Drunkard
A great battle just comes and goes like the wind. The Huayang troops were left unscathed, catching people completely off guard.
The overjoyed soldiers surrounded Wei An. They linked their arms and carried him down from the city wall. The people below the city were even more delighted. Yang Ke led the way, raising his arm while cheering “Gongzi weiwu!”. Wei An, who was not fond of smiling or laughing, found himself blushing at this scene.
“Furen…” Ah Yuan ran over and grabbed my
hand, crying and smiling. “Just now, when Furen was up there, I was extremely worried the whole time.”
I comfortingly stroked her hand and said, “Don't worry, your father has said that I am a person blessed with good fortune, so there will surely be no danger.”
Not far away, there arose some commotion, and as I looked, Pei Qian was leading his soldiers, walking towards us.
"Pei JiangJun." Yang Ke stepped forward to salute him. Seeing this, the soldiers stopped their laugh and put Wei An down.
Pei Qian returned the courtesy to Yang Ke, looked at Wei An before he smiled and said “Thanks to Gongzi’s arrow, Huaiyang has turned from danger to safety.”
Wei An looked at him, and his typically cold face revealed a smile. "It was thanks to my ZhangSao's consent that I used that arrow. If you want to express gratitude, please do thank my ZhangSao."
Both Pei Qian and I were taken aback for a moment.
He looked at me, his face showing a hint of embarrassment, but in an instant, he covered it up with a smile.
“Gongzi is too modest.” He said gently, and then turned to his subordinates, saying, "Spread the word, bring out the food and wine. Today, we will celebrate and reward our brothers properly."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was overjoyed and burst into laughter again.
Wei An's complexion appeared somewhat pale.
"I will go back home and rest," he said to me, without even glancing at Pei Qian. He turned around and walked away.
"Si Shu..." I wanted to call out to him and ask him to wait for me to walk together, but Wei An's pace was quick, and he disappeared as soon as he turned around the corner of the street.
"This young lad does have quite a temper," Pei Qian's voice sounded next to me.
I looked at him, and perhaps due to the victory, the original paleness on his face was replaced by a radiant and spirited demeanour, exuding a sense of heroism.
"That's just his character; he's the same way with everyone," I chuckled.
Pei Qian smiled noncommittally.
*****
After the victory, there was a need to celebrate and report the news to both Wei Jue and Wu Zhang. Pei Qian became busy with these tasks.
I was worried about his health, so I increased my visits from once a day to twice a day. Sometimes, I would stay longer, and it would turn into spending the entire daylight with him.
Of course, when someone came to visit, I would proactively retreat to the back hall. Given the circumstances, it would be impossible to say that it wasn't ambiguous. Sometimes, I even thought to myself, if someone from the Wei family were to suddenly come and catch us in the act, I doubt anyone would believe anything I said.
But both Pei Qian and I maintained a natural attitude. I took care of Pei Qian, thinking that since the situation was unclear for now, it would be best to wait until Pei Qian's health improved before making any decisions. Pei Qian, on the other hand, seemed delighted. His mood was good, and his physical recovery was also rapid.
Due to the sudden battle, the day to send Wei An back to Yongdu was postponed for a while. However, once everything calmed down, the matter was brought up again.
Pei Qian asked me how I was considering the matter.
I opened my mouth but still felt unable to provide an answer.
"Ah Jin," Pei Qian sighed, "We can't continue like this, in such ambiguity."
I remained silent for a while and then said, "Do your parents know about me?"
Pei Qian was taken aback and smiled, saying, "Are you afraid that they won't approve?"
"Not exactly..."
"Ah Jin," Pei Qian gently embraced me and said, "My parents have always liked you, you know that. They had no choice but to do it in the past. If you're concerned about it, we won't go to Yangzhou. Come with me to Jianye, and from then on, it will be just the two of us."
His arms were stronger than they were in the past, but his scent remained unchanged. I closed my eyes, neither pushing him away nor speaking.
Everything, without a doubt, still remains the same as before?
*****
The news of Liang Heng being shot and killed by Wei An with an arrow quickly spread. It was said that Liang Chong wept bitterly, vowing to avenge Liang Heng's death by shedding blood in Huaiyang and even hanging Wei An's head on the city walls.
When these words were released, everyone became tense for a while. Yang Ke even doubled the number of soldiers guarding the mansion, fearing that a formidable spy might suddenly appear and take Wei An's life. However, after waiting for several days, everything remained calm and peaceful. The spy reported that Liang Chong was still busy with funeral arrangements for Liang Heng and planned to bury him first.
"What a fool old man." Ah Yuan gathered the sun-dried clothes in the courtyard, looked up at the beautiful sunny sky, and said, "On such a fine day, it would be so nice to go out and stroll through the market, cracking open some melon seeds. Why bother making poisonous vows and engaging in battles?"
As I looked at the wooden piece that Wei An had placed in the courtyard two days ago, I couldn't help but smile upon hearing those words. Yes, what's the point of engaging in battles? It only brings divine wrath and the resentment of people. However, pondering over such weighty and complex questions is too tiresome for me. It's more interesting to look at those little trinkets of Wei An's.
"Where did Si Gongzi go?" I asked after a while.
"I don't know either," Ah Yuan replied, as if recalling something. "I just came back from outside, and I heard that a group of soldiers and horses entered the city."
"Soldiers and horses?" I pondered for a moment. "Could it be from Wu Zhang's side?"
"I'm not sure about that," she said.
I nodded and looked at the sky. It was almost time for the evening meal, and I should go check on Pei Qian.
*****
The residence where I stayed was not far from Pei Qian's prefectural office, and the streets outside were filled with soldiers. The afternoon was quiet, and as I walked to the front gate, I could even hear people chatting outside.
“...Hearing from Xiongdi accent, you are not from Zhongyuan (the central plains)?”
“Hehe, Xiaodi is from Minnan (the Southern Min)”
"Minnan is quite far. Is it a big place?"
“It is big! To tell you, the town Xiaodi comes from is just the size of a fingernail on the palm in Minnan."
“Oh? Never heard of it. Is it fun there?”
“It doesn’t really matter whether it’s fun or not, but there's a local specialty that's quite famous."
"Oh? What specialty is that?"
"It’s soy sauce!" the person said happily. "Whenever people mention it, they always talk about soy sauce..."
When they saw me, the soldiers stopped their conversation and saluted me.
I nodded and walked over.
Actually, I was afraid of encountering Wei An suddenly ahead. These days, whenever I went to see Pei Qian, he would clearly show a displeased expression towards me. I even felt that he was becoming more and more like Qi Shu. I had to take a detour to avoid making myself feel like I have done something wrong.
I entered Pei Qian's prefectural office through the back door, and along the way, I didn't see many people.
As I arrived at the back hall, I suddenly heard voices speaking.
As I thought about what Ah Yuan had mentioned about a group of people arriving from outside the city, and considering that Pei Qian might be receiving guests, I was about to leave. Suddenly, a voice reached my ears. It was somewhat deep, but it made my heart tremble abruptly.
I turned back, leaned closer to the pane and looked in.
The people in the room are not very clear, but they are recognizable - the person sitting in front of the desk is Pei Qian; the person sitting at the lower end, with an upright posture, was Wei Tan.
****
As I walked out of the prefectural office, my mind still felt somewhat dazed.
Coincidentally or not, I ran into Wei An.
"ZhangSao!" He briskly walked towards me, his face filled with joy. "XiongZhang has arrived, have you seen him?"
I didn't know how to react and only looked at him, asking, "When did he arrive?"
"Just half an hour ago," Wei An said. "I originally wanted to bring XiongZhang to see you, but he said he wanted to meet Pei Jiangjun first."
I nodded. "I see."
*****
I was not waiting with Wei An for Wei Tan to come out. Why did he come? Was he here to pick up Wei An? This is understandable, but what matters is that I am here, and it was him who brought me here to reunite with Pei Qian. In that case, as a couple in name, is it better to meet or not to meet?
What was he really thinking? It bothers me a bit.
However, perhaps he had the same thoughts as me because Wei Tan did not appear in my courtyard until nightfall. I had dinner with Ah Yuan, and she obviously already knew about Wei Tan's arrival. She kept looking at me, wanting to say something but was hesitating.
"Furen..." She finally put down the bowl.
"Don't ask," I sighed.
Ah Yuan hesitated and picked up the bowl again.
"Furen, did you hear the commotion from the prefectural office?" Ah Yuan walked into the room discontentedly and said to me, "That person sent by Wu Zhang was clamouring for some entertainment and asked Jiyuan Gongzi to accompany him for a drink."
"Oh?" I frowned. The physician had mentioned that Pei Qian's body was still not suitable for drinking, which made me somewhat worried. "Then, did he drink?" I asked.
Ah Yuan shook her head.
I glanced at the sky; the moon had not yet reached its peak. It was crowded outside now, and I had no idea where Wei Tan was. Going out was not possible for me at the moment.
As the night grew darker, Wei An still hadn't returned. When it was about time to sleep, I put on my clothes and walked to the front courtyard.
The previous clamour had ceased. After the wars in Huaiyang, there were not many wealthy households left, let alone entertainment. Without entertainment, those who sought pleasure would not be able to create much disturbance for long.
There was a lantern hanging in front of the gate, and I walked over and glanced at it. A soldier leaned against the wall, dozing off with a spear in his arms, his head nodding.
With Wei Tan around, I shouldn't worry about what Wei An is up to. I mocked myself inwardly.
Just as I was about to turn around, I suddenly heard a loud shout from behind.
"Hey! That woman!"
I looked and saw a drunken person a few steps away, holding a bottle of wine and pointing at me, muttering, "Who said there is no entertainment in Huaiyang? Isn't this a woman?"
"Gongtai[公台="Gongtai" is a term used to address someone respectfully/modern_footnote], Gongtai!" the person supporting him quickly interjected, "This is not an entertainer, this is the Furen.."
"What Furen!" The person waved his hand dismissively. "Go and fetch her, accompany me for a drink!"
I furrowed my brow and lifted my foot to leave. But before I could close the door, it suddenly burst open. In the next moment, my arm was forcefully grabbed, and a strong, unpleasant smell of alcohol hit me abruptly.
"Want to leave?" The man laughed in a lewd manner. "Accompany me first before you go!"
"Gongtai, you mustn't!" Others quickly tried to dissuade him and called for the soldiers to intervene.
I struggled with all my strength, but when I saw that face under the light of the lantern, my heart was struck heavily, and my whole body froze.