rushed forward to grab his jade pendant: "Nonsense! I happened to find this in the storeroom when I got home the other day. I put it on because it was so beautiful. You...you rogue soldier, you must have seen it just now, so you said this on purpose to frame me!"
Feng Yi looked at his companions and asked, "Do you remember what happened?"
The other men didn't have such a clear impression, their faces hesitant. Only Goatee, tied to the post, his chin still bleeding, managed a few words through gritted teeth: "I remember. That jade was born with a pattern of two dragons playing with a pearl. It's truly priceless."
Jin Tang was panicking, not knowing what to do, when Ming Jiu spoke again: "My mother told me—"
Cui Fufeng suggested: "My mother's elder sister is called Auntie."
"My dad told me that when her son disappeared, he had a dragon pearl on him! I didn't know what it was then, but now I know!" Mingjiu pointed at the jade pendant, "There's a dragon! There's a pearl! That's it!"
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