7
Now, regarding Huo Pingxiao’s father, Huo Lang. Since childhood, he had been frail and sickly, suffering from a malignant leg disease. His temperament was sinister and perverse, yet he possessed earth-shaking talent and harbored grand strategies and brilliant plans in his heart.
Born into a noble family of marquises, his bearing was dignified, elegant, and incomparably handsome. Thus, even before being appointed Chancellor by the emperor, the young Huo Lang was already a renowned scholar with disciples and former subordinates scattered across the land. Ambitious young men from various supervisory circuits of the Great Li, upon entering official service, willingly became Huo Lang’s advisors and retainers.
Although officials in the Great Li entered service through imperial examinations, the power of aristocratic families like the Huo family was still not to be underestimated. Moreover, starting from his father’s generation, the Huo family had been the most powerful pillar among the prominent clans of the Great Li.
Censor Liang had once been a clerk under Huo Lang’s command. It was also under Huo Lang’s tutelage that he had entered the Censorate to become an official.
After learning Huo Pingxiao’s true identity, County Magistrate Tang’s back was covered in a thin layer of sweat, almost soaking through his official robe.
They watched as the young and handsome Marquis of Dingbei took his seat in the main position of the high hall. The man wore neither a tall official cap nor the luxurious robes of a marquis. He silently toyed with the dark, finely textured wooden gavel in his hand. Though he made no sound and his expression was indifferent, his aura naturally exuded dominance and pressure.
County Magistrate Tang still remembered a line from Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian, written about Chen She’s uprising: “Are kings, generals, and ministers born of a certain breed?”
Huo Pingxiao was both a first-rank general and a commandery marquis.
Today, County Magistrate Tang truly understood what the noble bearing of a king, general, or minister meant.
Within moments of entering the hall, Huo Pingxiao had effortlessly assumed a dominant position. Like a defiant wolf king, the man’s temperament was complex. His deep-set eyes held both an intensely aggressive wildness and a keen sharpness for anticipating events.
Instantly, the atmosphere in the hall became terrifyingly silent, so quiet one could almost hear a pin drop.
“Slap—” went the sound.
The crack of the gavel on the case made the hearts of every official in the hall tighten. Yet they only dared to hold their breath, not daring to utter a single word.
Huo Pingxiao looked coldly at County Magistrate Tang and questioned in a deep voice, “Are you aware of all the good deeds your son has done?”
County Magistrate Tang’s legs went weak. Just as he was about to speak, Huo Pingxiao continued sternly, “This marquis is genuinely curious. Tang Yi is merely the son of a county magistrate, yet he has over a dozen concubines and bedchamber maids in his rear courtyard. He frequently spends extravagantly on top-tier courtesans in pleasure quarters like brothels. Where does he get so much silver?”
County Magistrate Tang’s lips trembled. He had indeed doted excessively on Tang Yi, his eldest son. He had also known that the women within his walls would eventually cause him trouble. He was also aware that a few days ago, Tang Yi had set his sights on a village girl, nearly defiling her in the mountains.
“Kneel.”
As soon as Huo Pingxiao’s low voice fell, his long hand smoothly pulled five vermilion command tokens from the bamboo tube.
County Magistrate Tang fell to his knees with a “thud.”
Then, the man turned his wrist and palm. His lowered brows and eyes were cold and indifferent. As the bones of his fingers exerted force, it seemed as if he were strumming a zither’s strings. Once his fingertips gathered a concentrated surge of energy, the command tokens shot forward like falcons in swift flight, “whoosh, whoosh,” in rapid succession, speeding straight toward Advisor Liu’s forehead, which was covered with frown lines—
Advisor Liu’s forehead quickly swelled with several greenish bumps. He had long been terrified to the point of breathlessness, yet he dared not cry out in pain.
After the five command tokens fell to the ground with a clatter, Huo Pingxiao coldly ordered, “First, give this incompetent leech who preys on the people fifty strokes of the board.”
“Yes—”
Advisor Liu felt his hair stand on end. Using all his strength, he pleaded hoarsely with Huo Pingxiao, “Spare me, Marquis of Dingbei! I beg you, Marquis of Dingbei, spare my life! Ah!”
Soon, Advisor Liu’s continuous screams echoed through the hall. Censor Liang looked at Advisor Liu with disgust. He too harbored deep hatred for such short-sighted petty clerks who used their meager power to bully the people while consuming the court’s salary on unearned rations.
Censor Liang had seen Huo Pingxiao a few times as a child over a decade ago at the Chancellor’s residence in Chang’an. The Chancellor’s son had naturally inherited his sharp, decisive methods.
A year or two ago, Huo Pingxiao had been the Deputy Military governor of Jiannan Circuit.
As the saying goes, the principal makes the decisions; the deputy gets things done.
During those years, Huo Pingxiao had frequently dealt with the officials and clerks under his command. He had a clear understanding of their thoughts and was well-versed in the shady inner workings of the civil official system.
On his way there, Censor Liang had already communicated with the elite Northern Guard agents sent by Huo Pingxiao. The early visit to Jiazhou was also specially arranged by Huo Pingxiao. The man, methodically advancing step by step, had calculated everything long ago, all to catch these people red-handed.
Noon.
After leaving the official yamen, Ruan An felt somewhat hungry, so she found a eatery nearby to have a meal. This season was the best for eating yellow croaker noodles. The deboned yellow croaker, without needing too many seasonings, tasted exceptionally fresh and tender.
A bowl of yellow croaker noodles cost ten wen. Previously, Ruan An had been reluctant to spend the money, but now, thinking of the one thousand taels of silver she had, she no longer felt the pinch and even asked the vendor to add two extra fish.
The vendor soon brought the noodles to the table. Yang Wei, disguised as an ordinary commoner, sat down across from Ruan An.
On this trip down the mountain, Ruan An had not deliberately disguised herself as an older woman. The young beauty, with her soft hair and jade-like skin, her eyebrows and eyes like a painted scroll, drew sidelong glances from the diners around her.
The girl naturally noticed the unfriendly and covetous looks from those around her. She thought to herself that in the future, when she came down the mountain again, she would have to conceal her appearance. This would make practicing medicine easier and also prevent further trouble.
Ruan An was focused on eating her noodles when she noticed Yang Wei across from her constantly staring at her. Feeling a bit uncomfortable under his gaze, she couldn’t help but look up and ask softly, “Brother Yang, aren’t you hungry? Would you like a bowl of yellow croaker noodles to try?”
Yang Wei looked at Ruan An’s bright, clear eyes and shook his head.
He had finally figured out Huo Pingxiao’s intentions. The reason he stayed in the mountains wasn’t because he had taken an interest in this beautiful little village girl.
That made sense. How could someone as cold and aloof as Huo Pingxiao fall for a girl so easily?
But this little female physician was truly fortunate. The Marquis of Dingbei was exceptionally generous. Saying he would pay a consultation fee, he simply gave her one thousand taels of silver.
With this thought, Yang Wei remarked meaningfully, “Miss Ruan is truly fortunate.”
The surrounding commoners bustled back and forth. Ruan An didn’t quite understand why Yang Wei said that.
Yang Wei continued with emotion, “With just one word from Marquis Huo, the household registration for your two little medicine apprentices can be smoothly resolved.”
“You saved his life, and he rewards you with a thousand taels of silver for the consultation fee. That shrewish stepmother of yours won’t bother you anymore. Once he finishes suppressing the bandits, Qingquan Town will also become peaceful and harmonious. Isn’t Miss Ruan fortunate?”
Ruan An chewed on the tender yellow croaker and the springy noodles, but suddenly found them tasteless.
She put down her chopsticks, lowered her eyelashes, and said in a soft voice, “Brother Yang, if you have something to say, please just say it directly.”
Yang Wei sighed. This girl’s expression occasionally revealed a gentle stubbornness and unwillingness to yield. There was a resilient strength in Ruan An’s bones. Otherwise, in this harsh world, an orphaned girl like her couldn’t have survived until now and traveled around practicing medicine.
He thought, she really was a very good girl, but her background was just too humble.
The Marquis of Dingbei probably wouldn’t notice the feelings revealed in the girl’s expression, but he could see into her heart.
Although Ruan An tried to control herself, Yang Wei could still see that occasionally, when she looked at Huo Pingxiao, her eyes still held an uncontrollable affection.
But for someone like Huo Pingxiao, a favored son of heaven, he had never lacked adoring glances from young women. There were far too many girls who liked him.
Ruan An and he were like the soft, resilient rushes on the ground and the blazing sun in the sky. The distance between them was immense. With such a vast difference, how could there possibly be a good outcome?
With this thought, Yang Wei continued, “Miss Ruan, did you know? In Chang’an City, the legitimate daughter of Minister Liu is exceptionally beautiful and talented, yet she would rather lower herself to be Marquis Huo’s concubine just to become his woman. But Marquis Huo still didn’t agree to her father’s earnest pleas and refused to show the minister that bit of face.”
Hearing this, Ruan An’s thick, long lashes fluttered.
She wasn’t foolish. She could naturally hear the unspoken meaning in Yang Wei’s words.
He was lamenting her low birth, and he had also seen…
That she secretly admired Huo Pingxiao.
In truth, after learning Huo Pingxiao’s true identity, Ruan An had already thought it through very clearly. If she told him about what happened that day, the man might take responsibility. But just as Yang Wei said, even the noble daughter of a minister had to become his concubine.
And she, a helpless village girl, probably couldn’t even become a concubine. At best, she might become his bedchamber maid, or even worse, a woman kept in an outer residence without any status.
With this thought, the girl put down her chopsticks. Although a bitter, unspeakable sourness welled up in her heart, she still faced Yang Wei with neither humility nor arrogance and said, “Brother Yang, thank you for your kind reminder. But although I don’t have a noble status, I am not the kind of girl you imagine.”
Yang Wei was stunned for a moment.
Ruan An continued, “I have medical skills to rely on. I can treat illnesses and save people. The number of patients I’ve saved is no less than the number of people you’ve killed. I’m also not the kind of girl who absolutely must get married. In the future, I can use the consultation fee rewarded to me by the Marquis of Dingbei to open a medical clinic. That’s a better livelihood than many young men have.”
“Besides, since you know my surname is Ruan, you should know that I, Ruan An, am not an unknown itinerant physician in the Great Li.”
Yang Wei hadn’t expected Ruan An to speak this way. On the one hand, he understood that she was politely telling him that he had no right to meddle in her private affairs with the Marquis of Dingbei.
On the other hand, Yang Wei also realized that Ruan An was, after all, Huo Pingxiao’s savior. If she said a few bad words about him in front of the marquis, it really wouldn’t be worth it.
He truly shouldn’t have spoken so much, presumptuously trying to persuade Ruan An.
Yang Wei quickly apologized to Ruan An, “Miss Ruan, I didn’t mean anything else by it. Please don’t misunderstand…”
Ruan An didn’t respond to him. She didn’t want to waste the food in front of her, so she endured the bitterness in her nose and the urge to cry, and ate all the noodles.
She didn’t need Yang Wei to say these things to her. Ruan An understood clearly in her heart, clearer than anyone, that someone like Huo Pingxiao was not someone she should dare to dream of.
She knew her place. She also understood that Huo Pingxiao’s usual acts of kindness towards her were due to his own sense of propriety.
He stood up for her, on the one hand to repay a debt of gratitude, and on the other hand to achieve his own goals.
She wasn’t foolish enough to be so delusional as to think that someone like him could have any favorable feelings for her.
Feeling he had said the wrong thing, Yang Wei didn’t dare to look at Ruan An again. Seeing that she seemed to have finished the bowl of noodles, he only said softly, “Miss Ruan, don’t worry about paying the vendor. Consider this bowl of noodles my treat.”
Yang Wei got up to find the vendor and settle the bill. Ruan An took several long, deep breaths. Although her emotions hadn’t fully calmed down, she noticed a medicine vendor setting up a stall by the alley beside her.
Seeing that the gastrodia tubers displayed on the ground looked to be of good quality, she walked alone towards that narrow alley. When she reached the medicine vendor, the girl bent down, picked up a gastrodia tuber, and asked, “How much for one of your gastrodia tubers?”
No sooner had she spoken than Ruan An suddenly felt something amiss in the air above her head. An unfamiliar medicinal odor instantly filled her nose.
The girl’s almond-shaped eyes widened in shock. She realized that this medicine vendor had drugged her with a knockout potion. Just as her consciousness began to fade, she felt a burlap sack being pulled over her head.
Ruan An’s heartbeat grew faster and faster. She understood that someone was trying to kidnap her.
But who wanted to abduct her?
A name gradually surfaced in her heart.
But before she could even speak that name in her mind, large flashes of white light flickered before her eyes. In an instant, she lost consciousness and fainted.
Meanwhile, Yang Wei had paid the money. When he turned around, Ruan An was nowhere to be seen.
When Huo Pingxiao came down the mountain, he had entrusted Yang Wei with only one task: to protect Ruan An.
Yang Wei couldn’t help but feel anxious. He called out several times, “Miss Ruan!”
He searched the surrounding streets and alleys multiple times, but no matter what, he couldn’t find Ruan An.
Another Northern Guard attendant who had been searching separately also couldn’t find Ruan An. In the end, they had no choice but to return to the county yamen first to report this matter to Huo Pingxiao.
The County Yamen.
Advisor Liu, whose back had been beaten to a bloody pulp, had already been dragged out. Madam Zhu’s legs were also aching as if pricked by needles from kneeling for so long.
Huo Pingxiao had a unique way of tormenting people. He wouldn’t interrogate her, the county magistrate, and Tang Yi all at once. Instead, he would occasionally question them while reviewing the case files.
In this way, their emotions would be instantly heightened, becoming extremely tense. And at that moment, Huo Pingxiao would continue discussing the bandit suppression with Censor Liang.
This cycle repeated over and over, their emotions swinging wildly. Madam Zhu felt as if she might have a heart attack. In the end, terrified beyond measure of the man seated on the high hall, she even lost control of her bladder.
Censor Liang, with a look of disgust, ordered someone to clean up the filth on the floor and commanded the clerks in the hall, “First, take this woman to the prison.”
“Yes.”
But everyone knew that Censor Liang said to temporarily detain Madam Zhu in the prison. Once sent there, she might never come out again.
The dappled light of the setting sun gradually sank westward. The clouds and mist in the sky looked like smeared blood, rich in color and deep in hue.
As dusk approached, Huo Pingxiao changed into his usual marquis attire. After Yang Wei returned to the yamen, he saw the man wearing a black ceremonial robe with tassels, a lacquered silk Qieyun crown on his head. The dark red tassel behind the ornate crown fluttered in the wind. The man stood tall and cold before the hall, like a revered deity, impossible to look upon directly.
Huo Pingxiao’s bearing was magnificent, his appearance handsome and peerless. His entire body exuded the noble and refined aura of cold, sinking gold and jade.
After hearing Yang Wei’s report, the man’s thin, cold lips gradually tightened. The look he gave Yang Wei was as sharp as a blade, radiating icy coldness. He uttered two words in a deep, heavy tone: “Useless.”
“—Can’t even protect a single girl.”
He rebuked again in a cold voice.
After hearing this, Yang Wei also realized that the Marquis of Dingbei was in a furious rage. His heart instantly filled with panic and trembling.
After Huo Pingxiao resigned and returned to Chang’an, the official position the emperor would give him would certainly not be lower than that of a Military governor. Perhaps his authority would also extend to the Northern Guard, making him his top commander.
As a high-ranking general, nothing was more detestable than subordinates who failed to follow orders.
Moreover, even if Huo Pingxiao himself didn’t possess such great power, just the influence of the Huo family alone could cut off his official career with a mere flick of his finger.
Yang Wei cursed himself inwardly. It was all because he had spoken too much. Now, if he ever wanted to be promoted in military rank again, it would probably be impossible…
Not long after Madam Zhu was pushed into the prison cell by the jailer, she regained consciousness.
Although she was in prison, the moment she remembered that Huo Pingxiao’s true identity was the Marquis of Dingbei, she couldn’t help but feel somewhat self-satisfied.
She had said so. How could that bitch, Ruan An possibly have such an impressive fiancé?
He was a marquis. There was no way he would fancy her.
Just then, she heard several jailers talking outside the iron grille.
“I heard that the female physician who came with the Marquis of Dingbei has disappeared.”
“How did she disappear?”
“Seems like she was kidnapped by bandits.”
Upon hearing the word “bandits,” Madam Zhu couldn’t help but feel a secret joy. That dead girl Ruan An was completely finished this time.
But the next words from one of the jailers made Madam Zhu feel stifled, even so angry she felt like vomiting blood—
“I heard that after the attendant reported the girl’s disappearance, Marquis Huo’s face immediately darkened. They say this girl knows medicine and once saved Marquis Huo’s life. The entire Jiannan Circuit is covered with Marquis Huo’s influence. If she is successfully rescued, her future days will certainly be prosperous and worry-free.”
“Not only that. I think even the village where the girl lives will receive his blessing and protection because she saved Marquis Huo’s life.”
**