It was common knowledge that both of Meng Shuyuan's sons had died in battle, leaving only his youngest daughter who later married a young officer from the army. But after Meng Shuyuan took his own life at Luocheng, his daughter perished when her carriage overturned and plunged off a cliff on her way back from worshiping at a temple, leaving no remains to be found.
Later, the imperial court concluded the case, stating that Meng Shuyuan had delayed military operations to aid disaster victims in Luocheng, leading to the crushing defeat of Xie Linshan and Crown Prince Chengde at Jinzhou. When the public cursed Meng Shuyuan, the most frequent insult was: "It serves him right that the Meng family line was cut off."
Xie Zhong, a retainer of the Xie family, knew full well the gravity of the accusations pinned on the mastermind behind the Jinzhou massacre. Hearing Zhu Youchang claim Meng Shuyuan was wronged, he couldn't help but feel sorrowful. Just as he was about to offer some words of comfort, Xie Zheng, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke: "Old General Meng's descendants still live."
These words stunned not only Zhu Youchang but even Xie Zhong.
Zhu Youchang, disregarding his crippled legs, tried to rise by bracing against the bed frame, only to be stopped in time by Xie Zhong.
"Marquis, I beg you to tell me—where are Old General Meng's descendants now? Is my sworn sister Lihua... still alive?" Zhu Youchang clasped his fists toward Xie Zheng, his lips trembling between a sob and a smile, hot tears rolling into his unkempt beard.
Xie Zheng didn't know the name of Meng Shuyuan's daughter, but upon hearing "Lihua," he instinctively recalled the name "Lihua" inscribed on Madam Fan's memorial tablet in Lin'an Town.
Lihua, Lihua—it seemed the Fan couple had been too afraid of drawing trouble to even keep their original names.
Meeting Zhu Youchang's earnest gaze, Xie Zheng paused briefly before saying, "General Zhu, please accept my condolences. Old General Meng's beloved daughter is no longer with us, leaving only two granddaughters."
As a key general under Meng Shuyuan and practically his adopted son, Zhu Youchang had been extremely close to Meng's children. Meng Lihua, in particular, was like a younger sister he had watched grow up. Though he had long assumed her dead, Xie Zheng's mention of surviving descendants rekindled hope that she might still be alive.
Now learning of her death, grief overwhelmed him, and he covered his face with a hand, weeping bitterly twice.
Xie Zhong was deeply puzzled by how much Xie Zheng knew about the Meng descendants. Given the Marquis's temperament, even his closest attendants had never dared mention the Meng family in his presence.
How had he uncovered such detailed information about them without revealing a hint of it?
The more Xie Zhong thought, the stranger it seemed, his brows knitting tightly. He wanted to question Xie Zheng but knew this wasn't the time, so he merely patted Zhu Youchang's shoulder and echoed, "General, please accept our condolences."
Zhu Youchang also realized that, given Xie Zheng's position, he would likely have harbored deep hatred for the Meng family before learning the truth. That he knew so much about their descendants—could it be for revenge?
This thought sent Zhu Youchang's heart racing. Suppressing his sorrow, he studied Xie Zheng and asked, "Marquis, may I ask where my two nieces are now?"
Xie Zheng replied, "They are currently safe. The elder is sixteen now. When rebels besieged Lucheng, our army blocked the river upstream of Jizhou to flood them. She once crossed mountains in night rain to ambush rebel scouts, then escorted army provisions to First Line Gorge, where she beheaded Shi Hu, a fierce general under Prince Changxin. She later became the adopted daughter of Grand Tutor Tao Yi and was recommended by him to join the army..."His voice was low and unhurried as he recounted Fan Changyu's journey in the military. Every scene he briefly mentioned flashed vividly in his mind.
Their reunion at First Line Gorge, where she had sobbed uncontrollably by his bedside; the battlefield strewn with corpses, where she stood atop a pile of bodies, a cleaver in hand, her face fierce and unyielding...
The path of a soldier was not an easy one. The hardships she endured, the blood and tears she shed—he knew them all.
"In the Battle of Chongzhou, she led the right-wing army as the vanguard, saving He Jingyuan from the blade and slaying Changxin Wang on horseback, earning her the rank of fifth-grade Swift Cavalry Commandant. In the Battle of Lucheng, she claimed the name Meng Changyu, volunteered to hold the city to the death, buying time, declaring she would rather die to restore her ancestors' honor."
Zhu Youchang listened as Xie Zheng recounted these events, tears streaming down his face without pause.
When Xie Zheng finished speaking, Zhu Youchang was so choked with emotion that he couldn’t speak for a long while. Covering his face, he wept bitterly before finally managing to say in a trembling voice, "This is the General’s flesh and blood, the General’s flesh and blood!"
Xie Zhong was also deeply shocked. He had long heard rumors of a female general emerging in the northwest, but he never expected her to be the descendant of Meng Shuyuan—and that his own Marquis was so intimately familiar with her background.
Could it be that Xie Zheng had known all along that Meng Shuyuan was wrongly accused in the grain transport incident?
Lost in thought, Xie Zhong failed to steady Zhu Youchang in time, allowing the man to push his hand away and collapse from the edge of the bed.
Zhu Youchang’s legs were broken, so he could only kneel by supporting himself with his hands on the ground. He bowed deeply to Xie Zheng.
"General Zhu, what are you doing? Get up quickly!" Xie Zhong stepped forward to help him, but Zhu Youchang refused to rise.
Xie Zheng was also startled by the sudden turn of events and momentarily failed to avoid Zhu Youchang’s bow. He crouched down to help the man up himself. "General Zhu, whatever it is, let’s talk after you stand."
Still, Zhu Youchang would not rise. This man, who had not shed a single tear even when his legs were broken on the battlefield, now wept as if his heart were being torn apart.
Choking back sobs, he said, "This bow is Old Zhu’s way of thanking the Marquis on behalf of the Meng family. The Marquis, unaware of the truth from back then, still allowed that child to carve out a place for herself in the military. Old Zhu thanks the Marquis for his righteousness and magnanimity!"
Xie Linshan had been gutted and hung from the tower of Jinzhou, a memory that still brought common folk to tears when mentioned, cursing the Northern Turks for their barbarity. Xie Zheng, as Xie Linshan’s own son, harbored even greater hatred for the mastermind behind the Jinzhou massacre than the people did.
Zhu Youchang didn’t know how Xie Zheng could regard the Meng family’s descendant in the military with such fairness. In that moment, all he felt was boundless gratitude and respect.
Hearing Zhu Youchang’s words, Xie Zheng’s hand, which had been helping him up, paused slightly. He asked, "General Zhu, what exactly was the truth back then?"
The memory of those events made Zhu Youchang gnash his teeth in fury. "Back then, it wasn’t the old general who disregarded military orders and delayed the grain transport. It was the Sixteenth Prince, who was accompanying the army, obsessed with glory. Seeing only a few thousand Northern Turks guarding Luocheng and tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside, he ignored the old general’s orders and insisted on leading a rescue. In the end, the Sixteenth Prince was captured alive. The Northern Turks demanded the old general exchange the army’s grain supplies for the prince’s life—or else they would use the prince’s blood to consecrate their banners!"
Xie Zhong’s expression changed drastically, and Xie Zheng’s eyes darkened.
Not for any trivial reason, but because, over the past decade, the matter of the Sixteenth Prince seemed to have been deliberately erased—there wasn’t even a single historical record of what the Sixteenth Prince had done during the Battle of Luocheng.When Xie Zheng first heard the rumors and retrieved the case files from the Court of Revision regarding the re-investigation of the Jinzhou incident, the records stated that General Meng Shuyuan of Changshan had disregarded military orders to rescue the 100,000 trapped civilians in Luocheng. In the end, he not only failed to save them but also caused the death of the accompanying Sixteenth Prince. The delay in grain transport indirectly led to the fall of Jinzhou on the frontlines, after which he committed suicide out of guilt.
Yet the Northern Jue forces occupying Luocheng at that time were hardly formidable. Their numbers were small, they lacked supplies, and they could only cling to survival in that confined space by relying on Luocheng’s naturally defensible terrain.
The imperial court initially ignored Luocheng for two reasons: first, the situation in Jinzhou was far more critical, and second, the enemy in Luocheng hadn’t yet reached desperation—storming the city would have required significant time and effort.
By contrast, holding Jinzhou—the gateway—and keeping the Northern Jue army outside the pass would allow them to later deal with the remaining Northern Jue forces in Luocheng without worry, like closing the door to beat a dog.
This was why Xie Zheng had resented Meng Shuyuan all these years.
Not aiding Luocheng would cost many lives, but losing Jinzhou would leave Great Yin’s gates wide open, allowing foreign tribes to sweep in unchecked—resulting in ten or a hundred times more deaths.
It was Meng Shuyuan’s momentary womanly compassion that made him defy orders and commit an irreparable mistake!
But now it seemed Meng Shuyuan hadn’t acted out of ignorance—was the Sixteenth Prince’s involvement the real reason?
Xie Zhong frowned and asked, “Did Old General Meng delay the grain transport to save the Sixteenth Prince?”
Zhu Youchang said urgently, “General Meng was the most trusted veteran under the Grand General—how could he be so reckless? Commander Xie, having campaigned alongside the Grand General, should know our general’s character well!”
Xie Linshan had been enfeoffed as the Grand General Protector of the Nation, the only one in all of Great Yin to bear the title “Grand General.”
Xie Zhong, a retainer of the Xie family, had once served as Xie Linshan’s personal guard, holding the rank of commander—hence Zhu Youchang’s use of the old title.
Hearing this, Xie Zhong unconsciously relaxed.
Zhu Youchang said bitterly, “The Marquis is still young and may not know how deeply the Late Emperor doted on the Sixteenth Prince, but Commander Xie should remember.”
He looked at Xie Zhong, who nodded. “The Sixteenth Prince’s maternal clan was powerful, and his mother, Jia Guifei, was the most favored consort in the harem. Back then, it was often rumored that if not for Crown Prince Chengde’s virtue and popularity among officials and commoners alike, the Late Emperor might have named the Sixteenth Prince as heir.”
Xie Zheng remained silent, lowering his gaze to conceal his thoughts.
It was strange that such a dazzling figure as the Sixteenth Prince had left behind only fragments of records after seventeen years.
After Xie Zhong’s corroboration, Zhu Youchang continued, “General Meng dared not ignore the Sixteenth Prince’s life, nor could he delay the grain transport. So he sent an urgent military report to the capital, seeking the Late Emperor’s instructions on rescuing His Highness. Meanwhile, he ordered the main army to continue escorting the grain to Jinzhou, leaving only a small detachment to skirmish outside Luocheng.”
“Two days later, an urgent delivery arrived from the capital—a Tiger Tally and a personal letter from Wei Yan.” At the mention of Wei Yan, Zhu Youchang’s jaw clenched as if he wished to tear the man’s flesh with his teeth. “That vile coward wrote that the Emperor commanded the general to return at once to save the Sixteenth Prince, while grain would be escorted to Jinzhou by troops from Chongzhou.”Chongzhou was geographically situated between Luocheng and Jinzhou, with both fronts in urgent need. To resolve this pressing crisis, it indeed made the most sense for Meng Shuyuan's grain transport army to turn back and attack Luocheng, while the forces stationed in Chongzhou escorted provisions to Jinzhou to prevent any delays.
Xie Zheng keenly identified the flaw in this arrangement and asked, "For such a military transfer, with only a personal letter from Wei Yan and not even an imperial decree, did the old general truly believe it?"
Zhu Youchang instinctively reached into his lapel but found nothing, then regretfully pounded the bed frame: "There was the Tiger Tally as proof! But when I was rescued from prison, someone claiming to be from the Chengde Crown Prince's faction appeared. Fearing I wouldn't survive, I hastily gave the tally to that person, begging him to clear General Meng's name!"
Xie Zheng had taken advantage of the chaos when Qi Min's men clashed with Wei Yan's trained martial assassins to extract Zhu Youchang, so he knew Qi Min's people had participated in the jailbreak.
He said, "I've reviewed the court records of Tiger Tally deployments from seventeen years ago. Before Jinzhou fell, there was no record of additional tallies being issued."
Zhu Youchang urgently countered, "There was! Wei Qilin, that ingrate, personally brought the tally and letter then! While I didn't recognize Chongzhou's Tiger Tally, General Meng couldn't possibly have mistaken Changzhou's. He verified both tallies matched before redirecting to Luocheng!"
As the truth of that year was gradually uncovered, Xie Zheng remained eerily composed. He asked, "Two Tiger Tallies deployed at once, with Changzhou's army responsible for grain transport—why was there no imperial decree?"
Zhu Youchang's face twisted in anguish as he recalled: "That ingrate Wei Qilin said since the Sixteenth Prince had caused this disaster, an official decree would make the crime undeniable. Without one, just granting the tallies, if we could hold Jinzhou and retake Luocheng, it would become a glorious achievement to be overlooked. Everyone knew how favored the Sixteenth Prince was. Seeing the tallies and Wei Yan's handwritten letter, we believed his lies!"
Xie Zheng suddenly asked, "Wei Qilin betrayed Old General Meng?"
Zhu Youchang gnashed his teeth: "Wei Qilin was always Wei Yan's lapdog! After seeing the tallies and letter, General Meng temporarily left the grain convoy guarded on the road and led the main force to rescue the Sixteenth Prince at Luocheng, while Wei Qilin took Chongzhou's tally to mobilize troops there! After days of bitter fighting at Luocheng, what awaited us was news of Jinzhou's fall and the deaths of the Chengde Crown Prince and General Xie!"
Overcome by emotion, Zhu Youchang covered his face: "No Chongzhou troops ever delivered provisions! Jinzhou's soldiers starved until too weak to fight, slaughtered like livestock by the Northern Turks!"
Even Xie Zhong felt his heart grow heavy hearing this long-buried truth.
However one looked at it, Wei Yan was deeply implicated.
Yet Xie Zheng, unaware of this, had been raised by Wei Yan and called him uncle for over a decade!
Xie Zhong glanced complexly at Xie Zheng, whose lowered head kept most of his face shadowed, obscuring his expression. Only his question emerged: "Wei Qilin never returned?"
Zhu Youchang spat venomously: "If that bastard dared show his face, I'd kill him myself!"
Something still didn't add up.Xie Zheng recalled the letter the martial assassins raised by Wei Yan had gone to Fan Changyu's house to find, and slowly spoke: "Before Old General Meng passed away, apart from giving General Zhu the Changzhou Tiger Tally, did he leave any other instructions?"
Zhu Youchang recalled the events of that day, his heart still aching as if cut by a knife. With reddened eyes, he said: "The battle report of Jinzhou's fall reached the army in the morning. When we went to the general's tent to find him, he was already in utter despair, sitting motionless and unwilling to speak a word. Knowing he blamed himself deeply, I feared he might do something drastic, so I stayed by his side in the tent. It was then that the general handed me the Tiger Tally."
"The general said that from that day onward, the Changzhou Tiger Tally was lost, and that we should wait for the right moment to bring it out again."
"At the time, I didn't understand the meaning behind his words. But in the brief moment I turned away to fetch a meal, the general knelt facing Jinzhou in the tent and took his own life..."
Zhu Youchang choked with sobs: "Soon after, the imperial reprimand arrived. The general had only diverted to Luocheng after receiving the troop deployment order, yet he was accused of disregarding military commands and delaying grain shipments, leading to Jinzhou's tragic defeat!"
Seventeen years later, Zhu Youchang still wept bitterly, crying out from the depths of his soul for Old General Meng: "General Meng was wronged!"
Outside, the heavy rain continued unabated. A cold wind blew through the open doors and windows, bringing in a damp chill so intense it seemed even the heavens mourned this unparalleled injustice suffered by the Meng family.
Xie Zheng helped Zhu Youchang up. Though his expression remained composed, one hand at his side had already clenched into a tight fist. He asked: "General Zhu, with such irrefutable evidence as the Tiger Tally in hand, why didn't you seek justice for Old General Meng back then?"
Zhu Youchang, agitated, replied: "How could I not have thought of it? I wanted to return to the capital and present this matter before His Majesty! But all of General Meng's subordinate generals were demoted several ranks and scattered to various remote postings. I lost any chance to see the emperor! I hoped the Crown Prince would investigate thoroughly, but soon after, a great fire broke out in the Eastern Palace, killing both the Crown Princess and the imperial grandson..."
Zhu Youchang pounded the bed in anguish, his face twisted in pain as he wailed: "My only remaining hope was the old troops under General Xie. At first, I wasn't even sure if Wei Yan was involved—after all, General Xie's wife was his own younger sister! But when I finally managed to connect with General Xie's former subordinates under the pretext of paying respects to the late general, Madam Xie overheard everything. When Wei Yan discovered our plans and had us detained, it was Madam Xie who threatened to take her own life to force Wei Yan to spare us!"
"Who could have imagined that this imprisonment would last seventeen years!" Zhu Youchang cried out in despair.
The cold wind, carrying the scent of rain, swept into the room, stirring the strands of hair across Xie Zheng's forehead. His face was unusually pale as he whispered a name in a voice so quiet only he could hear it: "Mother."
Xie Zhong's expression also changed, his voice filled with shock: "So when Madam Xie ordered us back to the Xie residence in Huizhou back then, it was to prevent us from being implicated in this matter? Then her death..."
Xie Zhong suddenly fell silent mid-sentence, looking at Xie Zheng with unbearable sorrow in his eyes.
Sending Xie Zheng to be raised by Wei Yan—that had been Madam Xie's decision, hadn't it? To ensure Wei Yan would never feel threatened by this child's existence.
Xie Zheng's lips pressed into a thin, icy line. His entire body tensed, tendons standing out sharply as he drove a fist with devastating force into the sturdy huanghuali wood table, reducing it to splinters. From his throat emerged that name, laden with endless hatred and bloodthirsty fury: "Wei Yan—"
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