A Single Tie Of Long Hair Seals A Lifelong Commitment - Chapter 81.1

The people on horseback tumbled down one after another.

The Jade Lion shook its mane, walked a circle along the wooden fence, and looked disdainfully at the heroes.

After the warriors in the front had their arms and legs broken, no one dared to enter the arena again.

Xie Yuan’s expression had already soured considerably.

The field fell silent. The Jade Lion strolled leisurely in the center of the arena for a lap, and still, no one stepped forward. After a moment of silence, the eagle-eyed umpire, noticing Liang Qiuting standing up, quickly said, “Does the King of Nanzhou wish to try?”

Liang Qiuting bowed to Xie Yuan and said, “Your Majesty, Nanzhou is a subordinate state of Da Lin, and this King is therefore a subject of Da Lin. Everything still requires the Son of Heaven’s decree. I dare to ask one bold question: If I subdue this beast, will this horse be at my disposal?”

Xie Yuan’s expression slightly eased. He said, “If the King of Nanzhou secures this fine steed, it will naturally be at your disposal.”

“Good.” Liang Qiuting went to the changing room to put on riding attire and started warming up.

Outside the side hall on the cliff, several guards stood watch. Inside the hall were several palace maids serving tea. The area where Xie Wenjun and Chen Liangyu watched the arena was in the fairy pavilion under the rear corridor of the side hall, separated from the front hall by a very long eight-panel nanmu Phoebe zhennan screen.

A slightly older palace maid led a sword-carrying guard from the front of the hall to behind the screen. The guard reported, “Your Highness, the Earl of Chengyang has presented a visiting card, requesting an audience with the Great General.”

After permission was granted, the palace maid took the visiting card, walked around the nanmu, and presented it.

The eight-panel nanmu screen blocked the fairy pavilion where the two women were seated completely. The moment the palace maid crossed that solid barrier, she felt the air here was stifling, inexplicably making her face hot and her heart restless. But a quick glance around didn’t reveal anything amiss. Chen Liangyu and Xie Wenjun sat facing each other, separated by a low table, their attire as proper as if they were attending an early court session.

Xie Wenjun looked at the visiting card first, glanced briefly, and the tri-folded thick paper was then snatched from her hand by Chen Liangyu.

Her action was too smooth and natural. The palace maid standing by was slightly wide-eyed at Chen Liangyu’s presumptuous behavior. This was extremely impolite; to put it seriously, it violated the principle of sovereign-subject hierarchy.

Xie Wenjun seemed not to pursue the matter, nor did she care, appearing even somewhat accustomed to it.

Chen Liangyu read it while scoffing, “This place of yours isn’t very concealed, Your Highness. Everyone knows I’ve returned to Yongdu? Then my wearing a bamboo hat with a veil must be pointless self-deception.”

Xie Wenjun said, “If a bamboo hat with a veil could make people not recognize you, how could that be worthy of your resounding reputation?”

“Then I’d rather not be worthy of it.”

The Earl of Chengyang was an honest person with a fiery temper. At first hearing, the two terms, ‘fiery temper’ and ‘honest,’ seem incompatible, yet he genuinely embodied both.

Because of the Imperial College and the Gu family, Xie Wenjun was at a deadlock with the officials for many days. The Earl of Chengyang spent a lot of time mediating and negotiating. Unfortunately, both sides were hard-headed. It was difficult for him to be a peace broker, and after a few back-and-forths, he couldn’t restrain his fiery temper. He drove his carriage in circles every day in Yongdu, scolding people. He scolded both sides. During those days, any official involved in the matter would detour upon seeing the Earl of Chengyang’s carriage.

He scolded piercingly.

From Wen Xuan coercing Emperor Zhengyuan, Xie Yuan, to issue an edict to abolish the female examination, to the later targeting of the Gu family in Cangnan Hanhong Academy, the true intention was nothing more than to expel the Hanhong faction from the court, engaging in factional strife.

The Earl of Chengyang mixed into both sides but didn’t join either.

When the news of Yao Jifeng’s death arrived, he spent many days traveling around, persuading both sides to reconcile. The deadlock that lasted for many days quickly thawed, partly thanks to him. The final outcome was the acquittal of the Gu family’s grandfather, grandson, and granddaughter, the pardon of the Imperial College students for causing trouble, and the preservation of Lingjiu Academy.

The visiting card was sent by the Earl of Chengyang for his junior relative.

The Yue family, whether the juniors studying at the Imperial College or the officials in court, did not participate in this matter. Therefore, Chen Liangyu respected the Earl of Chengyang. Since the Earl of Chengyang’s visiting card was delivered, she had no reason not to see him.

Xie Wenjun said, “If you don’t want to see him, just let him leave. No need to force yourself.”

“A quick meeting won’t hurt.”

On the other side of the nanmu screen, a high chair was placed in the middle, facing away from the screen. Xie Wenjun sat on it, and Chen Liangyu sat on a side chair next to Xie Wenjun.

Not long after, the young man who had mistakenly shot an arrow earlier was brought in by a guard.

As he got closer, she could see that the boy was handsome, like a growing young pine tree, exuding integrity and resilience from the inside out—a rare type.

Yue Zhengyang knelt on one knee, his voice, still in the process of breaking, said, “Greetings to the Eldest Princess, and respects to the Great General.”

“Why do you seek an audience with the Great General?”

Yue Zhengyang’s lips tightened into a line. He gathered his courage and said, “I wish to become the Great General’s disciple to defend the country.”

Xie Wenjun leaned toward Chen Liangyu, the fabric on her shoulder practically touching Chen Liangyu. She covered her mouth and said, “He’s delivered himself to your doorstep.”

Chen Liangyu uttered a question, “Hmm?”

Yue Zhengyang looked somewhat ashamed, burying his face in his collar. “I originally planned to present the letter of discipleship to the Marquis of Xuanping’s Residence after winning the riding and archery championship, but I got distracted… I know the Great General’s requirements for a student’s aptitude must be extremely high, and I am willing to accept any test.”

Chen Liangyu said, “This General has no intention of taking students.”

Yue Zhengyang stubbornly insisted, “I know it must be difficult to become the Great General’s disciple, but please, Great General, point me in a direction.”

Chen Liangyu looked down at the boy kneeling and refusing to get up, her eyes curved with interest. “Your words are putting me on the spot. If I point you in this direction, and you do well, won’t I have no reason left not to accept you? If I don’t point you in a direction, won’t it seem like I’m deliberately being difficult and unreasonable? I also fear the mouth of your father, the Earl of Chengyang.”

Yue Zhengyang’s face flushed with anxiety. He stammered, “I… I… I didn’t mean that. My father said that I needed to win against the Northern Yong archers in the riding competition before he would have the nerve to personally come and present the letter of discipleship on my behalf. But I was inferior in skill and didn’t win the championship. My father said he was too ashamed to come. I was the one who asked my father to present the visiting card for me. It is Zhengyang who was presumptuous today, not my father’s intention. I ask the Eldest Princess and the Great General to forgive me.”

Chen Liangyu said, “Today was truly due to Northern Yong’s trickery. Your skill is not inferior to others, you shouldn’t belittle yourself. Young Master Yue, please return.”

Yue Zhengyang looked a bit like a frosted eggplant, wilted. Led by the guard, he walked back the way he came, looking back every three steps.

Xie Wenjun, perhaps recalling something, uncharacteristically showed compassion, seemingly pitying Yue Zhengyang. She said, “You pester her a bit more. Maybe one day when she’s in a good mood, she’ll accept you.”

Yue Zhengyang’s face brightened, as if a clear path had been pointed out to him. He bowed in salute, “Thank you, Your Highness the Eldest Princess, for your guidance.”

Chen Liangyu: “I…”

I didn’t say that!

This advice from Xie Wenjun was truly a bad idea.

If Yue Zhengyang truly latched onto her and pestered her, even though he was indeed a good prospect, she would never take such an undisciplined, relentlessly bothersome person as a student.

Looking back at the arena.

Liang Qiuting was swaying precariously on the horseback, about to fall but not quite. Just as he was about to be thrown off, he slapped the horse’s back to spring up, executed a beautiful somersault in the air, and landed firmly back on the saddle.

Chen Liangyu muttered, “He still has some tricks up his sleeve.”

Xie Wenjun said, “A moment ago you praised him as a good prospect, why are you unwilling to accept him?”

Chen Liangyu said, “There are many passionate young men in the world. When young, who isn’t frivolous, dreaming of slaying enemies, serving the country, and achieving fame? But being a military general is not that easy. We’ll see in two years whether it’s a passing whim or a genuine ambition.”

The riding and archery competition for today had ended. Only Liang Qiuting and the Jade Lion remained in the field. There was no longer much to see. Chen Liangyu said, “Let’s go back.”

Xie Wenjun pointed to the Jade Lion and said, “Don’t you want to know who wins the prize?”

“Forget it. It won’t be mine anyway, so there’s no point in looking at it more.”

As she spoke, her gaze wasn’t on the Jade Lion but unconsciously lingered on Xie Wenjun’s face for a moment. Only a moment, then she restrained herself and drew it back.

It was strange.

It was against her will.

Every time they met, the brief and intense joy, like the midday sun, was followed by a long period of dampness. She so admired openness and integrity, yet in this one matter, she lived like a rat in a dark sewer, fearing the light.

Xie Wenjun’s efforts to reform agriculture were bound to pit her against the aristocratic families who occupied the most farmland. Suppressing the aristocratic families required more than just administrative maneuvering; it required military power.

Xie Wenjun did not trust Heng Miao of the Southern Region. Heng Miao also perceived the Eldest Princess’s intention to have Zhao Mingqin share the Southern Region’s military power. Therefore, although he was promoted to command the Southern Region’s troops by Xie Wenjun, he was not loyal to her. Instead, he was more devoted to Xie Yuan, aligning himself more with the emperor.

Relying solely on the Changning Guards and Zhao Mingqin’s Black Armored Army was not enough to suppress the frequent rebellions from so many aristocratic families. Thus, her eight thousand heavy-armored Eagle Head Army and two hundred thousand stationed troops became the biggest bargaining chip Xie Wenjun could grasp.

Chen Liangyu had even felt fortunate that she could use military power as a covert exchange condition to take Xie Wenjun for herself, a boon granted by providence.

How dirty and despicable.

She often felt guilt toward Xie Wenjun.

But the thought of Xie Wenjun becoming someone else’s wife was unbearable, completely unbearable. Not even a male concubine.

Since it was just for warming the bed, why couldn’t it be her?

The person by her pillow, why couldn’t it be her?

Chen Liangyu understood clearly that in this life, she would never have the opportunity to enter into a long-lasting marriage contract with Xie Wenjun.

The twisted, pathological feelings she harbored for Xie Wenjun were destined never to see the light of day.

Then.

It was still acceptable to keep her by her side through this mutually beneficial arrangement.

“What are you thinking about?”

Xie Wenjun reached out her hand. Chen Liangyu then realized her own face was burning hot.

She feigned, “The Jade Lion will be taken away by Liang Qiuting. I’m upset.”

Xie Wenjun lowered her head and smiled. “You rarely desire anything.”

Desire?

Desire what?