Chapter 71 [VIP]
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
Their notices were posted throughout Dingzhou City, displaying images of the group and promising a large reward for anyone providing clues about their whereabouts. The people knew that officials from the capital were going, but they didn't know what they looked like. They were now being treated as thieves and trapped in Dingzhou City.
"The prefect here is called Yin Yuze. I heard that his marriage was arranged by Li Miaosuo. He married Sun, the niece of Li Miaosuo's confidante, and now Sun is in charge of the household. Yin Yuze doesn't concern himself with matters in the city, and we haven't received a reply to the token we submitted," Ziyan said.
Lu Xuejin: "This place is far from the capital, I'm afraid he won't be able to make the decision."
Thinking this, Lu Xuejin remembered the token Song Zhao had given him before leaving. Suzhou wasn't far from here. He said to Ziyan, "If the imperial edict from the capital is useless, why not try going to Suzhou? I'll leave this matter to you."
Ziyan responded, "The garrison outside Suzhou is Song Fangting, Lord Song Zhao's cousin. This servant will deliver the imperial edict to Miss Song Fangting."
Murong Yue said from the side, "Brother Changyou, there's no need to rush. We can leave after your injuries have healed. Right now, they should be much more anxious than we are."
Wisteria was carrying skewers of meatballs she had just bought. This local way of eating meatballs was invented by the people of the area. A mixture of vegetables and meat was made into meatballs, which were then cooked in broth to absorb the flavor. The meatballs were then skewered. The cost was low, yet they could be sold at a slightly higher price.
She noticed that Murong Yue had eaten quite a bit. Usually, only she and His Highness enjoyed snacking. His Highness was growing taller and taller, while she was getting rounder and rounder with each bite. It was truly outrageous.
“Your Highness is unaware,” Lu Xuejin said, “we need to arrive in Liancheng before the New Year. We don’t know the situation there yet. The people have no disaster relief funds; how will they get through the winter?”
"Don't worry, Brother Changyou," Murong Yue smiled. "We will definitely arrive before winter. Don't let the people's plight distract you. The more urgent the situation, the calmer you must remain."
Looking at the boy's smiling face, his dark eyes shining with a faint smile, his canine teeth faintly visible, and his determined expression swept away the turmoil in Lu Xuejin's heart. He couldn't help but sigh, his expression softening considerably.
"Yes, Your Highness is right. I have been worried about my injuries and have been overworking myself."
Murong Yue: "Brother, you should also allow yourself to get sick and injured. It's inevitable to worry when you're vulnerable. Don't worry, Brother Changyou is a lucky man, and we will definitely arrive in Liancheng safely."
As he spoke, Murong Yue leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, the scent of the meatball soup mingling with the aroma of the food. He used to dislike having various smells on him, but now, with His Highness by his side, he would inevitably pick them up from time to time, so he had no choice but to accept it.
"Where is Your Highness going?" he asked the boy.
During the days since his injury, His Highness has stayed by his side, but he often disappears at night, sneaking into the city and appearing and disappearing mysteriously, which is really worrying.
"I'm going to the post station; someone sent me something," Murong Yue said.
Tengluo swallowed the small ball and said, "Your Highness buys comic books every day. Look, even at this hour, Your Highness still has the mood to read comic books."
Upon hearing this, Murong Yue looked over and said thoughtfully, "Nothing can stop me from reading. Even if the Heavenly King himself were to die tomorrow, I would still be reading today. What do the affairs of the world have to do with me?"
For every sentence Tengluo uttered, Murong Yue retorted with ten, deliberately asking, "Tengluo, do you still remember the anniversary of your parents' death? How can you still be in the mood to eat meatballs here? Don't you think about how hard it was for your parents when they died? If you were truly filial, you should find it difficult to swallow."
This left Tengluo speechless. She was both angry and annoyed, but she couldn't win the argument, so she hugged the dumpling and ignored everyone.
Murong Yue persisted, circling around Tengluo and saying, "Tengluo, tell me, am I right? If you want to demand others to follow etiquette and filial piety, you must set an example yourself. If you can't even abide by those complicated rules yourself, how can you convince others? Even if you can, why do you insist on demanding that others be the same as you, so certain that what you follow is the law of nature and must be correct... In the end, these actions are nothing more than seeking the approval of others."
"If external voices can influence you at any time, and your actions are determined by those voices, then life would be utterly boring," Murong Yue said.
Lu Xuejin listened from the side, watching Murong Yue's profile. The boy's smile was so mischievous; a few words from him had made Tengluo cry. The boy, who had made her cry, then bought Tengluo a lot of dumplings, as if he hadn't just said those words.
When they arrived at the post station, His Highness corresponded with an unknown painter, who sent him many books. The books were wrapped in small buns, and the boy hid the buns in his clothes so that His Highness wouldn't see the books inside.
Lu Xuejin was somewhat curious, but he didn't ask. He didn't usually pry into everything. If His Highness didn't tell him, he would simply pretend he didn't know.
He glanced over, and the boy immediately put on an innocent look and said to him, "They're just some idle books. Brother Changyou, I met this painter in Luzhou City. She paints exceptionally well, and recently I asked her to paint some other stories."
Despite saying this, he didn't tell him what story the book depicted. Once back in the courtyard, the boy was glued to the book, reading it from day to night. He didn't seem worried about the affairs of the city; seeing how quiet everyone was, he figured the city's problems were his responsibility. He was just a little curious about what His Highness was reading.
His Highness always has this ability; he never loses an argument, he does things his own way, and he possesses certain admirable qualities. Even now, just reading casual books is enough to capture his attention.
He couldn't help but fall into deep thought, watching the boy blush as he read, sometimes shy and reserved, sometimes gloomy and angry, sometimes depressed, and sometimes serious and earnest.
"..." He found it amusing to see the boy's expressions changing so much.
"Are you going out again tonight?" he asked.
He roughly guessed what the child was going out to do. His Highness had a photographic memory and probably already knew the terrain of the city very well. All that was left was to find the right opportunity for them to leave the city.
Upon hearing this, Murong Yue looked at him and smiled, saying, "Brother Changyou is so clever that he knows what I'm going out to do. I've already been to the prefect's place several times. The prefect's wife, Madam Sun, is not someone to be trifled with. The tokens we sent have probably been confiscated on Li Miaosuo's orders. The magistrate and prefect are trapped just like us because they can't see the tokens."
“However, I noticed that this small city of Dingzhou has more than one powerful force. There’s another group of people looking for us in the city; I wonder who they are,” Murong Yue said, putting down the book.
Murong Yue: "The four city gates in the east, west, south, and north are all guarded by Li Miaosuo's daughters. They are now completely sealed off. It won't be easy for us to find an opportunity. We still need Prefect Yin's help. Brother Changyou, you should think of another way. If we wait for the people from Suzhou to come, it will probably delay us for a while longer."
“Your Highness is right. We still need to go see Prefect Yin. The local power is unshakeable. We need to see Prefect Yin before making any further plans. I will go there myself,” Lu Xuejin said.
Murong Yue snapped the book shut in his hand and said to him, "Of course I can't let you go, brother. I'll go myself. Don't worry, brother Changyou, I promise to bring Prefect Yin here."
He entrusted this matter to His Highness, trusting in His Highness's abilities. The further south they went, the more His Highness's abilities became apparent; even with a thousand soldiers in the city, they could not be shaken in the slightest. His Highness understood people's hearts and could easily find a place to stay amidst the complex web of power struggles.
“Every day I go out and see the weary faces of the people in this city. They are already familiar with the power of the sect. Even though we have posted a reward notice, no one has come to look. This shows that the local government has broken its promise. The other day I asked the meatball vendor. For every thousand or so coins he earns, he has to pay four hundred in taxes. The people toil away every day and barely make ends meet. They also have to worry every day that their shops will be confiscated by the sect and they might be driven out of the city. The people in this city have been corrupted by the sect. If they want to change their impoverished situation, they have no choice but to join the sect. For every person they persuade to join, they receive a hundred taels of silver as a reward. Such easy money is nothing more than a test of the people's bottom line. It encourages the people to go further and further away.”
Lu Xuejin: "This matter needs to be decided after meeting with Prefect Yin. The tax law needs to be revised. If the people are wealthy, they will not be misled by doctrines. If Prefect Yin were to act properly, things would not have come to this. If this matter is handed over to the local prefect, I fear that the local government will have too much power and will be too harsh on the people when it comes to tax collection, thus falling into a vicious cycle."
"The local supervisory authority is also inactive, and the three forces are moving in and out together, turning this southern city into a purgatory that supports a group of people," Murong Yue said.
Lu Xuejin naturally realized this. Looking into the boy's clear eyes, he asked, "Does Your Highness have a solution?"
"You'll have to ask me that, Brother Changyou. I'm sure you already have a plan. What are your plans, Brother Changyou?" Murong Yue asked in return.
Lu Xuejin smiled and said gently, "I think the same as Your Highness. The world is a game of chess. On the chessboard, there are black pieces and white pieces. Victory or defeat is only the victory of one side, not the victory of a particular piece. If we can transform the forces in Dingzhou City into black and white pieces, so that the three sides check and balance each other and are irreconcilable, we can maintain a balance on the chessboard. Only in this way can the people live in peace."
Murong Yue, drawing inferences from this example, said, "In that case, there are refugees from Liancheng in Dingzhou City. We only need to support the refugee forces. We don't necessarily need to use the most outstanding people. We only need to look at the forces they represent to maintain a balance. Just like in a game of chess, a black piece is a black piece. If it wins, it will naturally support the forces on its own side. This is human nature."
"That's why history just moves between black and white, sometimes going to the extremes and sometimes returning to the middle way," Lu Xuejin said.
He and the prince exchanged a smile. Autumn leaves drifted down slowly; seeing each other's faces in that moment of spiritual connection brought a profound stillness to their hearts. The world lost its color, leaving only him and the boy on the opposite bank. The boy's eyes shone with a kaleidoscope of colors, reflecting the sky above.
Murong Yue: "If you were here, there would be neither black nor white pieces. Power would no longer be a privilege, but a responsibility. The government would become a symbol of will, a tool representing the service of the people. No one would have to worry about those in power putting pressure on them, and no one in power would have to worry about being inferior. Everyone could live without worry, no longer needing to embed themselves in a hierarchical system, no longer needing to be an empty shell trying to climb the social ladder."
“A hollow person?” Lu Xuejin was somewhat surprised. “Your Highness… that’s a very interesting description.”
Murong Yue: "Bound by etiquette and doctrine, he spent his entire life pursuing power, which is a beautiful illusion created by the world. Regardless of whether he can actually reach that level, in the process of pursuing it, he has become a tool for building a giant wall. He has become a handful of soil, a brick, a grain of sand, rather than a person himself. He has neither his own thoughts nor his own characteristics. Although he has eyes and ears, his heart is empty."
“Brother Changyou, look at me. Even though I’m standing before you, if my heart is filled with all sorts of voices—some telling me I need to restore the Murong family’s power, some telling me I need to do whatever I want, some telling me I need to maintain my virtuous nature—those voices don’t belong to my body, they don’t come from my heart. There’s always someone telling me what’s best, and every action is full of purpose. None of that is what I want. If I listen to those voices, what I’m showing you is nothing more than a tool manipulated by the will of others, not the real me.”
Murong Yue leaned closer to his eyes and said, “The person in front of you now is the real me. I have my own thoughts and my own decisions. If I were to overthrow a kingdom, I would still have a sharp will to live. If I fail, I will die heroically. If I succeed, it will not change my mindset. No matter the outcome, I will still be me and will not change because of any achievement I make.”
The boy before him possessed an inner richness, undisturbed by external things. He knew his destiny and accepted it. He saw himself reflected in the boy's pupils, and was momentarily dazed, his eyes filled with a gentle smile as he saw the once-burnt wasteland now sprouting vibrant green spring colors.
That pure, simple, and persistent spirit, heading towards the most sincere place, simply and purely outlines a vibrant scene. These are the characteristics he saw in the boy, things that could inspire him and make him feel that something is beautiful.
“I think the same as Your Highness. I am very happy... happy that Your Highness is talking to me about these things. Meeting Your Highness is the happiest thing in my life,” Lu Xuejin said.
Seeing the young man's serious expression, Murong Yue was overjoyed and flattered by his words. However, he knew very well that Brother Changyou was always like this, and what he said was not worth mentioning. Perhaps he had said the same thing to Lord Cui and Sister Weining. He was just one of them.
“Brother, I don’t know how many people you’ve said this to, but I’m different from you. I won’t say this to you, nor will I tell you,” Murong Yue said. “I’m going to find Prefect Yin. Brother, just wait for my good news.”
After saying that, he left. Lu Xuejin watched as the boy hid the little bun under his pillow. He drank a cup of tea, then looked at the pillow with the doll next to the boy's bed, put down his tea, and sat down on the edge of the bed.
His Highness's privacy is not to be viewed. Such behavior is unbecoming of a gentleman.
If it is obscene material, Your Highness is at an age where you are still growing, so it should be confiscated.
Thinking this, he moved the prince's pillow away.
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