Three Steps: From Assassin to Empress - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: A Date

Unlike the black clothes he wore before, Ying Xiu was now wearing golden robes with gold embroidered sleeves, a wide sash cinching a narrow waist, and a golden ribbon tying his hair into a high ponytail. He looked like a dashing young man from Jinling.

A silver-white mask covered his face, hiding his features, revealing only his delicate, clear eyes. With bright eyes and white teeth, he was unusually agile.

After a few days, the assassin, who had always hidden behind the scenes, had changed into such a flashy outfit.

Beautiful, bright, and captivating.

He didn’t look like an assassin who could kill a man with ten steps. He looked more like a beautiful entertainer raised by a duke or noble.

Wang Shouzhen was also momentarily stunned. He had thought that Ying Xiu, living in the retainer’s residence, would be cautious and careful everywhere. Who knew he would be spoiled into this state?

Everyone’s expressions were subtle, and no one said a word. Even someone as slow as Ying Xiu noticed something was off. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing,” Wang Shouzhen broke the deadlock and ordered a pot of freshly brewed Luyangchun tea to be presented and placed in front of Ying Xiu. He said slowly, “The household registration is progressing quite smoothly, but these servants and tenants have just received their registration and don’t know where to settle.”

These national affairs should not have involved an assassin in the discussion. However, Ying Xiu was no ordinary assassin. He had just helped solve the dam collapse disaster and counterattacked the gentry of Jiangzhou. To have him discuss politics was a great honor bestowed by the eldest son.

The retainers of the Wang family present were all of noble birth, from high-status families. They had never thought that one day they would sit in the same room with an assassin and discuss national affairs together. They exchanged glances, and no one spoke a word.

As for how to settle these refugees who had been abducted by the gentry for many years, the Wang family’s retainers had their own ideas.

“Why not let them directly participate in the official corvée labor, and after a few years, give them a sum of money and let them return home.”

“In my opinion, we can choose the best among them to join our Langya Wang family, and let the Jiangzhou yamen arrange the rest.”

“These refugees are from other regions. It will be very difficult for them to find work in Jiangzhou.”

There were many different opinions. Wang Shouzhen motioned for everyone to be quiet, then looked at the silent Ying Xiu. Under everyone’s gaze, Ying Xiu slowly began to speak:

“Merchants, farmers, artisans, and tradespeople each have their specialties. Why not let them choose their professions based on their skills? The yamen can assist, and with the help of merchants, help these people find work. Once they are stable, we can then select the young and strong to perform corvée labor and collect taxes.”

This approach was a bit more troublesome, but it was the best arrangement for these servants and tenants.

Wang Shouzhen was not surprised by this answer. Ying Xiu always thought of strategies from the perspective of the common people. Before he could say anything, a retainer suddenly interjected:

“This is too troublesome. And it doesn’t benefit our Langya Wang family. Why not just let them participate in corvée labor, and after a few years, issue a document as a reward.”

“Then how are we any different from the powerful families in Jiangzhou who enslave people?” Ying Xiu’s voice was clear and to the point. “Although they have a place of registration, you are still forcing them to work day and night without rest. When they get old and weak and can’t work anymore, how will they make a living?”

That retainer had indeed planned to do so, but being called out so directly, he was inevitably a little indignant. He immediately looked at the eldest son, trying to get him to stand up for him.

The eldest son had no intention of speaking for him. He said, “Fuwei’s words are reasonable. As fellow people from the Central Plains, when we are in a foreign land, we should support each other. How can we make things difficult for each other?”

He gave the final word: “Let’s do as Fuwei said.”

With the yamen’s house-to-house search, the refugees from the Central Plains who were captured by the powerful families of Jiangzhou during the Jianyuan era finally came out of the gentry’s fortifications.

The streets and alleys had some unfamiliar faces from the Central Plains. Regardless of their age or gender, there was a sense of innocence and curiosity in their eyes.

After migrating south across the Yangtze River from the Central Plains for many years, they finally had a place to settle and stand on their own land in Jiangzuo.

Listening to these authentic Central Plains dialects, Ying Xiu felt a sense of novelty. He knew that the Central Plains was very large and had many prefectures, but he didn’t know that each prefecture had a unique dialect and that everyone spoke a little differently.

Most of the people from Jiànpōofāng came from Yizhou in the Central Plains. The Yizhou dialect gave Ying Xiu a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

Before he could figure out where this feeling came from, the 300-li riverbank near the Yuan River was completed overnight, and the ferry crossing at Jiànpōofāng also grew higher and wider day by day.

Cable piles were nailed along the bank, a plank road was built, and a brand-new dock stood in the endlessly flowing Yuan River to the south.

Flags fluttered on the dock, with the golden words “Sixteen Crossings” written on them.

—Ying Xiu’s name was written at the very beginning.

The fifteen scholars had debated for so long, but in the end, they tacitly agreed to put Ying Xiu’s name first.

On the day the Sixteen Crossings were officially completed, the fifteen scholars unanimously changed into new clothes and brought their families and friends to show off their names.

They pointed at the flags above, discussing heatedly, all saying that their contribution was significant.

When they saw Ying Xiu, the scholars, wearing snow-white caps and shoes, were sitting on their hired boats, waving at him. They all scrambled to invite him to their boats to drink with them.

Their boats all had companions. Ying Xiu had no intention of getting on board and smiled as he declined.

Ying Xiu, in his golden robes, walked slowly by himself, smiling and passing by one smiling face after another. He suddenly remembered that he should also call his friends and family to come and board the dock and take a boat on the Yuan River together.

He wondered if Xie Zhou was free…

In his impression, the retainer seemed to have been very busy in the few days he had been staying at the guesthouse, busy with documents, and had never come to see him on his own.

During this time, Ying Xiu had been busy organizing the documents in the Sea Chest Pavilion. He was so engrossed in it that he forgot to actively seek out the retainer.

He still had a question in his mind that he had been hiding for a long time and wanted to ask Xie Zhou.

Xie Zhou never seemed to refuse his invitations. When he heard that Ying Xiu wanted to take him on a boat ride, he was first stunned, then nodded in agreement.

In the distance, the mountains were rugged, and nearby, the green water was clear and vast. There were people coming and going at the dock. Haulers shouted, and fishermen hawked their wares.

Flags fluttered in the air. As one wave passed, another would rise in the distance, and the sound of the autumn wind and the Yuan River flowed south.

As Ying Xiu walked, he would glance at Xie Zhou beside him from time to time. The sky was clear, and the sunlight reflected on the white-robed retainer, making him appear even more radiant and pure, spotless and cold. The mix of beauty and danger made his heart pound.

Xie Zhou was very handsome. He was the most handsome person he had ever seen in his life.

There was no other like him in the world. The one and only Xie Zhou.

The young man’s peeking was never subtle, or perhaps, he was just openly looking.

The retainer walking in front suddenly stopped. Ying Xiu, who was walking behind him, hadn’t stopped yet and almost ran into him head-on. The young man covered his head and looked up to protest, “Xie Zhou! Why did you stop?”

Xie Zhou took the opportunity to reach out and stroke his hair. The young man’s high ponytail was tied with a golden ribbon that swayed in his hair. The originally yellowish hair had improved a lot and was now a bit shiny. It was now lying softly under his palm.

He had been taking very good care of the assassin. This realization made the retainer feel a strange sense of pleasure.

But it seemed it wasn’t enough.

There were many people around the assassin. The people passing by on this dock would all greet him. The fifteen scholars, although they were on the river, still rowed their boats over to call out to Ying Xiu. And there was that young man from the Wang family…

Too many people. The retainer could hardly count them all, and he was too lazy to.

With this appearance, those people didn’t matter.

This appearance, which he had originally hated and found disgusting, had brought him such benefits…

The retainer gently curved his lips, but there was no smile in his eyes.

“Let’s go boating too!” Ying Xiu skillfully darted out from under the retainer’s hand, grabbing his snow-white robes and running forward.

The seventeen-year-old boy ran very fast. His golden sleeves swelled with the wind like a light and nimble crane, flying freely toward the water’s edge.

Xie Zhou was led by him to the plank road, which was crowded with small boats and large ships. Fishermen were selling fresh fish, and white-haired boatmen were calling for customers by the river.

When those boatmen saw Ying Xiu, their eyes widened in surprise. Some even jumped off their boats and surrounded him, enthusiastically greeting him: “Young Benefactor! Take my boat! I don’t want any money!” “You get out of the way! How can you not want money? Young Benefactor, take my boat! I’ll give you money!”

Fishmongers saw Ying Xiu and quickly gathered around, holding live, wriggling fish that splashed water. “Benefactor! Take these two fish to cook. If it’s not enough, I’ll bring you more later.”

An older woman who had returned early from picking lotus pods also squeezed in, holding a bamboo basket filled with freshly shelled lotus seeds. “Benefactor, look at me. Lotus seeds are good for the heart. Just eat them as a snack.”

Ying Xiu was a little flustered. It was easy for him to kill people with his sword, but accepting others’ kindness was a bit difficult.

Furthermore, these things were what they sold for money to buy rice and flour. How could he take their things? If he didn’t, he would be rejecting their kindness.

“I appreciate your kindness, everyone. Please, make way.” The young man’s voice was cold and biting. His attitude was gentle and polite, yet it made people shiver for no reason.

Only then did the crowd notice the gentleman next to the young benefactor. He was dressed in a white robe, with a cool and aloof air of nobility and indifference. He was inexplicably intimidating, and their knees trembled as they instinctively wanted to kneel.

Based on their intuition of danger, the people of Sixteen Crossings were silent for a moment, then quickly dispersed. As they left, they still looked back at Ying Xiu with reluctance, trying to get him to accept their things.

In the end, Ying Xiu took a small lotus flower from the lotus-picking lady.

He turned and handed the lotus flower to Xie Zhou, his eyes sparkling, waiting for the other’s reaction.

It was a small lotus flower, not as beautiful as the endless lotus leaves outside the bamboo building. It quietly opened its petals, lying softly in his palm.

Through the gaps in the petals, he could see the young man’s bright, smiling eyes when he lowered his gaze.

The white-robed retainer held the small flower and said in a low voice, “I like it very much.”

The young man covered his face and turned his head away from him. He suddenly darted into the nearest covered boat like a nimble crane, his golden robes and black hair chasing after him.

The boatman at the front was surprised and delighted, proudly raising his chin at the envious and jealous boatmen nearby.

Everything seemed so light and beautiful.

The retainer stood still for a moment, and only when the young man poked his head out of the boat’s cover and beckoned to him did he snap out of his daze and slowly board the boat.