Wishing You Eternal Happiness 20
Wishing You Eternal Happiness
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Translation: marchmallow
TL Checker: StackedSnowflake
Chapter 20
Tender pity, lost in endless reverie.
***
Xiao Yintang’s father was Prince Yunzhong, Xiao Lie, who was conferred the Yunnan province.
As the Heir to the Prince Manor, as stated by law, he could not leave Yunnan without the emperor’s imperial edict or authorization, else he would be considered to be in contempt of the court’s law, or even as far as be accused of plotting treason. Moreover, his sojourn out of Yunnan was a private one without prior permission from his father, Prince Yunzhong.
Three years ago, after the Young Emperor’s demise in a hunting accident, it was said that he had not actually died, but that he had taken precautions against it. Rumor had it that he was able to escape and henceforth began living a wandering life in poverty. Due to the great significance of this matter, Xiao Yintang had been surreptitiously searching for the Young Emperor’s whereabouts the past few years, but it had always been to no avail. Just a few months ago, he received intelligence from spies that the Jinyiwei of the imperial court had frequented the areas of Fujian and Quanzhou as of late, which they had suspected to be connected to the whereabouts of the Young Emperor. At that time, Prince Yunzhong had gone to the Mengding Prefecture in western Yunnan with the pacification commissioner, Lord Ma, the imperial court had sent to summon the heads of non-Han ethnic groups in the Southwest, such as the king of Mong Mit, the king of Hsenwi,1 and others, to educate the four leaders and preach to them the might of the sovereign, so he was not present at the Prince Manor. For fear of wasting the opportunity, Xiao Yintang secretly dispatched someone to send a message to Prince Yunzhong. He took a few competent and trusted aides and left Yunnan in disguise that very night. After a multitude of tribulations all throughout the journey, they finally discovered a trail leading to Quanzhou. Much to his chagrin, they were still a step late. When they reached the seaside outside Tongjin Gate the night before yesterday, only a few bodies of the Jinyiwei awaited them.
According to the news of the past two days, what transpired that night seemed to be related to the Golden Dragon King who had abruptly gained power on the sea in recent years.
Who was the Golden Dragon King? Why was he involved in the case of the Young Emperor?
Was the Young Emperor really alive, and had he fallen into the hands of the Golden Dragon King that night? Or had he long been dead, and what occurred that night was purely a skirmish between the Jinyiwei and the Golden Dragon King? Such were his questions. In such a short period of time, he had no way of actually knowing.
But one thing was clear to him. Things had come to this point. Staying here proved to be futile. Moreover, he needed to hurry back to Yunnan as quickly as possible.
That Lord Ma, he had sauntered to Yunnan using pacification as a pretense, but one did not need to think about it to know that the emperor was certainly wary of his Royal Father’s2 friendship with those barbarian kings, thereby sending Lord Ma to monitor his Royal Father and record his every word and deed, to the point that his Royal Father had to display full courtesy to this puny pacification commissioner. At this time, if his whereabouts or news of his unauthorized departure from Yunnan were leaked, it would become the best excuse for the imperial court to launch an attack.
Based on the established schedule, Lord Ma would return to Kunming at the end of this month. As Prince Yunzhong’s heir, he would have to show his face in the Prince Manor then. There was not much time left, and he had to leave Quanzhou for Yunnan as promptly as he could.
However, after that night, for two consecutive days, Quanzhou City was under strict surveillance during the daytime and put under curfew came nightfall. Before Xiao Yintang had time to withdraw, the whole city was blockaded, and all the ports were inaccessible, cutting off all his means of retreat.
Before he had gone out, he naturally carried a pre-prepared travel permit to prove his false identity, and he had always succeeded without hindrance, but this time, he had been careless.
Yesterday morning, just as he was about to sally forth from the city with his travel permit, a merchant from Yunnan was stopped and seized. The merchant complained of injustice, but the city gate guards had reasoned that those above had rigidly ordered them to arrest all foreigners with Yunnan travel permits regardless of the reason.
Why were local authorities arresting Yunnan citizens who had come to Quanzhou?
Xiao Yintang deduced that the Jinyiwei probably also had the intent to link this incident with the Yunzhong Prince Manor.
This was an extremely dangerous signal, which demonstrated just how wary the emperor was of his father at present.
Since the travel permit was useless, he retreated and tried to seek another solution.
He immediately thought of the owner of the ship that had clashed with his subordinate Liu Yi on Fuming Island that day.
He remembered clearly that the dandy3 who had rushed out claimed himself to be from the Zhen family. Judging from the size of their ship and from that dandy’s manner of speech, the Zhen family ought to be one of the most affluent in Quanzhou.
Although merchants belonged to the lower echelons of society, they were capable of amassing wealth, and their relationship with the local authorities were thus often extraordinary. There were some things that regular people could not do, but the more they were from such merchant families, the more they could move without much obstruction.
When Liu Yi returned with news after some prying, his assumptions were confirmed: the Zhen family had frequent dealings with the prefectural capital, and that young dandy called Zhen Yaoting who had lost his father three years ago was the Zhen family’s sole scion.
It was like an opportunity bestowed by Heaven. After weighing the situation, Xiao Yintang no longer hesitated and decided to take a risk out of desperation by planning to hold the Zhen family’s only son hostage to impel the Zhen family to do his bidding. With the help of the Zhen family’s connections in Quanzhou, he could leave the city and return to Yunnan as soon as possible.
For the entirety of yesterday, that boy had not gone out at all, but Xiao Yintang could not afford to delay, so in the middle of the night, he slithered into the Zhen family’s property with Liu Yi.
As they were but a merchant family in Quanzhou, Xiao Yintang initially had not given thought to the Zhen family; no matter the scale of their family property, the guards and caretakers hired would most likely be merely for the sake of appearances. Unexpectedly, because the Zhen family sheltered both old and young, Old Madam Hu had attached great importance to the security of their property. She paid a large sum of money to hire an old constable surnamed Lin who had retired from the local government. The old constable organized the manpower and was assiduous in his duty. Because it had not been peaceful outside the past days, he personally guarded the gate even at night. Xiao Yintang had difficulty in succeeding at the outset, and he also somewhat feared that in the event that they fail, it would alarm the local authorities. So when dawn fell and the sky began to lighten, he retreated to the Zhen family’s rear garden with the thought of quitting. To his surprise, Heaven offered aid. Early in the morning, he actually saw the dandy head to the rear garden all on his own, and Xiao Yintang and Liu Yi tailed after him.
Just as he was about to take action, he saw a strikingly beautiful maiden coming over, so he continued to skulk in the corner, silently eavesdropping on the dialog between brother and sister. In his heart, he felt even more certain about his plan.
This daughter of the Zhen family had a clear mind and was very logical and precise. The affection between brother and sister also seemed to be far from shallow. It was a better option to restrain Zhen Yaoting and let her pass the message on his behalf.
……
Jiafu watched as Xiao Yintang emerged unguarded and stopped in front of her. In a split second, she felt a dull pain in her chest, as if it had been stabbed by multiple needles, and everything darkened before her eyes. A feeling of extreme despair and pain like that before her death in her previous life arose abruptly and once again firmly engulfed her entire person.
She clutched the door frame by her hand, leaned feebly against it on one shoulder, and closed her eyes. After waiting for the faintness to pass, she stood upright and languidly opened her eyes.
”This is my home. Who are you? What do you want?”
She stared at him and asked, one word at a time, her voice unusually clear.
Xiao Yintang was slightly stunned. He fixed his sight on the face of the girl standing opposite him once more, and the peculiar emotions in his heart intensified all the more.
This daughter of the Zhen family was truly born a great beauty.
There was no shortage of beauties in the Prince Manor, but it could be said that this young girl was the most stunning one he had ever laid eyes on. Not only was her skin bright and reminiscent of jade——her complexion unmatched, but she also had a delicate and lovely air to her that would make one want to embrace and pamper her. It was natural for any normal man to harbor a few such thoughts in the face of one such beauty.
Xiao Yintang was naturally also one to enjoy such beauty. However, he was sound enough to be aware of what to do and when to do it.
Right this moment, no matter how striking the beauty, she was but a tool to aid in his escape.
But just now, this daughter of the Zhen family suddenly elicited strange ripples in his innermost being.
When he came out earlier, the moment she saw him, her face suddenly lost all color, and her round eyes widened. Such an initial reaction her eyes and overall expression had revealed could not deceive people, nor could they escape Xiao Yintang’s vision.
She had given him the illusion that she had known him in the past, and that she harbored great loathing and fear for him. For an instant, she appeared so weak that she could barely stand.
But soon, she steadied herself, and when she opened her eyes, her gaze had become clear and cold.
This was even more curious.
A maiden who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen suddenly saw strange intruders trespass on the premises of her home. The said intruders had knocked her brother to the ground, yet she managed to compose herself in no time at all.
Xiao Yintang suddenly wondered whether her reaction was genuine or whether she was merely striving to maintain an appearance of calm.
But right this moment, he had no time to spare to delve deeper into it.
He glanced at the young man on the ground at whom Liu Yi’s sword was aimed, then raised his eyes. His line of sight once again fell on the face of the young girl across from him, and he said, “Now, go and inform a person of authority in your family that I need to leave the city as soon as possible. If I manage to leave safely, your brother will be safe. If not, I will have him buried with me.”
……
A carriage was driven by a coachman from the Zhen family, with Zhang Da and manservants from the Zhen family on horseback in tow, rattling all the way to Yicheng Gate in the west of the city.
The man on duty at Yicheng Gate that day was Shi Quanyou, the assistant battalion commander. He had a team of men stationed to the left and right of the city gate, searching the people and carriages leaving the city one by one, lifting the curtains of palanquins, prodding large bamboo baskets with the point of their swords, and opening the bags of those who traveled on foot. As he yelled and bellowed to flaunt his domineering influence, he suddenly caught sight of a carriage approaching from a distance. He recognized Zhang Da who rode alongside it, grunted a greeting, and ambled over to where he was. Zhang Da quickly dismounted, ordered the carriage to halt, and exchanged pleasantries with him. Before they could even utter a few words, they heard the impatient voice of a person inside the carriage, “Zhang Da, is there a dead man blocking the road? Why has the carriage ceased moving?”
Shi Quanyou instantly knew that Zhen Yaoting, the infamous pampered son of the Zhen family, was sitting in the carriage.
Not one person in Quanzhou city had no knowledge of this son of the Zhen family. He had seen him from a distance a few times before, but this time, upon hearing him speak, he ascertained that he was not a good person. He smiled and said, “Ah, is it Young Master Zhen? My apologies. Young Master must have heard that it has not been peaceful in the city as of late, as such, is it not expected of me to act according to my orders? Where is Master Zhen going?”
Zhang Da sighed and said, “The recent unrest is the main cause. As you know, our family’s Old Madam is advanced in age, yet she has several matters to handle. She has been holding on for a while, just that the city has been in turmoil these past few days. As the end of the month draws near, she fears that the ships will not be able to set sail, so she has since been anxious. She caught a wind chill yesterday, and today, she could hardly rise from her bed. There are some matters to tend to in the Zimao mountain villa outside the west of the city today, so she let my young master go on her behalf. Brother, please carry on, so I can accompany the Young Master and return early. If you have some time to spare tomorrow, I will go and have a drink with you.”
After which, Zhang Da shot him a meaningful look, then leaned closer to his ear to whisper, “Since we have met here by chance, I might as well tell you. Our boss returned with a ship at the end of last year and brought a lot of quality goods. Our Old Madam had mentioned something a few days ago, saying that you often take your brothers to patrol the docks for us, which has really troubled you. When the year just ended, there were too many matters to consider, so we had not the time to spare to express our gratitude. In the next two days, when you have the time, come over in the evening, and I will show you.”
Shi Quanyou was greatly elated, knowing that he could gain a fortune from it. Had it been any ordinary inspection and prevention routine, he could just let it slip by. This time, however, the authorities had repeatedly issued strict orders, so he could not dare to slack off. He replied, “We have received orders from above. No matter which family leaves the city, they must all be searched before letting them pass. Young Master Zhen, please do not blame me.” As these words were spoken, he stalked to the carriage, pushed open its door, and surveyed the inside. He was astonished to see the Zhen family’s son leaning on the back of the chair, his hair combed rather untidily with half of it cascading down, his opulent clothes in disorder, and his arms embracing a woman. He was burying his head on her shoulder and planting passionate kisses on her, exposing only his forehead. The woman’s back was facing the door, her black hair so shiny that it could reflect a person’s face, and her collar a little disheveled, revealing a snow-white nape peeking beneath the tendrils of her hair. Although her face was not visible, ogling at her nape sufficed to evoke tender pity and make one lose himself in endless reverie.
Shi Quanyou’s two eyes suddenly turned blank, and he did not dare take a closer look. After regaining his senses, he hastily shut the carriage door and composed himself. He had heard that the Zhen family’s son had always been something of a rake, and seeing him today, his reputation truly preceded him. He had to leave the city for an errand, yet he made sure not to forsake pleasure and romance along the way. It was also because he was conceived in the right womb and was born in the Zhen family that he could lead such a life. He mused on how hard he himself toiled all day long, earning just enough to put food on the table——sure enough, comparisons were odious. He heaved a dim sigh and signaled his men to give way.
Zhang Da bowed to him and expressed his thanks. With a single shout, the carriage continued to roll forward and out of the city gate.
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Footnotes:
1 I’m not exactly sure if they’re talking about real places in ancient history here, but according to wiki, both states are real towns in modern day Burma/Myanmar. Wiki: Theinni – Wikipedia & Momeik – Wikipedia
2 He calls his father fù wánɡ (父王), which literally translates to ‘father-king’, similar to how emperors are addressed as father-emperor or imperial father by their offspring.
3 The term used here is wán kù 纨绔, which literally translates to silk trousers. A metaphor for sons of the rich who live their days in dissipation.
