Chapter 116: Departure
What Song Juguang had said was "aid", and not "obey Dianxia's orders". It was the difference of a few words, but the implications were worlds apart. But Liang Jiwen was, at this moment, overwhelmed with emotion, and didn't have the ability to consider the twists and turns of Song Juguang's words.
To say nothing of the fact that Liang Jiwen's ability with the language of the Great Li was far from such a proficiency.
"Many—many thanks to Wangjun." In the end, Liang Jiwen took the tally, grasping it tightly.
"The Shejin Royal Palace is dangerous as a dragon's pond or a tiger's cave; when Dianxia departs day after next, there will be someone accompanying Dianxia on the journey," Song Juguang said, the final thing she'd wished to tell Liang Jiwen today. "Both this regent and her majesty have already done everything we're able to do. The Great Li will not interfere in another country's governmental affairs; all of this is merely assisting a friend to the Great Li. The path of the future, Dianxia must walk by herself."
Friend. The word caused warmth to rise in Liang Jiwen's heart. She cast aside that previous suspicion and guardedness. She recalled every detail of the time after she'd arrived in the Great Li—so, Nanny Pei Yu hadn't deceived her; the people of the Great Li truly were a thousandfold better than those of Shejin. At the very least, they were towards Liang Jiwen.
But even when Song Juguang stepped out of the Palace gates, her mind was still apprehensive. She rarely experienced such an emotion. All she'd experienced in the past, she'd been confident without exception, but only with this matter could she not see its conclusion. Everything was unknown.
Song Juguang's skills with divination were terrifying; in this world, there were three people in total whom she couldn't divine about. One was herself, who had, from the start, not been a part of this place. The other was Jiang Changbai, the emperor destined by fate, who naturally couldn't have her actions divined by others. But there was another—Liang Jiwen.
Song Juguang hadn't told anyone about this, but after she'd grown aware of it, she'd kept a close eye on Liang Jiwen. She'd firmly opposed Liang Jiwen's return to Shejin in a large part because of this reason.
But Jiang Changbai had been iron-hearted in wanting Liang Jiwen to return to Shejin, and couldn't be convinced by anyone. Song Juguang had felt helpless as well; she couldn't kill Liang Jiwen like she'd killed the Tai Emperor before. She could only put this plan in motion, wanting to make Liang Jiwen recall the Great Li with fondness, and wanting to give the Great Li a way to control her.
That wasn't an ordinary jade pendant.
That eight hundred person force had been organised out of those who had formerly been guards in the Imperial Palace. They had come from her own Cangwei army, or had been guards in Song Juguang's residence during Emperor Tai's reign. Each were highly skilled in martial arts, and not a single one was anything but entirely loyal. But from that day when Song Juguang and Jiang Changbai had faced each other in the courtyard, Jiang Changbai truly had swiftly and decisively replaced the imperial guards in the Palace. The imperial guards who had been replaced were just eight hundred in number, and not even Song Juguang knew when Jiang Changbai had groomed eight hundred elite troops
Those who'd been replaced had simply been told by Xun Zhu to return to whence they'd come from. But none of them had anywhere to return to. The Cangwei army had long since been dispersed and restructured, and now it was scattered across the many garrisons in the Great Li. The Song residence had long since been renamed as the Regent's residence as well, and few people remained; Song Juguang wasn't willing to retain many people, either.
It seemed as if they could only be moved to acting as city guards for the capital. But the Imperial Palace's guards and the city guards had been in silent conflict the entire time; if they were to be placed in with the city guards, their lives would most certainly be unpleasant to lead. All of them had been hand selected by Song Juguang, and naturally couldn't be placed aside and ignored. Only after thinking on it deeply did she decide to send them to the border with Shejin, to Wei Xiren's side, to act as the country's defence.
Of course, this destination was a good one; no one disagreed. But the Ministry of War had suppressed it for the entire time, and Song Juguang, feeling vexed, had simply had them take her own tally and set out. It was just that by such means, they were different from other soldiers.
These people, in the future, could only be counted as Song Juguang's personal forces.
No one had complaints, except for Song Juguang. She understood clearly why the Ministry of War had suppressed the transfer of these people, and understood even more why they had been, in an instant, replaced in their positions as imperial guards in the Palace. Everything had a reason—but the reason was her.
Jiang Changbai trusted her less and less. Before, Song Juguang hadn't been willing to think about it, stubbornly feeling that, as long as she were to act as a scrupulous minister, Jiang Changbai's suspicions of her would, in the end, be dispelled. But recently, she'd understood more and more clearly that, as it turned out, no matter what she did, Jiang Changbai would forever remain guarded towards her.
Song Juguang suddenly made the firm decision that things could no longer continue like this.
Liang Jiwen was finally about to depart.
The skies were clear and boundless, and the increasingly chilly autumn days had even paused, the day quite a bit warmer than those previous. The sunlight was filled with vibrancy and vitality. Overhead, the heavens were bright azure. But the locust trees stood alone along the official road was filled with the colours of autumn, and only dry, yellow leaves remained, swaying and about to fall, on their branches.
The official road was filled with people and carriages, and as far as the eye could see, there was no end to them.
Liang Jiwen, watching this scene, suddenly felt rueful. She thought about the path she and Nanny Pei Yu had taken that year to the capital, the two having barely a single copper coin between them, practically relying upon each other to simply. survival. At the time, it had been the height of summer, and the two locust trees that had stood here for who knew how long were in full, flourishing green, and from a distance, the sound of cicadas could be heard.
Now, as she left, it was already the second month of autumn, and no end could be seen to the people and items accompanying her; it truly was bustling. But even if it were more bustling, of the two who'd come, only Liang Jiwen alone remained.
By now, Liang Jiwen had long since understood that that desire of Nanny Pei Yu's, to return to the Great Li, hadn't entirely been because she'd wanted her to have such a good life. Though Liang Jiwen hadn't experienced the Rear Court of the previous emperor of the Great Li, she'd lived this long in the Rear Court, and she'd understood from what she'd heard.
If the Shejin Royal Palace were a dragon's pond, then the Great Li's Imperial Palace was the tiger's cave. Similar systems, similar people; there was no difference. If a difference had to be spoken of, it would be that the Great Li's Imperial Palace was slightly more flourishing. Of course Liang Jiwen was lucky in that she'd only arrived in the Great Li after Jiang Changbai had ascended the throne, and for her, the Imperial Palace of the past, which had devoured people whole, was only a slightly larger residence.
Nanny Pei Yu may well have succeeded on a stroke of luck, Liang Jiwen thought, unable to help but turn her head and look back towards the Imperial Palace, a thread of reluctance to part emerging.
"Dianxia, we're about to leave," Cheng Xuan'ge suddenly came to her side, interrupting her thoughts. And behind her, Nie Tianzong was looking at them, arms crossed.
The two of them were about to follow Liang Jiwen for the entire journey. If it were a few days before, Liang Jiwen would have suspected whether the two of them had been sent by Jiang Changbai to monitor her, but now, she only felt that Jiang Changbai feared something would happen to her in Shejin.
"Alright," Liang Jiwen nodded, and pulled her gaze away, turning around, about to head towards the carriage. But she'd only placed one foot on the carriage when she suddenly heard Xie Qianbing's voice come from behind her.
"Wait a moment!"
Liang Jiwen, hearing the sound, turned her head, and saw Xie Qianbing racing towards her on horseback from a distance.
"Luckily I caught you," Xie Qianbing panted slightly as she spoke.
Liang Jiwen, somewhat startled, asked her, "How come Xie-daren has come?"
Xie Qianbing spoke, somewhat apologetic. "It ought to have been Sheng-daren who came to see you off. I specifically took her place, and ought to have been here far earlier. But this matters in this morning's morning court were a mess, and so I'm late."
As she spoke, Xie Qianbing took a small bundle from her breast, and passed it to Liang Jiwen. Liang Jiwen instinctively took it, finding it to be heavy.
"My salary isn't much, but there are many places I must spend it on, and in all this time, I've not saved much," Xie Qianbing said, raising her gaze to look directly at Liang Jiwen. "Dianxia, take this money; the road is long, and dangerous, and there are many times when money must be spent."
Liang Jiwen felt an ache rise in her throat, and in an instant, the rims of her eyes stung. The hand holding the bundle trembled, and, after remaining frozen for a long while, she finally withdrew it.
"Then, my thanks to Xie-daren," Liang Jiwen said, her voice somewhat choked as she spoke.
Now, Liang Jiwen's unwillingness to part grew even deeper. She'd just been prepared to confidently board the carriage, but now, she hesitated slightly. Seeing her thoughts, Xie Qianbing couldn't help but feel unable to bear it. After all, as she saw it, Liang Jiwen was like her own younger sister she'd watched grow up, and so she said, "Dianxia, you'd best leave quickly; if you delay any further, you might not make it to the relay station before it grows dark. In the future, if the Great Li needs to send envoys to Shejin, I'll most certainly not be willing to pass that responsibility to anyone else."
"Alright," Liang Jiwen said, nodding heavily as she spoke, her gaze focused on Xie Qianbing, and only after a long while did she ask, "does Xie-daren know of Concubine Dowager Pin's current whereabouts?"
Some bafflement flashed in Xie Qianbing's gaze, but she replied, "Concubine Dowager Pin is naturally in her home; if I recall, at this moment, there isn't a single concubine dowager left in the Rear Court."
Liang Jiwen had spent these past few days preparing her belongings to return to Shejin, and hadn't had the time to leave the Palace, let alone to go bid Bi Yushuang goodbye. She was terrified that Bi Yushuang would return to the Palace because of her, and it was only on receiving Xie Qianbing's definitive response that she was willing to relax.
In the end, she turned and stepped into the carriage. The convoy departed, and from a distance, it looked like a winding thread. The sound of hoofbeats and carriage tires' rumbling turns grew fainter and fainter, and then, if one listened carefully, it was dispersed by the wind. Xie Qianbing led her horse along a slightly higher slope, but she felt as if this scene had already happened before. It was as if, long ago, there was someone had seen someone off from the city as she was now.
Xie Qianbing glanced about, feeling as if there was something missing. After she remembered, she could only sigh; those who had passed on were already gone.
On the second of the ninth month of the second year of Dao'an, the King of Shejin passed on in his person quarters. Countless others coveted the throne, watching like a pack of wolves. The Royal Hall was a racket of noise, and the disastrous deadlock of argument grew worse and worse.
On the third of the tenth month of the second year of Dao'an, the Seventh Prince used the pretence of royal order to place himself as King. He gifted his Second Elder Brother with poisoned Turtledove Wine. His Second Elder Brother, infuriated, threw the wine out, leading armed forces to the riverside. In the night, stars fell upon the yurts, and blood sullied the sands.
On the thirteenth of the second month of the fifth year of Dao'an, the new King of Shejin suddenly passed in his personal tent. The Princess Liang Jiwen seized the throne in the moment of crisis, supporting the tottering institution, on the brink of collapse. The valiant generals in the tents attacked the enemy in the dead of night, capturing the Second Prince alive at the foot of the mountains. Seeing this, the rebel forces abandoned their armour and bowed.
On the fifteenth of the third month of the fifth year of Dao'an, the Eldest Princess Liang Jiwen took the throne in the main tent. In the daylight, purple clouds filled the heavens, her voice reverberating.
From then on, Shejin welcomed its first female King. And, in the sixth month of the same year, Liang Jiwen fulfilled that year's promise, and Shejin bowed its head as vassal to the Great Li.
In the Great Li of this moment, this year's keju was already being carried out. It had been prepared for long in advance, and the talent that sprang forth was even greater. In the Great Li's court, there were now already few men to be seen.
Late that night, the Regent Song Juguang received an imperial summons to the Palace. These past few years, Song Juguang had acted even more brazenly than before, and the authority over the Six Ministries that Jiang Changbai had permitted her had been used in its entirety by Song Juguang. In comparison to before, the Song Juguang of now was the truly mighty minister.
"You've come?" Jiang Changbai, seated high on the Dragon Throne, gazed disdainfully at Song Juguang, making obeisance. She hadn't the slightest intent to allow her to rise.
Song Juguang merely raised her head, looking at Jiang Changbai from afar. In these past few years, the distance between the two had grown greater and greater, going from being separated by the desk and bed in the imperial study before, to now, the countless steps in the hall. Song Juguang faintly realised that Jiang Changbai was different from the usual today—perhaps, she was about to do something to harm her.
But she wasn't afraid in the slightest; she was, even, somewhat excited.
Seeing Song Juguang wasn't saying anything, Jiang Changbai didn't pause for even a moment. With a sweep of her hand, she swept the memorials off the desk with a clatter, all of them falling before Song Juguang. Jiang Changbai said, sternly, "Take a look—look, what's written on these memorials?!"
Comments
Post a Comment