The serving girls swarmed over to help the goateed man out and wrap him in robes. The goateed man didn’t refuse.
“Your Highness,” he said mournfully, “our great king has only this one request. He wishes to conspire together with Your Highness, to forge eternal friendship with Your Highness.”
Prince Zhongshan looked at him, seeming to ponder, then asked: “Does your great king have any princesses?”
The goateed man was startled, seemingly not comprehending.
Xiao Xun already put on a sorrowful expression: “Father King, I already have someone in my heart—”
Only then did the goateed man understand—was this about a marriage alliance?
“Yes—” he said. Even if there weren’t any, there would be.
Prince Zhongshan laughed heartily: “We’ll discuss the future later, discuss it later. Honored guest, please go rest first.” He waved his hand.
As he waved, the delicate serving girls helped the goateed man away. The goateed man also seemed truly exhausted and offered no resistance.
Only father and son remained at the hot spring pool.
Prince Zhongshan breathed out and lay back down, taking the towel himself to soak it in the hot spring before covering his eyes again: “Even monkeys know not to make noise when soaking in hot springs.”
Xiao Xun smiled: “Father King, do you believe his words?”
Prince Zhongshan said: “Whether I believe it or not doesn’t matter. As long as Xi Liang believes it themselves.” At this point he sighed lightly. “However, General Chu’s final hour has truly arrived this time.”
Xiao Xun said: “Then will Father King go rescue him? For the sake of Great Xia, for the sake of General Chu, not hesitating to expose your secretly hidden troops.” He pressed his chest. “Father King’s action truly makes people both resentful and moved. Unlike that Chu Zhao with her heart of iron and stone, the people of the world will surely be captivated by Father King.”
Prince Zhongshan laughed heartily and raised his hand to splash hot spring water: “Naturally! When it comes to captivating all living beings, you as my son can’t compare to me, your father.”
Xiao Xun didn’t dodge, letting the hot spring water splash on his face. The spring water fell from his smooth, delicate face like pearls.
“Father King, your son wishes to lead troops there in your stead,” he said.
Prince Zhongshan smiled and removed the towel to look at Xiao Xun: “Going to play hero saving beauty again? As the saying goes, things shouldn’t happen more than three times—”
Xiao Xun was about to speak when Prince Zhongshan waved his hand.
“However, you don’t need to make your move yet. There will be a more important moment for you to appear.”
“This time when you appear again, my son, you must captivate all under heaven.”
……
……
The imperial palace was brightly lit deep into the night.
The Grand Tutor’s Hall where Deng Yi resided had people coming and going constantly, while Xie Yanfang’s place was much quieter.
A courier was led in hurriedly by an official, bearing the dust of travel. He saluted Xie Yanfang: “Third Young Master, the letter has been delivered.” He added: “Young Master Yanlai has also arrived.”
Xie Yanfang made a sound of acknowledgment, raised his head as if to ask something, then smiled and nodded, waving his hand.
The courier immediately withdrew.
“Young Master,” the official said with some pleasure in his expression, “you have a letter, and Young Master Yanlai is there. The Empress should return very quickly this time.”
Xie Yanfang laughed heartily and shook his head: “No, she won’t. After reading the letter, she might still hesitate, but after seeing Xie Yanlai, there will be no more hesitation. She won’t come back.”
The official was stunned: “Why is that?”
“Because someone has played the hero,” Xie Yanfang said with a smile.
What did that mean? The official didn’t understand and was about to ask again.
Xie Yanfang stopped him and asked: “All the letters to the border commandery have been sent out on schedule, correct?”
Was he confirming again? The official once more affirmed yes and guaranteed there were no mistakes.
“That letter absolutely, definitely arrived before Xie Yanlai,” he emphasized.
Xie Yanfang smiled without speaking, only lightly stroking his cheek with his hand.
“Heroes are most alluring,” he said softly. “Only heroes captivate people.”
……
……
The wind in Yunzhong Commandery howled all night. It didn’t stop until nearly dawn, but Liang Qiang couldn’t sleep anymore. The earthen bed platform had gone completely cold, the chill seeping from below into his body with a hissing sound, while the quilt covering him was like a block of ice—stiff and freezing.
Liang Qiang had never known cold could be this cold.
He was born into wealth and privilege, but from childhood he had studied and understood that arrogance, extravagance, lust, and idleness corrupted one’s character. So he had done things like studying by a cold window, training in winter’s harshest cold and summer’s fiercest heat. But only at this moment did he realize that when you possessed wealth and power, all so-called hardships were a joke. When you lost wealth and power, everything you did was suffering—there was no “not suffering,” only “more suffering.”
And true winter hadn’t even arrived yet.
Liang Qiang sat up from the bed platform, his lips blue with cold. He wrapped a tattered fur coat around himself and only gradually recovered after a moment.
He felt he wouldn’t survive this winter.
Outside came the clanging sound of banging, particularly harsh in the cold early morning. Even though Liang Qiang was awake, his heart jumped in fright—one could imagine how those still sleeping felt.
This was the garrison chief’s cruel amusement. In the garrison chief’s eyes, these people sent here for penal labor weren’t human.
“Get up and work, work, you pigs!” came the accompanying shouts.
The tattered fur coat warmed Liang Qiang’s body enough to move. He got off the bed platform, opened the door, and walked out. The cold wind hit his face and made him shudder. From this cluster of low buildings, people emerged sporadically.
If they didn’t come out, the garrison chief and his subordinates wouldn’t just bang gongs—they’d splash water into the houses.
They didn’t care whether people could still live in those houses afterward. They didn’t live there anyway.
After ensuring everyone had come out, the garrison chief wrapped in his large cloak scowled and stopped cursing: “Look sharp, everyone! Now that the Xi Liang people are attacking, if you don’t work hard, we’ll send you to fight!”
Then he had his subordinates assign tasks. Today, everyone from this garrison would go reinforce the city defenses, working from morning until night.
After assigning tasks, two rough servant women carried over a wooden bucket. This was today’s breakfast—one bowl of thin gruel per person. Whether the gruel could fill their stomachs didn’t matter; that it was steaming hot was enough for everyone.
Everyone wanted to surge forward, but the garrison chief cursed them again and made them form a line.
Liang Qiang went straight to the back of the line. When he first arrived, he had pushed and shoved with others, getting into several fights—not that he couldn’t win, but there was no end to it. Winning meant being punished. Once, when he held his bowl of thin gruel and saw his bruised and swollen face reflected in it, he felt ridiculous.
Was his future life just about fighting for a bowl of thin gruel every morning?
If so, what difference did it make to drink it earlier or later?
Liang Qiang stood at the back of the line, slowly shuffling forward, watching the wooden bucket ahead—there was still a difference. The steam from the thin gruel constantly dissipated in the cold morning wind.
By the time it reached him, it would probably be cold gruel.
“A’Qiang,” came a voice from behind, happy and low: “Today your mother is on duty. The gruel definitely won’t be half-spilled.”
Liang Qiang turned around to see a clan brother’s smiling face.
This brother’s hair was messy, long since stripped of the bearing of a Liang clan descendant. Previously at home he hadn’t cared about fine wine and delicacies, but now having half a bowl more of gruel could make him smile.
Liang Qiang looked at his face and said: “Fourth Brother, we can’t continue as laborers.”
The Liang family brother was stunned and asked: “Then what should we do?”
Liang Qiang fell silent. He didn’t know either, but if they continued as laborers, he felt it would be better to die.