Chapter 202: "This Child's Surface Father..."
Since arriving in the northern territories, Zheng Hu had witnessed the arrogance of those aristocratic families on multiple occasions. During previous victory banquets, the high officials and nobles had looked upon them with condescending scrutiny and criticism.
For any ordinary matter, it required submitting multiple name cards almost to the point of harassment before they could proceed, making dealings with them utterly vexatious.
He spat in displeasure: "Damn their rules! When Pei Song rebelled, whose rules did he break? Even the emperor's words no longer hold weight. In these chaotic times, isn't it about whose fist is harder and who gets obeyed?"
Zhang Huai laughed at these words and said: "General Zheng speaks truth. It's time... we established new rules for these powerful clans in the northern territories."
Hearing Zhang Huai speak like this, Zheng Hu knew he must have a plan in mind, finally feeling somewhat relieved. Remembering that Xiao Li had gone out after reading the secret message from the south, he couldn't help but worry: "What secret message did the southern spies send? It couldn't be that something happened to sister-in-law, could it?"
The sun was setting behind the western hills as flocks of birds swept across the mountain ridges.
Xiao Li sat astride his horse atop the weed-covered slope, the letter in his palm nearly crumpled to shreds. The pure black steed beneath him snorted and panted after galloping dozens of miles in the sweltering heat.
His gaze remained stubbornly fixed on the distant south concealed by the endless mountain ranges.
Since Wen Yu's return to Southern Chen, his secretly deployed spies had reported that Wen Yu was three months pregnant.
The Chen royal palace had become an iron fortress under Wen Yu's control, and his men could gather no further information.
But at this stage, it couldn't possibly be from their time at the mountain temple.
Moreover, Wen Yu's open declaration of the child's existence in Southern Chen indicated she wasn't afraid of suspicion from either the southern court officials or Empress Dowager Jiang in the palace.
A vein throbbed rhythmically at Xiao Li's temple.
So... was the child truly King Chen's?
Hadn't she already gained control over the Jiang Family and seized power in Chen? Why would she still bear a child with that useless King Chen?
Just to consolidate her authority further? To secure the complete loyalty of Chen's ministers?
From a political perspective, this wasn't wrong—in fact, it was the most correct approach.
Yet black rage and vicious resentment continued to grow uncontrollably in Xiao Li's heart.
He had long known she had almost sacrificed herself to these lands for revenge, capable of employing any means for power.
When she had been humiliated by the Hawk Hounds, she told him she didn't care.
For military support and authority, she never wavered in her determination to marry into Southern Chen.
Discovering King Chen was a puppet ruler, she agreed to bear Jiang Yu's child to secure the Jiang Family's support.
After falling into his hands, whether to lower his guard or as compensation, she could go that far with him too.
Overwhelming fury, resentment, and hidden pain seized Xiao Li's entire being. He clenched the shredded letter tighter in his palm, his gaze toward the southern mountains growing so stubborn it bordered on ferocity.
He whispered the name: "Wen Yu."
Had their intimacy at the mountain temple merely been her way of repaying the affection he demanded from her?
Once repaid, she could leave without any remaining debt.He repeatedly refused to return to the Liang Camp, unwilling to remain a minister who could be discarded at any moment under the pretense of sovereign-subject hierarchy.
Only when he became strong enough to hinder her steps could he truly demand a future with her.
But she would not wait for him, nor would the current situation.
The vicious beast long suppressed in his heart slammed against its cage, creating fissures and emitting a ferocious roar.
He had been too slow.
The letter in his palm had been crushed to dust. Xiao Li cast one last glance southward with bloodshot eyes, then tugged the reins to turn his horse and rode down from the high slope.
Wen Yu rested her hand on Tong Que's arm as she turned away from the towering drum tower. The long wind stirred her intricate layered skirts and flowing ribbons, causing the delicate jade-bead earrings at her ears to sway gently.
Tong Que said: "By my calculations, Commander Zhao Bai should be welcoming General Gu into the palace now."
After Jiang Yu's death, the position of Imperial Guard Commander had been vacant. Wen Yu overcame all opposition to appoint Zhao Bai to the position.
Now Zhao Bai served not only as commander of the Azure Guard, but also as the Imperial Guard Commander of King Chen's palace.
Earlier this year, Wen Yu had temporarily used grain seeds from Liang territory as relief food, providing porridge to refugees suffering from hunger and cold, enabling them to settle peacefully in the Southern Border. This significantly undermined Pei Song's popular support among the people, forcing him to suffer repeated defeats and continuous retreat.
To make up for the shortage of grain seeds, they had worked urgently to transport silk from within the passes beyond the borders before spring, exchanging it for grain seeds from Southern Chen and surrounding smaller nations.
To fully establish this trade route, Wen Yu had refined commercial laws after returning to Southern Chen, while also deploying additional garrison troops to cities open for trade to ensure the safety of traveling merchants.
Now trade between Liang territory and beyond the passes was becoming increasingly frequent, no longer fearing that materials would be monopolized when state borders were sealed during wartime.
Gu Xiyun had been injured in the battle against Han Qi at Xiangzhou. Before her wounds had fully healed, she grew restless. To prevent her from returning to the battlefield injured, Chen Wei had no choice but to assign her the task of transporting military supplies to Southern Chen.
It was also at this time that the Azure Guard secretly brought back news that Wen Yu was pregnant and needed her maternal aunt from the Yang family to come assist. While Southern Chen had selected a group of female officials, Liang territory also needed to quickly conduct its own selection.
As close ministers serving directly by Wen Yu's side, these female officials undoubtedly concerned the balance of power after the unification of the two states.
Following Chen's precedent, selecting female officials from among Liang ministers' daughters, and later establishing the female civil service examination to recruit additional officials from commoners through examinations, faced little resistance.
Gu Xiyun's current trip also included escorting Wen Yu's maternal aunt from the Yang family, her cousin, and other daughters of Liang officials selected as female officials to Southern Chen.
Wen Yu's body had grown noticeably heavier now. Her summer robes, being thin, could not conceal her increasingly prominent abdomen. Fortunately, both inside and outside the palace were now staffed with her own people. After publicly announcing her pregnancy, she used the need to rest for fetal development as reason to refuse visitors.
Even the female officials she had settled in the Morning Cloud Pavilion had to speak with her through a curtain when they came to see her.
Leaning on Tong Que's arm as she walked slowly, she said: "When the daughters of Liang officials arrive, arrange for them to stay in the Morning Cloud Pavilion first."
This was another measure of balance.
The female officials from Chen's aristocratic families, who might previously have united to monitor her as the regent princess, would now have to focus on excelling in their duties and competing for her favor alongside the female officials from Liang.
Not long after Wen Yu returned to Zhaohua Palace, Zhao Bai escorted Gu Xiyun through the palace gates: "Your Highness, General Gu has arrived."The courtyard of Zhaohua Palace was not planted with flowers or shrubs, but had been converted into a paddy field. On either side of the stone path, rice stalks nearly half a person's height grew vigorously, their dark green leaves interspersed with pale green rice ears.
Wen Yu, dressed in casual home attire with her sleeves rolled up to reveal pale wrists, held a small cluster of green grains plucked from the rice ears in her palm. Hearing footsteps, she looked up to see Gu Xiyun, clad in travel-stained armor, entering the palace. "I received word this morning that you would arrive at the royal court," she said. "I was wondering how you managed to arrive two days ahead of schedule. You likely didn't rest properly along the way, did you?"
Gu Xiyun stepped forward and replied, "Delivering these military supplies earlier and exchanging them for the ballista bolts Lord Chen requested puts my mind at ease. Madam Yang was also deeply concerned about you, Princess, and urged me to march swiftly the entire way. Who would have thought that upon reaching Chen territory, both she and her daughter would fall ill? They are currently recuperating at the posthouse and will likely come to see you tomorrow."
Wen Yu frowned slightly at this. "I'll send the royal physician to check on my aunt and cousin," she said. Then she added, "Even with haste, a journey of nearly a month can't be shortened by much. Why exhaust yourselves to the point of illness?"
The path through the rice field was wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Gu Xiyun fell half a step behind Wen Yu, following her inward, with Zhao Bai and Tong Que trailing further behind.
With a hint of helplessness, Gu Xiyun responded, "You know Madam Yang's temperament. After hearing about your situation, she grew terribly anxious, wishing she could whip the horses and reach Southern Chen in an instant."
As the conversation reached this point, Gu Xiyun's gaze finally settled on Wen Yu's abdomen. "How far along are you?" she asked.
Wen Yu answered, "Nearly seven months."
Gu Xiyun calculated the timing and realized the child must have been conceived during Wen Yu's captivity in Northern Wei. Recalling how Wen Yu had felt nauseated by the pig's trotter soup Madam Chen prepared for her, she now understood it was likely due to morning sickness.
Her expression darkened at the thought that Wen Yu might have been violated during her time in Northern Wei. But upon cooler reflection, she knew that if that were truly the case, given Wen Yu's character, she would never have kept such a child.
Moreover, it was said that Wen Yu's return to the Liang Camp was largely thanks to a Wei general who had once served Liang. Others might not understand Wen Yu, but as her closest confidante, Gu Xiyun had noticed something unusual in Wen Yu's attitude toward that Wei general—whether it was her willingness to exchange supplies from Luodu and Fengyang to secure his release from Wei Qishan, or her recent initiative to have the Liang Camp clear his name despite his notorious reputation.
Unsure how to broach the subject, Gu Xiyun knelt slightly and gently touched Wen Yu's abdomen before asking, "Have I heard of this child's father?"
Wen Yu's long lashes lowered slightly. "You likely have."
Over the past six months, Xiao Li's name had become thunderously renowned across the Northern Border and throughout Liang territory.
After a moment of silence, Gu Xiyun pressed further, "After learning of this news, did he not return to your side?"
The "he" clearly referred to the child's biological father.
Wen Yu calmly rubbed the husks off the green grains in her palm. "He may not even know."
Realizing that Wen Yu had been publicly understating the child's gestation by several months, Gu Xiyun frowned and was about to say more when Wen Yu stated, "The official father of this child will only be King Chen."
Gu Xiyun understood the implication of her words.
This child, born from her womb, would be the royal heir to both Liang and Chen.Wen Yu was no ordinary woman. She didn't need a man who couldn't stand openly by her side to bear so-called responsibility for her. She didn't even need to let this child know their true identity after birth.
For a moment, Gu Xiyun felt sorrowful—sorrowful that her elder brother had died when Pei Song captured Luodu, sorrowful that Wen Yu had to shoulder so much.
Yet she also felt relieved.
—Wen Yu would never depend on any man.
Only those she chose could briefly remain by her side.
Even King Chen, who had mobilized the entire strength of Chen, had only earned the nominal title of her consort.
The royal princess whom her brother once admired continued to command everyone's reverence even after the Great Liang Dynasty had collapsed.
Gu Xiyun said, "The child will be born in late autumn, won't they?"
She watched Wen Yu shelling green rice in her hands, then glanced at the courtyard where granite bricks had been removed to plant rice, and said, "Then I'll come to Chen again after autumn and bring you new rice from Liang."
Wen Yu, who had been gently rubbing the green rice husks in her hands, paused slightly and replied, "Alright."
Ahead was the long corridor. Gu Xiyun sat on the steps beneath it, watching the green rice waves ripple in the courtyard as the wind blew, and said, "I remember in the first few years after the prince entered the capital, he also planted green rice in the rear courtyard of his residence."
Wen Yu softly responded with an "Mm."
Author's note: Clarifying the timeline:
Wen Yu returned to Great Liang: November last year
Captured: December last year
Trapped in the mountain convent: January
Attempted to rescue Xiao Li: February
Returned to Southern Chen: March
Learned of Xiao Li's incident: May
Xiao Li received news of her pregnancy: June-July
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