Zhu Yu – Chapter 63

When Fan Changyu heard the noise and looked back, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Unfortunately, her clothes got caught on a branch on the steep slope. She pulled hard, finally tearing the fabric, but the force made her body shake, and the deerskin wristguard hidden in her bosom fell out, rolling down a distance before being caught by a snow-covered branch.

Fan Changyu’s heart inexplicably tightened when the wristguard fell out. It was a sixteenth birthday gift from Yan Zheng.

Without thinking, she rushed to retrieve the wristguard. Unexpectedly, beneath the snow and pine needles was a hole in the ground. As she stepped over it, her foot suddenly found no purchase, and she started to fall.

With her left arm injured and her right hand clutching the just-retrieved wristguard, Fan Changyu had almost no strength to grab onto anything. Fortunately, she suddenly felt a tug at her collar, and she was lifted like a big cat by someone grabbing her clothes.

The dried branches and gravel at the edge of the hole fell in, and there was no echo for a long time. It was pitch black inside, with unknown depth.

Fan Changyu couldn’t help but feel a wave of fear. She turned her head to look at the one-eyed man who had caught up with her. His figure was tall and straight, but his face bore a fierce scar that ran from his left eye across the bridge of his nose to the right side of his face. It was frightening just to look at.

She pressed her lips tightly and stared at him, like a leopard that had tried desperately to escape but was still caught, her eyes full of unwillingness.

The man held her collar with one hand without apparent effort. His aura was cold and deep. Seeing her still tightly clutching the pair of deerskin wristguards, his eyes paused slightly, and he suddenly spoke with cold mockery: “For something like this, you’d throw away your life?”

His voice was extremely low, sounding hoarse, as if his throat had been injured.

Fan Changyu thought to herself that she didn’t know there would be a hole under the dried branches and fallen snow, but out loud she only said fiercely: “It’s none of your business!”

With only her right hand usable, Fan Changyu didn’t care that she was still being held. She tried hard to stuff the wristguard into her clothes, thinking to free her right hand to better deal with the situation.

The man noticed her movement, his eyes deepening. He suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question: “Is this thing very important to you?”

Fan Changyu thought to herself that this person was oddly nosy. She had freed her right hand and said: “Of course!”

In the moment of distracting him with her words, her right hand had already reached behind her neck, grabbing the hand that was holding her collar. Her whole body also used the force to turn around, her feet pushing against the rock wall of the hole, ready to climb up.

It was certainly safer to have control of the situation herself rather than having her life in someone else’s hands.

However, when the man realized her intention, he fell backward, directly pulling Fan Changyu out with this force.

Fan Changyu crashed into him, dazed by the hard armor on his body. Before she could get up, she was flipped over and pinned to the ground.

This completely restrictive posture made Fan Changyu’s hair stand on end. She angrily shouted: “Get off!”

The man pressed her right wrist with one hand and avoided her dislocated left arm while pressing her shoulder with the other. He half-raised his body to look at her, with only about a foot of distance between them.

Fan Changyu glared at him hatefully, her chest heaving heavily due to her panting and anger. The bulge of the wristguard she had just stuffed into her clothes was even more pronounced, giving an unintended alluring effect at this moment.

But the man restraining her seemed to have no other thoughts. He stared at Fan Changyu, his intact eye extraordinarily beautiful. Its pupil was pitch black, bottomless, instinctively making people feel dangerous: “Who is that pretty boy down the mountain to you?”

Fan Changyu was burning with anger and didn’t answer, only struggling. This made her be pressed even tighter. She turned her head and noticed that the hand pressing her wrist had a very fresh set of teeth marks on the index finger.

The conversation between the two fake soldiers outside the old woman’s house came to her mind. She thought, could this be the master they were talking about? Not that scoundrel she had stabbed several times?

So she had been saved by this man?

Fan Changyu’s struggle weakened, and she couldn’t help but examine the man before her. She felt that his pitch-black eye was strangely familiar, and she couldn’t help but demand: “Who are you?”

The man spoke hoarsely: “Answer my question first.”

Fan Changyu was calculating in her mind how long it would take for the government troops to arrive. To buy time, she turned her head to the side, no longer meeting his gaze, and said: “I don’t know him.”

The man sneered: “You don’t know him, yet you risked your life to protect him on the river?”

Fan Changyu thought this person was really strange and said: “I was being chased by bandits and met his carriage on the road. He kindly gave me a ride. Later when the bandits caught up, I escaped with him.”

The person pressing her loosened his grip slightly. He glanced down at the wristguard partly exposed from her clothes and asked casually: “You cherish it so much, who gave it to you?”

Fan Changyu only hated that she was injured and hadn’t eaten for so long that she was almost out of strength. Otherwise, how could she be restrained by this scoundrel? She could only hope for the government troops to arrive quickly while coldly fencing with him: “Someone very important.”

Thinking of Yan Zheng, her heart inexplicably ached a bit.

Hearing this answer, the other person seemed to pause for a moment. Looking at her slightly reddened eyes, he asked: “How important?”

Fan Changyu couldn’t help but curse: “What’s it to you?”

The accumulated snow on the pine tree was shaken loose, falling in large patches. Xie Zheng protected her as they rolled on the ground, one hand pressing on her back and tightening as if taking the opportunity to hug her forcefully.

How could Fan Changyu miss this perfect chance to escape? She headbutted him hard on the chin, and when he moved his hand to cover his chin, she got up and kicked out.

Xie Zheng dodged nimbly. Her fierce kick landed on a nearby pine tree as thick as a bowl, causing the accumulated snow on the tree to fall like an avalanche.

Fan Changyu knew she had lost the chance to strike again. She didn’t linger to fight but took advantage of this moment of cover to run towards the official road below.

After several exchanges, she had gauged that his martial arts were superior. She was now injured and exhausted, and rushing in with just anger would undoubtedly be delivering herself up for humiliation.

She still needed to stay alive to find Changningg, she couldn’t let her emotions get the better of her and fall here!

Xie Zheng sat up from the snow, covering his chin that Fan Changyu had hit hard with one hand. The accumulated snow shaken from the pine tree had covered him. His lips and teeth had been hit when he was struck, and there was a faint trace of blood.

He looked in the direction Fan Changyu had run, listening to the approaching sound of many horses’ hooves, but ultimately didn’t go after her.

The war situation in Jinzhou was urgent, and his appearance in Jizhou as the commander-in-chief, if recognized by Li Huai’an, would undoubtedly hand a handle to the Li faction.

Although he had fallen out with Wei Yan, he had done many things for Wei Yan in the past. The Li faction couldn’t possibly win him over, they only wanted to see him and Wei Yan fight each other to mutual destruction.

And… knowing that she didn’t utterly despise him was enough.

At least, she still cherished the thing he had given her so much, saying he was a very important person.

The guard who had come looking for Xie Zheng worried about him coming alone, rode over, following the slide marks on the winding mountain road. He found him sitting alone under a snow-covered pine, his figure as lonely as a lone wolf. Finally, he spoke: “Marquis, the government troops from Jizhou Prefecture will be here soon, let’s go.”

Xie Zheng gave a soft “Mm” in response, walked back to the official road, mounted his horse, and took a last glance at the winding mountain road hidden by the pine forest not far away before spurring his horse and leaving-

Fan Changyu ran wildly to the official road, finally meeting up with the government troops who had been winding up from the foot of the mountain along the road.

Seeing the Jizhou flag fluttering in the wind and the hundred or so troops, Fan Changyu confirmed they were indeed government troops and finally let out a sigh of relief.

Li Huai’an and several soldiers came forward to meet her: “Miss, are you alright?”

Fan Changyu nodded, panting heavily, and pointed towards the steep slope behind her: “There’s a group of people dressed as government troops who claimed to be merchants staying at a blind old woman’s house. Their identities are very suspicious, they might be bandits in disguise. Officers, please go after them quickly, don’t let them escape.”

The one leading the troops was Zheng Wenchang. He immediately dispatched a large group of soldiers to pursue on horseback, leaving only a dozen or so soldiers to protect Li Huai’an.

Seeing Fan Changyu panting heavily, Li Huai’an went to his horse to fetch a water bottle and handed it to her: “Miss, have some water.”

Probably afraid she might mind, he added: “This is a spare water bottle, unused.”

Fan Changyu took it with thanks and gulped down several mouthfuls before catching her breath.

The other party bowed to her: “My surname is Li, given name Huai’an. I owe you my life for yesterday’s rescue.”

Fan Changyu said: “It was Young Master’s kindness in giving me a ride that came first.”

Li Huai’an insisted: “How can a simple ride compare to saving a life? May I ask for the miss’s name, so that I can properly thank you later.”

Fan Changyu had to say: “Lin’an, Fan Changyu.”

Li Huai’an’s gentle eyes showed some surprise: “The entire Qingping County town was massacred, and the nearby Lin’an town also met with misfortune. Only a few households of old, weak, women, and children survived. Was it you, miss, who led the bandits away that day to save those few families?”

Fan Changyu had been worried about Changningg and the others, but hearing him say that the neighbors hiding in the dry well had all escaped, her face immediately lit up with joy: “Yes, it was me. How do you know all this?”

Li Huai’an said: “I’m ashamed to say, with the rebels rampant, Lord He Jingyuan of Jizhou personally went to defend Lu City. I was ordered by the court to come to Jizhou to temporarily replace Lord He. Unfortunately, just as I arrived in Jizhou yesterday, I encountered the bandits. Thanks to Miss Fan’s protection, I was saved. After I was rescued, I heard about the events in Qingping County.”

Fan Changyu finally realized that this person was also an official, and not just any official, but one holding a position like Lord He of Jizhou. No wonder he could appear here with the Jizhou government troops.

When she spoke again, her tone was noticeably more distant: “May I ask, sir, are my sister and the neighbors safe now?”

Hearing her suddenly formal address, Li Huai’an’s expression remained gentle: “They have been temporarily settled in the courier station in Jizhou Prefecture and are safe for now.”

After answering her question, he smiled warmly and said: “Miss Fan, there’s no need to be so formal. We’re not in court, you don’t need to call me ‘sir’.”

Fan Changyu nodded, but the next time she spoke, she still called him “Your Lordship.” Li Huai’an chuckled and shook his head, ultimately not insisting she change her form of address.

They rested in place for a moment. Half an hour later, Zheng Wenchang, who had led troops to search, returned. He had found numerous footprints but hadn’t caught sight of the people themselves. However, he did find the old woman Fan Changyu had hidden at the edge of the pine forest.

Upon questioning the old woman, they received the same answer as Fan Changyu had given earlier. Fearing for Fan Changyu’s reputation, the old woman refused to mention that one of the group had falsely claimed to be Fan Changyu’s husband and had slept in the same room with her.

Although the mountain bandits weren’t found, at least Fan Changyu had been. Zheng Wenchang left some troops to continue searching the nearby mountains while escorting Li Huai’an back to the main city of Jizhou.

It was on the way back that Fan Changyu learned that when the mountain bandits entered the city, the Magistrate of Qingping County hadn’t even thought of organizing the yamen runners to resist. Instead, he had hurriedly fled with his family. After Song Yan had left for the capital to take the imperial examinations, Song’s mother, using the excuse that their home was too quiet, had also moved to stay with the Magistrate’s family. That night, when the mountain bandits broke into the city, she fled along with the Magistrate’s family.

Unexpectedly, the mountain bandits pursued them for over ten miles to kill the Magistrate’s family, and Song’s mother ultimately died by their blades as well.

The most tragic were Constable Wang and his wife. Constable Wang had gathered his subordinate yamen runners, hoping to block these mountain bandits outside the city gates as they had done with the mob outside the city that day. However, the mountain bandits seized the initiative, breaking open the city gates first. In the end, Constable Wang and his wife were outnumbered and died at the city gate.

Fan Changyu listened to all this, her heart heavy throughout the journey.

When they arrived at the main city of Jizhou, she went to the courier station to find Changningg, only to learn that someone had set fire to the station and, in the chaos, had kidnapped Changningg.

In the vast wilderness, six or seven people emerged on horseback from a rugged mountain path.

By a stream with flowing water, the group dismounted to rest briefly, and the horses, having galloped a long way, went to the stream to drink.

A five or six-year-old girl was still quietly sobbing as she was lifted off a horse by a handsome but sinister-looking young man.

Sui Yuanqing hadn’t expected this child to be able to cry so much; she hadn’t stopped the entire way. The child’s spine was fragile, and he didn’t dare to rashly knock her unconscious. After all, if he didn’t control his strength properly and broke the child’s spine, it would have been a waste of effort to sacrifice the last of the Prince’s forces in Jizhou to snatch this child.

Looking at the small child dangling from his hand like a kitten, he threatened impatiently, “If you cry again, I’ll throw you into the river.”

Changningg was frightened. Her lip quivered, and her quiet sobs uncontrollably turned into loud wailing. Sui Yuanqing’s face instantly turned ashen.

Just then, a guard handed Sui Yuanqing a flask of clean water. He raised his hand and tossed the child over, saying, “Use whatever method, just make her stop crying for me.”

The crying was irritating him, and the wounds on his waist and shoulder were also painful, making him irritable enough to want to kill someone. If it weren’t for the fact that this child was still useful, he would have snapped that delicate neck countless times by now.

The guard holding Changningg looked bitter. He was good at killing people, but comforting children? This was something he truly couldn’t do.

But Sui Yuanqing had given the order, so he could only force an awkward smile to try and comfort Changningg. Seeing his strained, eerie smile, Changningg cried even harder, almost unable to catch her breath.

The guard noticed Sui Yuanqing’s cold gaze and broke out in a cold sweat, trying even harder to comfort Changningg.

But gradually, he realized something was very wrong with Changningg. It seemed she wasn’t just crying anymore, but truly struggling to breathe. Her mouth was wide open, her face and neck flushed red, yet she still couldn’t breathe properly.

Fearing something might happen to the child in his care, the guard hurriedly called out, “Young Master, this child seems to have asthma.”

Sui Yuanqing glanced at the child who looked as if she might suffocate at any moment, his expression growing even darker.

He had gone to such great lengths to snatch this child, and if she were to die of illness halfway, it would only incur Xie Zheng’s hatred without bringing any benefit.

He said, “Check if she has any medicine bottles or the like on her.”

He had a half-sister who suffered from asthma. She coughed every few steps and wheezed every few paces, never daring to leave her room, always carrying medicine with her.

The guard searched but reported back with cold sweat, “There’s… there’s nothing.”

Sui Yuanqing ordered, “Put her on the ground.”

After the guard laid Changningg flat on the ground, it took a while before her breathing slowly became smoother.

Knowing now that Changningg had asthma, Sui Yuanqing stopped threatening her. He took the water flask from the guard and offered it to her, asking, “Are you thirsty?”

Changningg was very afraid of him. She nodded and then shook her head, her face streaked with tears, looking utterly pitiful.

Sui Yuanqing directly lifted her to a sitting position and put the flask to her lips, commanding, “Drink.”

Changningg was still scared, but having just had an attack, she didn’t dare cry again. She took small sips of water, and her throat, sore from crying for so long, finally felt a bit better.

Sui Yuanqing capped the flask and stood up, walking towards the horses. “Let’s continue. Just make sure she doesn’t die on the way.”

Changningg’s eyes were still misty with tears as the guard lifted her onto the horse. She pressed her lips together, not making a sound. Though young, she was clever. Along the way, she had overheard enough to realize these bad men had mistaken her for someone else’s daughter. If she were to tell them now that she wasn’t who they thought, these villains would surely kill her, and then she’d never see her elder sister again.

Thinking of her sister, Changningg’s eyes welled up with tears again. She took out the bamboo whistle hanging around her neck and began to blow it intermittently.

Three days later, in Lu City.

Gong Sun Yin received a letter from Yanzhou. After reading it, he was so shocked that he dropped the fan in his hand. He murmured in disbelief, “When did Xie Jiuheng have a daughter?”

But then he thought, given how Xie had quietly found a lover, perhaps he did have a daughter too. So, with a strange expression, he took the letter to find Xie Zheng, but upon entering the tent, he didn’t see him.

He knelt on the meditation cushion to wait. When Xie Zheng returned, he was surprised to find a small plate of dried tangerine peel candy on the low table.

He thought to himself that Xie Zheng’s guards must have become careless. That man hated sweets the most; putting a plate of candy here was just asking for punishment.

With nothing else to do, he tried one and found the sweet and sour taste unexpectedly pleasant.

After eating three pieces, out of kindness, he put all the remaining candy from the plate into his robe pocket, to save the guard who had placed it there from punishment when Xie Zheng returned.

A moment later, Xie Zheng returned, his armor covered in wind and snow. Seeing Gong Sun Yin, he merely said, “Why are you here?”

Gong Sun Yin’s gaze swept over Xie Zheng a few times before he replied strangely, “Naturally, I have something to discuss.”

Xie Zheng ignored his probing look, removed his cloak, and handed it to the guard behind him. As he sat down, he noticed the entire plate of dried tangerine peel candy was empty. His gaze suddenly darkened as he looked at Gong Sun Yin and asked, “Did you eat them?”