Chapter 4: Advancing A Foot
Prince Zhangwu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, smoothly taking back the token along the way, ordering someone to fetch paper and brush, and writing a letter on the spot, affixing his private seal.
Grand Tutor Pang also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. As long as the token was taken back, writing a letter was a handy matter.
It all depended on Sixth Sister Pei’s capability in manipulating people’s hearts. Even after going to Youzhou, she would not be without a way to survive.
It was a pity that the Pei Clan had met with disaster, and Sixth Sister Pei had fallen to become the daughter of a traitor. Otherwise, she would have been qualified to marry into the Eastern Palace as the Prince’s consort. What a pity!
Sixth Sister Pei’s pair of bright eyes looked over again, and Grand Tutor Pang’s heart skipped a beat.
Sixth Sister Pei solemnly saluted all the Eastern Palace subordinate officials one by one, thanking them: “Today, all you lords have come to see us off, pitying the old and weak of the Pei Clan, with generosity and righteousness. Qinghe thanks you lords hereby.”
The crowd of subordinate officials: “…”
Well, His Highness the Prince had been shaved off a layer, and they couldn’t just stand by and watch. Those four words “generosity and righteousness” carried no small weight!
The Crown Prince’s guest immediately expressed that he had a farewell gift of one hundred taels of silver to present.
The Crown Prince’s mid-level attendant also promptly gifted one hundred taels.
Even the Prince’s Guard Commander generously opened his purse and took out some silver.
Grand Tutor Pang, as the head of the Eastern Palace subordinate officials, could not be too stingy in his gesture and gifted two hundred taels as a farewell gift.
Pei Qinghe unceremoniously accepted them all, thanking them solemnly once more. The crowd of subordinate officials thought that thanks were unnecessary; it would be fine if Sixth Sister Pei just spoke less.
Madam Lu and Madam Feng had long since cried themselves out and watched this scene in stunned silence.
Th-this, what was going on?
Pei Qinghe had a high fever, and upon waking, how had she become like a completely different person?
“This Prince is returning to the palace, so we part here. Sixth Sister Pei, take good care.” Prince Zhangwu gazed at Pei Qinghe, silently adding a sentence in his heart.
He hoped that one day, they could meet again.
Pei Qinghe cupped her hands in farewell: “Your Highness the Prince, take care.”
In this life, she would keep her eyes wide open, not dying so miserably again.
Prince Zhangwu took a deep look, then boarded the carriage. The crowd of subordinate officials all boarded their carriages one after another, with the Eastern Palace Guards clearing the way ahead.
Prince Zhangwu in the carriage couldn’t help but stick his head out to look back.
Sixth Sister Pei stood quietly outside the posthouse, seeing the crowd off into the distance.
As the carriage gradually went farther away, that slender and resilient figure of the girl grew smaller and smaller, yet strangely clear, engraved into his heart like a knife.
The fourteen-year-old His Highness Prince Zhangwu experienced for the first time in his life the subtle and indescribable flutter of his heart.
Grand Tutor Pang, seasoned in the ways of the world, saw through it but did not say it, instead smiling and praising Pei Qinghe a few words: “This Sixth Sister Pei is clever and adaptable, with a resilient temperament, far surpassing ordinary young ladies of the boudoir.”
“It’s a pity that the Pei Clan committed the grave crime of treason. The Pei Clan female dependents are being exiled to Youzhou and can never return to the Capital City in this lifetime. Truly a pity!”
A daughter of a traitor did not even have the qualifications to enter the Eastern Palace as a concubine. No use thinking too much; better to forget her early.
Prince Zhangwu was silent for a moment, then withdrew his gaze.
…
Prince Zhangwu’s group finally departed, leaving behind five Eastern Palace Guards.
Those who could become Eastern Palace Guards were mostly descendants of military families with clean backgrounds. These five had originally just accompanied the Prince out of the palace for a trip, who would have thought they would be assigned this arduous external task.
The Capital City was over a thousand li from Youzhou, and with more than three hundred women and children of the Pei Clan walking step by step, who knew how long it would take. They would escort them along the way and then return to the Capital City, which might take a year and a half.
Escorting the family of a convicted official was thankless work. If they were implicated by the Pei Clan in the future, it would be even worse.
The several guards were displeased in their hearts, all with grim faces and not a hint of smile. The tallest and darkest one with the least expression on his face, Zhang Kou, said: “What to do next, please give your instructions, Sixth Miss.”
Madam Lu was uneasy in her heart, and Madam Feng was even more anxious, tugging at Pei Qinghe’s sleeve to signal her to lower her stance and be polite and flattering to the Eastern Palace Guards.
Pei Qinghe’s expression did not change as she said indifferently: “You all heard what Grand Tutor Pang said. Now go to the nearest county town to procure things.”
“Buy more grain and medicinal materials. If ready-made cotton clothes are not available, buy one hundred bolts of thick cotton cloth and several carts of cotton. We will make cotton clothes ourselves on the road.”
“Our pace is slow, so we will set out first. You buy up the things and catch up.”
The guards: “…”
Sixth Sister Pei was not very old and only reached their chests in height, yet her momentum was overwhelming, her words revealing an unquestionable majesty and dominance.
The leading burly guard’s heart tightened, and he subconsciously cupped his hands in acknowledgment.
Pei Qinghe took out several banknotes from her sleeve and gave them to the burly guard: “Please, Guard Gao, exchange these banknotes for cash.”
The major silver banks were all in the Capital City; in remote backwater places, banknotes could not be exchanged and were just waste paper.
These banknotes were precisely the farewell gifts generously given by Grand Tutor Pang and the others. Sixth Sister Pei was truly pragmatic.
Guard Gao took the banknotes with a complicated mood.
The five guards quickly mounted their horses and departed amid the clip-clop of horse hooves and billowing dust.
“Sixth Miss! What exactly is wrong with you today?”
Madam Lu had been greatly stimulated today, her ashen-hearted demeanor vanished without a trace, and she said angrily: “How can you be so greedy for more, making so many demands of His Highness the Prince?”
Pei Qinghe raised her eyes and said coldly: “Two hundred and ninety-seven lives of the Pei Clan all died because of the Eastern Palace. The Eastern Palace even borrowed the Pei Clan to gain a good reputation.”
“I only asked for some grain, cotton clothes, and medicinal materials, a few guards to accompany us, and some protection.”
“How is that being greedy for more?”
“Does Grandmother want to watch the old and weak of the Pei Clan starve, freeze, or die of illness on the road?”
“Youzhou is a place with ferocious mountain bandits, and there are also a bunch of bandits in the garrison camps. With Eastern Palace Guards escorting us and the Prince’s handwritten letter, we can wave the Eastern Palace banner.”
“At this point, what use is there in talking about propriety, justice, sense of shame? I advise Grandmother to open her eyes wide, see the situation clearly, and quickly set aside the airs of a titled madam. Otherwise, you won’t survive in Youzhou either.”
Madam Lu: “…”
Madam Lu was so infuriated by these words that her blood surged, nearly fainting on the spot.
The Pei Clan was a generations of military family, with a martial culture; the young men in the family all began practicing martial arts from age four. Girls did not need to go to the battlefield; strengthening the body was enough, and the requirements for practicing martial arts were much lower than for the boys.
In her son’s generation, Pei Zhongde had the most outstanding martial skills. By the grandchildren’s generation, the “Pei Family Five Tigers” mocked by the world all had excellent martial arts.
Only Pei Family members knew that the most outstanding junior in the Pei Clan’s martial arts talent was not the Pei Family Five Tigers, but Pei Zhongde’s youngest daughter, Pei Qinghe. She had superb horsemanship, was proficient in sabers, spears, clubs, and staffs, and was an even rarer divine archer in the world.
Although Pei Qinghe was young, her fists were the hardest. Under the circumstances where all the male members of the Pei Clan had been slaughtered, Pei Qinghe stepped forward, sparring with Prince Zhangwu to obtain large quantities of cotton clothes, grain, and medicinal materials, as well as Eastern Palace Guards and the Prince’s handwritten letter. This action won the gratitude and support of all the clan members.
Pei Qinghe naturally became the backbone of the Pei Clan.
Madam Lu’s great anger was mostly because she had been robbed of her authority to speak.
Seeing old readers come to support, moved and happy. The long road of writing, fortunately with you accompanying~ Bowing in thanks~
