Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Amid the chaos, there was a single loud and clear crackle, and the few starving civilians who rushed ahead had red and swollen patches on their faces . They staggered and paused .
“So you want food?” The long whip, however, swept over from the civilians’ porches opposite the camp’s entrance . Several chaotic lashes forced the many men in front to fall back again and again . And without waiting for the crowd to react, that voice berated them immediately after, “The provisions will arrive in three days! Everyone will then be given a hundred catties[1] of wheat!”
A voice fell . A long rope rolled over the camp’s lintel[2], and a red-clad silhouette lithely landed in the middle of the area . With their hands on their hips, they rebuked .
“Liar!” The crowd was frustrated, and then the one that had taken the initiative yelled again, “Who are you? How dare a bitch spout such lies! — Do you think we’re idiots?”
Crackle! Before the words were even out of his mouth, the man suffered a lashing and tumbled backward .
“Bah! You dare doubt my words? The Yutang Jin Family is the richest of the four seas, yet can’t feed a mere Ye City?” The long rope was like an agile snake as it coiled around and struck the troublemaker . That woman wearing red clothes and tight sleeves looked around coldly . In midair, the whip in her hand thrashed with a snapping noise, “I said the food will arrive in three days, so it definitely will!”
“Yutang Jin Family…” The name evidently stirred up quite a commotion among the civilians, and everyone began to look at the red-clothed woman in awe and began to whisper to each other .
“Sure enough… Are you the Yutang Jin Family’s Miss that the Seventh Highness married?”
“Seriously? It better not be another rumor just to deceive us…”
“It can’t be faked — look at the ferocity of that woman! Isn’t that so, Terrifying Tigress?”
“I’ve heard that her father, the Sea King, is richer than any emperor on land… This is great!”
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Prince Xueya glanced around at the whispering crowd and looked at Jin Bihui with a somewhat bitter smile — after such a heated argument in the morning, he had just barely been able to forcefully resist the urge to break off relations with her . However, at present, he knew even more that the present Ye City and Crown Prince’s Army absolutely could not afford to lose her .
“Really… really three days later?” Finally, the one who had taken the initiative crawled up from the ground and asked a question in disbelief — undoubtedly, Jin Bihui didn’t really use the whip with all of her strength, or else the little life remaining in this starving man would be long gone .
Jin Bihui nodded impatiently, “If it doesn’t arrive, I’ll give you my head!” The whip coiled around her arm, and her honey-colored and healthy skin reflected the flexible whip . She nudged the starving man with the whip’s handle and smiled, “You will behead me!”
The crowd somewhat faltered and gazed at each other hesitantly . Their resentment finally dissipated a little .
“Many thanks . ”
The crowd dispersed . Yan Bai stood at the camp’s entrance and, at last, spoke softly . He looked at his new wife with complicated eyes .
Jin Bihui snorted, “If you want to thank someone, thank Elder Sister Wuchen! If it weren’t because I wanted to give her face, I wouldn’t bother caring about your matters…” As if her anger hadn’t yet died down, she hatefully lashed the ground with her flexible whip, causing dust to rise everywhere .
And yet not a speck of dust fell on the woman at the street corner . That woman, the Crown Princess, had unknowingly arrived at the camp’s entrance at some point . She stood quietly at the street corner watching them and smiling . An exceptional presence to the extent that even dust floated away from her . In this place where a mob had gathered just moments ago, there was not the slightest bit of fear present .
Prince Xueya’s eyes dimmed, but without waiting for him to speak whatsoever, the Crown Princess gave a slight bow and turned to leave .
Jin Bihui lowered her head, biting the corner of her mouth, and used her whip to draw a mess of symbols on the ground . Only after being dazed for a long time, did she promptly utter a few words . However, Yan Bai did not respond even though much time had passed, so she raised her head and looked at her husband with some annoyance, “Hey, I’m talking to you! Did you hear me?!”
Prince Xueya had continued to stare fixedly in the direction of the street corner, but only after having heard his wife’s loud yelling did he return to his senses . His brows furrowed imperceptibly and he asked softly, “What did you say just now?”
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Jin Bihui, furious, all of a sudden paused . She raised her hand to lash him in the face . Yan Bai noticed it beforehand and neither raised his hand nor dodged — sure enough, the whip only grazed his shoulder and landed on the ground . It smacked the ground heavily and left a narrow imprint .
“Forget it! Just act like I never said anything! — You’re angering me to death!”
Prince Xueya watched in bewilderment as she became angry once more, and the woman in red harrumphed loudly, turning around, and leaving . Frowning and not in the mood to think about it anymore, he took Shen Tiexin to the military camp .
However, Vice General Shen, who had been dissatisfied with the new imperial concubine, actually made an exception this time and didn’t begin to rebuke anything . He walked with his hand pressed on his sword and head lowered . A long while later, he all of a sudden abruptly lamented, “Truthfully, she’s quite a good person…”
“What did you say?” Yan Bai was somewhat surprised and turned back, asking the Vice General beside him .
Shen Tiexin paused and suddenly laughed, “Did Your Highness really not hear just now? — No wonder the Imperial Concubine was upset . I’m afraid it would be hard for her to say such words a second time…”
Prince Xueya was stumped . He stood still and asked, “What, what did she say?”
“The Imperial Concubine said this just a moment ago: Beforehand, I was quarreling over a personal grudge and spoke too hatefully . I hope you don’t mind . ” Shen Tiexin also unnaturally repeated her words and suddenly laughed, “Your Highness, you didn’t see how bashful the Imperial Concubine was just now — I don’t know how much effort it took her to say those words, but unexpectedly, you actually wanted her to say it for a second time . It would be strange if she weren’t angry . ”
Yan Bai looked at the whip mark on the ground . He didn’t know what to think, and only after a long time did he smile: “Ah… It’s like that? Indeed, it’s hard for her too, isn’t it . ”
“In fact, Jin Family’s Miss is nevertheless a rather excellent woman . ” Obviously somewhat saddened by the scene just now, Shen Tiexin surprisingly changed his tune and looked at His Highness in a somewhat relieved manner . But found that he was still partially lost in thought like before .
By nightfall, the wind was even stronger . Each gust cut across the body like a blade .
The night watchmen on the bulwark were already freezing to the point of shivering . [3] The night watchmen on the bulwark were already freezing to the point of shivering and stamped their feet incessantly . Before the warm air of their breaths could touch their icy hands, it had already dissipated and became imperceptible . Under the cold moon, only the frigid sound of the golden watchman’s rattle resounded .
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Within the darkness of the night, a silhouette of a person came running from the enemy’s camp below the city barely touching the ground and silently climbed over Ye City’s walls . Gales blew the banner above the city wall and created a fluttering sound . As if it were a sail which had eaten its fill of wind, the flagpole bent over . The person grasped the banner firmly with one hand, and along with it, silence fell upon the city .
The watchmen had just recently gone to patrol elsewhere, and that person didn’t use the ladder but leaped down from the wall . That person landed inside the city and headed straight for the army’s headquarters .
“You’re back?” However, as soon as the person fell into the courtyard of the army’s headquarters, that person heard someone gently ask such a question .
That person was suddenly shaken, halted, and turned around to look—
The moonlight coldly illuminated the woman standing before the courtyard’s veranda and didn’t miss even a speck of dust . She seemed to have been waiting late at night in the garden for such a long time . So much so that the fringes of her hair were glazed with frost . The wind blew fiercely as they stood under the moonlight, only hearing her soft sighs diffusing into the wind, “Ai… you always take risks like this . How is that fine?”[4]
The visitor’s hand trembled slightly and placed the object in their hands inside the flower patch, “I didn’t want to frighten you—”
However, under the moonlight, the Crown Princess laughed suddenly and shook her head, “What is there to fear from the head of a loyal martyr? Seventh Brother, you’re underestimating me too much . ” She walked over and held up the blood-stained head, her expression grave: “Someday, I will definitely hold a grand and lavish burial . I won’t let down General Yang’s righteous ardor . ”
“It’s this late, yet you’re not asleep?” Beneath the moon, the white-clothed Prince Xueya was speechless for a long while and asked in a low voice . Amidst hundreds of miles and millions of soldiers, even the martial arts master Yan Bai could not hide the fatigue on his face .
“Knowing that you will definitely not leave behind your brother’s remains and will venture out in the middle of the night, I can not be at ease . ” Zhangsun Wuchen quietly spoke, “I want to be here to see you return . Every time you leave, I worry that you’ll never return . ”
Yan Bai lowered his head, not looking into her eyes, and just faintly said, “Don’t worry . I know my limits: I secretly went alone and returned while the night was dark . I know that Lord Yonglin can’t trap me either . ”
The Crown Princess all of a sudden chuckled, “Right… with your skills, where under the Heavens can’t you reach? If it weren’t for supporting Chengde, why else would you have to persistently struggle until now — Seventh Brother, you’re actually already very bitter and tired inside, right?”
Prince Xueya seemed to slowly understand her words . A long time had passed before he lifted his eyebrows and faintly smiled: “Fortunately, if one recognizes the bitterness, then it’s not painful anymore…” His smile was very faint that it was even submerged beneath the dust floating down . However, the emotions and sorrow in the corners of his eyes were distant and endless .
Zhangsun Wuchen looked at him steadily, and suddenly a light also flickered in her eyes . After a long time, she slowly said, “Perhaps, if, during those years, you were the crown prince that the late emperor appointed, then the Li Country now—”
“Wuchen!” abruptly, Yan Bai’s voice interrupted her, cold and without a trace of hesitation, “Don’t say any more useless words — It was only because your father tried to protect you that he appointed Imperial Brother as Crown Prince and you became Crown Princess… It’s a pity the nation weakened and was displaced afterward . Otherwise, you would have already become the Empress . ”
He paused and suddenly laughed, “I was born five years after Imperial Brother . No matter what, I will lag behind him — The only exception, is that I got to know you before he did… Yet, what good is that?”
Crown Princess Zhangsun lowered her head, and after a long time, she said softly, “It’s been seven years… Now, now you also have a concubine . ”
Prince Xueya’s complexion changed, and he didn’t know what kind of face appeared . It was as if that red-clothed woman’s bold smile flashed before his eyes, but the loneliness in his eyes became even greater, and he sighed somewhat wearily, “Indeed, there were no other means…were there? I was naturally willing to marry her . ”
“Bai, you have really suffered too many hardships…” suddenly, tears brimmed in Zhangsun Wuchen’s eyes as she uttered this name which had become unfamiliar . Her trembling hand reached out to touch the frost glistening on his hair, “We, we have really suffered too many hardships . ”
Footnotes:
[1] A catty is about 0 . 5 kilo or about 1 . 102 pounds btw
[2] “lintel”: a horizontal support of timber, stone, concrete, or steel across the top of a door or window
[3] Bulwark: a defensive wall
[4] “Ai”: expressing weariness