Chapter 4: The Youth
Tempering the young heart into something cold, hard, and ruthless.
Outside the estate gates, the Xie family’s wedding procession was grand and imposing.
Everywhere were canopied carriages and fragrant coaches, wrapped in gold and jade.
Leading them was Chen Yue, the Commandant of the Prince of Fenyang’s Household Affairs Office. He was tall and powerfully built. Because he came from a background of battlefield slaughter and bore the duties of receiving the bride and guarding the route, he had come wearing armor this time, looking awe-inspiring. After A Yan entered the red-satin-decorated wedding carriage, he cupped his hands in farewell to the Chu family, and amid drums and music, the procession slowly left the capital.
Chu An, who was escorting the bride, along with the accompanying serving women and maids, also boarded carriages and mounted horses one after another, setting out on the long journey.
Outside the lane, the bright sun shone high, with thin clouds veiling the sun.
The long street was crowded with common folk who had come to watch the spectacle. Because the Xie family had given the imperial household face and put on quite a display, when the carriages slowly rolled past, the crowd voiced their admiration and praise.
Inside the carriage, A Yan raised her sleeve to wipe away her tears.
However unwilling she was, she had to face it in the end. She could not be as ruthless and willful as Chu Qiang, abandoning the lives of the entire household for her own selfish ends. Nor did she dare risk her father’s prospects and her grandfather’s reputation. So she could only walk on, step by step, onto a road entirely different from what she had imagined.
It was only a pity that at the moment of parting, the two relatives she cherished most were not by her side.
A Yan turned slightly and quietly lifted a corner of the side curtain at the rear of the carriage.
Outside the window, the city towers were towering and the procession orderly.
The guards sent by the Xie family protected both sides of the wedding carriage. Most of her attendants were behind the ceremonial procession. The convoy stretched out in a winding line, impossible to see to the end.
But several figures in a long pavilion caught her eye—
It was Xu Yuan’e and the elderly Grand Tutor Xu and his wife, standing there with servants attending them. They must have been worried about the hurried farewell and had left the city to see her off here, reluctant to part.
A Yan’s eyes grew warm, and she gripped the fan handle tightly.
In Chang’an there were people she cared about, and it also held all her memories of her grandfather. One day, she would have to find a way to return to her homeland.
From Chang’an to Weizhou, the road stretched more than a thousand li.
The Prince of Fenyang’s household commanded heavy troops and dominated a whole region, and Xie Ting’s reputation for being skilled in battle spread far and wide. The wedding procession traveled by day and rested by night. Along the way, bandits and thieves voluntarily avoided them, so the journey was relatively safe.
That evening, they entered the territory of Bianzhou.
This place was far from the influence of the capital region, and had not yet reached the Xie family’s jurisdiction. The one in charge of military and political affairs here was the Xuanwu Military Governor, Liang Xun. Now that the imperial family was declining, the military governors held all local power and were gradually taking on the shape of separatist regimes. Each had their own mountain and refused to submit to the others, and in places where their territories bordered, there were inevitably frictions over land and power.
Liang Xun’s relationship with the Xie family was naturally not good either.
In a place like this, Chen Yue was especially cautious.
At dusk, the group lodged at an inn to rest. A Yan was naturally arranged in the finest room, with Old Mrs. Lu and Yu Lu attending her closely. The rooms to the left and right were occupied by the serving women and attendants who were part of the dowry, and further out on both wings were the people of the wedding procession. Guards kept watch at the stairway, forbidding idle people from approaching.
Chen Yue personally led the patrol at night.
The guards were also far more vigilant than before.
A Yan had been raised in a scholarly family since childhood and was used to fine clothes and rich food. When had she ever seen such a formation? She guessed that outside was no longer as safe and peaceful as the capital, so she acted with particular caution. After bathing and removing her makeup at night, she did not dare dress too thinly. Beneath her sleeping garment she wore close-fitting underclothes in case of emergency, and even kept her clothes at her pillow so she would not be caught unprepared.
After she drifted off to sleep, she did not know how much time had passed when faint sounds of clamor reached her ears. A Yan was still half-asleep and had just thought of turning over when Old Mrs. Lu shook her awake forcefully.
“Young lady, wake up quickly! Something has happened!”
The old woman’s face was full of anxiety, as if she wished she could drag A Yan out of the bedclothes. Seeing her open her eyes blearily, she hurriedly pulled her up with one hand and grabbed clothes to put on her, saying, “Bandits have come from outside. It sounds like they’re fighting. Young lady, hurry and get dressed and hide. Don’t get hurt.”
A Yan was so frightened she shuddered and quickly rose to dress.
By the tightly shut door, Yu Lu used the crack in the window to make out the situation outside. When she ran back to the bed, her voice trembled slightly.
“A lot of rough soldiers have come outside, all on horseback with swords and blades. It looks like they mean to kill. Torches have been lit. That General Chen is leading people to guard the inn entrance. Both sides are fighting, and there’s blood all over the ground. Th-this outside is so dangerous. Young lady, we must hide quickly…”
As she spoke, she looked around frantically, intending to find a chest or cabinet to hide in.
At that moment, the bolted door was pried open.
With a creak, the door swung open and shut, and a tall, lean figure suddenly intruded, silent and soundless.
Yu Lu caught sight of him from the corner of her eye and nearly cried out in alarm.
But A Yan recognized the youth’s face by the moonlight coming through the window and quickly said, “Don’t shout, he’s one of us!” As she spoke, she hurriedly turned her back to fasten her outer robe, casually gathered her loose black hair, slipped on soft shoes, and took two steps forward. She said in a low voice to the youth, “Why did you break in here?”
“Young lady, don’t panic. Hide in the cabinet—” Before the words were finished, an iron arrow broke through the window.
The youth raised his arm, caught the sharp arrow bare-handed, and casually threw it back.
A muffled scream seemed to come from outside the window.
A Yan stared in shock. She saw the youth point to the tall wooden cabinet in the corner and say urgently, “Hide inside. Don’t make a sound.”
As he spoke, a short sword slipped from his sleeve and knocked away another sharp arrow.
Once the crossbows were fired, Chen Yue, in the thick of battle, knew things were bad. He quickly withdrew and ordered more than ten guards to secure the front and back of the room, lest the arrows cut through the air and endanger the life of the Chu family young lady.
A Yan hid in the corner of the cabinet, her heart pounding violently.
She did not know whose troops had openly come to assassinate them tonight, and even less had she expected that the usually silent youth by her side possessed such skill.
Outside, the guards loudly asked whether the princess consort had been injured. Old Mrs. Lu hurriedly answered that she was unharmed, standing guard in front like a hen protecting her chick.
A Yan’s thoughts raced. She could only fix her gaze on the youth.
This youth was named Si Yu. A Yan had picked him up.
It was last December, when she and Xu Yuan’e had arranged to leave the city to enjoy the snow and visit plum blossoms. In a mountain hollow covered with snow, she saw him hiding in a crevice in the rocks, covered in blood and barely breathing. If not for the shallow footprints around him and the blood soaking into the stone that she happened to catch sight of, she would almost have missed him.
A Yan was kindhearted and quickly ordered a servant to carry him out and send him to a nearby farmhouse for treatment.
The youth was gravely injured and remained unconscious.
At that time, Grand Tutor Xu had already allowed the two of them to stay at a country villa, searching for plum blossoms daily to cultivate their painting sensibilities. A Yan often found time to visit and brought medicinal foods and tonics for him. The youth’s life was saved, but he was like a mute, saying nothing all day. When others approached, he was cold and paid them little attention, only nursing his wounds alone in the room.
A Yan did not force him. She only asked the physician to care for him diligently.
Later, the youth left without saying goodbye.
A Yan assumed his injuries were no longer serious and did not take it to heart.
Who would have thought that in the second month, the youth would return? He suddenly appeared while she was out enjoying the spring. Among the blooming hibiscus covering the slope, the youth’s tall, lean figure was like a sharp sword in its sheath. Expressionless, he said his name was Si Yu, that the debt of saving his life had not yet been repaid, and that he was willing to serve A Yan for two years at her disposal, taking no payment, as a way of repaying her.
A Yan initially found the matter rather absurd. She only said that she had saved him on a whim that day and that he need not take it to heart. Later, seeing how stubborn he was, she had no choice but to find him a position as a carriage driver.
Si Yu was also dutiful and sparing with words.
This time, on the journey to Weizhou, A Yan rode in the wedding carriage prepared by the Xie family, driven and guarded personally by a commandant. Si Yu thus served as Old Mrs. Lu’s carriage driver, following along in silence the whole way.
Who would have expected that tonight he would reveal such skill?
Outside, the fighting was fierce and chaotic. The guards secured the room like an iron barrel. Occasionally one or two arrows slipped through. Since they could not harm A Yan, Si Yu ignored them, only standing with his sword in front of the cabinet, guarding the peace of this small patch of space.
After a long while, the sounds of fighting gradually stopped.
The heart-stopping crossbows and sharp arrows vanished without a trace. Outside, a guard knocked on the door and said with cupped hands, “The bandits have all been executed. May we ask whether the young lady has been injured? This room is no longer habitable. Commandant Chen says to ask the young lady to move to another inn to rest.”
“Very well, I will come out now.”
A Yan’s voice was slightly hoarse. She glanced at Si Yu and saw him make a gesture for silence, hiding behind the long hanging curtain nearby, moving without a sound.
She guessed there might be other reasons behind this, and to avoid complications, she did not make it known. Since her clothes were still relatively neat, she only pinned up her loose hair simply and, accompanied by Old Mrs. Lu and Yu Lu, left the room.
Outside, torches lit the area bright as day. Scattered arrows lay piled in the long corridor, with bloodstains everywhere below. The bandits dressed as soldiers were either dead or wounded, and some had been captured alive, all detained by the guards.
Chen Yue had already formed up his men. He said respectfully to her, “The bandits raided the inn at night and disturbed the young lady. It was this subordinate’s failure of oversight. I beg the young lady’s forgiveness and ask her to move elsewhere to rest.”
“I thank the general.”
A Yan bowed slightly and followed him to another place to rest for the remainder of the night.
When they set out the next day, she saw that Si Yu was still dressed as a carriage driver, waiting early in front of Old Mrs. Lu’s carriage, silent as usual. Two of the Xie family guards were too severely injured to travel and were carried into a carriage to recover. The others, after bandaging their wounds overnight, still rode to guard them, long swords at their waists and armor neat, full of martial bearing, showing not the slightest trace of last night’s fierce battle.
Clearly, such situations were commonplace to them.
A Yan secretly broke into a cold sweat and boarded the carriage to set out.
By the afternoon, they stepped into the territory under the Xie family’s jurisdiction, and the surroundings immediately became much safer. It was not until the evening of the next day that they arrived in Weizhou and were settled in the official post station, waiting for the wedding ceremony the next day.
The wedding procession had gone back and forth for more than ten days, causing quite a stir.
After settling the Chu family members, Chen Yue immediately went to the prince’s residence to report.
As dusk gathered, servants in the residence lit candles one after another.
The evening wind, still carrying warmth, brushed through the courtyard. Xie Ting stood behind a long rosewood desk, in brocade robes and a jade crown, a belt of hanging ornaments at his waist. His tall figure cast a long shadow in the candlelight.
Although he was known throughout the land for ferocity, his iron cavalry sweeping across the battlefield and striking fear into enemy troops, he was in fact only twenty years old, with handsome brows and fine eyes, in the prime of his bearing.
Because the wedding was imminent, he had just returned yesterday from inspecting the army. Now, in dark brocade robes, holding a scroll, discussing political and administrative matters with his chief secretary, he had a rather refined and upright air, not the vicious, murderous appearance rumored by the outside world.
Before his father Xie Gun died in battle, Xie Ting too had been a graceful youth.
He had practiced martial arts since childhood and was skilled in archery and horsemanship. When he was young, he was mischievous and troublesome like any other child, climbing roofs and tearing down tiles, hated by people and dogs alike, giving the family elders endless headaches. Later, as he grew into a young man, he was handsome in appearance, learned in poetry and letters, and unmatched in riding, archery, and military strategy, causing countless young women of Weizhou to fall for him.
Until great tragedy struck the family.
A fifteen-year-old youth, in another household, would still be at the age of golden crowns and jade furs, full of high spirits. But Xie Ting had to shoulder the twin burdens of the prince’s residence and the military governorship, overawe generals who harbored disloyal intentions, win over old ministers whose hearts were wavering, and then lead troops to eliminate the border threat of enemy armies pressing in, stabilizing a precarious situation.
At that time, he had just lost his father, and his prestige was still insufficient.
In just a few short months, the once flamboyant and mischievous youth became steady, silent, and restrained. Filled with grief and fury after his father’s death, he led troops into battle, striking down the invading enemy amid seas of blood and mountains of corpses, killing them all.
When the entire campaign was over, the invading army had been utterly routed. Blood had soaked through his clothes several times, and it had also tempered the young heart into something cold, hard, and ruthless.
Thus Xie Ting established his footing and became renowned throughout the land.
Now, hearing Chen Yue report the bandit ambush at the inn, he did not even raise an eyebrow. He only said, “Have you found out who was behind it?”
“Those men were dressed like Liang Xun’s Xuanwu troops, but according to the captured survivors’ confessions, they were men of the Longyou army.”
“Zheng Xie?”
Xie Ting’s expression shifted slightly. He looked toward the chief secretary, Jia Xun.
Jia Xun was already sixty years old. He was a man left behind by Xie Ting’s grandfather, having held the position of chief secretary for thirty years, loyal to three generations of the family.
Hearing this name, he too was somewhat surprised, then quickly understood. “Zheng Xie has wolfish ambitions. There have indeed been signs. This time he sent men disguised to Bianzhou to launch a surprise attack, probably to sabotage the marriage alliance and make the capital displeased with Your Highness. At that time, whether he diverts the trouble eastward and provokes a conflict between us and Liang Xun, or humiliates the court and prompts it to send troops to weaken Weizhou, he can sit back and reap the benefits.”
“It is only a pity the court lacks that ability.” Xie Ting’s eyes were cold and heavy. He said to Chen Yue again, “How did the people from the capital react?”
“The wedding escort had never seen such a scene. At first there was some chaos, and the next day they asked around about the cause. But that Miss Chu remained calm despite the shock. During the fierce fighting she stayed quiet in her room, and the serving women and maids by her side did not ask many questions either. She was even more composed than her elder brother.”
Jia Xun was slightly surprised. “Our informants said Chu Qiang is shallow and selfish, anxious and willful when things happen. She would actually be this steady?”
“Jia Gong, the Chu family has swapped people.”
When Xie Ting said this, a trace of mockery flashed in his eyes. “They say Chu Qiang suddenly contracted a severe illness and went mad, and is unfit to marry as princess consort. They are sending her cousin instead. The edict will be announced tomorrow.”
“They’re trying to fool a ghost,” he sneered coldly.