“You should send him to Xianyang[3] and have His Majesty judge him personally. Perhaps, His Majesty might be delighted by your merits and reward you handsomely,” said Zu An.
“Wise indeed!” Lord Wang’s eyes twinkled in delight. “Men, tie that man up and place him inside the cage! I shall personally escort him back to the capital! Lord Censor, do you want to come along with us?”
“I still have other matters to attend to, so I’ll have to pass,” Zu An rejected with a shake of his head.
Lord Wang was overjoyed to hear that. “Lord Censor, I’m truly grateful for your guidance. I’ll never forget the grace you’ve shown to me today.”
“Lord Wang, you’re too humble,” replied Zu An. I’ll already be more than thankful if you don’t hate me for this.
When the villagers found out that it was Chen Wei who inscribed those words on the meteor, even those who were close to him usually began pointing fingers at him, criticizing him for his actions. Everyone had just been taken on a trip to hell’s gate, so all of them were incredibly irritable at the moment. Naturally, they would vent their wrath at the culprit who nearly cost them their life.
Chen Sheng was infuriated to see how he was criticized by the villagers despite saving their lives. He was just about to act up when Zu An walked over to his side and communicated with him discreetly through ki transmission, “Commoners tend to be ignorant, so don’t hold it against them. Think about it optimistically. They rallied against you easily today, but this also means that you can also easily rally them in the future to help you with your ambition.”
A glint flashed across Chen Sheng’s eyes as he nodded discreetly. He lowered his head silently and obediently followed the guards into the cage.
Both Zu An and Qiao Xueying exchanged glances before quickly leaving from another direction. Once they were out of everyone’s sight, they made a huge detour and laid in ambush at where they knew the convoy would have to pass by in order to get to the capital, Xianyang.
In the end, they managed to save Chen Sheng without too much of a hassle. In the first place, the guards weren’t too strong, and Lord Wang was too anxious to claim his reward that he barely brought anyone along with him. He would have never thought that someone would be so brazen as to attempt to save a criminal of the imperial court.
“Lord Wang, what do we do now?”
The floored subordinates quickly gathered around Lord Wang’s side as they asked anxiously. It was an absolute death penalty for them to actually let such an important criminal escape under their watch!
“How am I to know what to do?!” Lord Wang was incredibly vexed too. Not only had he lost his chance at a promotion, but it seemed like his head was going to be lopped off at this rate too.
“Why don’t we return to the Chen Village and kill everyone? We can claim that no one has confessed to inscribing those words, so…” one of the subordinates suggested
“You fool!” Lord Wang smacked the subordinate’s head. “I’ve already reported the matter to the royal court! I would be asking for trouble if I suddenly changed my statement!”
Another subordinate spoke up, “What if we claim that Chen Wei tried to break free and ended up harming some of our brothers, so we killed him on the spot as punishment?”
“That’s a good idea. But how do we deal with the issue of the corpse then?” Lord Wang nodded in approval.
“One of the prisoners have died in the yamen yesterday, and we haven’t reported it upward yet. We could use his corpse in place of Chen Wei’s. Those of the imperial court won’t recognize him anyway,” replied the subordinate.
Lord Wang’s eyes lit up. “That’s a good idea. Quick, let’s get to action then! We’re all tied on the same boat right now, so you better make sure to keep your mouth shut! Understood?”
The others nodded in agreement.
…
Meanwhile, Zu An and Qiao Xueying brought Chen Sheng to a remote place and said, “You won’t be able to return to the Chen Village anymore. What are your plans now?”
“What about my father’s corpse? I can’t just leave him there…” Chen Sheng frowned.
“Don’t worry, I’ve already ordered some of the men to bury your father,” replied Zu An. “Of course, it won’t be anything glorious. It can’t be helped since you’re a fugitive right now.”
“Thank you, benefactor. I’m thankful for your help.” Chen Sheng bowed deeply to Zu An out of gratitude before saying, “Please do not worry. I shall change my name from this day onward so as to not implicate you. Like I’ve said before, I shall become known as Chen Sheng from this day onward. I’m thinking of heading over to Yangxia City to seek refuge with one of my good friends.”
“By any chance, is it possible that your friend is named Wu Guang?” asked Zu An.
Chen Sheng was stunned. “How do you know that?”
“It was just a random guess. Well, I wish you all the best for the future,” replied Zu An sheepishly.
Chen Sheng clasped his fist and said, “I’ll surely repay the grace you’ve shown me today. Farewell!”
With that, he bade the two of them farewell before taking his leave. For some reason, his departing silhouette looked rather stalwart.
As Qiao Xueying watched as Chen Sheng left, she asked the man beside her, “Are you hiding something from me?”
1. Sheng means ‘Victory’. Chen Sheng is one of the rebels rising from the farmer class, declaring himself the king of the Chen Country. However, he was later put down by Zhang Han. He’s known for his quote ‘Are kings and nobles given their high status at birth?’
2. As most of Chen Sheng’s supporters are farmers and peasants who don’t have proper weapons, they tended to wield farming tools and stuff, resulting in the coining of a term that literally translates to ‘Raise your poles in rebellion’
3. Xianyang is the capital of the Qin Dynasty