Chapter 151: Sowing Discord

Wei Meng had already gone to sleep when he was called up. Hastily doing up his hair, he rushed straight to the study.

His first reaction was that something had gone wrong with the war over at Shiyang Pass. Stepping across the threshold, he immediately asked, “Did we lose a battle?”

Without saying a word, Pei Yuan tossed the letter to him. Wei Meng’s expression shifted from tense to relaxed, and then turned into one of utter disbelief. “Is this real?”

The handwriting on the letter was crooked and messy, resembling ghostly charms. Many of the words were barely recognizable, but the general idea could just about be made out. It was written in the tone of a guard protecting the First Imperial Prince, Pei Che. It briefly detailed Pei Che’s experiences after being broken out of prison, and concluded by stating that Pei Che was currently in a bad way. There were over a hundred brothers in their stronghold, but their money and food supplies were almost entirely depleted, so they needed assistance. At the very end of the letter, it mentioned that if they were willing to help, they could head to the northwestern corner of Qilian Mountain. A person would be waiting there by a pine tree that stood about three Zhang tall.

Pei Yuan asked, “What do you think?”

Wei Meng skimmed through the letter once more, his eyes lingering on the signature. He read it aloud, “A’Chou?”

Pei Yuan and he exchanged a glance, both thinking of the exact same thing. “The day Le Xu left, our men followed him. What did they say when they came back? Didn’t they say Le Xu went to Qilian Mountain overnight, and at the foot of the mountain, a woman led a group of people to wait for him? That woman was short and ordinary-looking. The followers thought she was strange, so they even drew a portrait of her. Where was that portrait placed?”

Wei Meng took a step forward, opened the drawer of the eastern cabinet, pulled out a scroll, and snapped it open with a flourish.

Pei Yuan had seen this portrait before, but he hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time, let alone connect it to the lame girl he had encountered in the tofu shop. But looking closely now, it suddenly felt extremely uncanny. The resemblance was striking. The two might truly be the same person—the woman in the portrait was A’Chou!

With this, everything fell perfectly into place. Pei Che was severely injured, Le Xu went to treat him, and A’Chou received him. A’Chou had probably learned from Le Xu that Pei Yuan had returned to Yanbei, which sparked her idea to seek aid. Yet, fearing he might be unwilling, she had tested him at the small shop first.

After careful consideration, she had delivered this letter tonight.

She had left in a hurry without waiting for him to come out, likely because she had received news that Pei Che’s condition was improving.

What Pei Yuan did not know was that the reason A’Chou had waited nearly half a month to deliver this letter was, firstly, because she had to take care of Pei Che, and secondly, because almost no one in the entire stronghold knew how to write. The one who had the most education was a kitchen boy who stokes the fires; he had attended a private school for two months before his family fell into ruin. Because they didn’t dare reveal this matter to anyone else, they couldn’t hire a scribe. A’Chou could only figure it out step-by-step with the boy. When they ran into words they truly didn’t know, she would casually ask Le Xu under the guise of an innocent question. In this stumbling manner, it took them over ten days to finish writing it.

Having confirmed this news, excitement surged in Pei Yuan’s heart. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his sword and walked out. “Accompanied me to Qilian Mountain overnight.”

“Young General, you should stay here. It is enough for me to lead the men there,” Wei Meng urged. “The battle at Shiyang Pass is raging fiercely, and Feng County must also tighten its defenses to prevent any surprise attacks from the enemy. It is more appropriate for you to stay than for me. Besides, we are just bringing someone back; making a huge scene would instead be unwise. Stay in the estate to arrange things. By noon tomorrow, I will surely bring the First Prince back safe and sound!”

Pei Yuan agreed with his reasoning.

Wei Meng immediately took a headcount of the troops, then returned to his room to change clothes and retrieve his sword.

Hearing the movement at the door, Minmin let out a soft murmur and slowly opened her eyes. Lying in bed in a thin layer of undergarments, she narrowed her eyes into a slit, watching the man fastening a sword to his waist under the lamplight with a bewildered gaze.

Wei Meng said apologetically, “Did I wake you up?”

“I haven’t slept soundly.” Minmin considerately got out of bed, walked over to Wei Meng, and lowered her hands to smooth his clothes. She asked softly, “It is so late, where is the General going? Please come back early. Minmin will be scared sleeping alone.”

When she asked the first half of the question, Wei Meng originally did not intend to answer. But when she added that she would be scared, Wei Meng’s heart softened.

He thought to himself that this wasn’t exactly a secret anyway. Once Pei Che returned, he would definitely move into the Prince’s estate, so Minmin would find out sooner or later. Revealing a tiny bit wouldn’t count as leaking a secret, and it would put her mind at ease.

Wei Meng said, “Going to the west to fetch someone back. I’ll be back by noon tomorrow. If you are afraid, I’ll call a maid to sleep with you.”

Minmin’s eyes flickered slightly. Taking a step forward, she pressed her face against Wei Meng’s chest and said with concern, “It’s alright, Minmin can sleep by herself. Go with an easy mind, General, but you must protect yourself well. Minmin will wait for you at home.”

Wei Meng happily embraced her back and murmured, “Alright, go back to sleep. I’m off.”

Minmin escorted him all the way to the door, and only after his back disappeared from sight did she return to the room with lingering reluctance.

Along the way, Wei Meng kept thinking: Should I save up some money to buy my own courtyard?

Previously, he was all by himself, so buying a courtyard would only leave it deserted. Thus, he had boldly stayed at Pei Yuan’s estate. But it wouldn’t do now; he could be considered to have started a family, and constantly living under someone else’s roof was truly inappropriate, and it also wronged Minmin. Once the warfare at Shiyang Pass settled down and he had some free time, he would take Minmin to pick out a courtyard she liked.

She would probably be very delighted, wouldn’t she?

……

Minmin went to bed and fell asleep after Wei Meng left. It wasn’t until another half an hour had passed, and the entire Prince’s estate had sunk into a deep, quiet slumber, that she opened her eyes. Her gaze was clear and bright, devoid of any sleepiness.

Draping an outer garment over herself, she went outside under the pretense of relieving herself. Slipping past the maid on duty who was already fast asleep on a stool, she headed all the way towards the back gate.

Arriving at a secluded spot, Minmin coughed softly a few times. Before long, coughing sounds also echoed from outside the high courtyard wall. Minmin took a step back, crumpled a piece of silk paper tied to a heavy object into a ball, and threw it with force. The paper ball easily flew over the high wall and landed on the other side.

A few more coughs came from outside the wall. Knowing the other party had received it, Minmin did not linger. She wrapped her clothes tightly around herself and turned back to her room.

The person who came to meet her quickly went to a safe place, opened the paper ball, and saw a passage written on it that was not in Chinese characters.

The general meaning was: Wei Meng has been ordered to go to the West Mountain to fetch someone. Intercept and kill them to sow discord.

……

After learning the news that Pei Che had regained his sight, A’Chou rushed back to Qilian Mountain at top speed.

Le Xu had been treating him for half a month. During this time, the number of acupuncture needles applied was countless, and the medicine consumed was even more unquantifiable. However, Pei Che’s condition had shown no improvement whatsoever, and he grew thinner by the day. A’Chou had once suspected Le Xu was swindling her out of her money, and she had even developed a murderous intent. It wasn’t until a few days ago that Le Xu added another medicinal booster—his own blood. A’Chou didn’t know why Le Xu’s blood possessed such a miraculous effect, but the efficacy was instantaneous. Within a few days, Pei Che’s complexion gradually grew ruddy, and good news arrived one after another.

Although Pei Che could see again, his body remained weak, and he could only manage to sit up with effort.

Feeling slightly guilty, A’Chou explained her own unauthorized action to him. “…… I know the Prince of Jibei and you have always shared a deep brotherly bond. After testing him, I felt even more that he possesses righteousness and a compassionate heart. If he knew of our plight, he definitely wouldn’t sit idly by. During this period of seeking doctors and medicine, our rice barrel is about to become completely empty. There are so many mouths on the mountain waiting to eat, I really had no choice. Without obtaining your permission, I sent a letter to the Prince of Jibei. I expect he should have seen the letter by now. If things go well, perhaps he has already dispatched someone over……”

“You don’t need to fluster, I have no intention of blaming you.” Pei Che looked at her very gently. “Thank you, A’Chou.”

A’Chou scratched behind her ear and smiled awkwardly.

In fact, “A’Chou” (meaning ‘Ugly’) was just a nickname. Her real name was A’Chou (written with a different character meaning ‘Silk’), a rather refined name that sounded like the lady-name of a wealthy family. It was just that she wasn’t good-looking, so everyone initially called her “Ugly” as a joke. Later, as it spread, everyone assumed it was her actual name, and no one ever called her A’Chou (Silk) anymore—except for Pei Che.

A’Chou thought to herself: The First Prince truly is a gentle and merciful person.

A’Chou opened her mouth, intending to say something more, when someone came in from outside to report, “Miss A’Chou, General Wei Meng has arrived!”

A’Chou happily said to Pei Che, “Isn’t this a double blessing entering our doors!”

Draping a blanket over Pei Che’s legs, she reassured him, “Young Master, wait here for a moment, I’ll be back shortly.”

After saying that, A’Chou walked outside. The sounds of shouting and clamoring came from the exterior, growing louder and louder as if someone had intruded. A’Chou’s brow furrowed, a faint bad premonition rising in her heart. Those people seemed to come with ill intent and were not friendly at all. Taking two quick steps, she wanted to go out and see what was happening when she suddenly heard a miserable shriek. She could tell it was one of the men from the mountain.

A’Chou was greatly shocked. “What happened?”

Someone ran inside covered in wounds, panicking, “Miss A’Chou, a fight has broken out outside! The men Wei Meng brought struck first, drawing their blades and hacking at people. They outnumber us greatly, and our brothers can no longer hold them off! What on earth is going on!”

A’Chou’s heart plummeted violently. Her eyes turned blood-red. After a long silence, she gritted her teeth and spat out, “Pei Yuan, you despicable scoundrel, I will not live under the same sky as you!”

……

When Wei Meng arrived, there was no sign of anyone beneath that prominent pine tree.

He assumed A’Chou’s people hadn’t arrived yet and waited patiently for two hours. Realizing that something might be wrong, he quickly led his men up the mountain.

He was familiar with the terrain of Qilian Mountain. Pei Yuan had been planning to search the mountain all along, but had never been able to carry it out. The bandits on the mountain were too fierce, and their patrols were tight. At the slightest stir, they would strike back immediately with extremely drastic measures, even threatening to set fire to the mountain if a forced assault was attempted. At the eastern foot of Qilian Mountain lay vast stretches of fertile fields and villages; if a mountain fire got out of control, it would be a disaster. This was also the reason why the official army had been unable to suppress the bandits previously.

Although they hadn’t been able to capture the stronghold, Wei Meng had led men through Qilian Mountain a few times and generally knew the direction, so they arrived before long.

But upon seeing the mountain of corpses and sea of blood before him, even though Wei Meng was well-accustomed to licking blood from the edge of a blade, his hairs couldn’t help but stand on end.

He roared in fury, “What is going on here!”

Soon, a soldier investigated the situation clearly and returned to report, “General, someone arrived a step ahead of us. The stronghold was massacred, leaving no survivors, but no female corpses were found.”

Another soldier came over, saluted, and said, “General, there are a total of one hundred and thirty corpses. Eighteen of them are foreigners. Judging by their build and eye color, they should be Xiongnu.”

Wei Meng asked word by word, “So you’re saying, Xiongnu arrived before us and slaughtered the mountain?”

The soldier hesitated, “It appears to be so.”

Wei Meng closed his eyes, slowly exhaled a breath, and shouted loudly, “Withdraw the troops!”

……

Wei Meng did not expect that when he returned to the estate, there would be another good show waiting for him.

His favored concubine, Minmin, had righteously turned against her own kin. She had presented Pei Yuan with three letters of his treasonous correspondence with the enemy, and was currently kneeling at the entrance of the study, weeping like a pear blossom in the rain.

Bao Ning stood under a pink plum tree not far away. She plucked a pink flower and placed it on Jixiang’s (the pet cat/dog’s) head, remarking to Nanny Liu, “Nanny, do you think our Jixiang can communicate with spirits? How is it so magical? Whomever it dislikes turns out to be a bad person.”

Nanny Liu sighed, “It’s just a pity for General Wei. A heart full of deep affection has, in the end, been given in vain.”

Bao Ning nodded. “I hope his heart won’t be completely broken. He should still believe that there is true affection in the human world in the future.”

Nanny Liu said, “Let’s hope so.”

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