Chapter 16 The Wei Family
As she sat in the carriage, Ji Shu closed her eyes wearily. Chunzhi chattered beside her, "How did you end up with Marquis Yan? When I went to find you, I saw the young master throwing a huge tantrum."
"The ground was littered with things he had thrown there; the scene was..."
As soon as she finished speaking, Ji Shu opened her eyes and said calmly, "I met her on the road."
Chunzhi recalled the scenes of her daughter and Yanhou's interactions in her mind, and the more she thought about it, the more something seemed wrong, from her daughter's illness to today's Lantern Festival.
“Young lady, that Marquis Yan—” Chunzhi hesitated before speaking.
Ji Shu kept her eyes closed and didn't open them. "What's wrong?"
After thinking it over, she realized that she was overthinking things. Bringing up such unfounded rumors would only upset the young lady, and the matter of the prince was already enough to annoy her.
After much deliberation, Chunzhi swallowed her words back. "Oh, it's nothing. I just think it's quite a coincidence tonight that I ran into Marquis Yan again." Aren't all the nobles a bit too idle?
In the end, he swallowed those words.
Chunzhi covered her with the cloak, then asked, "Has the young lady made things clear with Prince Pei?"
A cold wind blew in from the side of the curtain, making Ji Shu feel even colder. "It doesn't matter anymore, that's all I have to say."
Whether it's the position of concubine or the crown prince's wife, she doesn't want to serve any man she marries. Thinking of her parents' broken marriage in modern times, which ended with them growing to hate each other, she felt a strong sense of resistance.
Instead of letting her get married, she should use that time to run her own shop properly.
Meanwhile, Lu Changfeng followed behind Pei Yanzhi.
Feeling terrified, he realized what he had just seen: his lord and Lady Ji were releasing river lanterns together.
This... how is this possible?
Does the Crown Prince know? Of course not.
Pei Yanzhi walked ahead, seemingly noticing something, and glanced at him slightly, "Do you know what you should and shouldn't say?"
Lu Changfeng replied solemnly, "Your subordinate understands."
"Um."
Outside Jingzhou City.
Lu Changming said, "Three months ago, riots broke out in Changshan, Jiujun, and Hanyang, which are near Huaidong. Under the leadership of the rebel Liu Mang, the rebels captured these three cities one after another. The local people suffered greatly. As they could not win, they joined forces and secretly formed factions, which affected many counties and prefectures. This rebel army actually numbered as many as 30,000 to 40,000 people."
"Where is the local prefect?" Gongsun Li asked.
Lu Changming sighed, "That prefect is already old, and he lives near the desert. He's really helpless. It's said that his son and daughter-in-law died in this war, and now he can only turn to us for help."
"My lord, shall we offer our assistance?"
After listening, Pei Yanzhi pondered and said, "They are all common people, how can we not save them?"
Pei Yanzhi and his subordinates discussed and planned their attack in the camp.
With the Central Plains weakened and the world in turmoil for a long time, Pei Yanzhi took over the post of Marquis of the twelve prefectures of Yanzhou.
In the following decade or so, they successively seized Youzhou, Jizhou, and Chongzhou, revealing their ambition to conquer the Central Plains.
He will likely have to fight more battles in the future.
The following afternoon, Pei Yanzhi led a troop of soldiers to Huaidong to launch an attack.
"My lord, scouts ahead report that they have spotted Liu Mang's forces."
"Fight." That single word resonated like a stampede of horses.
In just seven or eight days, Pei Yanzhi and the rebel army clashed at the foot of the mountain. How could such a rabble of bandits compare to the cavalry of Yanzhou? In just a few days, the bandit leader was surrounded by Pei Yanzhi.
Lu Changming took the lead and killed many people.
While clearing the battlefield, Pei Yanzhi sat high on his horse and asked, "Where is the prefect?"
Lu Changming looked around outside but couldn't find it. It took him a while before he remembered.
"My lord, I'll go look for it."
One of the cavalrymen said, "My lord, I just saw Prefect Wang heading into the village."
With tears still streaming down his wrinkled face, Prefect Wang looked at his daughter-in-law and son, both of whom had died tragically in the war, and collapsed to the ground.
"My lord, that is the prefect of this place."
Prefect Wang, who had been keeping his head down, knelt down upon hearing the voice from the doorway, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Pei Yanzhi frowned almost imperceptibly at the horrific scene before him. "Now that the bandits have been executed, what is your last wish?"
Upon hearing this, Prefect Wang's face was deathly still. "If it weren't for these people, I would have wanted to go with my son."
What people fear most is the death of their children, especially when a loved one dies right before their eyes and is mistreated.
Pei Yanzhi twirled the ring in his hand, then stood up and patted him on the shoulder.
Prefect Wang trembled all over and cried even louder.
"I admire the Prefect very much. If it weren't for you, none of these people would have survived. I hope you take care of yourself. The people of Huaidong are hoping that you can rebuild their homes with them."
When the wooden door was opened, all the people of Huaidong gathered together and knelt on the ground.
Prefect Wang's eyes immediately turned red, and he kowtowed repeatedly, followed by the people outside the gate.
The sky was just beginning to lighten.
After mustering his troops, Pei Yanzhi set off back to Chongzhou.
The people of Huaidong lined the streets to see them off, raising their arms and shouting. Even the prefect Wang sent the little grain he had left in the city to Yanzhou.
Gongsun Li bowed deeply to the people.
With these provisions, plus the provisions procured elsewhere, Yanzhou can expect to get through this winter safely.
Meanwhile, Pei Yanzhi led his troops to Huaidong, but Pei Xingjian did not go with them because Wei Heng, the young lady of the Wei family, had arrived.
The Wei family was a prominent clan with a history of over a hundred years. Wei's grandfather and the Pei family were even sworn brothers. However, by the time of Wei Heng's father, the family gradually declined.
Even so, Pei Yanzhi never intended to break the marriage arranged by his ancestors.
Inside the black nanmu wood cart, incense was burning in a censer.
A maid gently struck the incense burner, then gently pressed it down to extinguish it.
Yinzi handed a clean handkerchief to the girl who had her eyes slightly closed. The girl had a naturally baby face and looked about sixteen or seventeen years old. She was very petite and lovely, with an innocent smile on her goose-like face. She didn't seem to have any aggression.
"Young lady, wipe your hands."
Wei Heng opened her eyes. Although her eyebrows and eyes were curved, her gaze was cold.
He wiped his palms lightly, lifted the curtain, and asked, "How much longer until we arrive?"
Wei Ziming, who was walking at the front, said, "Sister, we still have a day's journey ahead. Let's rest at the post station tonight before setting off again."
Wei Heng seemed somewhat pleased by the news, a genuine smile playing on her lips, but then she noticed the letter beside her.
She could no longer laugh, and asked softly, her tone sending chills down one's spine: "The letter said that Brother Xingjian has fallen in love with a woman, Yinzi, do you know that?"
Yinzi trembled and hurriedly said, "It must be fake. There is no one else by the young master's side except you. Everyone has seen the young master's attitude towards you over the years."
Wei Heng picked up a pastry from the food table, her eyes fixed on the mung bean cake. She took it and slowly crushed it, like predator eyeing its prey.
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