Zhu Yu – Chapter 146

As Fan Changyu noticed Xie Zheng hadn’t taken the bag, she looked up at him quizzically. “What’s wrong?”

Xie Zheng took the small sack with a subtle expression and said, “Nothing.”

It was just that this scene felt all too familiar.

In the distance, the sound of hoofbeats and chaotic footsteps could be heard. The officers from the Court of Judicial Review had begun searching the streets.

Fan Changyu didn’t dare let her guard down for a moment. Hoisting the person onto her shoulder, she said, “We need to leave here quickly!”

Late at night, the streets were under curfew, with every household’s doors tightly shut.

The sound of carriage wheels and horse hooves would be far too obvious in the silent night. To facilitate their escape after the jailbreak, they had come without carriages or horses.

If the officers from the Court of Judicial Review caught up on horseback, it would be difficult to shake them off.

Xie Zheng held the child, whose head was also covered with a sack, with one hand. He put his index finger to his lips and whistled. His guards, who had been hiding in the shadows, jumped down from houses and trees.

Xie Zheng said calmly, “Go lead the pursuers away.”

Several guards were also dressed in night clothing, carrying large burlap sacks on their shoulders that looked bulky, with unknown contents inside. Upon hearing the order, they quickly departed in pairs towards the direction from which the officers were coming.

Fan Changyu watched in surprise. “You even prepared a backup plan?”

Xie Zheng said, “I couldn’t let you take such risks without a foolproof strategy.”

The phrase “foolproof strategy” made Fan Changyu feel inexplicably guilty.

Both were generals accustomed to deploying troops and planning battles. In comparison, it seemed she had fallen short.

Although her original plan had been quite thorough, who could have anticipated that the old man in the prison would suddenly shout and alert the guards outside?

On the battlefield, it was precisely these unexpected failures that were most feared.

Xie Zheng noticed her sudden silence and flushed cheeks, assuming she had suddenly become shy. He couldn’t help but glance at her again, feeling a tingling sensation in his heart. That feeling of ants biting at his heart from earlier in the day returned.

He quickly averted his gaze and said, “Follow me.”

As Fan Changyu followed him through winding alleys, they could still hear the Court of Judicial Review officers galloping past on the main street, carrying torches.

From a distance, they heard shouting: “The jailbreakers are heading east! Hurry after them!”

“Sir! Sir! Captain Yuan says they also spotted two people in black carrying someone on their shoulders running in the Five Willows Alley in the north, Golden Gong Alley in the south, and Shunkang Ward in the west!”

“Damn it! How many smoke screens did they set up for us? Split up and chase them all. One of them must be real!”

…

Amidst the curses of the officer in charge, Xie Zheng knocked on the back door of a house in a dark alley.

An old man opened the door. Upon seeing Xie Zheng, he asked no questions and respectfully ushered them in, bowing deeply.

Fan Changyu noticed that the rooms they passed along the corridor all had plaques hanging on the doors with the characters for “Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow.” She silently deduced that this must be an inn.

After being led to a room different from the other guest rooms, and once the old man had withdrawn, Fan Changyu asked, “This seems to be an inn. Is it also one of your properties?”

Xie Zheng answered, “It’s one of the Zhao family’s businesses.”

Fan Changyu inwardly marveled, thinking that the owner of the Zhao family bookstore had quite an extensive array of enterprises.

As if knowing her thoughts, Xie Zheng explained, “The Zhao family of Xiling made their fortune in the tea trade. During Emperor Chengzu’s reign, the Zhao family was even granted the title of Imperial Merchants. Later, they declined from their peak, but even a lean camel is larger than a horse.”

Fan Changyu nodded, acknowledging the lesson.

For some unknown reason, the woman whose head was still covered trembled uncontrollably upon hearing Xie Zheng mention the Zhao family.

Xie Zheng frowned slightly and removed the sack from the woman’s head. His dark eyes were particularly cold and penetrating in the dim candlelight. “Do you know Zhao Xun?”

The woman still had cotton stuffed in her mouth. Upon hearing this, her face turned deathly pale. She shook her head vigorously, but her eyes were already brimming with tears of fear.

Just then, a young man’s voice came from outside: “I hear that distinguished guests have arrived late at night. Please forgive any lack of hospitality. Zhao has some matters to report to the esteemed guests. May I inquire if it’s convenient?”

Fan Changyu recognized the voice as Zhao Xun’s and glanced at the woman.

“Think carefully before you answer,” Xie Zheng’s cold voice resonated in the small room as if slowly torturing her.

The room’s soundproofing was good. Unless one raised their voice, those outside could hardly hear anything.

The woman, eyes brimming with tears, nodded fearfully.

Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng exchanged a glance, finding this result both unexpected and, upon reflection, somewhat reasonable.

Zhao Xun stood outside the room for less than half a quarter of an hour before the door opened.

Despite his young age, he had managed to take over the Zhao family business and secretly expand it throughout the Great Yin dynasty, demonstrating considerable ability. Upon entering the room, he didn’t even raise his head, merely sweeping a glance with his peripheral vision before smiling slightly and bowing respectfully to Xie Zheng and Fan Changyu. “Greetings to the two distinguished guests.”

Xie Zheng disliked pleasantries and got straight to the point, “Do you recognize this woman?”

Zhao Xun was taken aback. He raised his head and carefully observed the mother and child sitting dejectedly on the bed for a moment. Then, with a slight curve of his lips, he said to Xie Zheng, “I do.”

Xie Zheng raised an eyebrow slightly, indicating for him to continue.

Zhao Xun said, “When Zhao was working for the Crown Prince, I frequently visited the Chanxin Prince’s mansion. Naturally, I had to conduct some business with the Sui family and maintain social relationships. I had shared drinks with the steward of the Chanxin Prince’s mansion a few times and saw this young woman at his house. She is the daughter-in-law of the Chanxin Prince’s mansion steward, and her husband was a personal attendant to Sui Yuanqing.”

Fan Changyu frowned slightly and looked at the woman, “Was your husband the attendant who was beaten to death earlier today?”

The woman nodded, her eyes red.

Fan Changyu had originally thought that the old man who suddenly shouted during the jailbreak was afraid they would harm Sui Yuanwei’s concubine, and had called out to protect his master. Now, she had a vague idea of the hidden truth. She asked, “Was the old man who called for the guards in prison your father-in-law?”

The woman was too frightened to speak and could only nod, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Fan Changyu’s frown deepened.

No wonder this woman had been chosen as Yu Qianqian’s substitute to be sent to her death. Even if she hadn’t taken on this role, due to her husband’s family connections, she and her child would have been hard-pressed to escape death.

She asked, “What do you know about the Sui family’s affairs?”

The woman raised her tear-filled eyes. The journey to the capital had taken its toll on her, as she appeared even thinner than when Fan Changyu had first seen her in the prison in Lu City. Her eyes seemed exceptionally large, brimming with tears, making her look even more pitiful and wretched.

She seemed to recognize Fan Changyu as the person who had brought her food and clothing in prison. With tears streaming down her face, she said, “Miss, I’m just a woman. I used to be a house-born slave in the Sui family. After marrying my husband, I no longer worked for them. How would I know what the men were doing?”

It seemed nothing more could be learned from this woman, but that old man was the steward of the Chanxin Prince’s mansion and likely knew a great deal about the Sui family’s affairs.

Keeping this mother and child alive might prove useful. Later, when they found an opportunity to rescue the old man, having his grandson as leverage might help extract some information from him.

Fan Changyu looked at Xie Zheng, who didn’t ask any further questions. He only said to Zhao Xun, “The entire city is under lockdown tonight. It’s inconvenient to take this mother and child away. Would it be possible to leave them here for now?”

Zhao Xun readily agreed, “Of course, you can come to collect them anytime.”

Xie Zheng nodded slightly, and Zhao Xun walked to the door and lightly brushed his palm. In no time, the old man returned.

Zhao Xun instructed, “First, take the mother and child inside downstairs and settle them in. Assign more people to keep a close watch on them.”

After the woman was taken away, Zhao Xun clasped his hands and said to Xie Zheng, “You previously asked me to secretly monitor the movements of the Wei mansion. Wei Yan has claimed illness and stayed at home for several months and the hawks and hounds he keeps rarely go out. However, his son Wei Xuan has caused quite a bit of trouble again. Recently, he got into a fight with the son of Minister Han at the Jingque Tower.”

Wei Xuan fighting over a courtesan wasn’t a rare occurrence, and Xie Zheng’s expression remained impassive.

Noticing this, Zhao Xun quickly added, “I heard that Minister Han’s son was disrespectful towards the Prime Minister’s wife.”

Upon hearing that it involved Madam Wei, Xie Zheng’s dark eyes lifted slightly.

Madam Wei’s presence in the entire Wei mansion was extremely low. If it weren’t for Wei Xuan constantly causing trouble since childhood, Xie Zheng might have forgotten about this aunt of his.

She spent her days reciting Buddhist scriptures and never left her courtyard. The servants in the mansion rarely mentioned Madam Wei. Why would Minister Han’s son suddenly disrespect her?

Xie Zheng asked, “What happened?”

Zhao Xun hesitated for a moment, as if unsure whether it was appropriate to say such things. “Currently, there are many impeachment memorials against Wei Yan in the court. Rumors in the streets say that Wei Yan’s days as Prime Minister are numbered. Some dissolute young masters were saying that after the Wei mansion is confiscated since Wei Yan doesn’t keep beautiful concubines or dancing girls, there won’t be any new additions to the government brothels. So some troublemakers brought up Madam Wei, saying that Wei Yan has only kept one wife for twenty years without taking any concubines. They speculated that even though Madam Wei is middle-aged, she must still be a beauty…”

Xie Zheng’s expression had already turned unpleasant, but Zhao Xun, having started this topic, could only continue, “Minister Han’s son, drunk on wine, joked that Madam Wei’s appearance couldn’t compare to even the common maids in his household. He said that she was able to marry Wei Yan because, as a young girl, she went to the military camp to find Wei Yan and became pregnant in secret, and that’s how she became Madam Wei. He said she must have extraordinary skills to have kept Wei Yan tied down for over twenty years…”

As he finished speaking, cold sweat had already formed on Zhao Xun’s forehead.

Xie Zheng asked, “How badly did Wei Xuan beat him?”

His tone was so calm it seemed as if he didn’t care about the matter.

Zhao Xun answered, “It’s said he broke four ribs and one leg. Minister Han has threatened to submit a memorial impeaching Wei Xuan.”

Xie Zheng’s thin lips coldly uttered two words: “Fool.”

Minister Han was affiliated with the Li family. His daring to speak of impeaching Wei Xuan was undoubtedly because he was certain Wei Xuan wouldn’t dare bring up the disrespectful words about Madam Wei in court.

Zhao Xun pondered these two words, unable to gauge Xie Zheng’s attitude towards Madam Wei, and could only remain silent.

Logically, given Xie Zheng’s enmity with Wei Xuan, he shouldn’t have any good feelings towards Madam Wei either, right?

But Xie Zheng only said coldly, “You may leave.”

After Zhao Xun left, Fan Changyu said, “Are all the wealthy young masters in the capital so despicable?”

Xie Zheng raised an eyebrow and looked at her, “Are you defending her?”

Fan Changyu said, “Wei Yan is a treacherous official who has committed all sorts of evil, and Wei Xuan is no better. But even if Madam Wei is a vicious woman, she can be criticized for being bad or cruel, but she shouldn’t be insulted by such words. It’s as if no matter what mistake a woman in this world makes, she must be labeled with that kind of name to satisfy others. Yet Wei Yan and his son have committed so many evil deeds, why don’t we hear others slandering them in this way?”

Xie Zheng lowered his long lashes and remained silent.

Fan Changyu looked at him, “You don’t seem very happy either. Was Madam Wei good to you?”

Xie Zheng answered, “Not particularly good, not particularly bad.”

In the past, when he despised Wei Xuan, seeing Madam Wei’s Buddha-like smile during the only family meal of the year made him feel it was hypocritical and nauseating.

But years after leaving the Wei mansion, when he occasionally received one or two winter clothes sewn by her in the northern region, he realized that Madam Wei might truly not have known about the things Wei Xuan had done to him.

Hearing Xie Zheng’s answer, Fan Changyu frowned slightly, thinking that since she knew he had lost his mother at a young age, perhaps in his childhood, he had received some motherly care from Madam Wei.

But because of what Wei Yan had done to his parents, that hatred must surely be irreconcilable.

She rolled up her sleeves and said, “Why don’t we take advantage of the darkness and go beat up that Minister’s son again?”

Although she had never met her, Fan Changyu couldn’t help but admire an official’s daughter who dared to seek out Wei Yan in the military camp before she was even married.

Xie Zheng slowly turned his dark eyes towards her.

Fan Changyu blinked, feeling restless, “If the father doesn’t teach, it’s the father’s fault. That Minister still has the nerve to impeach others. It seems he’s no good either, probably indulging his son’s bullying and tyrannical behavior all along. We might as well beat him up so he can’t attend court!”