Rebirth of a Star General 96
Test
At night, a line of military troops stood at the gate of Sun’s residence. It is unreasonable to deploy military troops to guard one’s residential gate. However, it was just that now Sun Xiangfu was like a frightened bird, with all the things under his control, he couldn’t afford to worry much. All the servants in the house were checked, one by one, and no suspicions were found for the time being.
Right Army General Xiao Jue and Imperial supervisor Yuan Baozhen were both living in the mansion. The turbulence under the calm of these two was also noticed by Master Sun. He sat in the room and sighed. Sun Ling had already learned the ins and outs of the whole incident from his subordinates, and said, “Father, why are you still troubled by this matter?”
Sun Xiangfu was furious, “If it wasn’t you who caused trouble and brought those women back to the house, how could these things happen!”
“Father, I brought them back to the mansion for my own use. I didn’t let you use them to entertain the guests.” Sun Ling retorted, rolled his eyes, and said, “Now that there is a problem, how can you blame me? Those women were really useless. If they really wanted to assassinate, they should have succeeded in one go, so as to not die in vain?”
Before he could say anything more, Sun Ling’s mouth was covered by Sun Xiangfu, preventing more words from leaving his mouth. Sun Xiangfu looked around and cursed, “Don’t say such things if you don’t want to die!”
“I’m not wrong.” Sun Ling approached him and said in a low voice, “Father, you also don’t really like Xiao Jue, do you?”
Sun Xiangfu didn’t speak. Was liking Xiao Jue even a question to ask? Compared to this, he should be more worried about whether Xiao Jue likes him or not?
“I heard that there seems to be a discord between Governor Xiao and Lord Yuan. The two of them are fighting. You just have to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. That Lord Yuan is okay and he’s kind. You might as well secretly help since the enemy’s enemy is a friend.” Sun Ling said, “If anything really goes wrong in the end, you can get rid of Xiao Jue and make friends with Lord Yuan. Doesn’t it kill two birds with one stone?”
Believing that it made sense, Sun Ling was slapped on the head by his father. Sun Xiangfu scolded, “Do you think it’s as simple as you said? You didn’t meet him today. Xiao Jue…” He thought about something and fear flashed in his eyes, “He’s not easy to deal with.”
…
Inside the room, the lights were dimly lit, and Yuan Baozhen sat at the table with a gloomy expression. The mediocre bodyguard stood behind him, as his eyes flashed with light.
“Xiao Jue is suspicious of me.” After a while, Yuan Baozhen said, “I’m afraid there will be no chance if things don’t work out today.”
“Why is he suspecting you?” The guard, named Ding Yi said.
“I don’t know.” Thinking of what happened in Sun Xiangfu’s study just now, Yuan Baozhen was furious. Xiao Jue’s suspicion was blatant and his tone was arrogant. He didn’t know how to answer. He just came to Liangzhou City and had never interacted with Xiao Jue. In any case, Xiao Jue should not be suspicious of him.
“Also, how could Cheng Lisu be blind?” Yuan Baozhen frowned, “Was this also arranged in advance?”
Ding Yi shook his head, “I have never heard of it.”
It was useless to doubt. Now that the assassins are dead, with no one alive, no one can answer even if they are full of questions.
“That Cheng Lisu is a little strange.” Ding Yi said, “If he hadn’t stopped him today, maybe Xiao Jue would have already drank the poisoned wine.”
When he mentioned this, Yuan Baozhen remembered it again. During the banquet, when Xiao Jue raised his glass, Cheng Lisu’s abrupt and loud “don’t drink” forced the assassins to act in advance. If it hadn’t been for him to stop… they might not be in such a dilemma right now.
“How did he know that the wine was poisoned…” Yuan Baozhen murmured. After a while, he rubbed the lamp holder of the oil lamp on the table, and said, “Since Xiao Jue and the others are in the mansion now, it is also a kind of opportunity. I will test Cheng Lisu tomorrow. If this boy is really blind, maybe we can use him as a chip against Xiao Jue, saving us the trouble.”
…
He Yan didn’t know that waves were surging in some unseen place. At this moment, she was sitting in the house, arguing with Fei Nu for some reason.
After her eyes had problems, Xiao Jue summoned Fei Nu to stand in as a guard in front of He Yan’s room. After all, there were assassins in Sun’s Mansion previously. Who knows if there are more assassins hidden under the disguise of maids or servants? As such, he did not feel at ease leaving He Yan alone. With Fei Nu guarding him, it felt much safer.
“Brother Fei Nu, go out. I can really do it by myself.” He Yan had a headache.
“You can’t see with your eyes,” Fei Nu replied very rigidly, “Master asked me to guard you.”
“Then just guard at the door. You are behaving as my personal maid. It’s making me feel very uncomfortable.” He Yan replied seriously. “Can you go out?”
“Forgive me for not being able to do so.”
“How can you be just as unreasonable as your master?”
As soon as Xiao Jue arrived at the door, he heard those words. He paused and stood at the door and said, “What happened?”
Fei Nu said, “Master…”
Before Fei Nu finished speaking, He Yan was already looking in the direction of the door, her eyes still covered with cloth strips, and she was holding something resembling clothes in her hands, and said, “Is the uncle here? Fei Nu is crazy. He wants to help me in the bath!”
Fei Nu’s lips moved, as if a little speechless at her degrading explanation. He explained, “As he can’t see, I’m afraid…”
“Uncle! You also know that I have a fiancee and my body is pure and clean. How can I be seen by others!” The boy’s voice was bright and clear, his previous tone of loneliness and panic had been swept away and returned to his usual unreasonable appearance. “If my marriage fails because of your deeds, Brother Fei Nu, can you afford to pay me a fiancee?” She muttered again, “You don’t have one of your own.”
Fei Nu, “…”
Xiao Jue glanced at her and said sarcastically, “Are you sure you won’t drown?”
The bath tub was placed behind the screen in the middle of the house. The water was not deep. As if life in the Sun’s Mansion was extravagant, there were even petals in it. He Yan has never used this delicate flower bath when she was a woman, but instead used it when she was a man.
“Uncle, did you forget I could even shoot the sparrows in the sky blindfolded in Liangzhou. How could I drown?” He Yan said, “Don’t worry. Besides, if I really turn blind, I can’t possibly let people do things for me for the rest of my life. This may be likely for uncle but for me, I can forget about dreaming.”
Fei Nu was speechless. He had seen many brothers in the Nine Banners Battalion with some lacking arms or legs. Although they could also live on with smiles on their faces, they would be depressed for a while. He Yan was the first person he had ever seen to get out of such emotions so quickly. If it weren’t for the cloth strips on her face, it would make people doubt if she was really blind.
Seeing that she was full of herself, Xiao Jue didn’t bother to pay attention to her. He only said to Fei Nu, “Come out.”
Fei Nu followed Xiao Jue out. The door was closed and He Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
She did not untie the cloth strips but instead took off her clothes, went into the tub, and soaked her whole body in the water. If someone was here at this moment, they would be surprised. Her actions were as natural as an ordinary person, there was no hesitation in her movements, as if she could see everything.
The water temperature happened to be just right. She has always been bathing in the river next to the guardhouse all the time. The river was cold and not as comfortable as it was right now. Even though she was comfortable, she didn’t dare to be greedy. The steaming water mist blurred her silhouette and the smile on He Yan’s face also relaxed.
She thought they were coming for the banquet but she did not expect to stay here for a few days, coupled with the fact that her eyes also turned blind, and due to that there are more people around servicing her so she must be even more careful to prevent her identity as a woman from being exposed.
She still remembers Ding Yi’s last action at the banquet today, that vague finger-bending movement. If she hadn’t been staring at Ding Yi, it would have been ignored. But just because she recognized Ding Yi, she knew that the little servant who rushed out to Xiao Jue was arranged by Ding Yi, so this matter became very strange.
Ding Yi used to be He Rufei’s servant whereas Yuan Baozhen was a friend of He Rufei. With Ding Yi colluding with the assassins at the banquet to murder Xiao Jue, in some ways, it might be He Rufei’s intention. But why does He Rufei want to kill Xiao Jue?
When she was pretending to be “He Rufei” in her previous life, she did not offend Xiao Jue and she even studied alongside him as a classmate at Xianchang Pavilion. In some ways, that could be considered as having a kind of friendship. Now that He Rufei has regained his identity and did not bore any grudges with Xiao Jue in the past, why did he use such vicious methods to kill Xiao Jue?
She should talk to Yuan Baozhen.
…
At night, He Yan shared the same room with Xiao Jue and Fei Nu.
For the fear of other possible assassins in Sun’s Mansion, they did not sleep in separate rooms. However, there are many courtyards in the Sun’s Mansion and this room was divided into an inner and an outer room. The inner room was naturally where the second son of Xiao was residing, while the outer one was where Fei Nu and He Yan slept on each side of the outer bed. He Yan felt that this sleeping arrangement seemed to be protecting Xiao Jue from evil. Thinking that she was injured because of Xiao Jue, she did not expect that she didn’t even get to sleep in the bed of the inner room. It was even worthless for her to think about it
However, before she could think more, she’d fallen asleep. Her sleep was peaceful. Early the next morning, He Yan was awakened by Fei Nu.
She sat up, her eyes were full of darkness, and subconsciously asked, “What time is it?”
“It’s the morning.” Fei Nu replied.
“Oh.” He Yan went to touch the strip of cloth over her eyes again and this time she untied it.
From darkness to light, if someone can see, one will need to blink his eyes a few times to adapt. But He Yan simply just opened her pair of eyes and didn’t feel any discomfort. Fei Nu’s heart sank and asked, “Can you see?”
He Yan shook her head blankly.
There was silence.
“Maybe… it will be fine in a few days.” Fei Nu comforted awkwardly. He didn’t have much sympathy for He Yan, but he heard that at the banquet last night He Yan not only reminded Xiao Jue but also helped Xiao Jue deal with the assassin, causing one thing to lead to another. Although this young man’s identity is suspicious, he has not harmed Xiao Jue so far.
“Is uncle here?” He Yan asked.
“Master is out.”
He Yan nodded again, thought about it, and then covered her eyes with the cloth strip again.
Fei Nu was surprised, “Why are you wearing it again?” The medicine has been used for a day and it is no longer effective. Today, He Yan didn’t complain about her eye pain either. The cloth strip was useless and uncomfortable to wear.
“It’s better to put it on to remind others that I can’t see anything now.” He Yan smiled, “People should be more tolerant to a blind man. I can’t avoid others, but others can avoid me, right?”
With cloth strips or without cloth strips, it is obvious that the former was more like a blind person. Fei Nu’s heart trembled as if something flashed through his mind, but he couldn’t catch it quickly. After a moment of silence and not knowing what to say, he only said, “Go and eat first.”
He Yan nodded.
When Xiao Jue was not there, Fei Nu and He Yan sat in the house to eat after freshening up. The food was also bought by Fei Nu in advance. He Yan didn’t want Fei Nu to help. She ate very slowly, but her movements were fairly steady and she didn’t spill the soup outside. All the servants that Sun Xiangfu provided were withdrawn. After the previous experience with Xiao Jue, He Yan couldn’t trust any of the servants here.
Just after eating, Fei Nu took away the leftovers on the table, and He Yan sat alone for a moment when someone’s voice rang. The footsteps were very soft, if it weren’t for her excellent hearing, it would be difficult for ordinary people to hear it. It was not one person, but two people.
Xiao Jue didn’t need to behave like this and Fei Nu had only just left. So He Yan already knew who it was, but she didn’t show it on her face. She sat quietly, as if she was in a daze.
The sound of footsteps fell in front of her as if studying her carefully. With her eyes covered with cloth strips, He Yan did not move a single inch.
After a while, the visitor didn’t seem to find anything wrong, and suddenly said, “Young Master Cheng.”
“Ahhhhhhh!” He Yan was taken aback and almost fell off the chair. She stood up indiscriminately, knocking her feet to the legs of the table, and screaming in pain. Someone came to help her and said, “Are you okay?”
He Yan opened her hand and grabbed the person indiscriminately, and said, “Who is it?”
She caught a corner of the person’s clothes, and the person comforted her with a good voice, “I am Yuan Baozhen, not a bad guy. Don’t worry, young master.”
Only then did He Yan calm down. She heaved a sigh of relief, and said with lingering fear, “It turns out to be Lord Yuan. I thought it was those assassins who came again and scared me to death! Why didn’t you make any noise when coming in?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t expect to scare the young master.” Yuan Baozhen said with a smile, “I heard the young master couldn’t see so I came to visit you personally.”
When he said this, though his tone was concerned and distressed, there was no smile on his face. He stared at He Yan’s expression as if he wanted to see whether He Yan was indeed blind or faking it. However, as He Yan’s eyes were covered with cloth strips, he couldn’t see anything.
Without seeing a person’s eyes, it was difficult to determine vulnerability from his expression.
His head leaned to the extreme. Ordinary people may not be aware of this, but He Yan could clearly feel it. The person she was holding was Ding Yi and Yuan Baozhen was a person who was greedy for life and feared death, so fearful of getting into accidents, he would not come forward directly. But his gaze was like a maggot in the hock, which was hard to ignore.
Even so, He Yan didn’t show it at all. She seemed to be a little distressed, and showed some of the teenagers’ peculiarities of being carefree, and said, “Yes, I can’t see anything now but my uncle said that he would find a divine doctor to treat me, so it should be just for the time being.”
It was okay for her when she did not say this. But once she said this, it almost convinced people the fact that she was really blind. Because the “divine doctor” was meant to coax children to give them a sense of relief and was perfunctory.
Yuan Baozhen sat down on a chair next to him, shook his head, and sighed, “Unexpectedly, this trip caused the little boy to be injured. It’s a relief that it didn’t hurt his life and General Xiao is also fine.” As he said, he seemed to remember something, looked at He Yan, and asked in confusion, “It’s just… little son, at the banquet last night, how did you know that there was an assassin back then and stopped the General from drinking that glass of wine?”
No one knew that the wine was poisoned so Yuan Baozhen asked a clever question. He avoided mentioning the wine and only brought up the assassination. He Yan sneered in her heart. This was to test her. She raised her head as if she didn’t know which direction Yuan Baozhen was in. After hesitating, she said, “I didn’t know that there were assassins at that time. I just saw insects flying into Uncle’s wine cup.”
This answer surprised both Ding Yi and Yuan Baozhen. They were taken aback at the same time. Yuan Baozhen asked, “Flying insects?”
“Yes, don’t you know that my uncle loves cleanliness?” He Yan sighed, “If his clothes are stained with dust, they must be replaced immediately; if his shoes are stained with mud, he will never wear them again. There were flying insects in the wine cup. If he drank it, I don’t know how angry he would be. I just wanted to remind him not to drink and change to a new cup. Who knew there were assassins! I was shocked. Who could have thought of this?”
It turned out to be such a reason? Yuan Baozhen was a little bit skeptical. Cheng Lisu shouted sternly and anxiously at the time, making people nervous when they heard him. Was it like this? But if it weren’t for this reason, how could he, a young master who didn’t know anything, know beforehand that there was a problem in the wine?
Maybe it was really a mistake to stumble upon? Yuan Baozhen couldn’t tell how he felt in his heart. Who could know that a good game of chess would be ruined just like this? He was half annoyed and half skeptical. Looking at Cheng Lisu, he only found this young man annoying.
But “Cheng Lisu” obviously wasn’t aware of his dislike. On the contrary, he seemed to be extra close to Yuan Baozhen because he came to see him here. He smiled and said, “I heard my uncle said that Lord Yuan came from Shuojing?”
“Yes.”
“Then, does Lord Yuan know General Feihong He Rufei?” she asked.
As soon as the words came out, there was a moment of silence in the room. Ding Yi, who was very close to He Yan, put a hand on the long sword around his waist, and for an instant, a murderous aura came over him.
The boy was calm, with a smile on his face, looking in Yuan Baozhen’s direction, waiting for his answer.
After a while, Yuan Baozhen stared at He Yan’s face and asked, “Why did the young man suddenly ask about General Feihong?”
“Doesn’t the world say that General Feihong and my uncle are rivals and their skills and merits are equal? I have never seen General Feihong so I don’t know his skills or what he looks like. Since Lord Yuan is from Shuojing and that you are an official of the same dynasty, you might have seen him. I heard that he used to wear a mask, but now he has taken it off. How does he look?
The “Cheng Lisu” in front of him had a brisk voice. He didn’t know that the guard beside him had just drawn his sword and the questions he asked were like those naughty young people from the capital. Yuan Baozhen breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, he thought the boy had discovered something, and almost wanted to silence him.
“I have seen him, he was… very handsome, but he should not be as good-looking as General Xiao.” Yuan Baozhen replied with a smile.
“Not as good-looking as my uncle?” He Yan was immediately disappointed, and said quickly, “Then, is Lord Yuan close to General Feihong? If so, when I visit Shuojing in the future, can you introduce General Feihong to me? I have also heard many deeds of his and I want to see for myself what kind of person he is.” She whispered, “Just don’t let my uncle know about this. I’m afraid he will punish me to copy books.”
“I’m afraid you will be disappointed,” Yuan Baozhen shook his head, “I just know General Feihong and we’re not familiar with each other. If it comes to referrals, it would be better to let General Xiao introduce you.”
He Yan whispered, “How would I dare to let him introduce me.”
As she said this, Yuan Baozhen looked at her and suddenly said, “I came here today because I was afraid that the young master would be sad because of your eyes. But now that I’ve met you, it seems that I was over-worrying. The young master does not seem to be very sad.”
He Yan said in a strange way, “Why did Lord Yuan say this? I cried for two full hours last night. If it weren’t for my uncle scolding me and threatening to throw me out again, I wouldn’t have shut up and you wouldn’t be seeing me now. Besides, you also know who I am, right? I am the young master of the Right Secretary’s mansion. Although I don’t know anything, my uncle is the General of the Right army. As long as there is my uncle, my eyes will never be blind. My uncle said a divine doctor can cure my eyes, so there will be a divine doctor who will heal my eyes!”
What she said was full of worship and trust in Xiao Jue, she made Yuan Baozhen be speechless for a while, not knowing what to say. He Yan’s words were perfect, with no flaws found for the time being, but… he was still a bit uneasy in his heart.
“The little son is right. General Xiao is omnipotent and will definitely find a way. It seems that I am narrow-minded.” he stood up with a smile, “So, I should go. The little son is unwell so you should go lie on the bed,” he looked around. “Why is there no one in this room?”
“I asked them all to leave,” He Yan smiled, “With that sort of incident happening last night, I dare not use the servants of this mansion. Do you still dare to use them, Lord Yuan? You are so brave.”
Yuan Baozhen smiled and said, “But since you can’t see anything now, don’t you need someone to serve you?”
“Fei Nu will serve me and I can touch the things by myself.” She smiled, “Lord Yuan, don’t worry. I can do it by myself.”
Yuan Baozhen smiled and said, “Little son is clever. Then I’ll leave first.” After that, he turned to leave, but when he reached the door, he turned around again and stood still at the door.
In the room, Ding Yi did not move a step.
When the two of them came in, it was Yuan Baozhen who had always spoken. Ding Yi didn’t say anything, so He Yan would easily assume that there was only one person in the room.
Yuan Baozhen stood at the door and winked at Ding Yi.
He Yan stood up and walked into the room tremblingly. Ding Yi was right in front of her and she could feel it. A E-mei thorn hidden in her sleeve, which she removed from Yingyue last night, she had already planned on how to react if Ding Yi made a move and how to pierce this E-mei thorn into his heart.
The young man was blindfolded with the cloth strips and did not reach out his hands. Instead, he just took support from the wall next to him and walked slowly into the room. Probably the people in the room were afraid that he would not be able to move easily and would trip over things, the chairs and the furniture were all placed on the sides and there was nothing all the way from the table to the bed. As long as one followed the wall, one could feel it all and reach the bed easily.
This was the same for He Yan.
She walked to the place close to the bed. Ding Yi bent down and placed a stool in front of her.
The young man didn’t notice anything, stepped forward with a “clang”, stumbled, and immediately fell forward. He was really unlucky, he stumbled, knocked his head on the bed and screamed. A bump immediately swelled on his forehead. He fell, with half of his body flopped to the ground. His hands were also scraped and he did not get up for a long while.
Ding Yi and Yuan Baozhen shook their heads.
Upon seeing this, Yuan Baozhen turned around and walked out and Ding Yi followed out quietly.
He Yan was the only one left in the room.
He Yan held her head and wailed but no one saw as a cold sneer overflowed from her lips.
