A Single Tie Of Long Hair Seals A Lifelong Commitment - Chapter 65.1

Chen Liangyu paced frantically around Liangyuan with disheveled hair.

What did she do yesterday? What did she do to Xie Wenjun!

Yan Nian returned to the mansion after an audience with the Emperor in the palace. She took off her coronet, placed it properly, and rushed to Liangyuan. As soon as she entered, she saw Chen Liangyu in this maddened state.

The coronet of a titled lady was quite heavy, leaving a circle of red marks on Yan Nian’s forehead.

Yan Nian said, “Awake?”

Chen Liangyu replied, “Elder Sister-in-law. Just woke up.” She hadn’t changed her inner garment yet and was wrapped in a cloak, traversing back and forth between the covered corridor and the courtyard.

A young maid was pouring the freshly brewed medicine into a bowl and presented it to Chen Liangyu. Chen Liangyu pinched the rim of the bowl and drank it down in two or three gulps, her face twisted into an ugly expression. “It’s so bitter!”

The young maid said, “It’s brewed according to the same recipe as yesterday, prepared by Physician Ying. It’s correct. Physician Ying said good medicine tastes bitter, and the more bitter the medicine is, the faster the General’s illness will recover. Physician Ying specially added two qian of coptis root to the medicine and instructed the servant to brew it for longer, making the bitter taste stronger.”

Zhu Ying had already packed her bags and left with the imperial physicians heading to Linxia and Li’an to treat the plague while Chen Liangyu was still asleep. Otherwise, Chen Liangyu would have definitely poured the entire bowl of equally bitter medicine down Zhu Ying’s throat, drop by drop.

Perhaps related to the upheaval in her family years ago, Zhu Ying acts according to her heart, focusing only on the present, extremely relaxed. Unlike the relaxed attitude of those wealthy idle people accustomed to comfort, the casualness in Zhu Ying stems more from a disregard for life.

This disregard is only for her own life.

She has never spoken words of discouragement or deep despair, yet she constantly conveys to those around her through her words and actions: living is fine, dying is fine, it’s no big deal to quit, no big deal to stop living.

From the attack on Yongdu from Linxia to the army’s swift march to Zhudong, Zhu Ying followed Chen Liangyu.

Chen Liangyu paid excessive attention to her, the primary reason was not her exquisite medical skills, nor the fact that she had saved the newborn Princess Roujia in the Prince of Shen’s mansion in Linxia. It was because a person who seemed not to want to live was using all her lifelong knowledge to try and let more people survive.

Though like dead wood and cold ashes, she also possesses a strong sense of dominion over her own life, meaning she will only die when she chooses to die. If she doesn’t want to die, but someone tries to take her life, she will definitely drag that person to hell with her, accompanying them on the Yellow Springs Road.

Zhu Ying’s following is not allegiance; she does not prioritize Chen Liangyu, nor anyone else. Where a physician seems needed, that is where she goes. She is constantly drifting.

Yan Nian said, “Your illness hasn’t recovered, don’t stay in the courtyard and catch a chill. Be careful of another high fever in the evening.”

Chen Liangyu asked with lingering fear, “Has Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess returned to the palace?” Then she said to the young maid, “Pick out the extra two qian of coptis root. Zhu Ying’s words cannot be entirely trusted.”

The young maid affirmed.

Yan Nian pulled her into the room, saying, “She’s gone back. I went into the palace with the Eldest Princess. After going to the Chongzheng Hall, I went to the Nanyuan Palace to see the Retired Emperor, and then to the Kunning Palace to pay respects to the Empress. The Empress was very worried upon hearing you were ill and insisted on having an imperial physician from the Tai Hospital’s standby staff come to the mansion to check on you. They should be here soon. When leaving the palace, I heard the Eldest Princess went to meet with the East Yin envoys to discuss peace talks between the two countries. She won’t come back to disturb you. Rest assured.”

Chen Liangyu listened to Yan Nian’s lengthy speech, but the other words didn’t register, she only focused on the phrase “won’t come back to disturb you,” which struck her like a thunderbolt.

She’s not coming back?

That’s good too.

Chen Liangyu first let out a sigh of relief, but immediately after, her heart felt squeezed. She was lost and forlorn.

When she woke up and didn’t see anyone beside her, she felt depressed. When the maid said Xie Wenjun had returned at Xu Shi (7-9 PM), she watched the sun and counted the hours.

After calming down, she silently prayed for Xie Wenjun not to appear again.

She dared not dwell on how Xie Wenjun would view her after committing such an act, and was even more afraid that Xie Wenjun would shun her from then on. Hence, after waking up, she had been trapped in a cycle of regret and self-reproach, unable to escape.

What made her even more anxious was that she couldn’t find a reasonable explanation for all the outrageous behavior of yesterday. Perhaps she could temporarily use the excuse of “being delirious with fever” to gloss over the matter and muddle through, yet her heart still felt as if it were pressed by a thousand jun of stone, anxious and apprehensive, unsure how to face Xie Wenjun when they meet again.

Afraid of making further mistakes in her words or actions, it was better not to meet.

Yan Nian said, “The Retired Emperor asked me to relay a message to you: stop investigating the matter in Liangxi City, call your people back. Liangyu, what are you investigating?”

Chen Liangyu leaned against the headboard of the bed and said slowly, “More than twenty years ago, a medicinal herb manor in Liangxi City was exterminated, leaving only one orphan in the world. By chance, he helped me, so I promised him that after returning to Yongdu, I would find out who harmed his family.”

Yan Nian was surprised, “Such a thing? But it happened more than twenty years ago, before you were born. Can you find out clearly? Do you have any leads?”

Chen Liangyu shook her head, “He said it was Xun Xian. I tried to probe, and Xun Xian definitely knows about this matter, but it doesn’t look like his doing. If he truly had dozens of bloody lives on his hands, when suddenly mentioned years later, even the most cunning old fox would find it hard not to reveal flaws. When I went to sound him out, Xun Xian’s expression was clearly one of relief, relieved that this old score I dug up was not committed by him, relieved that someone else had solved a huge problem for him. In short, it’s hard to say. But it really shouldn’t be him.”

During the struggle between the two princes, Xun Xian fully demonstrated his nature as a fickle opportunist. Seeing Xie Yuan gain power, he once again defected and switched allegiance.

Xie Yuan needed to counterbalance the civil official faction and ensure the prosperity of the Empress’s maternal clan, so he turned a blind eye, letting bygones be bygones and not holding it against him.

Can he truly have no grudge?

This kind of thing is like placing a rotten piece of meat on a table set with a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast. The longer the time, the rottener the meat becomes, and the more intolerable it is.

The firmer Xie Yuan’s throne, the more precarious Xun Xian’s position becomes.

How can the Emperor’s splendid empire tolerate a rotten sore?

If he had committed an act of extermination, and someone exposed the matter and impeached him, his path as a chancellor would be over. It might even implicate the careers of his kinsmen in court. He should be feeling guilty and fearful.

Yan Nian didn’t linger on this matter, saying, “The imperial decree from the palace and the commander’s seal for the Northern Territory will arrive soon. Focus on recovering your health. Go out and walk around Shangyong City more. Once you leave this time, it will be a while before you return.”

Shangyong City truly had nothing much to see. When she served as the commander of the Southern Yamen, she patrolled the streets every day and could even count how many streets and alleys Yongdu had.

She longed to return to the Northern Territory, to that sandbar stained with the fate of battle.

But when she was genuinely about to leave, a thread of attachment and reluctance emerged in her heart for Shangyong City.

Seeing her lack of enthusiasm, Yan Nian said, “Our little Liangyu will henceforth be the Military Commander of the three Northern Territory prefectures. From the time I first saw you in the cradle, twenty-some years have passed in a flash. It’s too fast. Why that expression? Are you reluctant to leave? Or reluctant to leave home?”

Chen Liangyu’s eyes flickered slightly, and she said, “Elder Sister-in-law, I have someone I care about.”

Yan Nian said, “Your younger brother has been appointed as the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. The Emperor wants him to revise the new laws. The Eldest Princess wants him to work with Xun Shutai from the Ministry of Revenue and Sheng Yu’an from the Ministry of Agriculture to finalize the new land and taxation laws. He cannot leave Yongdu. This cannot be helped.”

Although the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review is a fourth-rank deputy position, the previous Minister of the Court of Judicial Review retired during the regime change, and Chen Luan has no superior. After a year or so of experience in the role of Vice Minister, when the new laws are completed, he can be promoted to the third-rank Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. This is foreseeable.

Chen Liangyu lowered her head slightly and did not refute Yan Nian.

“Elder Sister-in-law, when will you and An’er go to Zhudong? I will see you off and then head to the Northern Territory from the Shuofang trade route.”

Yan Nian turned her face away and said, “An’er is not leaving. He will stay in the mansion. We can only trouble your younger brother to look after him more.”

In all dynasties, the border defense generals would leave their immediate family members in the capital, kept under the eye of the Emperor. During the Xuanyuan era, the commanders of both the Southern and Northern Territories did not send their family members to Yongdu. This was a special favor granted by Emperor Xuanyuan to his trusted ministers.

Now, this favor was being withdrawn.

Chen Liangyu’s expression darkened, and she gave a mournful laugh, “Is this treating me like a guard dog, putting a leash around my neck?”

Yan Nian said, “Don’t put it so harshly.”

Chen Liangyu said, “But it’s the truth! What about Uncle Yan? Uncle Yan cannot stay in Yongdu. Will he go to the Northern Territory with me, or to Zhudong with you?”

Yan Nian said, “Father went into the palace. Wait for him to return and ask his opinion.”

Chen Liangyu’s face suddenly changed. She immediately got up from the couch, “Change my clothes. Prepare the horse. I want to go into the palace.”

Yan Nian said, “Father told you not to panic. The Retired Emperor hasn’t taken his life all these years, and he won’t now.”

Chen Liangyu said, “The Retired Emperor didn’t require the Marquis of Xuanping’s family to stay as hostages in the past, but what about now?”

Nanyuan Palace is located near the southern wall of the Imperial Palace. It has been vacant for a long time, temporarily renovated, only having the bluestone slab floor re-paved and the painted beams refreshed with red lacquer. The palace gate is usually kept tightly shut, with dozens of guards stationed outside day and night.

Today, the palace gate was open. There were even more guards outside Nanyuan Palace, and an imperial carriage was parked there, with two rows of eunuchs and inner attendants, who couldn’t stand straight, waiting beside the carriage.

Xie Yuan had come to Nanyuan Palace again.

Emperor Xuanyuan sat on a dragon-carved chair, and Xie Yuan stood before him, still showing some trepidation, just like when he was young and receiving Emperor Xuanyuan’s lectures.

Emperor Xuanyuan said, “Third Lass is good in every way, but she has one fatal flaw: she is too arrogant. It’s fine to let a person like that live a life of leisure and wealth, but if you want to entrust her with important responsibilities, with her temperament, she needs more tempering. You must let her know that nothing in the world is greater than the relationship between ‘monarch and subject.’ Otherwise, if she becomes disloyal one day, the eight thousand Eagle Head Army and the two hundred thousand troops in the Northern Territory that your elder brother left her will become a major hidden danger to you.”

Xie Yuan said, “Father Emperor, the late Marquis of Xuanping commanded forty thousand troops in the Northern Territory back then. Did you ever worry that the late Marquis of Xuanping would one day become a major hidden danger to the court?”

Emperor Xuanyuan said, “I naturally never doubted your elder brother. But Third Lass is not your elder brother.”