A Single Tie Of Long Hair Seals A Lifelong Commitment - Chapter 28

Yueyang Tower is located on Yunzhong Street and is the most famous restaurant in Shangyong City. If there’s anything particularly special about it, it’s just that the décor is opulent and the names of the dishes are excessively flowery.

Zhang Jialing was seated alone by the railing, his dark hair slightly disheveled, and his beard had grown out. He held a gilded zisha teapot, poured wine into a cup, and downed it in one go, smacking his lips with a satisfied gasp.

He then picked up an exquisite bamboo birdcage. Inside, a colorful parrot hopped around. Zhang Jialing focused on playing with the bird, completely unaware of Chen Liangyu’s presence.

“Cheep, cheep, say something…”

“Ahem.” Chen Liangyu cleared her throat.

Zhang Jialing turned to look at her and said, “You came just in time. Look how handsome my son is—and his feathers, how bright…”

“I asked you to send a message to the Eastern Palace. Where exactly did you send it?”

When she entered the Bogong Stockade alone, she had asked Zhang Jialing to deliver a message to Jiangning Princess at the Eastern Palace. Upon returning to Yongdu, she learned that Jiangning Princess had voluntarily requested to go to the Great Peace Temple to observe three years of mourning for her birth mother, Empress Huixian, and had left the palace shortly after Chen Liangyu set out for Xiling with her troops.

Zhang Jialing felt somewhat guilty, putting down the birdcage. “I intended to pass it to Jiangning Princess, but I couldn’t find her. I did, however, see Prime Minister Xun. That man is like a thousand-year-old fox; with just a couple of probes, he managed to extract everything I knew. So, the Emperor just sent the little eunuch Wei and the Imperial Guards to Xiling to meet you. Anyway, you were going to communicate with the little eunuch Wei in a roundabout, feigned way. In the end, little eunuch Wei did go. All roads lead to Rome—it’s the same thing!”

He offered a flattering smile, speaking plausibly.

Chen Liangyu could hardly agree with his nonsensical sophistry.

She had originally intended to test whether the little eunuch Wei was connected to the person who assassinated the Marquis of Xuanping that day, and then follow that lead to uncover the truth behind the assassination.

But now, it seemed, she didn’t need to investigate.

“Speaking of which, it’s strange. Those few monsters in Bogong Ridge seemed to have the ability to teleport. Before you saw a shadow of them, people’s throats were slit. Many soldiers died at their hands. That battle was bloody, with heavy casualties,” Zhang Jialing said, still feeling lingering fear, his fingers trembling slightly as he spoke. “As soon as little eunuch Wei arrived, they seemed like sheep finding their shepherd. They surprisingly listened obediently and let themselves be slaughtered. Finally, I don’t know what little eunuch Wei said to them, but those monsters collectively snapped their own necks and committed suicide.”

Shepherd. That’s right.

The Dark Guards certainly had a shepherd.

The little eunuch Wei was one of the few hundred children who survived round after round of trials, and he was the only Dark Guard who hadn’t lost his sanity. After Emperor Xuanyuan ascended the throne, he was sent to do menial work in the Six Ministries. After the incident where Jiangning Princess was abducted by Northern Yong deserters, he was transferred to serve as a close attendant to the Princess.

Strictly speaking, he was not a eunuch; he had not been castrated. However, after such physical destruction and prolonged medication, his body had atrophied and was already like that of a castrated person.

Chen Liangyu’s eyes were unfocused as she stared into the distance, deep in thought.

She was troubled by another matter.

Zhai Ji had acquired the Yin-Yang Three Volumes from the He family’s military strategies. He knew that Chen Liangyu would surely try to find a way to kill him legitimately. Being in Shangyong City, the capital of Central Lin, he had no power, no influence, and no troops. Chen Liangyu could press him with a single finger, making him utterly helpless.

Although his status as a hostage protected his life, and Chen Liangyu dared not kill him easily, she could poison him to mute him, cripple him, making him unable to speak or write. Then, she could compensate Northern Yong with some treasures and beauties, package him up, send him back, and kill him near the Northern Yong border. This way, Central Lin could eliminate him without bearing the stigma of killing a hostage.

So, he used some unknown method to spread the Yin-Yang Three Volumes throughout Great Lin. The He family’s military strategies were already rare treasures. When the people of Great Lin heard the original volumes were circulating, they flocked to seek, copy, and read them.

Starting from Yongdu, it spread to Cangnan, Linxia, Dongqiu, and the Eastern Baiyue regions.

You want to kill me? I’ll first spread it among your own Central Lin people. If you want to stop the Yin-Yang Three Volumes from flowing into Northern Yong, you’ll have to kill your own people first!

Chen Liangyu immediately became aware of this at the beginning of the dissemination. After reporting to Emperor Xuanyuan, the Emperor ordered the Crown Prince to thoroughly investigate and prevent the strategies from being leaked.

The Crown Prince ordered Li Yilian, the Prefect of Yong’an, to oversee the matter. However, the inspectors dispatched to various places repeatedly reported the appearance of copies of the Yin-Yang Three Volumes in their respective jurisdictions.

The leaking of military strategies was a major military secret breach.

Li Yilian was impeached for his ineffective oversight, convicted, and executed by beheading, with his family members sentenced according to law.

Whether Zhai Ji’s methods were too sophisticated or Li Yilian was too incompetent, he failed to trace the matter back to Zhai Ji, allowing him to escape.

Yunzhong Street extends south into an alleyway of ancient charm called Jinshu Lane.

As its name suggests, Jinshu Lane is full of carving shops and bookstores.

Carving shops only appeared in recent years. In the past, books were bound after being copied by hand; one book was produced for every copy made. In recent years, a method of carving and printing was invented: characters were carved onto jujube or pear wood. A brush dipped in ink was swept over the mold, a piece of white paper was placed on top, and a page of the book was printed.

Once this method appeared, it became highly sought after, and the number of carving shops increased accordingly.

Jinshu Lane is at its busiest during the triennial Imperial Examinations, when bookstores set up stalls to sell examination-related classics and commentaries. Since there is no major examination this year, the lane is quiet and sparsely populated, with only occasional scholars coming and going.

“There won’t be any Imperial Examinations for the next two years. Why have more carving shops opened here?”

Chen Liangyu muttered to herself. Naturally, she didn’t expect Zhang Jialing to answer this question; he hadn’t even figured out one parrot.

Sure enough, he automatically tuned out, ignoring her question.

“Chen Liangyu, lend me some money.”

Chen Liangyu: “…”

Just as she was about to get angry, Zhang Jialing quickly explained, “I’m not going out to squander it, okay? Do you remember Shen Yan? The orphan girl rescued from Bogong Ridge. Her uncles and aunts are not good people. Seeing her father gone, they’re bullying her and trying to seize her family property. I helped her out twice, but as soon as I leave, they go back to bullying her with their two-faced ways. So, she’s thinking of cutting her losses—giving them the family property and starting her own business. But how can she start her own business without capital? I want to help her. Not too much, one thousand or five hundred taels, whatever you can spare.”

Chen Liangyu took a deep breath, heavily let it out, and said testily, “I don’t have money!”

“You don’t have money? The Emperor practically emptied the national treasury for your family, sending cartloads of gifts! You don’t have money—who are you kidding?”

Chen Liangyu said, “Imperial gifts cannot be sold or pawned. Where would I get money?”

“What about gold? What about silver? Did he grant you tens of thousands of taels and not let you spend it?”

“After so many years of war, military funds and supplies are tight everywhere. The power of the provinces and counties is constrained by the need to support the army. Countless soldiers died in the Battle of Dingbei City. Nearly half of the military personnel in the north were cut. The allocated rewards and pensions are far from enough to cover the shortfall. How can the gold and silver bestowed by His Majesty be used for lavish spending?”

This reason clearly convinced Zhang Jialing, and he didn’t bring up borrowing money again.

Chen Liangyu left Yueyang Tower and walked along Jinshu Lane. The fragrance of books and ink filled the air, occasionally interrupted by a cool, refreshing breeze from the river passing through the alley.

All the businesses were legitimate storefronts, with nothing out of the ordinary.

At the end of Jinshu Lane was a small dock. Small boats that traveled by water would anchor here to come ashore. Many porters and carriers rested by the bank. When a cargo ship arrived, the merchants needed people to move the goods, and they earned some wages by loading and carrying.

Chen Liangyu stood by the water and gazed for a moment. A medium-sized cargo ship happened to dock, and the porters swarmed forward.

She turned to leave but met a pair of eyes.

It was a physically frail porter, not too short and not too tall, at a disadvantage among the tall, strong workers. Presumably, merchants often refused to hire him, and he hadn’t rushed into the crowd.

Chen Liangyu noticed him because the look in those eyes, when staring at her, was not one of curiosity or scrutiny toward a woman dressed in fine silk appearing at the dock. That gaze clearly contained grief, indignation, and hatred, as if looking at a long-lost enemy encountered again.

She reviewed whether she had offended this person in the past, and the answer was: no.

It was a completely unfamiliar face.

So, she interpreted the look as the resentment of a commoner toward the government.

Given his physique, working here, he probably couldn’t even afford to eat his fill.

Chen Liangyu sighed. The hardship of the people was the fault of the court.

The owner of the medium-sized cargo ship was happy because a son had been born into his family. He gave each worker an extra five copper coins for moving the cargo. Everyone was deeply grateful, offering congratulations and auspicious words.

The merchant was in an even better mood and handed out a few more coins to everyone, even the porters and carriers resting without work receiving a reward.

A copper coin landed at the man’s feet. It had been tossed by the merchant. He quickly gathered the coins with his hands and feet, afraid that if he were a moment too slow, someone else would snatch them.

Chen Liangyu also pulled out her purse. She was financially comfortable today, and her purse held a few taels of broken silver.

She gave him the entire purse, money and all.

The resentment and jealousy in his eyes melted away in confusion, turning into sorrow and immense grievance. Before tears could fall, the man covered his face and quickly ran away.

“Buy…”

…some land! You’ll starve doing this job.

She bit off the rest of her sentence, shook her sleeve to cover her embarrassment, and walked away.

She couldn’t go far before she stopped. Several people were sneaking around, hiding in the gap between two private houses. Three of them were dressed like porters. The men varied in height and size: one was tall and thin, one short and plump, and the other two were medium-built and similar in shape.

Chen Liangyu stopped because she saw a person in a fine silk robe and leather belt that was strikingly out of place amidst the clutter and disarray.

It was Chen Luan.

His clothes were bulging. He pulled out several square-wrapped paper packages and distributed them to the other three.

The paper packages contained mostly standard snacks and pastries from the manor. Chen Liangyu once overheard the cook complaining that the consumption of snacks and pastries in the manor had increased.

The three people dressed as porters sat on the ground. Chen Luan seemed hesitant to sit down, afraid of dirtying his clothes. The person of a similar build quickly took off his own coarse linen outer garment and placed it on the ground for him to sit on.

Chen Luan said, “My father is sending me to Han Hong Academy to study. I won’t be able to bring food for you all often anymore.”

The tall, thin one and the short, plump one continued to loudly munch and chew. However, the one who took off his outer garment looked wistful and envious.

The tall, thin one, his mouth full of food, mumbled indistinctly, “Shengzi, is your sister really going to marry the Crown Prince? If she marries the Crown Prince, she’ll be the Empress in the future, and won’t you be the Empress’s brother-in-law?”

The short, plump one nodded in agreement. “Shengzi, if you become the Empress’s brother-in-law, get us an official position too. We want a First Rank official.”

Chen Luan was a little embarrassed. “It’s not impossible, but the First Rank is basically for the deceased. The Prime Minister only holds a formal Second Rank title.”

“Then Second Rank is fine.”

“Yes, Second Rank, Second Rank is enough.”

The two spoke simultaneously. As they spoke, the group burst into laughter, completely unaware that someone was watching their every move from outside the gap.

“Second Brother.”

While the three were planning their beautiful future, Chen Liangyu appeared from behind, silently, startling the bragging and merry-making group.

Chen Luan stood up straight instantly. He clearly hadn’t expected her to appear in such a place. In his panic, he tried to hide the large packages on the ground but saw there was nowhere to hide them, so he tried to cover them with his slender body.

He realized he had momentarily forgotten his status and said the wrong things, regretting it as he slapped his forehead.

It was common for friends among the common folk to gather for drinks and bragging. After a few cups, they would dare to brag about anything and say anything. But no one would care about or scrutinize the words of small people; they would just have a laugh and move on. After a night’s sleep, life would return to normal. However, his status was different now. If someone with ulterior motives heard these words and made an issue of them, it could needlessly cause a lot of trouble for the family.

The other three saw Chen Luan’s panic and became flustered as well, their mouths full of pastry crumbs, unsure whether to swallow or spit them out.

“Who are these gentlemen?” Chen Liangyu asked.

Just as Chen Luan was about to introduce them, the tall, thin one quickly spoke up: “We are from Cangnan and grew up with Shengzi. We’re good brothers. My name is Ganzi, and he’s Dunzi,” he pulled over the person of similar build to Chen Luan, “and his name is Han Song. His father used to be a teacher, so his name is more refined than ours. Our hometown was hit by a disaster, and we fled here together, hoping to make a living in Yongdu.”

The short, plump one, Dunzi, also rushed to explain: “Miss, we’re not bad people. Those words just now were not meant seriously, not meant seriously.”

“It’s alright,” Chen Liangyu’s eyes held a playful, teasing element. It turned out these people thought she had come to hold them accountable.

She cautioned Chen Luan, “Go home early. Also, if you need those snacks, just instruct the kitchen to prepare more at once. If you hoard them for several days like this, even if they don’t spoil, they won’t taste good.”

Dunzi quickly said, “They taste great, Miss. Even when our family hadn’t been hit by the disaster, we couldn’t eat things like these.”

Chen Luan really liked giving people food, and he was the same with her.

It was shortly after he was brought back by Butler Yan, and their relationship was still very strained. When they encountered each other at home, they would avoid each other without a word, mutually understanding to keep their distance.

Chen Luan thought she disliked him because of the incident with the clothes, so he could only cautiously keep his distance.