Cry of the Midnight Jackdaw

Chapter Eighty-three,
Reunion

No more than five days since Lan Shou Yi died, that elusive eastern expedition finally arrived late.

“Your Highness, the eastern expedition’s General Fu has arrived.” Adjutant An Qing rubbed his hands saying. He Xuan glanced as his hands that went red due to the cold, and slightly faintly thought, so he already came to Nan Liang so long that it had already entered winter.

The cold of the south had an indescribable hardship to it, there were green leaves all around where one could see, the winding branches still emitted with a velvety green, but the surface of that green was covered with a thin layer of frost. The days were also warm, the winds blowing in clearly did not seem wild and crude like the north, like Tu Jue’s unreasonable iron hooves, forcefully stepping on the face, but the people who experienced winter at Nan Liang would all know, the cold here was invisible, untouchable, yet solidly seeped into the bone.

The soldiers all had frostbite, their fingers were so cold they were all red and swollen, itchy and painful, like a round of torture. Even though the feet stepped around with thick shoes, it still seemed like they were stepping on ice, so cold there was no feeling to it.

He Xuan took back his gaze, and nodded his head, “En, I(g) know.”

The main general of the eastern expedition was Fu Ying Zhi, right in his prime years, and was deeply favoured by He Heng, and moved up very quickly in recent years. He was of a common background, but he did have a few talents, and He Xuan quite admired him in the past.

However, that was only in the past.

“General Fu truly is kindhearted and merciful, to sacrifice oneself to help refugees, such self-devotion, truly a model for everyone.” He Xuan spuriously smiled with cutting remarks, Fu Ying Zhi responded easily[1] with, “Your Highness has overpraised,” his skin was even thicker than the castle walls, and leisurely led his horse inside, “Your Highness has worked hard.”

Fu Ying Zhi’s squarish face at this moment overlapped with Lan Shou Yi’s face when he was about to die, he seemed like a monster that possessed other people, consumed others’ blood and flesh, then very openly used his skin to walk beneath the sun, and leisurely chat with others.

He Xuan hung his eyes down, his right hand tightly gripped on his side, and pretty much used all his strength to suppress the eager murderous intent inside. Nan Liang’s winter’s winds were icy and humid, all the places it went over would scatter at its mere sight, protecting the bit of clarity in his heart.

In the end, He Xuan only looked at Fu Ying Zhi’s back, and lightly sneered.

With Fu Ying Zhi’s army’s support, soon, Bai Xiao could not hang on, and abandoned the city to run away. Afterwards, they beheaded the generals all the way through, like breaking through bamboo, rounding up all the remaining troops and stragglers, and successfully reconvened with Liu Guang Yuan at Qing LIng.

In 《Past Jin》 writes, on the winter of the twenty-fifth year of Feng De, Imperial Crown Prince Xuan led the army to pacify Qing Ling, and just after the quelling, a locust plague rose again. The Imperial Crown Prince pitied the commoners for suffering so long, and wrote to ask to stay at Qing Ling, to search for a way to rid the locust plague.

“Your Highness, lunch is ready, should it be brought up now?” The newly-assigned palace maid Miao Qing(clever and clear) seemed like she was not afraid of the cold at all, only wearing a green thin silk dress in the dead of winter, with a jade hairpin pierced in the hanging horse hairstyle glittering beautifully underneath the sunlight.

He Xuan was burying his head in various area’s memorials that stacked like snowflakes, where his gaze and heart were filled by the locust plague, and had no time to care for others, and only waved his hand, “In a moment.”

Miao Qing seemed to be a bit disappointed, and lowered her head to look at the dress she aired with a fragrance she especially prepared, and unwillingly bit down her lower lip and waited for a while.

He Xuan looked at a memorial asking to construct a divine temple for the locusts, and lifted his brush to write a big impudent, only to see this maid still standing here, and immediately got a bit angry, shouting, “Still not leaving?”

“This servant…… this servant shall retreat then.” Miao Qing originally proclaimed herself as beautiful, and wanted to take advantage how this crown prince had no one to serve him at Nan Liang- if she was lucky and got taken in, she would be able to turn around and fly to the branches, but now, she figured her dreams were broken, got flustered for a moment, then hurriedly stumbled out.

With her interruption, He Xuan immediately had no more drive to continue looking at the memorials. He rubbed his slightly aching wrist, and put down the brush.

Now that it was mentioned, Xiao Zuo perhaps saw Miao Qing before, he heard that she originally served in Nan Liang’s palace. He Xuan hung his eyes down, and pensively saw a silhouette flashing by outside the window, and disappearing at the next water chestnut patterned window.

“Your Highness, your Highness!” It was Adjutant An Qing’s voice.

“Come in.”

“Your Highness, it’s bad!” An Qing stumbled into the room, crying out with panic in his face, “Bai Xiao and them have taken Duke Xiao hostage, and is hiding at Mt. Hong Da just one hundred miles out!”

“What did you say?” He Xuan froze, and abruptly went up and grabbed An Qing’s collar, and asked again in disbelief, “Who did they take hostage?”

“Du……” An Qing fearfully looked at his blood-congested pair of eyes, and answered with a tremble, “Duke Xiao……”

“Your Highness!”

The door was kicked open with a crash.

❀

On the other side, Xiao Zuo was interacting with the kidnappers Fu Zhan Chuan arranged for quite nicely, everyone was gathering around to gamble, crouching at the side of a small table playing with dice. The palace forbade gambling, Xiao Zuo was managed quite sternly by Mother since young, and pretty much never stepped into the city’s gambling areas, brothels and other inelegant places, so he found it quite novel, and was looking on at the side fondly.

“Would you like to play, Duke?”Among them, was a slightly more energetic one called a’Chang, and asked with his head turned back. Xiao Zuo subconsciously shook his head, seeing everyone burst into laughter, he felt a bit embarrassed, and pursed his lips and waved his hands, “No, no, I’m not good at these things.”

“No problem, it’s easy to learn!” A’Chang stuffed the bargaining chip in his hands into Xiao Zuo’s, then used his elbow to push him. Xiao Zuo could not win against him, the curiosity and remorse came in fast, troubling him so much he got stuck in between the dilemma, and could not decide for himself.

“Alright alright, clean everything up.” The leader of these people was a tall burly man, they all called him Brother Li, and had quite some heft in his words. Seeing Brother Li come in, everyone dispersed like a flock of birds, while a’Chang stayed to clean up the cards, and asked, “Brother Li, any news?”

“En, his Highness already set off from that side.”

“Oh.” A’Chang nodded his head, slightly pitifully looked at the bargaining chips in his hands, then said to Xiao Zuo, “Looks like there won’t be a chance this time, if the duke wants to learn, have Lord Fu look for me.”

“Whatever, the duke is such a pure and innocent person, this filthy kind of thing would dirty him.” Brother Li glared at him, his hand held a hemp rope, and kindly said, “Sorry, Duke.”

“No problem.”

He Xuan originally held an extremely hurried and nervous heart, and especially borrowed a few fast horses in preparation to just leave them if he were to run them dead- but who knew halfway through, he received that fellow Fu Zhan Chuan’s letter, and immediately found it funny and angry.

“That little beauty at home misses your Highness so very much, I am originally the merciful type, to rather tear a temple than a marriage, and after tiring myself out, have connected the red thread for your Highness, so remember to take note of my merits next time, your Highness.”

“Nonsense.” He Xuan ripped apart the letter, and kneaded his brows as he scolded.

On the other side, a’Chang entered the room, and hurriedly called out, “His Highness is here, his Highness is here!” Everyone in the room immediately got spirited, when they heard a series of clattering horse hoof sounds at the door, Brother Li revealed a malicious-looking face, and looked to quite revel in the play, and his hand held a bright machete, and made a few strokes in front.

He Xuan rode a white horse while wearing a gold-cast bright armour, his features seemed like it was drawn thickly stroke by stroke using the best northeast ink[2] outlining a soul-stirring painting of a general. He crashed through the door against the light, like a great hero coming down from the skies here to save the people of the world from their misery.

“Li Nu?”

Xiao Zuo half-real half-fakely reddened his eyes, his eyes grew with a lake of unknown depth, the yearning he deeply buried in the bottom of his heart all transformed into swimming fish, dragging and creating chaotic splashes with their long tails.

He Xuan reached out to wipe away the not-yet fallen teardrop at the corner of Xiao Zuo’s eye, the light calluses on his finger seemed like it had touched some scorching thing, and trembled like it had been burned. He Xuan’s gaze turned dark, and hung his head down and tore away the gaze stuck on Xiao Zuo’s slightly reddened eyes, and the words he prepared the entire way to scold him with instantly turned to ashes the moment he saw Xiao Zuo.

“Let’s go home.”

In the days he was gone, Xiao Zuo had thinned out a lot, like half a cup of swaying water when in his embrace, unable to fill his arms. He Xuan glared at Brother Li innocently sitting at the side in anger, then and intimately kissed [Xiao Zuo’s] cheeks without a care in public eye, “You’ve gotten thin, eat some more when we get back.”

“En, eat together with me.” Xiao Zuo leaned his head to the side of his neck and rubbed.

“Alright.” The bottom of He Xuan’s eyes were smiling, “Let’s go back home.”

Xiao Zuo and He Xuan each rode a horse, and strolled slowly on a small path. The mountain winds today were particularly gentle, and rustled as it blew up Xiao Zuo’s long hair yet to be tied and hanging on the shoulder. Xiao Zuo fixed the hairs by his mouth to the back of his ear, and said, “Brother Xuan, you must’ve already known about today’s matter long ago, right?”

He Xuan slightly froze, the hand holding the reins tightened, and the white horse beneath slowly stopped. Xiao Zuo turned his head to look at him, with his expression calm.

“En.” He Xuan pursed his lips, covering a sliver of awkwardness of being found out, “Fu Zhan Chuan he……”

“Told you?”

Half of He Xuan’s words got stuck in the throat, and he slightly nodded his head.

Xiao Zuo smiled a bit, “No wonder.” After finishing, his legs tightened on the horse’s abdomen, and headed straight ahead.

He Xuan was not in a hurry to chase him though, he was pondering inside how to explain this matter to his Li Nu, furthermore, he knew Xiao Zuo would wait at the front for him, because……

“Where do we go?”

Xiao Zuo slightly unwillingly stopped at the crossroads, and softly asked him.

“The east.”

“Oh.” Xiao Zuo pretended to understand, and gripped the reins like he was going to go, He Xuan nonchalantly counted, one, two, three, four……

“Which way is east?”

He Xuan muffled in his laugh, and patted the horse and headed straight to Xiao Zuo’s side, and lowly coaxed, “Don’t be mad anymore, alright?”

“I didn’t.” Xiao Zuo saw He Xuan’s disbelieving eyes, and slightly helplessly repeated, “I’m really not mad, but……”

The other half of the sentence was swallowed back into the stomach by Xiao Zuo, he unnaturally turned his head away, “Let’s go back.”

“Alright.” He Xuan laughed.