Chapter 124
Shen Yuan pinched between his brows, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “I meant that the Jian’an Dynasty lacks troops, while bandits run rampant in the north. If the people are to live in peace without harassment, granting amnesty and recruiting the bandits is imperative.”
“Once the bandit problem is resolved, you’ll sleep…” He paused, suppressing a smile. “Ahem. More soundly with your Princess Consort in your arms, won’t you?”
Xie Chengze: …
Then just say that! Why beat around the bush and make him misunderstand?
Pouting, he asked unhappily, “Then why didn’t you recruit the bandits in your previous life? And if Qianjin Stronghold‘s Chief is such a skilled fighter, why have I never heard his name? Surely he didn’t freeze to death on the mountain?”
“Dealing with the Second Prince was already trouble enough. Besides, many bandits in Liaozhou really did starve to death back then. Whether we recruited them no longer mattered.” Shen Yuan shook his head helplessly. “As for the Chief, do you know who he is?”
Xie Chengze immediately perked up. “Who?”
“Before your mother married, she studied under Murong Wuji, Liaozhou’s foremost martial arts master. He also had three disciples junior to her,” Shen Yuan explained slowly.
Xie Chengze’s eyes widened slightly as something occurred to him. “Could one of them… be this Chief?”
Shen Yuan nodded. “The other two are Wuhen and Wuji.”
Xie Chengze: !!!
“How did you find that out?!” Xie Chengze asked incredulously.
None of this was in the original book!
“By asking, of course.” Shen Yuan shared what he had learned. “The Chief is only thirty, yet his martial arts are no worse than mine. Clearly, he had training under a master as well. We fought to a draw earlier. He thought highly of me and told me about his school.”
“Wow, wow!” Xie Chengze couldn’t help marveling. What man didn’t wish he possessed formidable martial arts? Unfortunately, he was already past the age for conditioning his body to train, and he loved eating and sleeping too much. All he could do was envy them. “So the Chief is my mother’s junior martial brother!”
“Indeed.” Watching those bright, excited eyes, Shen Yuan lowered his brows with a smile and continued, “I also wondered why I’d never heard his name in my previous life. So I asked what he would do if the court hadn’t ordered disaster precautions, and heavy snow sealed the mountain without food or heated brick beds.”
His tone grew slightly grave. “He said Liaozhou was too cold. He’d heard Pingcheng had a pleasant climate, and had long wanted to take his brothers there to do some business and find another livelihood. If snow sealed the mountain, he would probably take them to Pingcheng for refuge.”
“Pingcheng!”
Xie Chengze gave a low, startled cry. He exchanged a look with Shen Yuan, and everything was understood without another word.
In the seventy-ninth year of Jian’an, Pingcheng in Dezhou suffered an earthquake of historic proportions. Mountains collapsed, the earth split, and the very world seemed to change color. Nearby Qingzhou and Qizhou could not escape the disaster either. Its powerful shock waves could be felt even in the south. Many county seats were affected, and in the end fifty thousand people died, while more than two hundred thousand suffered from the disaster!
Qianjin Stronghold had escaped the snow disaster, only to fall victim to the earthquake!
Goose bumps rose all over Xie Chengze. By sheer chance, he had saved his mother’s junior martial brother!
Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself, then asked in puzzlement, “With martial arts like that, why didn’t he take the military examinations and serve the court, instead of becoming an outlaw?”
“Because Noble Consort Hua died of illness in the palace. He blamed His Majesty’s incompetence and refused to serve the court,” Shen Yuan explained. “Later, he became a yamen runner. He witnessed the local magistrate imposing oppressive taxes, colluding with wealthy local merchants, and bullying the people. In a rage, he killed the magistrate, fled into the mountains, and established Qianjin Stronghold.”
“That was many years ago. Now that things have settled down, he’s begun thinking of going to Pingcheng to find another livelihood.”
Xie Chengze sighed with feeling. “No wonder the people say Black Tiger Stronghold only robs merchants, not commoners. So that’s why.”
“He greatly admires Noble Consort Hua. Whenever he mentions her, his words are full of longing and remembrance. If he learns you’re her son, he’ll certainly be willing to accept amnesty and recruitment.”
As Shen Yuan spoke, his tone gradually turned teasing. “He mentioned you too. He said that when he first held you, you were still a little bundle he could have squashed to death just by sitting on you.”
Xie Chengze: …
You really didn’t have to repeat that!
But… “Wuhen specializes in the saber, Wuji in the sword, my mother in the whip, and the Chief in axes… Sounds like Murong Wuji knew quite a few weapons?”
Shen Yuan couldn’t help agreeing. “Indeed. A peerless master like that probably appears only once in a century.”
After all, mastering even one weapon to such perfection was no easy feat. And he’d heard that Murong Wuji knew more than those four. There were also the spear and the meteor hammer.
Unfortunately, the master had passed away. Shen Yuan could not meet him and receive a little guidance.
Seeing the regret on his face, Xie Chengze felt too embarrassed to tell him that Murong Wuji’s prowess very likely came courtesy of the author, who had granted him extraordinary martial talent and made him invincible.
Just as Shen Yuan had benefited from the author’s favor. For the sake of the plot, even when he opposed the Second Prince, Wuhen and Wuji hadn’t stabbed him to death.
“Ah, Heaven is so unfair.” This Heaven, of course, meant the author. Xie Chengze couldn’t help grumbling, “Some people have peerless martial arts and stand unrivaled in the world. Others have ordinary talent and can only get by on their looks. Comparing yourself to other people really is infuriating.”
Shen Yuan couldn’t suppress a smile. “Your Highness inherited Noble Consort Hua’s looks, while your physique came from…”
He paused, looking at Xie Chengze as though unsure whether to continue.
“I know. I’m not the emperor’s son,” Xie Chengze said helplessly. “You mean I inherited my physique from my biological father, who died young?”
People were often attracted to their opposites. Hua Ning was bold and quick to laugh, healthy and bursting with vitality, and knew nothing of the zither, chess, calligraphy, or painting. Yet she had fallen for the frail, brilliantly talented Lord Shaochang.
Lord Shaochang had once been Emperor Jian’s study companion. His father was also from Liaozhou and was a close friend of Hua Ning’s father. When their wives became pregnant at the same time, the two men arranged a betrothal for the unborn children: if one was a boy and the other a girl, they would be engaged.
But Hua Ning’s parents died unexpectedly while she was still young. She was entrusted to Murong Wuji, who raised her. Only when she reached marriageable age did he send her off to the capital to seek out Lord Shaochang and fulfill the engagement.
By then, however, Lord Shaochang was already ill, and both his parents had died. Unwilling to burden Hua Ning, he denied the betrothal.
Taking pity on him, Hua Ning stayed to care for him for a time. Unexpectedly, they both fell in love. He loved her free, unrestrained spirit; she loved his gentleness and sensitivity. Each secretly developed feelings for the other.
Emperor Jian and Lord Shaochang were very close. When he saw his usually solemn friend repeatedly lost in thought, he learned that the man had someone in his heart. Lord Shaochang introduced him to Hua Ning, and he fell in love at first sight.
She was so bright, like the blazing sun. Crushed by studies and expectations, Emperor Jian found moments of respite only with her. She had even saved his life and been injured for it, though she had saved him simply because he was the Crown Prince, a friend, or even just another human being.
He fell helplessly in love with this bright, free-spirited woman.
But at the time, Hua Ning had eyes and thoughts only for Lord Shaochang. Emperor Jian knew he had no chance, and could not promise her a lifetime of exclusive devotion. He could only quietly stay by her side and watch over her. Yet the love in his heart deepened day by day, refusing to fade.
Like rich wine, it grew mellower as it aged, and ever more intoxicating.
Until Lord Shaochang became gravely ill.
Hua Ning’s feelings were utterly pure. She knew Lord Shaochang was frail and suffered from a longstanding illness. Even knowing he had little time left, she was willing to marry him and stay with him to the last moment of his life. She had simply never expected to become pregnant.
Their love would live on.
Seeing Emperor Jian’s sincere love for Hua Ning, Lord Shaochang entrusted her to him. Only then did he pass away.
Hua Ning agreed.
She didn’t want Xie Chengze to grow up without a father, because she knew how hard life was for a child without parents. Emperor Jian had accompanied her through her darkest days, and she was willing to return his devotion.
But life was unpredictable.
Before Xie Chengze reached his coming of age, Hua Ning died amid illness and sorrow.