Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Song Yaochuan wanted to share my chambers.
He expressed it in a roundabout way.
I simply stood there, my expression cool and detached, with little emotion in my voice. “No.”
Perhaps those two words were too direct, too blunt. He turned and went back to the west wing, and did not return.
On the first day of the New Year, he paid his respects to his parents, then left the house.
In the days that followed, he came and went without greeting me, and no longer ate with me.
I asked Master Li about him and learned that Song Yaochuan’s training was going very well.
“With his left hand, he can beat my thirty-jin long saber. His right hand still can’t bear much strain, but his technique is more refined now,” Master Li said.
I was very pleased. “He’s nearly recovered.”
Master Li said, “Then seize the falcon while its wings have yet to fully grow. Once he soars into the highest heavens, no mortal will be able to catch up.”
I knew Master Li meant well, so I smiled.
I said Song Yaochuan was a rare talent, a pillar of the state. His weakness was that he had always been too proud, and this setback had been far too devastating.
He needed someone to give him a hand before he could stand again.
Master Li said, “Young Madam is that person.”
I shook my head. “You are.”
After the New Year, the Crown Prince suddenly paid a visit to Wanjing Hutong, terrifying the entire Song Family half to death.
The household hurriedly prepared to receive the Crown Prince, who had come in plain clothes.
The Crown Prince was modest and refined. He only smiled and said, “The Empress Dowager instructed me to come and see how Yaochuan’s injuries are.”
Song Yaochuan had trained up his left hand. As for his right, while he still could not wield a sixty-jin long saber, twenty jin was manageable.
In over a year, he had shed his broken old skin and sprouted new growth.
“Train well. The court will still have use for you,” the Crown Prince said.
I was surprised to hear it.
I spent a bit of silver and made some inquiries, only then learning that the front lines at the Northern Frontier had suffered another defeat.
This time, the Northern Di Royal Court had mustered all its strength, determined to break through the passes and seize more fertile land.
Every general sent there was lost in turn. Almost no one could defeat the Northern Di army.
They needed a general familiar with the terrain of the Northern Frontier, and who also understood the Northern Di Royal Court.
Under the Empress Dowager’s instruction, some officials at court brought up Song Yaochuan.
The rumors about Song Yaochuan and the Princess of the Northern Di remained only rumors to this day, with no solid evidence.
The emperor had punished the Song Family, and the Song Family had obediently accepted it. For more than a year, they had never made trouble, keeping such a low profile it was almost excessive.
The mind of an emperor was impossible to fathom.
My first move, playing the part of the pitiful victim, had planted a seed in the emperor’s heart.
In just one short year, the emperor thought of Song Yaochuan again and sent the Crown Prince to see whether he was dead or alive.
Another two months passed. When spring came and the flowers bloomed, Song Yaochuan’s left hand could already defeat Master Li’s right-handed saber. He had truly trained it up.
His talent was extraordinary, and he was willing to endure hardship.
He was a born general.
The emperor summoned him.
Just as the sixth commander-in-chief at the Northern Frontier had died in succession, the emperor flew into a rage and swore to annihilate the Northern Di Royal Court.
He reinstated Song Yaochuan.
The emperor gave Song Yaochuan a death order: if he could not break the Northern Di Royal Court, then when he returned, not only would he die, the entire Song Family would be buried with him.
Song Yaochuan was restored to his former post and led the army to war.
Before he left, he threw caution to the wind and barged into my bedchamber, pulling me into a fierce embrace.
He said, “Cheng’er, when I return in triumph, will you and I finally have a resolution?”
I nodded. “All right.”
In a little over a year, the court had lost six great generals in a row, feeding the Northern Di Royal Court’s arrogance and making them even bolder.
Song Yaochuan learned from his previous defeat. In less than four months, he led his army to conquer the Royal Court in a single thrust.
When the news reached the capital, the entire court and country were elated.
Once again, he was the great general everyone praised. Everyone took pride in speaking of his achievements.
The threshold of Wanjing Hutong was nearly trampled flat.
The powerful families of the capital loved nothing more than adding flowers to brocade.
The emperor even let it be known that he intended to make him a Commandery Prince. He had rendered a tremendous service to the realm.
Another Mid-Autumn came, and Song Yaochuan returned to court in triumph.
His deputy came back ahead of him to deliver a letter to the family.
I deliberately kept him behind and asked, “Was the general wounded?”
His trusted deputy said, “No.”
I asked again, “Was the general’s beloved concubine found at the Northern Di Royal Court?”
The deputy fell silent for a moment. “The general said that if Young Madam asked, I was to tell the truth. Yes.”
“Has she come back?”
“The general cut off her head with a single stroke. She was indeed the Princess of the Northern Di. Afraid that something might go wrong, the general used another maidservant’s head in her place. Her own head was destroyed,” the deputy said.
He was afraid I would not believe him.
But I did.
Love was a small affair. A blood feud between nations and families was a great taboo. Song Yaochuan knew what choice to make.
Before Song Yaochuan had even reached the capital, the Song Family’s title was restored, and they were granted the great estate at the Foot of the Imperial City.
The Ministry of Works even renovated the estate from top to bottom with meticulous care.
My parents-in-law took my brother-in-law and sister-in-law to see it, and they were thrilled.
We were moving.
Nearly two years of hardship had finally been endured.
My father-in-law said to me excitedly, “Cheng’er, you were right. We’ve turned our fortunes around.”
The family began packing chests and trunks again.
There were not enough servants, so they needed to buy a new batch. My mother-in-law was busy finding a broker.
Ruzhu Hall had been tidied as well.
On the day Song Yaochuan returned in triumph, Wanjing Hutong had also been put in order, ready for us to move.
That day, the captives were presented at Meridian Gate. Everyone in the capital went to watch, crowding the entire street until not even water could pass through.
I did not go.
The palace held a banquet to welcome Song Yaochuan.
Song Yaochuan could hold his liquor well, but he claimed his old wounds had not yet healed and returned to Wanjing Hutong without drinking a single drop.
He first went to pay his respects to his parents, then hurried back.
The instant he entered, he pulled me into a tight embrace.
He had removed his armor, washed carefully, and changed into ordinary home clothes. He smelled faintly of soapberry.
He held me so tightly I could scarcely breathe.
After a long while, he released me. When he tried to kiss me, I turned my head aside.
He looked steadily at me. “Cheng’er, you promised me. When I came back, there would be an answer between us.”
I smiled softly. “I remember.”
Song Yaochuan did not force me. Instead, he asked, “When are we moving? I’ll have my deputy come help.”
I shook my head. “No need. My younger brother will bring people to help me move.”
“You have a younger brother?” he asked with a smile.
I nodded.
He sat down, took my hand, and drew me into his arms, making me sit on his lap.
He said, “Cheng’er, thank you. If I hadn’t fallen in love with you, then when I met Yuanyuan again, I would not have been able to bring myself to do it. I hated her to the bone.”
His beloved concubine had indeed been a Northern Di spy who had lain hidden for many years.
She was a woman of their royal clan, and after her success, the Northern Di Royal Court had conferred upon her the title of princess.
I listened without changing expression. I only asked him, “General, you’ve fallen in love with me?”
“Yes!” He gazed deeply at me. In his eyes, there was no one else but me.
His feelings were scorching and profound.
“Do you know what my name is?” I asked with a smile.
He looked puzzled. “Didn’t you tell me? Your name is Wang Heng.”
I smiled. “Actually, my name is Su Cheng.”
He froze slightly.
“But…”
“You spent more than a year in the capital, yet it never occurred to you to ask even the slightest thing about me. The woman you fell in love with is one who was willing to support you. It doesn’t matter who she is or what she’s called. You do not love me,” I said.
I stood up from his arms.
I took out a letter and handed it to him.
I said, “General, this is the divorce letter you wrote to me two years ago.”