Chapter 89 Normal
Wen Yao sometimes felt that if Zhao Xuanxu was born in her previous life, he would probably also be a skinning boss who was pointed at by his workers behind his back.
It was only the end of April this year, but the heat had arrived unusually early. Bianliang City hadn't seen any rain for days, and the heat was already scorching. Zhao Xuanxu had repeatedly mentioned to Wen Yao the cool, lush greenery outside Tangshan Manor, so Wen Yao finally went.
After Han Zhao left Bianliang, Wen Yao handled the 1,000-liang silver note for him and then packed up his things and went to Tangshan Manor with Zhao Xuanxu.
Jiang Qiaosheng followed, and Wang Fubai had them settle down in the Prince of Yan's mansion, tinkering with the herbs in the courtyard every day, unwilling to move. With a wave of his hand, Wang Fu ordered Jiang Qiaosheng to return every three days for bloodletting and then left her alone.
Jiang Qiaosheng was happy, and Zhao Xuanxu was the one with a sour face. Zhao Xuanxu regarded Jiang Qiaosheng as a dog-skin plaster, thinking that she was extremely annoying and he couldn't get rid of her no matter what.
"He doesn't like me, and I don't like him either." Jiang Qiaosheng hugged Wen Yao's neck and muttered, "Yaoyao, do you know about the same year's conference?"
Wen Yao was lying on the recliner, Jiang Qiaosheng squeezed in with her, his head resting on her shoulder.
"This year's list of newly minted Jinshi has been announced, and a grand gathering will be held at the foot of Tangshan Mountain. There will be wine-drinking and outings, and all young ladies of appropriate age will be invited to participate. Rumors are rife that the old emperor is planning to choose concubines for the Princes of Qin, Yan, and Xiang." Jiang Qiaosheng leaned in closer, his breath sweet as orchids. "The Zhao family is up to no good. Your affair with the Prince of Yan has been rumored throughout the court, the Jianghu, and even Bianliang. And yet, Zhao Xuanxu's name has been included. Only officials and their wives are allowed to attend the grand gathering. Yaoyao, someone is disgusted by you."
Wen Yao patted her head and pointed to the small table next to her: "Those loquats are freshly picked, they're so sweet, do you want some?"
Jiang Qiaosheng was dissatisfied: "Yaoyao!"
Zhao Xuanxu walked down the stairs and looked at Jiang Qiaosheng who was leaning against Wen Yao with a sinister look: "Come down."
Jiang Qiaosheng sneered back, "No."
Zhao Xuanxu's eyes instantly lit up with murderous intent. Jiang Qiaosheng twitched his lips in mockery, thinking that if she weren't sitting so far away, she'd be beheading him in a second.
Xue Ke hurried over from the side, stepped forward and grabbed Jiang Qiaosheng's shoulders without saying a word, pulling her off Wen Yao. He nodded apologetically to Zhao Xuanxu and Wen Yao and said, "Master, you still have things to do. We'll leave first."
"Snowman!" Jiang Qiaosheng waved his hand and looked at Snowman with an uncertain expression: "You are really brave."
"Master, the account books have been piling up for the past few days and I haven't looked at them." Xue Ketai said calmly, "You do have things to do. You have to finish looking at the account books sooner or later, so don't delay."
Jiang Qiaosheng stared at him for a while, then ran over, picked up the loquats on the table, and left cursing.
Wen Yao had already started laughing and sat cross-legged in the rocking chair, watching Jiang Qiaosheng and Xue Ke leave.
"Just listen to her nonsense." Zhao Xuanxu walked over and put his fingers on the back of Wen Yao's neck: "I'm not going to the same year's meeting."
"I know."
Zhao Xuanxu stared at her and suddenly said, "The Ministry of Rites began preparing Jinyun's dowry yesterday for her trip to the Western Court. She ran to the emperor and asked me to escort her to the wedding. Let's take this opportunity to leave Tianshui."
According to the rules of the Tianshui Dynasty, if a princess married into another country, her brothers would escort her to the border between the two countries. If she had no brothers, one of the princes would be chosen to escort her.
Wen Yao was startled, propping herself up with her hands as she sat up. The sound of the grass flute by the lake that day in Chunsou, the look Jinyun had given her with her head tilted, and the words he had spoken suddenly flashed through her mind.
——I am going to the Western Dynasty to marry a princess. If I go to the Western Dynasty to marry a princess, will the soldiers and the people be better off?
"Marriage?" Wen Yao was speechless: "Is this going to start?"
"The Emperor decided two years ago that she should go to the Western Court, and it has been delayed for two years."
The situation is changing rapidly now, so it is a good time for Jinyun to go there.
Regardless of whether Tianshui is showing goodwill to Northern Liao or preparing for war, the situation between the two countries is certainly not optimistic, and change is inevitable. Sending a princess as a marriage alliance will at least stabilize the relationship between Tianshui and the Western Dynasty, avoid being attacked from both sides, and stabilize the people's hearts.
Moreover, Northern Liao was a powerful force, and Ti Tianshui was not the only one to suffer. Western Dynasty, which bordered Northern Liao, was also repeatedly subjected to Northern Liao's expansion and plunder. The Jinyun marriage was seen by both countries as a great and beneficial opportunity with no drawbacks.
"I killed Liu Liancheng." Zhao Xuanxu mentioned those people and sneered, "So you wanted to kill Zhao Xuanshuo too... but now I'll spare his life."
Zhao Xuanshuo was the King of Qin.
Wen Yao pulled his hand down and held it in hers. After a brief moment of thought, she nodded and said, "Okay, we'll give Jinyun a ride. We'll also go see Yue Changtuan and get the Burning Heart Fragments from Zuo Fengjiang—but we can't leave."
Zhao Xuanxu's eyelashes drooped suddenly, a little puzzled: "Why?"
Wen Yao raised his hand and slapped Zhao Xuanxu lightly. "You can throw things to Zhang Yun, Wu Peiming, and Gao Shaoshan now because you are still in Bianliang. If you really abandon them, it will be difficult for the three of them, and it will also be difficult for the Three Departments and Twelve Guards. The Three Departments are Yan Cang's hard work, and the Twelve Guards are yours. You can't just throw them away without taking any responsibility."
"Sure." Zhao Xuanxu said in a deep voice: "I can ignore it——"
Wen Yao suddenly stood up and pinched his mouth with two fingers, squeezing it flat and making it look oddly funny. Wen Yao couldn't help laughing, then coaxed, "Wait a little longer. I'll wait with you. Wait... wait until Wu Pei is capable of becoming the next leader of the Three Divisions, wait until Gao Shaoshan can take on the responsibility of the Feathered Guards, wait until Zhang Yun can gain a firm foothold in both the Wang and Feng factions, then it won't be..."
She thought carefully, and said "wait" many times in a row, and finally she shut up under Zhao Xuanxu's gaze.
"Anyway, let's wait until the weather gets better before we leave." Wen Yao made the final decision, pushed him aside and stood up: "From now on, no matter where you are, no matter what happens, I will be with you. No matter where you are, it doesn't matter."
"Of course it's not bad." The usually well-behaved Prince Yan spoke softly this time, singing a counter-tune: "We were so free and easy in Yanling. But here you're surrounded by people, and I don't like it."
He looked very reserved, hinting at Jiang Qiaosheng who had just refused to leave.
"There's nothing we can do about it." Wen Yao: "I can't always be surrounded by ghosts."
She talked a lot, and with just a few words, Zhao Xuanxu's dissatisfaction was temporarily suppressed.
The scenery around Zhuangzi was beautiful. Although it was a little early and the plum trees, as promised, had not yet borne fruit, the area was still lush and green, and a cool breeze blew. The loquat trees were laden with fruit, sweet and juicy. Wen Yao loved them, so every day after sword practice he would jump out and climb the trees to pick them.
One day, she was hunched over a tree branch, picking a bunch of loquats, a dagger between her teeth, when she heard the sound of footsteps in the distance. Wen Yao subconsciously stopped and looked down, seeing three or two girls in brightly colored dresses, supporting each other, followed by a long line of servants, slowly approaching.
The loquat tree was some distance outside the village wall, and the Feathered Guards were not there. As they walked, they looked up at the distant village and spoke in low voices.
Wen Yao hadn't meant to eavesdrop. She stood up straight when she saw someone approaching, her pockets full of fruit, ready to descend from the tree after they left. However, they spoke in high tones, and with her excellent hearing, she caught every word the lavishly dressed young ladies, presumably from official families, were saying.
"His Royal Highness Prince Yan didn't come to the banquet, but instead hung out here with that Jianghu girl." Someone chuckled, "How interesting."
"Did you see Yin Yiru's expression? She came here dressed up so beautifully, but couldn't even see Prince Yan."
Another person tugged at her, "She's a pitiful person too... What's wrong with admiring someone? It's not beyond the pale of propriety, isn't she better off than someone who's nameless and without status?"
Wen Yao touched the trunk and quietly sat down cross-legged on a branch. He casually took out a loquat, rubbed it clean, peeled it and bit into the flesh.
The gathering of the same year had begun at the foot of the mountain. The third girl must have been bored at the banquet, so she took her maids and servants out for a stroll, enjoying the scenery and chatting casually with the sisters.
Although she was the central figure in the conversation, Wen Yao wasn't angry. She ate loquats while listening with great interest. It was quite rare. She had never thought that she, Wen Yao, would one day gain a reputation as a seductive and alluring woman in the martial arts world.
After these people walked away, Wen Yao wiped his mouth, stood up, and went back on tiptoe with the loquat in his arms.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they reached the gate, they saw the Feathered Guards holding up several people. The leader shouted, "We are here on the orders of the King of Qin to invite His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan to a banquet. Why are you stopping us?"
"The master has decreed that no one without permission may enter this gate." The voice of the Feather Guard came through the armor, muffled and silent: "Anyone who disobeys will be killed."
Those three words instantly blocked the man's words. He stammered, unable to utter a single word, and reluctantly put his things down and turned to walk away. Wen Yao followed his movements and looked toward the door, only to see a large pile of things already piled high.
She was only out for a short while, yet so many people were turned away.
Wen Yao was surprised and stepped down to the gate. The Lingyu Guards immediately withdrew their spears from the left and right to open the gate. Wen Yao casually pressed two loquats into their hands.
Later in the morning, Zhao Xuanxu was tidying up the flowers in the pots again, while Wen Yao was beside him, making bait to feed the fish in the pond. Then, a beautiful paper mandarin duck floated down from the sky, directly over the wall and landed in the rockery in the courtyard. There was a knock at the corner door on the wall, and a woman's delicate voice came over: "Please open the door and let us in to pick up a mandarin duck."
Qianying glanced at Zhao Xuanxu, then immediately stepped forward and cut the mandarin duck's rope without hesitation, and threw the mandarin duck out amid the screams from outside the wall.
Wen Yao dropped the bait in his hand, washed his hands, and tentatively asked: "How about you just show up and show your face?" Otherwise, he would have no peace today.
"No." Zhao Xuanxu said without raising his head: "Qianying, if anyone else comes, I will kill them."
"Wait, wait." Wen Yao called Qianying and squatted on the other side, rubbing his chin and looking at him: "Hey, I haven't seen you so popular with girls before, what's wrong today?"
It’s actually not difficult to understand.
In terms of appearance, status, and achievements, Prince Yan was the most outstanding of the four princes, and should have been the preferred marriage partner for the wives of officials. However, Zhao Xuanxu had been seen as a lunatic by outsiders for over a decade. With the Supervisory Commission in place, ordinary court officials dared not approach him easily, and among the young ladies of various families, there were very few who were as brave as Yin Yiyu.
But now it was different; the sun was turning, and people were changing. The greatest miracle of Bianliang this year was seeing the Prince of Yan dismounting from his horse to buy food from the vendors on Imperial Street, and the fact that before the New Year, the shops in Bianliang were practically sold out for fashionable fabrics—all these signs pointed to one thing: even for the Prince of Yan, it was normal to fall in love with someone.
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