Raise troops?
An infant?
The Zheng family?
Protection?
When these keywords were strung together, the truth of the matter became crystal clear.
If one had to use a single phrase to describe the atmosphere in the room at this moment, it would be: shock mixed with terror.
Young Master Pei knocked over his teacup: One of the twins is the child of the former Crown Prince?
Huang Qi’s eyelids twitched violently: No wonder they claimed it was a ghost pregnancy?
Ding Yi was so shocked he covered his mouth: No wonder they kept the person confined in Begonia Courtyard?
Zhu Qing’s face turned pale: The real reason the Zheng family was silenced was because they harbored the former Crown Prince’s orphan?
The former Crown Prince!!!
Li Buyan’s gaze fixed intently on Yan Sanhe, her heart half terrified, half bewildered; half joyful, half worried.
Yan Sanhe looked back at her, completely motionless, acting out a picture of shock frozen into stupefaction.
In the corner, Xie Zhifei watched the expressions on everyone’s faces, his eyes flickering.
A thought occurred to him—
Why would grandfather take on such a dangerous matter?
What kind of debt did he owe the former Crown Prince?
In the silence and horror, Lu Da spoke.
“Actually, when I heard this news, my heart was happy, because without this infant, Zhang Tianxing wouldn’t have survived either.”
And Tianxing being able to receive this assignment was due to Xiao Ze acting as intermediary. First, Tianxing was trustworthy; second, he had selfish motives—wanting to leave his brother a thread of hope for survival.
The last words Xiao Ze said to Tianxing were:
“Protect this child well; in the future, you and the others can drink my share of wine for me.”
He and Tianxing shared Xiao Ze’s wine, to the point where both became utterly drunk.
This was their first time being drunk in their lives, only to discover that being drunk made not only the body suffer, but the heart as well—unable to vomit it out, unable to cry it out.
What should they cry about?
Cry for their ill-fated master?
Cry for their brothers who had already entered the underworld?
Or cry for this damned fate, this impermanent life?
No, none of those.
They only thought of themselves—small monkeys hidden in a great tree. When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.
The world only sees the great tree; how many people can see those hidden monkeys?
The agreed meetings continued year after year, again and again.
He told Tianxing about Lord Lu’s grand aspirations;
Tianxing described to him the young master’s appearance, saying the young master looked exactly like him, with remarkably similar features;
Saying the young master was intelligent, learning everything at once, understanding things with just a hint, but that his body was somewhat weak.
“Lu Da.”
Yan Sanhe suddenly spoke: “Where do shadow guards typically hide?”
Lu Da: “Rooftops, trees, grass thickets, corners… any place where one can hide.”
Yan Sanhe: “Concealed by day, active by night?”
Lu Da: “Concealed by day, active by night.”
Yan Sanhe: “All four seasons?”
Lu Da nodded: “All four seasons.”
Yan Sanhe: “Not avoiding wind or rain?”
Lu Da: “Not avoiding wind or rain.”
Yan Sanhe lowered her eyes and fell silent for a long while. “Continue.”
Lu Da: “The twenty-sixth day of the twelfth month in the seventh year of Yonghe was the last time Tianxing and I drank together. That year, Old General Zheng set out to campaign against the Tartars, and Tianxing told me some things about the General.”
Before the campaign, the General met with Tianxing once at a tavern.
Tianxing said the General rarely saw him, only inviting him for drinks at the tavern before setting out on campaigns.
In eight years, they had shared drinks fewer than five times.
That day they drank Tusu wine, which was quite mild.
After three cups, the old General did as he always had before, taking from his bosom a sealed letter. Without opening it, one could know the contents were about “just in case.”
In this world, there are no walls that don’t let wind through, nor secrets that stay buried at the bottom of the water forever.
The old General had always been prepared for this day, so he wrote down all his plans for “just in case” scenarios in the letter.
Tianxing only needed to follow the arrangements in the letter, step by step.
If there was no “just in case,” after the old General returned, Tianxing would burn the letter and treat it as if nothing had happened.
This was their unspoken secret.
It seemed that everything had omens in the mysterious workings of fate.
That day, when Tianxing took the letter, from the corner of his eye he glimpsed the old General’s gray-white hair and broke precedent by saying one more thing:
“General, please take good care of yourself.”
The old General smiled dismissively.
“Brother Tianxing need not worry. This battle will be my last in this life. When I return, I’ll submit my resignation to His Majesty. I’m getting old, can’t fight battles anymore, time to retire.”
Tianxing raised his cup: “Then I’ll await the General’s triumphant return.”
The old General laughed heartily and drained his cup in one gulp.
Tianxing said that when he saw the General off, his heart felt very heavy. With so many generals in the court, why did they have to send an old man with white hair to campaign?
Lu Da recalled: “That day after drinking with Tianxing, we didn’t rush back but went to stroll through the marketplace.”
Four days remained until New Year’s Eve, and the marketplace was very lively.
Walking along, the two of them couldn’t help but reminisce about the scenes of celebrating New Year within the high walls.
The New Year’s Eve dinner was everyone eating together. On that day, Instructor Liu allowed them to drink wine, as long as they didn’t get drunk, all was fine.
After drinking and making merry, everyone would return to their rooms to keep vigil.
During the vigil, the three of them would squeeze onto Xiao Ze’s heated brick bed, roughhousing and playing, finally sleeping in one quilt.
“Those times were truly happy—this was the last sentence Zhang Tianxing left me.”
Lu Da lowered his head and sighed softly before continuing his recollection.
“I don’t know if Heaven deliberately arranged it this way, but the year the Zheng family met with disaster, Lord Lu and I were not in the capital either, but investigating a corruption case on the western frontier.
When I received the news, my heart still held a thread of hope.
Old General Zheng’s letter was meant for emergencies; with Tianxing’s skills, he should have been able to escape.
On the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth month, I prepared wine and food, waiting in the residence early.
Who knew that from nightfall until dawn, Tianxing never came.
When I returned to the Lu residence, I fell ill. Lord Lu sought doctors and medicine for me, but not only did my illness not improve, it worsened instead. Only then did Lord Lu understand that his loyal servant suffered from a heart ailment.
He asked me, what exactly had happened?
I thought that since both the old and young had died anyway, there was nothing to hide, so I told him everything about Zhang Tianxing and the young master at Begonia Courtyard, down to the smallest detail.
After listening, Lord Lu was silent for a long time before saying to me that everyone has their fate, when to be born and when to die in life all has its predetermined course, and forcing it won’t change anything.
This one sentence cured my illness.”
Lu Da fell silent for a moment, then continued:
“Every twenty-sixth day of the twelfth month after the eighth year of Yonghe, I would go alone to the residence to drink. Tianxing never appeared again. Slowly, I completely gave up hope.”
“Lu Da.”
Young Master Pei suddenly interrupted, “Was that child male or female?”
Lu Da said slowly: “A girl.”
Young Master Pei’s eyes widened at once, “Eighteen years old this year?”
Lu Da: “Eighteen years old.”
Young Master Pei’s heart gave a violent leap: “Were you really ordered by Lord Lu to protect Yan Sanhe?”
Lu Da looked at Yan Sanhe, speaking in a tone that came from the heart:
“Besides Lord Lu’s order, protecting Miss Yan is also part of my duty.”