Chapter 93 March
There are countless weapons in the world, swords and knives are invisible but visible, but poison is insidious and unpredictable, making it impossible to defend against it, thus giving rise to a deep sense of fear. If someone skilled in poison is determined to kill someone, it will be extremely terrifying.
Wen Yao suddenly recalled the hard times she'd been pursued by Xin Man. Back then, she'd been so careful about everything she ate, drank, and defecated, fearing a hit. But today, she was completely unprepared. If Xin Man had come to kill her, he could have simply poisoned her food and drink with a deadly poison. Even with Wen Yao's meticulous control over her scent and internal changes, she would have suffered greatly. It wasn't like this seemingly dangerous situation, which was actually innocuous, with much ado about nothing.
"Her master, Zhuo Ya, is a priestess of the Poison Cave. She's always been highly respected in the village. But just now, she said she's no longer a member of the village." Wen Yao was genuinely confused. "It's strange that she hasn't made any move in years, and then suddenly shows up to kill me today. The King of Qin was also acting strangely today. I initially thought he was going to cause trouble, but he remained silent. Seeing how half-dead he was just now, Xin Mandang wasn't his plan... If this was all an act, then it's going to be hard for him to become emperor."
As Wen Yao finished speaking, there was a gentle knock on the half-closed window beside her. She looked up and saw a tall and thin figure through the window.
Qianying stood outside and whispered, "Master, Commander Wen, the woman left Tangshan and headed all the way to the city. Our men followed her all the way but lost her near Zhou Bridge."
Zhao Xuanxu said nothing. He bent down, grasped Wen Yao's calf, lifted her leg, stripped off her boots, and pulled her stockings down to her ankles. He stared at the hideous wound with an uncertain expression, took the handkerchief in his hand, and hesitated.
The poison in the canal damages the meridians, and the surge of internal energy in martial artists often reaches the meridians in their hands and feet first, causing the poison to linger, rupturing and bleeding. Wen Yao, gripped by his legs, instinctively kicked. She actually felt okay, just a little sore in her vagina. Apply some ointment and hold it in place, and it should be almost healed in a few days.
Zhao Xuanxu obviously didn't feel much, he felt that Wen Yao was in great pain.
Qianying stood outside the window, holding her breath. After a while, she heard Zhao Xuanxu say, "Tell Gao Shaoshan to take Bai Rang and search every house. If anyone is caught, send them to Jiutai. If they resist, kill them."
Qianying nodded his head and turned around to take his brothers away.
Wen Yao's ankle felt icy cold. Zhao Xuanxu carefully wiped the blood from her ankle and evenly applied the ointment. Wen Yao looked at him with lowered eyes and brows, and after thinking about it, she finally shut up and swallowed her words to Qianying, "Don't investigate anymore, just forget it."
Just check it out.
Bianliang City has so many people and such a large area. Xin Man is slippery and has helpers behind him, so he should not be caught. Let Zhao Xuanxu vent his anger for the time being.
The incident at Tangshan Huangzhuang didn't cause much of a stir in Bianliang, spreading only among the banquet attendees and the powerful. After all, the assassins had been clamoring to kill Wen Yao, and everyone knew the position that Commander Wen held in the Yan King's heart. No one would publicly publicize the incident and risk bad luck. Furthermore, the assassination didn't delay anything. The King of Qin regained consciousness soon after returning home, unharmed, and successfully set a date for his wedding with the Fan family.
But when the emperor wanted to arrange a marriage for Prince Xiang, he broke his usual meek demeanor, cowering behind his brothers. He dragged a prostitute into the palace and knelt outside the emperor's gate, threatening to marry the princess, but first the prostitute as a concubine. He was being incredibly unreasonable. The old emperor, enraged by his second son, threw an inkstone from his study at Prince Xiang's face, telling him to get out. Prince Xiang, his goal achieved, washed his face, and unrestrainedly left the palace to confine himself to his own residence, thus revealing his marriage.
As for His Royal Highness Prince Yan's marriage, the Emperor hadn't mentioned it. If the Emperor hadn't mentioned it, the Empress naturally wouldn't have dared to either. Since the two royal couples hadn't mentioned it, even if the ministers had ulterior motives, they couldn't bring themselves to mention it. They could only silently regret and give up the idea.
Wen Yao wasn't wrong. After that day, Xin Man seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth, leaving Gao Shaoshan and his patrol officers to search Bianliang City from top to bottom, finding nothing. Wen Yao didn't notice anything, but Gao Shaoshan felt deeply ashamed, feeling that he had wasted Zhao Xuanxu's training. He plunged headfirst into the Twelve Armies, working ever harder, and the soldiers under his command complained bitterly during the drills.
The days passed, and in a blink of an eye, more than a month had passed. Bianliang hadn't rained for days, and the heat was growing. Outside the village, the black plums were ripe, the leaves lush and green, and a cool breeze blew through the forest. Wen Yao's wounds had healed, and he spent his days idly catching birds and fishing, picking black plums to make drinks and brewing wine, and enjoying himself.
One afternoon, Zhang Yun arrived in Tangshan by carriage. Scorching hot, he walked in and happened to see Wen Yao making plum pastries. He looked at the bamboo racks dotted throughout the yard, where plum blossoms were drying, and then at Zhao Xuanxu, who sat on the other side, sleeves rolled up, intently preparing plum jam. He marveled, "It's all hell breaking loose out there, yet you're living like gods here. You truly don't care about the mundane world."
Wen Yao handed him a bowl of mung bean soup. Upon hearing this, he asked, "Why? What happened again?"
Zhang Yun, holding a bowl in one hand and clothes in the other, found a shady spot under the loofah rack and squatted. He slurped down a large bowl of mung bean soup, wiped his mouth and said, "Spring came early this year, the weather is warm, and the snow melted quickly. The Huai River floods have just subsided, and now it's been almost a month since it rained in the south. The fields, wells and streams in the countryside are almost dry, and it looks like a severe drought is imminent. That's fine, after all, it's a natural disaster, beyond human control. We should ask the prefectures and counties to borrow and transfer grain and open their warehouses to provide disaster relief."
As he spoke, Zhang Yun's usually smiling face darkened, his sarcasm barely concealed. "But His Majesty has been trying to ascend to heaven these days. He's pressuring the Ministry of Revenue to collect the Flower and Stone Tax, and the amount has been increasing again and again. His harsh rule is more ferocious than a tiger. In the dozens of counties that originally switched from rice cultivation to mulberry cultivation, many farmers were already dissatisfied with the court, and now they're taking advantage of this situation and rebelling, claiming the emperor is immoral."
Wen Yao was completely taken aback. "Rebellion? How come there's no news about such a big thing? Suzhou was the place where they originally promoted the rice-to-mulberry conversion. Didn't Song Mingde just deal with it a while ago?"
"The factory supervisor's suppression of public opinion can only temporarily address the situation. With Governor Song gone, the government is leaderless, and those incompetent men under him naturally can't keep things under control." Zhang Yun said, "We're facing internal and external troubles right now, so any movement won't be made public. The various government offices are branding the rebellious farmers bandits and sending in troops to suppress them. But the results are poor, and the news won't stay hidden for long."
Wen Yao sighed: "It's really full of disasters."
Zhang Yun remained silent, squinting his eyes at the plump cucumbers on the vines above him for a moment before he suddenly said, "Princess Jinyun's wedding has been moved up to the autumn."
Wen Yao was stunned: "Was it mentioned verbally or has an order been issued?"
"I have issued an order and sent someone to deliver the news to the Western Dynasty."
Originally, a princess's marriage to another country would take more than a year, from the time her dowry was paid to the official marriage. The emperor ordered Jinyun to depart in the autumn, meaning he was asking her to marry half that time earlier, which seemed a bit too hasty.
It seems that His Majesty was not focused enough in his pursuit of immortality. The riots still ignited a fire in his heart, making him anxious.
Wen Yao subconsciously looked at Zhang Yun's waist, which was empty. Jinyun had taken away half of the pair of Pisces jade pendants, and the other half left in Zhang Yun's hand had never been worn by him.
"Jinyun is getting married." Wen Yao asked, "What do you think?"
Zhang Yun said without hesitation: "Poor."
"Since ancient times, when two countries interacted, sending a princess as a marriage gift was merely a gift as a bonus. Women have a fragile fate, even princesses. If the two countries ever turned against each other and went to war, the princess would either die for her country or for her husband. Even if nothing happened, she would be far away from her friends and relatives, dying in a foreign land. It would never be a good ending."
His eyes were clear and his tone was slightly calm: "Princess Jinyun is not a bad person by nature. I always feel pity for her."
Wen Yao squatted for a while, holding his knees. After a while, he stood up and said to Zhao Xuanxu, "Let's go. We've stayed in the manor for too long. It's time to go back."
Tangshan Manor was indeed far away from Bianliang City. Only after returning to the city did Wen Yao truly understand what Zhang Yun meant by increasing the collection of flowers and stones.
Every day, from the hour of Chen to the hour of Wei, tall horses pulled cartloads of rare treasures through the city gates, bound for the emperor's private treasury. White jade could be made into gravel, South Sea pearls were used as a pretext, and coral half a man's height was commonplace. Tiger skins, deer antlers, and phoenix feathers were also found. These rare treasures were taken from the people under the guise of the Flower and Stone Gang. The court offered no compensation, only reduced taxes, leaving the people ultimately at a disadvantage. The Ministry of Revenue's collection of silver dwindled, while the emperor's private treasury slowly filled, and the Purple Sky Taoist temple in Bianliang City grew in prominence.
The emperor, preoccupied with ascending to heaven, ignored the popular uprisings and the worsening drought in the south. Refugees piled up, many heading for Bianliang, where ragged figures lay scattered across the wilderness outside the city walls. Even the people of Bianliang, long content to live comfortably at the emperor's feet, began to sense the impending threat of unrest.
Faced with internal and external troubles, Wen Yao, relying on his simple historical knowledge from his previous life, deeply felt that the behemoth Tianshui had reached the reef and was surrounded by dangers.
Obviously, Wen Yao was not the only one who thought so.
After several days of stalemate, during a court meeting one day, the two factions, unusually abandoning their customary opposition, knelt in a mighty procession in the Lama Temple, presenting a petition to the emperor to open granaries for disaster relief and to dispatch the imperial garrison south to quell the uprising. In the afternoon, a palace attendant rode out, bearing the imperial decree, and headed straight for the Prince of Yan's mansion, bearing the emperor's decree.
The emperor said nothing about the Flower and Stone Gang, only authorizing the opening of the granaries and the release of grain. He also ordered the Prince of Qin and the Prince of Yan to lead their troops and march south in two directions, clearing out any rioters they encountered along the way and quelling the rebellion. The news of the imperial edict, once it reached every household, instantly stirred a thousand thoughts.
Wen Yao opened the imperial edict in her hand and examined it carefully. The handwriting was sharp and decisive, even the endings were sharp and determined. She stroked her chin and said, "The emperor asked you and the Prince of Qin to quell the rebellion, while the Prince of Yong will remain at court to handle state affairs. Does this mean that he is appointing the Prince of Yong as the crown prince and letting the Crown Prince govern?"
It's true, apart from the fact that Prince Qin and Concubine Feng and their mother have been deeply favored by the emperor over the years, Prince Yong is the eldest son of the Empress and is a humble person. This time, his attitude towards Northern Liao is consistent with that of the emperor. No matter how you look at it, it makes people feel that the emperor's balance of power for succession is already vaguely leaning towards Prince Yong.
I don't know what Prince Qin and Concubine Feng were thinking, but at least on the surface, Prince Qin and Zhao Xuanxu each received orders, organized their armies in two days, and then left Bianliang to quell the rebellion.
Wen Yao was on her first journey with the army. She was on horseback, with Zhao Xuanxu beside her and Gao Shaoshan to her rear. Jiang Qiaosheng, tired of riding, lay motionless on the cart.
By the time the Twelve Guards had almost half emerged, the long column, maintaining a steady and swift pace, had already skirted several distant mountains. As dusk fell, Gao Shaoshan ordered the troops to rest. Simple tents were quickly set up in the mountains and fields, and fires were lit to cook.
The military rations were crude, consisting of only rice porridge and flatbread. Wen Yao brushed off the grass and wood chips on his body and was thinking of going up the mountain to catch some wild game to improve his diet when he saw Qianying and his men coming down the mountain, catching pheasants and wild boars. They happened to run into Xueke, who was carrying wild rabbits and wild fruits.
The two sides looked at each other. Wen Yao laughed and gave them a thumbs up: "That's really fast."
Secret guards and assassins often climb trees, climbing high and low to pick wild fruits and game, making them naturally fast. The secret guard following Qianying was the child Wen Yao had once grabbed and questioned. Now he had grown rapidly and had caught up with Qianying. He watched Wen Yao's movements, hesitated, and quietly walked over to ask, "Commander Wen, what does this mean?"
He gave Wen Yao a thumbs up.
"It means I'm awesome." Jiang Qiaosheng was lying on a short tree nearby, glancing at Zhao Xuanxu. "I'm complimenting him."
Zhao Xuanxu had been with Wen Yao for a while, so he naturally understood the meaning of her occasional odd antics. He shrugged off Jiang Qiaosheng's childish provocations and went about sharpening wooden skewers, preparing to grill the meat for Wen Yao. Qianying and the others skillfully cut the meat, drained the blood, and then dressed the prey, threading it through branches and grilling it over the fire. Soon, the aroma of greasy meat wafted into the air.
Wen Yao loved meat, even without any seasoning. She ate and drank her fill, then gulped down another bowl of porridge. After Jiang Qiaosheng finished his meal, Xue Ke urged him to check the account books. After a long grumble, he left, his hair pulled.
Zhao Xuanxu watched the two men's movements with a cold eye, then turned to Wen Yao and said, "Xue Ke is quite good. He can tolerate Jiang Qiaosheng's temper. I can prepare dowries and gifts for Jiang Qiaosheng and him, and buy a house for them to get married."
Wen Yao slapped him on the arm. "You're thinking too far ahead." While she wasn't blind and could see that Xue Ke was interested in Jiang Qiaosheng, it was also obvious that Jiang Qiaosheng wasn't interested in Xue Ke. She advocated for free love and would never be a feudal patriarch.
Wen Yao slowly picked up the bucket and walked to the stream, preparing to fetch water for washing. When he looked up, he immediately saw the Milky Way in the sky.
The sky on summer nights is always so beautiful.
Zhao Xuanxu also came over with a bucket and took it from Wen Yao. He looked at Wen Yao, then squinted his eyes and looked up at the sky.
Wen Yao pointed upwards and said, "Isn't it beautiful? The desert is more beautiful at night than here." The night sky of the desert presents another kind of vast and open artistic conception. When she was in Liuye City, she liked to sit on the roof and look at the sky. Sometimes when she was drunk, she felt that the world was upside down and tilted, and the universe was revolving around her, and she was fascinated.
"Beautiful." Zhao Xuanxu walked forward, stepped on the stone and leaned over to draw water. The water temperature still had the warmth of daytime, not cold. Zhao Xuanxu dipped his finger in the water and flicked it on Wen Yao's face, saying innocently, "Ayao, the water is warm."
Wen Yao smiled and said, "It's better to keep it warm so it won't burn again."
The surroundings were not quiet; laughter could be heard from the distant stream below. A general ripped open his clothes, banged a piece of wood on a pot, and began to sing at the top of his voice. The man's rough singing filled the mountain.
Wen Yao wiped the water droplets from her face and watched Zhao Xuanxu walking towards her carrying two large buckets of water. His long hair was tied behind his head with a hair crown, and he looked incredibly handsome under the moonlight and starlight.
She touched her chest and went forward to pick up a bucket of water. "We have to get up early tomorrow morning to travel. Go back and wash up and go to bed."
During the march, Zhao Xuanxu didn't pay much attention to details. Four poles formed a curtained tent, with a wooden plank in the middle serving as the bathing area. Qianying, Gao Shaoshan, and the others had long since disappeared, leaving only Wen Yao and Zhao Xuanxu outside the tent.
Zhao Xuanxu calmly took off his outer robe and hung it aside, then took Wen Yao by the hand and walked into the curtained tent. He was not shy, and Wen Yao was not stage-frightened either. After entering, he raised his hand and poured a bucket of water over him. He saw the wet fabric of his clothes clinging to his body, outlining the undulating lines of his shoulders and back.
Zhao Xuanxu's pretty face was wet, his long eyelashes were covered with water droplets, his lips were bright red, and he tilted his head to look at Wen Yao with a hook in his eyes: "Ayao?"
Wen Yao ignored the heat behind her ears, patted his lower back, twisted her wrist to get out of his hand, and stuffed the bucket into his hand: "Go wash first, hand over the empty bucket, and I'll get you some water."
After Zhao Xuanxu finished washing, the stream water had lost its temperature.
With his wet hair hanging down, he sat by the rocks, stuffing wood pieces one by one under the iron pot to boil water for Wen Yao, then mixed it with cold water and brought it into the curtained tent. Wen Yao took a comfortable bath and walked to the tent in slippers. As soon as he entered, Zhao Xuanxu grabbed his arm and stuffed something into his hand.
Wen Yao took a closer look and discovered they were a pair of fox fur wristbands. She pinched them and found them soft and fluffy, a pleasant touch. They were also embroidered with flowers and plants, creating a truly exquisite look.
She looked at Zhao Xuanxu.
Zhao Xuanxu nodded reservedly and said, "I killed a fox during the last spring hunt and thought of making you a wrist guard. I've never made one before, so I'm a little rusty. I just finished it these past few days."
Wen Yao was surprised and said, "You made it yourself? When did you do it?" It is no exaggeration to say that Zhao Xuanxu was almost inseparable from her, and Wen Yao had never seen Zhao Xuanxu sew this thing.
Of course, it was done on purpose when Wen Yao was not around.
Zhao Xuanxu casually omitted the process of turning over and cutting the needle and thread, saying, "It's hot now, so it's inappropriate to wear it. You can wear it when it cools down."
"Okay!" Wen Yao was happy that her boyfriend gave her a handmade item for the first time. She raised her hand, hooked it around Zhao Xuanxu's neck, and gave him a loud kiss on the cheek.
Zhao Xuanxu's brows furrowed, and he pressed firmly against Wen Yao's back, kissing her. His first kiss landed on the corner of her eye, then trailed down, slicing and slicing until he reached the corner of her lips. It was a truly grueling way to kiss, the scorching heat of his emotions tangled and ready to burst forth unabashedly. Zhao Xuanxu didn't even close his eyes, his gaze fixed on every shift in Wen Yao's expression, a greedy expression. His fingers, clasped around Wen Yao's waist, opened, the warmth of his fingertips burning.
Wen Yao felt warmed by his kiss, and also felt a little itchy, and couldn't stop laughing. After a while of fooling around, she pulled Zhao Xuanxu to the bed and lay down. She pulled over a clean white cloth hanging next to him, reached into his hair and rubbed it slowly. Zhao Xuanxu held Wen Yao's waist tightly, resting his forehead on the side of Wen Yao's face, breathing heavily, and his eyelashes trembling.
"Do we have to get up early and march tomorrow?" Wen Yao used his internal energy to dry his hair bit by bit. He lowered his head and kissed the side of Zhao Xuanxu's nose. He said with satisfaction, "Go to bed."
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