Chapter 245: Epilogue (5)
After Cheng Zhao finished her tea, Zhou Yuanshen poured her another cup.
He set down the teapot and said in an even tone, “It was him.”
Cheng Zhao asked, “The Fan family’s marriage proposal, Grandmother’s death, and arranging for people to enter the inner residence today—what does he want?”
Zhou Yuanshen raised his eyes.
Cheng Zhao looked incredulous. “To kidnap me?”
“Yes.”
“...Has everything gone too smoothly for him all these years, making him this arrogant?”
Did Helian Xuan look down on everyone, believing that the Cheng, Fan, and Zhou families were all fools? Or did he think the entire world was under his control?
“He wants to cast a great net over the Zhou and Fan families, then fish in the troubled waters,” Zhou Yuanshen said.
He had been buying off corrupt officials everywhere and making them work for him.
He had also allied himself with the bandits of Songyang Prefecture—the Xu clan members who had escaped.
He sold them information about wealthy merchants, allowing them to rob those merchants blind, and provided them with the protection of corrupt local officials.
The Xu children had grown powerful in Songyang Prefecture in a very short time, becoming a band of ruthless bandits that even the imperial court found troublesome. They had money and weapons.
And they wanted revenge.
General Wei and his family were still stationed at the border. He had received no promotions over the years, and the Xu children could not reach him. The Fan family was in the capital. They resented the Wei family, and they likewise hated Old General Fan, who had once commanded the army.
Without Helian Xuan arranging the connection, it would have been difficult for them to infiltrate the capital.
First, he would have the marriage settled. Then he would arrange for Lady Huan to poison the Dowager Madame.
If everything went smoothly, the Fan family’s wedding and the Zhou family’s funeral would take place around the same time. Even if there were some discrepancy, they would be no more than a few days apart.
The bride’s first task would be to assassinate the Fan family’s Old Dowager, followed by Fan Xiao.
Once the two of them were dead, someone from the Fan family would immediately come to the Zhou residence to deliver the news. Zhou Yuanshen and his parents would certainly rush to the Fan residence at once.
And with the Zhou family still holding a funeral, someone would have to remain behind to oversee everything.
That person would be Cheng Zhao, left alone.
As it happened, Prince of Andong would come to offer condolences.
His female relatives would enter the inner residence to pay their respects. Even if Cheng Zhao disliked the consort’s extravagance and ostentation, she would not be overly wary of her.
With several highly skilled maids accompanying the hidden guards, capturing Cheng Zhao would be effortless. Taking her away would be as easy as reaching into a bag.
By then, Helian Xuan would sever all ties with the hidden guards and refuse to acknowledge that the women belonged to him, shifting all the blame onto the Xu bandits, who had supposedly murdered the Fan family.
In the midst of such chaos, who would be able to find Cheng Zhao?
As for what happened afterward, that was not something he needed to consider yet.
“What a vicious man, and what a wicked scheme!” Cheng Zhao said. “Every step of his plan is well thought out. He simply underestimated other people’s alertness and connections.”
Zhou Yuanshen had known for some time that Helian Xuan was stirring up trouble in Songyang Prefecture and bribing officials. He had even followed the trail leading to Helian Xuan and found the Xu children.
Through the channels of the underworld, Fan Xiao had learned that Helian Xuan was buying medicine and meeting with Lady Huan.
Helian Xuan thought he had concealed everything perfectly.
But he was not the only man in the world with the means to uncover the truth.
He had come personally to the Zhou residence today, waiting for news from the Fan family so that he could accomplish his goal. He had never expected every step of his plan to fail.
“Yuanshen, we have to find a way to eliminate him,” Cheng Zhao said. “This man’s ambitions are too great. I’m afraid...”
“Are you afraid that he’ll use his hunger for power to plunge the realm into civil war?” Zhou Yuanshen asked.
Cheng Zhao nodded firmly.
He understood her after all.
“Over the years, several rebellions have been suppressed, but the state of the court is such that the people have long been discontented. The slightest spark could become a blaze that engulfs the heavens,” Cheng Zhao said.
The administration of every province and prefecture was corrupt. Capable ministers at court had withdrawn from public life. The princes and the generals stationed throughout the realm were all waiting for an excuse—one with a justifiable cause.
It was like a river swollen with water. Its force could already be seen, and the embankments were on the verge of collapse.
Helian Xuan needed only to create an excuse to breach the embankments. In an instant, a devastating flood would sweep across the entire realm.
Helian Xuan would not need to clean up the aftermath. He needed only chaos.
“Cheng Zhao, you’re frightened, aren’t you?” Zhou Yuanshen asked as he rose and came over to embrace her.
Cheng Zhao nodded again.
Of course she was afraid.
No one could escape unscathed from a war. Everyone would be swept up in its violence.
She wanted to live through peaceful times and become a venerable old lady, enjoying a life of wealth and tranquility with a future she could see clearly.
She liked taking paths whose destination was certain.
“I’ll do everything I can to stop him,” Zhou Yuanshen said quietly. “But the outlook isn’t good. He has been laying his plans for many years. Perhaps he and his father began preparing to seize the realm long ago.”
For no apparent reason, Cheng Zhao shivered.
She leaned against Zhou Yuanshen’s embrace, drawing a little warmth from him.
By the time the Cheng siblings arrived at the Grand General Protector’s residence, the snow had stopped.
As soon as they stepped down from the carriage, they ran into Fan Xiao, who was about to leave.
Fan Xiao froze.
“Senior Brother Du?” He noticed Du Anli first.
“How is everything at home?” Du Anli asked.
The others climbed down from the carriages one after another.
Fan Xiao saw Cheng Ying among them. Her face was somewhat pale, and one sleeve was in disarray, wrapped in a handkerchief. Blood had seeped through it, spreading like a flower in bloom.
He did not answer Du Anli. Instead, he asked, “Where have you all come from?”
“The Duke of Chen’s residence.”
“Has something happened to Yuanshen?” Fan Xiao asked anxiously.
“It’s been dealt with,” Du Anli replied. “My brother-in-law asked us to come and check on things here.”
“Only two people suffered minor injuries. We caught the bandits and sent them all to the authorities. I was about to go to the yamen.”
He paused, then added, “It can wait until tomorrow. Please, come in.”
He ushered them into the Grand General Protector’s residence.
The residence had been preparing to host a wedding banquet that morning. Red lanterns hung by the entrance, while wedding couplets and the character for “double happiness” adorned the doors.
Cheng Ying fell a few steps behind. Just as she crossed the Grand General Protector’s residence’s high threshold, Fan Xiao happened to step inside as well.
He turned to glance at her.
She looked straight ahead, her expression calm and indifferent, as though the vulgarities of the mortal world were separated from her by a thin veil.
She seemed detached from all worldly things.
Fan Xiao quickly withdrew his gaze. Something in his chest felt as though it had been pierced sharply.
The Cheng family went to see the Old Dowager.
Cheng Han, the eldest daughter of the Cheng family, reassured her repeatedly. “There were no casualties, and the vicious bandits were caught and removed from the people’s midst. This is good fortune. Master Fan’s destined marriage simply hasn’t arrived yet.”
The Old Dowager was calmer than Zhou Yuanshen had imagined.
With a composed expression, she nodded. “Indeed, it is fortunate. Ah Xiao’s marriage has, in a way, spared the people of Songyang Prefecture from disaster.”
“I’m glad you can see it that way. Don’t let worry harm your health. Yuanshen and his wife will be anxious,” Cheng Han said with a smile.
She offered a few more words of comfort.
When the Old Dowager noticed Cheng Ying, she asked, “Is the injury serious?”
“Only a flesh wound.”
“I would never have guessed that you practiced swordsmanship,” the Old Dowager remarked.
Cheng Ying replied, “A distant relative came to seek refuge with our family. She was proud and strong-willed. My mother worried that she would not want to stay with us for long, and that she would have no way to make a living if she left, so she asked the woman to teach my sisters and me how to use the sword. Her swordsmanship is exceptional.”
“You’ve followed her in practice for many years? That must not have been easy. Swordsmanship is tedious and exhausting,” the Old Dowager said.
Cheng Ying answered, “I’m used to it.”
The Old Dowager found her aura unusually refined. The slight injury only made her appear more aloof, as though she did not belong to the mortal world. She had not expected Cheng Ying to practice the sword, and found it rather surprising.
After some idle conversation and confirming that everything was stable and properly handled at the Fan residence, the Cheng family finally relaxed.
Cheng Han’s husband, Du Anli, went with Fan Xiao to the Duke of Chen’s residence, while the others returned home.
After resting, Zhou Yuanshen returned to the mourning tent, where he spoke at length with Du Anli and Fan Xiao.
“You really should have told me beforehand,” Fan Xiao said.
Zhou Yuanshen replied, “I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to keep it to yourself. We might have alerted them and lost the chance to wipe them all out.”
True enough.
Fan Xiao let out another sigh.
They had won, but it was a miserable victory—nothing to be happy about. Like the winter sun, no matter how bright it shone, it could not dispel the bitter cold that blanketed the world.