Chapter 41
The waning moon hung like a hook, its starlight dim and faint.
Pei Song ascended the steps and asked, "Where is Zhou Sui?"
The Chief Secretary replied, "Ever since General Xing Lie injured him, he has been bedridden, despondent and emaciated day after day, taking no part in the affairs of the Yongzhou government office."
He glanced at Pei Song and continued, "As for the man Xiao Li whom you ordered us to investigate, it appears he is indeed dead. He still owns two properties in Yongcheng that haven't been disposed of, and all his household belongings remain intact. It seems he never returned after meeting with some accident."
Pei Song removed his arm wraps and asked, "Was there no one else in his family?"
The Chief Secretary said, "He was the son of a prostitute, living with his ailing mother in seclusion. The mother and son kept to themselves, rarely interacting with their neighbors. Because he worked at a gambling house, he must have offended someone. Later, his home was raided by the authorities, and since then, the neighbors haven't seen his mother. She likely died of illness."
Pei Song suddenly halted and looked at the Chief Secretary. "His home was raided by the authorities? And afterward, he became a guard at the Zhou residence?"
The Chief Secretary, aware that his information was incomplete, said, "I ordered a thorough investigation into the matter, but he hadn't been working at the Zhou residence for long before the servants were slaughtered by Xing Lie. There is very little information to be found."
Pei Song frowned in contemplation. A cold wind blew, causing the lanterns hanging under the eaves to sway gently, casting ghostly shadows of trees in the courtyard.
Half of his face was hidden in darkness as he said, "Continue the investigation. A man with a tainted background and no foundation, who managed to become a guard at the Zhou residence—this matter is likely not as simple as it seems."
If that man were truly dead, there would be no cause for concern.
But the murderer who killed Xing Lie had yet to be found, and the old man had once raved, "Huan'er isn't dead. He recites texts well and fights well." And then that man suddenly became a guard at the Zhou residence...
Connecting all these suspicious points, he couldn't help but ponder deeply.
If that man were still alive and had indeed killed Xing Lie...
To single-handedly slay over a dozen elite soldiers and then brutally murder Xing Lie, decapitating him... Such ferocity made it impossible for him not to be wary of this man.
If he could master martial arts to such an extent under the old man's deranged tutelage, how much of the old man's vast knowledge of military strategy and cunning tactics had he also learned?
Pei Song's gaze turned icy as he said to the Chief Secretary, "If this man is still alive and cannot be used by us, he must be eliminated without fail."
The Chief Secretary bowed in acknowledgment.
Pei Song stepped through the door and ordered, "I will rest for a while. Before the hour of Si, no one is to disturb me in the courtyard."
The Chief Secretary remained outside the door, nodding. "You must be exhausted from riding through the night, my lord. Please rest well."
After the door closed, Pei Song removed his armor and glanced at the blood-soaked wound on his abdomen, his expression turning grim.
The expedition to Mengzhou had not been entirely smooth. With Dingzhou in crisis, he had taken a risky move and captured the city in a single day to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible, but he had been injured in the process.
However, with Dingzhou now in peril, to avoid causing panic among his subordinates and to prevent the Chief Secretary from worrying about his injury and hindering his northward campaign, he had kept the injury a secret, even from the Chief Secretary.
Although the wound had been treated, it had been festering for days under the strain of continuous exertion.He rummaged through the drawer for the wound medicine. Initially intending to remove the blood-stained bandage directly, he feared the lingering scent of blood in the room might arouse suspicion from the servants below. With no one outside, he simply took the supplies and went out to the waterside pavilion to tend to his wounds.
His inner and undergarments were already soaked red with blood from the wound. The bandage tightly wrapped around his abdomen had crusted over with dried blood, sticking to the torn flesh beneath.
Pei Song bit down on the sleeve he had pulled off, his forehead beaded with cold sweat. Gritting his teeth, he ripped off the adhered bandage in one swift motion. The sudden, excruciating pain felt as if another chunk of flesh had been gouged from his abdomen. Trembling uncontrollably, every muscle in his body tightened into knots. A fine layer of sweat broke out on his forehead and chest, and his fingers gripping the bandage turned white from the strain, yet his eyes held a ferocious, bloodthirsty glint.
He had been careless. He should have sent troops to Hengzhou before the incident and slaughtered the entire Yang clan, the maternal family of Changlian Wang’s consort.
That would have prevented them from defecting to Wei Qishan and setting a trap in Dingzhou, dealing him such a heavy blow.
The roots of his teeth ached from biting the sleeve, and a metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. Once the worst of the pain subsided slightly, he reached for the bronze medicine bottle on the stone table. But his fingers trembled so violently that instead of picking it up, he accidentally knocked it over. The bottle clattered to the ground and rolled down the steps, stopping at a pair of blue cloth embroidered shoes.
Xiao Huiniang stared blankly at the young man’s back in the pavilion, her voice trembling with a mix of excitement and heartache: “Huan’er?”
The figure seemed to jolt at the sound, slowly turning to look outside.
His face, illuminated by the lantern under the corridor, was young and handsome yet tinged with a fierce aura—but it was not her Huan’er.
Xiao Huiniang’s eyes dimmed instantly. Chilled by the cold wind, she covered her mouth with a cough, the silver strands at her temples looking even more weathered under the lantern’s glow. Weakly, she asked the young man in the pavilion, “Are you a guard of the Zhou residence? Why are you here?”
She had been confined here all these days, completely unaware of the outside situation. The servants attending to her in this courtyard were like mutes and deaf-mutes—no matter what she asked or said, they never responded.
The knife wound on Xiao Huiniang’s back was severe, and she had only recently recovered enough to leave her bed after many days of rest.
Tonight, she had faintly heard some commotion outside and gotten up to investigate. Through the hazy lantern light of the corridor, she vaguely spotted a figure in the waterside pavilion whose silhouette closely resembled Xiao Li’s.
Her heart leaped, and she approached, calling out—only to realize it wasn’t him. Yet, given the late hour and his furtive, solitary wound-tending in the pavilion, she guessed he likely wasn’t one of the rebels and surmised he might be a guard of the Zhou residence.
Pei Song had already recognized Xiao Huiniang. A murderous intent flashed in his eyes, and his hand moved to the hilt of his knife. But upon hearing her mistake him for a Zhou residence guard, the killing intent receded slightly, and his pale lips curved almost imperceptibly.
He released his grip on the knife hilt and gave a slight nod, asking, “And you are?”
Xiao Huiniang, overjoyed to finally encounter someone she considered an ally, felt her eyes grow moist. Picking up the medicine bottle that had fallen at her feet, she said, “I’m also from the Zhou residence. Lord Zhou and Madam Zhou have shown me great kindness. My son is a guard there, just like you. I was injured protecting Madam Zhou and have been imprisoned here ever since I woke up. I don’t know why those people would lock up an old woman like me…”
Glancing around, she added, “It’s not safe here. Guards patrol the courtyard at night. Come hide in my quarters for now.”Pei Song watched as the woman picked up the blood-stained gauze he had discarded in the waterside pavilion and, despite her own illness, struggled to support him. A trace of mockery flickered in his eyes, yet his words were polite: "Thank you, madam."
Xiao Huiniang strained to help him back, saying, "We're all family here, no need for thanks. My Huan'er is about your age, and he often comes home covered in wounds too. When I saw your figure from afar earlier, I thought I was looking at my Huan'er..."
As Pei Song listened to her repeated calls of "Huan'er," a shadow of complexity passed through his icy gaze.
In a distant memory, there was also a young woman who would always call him "Huan'er" with tender affection.
Was it truly just a coincidence? This woman didn't seem to know his true identity.
Since she was of no use, there was no need to keep her alive.
His eyes were utterly cold, but watching this woman bustling about to care for him held a certain amusement. He might as well let her finish bandaging his wounds before killing her. Casually, he asked, "What's your son's name?"
Xiao Huiniang, already injured herself, had broken into a sweat from supporting a grown man all this way. Pushing open the door, she wiped her forehead with her sleeve and said, "My son is named Xiao Li."
Pei Song abruptly looked up, his previously indifferent eyes now gleaming with interest.
It seemed he would have to spare this woman's life for now.
—
Wen Yu had a restless night, trapped in a series of nightmares as if sinking into a murky swamp, unable to break free, only to be dragged deeper into endless darkness.
From the blazing fires after the fall of Luodu to the blood-soaked streets when Fengyang City was breached, the heads of her father and brothers hung high above the city gates, their dead eyes fixed on her.
She screamed until her voice grew hoarse, but could not stop the towering, faceless shadow from lifting her young nephew and dashing him to the ground.
Blood enveloped her, and those fierce phantoms eventually coalesced into a blurred figure seated high behind palace walls.
Wen Yu did not recognize that person, yet with blood-soaked hatred, she screamed his name: "Pei Song—"
With a choked cry, she jolted upright in bed, gasping for air like a fish out of water.
Her sweat-dampened hair clung to her pale cheeks, and her drenched inner robes, chilled by the air, clung to her skin with a cold shiver. Only then did she fully awaken from the nightmare.
Wen Yu surveyed the simple, unfamiliar room, and memories from before she lost consciousness returned. Weren't they in the mountains? Where was Xiao Li?
She threw off the covers to get out of bed, just as the door was pushed open from outside.
"Awake?" Xiao Li entered carrying a bowl of medicine.
Seeing him, the tension in Wen Yu's mind eased slightly. Hoarsely, she asked, "Where are we?"
Xiao Li replied, "You were burning up with fever last night. After I brought you out of those mountains, I found a nearby household to stay with."
He handed her the medicine bowl, intending for her to drink it, but noticing how her sweat-soaked inner garments outlined her graceful figure, he paused, then pulled the quilt up to wrap around her.
Still groggy from the night's fever and nightmares, Wen Yu looked up at him in confusion when he covered her with the quilt, softly uttering, "Hmm?"
Xiao Li's breathing grew slightly uneven. Avoiding her gaze, he only said, "Be careful not to catch a chill."Wen Yu didn't notice his unusual behavior. As her mind cleared slightly, she began contemplating their current situation: "I wonder how Guard Cen and Tong Que are faring. If the officers realize we abandoned our horses to escape, they'll likely search every inch within hundreds of miles. We can't stay here long."
Xiao Li gave an acknowledging hum and said, "There's congee in the kitchen. I'll fetch it for you. We'll set off after you've eaten."
After he left, Wen Yu picked up the medicine bowl. Enduring the pungent odor, she drank the bitter liquid in several gulps. When she rose to dress, she discovered her sweat-soaked inner garment clung to her upper body, vaguely outlining her form—and she wasn't wearing an undergarment beneath.
Her expression shifted abruptly. She hurriedly pulled the quilt tighter around herself, scanning the bed's surroundings. This wasn't her own inner garment. Last night... who had changed her clothes? Where was her undergarment?
A knock came from outside. Thinking Xiao Li had returned, she quickly responded, "One moment."
But it was a woman's voice that answered: "I've brought fresh clothes for you, miss! You were burning up with fever last night—I had to wipe you down several times. Your brother mentioned you'd be leaving, and your washed clothes have dried by the fire. I brought them over."
Understanding dawned, easing Wen Yu's anxiety. "Please come in," she said.
The farmer's wife entered, observing Wen Yu's improved complexion with a smile. "Your brother kept watch over you all night—it was worth it. Whenever your fever spiked, he'd call me to cool you down. Thank goodness the fever broke."
Unaware of these details, Wen Yu felt something stir in her chest at the mention of Xiao Li's all-night vigil, though her face remained impassive. "We've troubled you greatly."
The woman waved off the concern cheerfully. "You siblings share such a bond! Your brother guards you like you're his most precious treasure."
Wen Yu lowered her gaze, long lashes veiling her tranquil eyes. "I've relied on him greatly throughout this journey."
After finishing a simple bowl of congee, she learned Xiao Li had inquired about nearby towns from the farming couple. Coincidentally, the farmer was heading to town to sell firewood and offered them a ride.
The donkey cart, loaded with firewood, left little seating space. As Wen Yu and Xiao Li squeezed in, the bumpy mud road jostled them violently, repeatedly throwing Wen Yu against Xiao Li.
Each time, Xiao Li merely steadied her by the shoulder without any impropriety.
Yet Wen Yu grew increasingly silent during the journey.
In town, after purchasing supplies, Xiao Li noticed Wen Yu had finished her cold medicine. He brought her to a clinic for a new prescription, paying extra to have the herbalist's apprentice decoct the medicine and store it in a flask.
Suppressing a cough, Wen Yu said, "I'm practically recovered."
Xiao Li also bought various medicinal pills from the physician, storing them in their bundle. "This prescription should complete your recovery. Travel won't allow us to brew medicine easily—this prepared dose will keep for a day."
Watching his clean-cut profile, Wen Yu fell silent again.
Leaving the clinic, Xiao Li seemed to notice her preoccupation. "What's on your mind?"
Gazing at the bustling streets, Wen Yu replied, "I'm thinking about Pei Song."
Xiao Li's eyebrows lifted slightly.Wen Yu said, "Pei Song not only slaughtered my entire Wen Shi clan, but also exterminated several other aristocratic families in Luodu, not even sparing the collateral branches. There's no such thing as hatred without cause in this world. I believe he must have had old grievances with those major families. When I was in Tongcheng, I met Lady Feng whose entire clan was also annihilated by Pei Song. Before she died, she told me Pei Song's surname is Qin, but I've pondered for a long time and still can't figure out which Qin official in the court had conflicts with all those major families."
Xiao Li said, "Whoever he is, we'll take his head in the future - that'll be our revenge."
The two had already left the market and were passing through a residential alley.
The stray hairs at Wen Yu's forehead were blown across her eyes by the wind. Watching the setting sun at the horizon, she softly uttered "Mm."
What flashed through her mind was the scene of Lady Feng lying in a pool of blood.
Perhaps one day, she would meet the same fate.
But this journey south was about living toward death from the very beginning.
As someone surnamed Wen, she had only one path to take.
Revenge.
Kill Pei Song, or die by Pei Song's hand.
Though clearly, the former seemed hopeless.
She closed her eyes against the setting sun and long wind, suddenly saying: "Xiao Li."
Xiao Li turned to look at her.
Wen Yu said, "Just see me off here."
Xiao Li frowned slightly, asking: "What do you mean?"
When Wen Yu opened her eyes again, her gaze was unprecedentedly calm. "I want you to live. If your mother knows from the afterlife, she would certainly want you to live a stable life. Your mother was my benefactor - I will avenge her for you. When soldiers check the roads again, they'll definitely scrutinize men and women traveling together more strictly. I'll be safer traveling alone. You... shouldn't get involved in my affairs anymore. Go back and live the stable life you're supposed to have."
Her uncle had surrendered Hengzhou to Wei Qishan, putting Dingzhou in peril. Pei Song probably wanted to grind her bones to dust - he would never let her go.
Too many had died along this journey already, especially now that her whereabouts had been pinpointed again. Once the officials dispatched more troops for carpet searches and strengthened inspections at all checkpoints ahead, she would be like a bird trapped in a net - being found was only a matter of time.
She didn't want anyone else risking their lives for her anymore.
After hearing her words, Xiao Li only asked: "What makes you think I can still live peacefully? What kind of reasoning is it for me, as her son, not to avenge my mother, but let you do it for me?"
Wen Yu was momentarily speechless.
"Wen Yu." Xiao Li called her name for the first time.
He said: "I'm just like you. From the moment my mother died, my life could never be peaceful again."
Wen Yu felt a pang in her chest, telling him: "I have only this one path to take. Even if it's a dead end, I must keep going. Do you understand?"
"Even if you want to avenge your mother, there are other paths you can take. There's no need to follow me and throw your life away."
But Xiao Li detected another meaning in her words, staring at her: "You're sending me away because you think you've reached a dead end, and don't want me to die with you - is that it?"
Wen Yu's gaze didn't avoid his in the slightest: "Even if it were Tong Que or Guard Cen here today, I would tell them to leave too. What all of you have done for me is already more than enough."
Hearing this answer, Xiao Li fell silent.
Faint cries of street vendors carried from the distant market as the long wind stirred their clothes and hair.After several breaths, he reached over and took the bundle slung across Wen Yu's shoulder, saying only: "Since they're here, they won't leave either way. I promised Cen An I'd protect you—how could I go back on my word? Even if this path leads to certain death, I'll carve a way out for us."
Using Wen Yu's own words against her, he finally left her no way to drive him away.
But that very night, they encountered the first wave of soldiers closing in on them.
Author's Note: Happy New Year, my darlings! Wishing everyone peace, health, and roaring prosperity in the new year! Red envelopes await in the comments section~
Special thanks to the little angels who supported me with special tickets or nutrient solutions between 2023-12-30 10:38:53~2024-01-01 02:38:47~
Thanks for the landmines: Hua Gengen, 49720923, Qing Shan Bu Gai, 69592092, Curl Expert (1 each);
Thanks for the nutrient solutions: Lazy Cat Creek (50 bottles); Wind Rising First Floor (20 bottles); 22308572 (12 bottles); Flying Fluff (10 bottles); Branches Not Chirping, 39874609 (5 bottles); Lazy Worm, Quicksand (3 bottles); Brocade, Only Learning in My Heart (2 bottles); Mint Aroma, Let Me Treat You to Lettuce, kfpy_L, Stella, Xiao Xiao Le, Red Bean Bun, Ke Yi Bei Lu Si, Ji Ji, jenniferCA, 25887198, Happy Smooth Progress (1 bottle each);
My deepest gratitude for your support—I'll keep working hard!
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