Chapter Five (Part 1)
Cheng returned to the Chen manor and Chen Quan Ran took Xiao Lan to the best inn in the imperial city.
Mo Lan took into consideration Chen Quan Ran saved her life so she talked courteously with him on the way to the inn.
Inside the inn Chen Quan Ran sat closely next to Xiao Lan at a table. He smiled and he whispered in her ear. ‘Xiao Lan, you look like you are upset. Yesterday did you carelessly hear something that made you boil with jealousy?’
Mo Lan frowned. She didn’t want to admit her jealousy but she didn’t want to lie. Why wouldn’t she be jealous? Chen Luo Du stood beside her husband for ten years and her husband liked young ladies like Chen Luo Du.
Mo Lan glanced at her arrogant husband who looked like he wanted a beating. She ignored him and she drank a sip of tea.
Chen Quan Ran knew his wife had thin skin and she wouldn’t admit her jealousy. He loved to jest with his wife, but he didn’t want her to continue to ignore him.
Chen Quan Ran thought about what happened at the fabric shop and he shivered. ‘Xiao Lan, your bravery is big. If I didn’t appear in time then how can a weak young lady like you defend against those louts? You would have been hurt.’
Chen Quan Ran loved his wife’s sense of justice, but he didn’t want his wife to be injured. He felt she needed to understand if she wanted to be a heroine, firstly she needed to be certain if she could defeat her opponents.
Chen Quan Ran thought about his wife’s loveable soft skin being bruised by that lout and he regretted he didn’t beat that lout to death.
‘Do you think I’m a fool? At that time I saw you outside the shop. Why should I be scared of those worms? You wouldn’t stand idle and let them hurt me,’ Mo Lan said.
Mo Lan drank another sip of tea and she smiled at Chen Quan Ran. ‘Did you learn anything from what happened? If you did then you would know a person can’t rely on their strength alone, they need to think with their head. In the future you shouldn’t underestimate someone weak as me.’
Chen Quan Ran laughed at his loveable wife. He couldn’t believe she reprimanded him in a situation she knew she lost to him.
A fuwu yuan brought food to Chen Quan Ran and Mo Lan’s table.
Chen Quan Ran rubbed his chin. ‘Xiao Lan, those louts said they’re Tu Lang’s guards. What kind of person is Tu Lang?’
Chen Quan Ran suspected Tu Lang was the man he wanted the emperor to execute.
‘Customer, be careful not to speak his name otherwise someone can hear you and you’ll be killed,’ the fuwu yuan warned.
Chen Quan Ran and Mo Lan looked at the fuwu yuan.
‘You know who Tu Lang is?’ Chen Quan Ran asked.
‘Of course I know. Everyone in the imperial city knows who Tu Lang is. His uncle is Tu Qing Min who is in charge of an army force. His cousin is Tu Fang Su who is the emperor’s consort. He relies on his relatives’ status and he does whatever he pleases in the imperial city and no one dares to oppose him. Tu Lang bought his position and his guards collect monthly protection fees from shop owners in the imperial city. If shop owners don’t pay the monthly protection fees then their bodies will be beaten into a pitiful state,’ the fuwu yuan whispered.
Mo Lan heard her husband snapped his fan.
‘What about the other court officials?’ Mo Lan asked.
‘How can the other court officials interfere? Tu Lang has two mountains to protect him. The emperor favours Tu Fang Su and she gave birth to three princes. Where is the justice? Tu Lang kills innocent people but he receives no retribution,’ the fuwu yuan said.
The fuwu yuan returned to the kitchen.
Chen Quan Ran drank a cup of tea. ‘I can’t believe the emperor blindly favours that kind of woman and allow her corrupt relatives to kill innocent people.’
Tu Lang entered the inn and he looked around the inn.
‘Officer Tu, what a privilege. Welcome to-’ a fuwu yuan greeted.
‘Stop speaking nonsense. Tell me, did you see a young gentleman in white clothes come in here with a young lady in a pink dress?’ Tu Lang said.
Chen Quan Ran and Mo Lan exchanged a secret look.
‘Officer Tu, every day there are couples who are dressed in white and pink clothes. Who are you-’ a fuwu yuan said.
Tu Lang slapped the fuwu yuan. He turned around and he ordered his guards. ‘Go upstairs and find them for me!’
Twenty young guards charged upstairs and they saw Chen Quan Ran sat next to Mo Lan.
‘Officer Tu, this is the gentlemen who told his men to arrest your guards at the shop,’ the first guard said.
Chen Quan Ran ignored the guards and he drank from a wine jar.
‘Officer Tu, this is the gentleman who threw one of your guards outside a shop and injured the guard’s back,’ the second guard said.
One of Chen Quan Ran’s men secretly followed Chen Quan Ran and Mo Lan as Chen Quan Ran requested. No one noticed him so he went to alert Xiao Ha and Chen Quan Ran’s other men about the situation at the inn.
Tu Lang walked toward Chen Quan Ran and Mo Lan’s table. Tu Lang didn’t own an aura of an officer. He looked ordinary, short and plump.
Tu Lang heard some of his men were arrested and whipped. Tu Lang fumed and he wanted to know who dared to oppose him.
Tu Lang looked at Chen Quan Ran and he thought Chen Quan Ran looked like a strong warrior and he suspected Chen Quan Ran’s identity couldn’t be ordinary. But he reasoned he had nothing to fear, because his uncle and cousin were powerful people in the imperial city so he dismissed his suspicions.
Tu Lang slammed his hand on the table in front of Chen Quan Ran. ‘You are a brave little boy.’
Chen Quan Ran frowned, Tu Lang had no right to call him ‘little boy.’
Mo Lan looked closely at her husband. She silently sat next to him and she patiently waited for his instructions.
Mo Lan glanced at the unlucky Tu Lang who dared to offend her husband. But she recoiled at the way Tu Lang stared at her.
Mo Lan heard about Tu Lang. She knew he visited brothels every day and he had many wives. If Tu Lang liked a young lady’s looks then he used any dirty tactic to force the young lady to be one of his wives.
Tu Lang looked at Mo Lan for a long time and he thought her beauty surpassed all his wives. He smiled and he turned to look at Chen Quan Ran. ‘You injured and arrested my guards. It’s an unforgiveable offence… but if you surrender the beautiful young lady sitting beside you to me for her to become my little wife, perhaps I’ll-’
Chen Quan Ran kicked Tu Lang’s stomach. Tu Lang’s body collided with a door and slumped to the ground.
The other customers in the inn thought Tu Lang deserved retribution for his bad deeds.
Tu Lang’s guards were shocked. They looked at Tu Lang and they couldn’t believe Chen Quan Ran injured Tu Lang enough for Tu Lang to vomit fresh blood.
‘Do you know a man name Sun Can?’ Chen Quan Ran asked.
Tu Lang and his guards stayed silent.
Chen Quan Ran smiled coldly. ‘Do you know him?’
‘Yes… I know him,’ Tu Lang said.
‘How do you know him?’ Chen Quan Ran asked.
‘He… used to be my servant,’ Tu Lang said.
Chen Quan Ran laughed. Mo Lan shivered because she never heard him laugh that coldly before. Mo Lan felt his laugh compared to Dizang’s (Chinese mythological ruler of the underworld equivalent to Greek mythological God Hades) laugh would be scarier.
‘I finally found you,’ Chen Quan Ran said.
Chen Quan Ran whistled and two of his men jumped down from the roof.
‘Tie him up and take him to the imperial dungeon. He can stay there until his execution day is announced,’ Chen Quan Ran said.
Tu Lang crawled away from Chen Quan Ran’s men. ‘You dare tie me up? Do you know who I am?’
Chen Quan Ran took out his seal and Tu Lang was shocked to see the word ‘general’ on the seal.
Tu Lang silently begged the heavens for mercy. He hated himself for forgetting General Chen returned to the imperial city a few days ago.
***
Chapter Five (Part 2 of 2)
Sun Can lost his parents at the age of five.
After Sun Can’s parents’ death he was sold to the Tu household. He worked as a servant for the Tu household for many years. Tu Lang abused him during the years he served the Tu household. But he endured until adulthood. He got married and had a son.
Tu Lang ordered Sun Can to work in a far place then Tu Lang attempted to rape Sun Can’s wife but Tu Lang failed. Sun Can’s wife tried to take her son and escape. Tu Lang overpowered her, he strangled her to death and he killed Sun Can’s five month old son too.
Sun Can returned to the Tu household and he saw his wife and son’s dead bodies. He tried to kill Tu Lang to avenge his wife and son, but Tu Lang’s guards hit him black and blue and they threw him out of the Tu household.
Sun Can crawled to the Chen household and he begged for refuge. Chen Quan Ran took Sun Can in to serve in his army base camp. Chen Quan Ran wasn’t close to Sun Can but Sun Can died to save Chen Quan Ran’s life. Before Sun Can died he told Chen Quan Ran about his wife and son and he asked Chen Quan Ran to avenge his wife and son’s death.
After Chen Quan Ran returned home he wanted to fulfil his promise and avenge Sun Can’s wife and son’s death.
Mo Lan gritted her teeth whilst she listened to her husband talked about Sun Can’s family. ‘A vile person like Tu Lang deserves a painful death.’
Chen Quan Ran worried about his wife’s strong sense of justice. ‘Xiao Lan, you have a heart of a heroine.’
‘I hope under this sky people like Tu Lang who don’t live with a conscience will be killed using the lingchi method (death by a thousand cuts),’ Mo Lan said.
Chen Quan Ran looked at his beautiful wife and he knew why men like Tu Lang coveted his wife. The thought of other men lusting after his wife made him worry and jealous.
‘Xiao Lan, in the future you can’t leave our home unless you take guards with you. You can’t leave with only Cheng. Walking outside our home unprotected with your beautiful face will attract trouble. Now that I’m home as your husband I need to teach you what you need to do and what you shouldn’t do. Don’t think you can rely on your intelligence that you will always return home in one piece. You know this is a treacherous world. Bad people won’t care if you have a husband and they won’t spare you,’ Chen Quan Ran said.
Xiao Ha arrived at the inn and he reported his investigation to Chen Quan Ran. ‘General, I talked to Tu Lang’s past victims. They told me if they reported Tu Lang’s crimes his uncle Tu Qing Min will pay someone else to confess and be Tu Lang’s substitute. General, you need evidence to convict Tu Lang otherwise Tu Lang will rely on Tu Qing Ming and consort Tu’s influence over the emperor.’
Xiao Ha saw Chen Quan Ran’s furious face and he sighed on the inside. ‘General, it’s pointless to be angry without evidence.’
Chen Quan Ran couldn’t believe someone like Tu Qing Min abused a high position to harm others, blindly let relatives to do as they please and protected them unconditionally.
Chen Quan Ran visited Tu Qing Min. As he expected Tu Qing Min politely welcomed him and pretended to be an oblivious uncle.
‘It’s my fault. I spoiled my nephew and now he has gone astray,’ Tu Qing Min said.
Chen Quan Ran couldn’t bear to look at Tu Qing Ming’s fake act as merely a concerned uncle instead of someone who lived blind to justice. Chen Quan Ran went to see the emperor and his anger grew. He didn’t expect the emperor would do nothing to rectify the injustices against innocent people.
‘I’m aware of Tu Lang’s crimes. But if I plan to punish him, Tu Qing Mu and my consort Tu will cry in front of me and beg me to spare Tu Lang’s life. I can’t risk losing the Tu household’s military support over one man like Tu Lang,’ the emperor said.
Chen Quan Ran returned home disheartened and angry. He couldn’t stand idle and let Tu Qing Min continue to abuse military power at the expense of many lives.
Outside Mo Lan’s husband’s calligraphy room she heard Xiao Ha tried to calm her husband’s anger. She understood why her husband would be angry. Tu Lang and Tu Qing Min were killing and hurting anyone to get what they wanted.
Mo Lan whispered a few orders to Cheng and Cheng left. Then Mo Lan stepped into her husband’s calligraphy room.
Xiao Ha saw the general’s wife and he smiled helplessly. ‘Mistress-’
‘Lieutenant, I asked the maids and servants to prepare an evening meal for you and General Chen’s other men. You should go outside and eat something before the meal is cold,’ Mo Lan said.
Xiao Ha’s mind wasn’t sharp as the general and the general’s wife’s minds, but he understood the young married couple wanted to speak privately and he quickly left the room.
Chen Quan Ran sat silent on a chair in front of the table and the other chairs he smashed.
Mo Lan smiled and she walked toward her angry husband. ‘You can be angry but don’t break everything in our home. You know how valuable each table in the Chen household is. Even one chair is at least two hundred silver ingots.’
Chen Quan Ran lifted his head and he silently glared at his wife.
‘Did you eat yet? You can’t be full on anger. What do you want to eat?’ Mo Lan said.
‘I’m not in the mood to eat,’ Chen Quan Ran said.
‘You can’t starve yourself,’ Mo Lan said.
Cheng knocked on the door. She brought in food and tea as her mistress requested. She put them on a table that wasn’t broken and she left.
‘I made the food myself. Shouldn’t you try a bit of the food I cooked for you?’ Mo Lan said.
Chen Quan Ran thought his wife’s food smelt delicious, but he had no appetite to eat. ‘I don’t want to eat.’
Xiao Ha couldn’t calm Chen Quan Ran’s anger. But Chen Quan Ran heard his wife’s voice soothing as a summer’s breeze and his anger calmed.
‘I promise you never tasted food like this before,’ Mo Lan said.
Mo Lan lifted a pot lid. ‘This is a complicated rice dish. I steamed white rice and black rice together with coucal meat (Chinese crow pheasant / cuckoo). Do you think it has a distinct scent?’
‘Isn’t it only a bowl of rice? Why do you need to be long winded?’ Chen Quan Ran asked.
‘You can see even cooking rice needs careful planning,’ Mo Lan said.
Chen Quan Ran scoffed. ‘I knew you were scheming something.’
Chen Quan Ran surrendered and he picked up his wife’s bowl of rice. He ate a mouthful of rice and he nodded his head. ‘Um, it tastes delicious.’
‘Of course the rice is delicious. Taste the bowl of soup too, it’s delicious too,’ Mo Lan said.
Chen Quan Ran listened to his wife and he quickly ate everything on the table. Then he drank a cup of tea his wife poured for him.
‘Are you still angry about Tu Lang?’ Mo Lan asked.
‘If he’s one of my men I would have taken care of him according to the law. I wouldn’t let him walk around free to commit more crimes,’ Chen Quan Ran said.
‘If you want to avenge Sun Can… there is a solution,’ Mo Lan said.
‘What solution?’ Chen Quan Ran asked.
Mo Lan whispered her solution in Chen Quan Ran’s ear.
‘Xiao Lan, that is a good solution,’ Chen Quan Ran praised.
Chen Quan Ran pulled his wife onto his lap and he kissed her lips.
Mo Lan let her husband kissed her for a while. Then she pushed his chest and she left the room embarrassed.
Three days later something unexpected happened in the imperial city, the day of Tu Lang’s execution arrived and his head finally separated from his body.
The Northern Empire’s citizens rejoiced and they lit fire crackers to celebrate the death of Tu Lang. Only Tu Qing Min and Tu Fang Su mourned Tu Lang’s death.
Chen Quan Ran avenged Sun Can’s wife and son’s death and he helped rid someone vile as Tu Lang.
‘General, I don’t understand why Tu Qing Min didn’t help find a substitute for his nephew like he did in the past,’ Xiao Ha said.
‘Xiao Ha, how can you understand?’ Chen Quan Ran asked.
Chen Quan Ran whispered Xiao Lan’s plan in Xiao Ha’s ear.
‘General, what wise person thought of such a good plan?’ Xiao Ha said.
In the imperial palace many court officials feared Tu Qing Min’s power, but General Chen returned to the imperial city and many court officials favoured General Chen. The court officials pressured the emperor to uphold justice and execute Tu Lang for his crimes, because they didn’t need to fear Tu Qing Min as long as they had General Chen’s support.
Three days before Tu Lang’s execution, Tu Qing Min worried about how to save his nephew and he didn’t eat or drink. In his tired state one of his guards found a substitute for Tu Lang. He immediately signed the execution paper without reading the name of Tu Lang’s substitute, which was ‘Yu Liang.’
Chen Quan Ran sent one of his men into the Tu household and ‘Yu Liang’ turned into ‘Tu Lang’ on the execution paper.
Three days later Tu Qing Min found out his mistake too late. He couldn’t believe he sentenced his own nephew to death.
‘My Xiao Lan is the wise person who thought of the plan. She whispered in my ear a few words and she turned my dream into something true. It appears reading many different books is useful,’ Chen Quan Ran said.
Chen Quan Ran felt blessed he married someone wise and who lived with a conscience. He regretted he didn’t appreciate his wife earlier and he wasted ten years. In those ten years if he lived with his wife then they would share many beautiful memories together.
Xiao Ha looked at the general and he knew spring brought the look of love in the general’s eyes through the general’s wife.