Three Steps: From Assassin to Empress - Chapter 20
Chapter 20: No Discussion of Love
Overnight, Jiangzhou was filled with a subtle undercurrent of change. In just one night, news of the Baopingkou dam collapse spread throughout Jiangzhou. The rumor that the governor’s adjutant had had the dam destroyed to frame the gentry was known to all.
In the streets and alleys, people could be seen everywhere cursing Wang Yu, accusing him of negligence and putting factional disputes above national affairs.
In the market, storytellers spat and cursed Wang Yu openly and secretly.
A silver ingot was thrown into a copper bowl, spinning and clinking crisply.
The storyteller stopped in surprise, looked at the sound, and saw a young man in golden robes with a bamboo hat walking out of the teahouse without looking back.
Ying Xiu lowered his hat and slowly walked through the market.
He hadn’t forgotten that Wang Yu wanted to make him a scapegoat yesterday. Now, it was time for Wang Yu to enjoy this city-wide storm.
Unfortunately, the storm lasted for less than a day.
That night, following Ying Xiu’s instructions, Wang Yu caught the servants who were preparing to leave their hometown by boat at the ferry crossing. These servants belonged to the Wei Sheng clan and had been sent to destroy the dam.
After being stopped and questioned by the assassin, Wei Shengmin tossed and turned at home, planning to send all the people who destroyed the dam away overnight. By chance, he ran into Wang Yu, who had been waiting for a long time.
With the human witnesses, it was now proven that the Wei Sheng clan had destroyed the dam. In addition, the old records were enough to prove that the Wei Sheng clan had been committing evil deeds for a long time.
For their combined crimes, the people now imprisoned in the court official’s jail were no longer the common people from Jiànpōofāng but the entire Wei Sheng clan. The imperial edict was announced, and they were sentenced to be executed on a selected date.
Wei Shengmin, disheveled, knelt in the narrow cell. He suddenly remembered what the silver-masked assassin had said: “I won’t kill you; the laws of the Southern Dynasty will.” Today, the prophecy was fulfilled.
The sunlight was harsh, and the executioner’s blade fell.
In a trance, the gentry remembered the black-robed assassin’s clear and bright eyes, which overlapped with the scholar’s eyes in the courtroom.
They were the same person. So that’s it, so that’s it…
Bl00d splattered on the ground, and a bright red cloth fluttered in the air.
The onlookers whispered to each other, saying that the emperor in Jiankang had always been quick with his death sentences, but this time it was a bit too fast.
With one imperial edict, Jiangzhou was once again bathed in bl00d.
The news that Wei Shengmin was executed immediately for destroying the dam, and the rest of the people involved were exiled, reached Ying Xiu. He was sitting on the black eaves of the guesthouse, idly teasing the fluffy chi xiao on his shoulder. The chi xiao was black and round, very much like a black glutinous rice ball.
After three days, he finally received a reply from Jiànxīn.
In the letter, Jiànxīn apologized for slapping him and said that he had already punished Wang Yu severely. He asked him to return quickly and move back to the Wang family’s private residence to assist with the household registration matters.
Now that the Wei Sheng clan had fallen, all the powerful families in Jiangzhou were in a state of alarm. No one dared to obstruct the imperial court’s national affairs at this critical moment.
Even though the dirt on the powerful families in Jiangzhou had not all been investigated, the Wang family of Langya’s task of household registration, given by the imperial court, no longer had many obstacles.
He was an assassin for the Wang family of Langya. Not to mention assisting with national affairs, even if he were told to kill someone with his sword, there was no reason for him to refuse.
…Should he go back?
The young man held the long, narrow paper strip in the sunlight, rolling and unrolling it until it was wrinkled.
He had only been here for two days; he didn’t want to move away so soon. If he moved away, he wouldn’t be able to see Xie Zhou all the time.
He didn’t want to leave Xie Zhou. Xie Zhou was so handsome…
An imperceptible voice sounded in Ying Xiu’s heart. He finally stopped and wrote a line on the back of the paper, then tied it to the chi xiao‘s foot.
He would go back to help, but he wouldn’t move back to the Wang family’s private residence or the tavern loft in the small Qinhuai River district.
And, Jiànxīn had to help pay for his lodging. Otherwise, he would have to find time to earn some extra money.
Ying Xiu thought this in a very poor manner.
Fortunately, Jiànxīn soon had the chi xiao deliver a banknote, also urging him to be careful at the retainer’s residence, to be cautious everywhere, and never to offend anyone.
A small line of text below read: If he truly offends a noble person, he should immediately return to the ancestral home of the Wang family in Guangling for refuge.
He put away the paper and handed the banknote to Xie Zhou. Xie Zhou was noticeably stunned, and a very slight smile seemed to appear on his handsome, cool face, but it was gone in a flash.
He had thought that… upon hearing the news that the Wang family of Langya was out of danger, Ying Xiu would be impatient to move back to their private residence.
After all, he even helped the Wang family’s retainer who had intended to frame him—that person seemed to be named Wang Yu.
“I don’t need the banknote,” the white-robed retainer sat still, letting the young man hold the banknotes. He had no intention of reaching out to take them. “You are my friend. You can stay here for as long as you want.”
—You can stay here for as long as you want.
Ying Xiu’s ears couldn’t stop replaying this sentence. He felt his heart inexplicably burning and heating up… Could it be that his last cold hadn’t completely healed? Had the cold air penetrated deep into his organs?
He sat dizzily across from the retainer, slapped the banknotes on the table, and righteously refused Xie Zhou: “You see me as a friend, so I must not take advantage of you. Just accept them, or else I…”
Or else I won’t stay here? No, no, he didn’t want to say such a dishonest thing.
Or else he would… would…
The young man hesitated for a long time and still couldn’t come up with a consequence. The retainer chuckled, a very light laugh, but it made Ying Xiu’s face turn red and his ears burn.
He couldn’t say anything to threaten Xie Zhou into accepting the banknotes, and it seemed there was nothing he could threaten Xie Zhou with anyway…
The realization that someone had kindly taken him in but he had nothing to repay them with made Ying Xiu feel a little dejected.
He could actually help Xie Zhou assassinate his political rivals, but because he couldn’t reveal his identity as an assassin, that path was also closed.
“Ying Xiu,” Xie Zhou called out softly. “I do have one thing I’d like you to help me with.”
Ying Xiu looked serious: “If you have any instructions, I will go through fire and water.”
He was led into a building within the guesthouse where documents were stacked neatly in all directions. There were countless ancient texts, with shelves holding tens of thousands of scrolls.
So many books!
Ying Xiu moved around the building with curiosity. Behind him, Xie Zhou stood still, quietly watching his back.
This Sea Chest Pavilion was not a library a few days ago. He had ordered many ancient books and collections to be prepared and decorated this place to look the way it did now.
He used the gentry’s fear to foresee that he would send the servants who destroyed the dam away at night at the ferry crossing. He informed Wang Yu to wait there and catch the witnesses, and in one night, everything was turned around.
Although Ying Xiu had never been involved in politics, he had an exceptionally sharp intuition and judgment of human nature.
Shouldn’t such a person be able to ascend the emperor’s court and be used by the emperor?
Xie Zhou’s expression was calm. He watched the young man, like a golden crane, clinking and clanking as he walked around the vast shelves, full of curiosity.
The Hanging Mirror Bureau investigated everything in great detail. When Ying Xiu was living in the small tavern, he used to secretly read the scholars’ books. Now it seemed to be true.
After circling the vast sea of books in the Sea Chest Pavilion, Ying Xiu’s eyes sparkled as he walked toward Xie Zhou. He vaguely guessed what Xie Zhou wanted him to do. He was full of anticipation and refrained from revealing it.
“I would like to ask you to organize the library for me,” Xie Zhou said. “After all, you are the scholar I am most familiar with.”
Upon hearing the words “most familiar,” Ying Xiu seemed to hear another heartbeat, growing louder and faster, and possibly about to be noticed by the person in front of him.
—Whose heart was beating so fast?
Ying Xiu looked around and suddenly realized it was his own heart.
He was so scared that he wanted to cover his heart, but he didn’t want the retainer to notice. He could only stand up straight and say sternly, “Don’t worry, I will take good care of it for you!”
He was going to read every book in this library, starting with the ones that had illustrations.
After the retainer left, Ying Xiu let out a small cheer and began to clink and clank as he selected books from the library.
This one has no illustrations. I won’t read it.
This scroll is full of dense writing, like a chanting scripture. I won’t read it.
With a “thud,” a bamboo slip fell from the shelf and landed directly on Ying Xiu’s head. Fortunately, he dodged in time and caught the scroll with his hand.
The title of the book had only four words: No Discussion of Love.
Flipping further, it told the story of a pair of young men. It talked about how the open-minded society of the Southern Dynasty allowed this pair of young men to get to know, fall in love, and stay together for a hundred years.
There were also many illustrations, although they were a bit rough, their shapes were still vaguely recognizable.
Ying Xiu: “!!!”
What is this? Are they practicing sword skills together? These sword moves are too marvelous.
He was an assassin and prided himself on his swordsmanship. Seeing these moves, he realized that there was always something better out there. He had never heard of these moves before. Even after looking at the breakdowns, he didn’t know how to perform them.
With an attitude of learning, Ying Xiu held the bamboo slip seriously and read the narration again. The book said that this pair of men became a couple, loving each other for a hundred years.
“A couple,” a brand new word entered the young assassin’s impoverished mind. He looked back and forth at the book No Discussion of Love, trying to understand the meaning of the word “couple.”
A couple, a pair of people who could eat together, live under the same roof, chat together, and practice moves together in their free time.
He and Xie Zhou now ate together, lived in the same Lushan Guesthouse, and talked from time to time. As for practicing moves… they hadn’t yet, but he had taught Xie Zhou how to use his light-foot skill.
Then, did that count as the “couple” mentioned in the book?
…
Using his light-foot skill, he carefully put the book No Discussion of Love back in its original place. Ying Xiu walked out of the Sea Chest Pavilion, deep in thought.
A black ball of fluff flew toward him. The chi xiao flapped its wings and landed on his shoulder, unrolling a paper strip. It was Jiànxīn asking him to come to the Wang family’s private residence quickly.
Without time to think, Ying Xiu left the guesthouse and went directly to the Wang family of Langya’s private residence in Jiangzhou.
The study this time was not much neater than the last. It was still piled with ledgers, which contained the names of the tenants and slaves.
The yamen rescued these lifelong slaves from the powerful families’ fortifications. Most of these people were refugees who had migrated south. They had wandered into Jiangzuo and were captured as slaves by the gentry, and since then, they had been slaves for generations.
There were tens of thousands of these people. How to settle them was another problem.
When they saw Ying Xiu walk in, everyone’s expressions changed.