Chapter 57: Childhood Sweethearts
The Zheng family members also stepped forward: “Lord Li, King Li forcibly took the Zheng family’s beautiful concubine and disrupted our Old Master’s funeral. Today, you must give us an explanation!”
Jinsui said coldly, “What? Your Zheng family wantonly killed innocent people, and you expect this King to stand by and do nothing?”
“This woman is a member of your Zheng family, and also a citizen of Great Xia. As long as they are citizens of Great Xia, this King has the right to intervene!”
That Zheng family member angrily said, “You! You’re being unreasonable and utterly disrespectful!”
Jinsui shouted loudly, “What a righteous Zheng family, to actually practice human sacrifice like the previous dynasty!
In this King’s eyes, you wish to subvert the Xia dynasty’s laws and rebel, is that it?”
Li Heng quickly stepped forward to mediate, and Jinsui pointed at Li Heng and scolded him:
“You, Prefect Li! You disrespect this King and withhold military pay, this King can forgive you for that.”
“But you allow the Zheng family to trample on human lives; are you colluding with the Zheng family to subvert the court?”
This accusation was grave. If even a single word of this reached the Imperial Court, Li Heng would never hope to be promoted in his life.
Li Heng was not foolish; he knew that arguing with the Li King in public was a mistake. No matter how he proved his innocence, if the Li King got into trouble, he would be an accomplice.
The most important thing now was to ensure the Li King left safely, and then he would mediate the conflict between the Li King and the Zheng family. Fortunately, the Yan Clan Head sent a message, allowing the Li King to leave.
Therefore, Li Heng did not reply to Jinsui. Instead, he said to the Zheng family members, “Regarding your matter with the Li King, after this official investigates thoroughly, I will deliver justice.”
“The Zheng family dared to block and attack the Li King’s men in public; this is a serious crime. Have you thought this through?”
Jinsui winked at Han Xing. While the Zheng family members were distracted, she shouted again, “You have time to block this King here, but you don’t go save your Pengpeng.”
“Do you truly wish for Pengpeng to be buried with Old Master Zheng? Are you trying to become the Head of the Family?”
She didn’t recognize who the Zheng family member in front of her was at all. Anyway, it was about sowing discord; watching enemies fight amongst themselves was more interesting than doing it herself.
That Zheng family member was almost driven to madness by anger, but he clung to one point: “You can let the Li King go, but leave Chen Yunshi behind!”
Jinsui snorted coldly:
“This King will not only take Chen Yunshi away, but if this King finds out that you dare to practice human sacrifice again, the entire Zheng family will perish without a burial place!”
“In the past, in Yandi, your Zheng family committed evil deeds, and the Imperial Court did not intervene.”
“But now, the one governing Yandi is this King! Those who dare to harm my Great Xia citizens will first have to answer to this King’s sword!”
With a wave of her hand, the soldiers of the Black Feather Army, who were already prepared, galloped away in unison.
The Zheng family members hesitated between pursuing the enemy or saving Zheng Pengpeng. Li Heng quickly advised:
“The Li King is in the border city; he won’t escape.”
“Saving the person is the priority. This official guarantees that Chen Yunshi will be brought back to the Zheng family.”
That Zheng family member shouted, “I want the Li King to kowtow and apologize at the Zheng family ancestral tomb!”
Li Heng did not respond to this. The gentry of Yandi were indeed too arrogant and presumptuous. No matter how down on his luck the Li King was, he was still an Imperial Prince.
To ask an Imperial Prince to kowtow at your ancestral tomb, what difference is that from rebellion?
After breaking free from the Zheng family members’ encirclement and confirming they were no longer pursuing, Jinsui, with the Black Feather Camp, traveled day and night, returning to the border city at the fastest speed.
Wei Assistant Secretary was waiting outside the city with his men. Upon seeing the approaching figures, he immediately ordered the stoves to be lit and food prepared.
He almost cried as he helped Jinsui off her horse. Seeing Cheng Yu, he was both angry and happy:
“You drunkard, did you get into trouble because you were drinking? What if you implicate the Prince?”
In the next moment, he saw Chen Yunniang and swallowed his scolding words, looking at everyone with confusion.
Jinsui smiled, “This King snatched her. When entering the city, one must snatch a beauty, right!”
Wei Assistant Secretary’s face turned pale with fright, and he almost sat down on the ground:
“Your Highness, you cannot do such a thing! Whose daughter is this? Quickly send her back.”
Han Xing quickly supported him, “The Prince is joking. Would our Prince snatch civilian girls?”
After entering the military camp, Jinsui first arranged for the soldiers who had been left behind to guard the city. From now on, they would guard the city in three shifts to prevent retaliation from the Zheng family.
Jinsui instructed Wei Assistant Secretary to start work at dawn and first build a watchtower.
She found it amusing. She never expected that the first watchtower she would build in the border city would not be facing the borderlands to the north, but to guard against the gentry within the pass.
Truly, there were internal and external troubles.
She now hoped Gu Changxiao would come quickly to return the Li King’s title to him.
At the same time, she hoped he would come a little later, giving her more time to improve the infrastructure of the border city.
Otherwise, when he arrived, there wouldn’t be many other things, but there would be the most enemies, which would be quite embarrassing.
After everyone drank hot tea and the injured soldiers had their wounds bandaged, Cheng Yu then told everyone about his past with Chen Yunniang.
It was a very cliché story; they were childhood sweethearts.
As a side note, upon hearing ‘childhood sweethearts,’ Jinsui looked at Chen Yunniang, who was at most twenty-seven or twenty-eight, and then at Cheng Yu, who was in his forties. How could they be childhood sweethearts?
She couldn’t help but ask, “With such a large age gap between you two, how did you play together as children?”
Even after narrowly escaping death and experiencing anxiety, Cheng Yu was still choked by this question.
“Your Highness, how old do you think this subordinate looks?”
Jinsui answered truthfully, “Around forty.”
Cheng Yu weakly touched his face. Did he look that old?
Chen Yunniang, who had been sitting quietly beside him, said softly:
“Elder Brother Cheng is three years older than this humble one. He is thirty-one this year.”
Not only Jinsui but also the soldiers of the Black Feather Camp looked incredulous.
Everyone concluded that drinking too much alcohol made one age faster.
Wei Assistant Secretary was annoyed. Was the current focus to discuss the age of the drunkard Cheng?
They had known each other since childhood, and their families were old acquaintances. Thus, when Chen Yunniang reached the age of marriage, she was betrothed to Cheng Yu.
After their engagement, Cheng Yu went to Chang’an to study, preparing to take the imperial examinations before getting married.
Unexpectedly, in the second year he was in Chang’an, the Chen family encountered misfortune. The male members were exiled, and the women were sold to entertainment houses.
The Cheng family wanted to rescue Chen Yunniang, but due to her beauty, she was coveted by a member of the gentry. To please that wealthy family, the Chen family members forcibly sent Chen Yunniang onto the gentry’s boat.
By the time Cheng Yu returned to his hometown, Chen Yunniang had already disappeared without a trace.
Cheng Yu studied and took exams while also inquiring about Yunniang’s whereabouts. It wasn’t until six years ago that he found out for sure that Yunniang had been sold to Yanzhou.
He could have been a Capital Official in Chang’an, but to save Yunniang, he requested to be an official in Yandi.
At this time, Yunniang was taken in as the seventeenth concubine by the nearly eighty-year-old Old Master Zheng.
Cheng Yu tried every means possible for three years. Not only did he fail to rescue Yunniang, but he also offended the Zheng family, was repeatedly demoted, and finally became the Assistant Secretary of the border city.
Even so, he did not want to leave. As long as she was in Yandi, he would have a chance to rescue Yunniang someday.
But upon hearing that Old Master Zheng had passed away and the Zheng family intended to bury Yunniang alive, he could not tolerate it.
To avoid implicating the Li King, he left that resignation letter and went to the Zheng family with his sword to snatch her.
After hearing their past, a group of rough soldiers in the military camp all wept like tears.
Who would have thought that Cheng Assistant Secretary, who loved drinking and reciting poetry, and was skilled in both civil and military arts, carried such a heavy past?
No wonder he always looked towards Yanzhou City whenever he drank.
No wonder he loved singing “Nine Songs,” “Mountain Ghost,” and “Lady of Xiang,” to the point that even the Border Soldiers could sing them.
Hei Hu let out a sobbing cry for the first time, which was unpleasant and frightening.
