The sun had set, and the azure sky was bathed in its glorious colours, casting a golden glow on the earth. As Yun Qing entered the courtyard, the remnants of the sunset fell upon him, making him look like a heavenly being descending to earth, radiating a noble and heroic aura.🦊
Yuxi noticed Yun Qing's furrowed brow, but she still refrained from asking. Instead, she called Shiliu to bring him water to wash his hands. It was almost time for dinner, an inappropriate time to discuss serious matters.
After their meal, the couple walked side by side outside, strolling and conversing. Yun Qing spoke: "Chen Yu was hit by two arrows while eliminating the bandits in Maluo Mountain. He was still unconscious when the news arrived." Maluo Mountain was located on the border of Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, a typically chaotic region prone to banditry.
Sensing that there was something wrong with this information, Yuxi asked, "How could Chen Yu have sustained such serious injuries while dealing with bandits?" As Marquis Taining's Shizi2, Chen Yu was surrounded by skilled individuals. Even if he couldn't defeat the bandits in Maluo Mountain, it was unlikely that he would be seriously injured, let alone hit by two arrows.
Yun Qing's face turned grim as he replied, "The bandits in Maluo Mountain were not only well prepared but also outnumbered his forces by more than twice." It was not surprising that they had made preparations and set up traps, considering that Chen Yu had been busy eliminating bandits during this period. However, the fact that the bandits outnumbered the forces sent to destroy them was problematic.
Yuxi's mouth fell open. She knew Ji Xuan would cause trouble, but she had not expected him to resort to such methods. Yuxi asked, "Ji Xuan is actually colluding with the bandits?" Previously, he had merely provided the bandits with information, but now he was colluding with them. This audacity was beyond ordinary.
Yun Qing's expression turned grim as he replied, "I suspect Ji Xuan has been colluding with those bandits for a long time, but we can't find any evidence." For an official to collude with criminals, Ji Xuan deserved to die for it.
Yuxi trembled with fear as she spoke, "He Rui, you must be extremely cautious in future battles. You can't afford to be careless." When leading troops into battle, even the slightest mistake could cost you your life.
Yun Qing, momentarily taken aback by the sudden shift in conversation, quickly regained his composure. "Don't worry, I will be careful. I guess even Chen Yu didn't expect Ji Xuan to resort to such despicable means!" Ji Xuan abandoned all moral boundaries to eliminate Chen Yu and achieve his goals.
Yuxi asked, "Chen Yu is the Emperor's most trusted confidant. What is Ji Xuan up to by daring to harm him?" It felt like a sign of rebellion! Of course, if Ji Xuan were to rebel, it could be to their advantage.
If Ji Xuan were to rebel, the Northwest Army would certainly be mobilised. However, Ji Xuan wasn't foolish enough to do such a thing, at least not yet.
"Without evidence, the Imperial Court won't be able to punish him," Yun Qing said grimly. That was the advantage of the mountains being so high and the Emperor being so far away3.
On the fourth day of Chen Yu's unconsciousness, news reached the capital. The Emperor was furious. Chen Yu, his trusted right-hand man, had unexpectedly fallen into the hands of some bandits.
Marquis Taining's face was filled with grief, but he couldn't ask to lead the troops. He was currently in command of the Imperial Guard in the capital. If he left, he would have to relinquish his military authority. At that point, the Marquis Taining's residence would become an empty shell, making revenge impossible.
Marquis Chiang was also a skilled military leader but didn't volunteer to lead the campaign. The situation in the northwest was too complex, and it would be unwise to get involved now.
Song Guojiu4 suggested sending Ji Xuan to suppress the bandits.
The Emperor then asked Grand Chancellor Yu, who had been silent all this time, "Grand Chancellor, who do you think is suitable to lead the campaign to suppress the bandits?" Chen Yu's injury was inextricably linked to Ji Xuan. If the Emperor assigned Ji Xuan to lead an elite troop, and the bandits outnumbered the suppression force by double, they would still be no match for the bandits.
Grand Chancellor Yu had been observing everyone's reactions. Now that the Emperor had called on him by name, he no longer remained silent. "Ji Xuan is the Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu. Suppressing bandits is originally his responsibility." Ji Xuan had already established his power, so it didn't matter who else was sent. Therefore, the task of suppressing the bandits could only fall to Ji Xuan.
Marquis Taining stepped forward and said, "If Ji Xuan were capable, the bandits in the northwest wouldn't be so rampant. Your Majesty, I suggest we dispatch the Northwest Army to eliminate these bandits."
Song Guojiu4's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. He immediately stood up and retorted, "The Northwest Army's responsibility is to defend the border cities. If we mobilise them and the northern barbarian army attacks, the border cities will surely be lost. Can you bear that responsibility?"
Marquis Taining replied coldly, "Your Majesty, the Northwest Army is fearless and skilled in battle. We only need to send five thousand troops to wipe out the bandits in Maluo Mountain. The Northwest has an army of 100,000, and Yun Qing is adept at warfare. Deploying five thousand men will not affect the overall situation." It was clear that Ji Xuan was behind his son's injury. Since Ji Xuan dared to use such underhanded tactics against his son, he wouldn't let Ji Xuan get away with it.
Mobilising the Northwest Army was not a trivial matter, and considering the Emperor's suspicions of Yuxi, he didn't want to deploy them at the moment.
Grand Chancellor Yu suggested, "Your Majesty, if Ji Xuan proves ineffective in suppressing the bandits, we can always resort to using the Northwest Army later."
After the court was dispersed, Eldest Master Yu asked his father, confused, "Father, why did you support Ji Xuan in suppressing the bandits?" Supporting Ji Xuan would mean safeguarding the interests of the Song family.
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Grand Chancellor Yu replied, "I want to take another look." Despite all the various evidence pointing to the bandits as the culprits behind Cao De's death, Grand Chancellor Yu still felt there was more to it. He didn't want to make any changes until the people he had sent returned.
Eldest Master Yu asked, "Father, don't you trust Yun Qing?"
Grand Chancellor Yu didn't trust anyone except for his sons and grandsons. "The task of suppressing the bandits cannot fall on Yun Qing's shoulders, at least not for now." He needed to observe further and determine whether Yun Qing was genuinely honest or just pretending to be one. If Yun Qing had ulterior motives, he would surely make a move.
Han Jianming was closely monitoring the Imperial Court's actions. When he heard Marquis Taining's request to the Emperor to deploy the Northwest Army to suppress the bandits, he couldn't help but wonder, "Do you think Yuxi is behind this plan?"
Mr Zhao shook his head. "My Lord, even if the Emperor orders the Northwest Army to suppress the bandits, it wouldn't be led by Si Guye5. Furthermore, if the suppression was successful, the Northwest Army had to withdraw from Yu City. In that case, Si Guye5 gains no benefit." If no benefit was gained, why would Yuxi go through all this trouble? This was not Yuxi's usual way of doing things.
Even Han Jianming couldn't figure it out: "What is this girl up to?" Yuxi's letters now only talked about trivial things, not a word about anything important. He had no idea what she was thinking or what she was up to.
Mr Zhao, however, had another question: "My Lord, Si Gunainai6 has been sending people to Taiyuan, Jiangnan, and other places to purchase grain. Could it be that she really believes there will be a drought?" Han Ji went to Jiangnan to buy grain, while Han Baocai went to Taiyuan. The actions were significant and couldn't have escaped the attention of observant people. However, since the quantities were not large, the Emperor and others were still observing the situation.
Han Jianming shook his head. "It's already the fourth month, and if there is a drought, it would only happen within these two months. But, knowing Yuxi's personality, she should have told me if that really happened." Han Jianming still believed that the word 'drought' was something Yuxi casually mentioned.
Mr Zhao still felt that the matter wasn't that simple: "My Lord, why don't you write a letter and ask Si Gunainai6?" He was uneasy with this matter being left unclear. This was no small matter, and if there were a drought, it would affect the common people.
Chen Yu was unconscious for six days and six nights before he finally woke up. When Ma Chao saw Chen Yu regain consciousness, he exclaimed joyfully, "Lord Shizi2, you're finally awake." Ma Chao's eyes were bloodshot. For the past six days, he hadn't slept a wink and had been guarding Chen Yu the whole time. If anything had happened to Chen Yu, he would have had no choice but to die to atone for his sins.
Chen Yu couldn't move at all and could only lie in bed and ask word for word, "What about the others?" There must have been many casualties this time.
Tears welled up in Ma Chao's eyes, but he held them back: "Shaogang is gone." Chen Yu had realised something was wrong then and immediately ordered a retreat, but at that time, they had already walked into a trap. As they fled, they were ambushed by archers and suffered more casualties.
Chen Yu asked, "Did you find out why there were more bandits in Maluo Mountain than expected, more than twice as many?" The bandit suppression force had 6,000 soldiers, two-thirds of whom were replacements. According to Chen Yu's information, there were only a little over 4,000 bandits in Maluo Mountain. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken only 6,000 men to suppress them.
Ma Chao took the opportunity to explain, "We found out that the bandits in Maluo Mountain knew we were going to surround them, so they united all the bandits nearby to fight against us together."
Chen Yu tried to sit up but winced in pain and fell back down. "Why didn't our people gather information on such a big matter?" After saying that, Chen Yu said coldly, "No, apart from Boss Hong's band of bandits near Maluo Mountain, there shouldn't be any others. Who are they teaming up with?" It just didn't make sense.
Ma Chao shook his head. "Not only did they join forces with the Shaanxi bandits, they also sheltered the bandits who escaped from Ning County and other places."
Chen Yu asked, "Is there any news from Gao City7?" Chen Yu had a strong intuition that this matter had something to do with Ji Xuan.
Ma Chao shook his head and said, "Gao City is calm. Lord Shizi2, let's put aside the external matters for now! You should concentrate on recovering from your injuries!" Chen Yu's heart and lungs were injured this time, and he had to take good care of himself, or else he would have lingering health problems.
Chen Yu's gaze fell on the white and green gauze curtain, and after a while, he said, "Write a letter to the Marquis and tell him that I want to return to the capital to recuperate." Ji Xuan had no moral bottom line to his actions, so it was better to return before things escalated further.
Ma Chao naturally felt happy knowing that Chen Yu was willing to return to the capital. "Okay, I will have someone send a letter to the Marquis." The physicians in the capital were much more skilled, and once they returned, Lord Shizi2's injuries would undoubtedly heal faster.
Chen Yu decided to return to the capital, knowing that staying here wouldn't do much good. His health would take at least a year or more to fully recover. There was nothing he could do while he recuperated here. In the capital, however, he could engage in many activities.
Footnotes Full List
- I think this is what old people call falling in love after marriage.
- heir to a noble house
- a well-known Chinese phrase: remote places where laws and decrees are not strictly enforced; remote places beyond the administration's reach.
- the Emperor's maternal uncle or brother-in-law
- si=fourth, guye=son-in-law (used by wife's family) / uncle (husband of father's sister)
- si=fourth, gunainai=(a respectful form of address for a married woman used by members of her parents' family) married daughter
- I don't know where this Gao City comes from. Chen Yu only mentioned Hao City in Chapter 513.
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The Rebirth of Han Yuxi