Chapter 047 “This mountain is our world” (09/12)
Fan Wenze had the meals set out. “Let’s eat first, then we’ll leave tomorrow.” No matter what happened at home, he would face it with Xie Chenyang. If his family wanted to harm Xie Chenyang, then he would protect him with his body!
“Hmm, do you have many guards under your command?” Xie Chenyang asked suddenly as he ate.
“There are only about ten guards in my house. The others are sent by the court; they will stay behind and continue to follow the new governor. They won’t leave with us.” Fan Wenze thought Xie Chenyang was worried about danger on the road, then said, “Don’t worry, my guards are skilled soldiers.”
Xie Chenyang asked further, “Are they your personal guards or are they your family’s guards? Do they listen to you or your mother?”
Fan Wenze replied seriously, “They are my personal guards and naturally listen to me. Ah-Chen, why do you ask this question?”
He had been raised as a daughter, and was brilliant even from a young age. He had coincidentally met the Second Imperial Daughter and had been acknowledged by her, working under her and earning an official position.
Although his parents were opposed to him becoming an official, the Empress’s grace was so great that they dared not criticize him.
So not only did he become an official, but he also had his own personal guards.
“That’s good.” Xie Chenyang grinned with a wide grin. ”Eat first; let’s go back to our room to talk afterward.”
After they finished eating, the sky was already dark.
Xie Chenyang took Fan Wenze back to his room. “We’re departing tomorrow.”
Fan Wenze: “Right.”
“But not to Yao Country.” In order to prevent his lover from getting angry and hitting him, Xie Chenyang reached out and took him into his arms, quickly adding, “Although your parents dote on you, their preconceived notions are already deep. If you and I go back, what we face is bound to be anything but rosy, and may even end in tragedy.”
Fan Wenze’s body stiffened slightly. He lowered his head to rest his forehead against Xie Chenyang’s shoulder.
“Ah-Ze, I wasn’t joking with you earlier.” Xie Chenyang gently stroked his back. “Let’s build a new country. Slowly but surely, this world will realize that all love is love, and not sinful. When that happens, I’ll bring you home again, okay?”
Realizing his serious tone, Fan Wenze honestly didn’t want to discourage him, but felt compelled to caution him. “Your intentions may be wonderful, but that’s not an easy thing to do. I’ve already said it earlier……”
Xie Chenyang lifted his chin and looked deep into his eyes. “Trust your man, okay?”
Fan Wenze: “…… Okay.”
It’s just… Whatever he wanted to do, he would accompany and help.
Even if Xie Chenyang fails, Fan Wenze will still be there for him.
It’d be like taking him on a field trip.
Xie Chenyang did not see his underlying thoughts, only regarded it as his lover finally believing in himself, and joyfully pounced on him on the bed. He said fondly, “After tomorrow’s departure, we won’t be able to eat meat very conveniently for a short period of time. Tonight, let me have a good meal.”
————
While Xie Chenyang and the others were still asleep, Yan Qi brought his father and his little serving grandchildren with all their possessions out of the dog hole and headed to the Tan family in the civilian area.
Tan Rong had been waiting for them for a long time and hurriedly welcomed them in.
It was just after dawn when there was another knock on the door to the Tan’s courtyard.
Tan Rong welcomed in another youth with clear features and a strong scholarly aura.
The youth’s voice was warm. “My name is Xie Yuqiu.”
After they exchanged names, Xie Yuqiu took out a set of women’s clothes from one of the bags and went into his room to change. After simply combing his hair, he stretched out his hand towards Yan Qi.
Yan Qi put his hand on his palm.
Xie Yuqiu: “Did you bring all the deeds?”
Yan Qi nodded. “I have all the deeds for all the stores and mansions.”
Xie Yuqiu held Yan Qi’s hand and looked at Tan Rong. “I’ll go with Yan Qi to sell all the stores and mansions. You and your brothers go and buy a carriage immediately, pack up all your things, and drive the carriage directly to the alleyway outside the governor’s office and wait there.”
Tan Rong nodded solemnly.
Xie Yuqiu, in his capacity as Yan Qi’s fiancée, led him to the number one wealthy merchant in Lanzhou City.
Of course, they didn’t get to meet the rich merchant man directly, but instead approached the owner of a restaurant run by their family. Straight away, they said that in order to not cheapen their aunt and sister-in-law, they were going to sell all of the stores and mansions that were once owned by the Yan family at a low price.
Urgent sale.
The rich merchant was not present, but it just so happened that his daughter was.
As soon as she saw that the price was very cheap, she instantly thought of the fact that the Yan family no longer had any women to hold up the lintel[mfn]A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case of windows, the bottom span is referred to as a sill, but, unlike a lintel, does not serve to bear a load to ensure the integrity of the wall. Modern-day lintels may be made using prestressed concrete and are also referred to as beams in beam-and-block slabs or as ribs in rib-and-block slabs. These prestressed concrete lintels and blocks can serve as components that are packed together and propped to form a suspended-floor concrete slab. — Wikipedia[/mfn]. She was only afraid that Yan Qi was looking for a wife and master, wanting to sell the family property and leave Blue State City with his wife and master before the clan turned on her.
She didn’t care about that.
As long as the deed reached her, it was her family’s property.
She was quick to buy it all.
Because there wasn’t enough silver money, she even purposely went to other stores to withdraw money.
Xie Chenyang and Fan Wenze woke up early as well.
They ate breakfast and were soon ready to leave.
Shen Shu and Zhao Xiaofeng had already packed Xie Chenyang and Fan Wenze’s luggage in advance.
Fan Wenze called all his personal guards to make sure there were no outsiders in the courtyard and said in a deep voice, “I have a matter that I have been hiding from you. After hearing me out, you are free to stay or go as you please.”
Fourteen of his personal guards kneeled down on one knee. “My lady……”
“Hear me out first.” Fan Wenze held Xie Chenyang’s hand, which was slightly cold. ”I am not a woman. I was weak and sickly when I was young, and a cloud traveler had the idea that I needed to be raised as a woman in order to be well.”
The personal guards were very shocked.
They were all women, influenced by their environment, and more or less unable to accept that their master was unexpectedly a man.
“I have genuine love between me and Ah-Chen, but my family will definitely not agree, so I do not intend to go back to Yao Country on this trip.” Fan Wenze looked at them with the same gentle gaze as usual. “That’s why I am now giving you the freedom to choose for yourselves. If you want to follow me, I won’t treat you poorly; if you don’t want to follow me, you can just go back to Yao Country and find another way.”
Yan Yan and Yan Yu looked at each other and said at the same time, “We’ll follow Your Excellency!”
In fact, they had already made some guesses in private.
They had initially thought that Xie Chenyang had deliberately written Fan Wenze as a man because he was angry with Fan Wenze for restricting him from traveling.
Later on, they had also secretly suspected that, perhaps, what Xie Chenyang had written was true, right?
But they didn’t dare to confirm it all.
Now inexplicably, they found themselves realizing that this was the case.
They had been following Fan Wenze for quite a while and knew of his talent. They had personally witnessed his relationship with Xie Chenyang.
Fan Wenze’s talent was outstanding, and Xie Chenyang’s martial arts skills were, too.
They did not despise them.
And for that reason, they hadn’t thought of leaving them to find another way out.
Yan Yan: It was impossible to leave; she couldn’t leave without learning the master’s sword technique!
Yan Yu: As above.
Soon after, the other personal guards also voiced their intentions.
In the end, only six people stayed and eight left.
Those eight people in the end could not pass this hurdle in their hearts; it was not well accepted to serve a man, and they deeply felt that he had committed the crime of deceiving the Empress. To disguise a man as a female official, they were afraid that once it was known by the Yao Kingdom……
Once the Yao Kingdom learns about it, he will be executed.
The governor who took over–perhaps because she’d been hung out to dry by Fan Wenze for two hours before–did not come to see him off.
Fan Wenze followed Xie Chenyang to the alleyway outside. He looked at Xie Chenyang with slight surprise when he saw the low-profile but carefully luxurious carriages and fine lead horses.
Xie Chenyang jumped onto the first carriage and extended his hand towards him.
Fan Wenze took his hand and used the force to leap up.
Xie Yuqiu was in the second carriage and lifted the curtain with a warm face. “Two gentlemen come over and ride with us.”
Shen Shu and Zhao Xiaofeng got into the second carriage in turn.
There were seven carriages in total.
Xie Chenyang and Fan Wenze occupied one; Yan Qi, Yan father, and Jie Yuqiu, as well as Shen Shu and Zhao Xiaofeng had one; the four Tan brothers had one; Tan father and Tan Xiaodi, as well as the Yan family’s little serving grandchildren had one; and the remaining three were loaded with all kinds of property and materials.
If all six of the personal guards drove, there’d be one car unmanned.
Xie Yuqiu was still wearing women’s clothing; he directly lifted the curtain and walked out to sit down, holding the reins. “I’ll drive this car.”
The seven vehicles drove towards the city gates in great numbers.
The one driving for Xie Chenyang and Fan Wenze was Yan Yan.
Turning to the soldiers guarding the city, he said in a deep voice, “Lady Fan is returning to the Yao Kingdom today.”
The ones guarding the city were soldiers from the Yao Kingdom.
Fan Wenze lifted the curtain of the car and looked out with a bland expression.
Soldier guarding the city: “Open the gate.”
They made it out of the city without incident.
Fan Wenze didn’t sleep well last night. He laid on Xie Chenyang’s lap, closed his eyes, and said softly, “Where are we going?”
Xie Chenyang put his hands over his eyes. “To our new home.”
“We only have six escorts……”
“Don’t be afraid. I can fight one against a hundred.”
Lanzhou City was a city within the Silent Kingdom frontier.
Now that the Silent Kingdom’s border had been broken, Lanzhou City had been captured by the Yao Kingdom.
You Huang had chosen the destination, which was the top of a mountain outside southwest of the border between the two countries.
The mountain was high and rugged, but the top was wide and flat with rocks, bamboo forests, and clear streams.
Xie Chenyang felt Fan Wenze’s breathing gradually calming, withdrew his hand, concerned: [Towering and rugged–may I ask, how do we go up?]
You Huang: “The first time will be a bit tough. I’ll show you the way to go, just get an old-fashioned version of an elevator after you go up. I’ll come up with the blueprints.”
[I and the guards will be fine. I can carry Ah-ze on my back, the Tan brothers should’nt be a problem, but the others…… there’s an old woman among them!]
You Huang: “So my suggestion is that you take the Tan brothers and two guards to go up to make the elevator, and the others stay stationed at the bottom of the mountain first.”
[……Building a country at the top of the mountain…… Well, building a city first, is this really a good idea?]
“How many men do you think you have? As soon as your idea spreads, you will be attacked by the masses. Only that mountain can easily be defended and difficult to attack,” You Huang said calmly.
“When you have enough manpower, use the top of the mountain as the main city, and then set up a city under the mountain, gradually expanding and forming a country of its own.”
[Understood. First occupy the mountain as the king, and then seek the rest.]
“…… That’s also true to a point.”
As they traveled, it was not without encountering bandits or remnants of soldiers.
Anyone who had malicious intent towards them was swatted away by Xie Chenyang one by one.
Yan Qi and the others looked at Xie Chenyang with admiration.
It turned out that men could be this powerful!
If the guards didn’t see it before, they couldn’t wait to ask Xie Chenyang for advice every minute of every day.
They gradually entered the deep mountains.
When the carriage was unable to move forward, Xie Chenyang smoothed out the area with a single swipe of his sword.
Yan Yan: “Admirable!”
Anyway, they arrived under the top of the mountain You Huang chose after almost ten days.
It was midday and the height of summer, but they didn’t feel hot. On the contrary, the gusts of mountain wind were very cool and trees that reached the sky provided dappled shade.
Xie Chenyang pointed at the peaks that could not be seen from the top. “See? This is where our domain is!”
Crowd: “????”
Edit: Krone
Proofread: Choux_choux
