TL: Hua
Chapter 66: The Forest – Xiao Pei goes to Enzhou (7)
Pei Xiting was acting crazy again.
This morning, he sat at the table with swollen red eyelids, not knowing how many hundreds of times he’d tossed and turned in bed last night. He held a spoon, stirring a bowl of milk porridge, occasionally lifting it to his mouth, then forgetting to put the spoon back down for a long time.
Yuan Fang knew the Crown Prince had visited last night, taken the little prince, and stayed in Pei Xiting’s room for a while, but he didn’t know what the Crown Prince did to Pei Xiting to make him so disoriented. He hadn’t heard any commotion from outside.
Pei Xiting put the spoon back in the bowl, then scooped up a spoonful of air and fed it into his mouth. Yuan Fang stood by, arms crossed, watching for a moment. Just before Pei Xiting fed a spoonful to his nose, he spoke up in time, “Are you still doing business?”
“Ah.”
Pei Xiting, his mind wandering, subconsciously responded. Seeing this, Yuan Fang reached out and patted Pei Xiting’s head. No reaction. He then reached out and pinched Pei Xiting’s slightly red cheek. This was a different story. Pei Xiting suddenly clapped his hands over his face, turning his head to glare at him, actually looking a little shy.
“…” Yuan Fang understood. “Last night, the Crown Prince pinched your face?”
A pure-hearted boy’s imagination was indeed so limited. Pei Xiting rubbed his face and said, “You don’t know sh*t.”
“I don’t know sh*t, but I know if you don’t eat now, you’ll be yelling about being hungry later,” Yuan Fang said. “There’s no food for you on the mountain. Strong smells are hard to conceal.”
Pei Xiting then remembered that they were going to secretly follow Zong Rui up Mount Damang today. He quickly picked up his bowl, drank the porridge, and got up to get dressed. As he quickly tidied up, he said, “Don’t scare me. What about those people who go on assassination missions at night and still bring a pot of wine?”
“Can you compare yourself to them?” Yuan Fang asked.
The weakling Pei, one who never blamed himself, said coldly, “One shouldn’t blindly compare oneself to others. It’s wrong of you to praise outsiders and disparage me. It makes me very sad. You must correct that behavior.”
Yuan Fang looked gravely at Pei Xiting for a moment and said, “I’m not disparaging you.”
“You’re just speaking the truth, right—” Pei Xiting finished his sentence, already dashing out the door, chasing Yuan Fang, and heading straight for the back gate of the guesthouse.
Since they were going to follow secretly, it was not appropriate to use their own carriage. Pei Xiting, familiar with the area, instructed Yuan Fang to rent an inconspicuous ordinary carriage from a carriage rental service, then turned towards Mount Damang.
The carriage drove past the “Changling Inn.” A window on the second floor gently pushed open, and Yu Shaoyun poked his head out, looking in the direction the carriage left. He said, “Is Pei-wenshu heading to Mount Damang?”
Zong Lu sat formally at his desk practicing calligraphy. Hearing this, he said, “If Pei-wenshu wants to participate in bandit suppression, he can go with the prince. But he’s going to follow secretly by himself. Is he going on some secret mission?”
“What’s it to you?” The Crown Prince put down his teacup. “Practice your calligraphy diligently. I’ll check it when I return.”
Zong Lu softly said, “Where is Fifth Uncle going? Can’t you take me with you?”
“Do you still need me to take you?” The Crown Prince said coolly. “I thought you had your own ideas, with quick feet, fully capable of keeping up with me without my permission.”
At these words, Zong Lu lowered his head and dared not speak. Eunuch Lai and Qing Jiao nearby wished they could lower their heads to their toes.
Especially Eunuch Lai, who had lived half his life and witnessed all kinds of scheming and vicious tricks, yet ended up falling into a trap and being drugged by the little prince!
In silence, the Crown Prince strode out of the room. Yu Shaoyun patted Eunuch Lai’s shoulder, giving him a look that said, “If there’s a next time, you old fossil are finished,” and quickly followed the Crown Prince.
Zong Lu turned to look at the door, which had opened and closed again, deep in thought.
Eunuch Lai, carrying a porcelain pot, poured him a cup of milk and said, “My little ancestor, please don’t get any more ideas. Be careful, His Highness might really break your leg.”
“At least Fifth Uncle won’t break my head. Besides,” Zong Lu thought for a moment, “Pei-wenshu will plead for me, right?”
Eunuch Lai sighed when he heard Pei Xiting mentioned, saying, “Oh, you’re wrong there. Pei-wenshu is both unruly and disciplined. For ordinary matters, he would most likely plead for you to His Highness. But if you truly make His Highness angry enough to break your leg, Pei-wenshu most likely won’t say anything inappropriate in front of His Highness.”
“And if His Highness were to break your leg, Pei-wenshu wouldn’t even know,” Qing Jiao said. “So, you’d better practice your calligraphy. If His Highness checks it and it’s not good, you’ll have to keep writing tomorrow.”
Zong Lu pursed his lips, sighed, drank the hot milk, and continued to diligently practice calligraphy.
Eunuch Lai breathed a sigh of relief at this and was about to move away from the desk when Zong Lu stopped writing again. The eunuch’s eyelid twitched. He smiled slightly and said, “What is it?”
“Last night, I observed that Pei-wenshu doesn’t seem to care for Fifth Uncle,” Zong Lu thought for a moment, then nodded and said, “He even threw a tantrum at Fifth Uncle and wanted to drive Fifth Uncle away.”
The little prince was truly obsessed with exploring the relationship between his Fifth Uncle and Pei-wenshu. Eunuch Lai smiled and said, “But His Highness was not angry.”
“Not only was Fifth Uncle not angry, but he also sent me away and stayed in the room for a long time. When the candlelight went out, I thought Fifth Uncle would come out, but he didn’t; he remained in the room. After a while, Fifth Uncle finally emerged. Although his expression was as usual, I secretly observed him in the carriage and thought he was in a much better mood than when we arrived. Furthermore, Fifth Uncle also seemed to be in a daze, as if he was savoring something wonderful.” Zong Lu pondered, “So, Fifth Uncle and Pei-wenshu had a disagreement and a quarrel, but last night they talked through the night by candlelight and made up, right?”
Eunuch Lai smiled mysteriously but didn’t voice his own suspicion that His Highness and Pei-wenshu must have done something only adults could do, at least half of it!
Children shouldn’t hear such things, so Eunuch Lai could only say, “Most likely.”
Zong Lu said with satisfaction, “Then it seems I did a good deed. My appearance prompted them to reconcile.”
It could lead to more love or more hate. Eunuch Lai naturally couldn’t confirm if His Highness and Pei-wenshu had reconciled, but he didn’t want to discourage the little prince, so he nodded and said, “Indeed.”
Zong Lu had tossed and turned sleeplessly last night, partly due to guilt for coming to Enzhou without permission, unsure how Fifth Uncle would punish him, and partly pondering the relationship between Fifth Uncle and Pei-wenshu. Now, seeing Eunuch Lai, who had ample life experience, also agree with his conclusions, he finally felt relieved, with only one question remaining for now.
“Oh, by the way,” Zong Lu looked at Eunuch Lai, “Say, will Pei-wenshu become my fifth aunt… Uncle?”
“Well,” Eunuch Lai said awkwardly, “Who can say for sure? Do you hope Pei-wenshu will?”
Zong Lu said, “I hope Fifth Uncle is happy. I hope he has someone he loves and who loves him back.”
Eunuch Lai smiled gently at his words and said, “His Highness has deep blessings. He will.”
*
“Ah-choo—”
Pei Xiting sneezed, rubbing his nose unhappily. He leaned to the carriage door and said, “Where are we now?”
“Almost at the foot of the mountain,” Yuan Fang said. “There are Enzhou Camp guards at the foot of the mountain. Get ready, we’ll take a detour up the mountain.”
Pei Xiting said, “Alright,” pushed open the door, squatted beside Yuan Fang, and asked, “Is that person in the shadows still here today?”
“Yes,” Yuan Fang said. “Today he’s not as secretive.”
Pei Xiting smiled and said, “Perhaps because a certain Crown Prince understood my veiled insinuations last night, so today he’s just being open about it.”
He had hesitated for a moment last night but decided not to tell Yuan Fang about Fu Wei being in Enzhou yet. After all, with the Crown Prince blocking him, that creditor hadn’t made any moves for now. Yuan Fang, that brave kid, only looked tense when the creditor was mentioned, clearly very wary. If he knew, he’d probably be constantly on edge.
Pei Xiting had already thought it through: if the Crown Prince couldn’t stop him and the creditor came knocking, he’d rush out and use a move called “wild punches kill the old master.” Yuan Fang had excellent qinggong[mfn]A training technique from Chinese martial arts that literally translates to “lightness skill.” Basically he could fly around like in C drama.[/mfn], and that one instant would be enough for him to escape.
On a treetop, Fu Wei lightly sneezed, raising an eyebrow. “Who’s thinking of me?”
The Crown Prince stood by, saying, “Someone cursing you would be more fitting.”
Fu Wei said, “I’m kindly following you, and this is how you treat me?”
“Don’t try to fish in troubled waters,” the Crown Prince said coolly. “Yuan Fang has to follow Pei Xiting.”
Fu Wei smiled and said, “Don’t you think it’s unreasonable to ask an assassin to be a bodyguard?”
“The assassin volunteered to be Pei Xiting’s bodyguard,” the Crown Prince added. “Fifty taels a month.”
“How much?” In the immortal corridor, fifty taels wasn’t even enough to fill a tooth gap, let alone for a top assassin like Yuan Fang?
Fu Wei frowned slightly, “That little brat wouldn’t really have a crush on Pei Xiting, would he?”
The Crown Prince felt displeased hearing this but still said, “You are very superficial. Not all feelings in the world are about love.”
“If someone else said that, I’d listen. If you say it, I’ll just take it as a joke,” Fu Wei smiled. “Please, Your Royal Highness, recite that sentence a thousand times before going to bed and after waking up each day. Comfort yourself first, then spout it to fool others.”
Yu Shaoyun, beside them, was already too lazy to “mediate” or comfort his own Highness. He had come to understand that this jealousy, unlike other food and drink, once it enters the throat, it permeates the flesh. It cannot be rinsed clean or expelled; it churns within the body from time to time.
Suddenly, Yu Shaoyun saw something and softly said, “Pei-wenshu is here.”
The Crown Prince was too lazy to refute Fu Wei further and looked in Yu Shaoyun’s direction. He saw Pei Xiting, with a ponytail and green robes, darting through the forest with Yuan Fang.
Pei Xiting didn’t know qinggong, but he was light-footed. When he ran, his ponytail swayed like dark waves, and his clothes fluttered like tree shadows, a truly agile and graceful sight.
The two crouched behind a large rock by a small cliff. Pei Xiting shuffled along the ground in a squatting position, like a turtle.
The Crown Prince watched this “Turtle’s Stealth Record” with interest until Pei Xiting reached out and clutched Yuan Fang’s back, intimately pressing their heads together.
The Crown Prince’s lips tightened, and the smile on his face vanished instantly.
Yu Shaoyun secretly sighed.
Pei Xiting didn’t know he was being sharply critiqued. He squeezed past Yuan Fang and peered out from behind the large rock.
The military advisor of the Enzhou camp had the bandits semi-surrounded. Zong Rui stood at the very front, with Hui Dou and Zong An behind him. Immediately after, Zhang Dazhuang’s voice echoed through the valley: “I have a letter of appeal; I humbly ask the prince to review it!”
This was an unexpected move. Zong An slightly narrowed his eyes, looking at Zhang Dazhuang with surprise and uncertainty, but said nothing.
Hui Dou subtly furrowed his brow, then leaned closer to Zong Rui and said, “Prince, the bandits are cruel and cunning; you must not trust their words. It’s better to directly order their suppression.”
Zong Rui didn’t answer Hui Dou. He looked at Zhang Dazhuang and said, “If it’s an appeal, just say it directly.”
Zhang Dazhuang remembered Pei Xiting’s instructions and said, “Prince, please understand, what we wish to say is truly too shocking. If it were to get out, it would certainly cause trouble in Enzhou. We humbly request you to decide after reading it. I can present the letter of appeal to you alone. If I make any sudden move, Prince, feel free to execute me before your horse!”
Hui Dou frowned and said, “Prince, absolutely do not let the bandit get close! If he becomes violent—”
“Aren’t you here?” Zong Rui tilted his head to look at Hui Dou, his gaze lingering slightly before returning. “Besides, are you suggesting I should fear this bandit?”
For some reason, Hui Dou felt Zong Rui’s gaze was strange, as if it contained something ambiguous and very dangerous. He subconsciously glanced at Zong An, who was looking straight ahead, his expression normal.
Hui Dou quickly withdrew his gaze, suppressing the guilt in his heart, and said, “Hui Dou will naturally protect the prince with his life, and the prince naturally doesn’t fear mere bandits, but the prince’s safety is immensely important and cannot be taken lightly!”
“If I feared danger, I should have stayed in King Ning’s mansion, being a docile prince enjoying endless glory and wealth. Why would I bother coming out here?” Zong Rui didn’t want to say more. He told Zhang Dazhuang, “Present your letter of appeal.”
Zhang Dazhuang held up the letter with both hands and walked step by step to Zong Rui’s horse. He raised his hands above his head and said in a deep voice, “Prince, please be discerning!”
Zong Rui drew his saber, turned his hand, and the blade slid across Zhang Dazhuang’s wrists, catching the letter of appeal. He glanced at Zhang Dazhuang, then lowered his head to look at the letter. The small, crooked characters on the paper densely detailed the crimes of Prefect Li Da and the reasons for Damang Mountain turning into a bandit camp.
Zong Rui’s brows subtly furrowed.
Zhang Dazhuang knelt and kowtowed, saying, “Prince, please be discerning!”
All the bandits not far away knelt down and kowtowed in unison.
Zong Rui closed the letter of appeal, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly tilted his head to look at Zong An, saying, “Mother asked you to accompany me on this trip. Now that these bandits have an injustice to air, what do you think?”
Zong An was startled. He glanced at Zhang Dazhuang and softly said, “It’s just one side of the story; it cannot be fully trusted, let alone from bandits.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Dazhuang’s eyes darted around. The clear, beautiful voice echoed in his mind:
“If you publicly present your grievance to the prince, Zong An will definitely be unwilling, because then he won’t be able to offer you leverage, and you’ll no longer be useful to him. Your deal will fall through. At this point, you should take the stage and lead your deal to continue in a different way.”
Zong Rui seemed pensive, but he caught sight of Zhang Dazhuang slightly tilting his head to look in Zong An’s direction. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Since you have a grievance, I cannot ignore it. However, this matter is significant, and I cannot easily trust your one-sided account. Are you willing to return with me? I will investigate the matter thoroughly, and then you can confront the person you are accusing face-to-face”
Zhang Dazhuang said without hesitation, “I am willing!”
“Good. I will not suppress you today, but I will surround you. Before the matter is clarified, no one on the mountain is allowed to descend. Any unusual movement will result in immediate execution.” Zong Rui swept his gaze over the bandits not far away. “Is that clear?”
The bandits responded unevenly. Zong Rui called over the deputy general of the Enzhou camp and said, “Without my order, no one is allowed to harm anyone.”
The deputy general saluted in agreement, not daring to ask more.
Zong Rui reined his horse, turned, and rode a short distance before suddenly stopping.
Hui Dou approached and said, “Prince, what’s wrong?”
“The Enzhou camp consists of local soldiers from Enzhou; their backgrounds aren’t fully known. If what the letter of appeal says is true, the Enzhou camp cannot be entirely trusted right now, especially since Su Fan died suddenly and the new deputy magistrate hasn’t taken office yet.” Zong Rui looked at the eight accompanying guards and instructed, “You all stay on Damang Mountain and supervise the Enzhou camp for me. If there’s any unusual movement, report it to me immediately.”
Hui Dou’s eyes flickered. He said, “Prince, if you leave them, who will escort you back?”
“I have more people at the foot of the mountain; they can escort me back.” Zong Rui tugged the reins. “Let’s go.”
Zhang Dazhuang quickly followed. As he brushed past Zong An, he quickly glanced at him and nodded, then followed Zong Rui’s horse without looking back.
Zong An was stunned, his brow slightly furrowed. He had thought Zhang Dazhuang might have temporarily backed out and stopped their deal, but now it seemed Zhang Dazhuang had other arrangements.
According to the original plan, they would seize the opportunity when the two sides were at odds to help Zhang Dazhuang kill Zong Rui. The situation would be chaotic, and he would immediately kill Zhang Dazhuang to silence him and eliminate Damang Mountain. As for Hui Dou, he would naturally find a good opportunity for him to “willingly sacrifice himself for his master.” This way, upon returning to Yejing, the responsibility for killing Prince Ning would naturally fall on Zhang Dazhuang and Damang Mountain. At most, he would only be blamed for insufficient protection.
Zong An wasn’t entirely without suspicion of Zhang Dazhuang. This bandit leader seemed simple-minded, not like someone capable of scheming; otherwise, he wouldn’t have trusted his words. Their private dealings had been extremely secretive, and with Hui Dou watching Zong Rui, it was impossible for him to have detected anything in advance and acted to trick them.
And indeed, now was a good opportunity. The eight accompanying guards remained in place, and the other escorts were all at the foot of the mountain. At this moment, with only four people in their group, Zong Rui was isolated and helpless. If he killed Zong Rui and then Zhang Dazhuang, no one could expose him, but how could he completely clear himself of any connection after returning?
Zong An was hesitant. At this moment, something unexpected happened: Zong Rui suddenly fell from his horse. He immediately dismounted and went to help Zong Rui, worriedly asking, “Brother, what’s wrong?”
Zong Rui leaned against Zong An, feeling dizzy. He suddenly extended both hands and saw a needle prick mark clearly visible on his left palm.
Zong Rui looked up, his gaze sharp as he looked at Zhang Dazhuang. “It was you.”
“It was me. I pricked a needle in the back of the appeal letter, barely a millimeter long, so tiny you might not even notice it if you looked closely. Even if it pierced the skin, it would only feel like a mosquito bite. But the needle was soaked in poison overnight. Although not fatal, it can make your head foggy and your body lose strength.” Zhang Dazhuang’s demeanor changed. He gritted his teeth and said, “Don’t think you can fool me! I’ve heard of your deed. Aren’t you just relying on suppressing bandits to get promoted in the Ministry of War? You wouldn’t listen to my appeal; you clearly want to trick me away, secretly kill me, and then order the killing of all the bandits to cover up all your crimes! All you officials have each other’s backs; you think I don’t know that?!”
Zong Rui sneered, “If you kill me now, all of you will die.”
“We’re all going to die anyway and be suppressed by the court as vicious bandits. I might as well do something truly vicious, so at least I won’t die in vain!” Zhang Dazhuang said, pulling out the short saber from his waist and lunging forward.
In a flash of lightning, Zong An also lunged forward, was cut on the arm, and was kicked away. He fell to the ground with a grunt, and when he looked up, he quickly exchanged glances with Hui Dou.
“…” Hui Dou gripped his saber hilt, his fingers trembling slightly.
Though Zong Rui was drugged, he wouldn’t let himself be slaughtered. He rolled on the ground to dodge Zhang Dazhuang’s incoming blow and kicked the man away.
Zhang Dazhuang stumbled back two steps and was embraced around the waist by Zong An, who had gotten back up.
“Brother,” Zong An’s arm was gushing blood. He held Zhang Dazhuang with all his might and urgently said, “Brother, hurry and go!”
Zhang Dazhuang cursed, then elbowed Zong An, knocking him unconscious, and brutally kicked him away. He wiped his face and lunged at Zong Rui again.
The two fought for a few moves. Zong Rui kicked Zhang Dazhuang’s ankle. As the man cried out in pain and stumbled, Zong Rui lunged forward with all his might, holding his saber horizontally to slash at Zhang Dazhuang’s neck. Zhang Dazhuang parried with his dagger. His blood rushed to his head, his face flushed, and he gritted his teeth, “Hurry up and make your move!”
His sharp shout made Hui Dou grit his teeth. He fiercely drew his saber and swung it at the back of Zong Rui’s neck!
Zong Rui had his back to the enemy, completely defenseless, and having been drugged, he had no time to dodge or resist. Hui Dou even turned his eyes away slightly, but the next moment, he felt a pain in his chest, and when he lowered his eyes, he saw a sleeve arrow piercing his flesh from behind.
“Clang!”
The saber precariously slipped from Hui Dou’s hand and fell. Zhang Dazhuang blocked it with his arm, preventing it from harming Zong Rui. Hui Dou looked at Zhang Dazhuang in disbelief, then suddenly a thought flashed through his mind. He shifted his gaze to meet Zong Rui’s eyes, who had turned around. Zong Rui’s eyes were clear and bright, showing no signs of being drugged.
They had unwittingly stepped into a trap!
Zong Rui’s gaze was somewhat complex. Hui Dou dared not look directly at him and collapsed to his knees, losing his strength. He turned his head. Pei Xiting was walking unhurriedly towards them, his left hand still fiddling with the sleeve arrow on his right hand.
“So accurate,” Pei Xiting reached out and patted Yuan Fang’s shoulder. “My Fang’s craftsmanship is exquisite.”
Yuan Fang remained unperturbed, politely saying, “Young Master never misses.”
Tree shadows swayed and overlapped. Startled by the sound of something cutting through the air, birds flapped their wings and flew away.
A young man stood behind the tree, gazing at the distant figure in green. He said, “Pei Xiting… he’s truly not simple.”
He smiled and then slowly said, “They all say he’s a rare beauty, stunningly handsome, but who knew he also had other strengths? No wonder he caught the Crown Prince’s eye.”
The last half of his sentence was spoken even softer, almost a whisper, yet it contained an inexplicable joy.
The attendant couldn’t see the man’s expression through the curtain, so he could only say, “Master, don’t you like Pei Xiting? You said before that you would find a chance to take a good look at him, and if you liked him, you would turn him into a beautiful lantern.”
“I just wanted to see what kind of person could earn the Crown Prince’s favor, inexplicably accompanying the Crown Prince to his manor in Chaohua Mountain.” The man clicked his tongue. “I initially thought he was just using his looks to serve. After all, no matter how indifferent the Crown Prince is to beauty, he’s still a normal man. But now it seems Pei Xiting also has some capabilities.”
The attendant said, “Does Master mean…?”
“Notify the people hidden on the mountain,” the man said. “Tell them to all move out and kill Pei Xiting.”
The attendant was startled and hesitated, saying, “The person next to Pei Xiting is not easy to deal with. We might lose a lot of our people. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until Pei Xiting is alone?”
“He comes and goes with Zong Rui. When will you have the opportunity you speak of? Once he returns to Yejing, it will be even harder to act.” The man said, “He’s gradually gaining a firm foothold in the Longhe Division. Who knows if he’ll ride this big ship into the East Palace someday? If he rises to power, won’t we have to sacrifice even more people?”
But Pei Xiting was not of noble birth; he traveled without guards or an entourage, and he himself was not a martial artist. If they sought an opportunity, it wasn’t impossible to find one. The attendant guessed the man wanted to kill Pei Xiting for other reasons and cautiously said, “Is he worth sacrificing so many lives?”
This was actually a question, asking the man why he was so determined to kill Pei Xiting at this moment.
The man raised his hand to pull back the veil that had been blown open by the wind, revealing a small portion of his fair and beautiful face. His lips curved upwards as he said, “Who told him to be so handsome and not a fool either?”
Beauty that could topple cities was nothing more than a skeleton, and intelligence was not uncommon. Yet he possessed both. The man said, “He’s getting closer and closer to the Crown Prince. Who knows if he’ll climb into the Crown Prince’s bed someday? At that point, it will be even harder to kill him.”
The attendant dismissed it, saying, “Even so, he’d just be a disreputable plaything.”
“You don’t understand His Highness. He never keeps ‘playthings.’ Anything that belongs to him is never ‘disreputable’.” The man chuckled. “He even dared to imprison his own father. What else wouldn’t he dare to do? If Pei Xiting truly has that capability, perhaps he might even become the Crown Princess someday.”
He sighed and said, “How can that be?”
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