Chapter 21. Huaiyang (Part 1)
Huaiyang (Part 1)
The group of thieves was repelled by the soldiers brought by Pei Qian. After a fierce battle, the group rested on the side of the road.
Several soldiers were injured in the conflict with the thieves, but luckily, no one was killed. Some people were tending to their wounds. The thieves had used a tripwire to entangle the carriage, causing both horses to injure their legs, while the carriage was also damaged.
Wei An was just being escorted by the soldiers and was unscathed. Now, he sat calmly on the ox cart, playing with his wooden pieces and occasionally glancing over in this direction.
I sat on a large rock by the roadside. At my front, Pei Qian stood the whole time, his tall and slender figure dressed in a blue gown.
After not seeing each other for a long time, his figure had become much more robust, no longer the slender young man who used to compose poetry while facing the wind. He now carried a sword at his waist and had a broader brow, still refined and elegant but with a hint of a killing aura.
I previously had imagined what it would be like if Pei Qian and I were to meet again.
When he married his wife, I thought I would scratch and claw at him, accuse him of betrayal. When I got married and moved to Laiyang, I thought I would rush to him, weeping uncontrollably, and then pathetically beg him to marry me. But five years later, after reality and time had worn away all illusions, I no longer entertained such thoughts.
Just like now, facing him, I can't say a word.
Someone was reporting the casualties of the thieves to Pei Qian, and Pei Qian frowned slightly as he listened to him. He didn't turn around or walk away, and asked some questions from time to time. His voice was clear, as familiar as something that has lingered in a dream for a long time.
After he finished speaking, the man left, and Pei Qian turned back towards me.
"Want some water?" he asked me.
I shook my head.
"What about some food?"
I shook my head.
"Still afraid?"
I didn't respond.
Pei Qian bent slightly, looked at me, and after a moment, softly said, "Ah Jin, say something."
I looked at those eyes and still didn't say anything.
Pei Qian let out a low sigh, stood up straight, and turned back to a soldier and said, “Pack up the carriage and horses, and let's head back to Huaiyang."
The soldier nodded in response and turned to issue the orders.
I was taken aback. From their posture, it seemed that they were going to take us along with them.
"I... I'm not going to Huaiyang!" I blurted out in a rush, my voice sounding hoarse.
Pei Qian looked at me and sighed with a bitter smile as he said, “I thought you'd never make a sound again."
I bit my lip, knowing that he had seen through me, feeling somewhat annoyed.
"I'm not going to Huaiyang," I repeated.
"Not going?" Pei Qian's face remained calm. "Look at the soldiers guarding you, how many of them are not injured? It will take at least eight or nine days to get to Yongdu, can they make it? And what if you encounter bandits again?"
I was caught by his question and was tongue-tied for a moment. I wanted to insist, but I had to admit that Pei Qian's words were not wrong. I was hesitant and my face was also unclear.
"Is there anything else you want to ask?" Pei Qian seemed to see through my thoughts and asked.
I hesitated for a moment and looked at him. "Why are you here?"
*****
Wei Jue attacked Tan Xi with only half of his opponent's military strength. In a world of warlords, with various factions watching each other like tigers, Wei Jue was worried that he would be outnumbered, and also worried about the lack of support in the rear. So, Wu Zhang in the southeast became Wei Jiu's first choice for an alliance. Wei Jue and Wu Zhang agreed that Wu Zhang would send 50,000 troops to attack Tan Xi together, and after the victory, the entire Huai River basin would belong to Wu Zhang.
Wu Zhang had 200,000 soldiers in Huaiyang, and relied on the mountains and rivers as a natural barrier, which was a difficult bone to swallow. For Wei Jiu, these 50,000 troops were actually just a small part, but it allowed him to hand over the burden of his back to Wu Zhang and let him restrain Liang Chong, who was eager to move in Jingchu.
Thus, the Huainan border between Wei and Wu became a place where both armies guarded together.
And Pei Qian, was Wu Zhang’s chief general stationed in Huainan.
He was patient and open when he told me all of this, just like when I used to ask him questions in the past. After he finished speaking, he looked at me and used his eyes to ask if I understood.
In the past, I would have had all sorts of irrelevant thoughts to bother him, but now I just nodded silently and didn't say anything.
******
The horses were replaced, but half of the carriage was broken and could still move.
I rode in such a carriage, troubled by thoughts, as I bumped my way to Huaiyang.
Huaiyang was the capital of Huainan county, and the only city I saw in Huainan that still resembled a proper city. Due to the ongoing war, armed soldiers could be seen everywhere in the streets, in addition to the common people. When people and horses approached, they all stepped aside to make way.
Winding through the streets and alleys, Pei Qian settled me in a quiet courtyard in the city.
"The administrative office where I reside is just ahead. You can rest here for a while, I'll go there and come back shortly," he said to me.
I nodded without looking at his face.
Pei Qian didn't say anything else and turned to leave. His footsteps disappeared outside the door, but lingered in my ears for a long time.
"Furen..." Ah Yuan looked at me with a worried expression. Ever since seeing Pei Qian, she had been as unsettled as I was, hesitating to speak when we were on the road.
I knew what she wanted to say. How can Pei Qian suddenly appear, and what should we do now that we have arrived here? But my mind was also muddled and confused, with too many things to think about. I didn't even know where to start.
In a blink of an eye, I saw Wei An standing in the courtyard, holding his wooden pieces.
I was starting to regret bringing him along. If something had happened to Wei An during the attack just now, I would have no reason to go back.
“ZhangSao, are we going to stay here?” He asked as I walked over.
I nodded and said, “Many of our soldiers were injured, and the carriage was damaged. We cannot proceed on the road for now.” Seeing his expression, I spoke gently, “Don't worry, Si Shu. There are also imperial soldiers in Huaiyang. When we return, we just need to send more people. We won't be attacked again."
Wei An shook his head and said, "I'm not afraid."
I thought he was just being a young man trying to act tough, and I smiled.
Wei An looked at me and said, "I really am not afraid, those bandits couldn't defeat XiongZhang’s soldiers. Despite a few of us getting injured, we managed to kill over ten of them."
I didn't pay attention to that at the time. I was probably shocked by the sudden appearance of Pei Qian.
"Oh?" I looked at Wei An's serious expression and suddenly became interested. "How do you know they are bandits? They have arrows and knives."
"The arrows are all crudely made, and some arrowheads are even made of stones. Most of the knives are just the hatchets of the villagers, which are no match for military swords," he furrowed his brow, "ZhangSao, XiongZhang's soldiers are really strong, even if no one comes to help, we will not have any problems."
I was thinking about how to explain about Pei Qian to this little Si Shu,when he mentioned this, it was just in time.
"Si Shu," I said, "about the general who came to rescue us just now..."
"It's Jiyuan Gongzi." Wei An said.
I was surprised that he could recognize him and asked, "You know him?"
"I know him," Wei An said casually. "When I was in Chang'an, he came to our house and invited XiongZhang to go horseback riding."
I was greatly surprised.
Why didn’t I know that Pei Qian knew Wei Tan?
“They…” I paused for a moment, feeling that I needed to make it clearer, “I mean, Fujun and Pei Jiangjun, do they have a good relationship?”
"I don't know," Wei An said, "I've only seen him two or three times at home."
I saw his eyes flickering for a moment and asked, “What else does Si Shu know?"
“Jiyuan Gongzi used to be ZhangSao’s fiancé,” he said.
My temples began to ache again.
In this little Si Shu’s eyes, I had no secrets left. Great.
******
After Pei Qian left, he did not appear again for a long time.
The house he arranged for me was just nice - not big, but clean and comfortable. The soldiers from the prefecture were placed elsewhere, and Pei Qian sent his own soldiers to guard outside the house, their figures visible in the distance.
In my room, as soon as one enters, one can see a table and a bed.
On the table, there was a pot and cups, and the water in the pot was still hot. I lifted the lid of the pot and saw that it contained pagoda tree flowers and had a taste of honey.
There are several books on the couch, and I flipped through them. They were all strange small books.
Many years have passed, and Pei Qian still remembers what I liked clearly.
I felt a bit tired, so I walked into the inner room and lay down on the bed.
The mattress on the bed was very soft. Strangely, even though my mind felt hazy and muddled, when I closed my eyes, there was one thing that was particularly clear to me.
Wei An said that Wei Tan and Pei Qian had already known each other when they were in Chang'an.
The alliance between Wei and Wu, as well as the fact that Pei Qian was in Huainan, were things that Wei Tan couldn't possibly not know about.
That means….
"...Furen also knows that our marriage is out of expediency..." Wei Tan's words suddenly echoed in my mind.
When I first heard it, I was surprised, but now I find it more and more intriguing.
Did Wei Tan do it on purpose? He knew that Pei Qian was here, so he asked me to come to Huainan?
And what about Pei Qian? When he appeared today and opened the curtain of the carriage, and called out "Ah Jin"...
*****
Perhaps due to exhaustion, I fell into a deep sleep this time. When I woke up, it was already dark outside.
The room was dimly lit and I had a thin blanket draped over me that I didn't remember having before.
I got up from the bed and headed outside, only to find that Ah Yuan and the others were nowhere to be seen, and only a few lanterns were flickering in the courtyard.
"Awake?" a voice came from the hallway, and I turned to see Pei Qian sitting on the steps, it seemed like he had been waiting there for a while.
"En," I answered. For a moment, I thought I was still dreaming, but I felt the cool evening breeze and saw the tired look on Pei Qian's face, and I knew it was real.
"Are you hungry? Let me take you to have some food," Seeing that I was silent, Pei Qian said again.
I didn't answer him, but instead walked over to him and looked at him through the columns of the hallway.
"Pei Qian," I said. As I spoke, I could sense him being taken aback for a moment.
I rarely called him by his full name, and as I opened my mouth, I hesitated, but I still said it. I wanted to create some distance between us in this situation.
"En? What is it?" he replied, looking up at me without any change in expression.
I bit my lip and said, "Earlier, I asked you how you came to be here."
Pei Qian smiled and replied, "Didn't I already answer? It's because of the alliance between Wei and Wu..."
"It's not just that," I interrupted, looking at him. "You didn't come to save me just by chance. You already knew I would come, didn't you?"