The Road to Glory

Chapter 58: She Gave Her All, Hoping to Move...

Wen Yu's slender, pale hand held the carriage curtain half-open. Beneath the gold-embroidered brocade fabric, her cool profile resembled a cold moon over snowy mountain peaks.

She had also spotted Xiao Li nearby. Lowering her gaze slightly, she gave Li Xun a faint nod and said, "I understand. We'll discuss everything after entering Pingzhou City."

Li Xun cupped his hands and withdrew. Passing by Xiao Li, he paused to bow in greeting.

Xiao Li, distracted and unsettled, forgot to return the courtesy. After Li Xun departed, he strode toward the carriage but momentarily forgot his purpose for coming.

He had many questions for Wen Yu, but since she had distanced herself after the temple incident, he dared not be presumptuous. Countless emotions churned within him, yet all he managed to voice was: "The Southern Chen envoy has arrived?"

Wen Yu gazed at his sharp, handsome features. Her fingers tightened imperceptibly within her sleeves, though her expression remained utterly unchanged. She responded with a soft "Mm."

Xiao Li lowered his eyes and fell silent for a moment. The sun cast shadows along the bridge of his tall nose, and his thinly pressed lips carried a hint of cold determination and wild intensity. His throat moved as he asked hoarsely, "Have you met King Chen before?"

"What... is he like?"

Wen Yu recalled two years prior, when she had just come of age and the then Crown Prince of Southern Chen arrived with lavish gifts to propose marriage. Her eyes resembled an ancient well—even spring sunlight shattered within them could not convey warmth. "I have met him," she said. "My father once praised him as gentle-natured, sincere and courteous."

Xiao Li nodded, suddenly seeming at a loss for how to remain there. "That's good then..."

He took half a step back, somewhat awkwardly preparing to leave, but Wen Yu asked, "Did you come because you had something to tell me?"

Struggling through the chaotic, sour swell of emotions, Xiao Li retrieved the information Zhao Youcai had shared. "Zhao Youcai and the others learned that Pingzhou isn't entirely peaceful either. The aristocratic families control the wealth, with intricate networks of influence behind them. The Pingzhou authorities can only suppress them superficially—clashes beneath the surface are inevitable."

Wen Yu said, "Magistrate Li has already informed me of the city's situation. Prefect Chen and General Fan are both officials dispatched here from elsewhere. Without the Great Liang court backing them, those local powers are being incited by various factions and are growing restless again. Such people act according to the wind—once the alliance between Pingzhou and Southern Chen is finalized, they will quiet down."

She looked at Xiao Li. "It seems you've learned much from accompanying General Fan on this mission to Tongcheng."

Xiao Li's lips twitched as if attempting a smile, but no smile came. In the end, he merely nodded and said, "As long as you're aware."

He turned to leave—still that broad-shouldered, long-legged figure—yet somehow carrying an indescribable air of desolation and dejection.

This was how it had always been.

What he had to exhaust himself to learn, those around her accomplished effortlessly and far better than he ever could.

Aside from risking his life to protect her when she had no one else, what else did he possess that could make her stay?

That indescribable bitterness tightened around Xiao Li's throat once more, making his heart ache and his voice grow hoarse.

He had been born in the mud. He had emptied himself completely, yet what he could offer her still paled in comparison to even the smallest fraction of what she already possessed.He too desired power and influence, yearning to become a noble like King Chen or Wei Qishan, capable of rivaling Pei Song. Yet the time allotted for his growth was far too brief.

Xiao Li’s expression remained grim as he made his way back. The soldiers along the path instinctively kept their distance, not daring to greet him.

Xiao Li trudged deep into the woods without a word, stopping before a tree as thick as half an arm. He slammed his fist forcefully against the trunk, then closed his eyes, which burned with a crimson intensity. Only after a long while did he swallow hard, forcing down all the pain and bitterness.

Wen Yu watched Xiao Li’s retreating figure, her hand holding the carriage curtain still raised. A complex swirl of emotions churned in her eyes.

For a moment, she instinctively wanted to call out to him.

But if she did, what could she possibly say?

Tell him that her marriage alliance with Southern Chen was merely a temporary measure her father had devised to protect her?

Yet, having already decided to leave him in Pingzhou, saying such things would only give him false hope and drag him into this intricate game.

In silence, Wen Yu watched his back disappear into the woods. Finally, she lowered the curtain, resting her elbow on the windowsill and propping her forehead with slender fingers. Her gaze dimmed as she recalled the origins of this marriage.

Its roots lay with the Ao family.

At that time, the power struggle between her father and Grand Commandant Ao’s faction had intensified. The Ao family had many children, and as her father’s influence grew, Grand Commandant Ao, rather than risk mutual destruction, revived the idea of marrying a daughter into the Changlian Wang’s household to secure their status as imperial relatives.

However, her elder brother was already married. Before her father ascended the throne, having an Ao daughter serve as her brother’s concubine would have been a scandal.

The Ao family proposed a compromise: Grand Commandant Ao’s son would seek her hand in marriage, bringing her into the Ao household to temporarily ease tensions between the two factions.

Her father naturally refused. Grand Commandant Ao’s son was notorious for his cruelty and debauchery, both within and beyond the court. Marrying him would be like leaping into a pit of fire. Yet, the Party of Ao joined forces with the Empress Dowager and the former emperor to pressure her father. Even if her parents wished to reject the proposal, they found it difficult to do so at the time.

It was then that Southern Chen made its approach.

The old King Chen had long been ill, and Southern Chen was plagued by invasions from neighboring tribes. Moreover, the old king had many sons, all vying fiercely for the throne, and the Southern Chen heir held no clear advantage in the succession struggle.

In a desperate gamble to secure the throne for her son, the old queen of Southern Chen decided to have him seek Wen Yu’s hand in marriage.

As long as the Great Liang remained stable, its next two emperors would be Wen Yu’s father and her brother. As the only daughter of Changlian Wang, her political standing far surpassed that of any titled princess in the imperial palace at the time.

To demonstrate their sincerity, Southern Chen brought betrothal gifts so lavish that they are still celebrated among the common folk. Among them, the life-sized jade screen carved with the Ode to the Goddess remains the most widely known.

Sending their daughter far away was also something Changlian Wang and his wife were reluctant to do. Yet, the alternative was the Ao family’s pit of fire.

After careful deliberation, they chose the lesser of two evils and agreed to the marriage alliance with Southern Chen, using the interests of both nations as justification to successfully thwart the Party of Ao and the Empress Dowager’s objections.

That year, the Southern Chen heir had another purpose for his visit: to borrow troops.

—Amid internal strife and external threats, he needed the military support of Great Liang to secure his throne.Changlian Wang had already begun contemplating the reconquest of Southern Chen at that time. On the surface, he dispatched twenty thousand troops to aid Southern Chen, but in reality, it was thirty thousand, including ten thousand private soldiers from the Changlian Wang residence.

However, those ten thousand private soldiers would not be withdrawn to Great Liang in the end. Instead, under the pretext of serving as Wen Yu's dowry, they would remain in Southern Chen.

The old princess consort and the heir apparent understood what this meant. If Changlian Wang were to secure the imperial throne in the future and attempt to conquer Southern Chen, the ten thousand private soldiers entrenched deep within Southern Chen would undoubtedly become a dagger thrust from its very core.

Yet, at that time, they had no choice. Without the support of Great Liang, defeat in the struggle for succession would have meant immediate execution for the mother and son.

Ultimately, the deal was struck. The heir apparent of Southern Chen successfully seized the throne and became the new King Chen.

Unlike the previous dynasty, early marriages were not prevalent among women in Great Liang. It was not uncommon for families to keep their daughters until the age of twenty before marrying them off. Using Wen Yu's young age and the great distance to Southern Chen as reasons, Changlian Wang and his wife delayed her marriage to Southern Chen, claiming they wished to keep her by their side for a few more years.

Over these two years, Southern Chen and Great Liang appeared harmonious on the surface, but beneath the calm, undercurrents were stirring.

No one had expected that Pei Song would be the first to become the dagger thrust toward Great Liang, while Southern Chen instead became a force the princely residence could turn to for aid.

Before Fengyang fell, it was still unclear whether Pei Song or her father would emerge victorious. After all, Great Liang was a centipede with a hundred legs, still wriggling even when dead, and Southern Chen dared not easily take sides.

Her journey to Southern Chen for marriage at that time was an act of voluntary weakness. After all, no one dared to bet definitively on Great Liang's defeat. Southern Chen would also be wary of Great Liang's desperate retaliation if it recovered. The safest approach was to propose terms favorable to themselves and then dispatch troops to help Changlian Wang's residence overcome this crisis.

Now that Great Liang had fallen, Pingzhou, the old loyalists, and the lingering prestige of the Wen clan's century-long rule over the Central Plains were her only remaining bargaining chips.

If Southern Chen also harbored ambitions to invade the Central Plains, then fulfilling the marriage alliance with her, consolidating the forces under her control, and launching a campaign under the justified banner of attacking Pei Song would undoubtedly be the best choice.

Wen Yu was staking everything to leverage Southern Chen's military power.

From the very beginning, this marriage alliance was merely a calculation of mutual interests.

The carriage set off again. Burdened with heavy thoughts, Wen Yu pondered for another half day during the journey before finally arriving at the main city of Pingzhou.

Fan Yuan had sent a messenger an hour earlier to inform the city of their arrival.

By the time Wen Yu's entourage of several hundred carriages and horses arrived, Pingzhou's governor Chen Wei had already been waiting outside the city gates for a long time with Pingzhou's officials and the old ministers who had come to seek refuge.

The setting sun cast slanting shadows as the wind swept down from the mountains at the end of the official road, making the banners on the city tower flutter vigorously.

Wen Yu stepped down from the carriage, treading on the glowing sunset light. The golden-orange gauze over her brocade dress seemed to capture all the remaining sunlight from the horizon, its shimmering radiance making her appear like a second red sun between heaven and earth.

Chen Wei hurriedly led the crowd in bowing: "Your servants respectfully welcome the honorable arrival of the Wengzhu!"

Standing before the carriage, Wen Yu's trailing long skirt accentuated her innate grace. Her voice, carried by the gentle breeze to everyone's ears, was soft yet authoritative: "You officials must have been waiting here for a long time. Please rise quickly."

Only then did Chen Wei lead the crowd in standing up.

Wen Yu addressed him as "Uncle Chen," causing tears to well up in Chen Wei's eyes. He quickly said: "Wengzhu must be exhausted from the long journey. Please enter the city first to settle down and rest."Wen Yu nodded and re-entered the carriage.

Having previously served as a princely advisor, Li Xun naturally possessed more intricate thoughts than others and always handled matters with steady prudence.

He assumed Wen Yu’s decision not to have Xiao Li accompany her closely during the journey was to demonstrate impartiality, signaling that she trusted them equally and would not solely rely on the confidants who had followed her through life and death struggles.

However, while the master’s willingness to ease their concerns was one thing, they could not truly encroach upon the positions of the princess’s inner circle. Otherwise, if conflicts arose later with her trusted aides, working together in close quarters would inevitably lead to friction.

Thus, when arranging the procession into the city, Li Xun had Xiao Li ride on horseback closely following Wen Yu’s carriage. This way, other former officials in the city would recognize Xiao Li’s status.

Capturing the magistrate of Tongcheng from the Pei Army and seizing all the treasures and official silver he had taken was undoubtedly a slap in the face to Pei Song, and it naturally called for grand publicity.

Firstly, it allowed the former officials of Great Liang to witness Wen Yu’s capabilities and boost their confidence. Secondly, it served to intimidate the sinister elements in the city who had already established ties with Pei Song or Wei Qishan.

These matters required no explicit instructions from Wen Yu. Li Xun had already discussed them with Fan Yuan, and they opened the lids of the silver chests on the carriage, making a conspicuous entrance into the city that drew crowds of onlookers.

The former officials who had come to pledge their allegiance were overjoyed, many weeping with happiness at Wen Yu’s boldness. As for the local officials of Pingzhou, many of whom were scions of prominent aristocratic families, they were deeply shaken, feeling increasingly that they should not be swayed by provocation to hastily take sides.

Xiao Li rode alongside Wen Yu’s carriage, listening to the cheers of the people along the streets. With a sidelong glance, he could take in the expressions of all the accompanying officials. His well-defined fingers suddenly tightened around the reins.

At that moment, it struck him that Wen Yu’s initial strategy was like an arrow shot with a fierce gale. Just when he thought its endpoint lay in the seemingly unreachable distance, it circled back with a roaring wind.

Only now, he realized, was this the final step of her plan—recruiting troops in Xinzhou and seizing the official silver of Tongcheng.

Author’s Note:

Li Xun (smiling as he strokes his beard): I understand the princess’s intentions perfectly!

Yu Bao (confused): ?

Classmate Xiao Li: Keep speculating, please do.