On the sloping cliff face, Tie Ci watched A’Hei disappear into the distance and frowned.
She had originally intended to capture Murong Duan, but hadn’t expected Feiyu to notify A’Hei to pick fruits at the bottom. She couldn’t very well go to A’Hei’s place now to snatch Murong Duan away.
It wasn’t that she necessarily couldn’t defeat A’Hei, but the people in this village protected their own. Offending one meant offending the entire village, and that she truly couldn’t handle.
She glanced at Feiyu and thought that although for Murong Duan, falling into A’Hei’s hands was a fate worse than death, in reality, it actually saved his life.
She could only wait for an opportunity to interrogate Murong Duan.
The two climbed down the cliff face using the rope and returned to the village.
They deliberately made a detour past A’Hei’s courtyard. A’Hei lived alone, and no one would interfere with her carrying a man home. From a distance, they saw her shoulder Murong Duan into the courtyard and kick the door open as she went in.
The two exchanged glances, and out of curiosity and unease, they also crept to the corner of A’Hei’s courtyard wall to eavesdrop.
They could hear vague sounds of tumbling from inside, mixed with wheezing gasps and sounds of struggle.
Then came Murong Duan’s angry curses, sounds of fighting, slapping, clothing tearing and ripping, Murong Duan’s screams, and finally a man’s low whimpering and a woman’s playful laughter and panting…
As Tie Ci listened, she gradually realized she might be hearing something extraordinary. Even with her thick skin and bold nature, her earlobes flushed hot, and she unconsciously glanced at Feiyu, only to see Feiyu clinging to the base of the wall, her gaze focused and face bearing a slight smile, clearly listening with great fascination.
Tie Ci felt an inexplicable tightness in her chest. Staring at Feiyu’s high-raised bottom, she very much wanted to give it a kick, but didn’t know what reason to give for kicking, and didn’t know why her chest felt tight. After holding it in for a long while, she turned and walked away.
After a while, Feiyu also returned, her steps light and humming a tune.
Tie Ci abruptly turned over, facing away from her.
But Feiyu was also carefree and didn’t notice.
That somewhat stifling feeling came over Tie Ci again, but when she thought about her training, about the future, about the court and the inner palace, about that whole pile of troublesome matters, all her stifling feelings immediately vanished.
The warmth of human relationships—she wasn’t worthy of them.
The two each slept on piles of straw bedding, with the distance of one person’s width between them, each peaceful and calm.
This night also passed.
Early the next morning, A’Hei’s house opened wide, slaughtering pigs and sheep, steaming buns, sending people out of the mountains to buy sugar and vegetables, saying she was getting married.
Feiyu even gave A’Hei some advice, saying this little pretty boy clearly looked like a young master from outside, with a heart like a wild horse, so they should follow outside customs and get a marriage certificate from the government office, ensuring that even if he wanted to back out later, he couldn’t. This way, if they discovered later that his family had some beautiful fiancée or proper wife, she would at least be a legitimate co-wife.
A’Hei deeply agreed and asked Feiyu for her new husband’s name, then paid money to get a marriage certificate from the government office.
That evening they opened the stoves wide, invited the village’s cooks to prepare a flowing banquet, with the bride presiding at the table to entertain guests and the groom sitting on the bed draped in red.
When Murong Duan was brought out for the ceremony, his eyes rolled around wildly. But when he caught sight of a cook in the shed holding two wok-sized pans, one in each hand, lightly tossing them while stir-frying, his eyes immediately froze motionless.
You could see that even the light scattered from his gaze was pure despair.
Tie Ci mixed in with the crowd, watching with a smile, thinking that Feiyu’s method was truly deviously vicious. She had thus escaped A’Hei’s entanglement while also having the dignified Second Prince of Liaodong “married off” to a nameless mountain village girl. If this news were to reach Ruzhou one day, how could Murong Duan ever hold his head up again?
She had heard that Murong Duan was one of the Liaodong King’s most beloved princes, and his residence already had a wife who was the daughter of an important Liaodong general. This way, even if he were to inherit the throne in the future, he would face countless additional obstacles.
Who knew which prince would benefit from picking this fruit.
Thinking again, this person was strictly speaking still her brother-in-law. As her brother-in-law was getting married, how could she as a sister-in-law not show proper respect?
With this thought, Tie Ci sincerely put down a bag of bird eggs as a grand congratulatory gift.
After the three bows, seeing the groom was so moved he was about to cry, the bride waved her large hand and sent the groom into the bridal chamber, while everyone else rushed toward the banquet table for revelry.
Tie Ci was also pulled to the banquet table to eat and drink. Feiyu, who was more skilled in cooking, was invited by A’Hei to help in the kitchen.
When the work in the shed reached a lull and the flowing banquet outside was in full swing, as night slowly fell like a curtain, Feiyu wiped her hands, told her fellow cooks she was going to relieve herself, took a piece of cloth to cover half her face, lifted the rear window of the bridal chamber, and entered the room.
A’Hei was still outside toasting guests. Inside, Murong Duan looked haggard, staring at the candlelight in a daze. Suddenly seeing someone enter, he was first startled and instinctively reached to cover his clothing, then seeing the newcomer wasn’t A’Hei, he was delighted. “Who are you? Have you come to rescue me?”
Feiyu had been wearing the black clothes dropped by his subordinates these past few days, so she was mistaken for one of them. She snorted with laughter and walked a few steps in the room. Murong Duan, seeing her gait, was shocked with horror. “It’s you, you wretch!”
Then his expression changed. “What are you doing here!” He struggled to move toward the kang, his eyes searching everywhere for any handy weapons, but A’Hei was coarse yet meticulous—she had put away even a single needle, and had also sealed the acupoints in his lower body, leaving only one hand able to move.
Feiyu smiled and waggled her finger. “Me? I’ve come to rescue you!”
Murong Duan stared at her suspiciously, then after a moment gave a cold laugh and turned his head away.
Feiyu sat down beside him and looked him up and down. “Tsk tsk, such hardship, yet you can’t bear to leave?”
Murong Duan’s face turned iron-blue as he pulled up his loose waistband.
Feiyu tilted her head to look at him. “Don’t be like that, as if all the women in the world want to sleep with you. Someone like you? I wouldn’t be interested.”
“If you have something to say, say it. If not, get lost quickly! If you want to humiliate me, believe it or not, if I shout once, that woman will tear you to pieces!”
“Oh ho, weren’t you looking like death would be preferable? How naturally you wave your new wife’s banner now.” Feiyu sat down and bumped his shoulder. “Alright, stop being so hostile. I really am here to rescue you. As long as you help with two small favors, I’ll get you out of here. How about it?”
As she spoke, she handed over two pieces of paper.
One was a silver requisition order with an astronomical sum written on it. The space at the end where a seal and signature were needed was still blank.
The other was a family letter with some casual conversation, ending with the news that Confucian sage successor He Zi was about to take on his final disciple. Instead of going to the capital to meet the Imperial Princess, Old Eighteenth had secretly asked someone for a recommendation letter and gone to Yueli Academy near He Zi’s home to be an auditing student, hoping to be first to get the advantage of proximity.
He Zi’s fame filled the world, his students were everywhere, he was the soul of scholars, revered by all, a great Confucian that every nation wanted to recruit. Once they recruited him, they could gain the devotion of scholars and the allegiance of literati—the influence on consolidating imperial rule couldn’t be underestimated.
Over the years, so many emperors and princes, leaders of various nations, had sent carriages and horses to Qingyang Mountain to recruit him that they had worn away three layers of the official road, yet none had ever succeeded. He hadn’t taken disciples for many years, and now suddenly there was news that he would take a final disciple. If someone could gain his favor and enter his school, wouldn’t that also mean recruiting him?
Murong Duan had been so obsessed with iron-making these past days that he didn’t even know this news. Seeing it now, he was suddenly shocked, and after the shock, remembering something, he was delighted.
But before this delight could pass, he saw the person across from him spread open her clean white palm and smile. “Hand it over.”
“What?” Murong Duan played dumb.
“The recommendation letter.”
Murong Duan’s expression changed.
He had a recommendation letter from the former dean of Yueli Academy that would allow him to audit classes there. This was obtained through connections from his wife’s family.
Yueli was one of the top three famous academies in Da Qian. Murong Duan had originally intended to use this as a reward or incentive, showing his intention to cultivate outstanding talents to entice his subordinate officials to follow him loyally. But before he could fully utilize its value, he wouldn’t easily produce it.
Now that He Zi was taking disciples, the value of this recommendation letter had risen even higher. He had just thought of this point too, considering how to use this golden carrot to entice people to join him, and thinking that they seemed not far from Yueli Academy already, perhaps he should try personally… In the blink of an eye, he was hit right on target by his opponent.
He stared at the tall, slender woman across from him, his gaze slowly darkening. After a long while, he said, “You… are Murong Yi!”