Chapter 145: Yang Kang Visits Mother, Using a Knife to Kill
The sunset was a fiery red, the evening clouds like burning fire.
In the meeting hall of the Changfeng Escort Agency in Zhongdu, Helian Chuncheng’s voice, filled with disbelief, rang out, “The escort cargo is intact.”
“Reporting to the Young Master, it is indeed so, and we even received the escort fee.”
Helian Chuncheng’s complexion slowly turned grim.
Yin Kexi said to the escort from Datong Prefecture, “You may go and rest.”
“Understood.”
The escort left the meeting hall and quickly departed.
Fu’an’s escort team approached Datong Prefecture. Zhou Yan left the team and rode his horse straight to the Mountain God Temple to keep his appointment.
Huyan Lei and the team of several hundred people returned to Zhongdu, their pace naturally much slower. It was only after Li Mochou’s departure that the escort team finally reached the borders of Zhongdu. Escorts from the Changfeng Escort Agency in Datong Prefecture also arrived in Daxing Prefecture around the same time, informing Helian Chuncheng of Fu’an’s safe delivery of the escort cargo to Xianyang and the payment of tens of thousands of silver coins.
The sudden news left the Young Master of Changfeng with both inexplicable confusion and the anger of a foiled plan.
“Tell me, what exactly is going on?” Helian Chuncheng picked up his teacup, used the lid to stir the tea, and placed the cup back on the table with a heavy sigh, his impatience evident.
Yin Kexi said, “The Vajra Sect is a sect that values its reputation. With Master Bao Neng taking action, there should be no possibility of failure.”
“If that’s the case, then where do you think the problem lies?”
Yin Kexi muttered to himself, “Could it be that Fu’an annihilated them all?”
“Zhou Yan couldn’t possibly be Master Bao Neng’s opponent,” Helian Chuncheng said incredulously.
“Logically, no, but if not this, then what other reason could there be?”
Helian Chuncheng laughed in exasperation, “I feel like I’ve lost a wife and soldiers now. It was clearly a foolproof plan to kill two birds with one stone, but in the end, not only did it fail, but I also gave Fu’an tens of thousands of silver for free.”
Yin Kexi’s eyes darted, “Actually, it’s not entirely a bad thing.”
“How so?”
“If Zhou Yan really killed Master Bao Neng, wouldn’t that provoke the Vajra Sect?”
“Heh, I suddenly feel a little better.” Helian Chuncheng picked up his teacup and drank. “According to their travel speed, Fu’an’s escort team should return in the next two days. Arrange for some sharp individuals to keep an eye on the escort team and see if there are any personnel losses or what the atmosphere is like. Then, you go to the Vajra Sect and speak highly of Zhou Yan.”
“Understood.”
“Why can’t he be killed?”
Yin Kexi said, “With iron arms and a bronze head, he’d be beaten into scrap metal by the Vajra Sect.”
Helian Chuncheng laughed, “Arrange for people to ride at full speed and scout the area around Tong Pass. If Master Bao Neng truly died at Zhou Yan’s hands, then he has provoked the Vajra Sect. I believe this: the people of the Vajra Sect will crush his bones.”
“Alright.”
“Also, send someone to the Zhao Wang Manor to inquire if the Little Prince has returned to the city, and we can visit him together.”
“I’ll go arrange it.” Yin Kexi turned and walked out of the hall.
“Zhou Yan, just you wait. It all started with you, and I will still gain from Fu’an.” Helian Chuncheng smiled sinisterly.
…
The sun set, and the heat in the air gradually dissipated. Yang Kang slowed his steps as he walked into the Prince’s Manor’s backyard, a look of annoyance on his face.
The trip to Datong Prefecture was arranged by Helian Zhantai, the owner of the Changfeng Escort Agency, to recruit experts from the Western Regions for the Prince’s Manor.
Ouyang Ke would also occasionally give him pointers. Although the Wumu’s Military Writings were not known to be hidden, they had not fallen into the hands of Hong Qigong, the beggar.
Everything was developing in a good direction, except for his own background.
He exhaled softly and walked forward, his figure circumventing a bamboo fence, revealing three small houses with black tiles and white walls. Yang Kang pushed open the wooden door of a small house and entered.
“Mother.”
“Kang’er is here.”
As Yang Kang spoke, a middle-aged woman sitting at a table inside replied gently. The woman was less than forty years old, with a beautiful and refined appearance, no makeup, and dressed in simple coarse cloth.
“Is there something, Kang’er?”
The middle-aged woman whom Yang Kang called mother was naturally Yang Tiexin’s wife, Bao Xiruo, who was now the Zhao Wangfei.
“If there’s nothing, can’t Kang’er see Mother?” Yang Kang said, his gaze falling on the Iron Spear Head and broken plow inside the room. The scene of the old Yang Family house in Niu Family Village reappeared in his mind.
The layout of that house was indeed exactly the same as the room his mother was in.
“Kang’er, don’t be cheeky.”
Yang Kang came back to his senses and sat opposite Bao Xiruo.
Bao Xiruo poured tea.
“Mother, I went to Niu Family Village when I arrived in Lin’an.”
Bao Xiruo’s hands trembled violently, and tea spilled onto the table.
“Ah!” She stood up to find a towel to wipe the tea, and asked nervously, “Why did you go to Niu Family Village?”
“It was someone I know who took me there.”
“Who?”
“That person said my biological father’s surname is Yang. Mother, is that true?” Yang Kang did not answer, but stood up and went to Bao Xiruo, taking her hand. “I’m grown up now, at an age where I can understand things. Mother, please speak your mind.”
Bao Xiruo’s eyes instantly blurred, as if a white mist rose before her eyes. Eighteen years of time seemed to enter a painting.
“Sister-in-law, come have a drink.”
“Sister Guo is also pregnant. Could the Taoist priest please give them two names?”
“Brother Guo’s child will be named Guo Jing, and Brother Yang’s child will be named Yang Kang. Both names can be used regardless of gender.”
“Good. The Taoist priest’s intention is for them not to forget the Jingkang Humiliation and to remember the disgrace of the two emperors being captured.”
Bao Xiruo felt as if she had returned to Niu Family Village, the words of her sworn brother Guo Xiaotian, her husband, and Taoist Priest Qiu echoing in her ears.
“Mother!”
Yang Kang’s voice pulled Bao Xiruo back from her thoughts. She took a handkerchief to wipe her eyes, and after a few breaths, walked to the wall and took down the Iron Spear Head from it.
“Kang’er, when you were little, you asked me who Yang Tiexin on the spearhead was.”
“Mother didn’t say it then.”
“Because you were still young,” Bao Xiruo said. “Now I will tell you. He is your father. Your name is Yang Kang. This iron spear was originally in Niu Family Village in Lin’an Prefecture, and I sent people to retrieve it from a thousand li away. The half-plow on the wall, the table, stools, cabinet, and wooden bed in this room, not a single item was not transported from Niu Family Village.”
“Is that really so?”
Bao Xiruo held the Iron Spear Head and asked, “Who told you this?”
“A Taoist priest.”
Bao Xiruo thought to herself, “It must be Taoist Priest Qiu.”
“Mother, the grace of birth is greater than heaven, and the grace of upbringing is greater than the sky. Kang’er was naughty before, but now he is sensible. From now on, he will listen to Mother and be filial to you and Father.”
Bao Xiruo said, “Kang’er, do you know why you were named ‘Kang’?”
“Your son does not know.”
“It means not to forget the Jingkang Humiliation and to remember the disgrace of the two emperors being captured.”
“So that’s how it is, but why are you telling me this, Mother?”
“Since you already know your origins, we might as well not stay in this Prince’s Manor. Kang’er, come with me to Niu Family Village.”
“Mother, can you bear to leave Father?”
“There are some things Kang’er doesn’t understand.”
“Will Mother get used to that dilapidated place in Niu Family Village?”
“Dilapidated? Mother feels it’s much better than the carved beams and painted pillars of the Prince’s Manor! Child, you are not fortunate enough to have lived in this dilapidated place with your biological father and mother.”
Yang Kang sighed inwardly. He had made preparations for unforeseen circumstances, having two plans. If the Seven Immortals of Quanzhen and the Six Freaks of Jiangnan, along with Guo Jing, were to come to Zhongdu and force him to kill his father, he had intended to use his mother’s deep affection for his father as an excuse to decline, but it now seemed unlikely to work.
