Seeing the uninvited visitor through the gap in the door, Bi Luo’s brow tightened, and she sucked in a breath of cold air.
Her mind suddenly turned rapidly, and she called out to Chen Shi outside the door in refusal: “Her Highness is feeling unwell today. Please allow this servant to go announce you first.”
The group of guards did not act rashly. Bi Luo hurried upstairs, wrapped her arm around Fu Ying, and ran back into the room, tightly shutting the doors on both sides.
“Young lady, yesterday you also concluded that this young master is one of Great Yong’s powerful nobles… what should we do?”
Wen Zhuo was lying on the bed behind the screen. Bi Luo lowered her voice and whispered into Fu Ying’s ear, her voice trembling slightly from tension.
“He and I met by chance, with no grudge or grievance between us. I will definitely save him.”
Fu Ying’s fingertips had already turned cold and pale, her nails even digging a few drops of blood from her palm. “My foster father has already seized the position of Khan, showing such ruthlessness, I too must find another way out for myself, so that I am not left scrambling to save myself at the last, most desperate moment.”
Bi Luo went pale with shock: “If Commander Chen discovers that you are secretly harboring one of Great Yong’s forces right now, and adds the charge of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, whatever will we do?”
Bi Luo was not exaggerating, once Chen Shi discovered Wen Zhuo’s presence, no one in this household would escape death.
Fu Ying pressed her lips together and steadied herself, quickly forming a plan.
She leaned close to Bi Luo’s ear and quietly told her what to do, instructing her to go prepare the items needed.
Fu Ying returned to the bedside and saw that Wen Zhuo had already sat up, being attended by Fu Sang as he drank his medicine. She hurried forward and took the porcelain bowl and the spoon holding the medicinal soup that had been raised to Wen Zhuo’s lips.
This medicine could not be finished, she still needed it to cover their tracks.
“Young master.”
The tone in which she called him was somewhat heavy, revealing just how dire the current situation was.
“Soldiers have come from the Northern Di palace, wanting to search this lowly woman’s house for evidence. I have held them off outside the gate for now…”
A bolt of lightning seemed to flash through his mind, and Wen Zhuo’s handsome face was instantly covered in a dark, chilling air, as though draped in a thick, heavy cloud.
He had only just regained consciousness not long ago, his strength and martial skill nowhere near even three-tenths of their usual level. He might not even be able to lift his own saber, Longya, and was no match at all for those sturdy military officers.
Just now, he had already deduced from many small details that Fu Ying was of the Northern Di, and that his own identity was naturally opposed to her country, he was bound to bring her a great deal of trouble.
If Fu Ying, to protect herself, were to give him up, he would have no complaint at all.
Yesterday, she had saved him from fire and water, no matter what, he could not let her innocent life be dragged down because of him.
If he could live just half a day longer, having met such a woman, proud and unyielding as frost on snow, this life would not have been in vain.
Having made up his mind, Wen Zhuo took a deep breath, his fingers curling into a fist. “Miss need not worry about me…”
Fu Ying cut him off first: “I have a way to keep the young master alive. It will only require you to endure some discomfort for a while.”
Wen Zhuo looked at her in disbelief, his ink-black pupils trembling.
What she had said… was it true?
The resolute thought of going to his death that had filled him a moment ago was shattered by her words, and even in his heart, filled with despair, a faint glimmer of dawn seemed to show through.
……
Chen Shi and his men stood waiting quietly in the snow.
Several horses stamped their hooves one after another in the cold wind, their tails swishing back and forth restlessly, revealing the impatience in everyone’s hearts.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, some sound finally came from within the courtyard.
“Her Highness is unwell and is still resting in bed. My apologies for keeping Commander Chen waiting so long.”
Bi Luo came trotting over in small steps and lifted the heavy door bar, but before she could pull the door open, the guards outside shoved it open forcefully and barged into the courtyard.
“Ah……”
Bi Luo was knocked back, her arm going numb from the impact. Gritting her teeth and holding her arm, she was unable to stop them in time, and could only watch helplessly as Chen Shi, his face like iron, led the group of guards straight toward the main room on the second floor.
“Your Highness, Right Guard Commander Chen Shi has come to pay his respects!”
What answered Chen Shi’s forceful announcement was a faint, feeble whisper: “Come in.”
Two guards stepped forward and pushed the door open, and Chen Shi strode in with his head held high.
The room was well supplied with charcoal, warm as spring even in the depths of winter. In the incense burner, “spring tidings in snow” incense was burning, its light smoke rising along with a cool, faint fragrance.
Only, mixed in with that fragrance was a slightly bitter smell of medicine.
Chen Shi’s thick brows furrowed as he stepped past the screen. Without bowing in greeting, he stared straight at the woman curled up on the bed.
Fu Ying’s face was pale, her lips purple, dark circles under her eyes showing the suffering of a sleepless night, making her sickly appearance seem all the more convincing.
“Cough, cough—”
The cold air from outside struck her face directly, and Fu Ying hurriedly covered her mouth with a handkerchief, coughing uncontrollably.
Her fair, exquisite cheeks flushed red. “My foster father ordered the Guard Commander to come see me… cough, cough, I am grateful in my heart, but did not expect my body to be so weak that I could not rise to greet you…”
Chen Shi did not respond, narrowing his eyes to closely examine the furnishings of the room.
The lingering medicinal smell came from the bowl of medicinal soup placed by the bedside, nothing appeared out of place there.
“Last night, a remnant of Great Yong’s forces vanished without a trace right out in these outskirts. I imagine, you already know the purpose of my visit here today.”
He got straight to the point, not bothering even to maintain a show of respect toward Fu Ying, a princess whose power was far diminished from before.
Amid a continuous fit of coughing, Fu Ying said with difficulty, “Does the Commander mean…?”
Chen Shi neither confirmed nor denied it, going along with the moment: “This official, considering that you are still young in years, will report to the Khan for lenient treatment across the board, if you are willing to hand the person over yourself.”
Ha—
A mocking smile rose to the corner of Fu Ying’s lips, as though she had just heard the most absurd joke in this world.
This man, once a nameless deputy officer of no standing, had come today to “pay his respects,” yet had not only failed to bow but was even putting on airs, climbing right over her head.
Furthermore, to catch a thief one needs the stolen goods, to catch adultery one needs both parties caught together [1]to catch a thief one needs the stolen goods, to catch adultery one needs both parties caught together (zhuo zei jian zang, zhuo jian jian shuang, 捉賊見贓，捉奸見雙) Idiom, an accusation … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3270266_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3270266_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, yet without a shred of evidence, he was pinning a crime on her.
The light in Fu Ying’s eyes dimmed. “I have been minding my own business here all this while, and have never seen any suspicious person. This crime of treason that the Commander speaks of is truly more than I can bear.”
Although she wore a sickly expression, there was no trace of timidity in her tone.
Chen Shi’s eyes narrowed slightly. “In that case, then this official will have to search the house.”
Fu Ying said nothing, seeming to be calculating something in her mind.
Chen Shi grew all the more certain, his hand slowly gripping the hilt of the saber at his waist as he pressed forward step by step: “What, does Your Highness refuse?”
“I do not refuse. It is only that—”
Fu Ying changed her tone: “This is my private residence. If the Commander wishes to search it without an imperial decree from the Khan, what then, if nothing is found?”
He gave a disdainful snort and blurted out, “Then this official will go bind thorns to my back and beg the Khan’s forgiveness [2]go bind thorns to my back and beg the Khan’s forgiveness (fu jing qing zui, 負荊請罪) Idiom, to humbly submit to punishment as an admission of fault jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3270266_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3270266_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, and submit to whatever punishment Northern Di law prescribes.”
Having received this answer, Fu Ying finally nodded in relief, and with Fu Sang’s support, rose with difficulty and slowly made her way to sit at the table.
Once Chen Shi gave the order, the guards spared no effort, carrying themselves as though they would dig three feet into the ground to find their man, searching wildly through every corner of the residence, the second-floor main room, the east and west side rooms, and the hidden chamber underground.
The clattering sound of drawers and chests being overturned came one after another, and the previously neat furniture and furnishings were thrown into disarray by the group of rough men, leaving a mess wherever they passed.
Chen Shi stood off to one side, surveying with confidence the guards searching frantically through the room.
Bi Luo and Fu Sang were so angry their teeth clenched, but Fu Ying’s eyes stared straight ahead, her expression calm, without a ripple.
One guard gradually searched his way to the wardrobe in the corner, and Fu Ying’s breathing quickened, swallowing nervously.
This subtle, abnormal movement did not escape Chen Shi’s hawk-like eyes.
He suddenly drew his blade and stepped forward, shoving the subordinate aside with one hand, and after a moment of stillness, he abruptly flung the wardrobe door open without warning.
……
Inside the wardrobe, a number of women’s garments were neatly folded, along with some wooden boxes holding valuables, not a single trace of a person.
Seeing his flustered look at having come up empty, Fu Ying secretly laughed to herself.
Knowing he had been made a fool of, Chen Shi ground his teeth in anger and shouted furiously at his men, “Search more carefully!”
A quarter hour later.
“Reporting, my lord, no one in the east side room!”
“My lord, no one in the west side room either!”
“My lord, no one in the main room!”
Every report that came back from his men was the same, nothing found.
How could this be……?
Chen Shi’s overbearing face turned somewhat ashen.
He had never expected such a result, his scalp prickling as he stood rooted to the spot, not daring to move.
“Commander Chen—”
Fu Ying’s voice, suddenly ringing out, gave Chen Shi a violent jolt, his heart pounding rapidly.
“What was it you said just now?”
She stared fixedly at Chen Shi’s sweat-slicked profile, her words measured and deliberate, as though intent on pouring out every last bit of the resentment she had just endured.
“Thud—”
A pair of knees slammed to the ground with a great crash.
Chen Shi knelt at Fu Ying’s feet to beg forgiveness, his voice trembling: “Your Highness, this official……”
Seeing their commanding officer already kneeling with his head bowed, the row of guards standing beside him knelt as well, trembling with fear.
Before coming, Chen Shi had been certain he would find evidence of the princess harboring an enemy here, and win great merit in Shang Zhi’s eyes.
For this reason, acting on his brazen, self-indulgent nature, he had shown Fu Ying no respect or courtesy whatsoever.
Yet now, with the facts laid bare before him, they had found no one, not only had his beautiful dream turned to nothing, he now had to pay the price for his own recklessness.
Unmoved, Fu Ying raised her chin coldly, each word bitten out with the weight of a thousand jun: “Under Northern Di law, slandering a princess is a crime of gross disrespect, punishable by beheading!”
“No—”
Chen Shi, terrified out of his wits, dared not listen further, and knocked his head against the ground before Fu Ying again and again.
“This official was confused for a moment and spoke without thinking, I beg Your Highness’s forgiveness! This official has an aged mother at home. I beg Your Highness… to spare this official’s life!”
He was trembling like chaff being sifted [3]trembling like chaff being sifted (dou ru kang shai, 抖如糠篩) Idiom, trembling violently out of fear jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3270266_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3270266_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, a completely different man from the arrogant, sturdy soldier of before.
Contempt and disdain showed through in the depths of Fu Ying’s eyes, and behind her, Bi Luo and Fu Sang were secretly rolling their eyes at him as well.
She had always looked down on those who fawned on the powerful and trampled the weak, and so she used what authority she still held to intimidate Chen Shi into submission.
But since the man was her foster father’s trusted subordinate, she could not push things to the extreme, or it would mean openly making an enemy of the Khan.
“For today’s matter, I can spare your life. Only……”
Fu Ying raised her lowered lids, her sharp gaze seeming as though it would cut Chen Shi to pieces: “You and all your men are to leave this courtyard at once, and kneel outside the front gate for two full hours before you may rise.”
Realizing that his head would remain on his shoulders, Chen Shi kowtowed again and again, uttering several rounds of “Thank you, Your Highness,” before he and his men hurried out of the house in a panic.
Once that motley crew had gone far off, only then did Fu Ying sit up straight, straightening her spine and dropping the sickly pretense.
Her haggard complexion and the dark circles under her eyes had all been faked with powder and dark pigment, put on especially for Chen Shi to see.
This way, she could give a reasonable excuse for the thick smell of medicine lingering in the room.
Fu Ying ordered Bi Luo to stand watch outside the room, then put on the Nuo mask herself, and together with Fu Sang, dragged the wardrobe, left in disarray from the search, forward, revealing a small mechanism set into the corner of the wall behind it.
She gently twisted the round stone at the center of the mechanism, and the wall beside it suddenly shuddered, retreating back in the shape of half a door.
When her father had built this residence, to guard against assassin attacks, he had had a hidden chamber built into the wall in one corner of the second floor, just large enough to hold one person, completely soundproofed from the rest of the house.
Now, this hidden chamber had done Fu Ying and Wen Zhuo a great favor.
“Young master, you can come out now.”
Hearing the signal that it was safe, Wen Zhuo braced his hands against the wall, struggling to pull his body out of the hidden chamber, his brow tightly knit, his expression one of great pain.
He stood over eight chi tall, his frame large and imposing, and could only fit into that far-too-small space by twisting his limbs into extreme contortions.
“Thank you, miss……”
Before he had even finished speaking, his body pitched straight forward.
Seeing something was wrong, Fu Ying and Fu Sang hurried forward to support his massive frame.
“Young master, are you all right?”
Wen Zhuo’s body instinctively leaned toward Fu Ying, his long arm bracing across her shoulders, only barely managing to steady himself.
“Cough, cough—”
He looked utterly worn out, one hand pressing hard against his chest, letting out a fit of coughing so violent it seemed it would nearly burst his lungs.
Drops of crimson blood ran down the corner of his mouth, falling onto Fu Ying’s pure white dress, spreading in a hazy bloom, looking exactly like delicate petals fallen into the snow.
From outside came the sound of heavy footsteps, growing closer, shattering the brief quiet within the room.
“Who’s there?!”
Before Fu Ying could even check the extent of Wen Zhuo’s injury, this sudden turn of events made her entire body freeze in place.
Could it be that Chen Shi had not left after all, had heard the commotion inside, and had turned back?
She spun around in alarm to look toward the screen, every hair on her body standing on end, her breath catching completely.
References[+]