For several consecutive days, they continued to walk. Although he had listened to Jinxia’s words, A’Rui seemed to still be in disbelief, without any interest in eating. As expected from Cen Shou, who was from the Beizhen Department, he easily lifted A’Rui up, pressed down his neck and cleanly poured a bowl of porridge down his mouth. Jinxia, who was looking at the side, silently praised him and felt that this method should be taught to pour poison down people in Beizhen Department.
Finally, they arrived in Hangzhou.
Above is paradise, at the bottom is Suzhou Hangzhou, Hangzhou not only has the West Lake, which is always suitable for light and heavy touch*, but also Song brothers fish soup, West Lake vinegar fish, broiled honey fish and chickens… Just by hearing the names, you’re already hungry.
*[The two lines are from a poem by Sushi (蘇軾), TN]
Back in the old days, YangYue would be very excited to be arriving in a place where there were plenty of good food and fresh ingredients, but now his heart was still aching over Zhai Lanye’s death and he rarely talked, being uninterested even in food.
Jinxia noticed that everyday YangYue remained silent. She decided to take him out to enjoy good food, no matter what. Once this was his favourite thing to do, maybe it could raise his spirit. When she saw the city gate of Hangzhou, she couldn’t help but ask Cen Shou, “Your Young Master has arrived in Hangzhou, does all the officials know?”
Cen Shou glared at her, “What if they know? What if they don’t?”
“Of course it’s not the same. If they know, the moment we enter the city, there will definitely be a welcoming banquet with extraordinary food.” Jinxia’s big wide eyes were lit up.
Cen Shou snorted and then reprimanded her, “Although you are a LiuShanmen, right now you’re working under JinYiWei and serving the Young Master. Don’t show such a poor and helpless face like you’ve never seen the world before, it’s embarrassing to the Young Master.”
Upon hearing his words, Jinxia snorted back and sarcastically said, “Last night there were roasted pork legs, of which six pieces left on a plate… Don’t know who it was, that person ate three pieces at once, making others unable to eat any, so who’s the one that’s never seen the world, huh?”
Listening to her replied, his ears immediately turned red. Last night’s roasted pork legs were really good, fragrant and chewy, hence he couldn’t help himself, yet this girl remembered it in her heart. She was so annoying.
Jinxia saw that he couldn’t speak, leaned her head closer to him and said, “At that time, you really didn’t care whether you were embarrassing your Young Master or not, did you?”
“You…”
“What? There are people who think food is like heaven, wanting to eat something delicious is not embarrassing.” Jinxia grimaced, “Even your Young Master doesn’t mind, but you’re being so annoying and arrogant, really absurd!”
While they were talking, the horse’s movement stopped in front of the entrance gate.
In the city, apart from not being greeted by other officials, they saw that the people on the street were less than what they had expected, and even some of the shops were closed.
Not expecting that the city of Hangzhou was so quiet, everyone was wondering what was going on. Cen Fu did not wait for Lu Yi’s orders, he went straight to one of the shop owners and asked him, “Why are there so few people on the street, has something happened in the city?”
“Wang Zhi and his son are being beheaded outside the North Gate at noon today, everyone went to watch.” The shop owner said, “Afterward, the street will be busy again.”
Wang Zhi*!
*[For those that don’t remember, Wang Zhi is a pirate that Lu Yi was asked to arrest in Lu Bing’s letter. Zhang Fei was one of the pirates that Xie Xiao and Jinxia caught before, admitting to be working under Wang Zhi, TN]
This incident happened so suddenly, Lu Yi was stunned, then got off his horse and asked, “Who is the officer leading the beheading?”
“I don’t know about this.” The shop owner noticed they were all dressed as officials, therefore he didn’t dare to ignore them, “I heard that there are two provincial commanders of Zhejiang: Hu Daren, and also Wang Daren, but this servant doesn’t know much.”
Lu Yi thought about it for a moment, then jumped back on his horse, “Walk, let’s go to the North gate.”
***
At this time, the North gate was so full of people, it was difficult to pass through. To prevent anyone from breaking through, there were three lines of guards at the door. As the leader of Japanese pirates, Wang Zhi had been smuggling at sea for many years. He had occupied an area in Southern Kyushu, Japan, and there recruited a lot of Japanese, with firearms and warships. He could be seen as the king of the sea.
Pirates were rampant robbing along the coast and he had a very close ties with those people. This time as Wang Zi was arrested, all the people from provinces applauded because the Japanese pirates had destroyed their homes and killed many people. Everyone hated Wang Zhi to the bones.
When Lu Yi and the others arrived at the gate, there was a crowd of people who were scolding Wang Zhi bitterly and hatred was evident in their attitudes and tones of voice; their words terrified others.
Lu Yi arranged for Chun Yumin, the two servants and the old lady to wait at the corner of the street, and he also ordered Cen Shou and YangYue to keep a watch on them. At first he planned to tell Jinixia to stay with them, but when he turned around, he couldn’t find her anywhere…
“Where’s Jinxia?” He furrowed his eyebrows.
“As soon as the horse carriage stopped, Constable Yuan had already slipped away.” Cen Shou pointed at the crowd, chuckling. “This girl is like an eel, she can slip in anywhere.”
Lu Yi sighed, without saying anything else, signaling to Cen Fu to clear the road ahead.
Cen Fu nodded his head, accepting the order. From his pocket, he took out his identification badge. Upon seeing the badge and without exception, everyone immediately cleared the way. Lu Yi walked slowly, continuing towards the very front of the crowd, only stopping his steps when he was a foot away from the execution stage.
Several officials were standing around the stage holding weapons.
It was already early summer and, as the day approached noon, the scorching sun was shining in the middle of the execution stage, making the people feel like boiling in the summer heat. Lu Yi narrowed his eyes, looking ahead; the state official leading the execution was Hu Zongxian, beside him were four or five more officials and, among them, there was someone who was neither wearing an official hat nor a gown, yet he was standing the closest to Hu Zongxian. Lu Yi’s eyebrows tightened, he was clearly displeased with the scene.
Hu Zongxian’s face was calm like water, upon hearing the angry screams from the crowd, it seemed like he’d completely deafened his ears. When Lu Yi and the others approached the stage, some people quickly recognized them, but those without an official uniform or who had never met them before completely ignored them, not knowing they were JinYiWei.
*[deafened his ears = pretend not to hear, TN]
Wang Zhi and his son were pulled out of the prison carriage. While he was being dragged to the execution stage, people’s rage started pumping up, cursing them and even starting to throw stuff at Wang Zhi and his son, pushing and pulling to the point that other officers couldn’t approach the stage.
Dirt was thrown at Wang Zhi’s half-gray hair; the stench immediately hit him. He raised his head, looked at the people around him, then looked again at the execution stage where Hu Zongxian was… The top of his lips continued to rise.
Hu Zongxian couldn’t tell what Wang Zhi was thinking through his eyes, but his two eyebrows suddenly frowned.
They both stared at each other, face to face.
Jinxia nudged Lu Yi and said suspiciously, “Why is he looking at Hu Daren? Could it be that Hu Daren had promised to protect him? So, now he’s hating him because he didn’t keep his promise?”
Lu Yi did not answer, just shook his head.
When noon arrived, Hu Zongxian shifted his gaze away from Wang Zhi’s smirk. In his hand, he was rotating a board with the word ‘execution’, then suddenly he threw it at the stage.
As soon as the plank fell on the floor, everyone turned around, falling silent.
“Father…” Wang Zhi’s son called out to him in a wailing tone.
“Son, don’t be afraid, when you get to the underworld, father will walk alongside.” Wang Zhi said, staring deeply at Hu Zongxian with a cold gaze, then turned to look at the people around him, exclaiming in a loud and clear voice, “Killing me alone is meaningless, it will only make the people of the two provinces suffer. After I die, this place will be in chaos for another ten years!”
As soon as he said that, there was an uproar around him. Those people had lived there for a long time and suffered through many hardships created by the Japanese pirates. How could they believe his words? They could only hope that the Japanese pirate leader would be killed as soon as possible, rather than listening to Wang Zhi talking nonsense.
Hu Zongxian, who was on the stage, looked down as soon as he heard his words, then waved his hand saying out loud, “Execute!”
The shadow of the executioner’s sword shaded the sunlight for an instant, then Wang Zhi’s head rolled on the floor, and the people immediately shouted out of joy full of victory.
“A pirate leader, can’t believe he said we will suffer after he died…” Jinxia tried to think, “If it weren’t for him, the Japanese pirates wouldn’t be here, yet now he thinks to have some merit?”
Lu Yi did not move, in a low voice, said to her, “The person next to Hu Zongxian, have you seen him before?”
“Him… His personal advisor?” Jinxia narrowed her eyes to look forward; that person wasn’t very tall, his face was slightly yellow, his beard was long and sharp, his expression full of irritation.
“He is not an ordinary personal advisor, he is Xu Wei Xu Wenzhang.” Lu Yi said lightly, “Back then, my father planned to invite him to become the acting chief advisor, but he refused. It’s unexpected to find him with Hu Zongxian now.”
Jinxia chuckled, “Then, he is definitely not an ordinary person, he even refused your father.”
Lu Yi glanced at her.
Jinxia hurriedly corrected her words, “Actually, this is fate, maybe he was destined to be with Hu Daren. I hope your father can open his mind.”
Lu Yi did not reply to her statement, adding, “This Xu Wei, although his name is not well-known, he is a talented man, an expert in calligraphy and poetry, on top of that, his war strategy…”
At this point, Jinxia realized something. She looked up at the execution stage, Xu Wei and Hu Zongxian had already left the place.
“When he beheaded Wang Zhi earlier, he and Hu Daren didn’t seem too happy.” If Xu Wei is a normal person who looks at wealth and status, certainly, he would not reject Lu Bing’s offer. Jinxia remembered the look on Wang Zhi’s face, it was full of hatred, “Maybe there is something behind this Wang Zhi’s case.”
Lu Yi turned around and looked at her, “This is why we’re here.”
He tilted his head to look at her face, then he reached out his hand to push aside the leftover strands of hair on her forehead.
The bodies of Wang Zhi and his son were removed, a bucket of water was splashed to clean the stage and the crowd slowly dispersed. Lu Yi and the others also returned to their carriages.
Chun Yumin had long lived away from these kinds of things and had never seen such a scene. Although she did not witness the execution with her own eyes, just by hearing the sound and voices around her, in her heart, she already felt restless and didn’t dare to move from her spot. As soon as she heard Lu Yi had returned, she hurriedly opened the curtain of the carriage and asked, “The person, has he been beheaded?”
Lu Yi nodded his head and looked at her pale face, “Are you scared?”
Chun Yumin quickly shook his head, “No.”
“We better go eat first to take away the fear.” Jinxia, who was standing beside, offered sincerely.
Cen Shou said in utter amazement, “You just watched an execution, yet you can still eat?”
Lu Yi turned to look at her, letting out a laugh, “Are you hungry already?”
“Brother, when I am scared, I get hungry easily.” Jinxia’s face was very serious, there was no doubt in her statement, “I think Ms. Chun is the same as me.”
“You think everyone is like you.” Lu Yi mocked her in one sentence, then said, “Come on, eat first then let’s find a place to rest.”
Jinxia was smiling and about to get on the horse carriage when, in the corner of her eyes, a familiar figure appeared: the physique was broad and big. She turned around and looked carefully, that person was no other than Xie Xiao. As soon as he’d left Wu’An Gang, his beard had returned, each strand of it was like a pinstripe, looking very fake.
“Brother Xie!” Jinxia immediately yelled.
Alongside with Xie Xiao, there was Shangguan Xi, still in her elegant and dignified appearance; besides them, there was another person; his body was big and tall, a bamboo-woven hat covered his face.
Seeing Shangguan Xi, Jinxia was much happier than seeing Xie Xiao. She called out to her in a high voice, “Sister Shangguan, you’re here too!”
A clear voice passed through the carriage. How could A’Rui not hear it? His entire body immediately tensed up, he raised his ears and tried to listen to their conversation.
“Miss Yuan.” Shangguan Xi smiled gently at Jinxia, then raised her hand to greet Lu Yi.
YangYue also came over and greeted them with respect.
For several consecutive days, they continued to walk. Although he had listened to Jinxia’s words, A’Rui seemed to still be in disbelief, without any interest in eating. As expected from Cen Shou, who was from the Beizhen Department, he easily lifted A’Rui up, pressed down his neck and cleanly poured a bowl of porridge down his mouth. Jinxia, who was looking at the side, silently praised him and felt that this method should be taught to pour poison down people in Beizhen Department.
Finally, they arrived in Hangzhou.
Above is paradise, at the bottom is Suzhou Hangzhou, Hangzhou not only has the West Lake, which is always suitable for light and heavy touch*, but also Song brothers fish soup, West Lake vinegar fish, broiled honey fish and chickens… Just by hearing the names, you’re already hungry.
*[The two lines are from a poem by Sushi (蘇軾), TN]
Back in the old days, YangYue would be very excited to be arriving in a place where there were plenty of good food and fresh ingredients, but now his heart was still aching over Zhai Lanye’s death and he rarely talked, being uninterested even in food.
Jinxia noticed that everyday YangYue remained silent. She decided to take him out to enjoy good food, no matter what. Once this was his favourite thing to do, maybe it could raise his spirit. When she saw the city gate of Hangzhou, she couldn’t help but ask Cen Shou, “Your Young Master has arrived in Hangzhou, does all the officials know?”
Cen Shou glared at her, “What if they know? What if they don’t?”
“Of course it’s not the same. If they know, the moment we enter the city, there will definitely be a welcoming banquet with extraordinary food.” Jinxia’s big wide eyes were lit up.
Cen Shou snorted and then reprimanded her, “Although you are a LiuShanmen, right now you’re working under JinYiWei and serving the Young Master. Don’t show such a poor and helpless face like you’ve never seen the world before, it’s embarrassing to the Young Master.”
Upon hearing his words, Jinxia snorted back and sarcastically said, “Last night there were roasted pork legs, of which six pieces left on a plate… Don’t know who it was, that person ate three pieces at once, making others unable to eat any, so who’s the one that’s never seen the world, huh?”
Listening to her replied, his ears immediately turned red. Last night’s roasted pork legs were really good, fragrant and chewy, hence he couldn’t help himself, yet this girl remembered it in her heart. She was so annoying.
Jinxia saw that he couldn’t speak, leaned her head closer to him and said, “At that time, you really didn’t care whether you were embarrassing your Young Master or not, did you?”
“You…”
“What? There are people who think food is like heaven, wanting to eat something delicious is not embarrassing.” Jinxia grimaced, “Even your Young Master doesn’t mind, but you’re being so annoying and arrogant, really absurd!”
While they were talking, the horse’s movement stopped in front of the entrance gate.
In the city, apart from not being greeted by other officials, they saw that the people on the street were less than what they had expected, and even some of the shops were closed.
Not expecting that the city of Hangzhou was so quiet, everyone was wondering what was going on. Cen Fu did not wait for Lu Yi’s orders, he went straight to one of the shop owners and asked him, “Why are there so few people on the street, has something happened in the city?”
“Wang Zhi and his son are being beheaded outside the North Gate at noon today, everyone went to watch.” The shop owner said, “Afterward, the street will be busy again.”
Wang Zhi*!
*[For those that don’t remember, Wang Zhi is a pirate that Lu Yi was asked to arrest in Lu Bing’s letter. Zhang Fei was one of the pirates that Xie Xiao and Jinxia caught before, admitting to be working under Wang Zhi, TN]
This incident happened so suddenly, Lu Yi was stunned, then got off his horse and asked, “Who is the officer leading the beheading?”
“I don’t know about this.” The shop owner noticed they were all dressed as officials, therefore he didn’t dare to ignore them, “I heard that there are two provincial commanders of Zhejiang: Hu Daren, and also Wang Daren, but this servant doesn’t know much.”
Lu Yi thought about it for a moment, then jumped back on his horse, “Walk, let’s go to the North gate.”
***
At this time, the North gate was so full of people, it was difficult to pass through. To prevent anyone from breaking through, there were three lines of guards at the door. As the leader of Japanese pirates, Wang Zhi had been smuggling at sea for many years. He had occupied an area in Southern Kyushu, Japan, and there recruited a lot of Japanese, with firearms and warships. He could be seen as the king of the sea.
Pirates were rampant robbing along the coast and he had a very close ties with those people. This time as Wang Zi was arrested, all the people from provinces applauded because the Japanese pirates had destroyed their homes and killed many people. Everyone hated Wang Zhi to the bones.
When Lu Yi and the others arrived at the gate, there was a crowd of people who were scolding Wang Zhi bitterly and hatred was evident in their attitudes and tones of voice; their words terrified others.
Lu Yi arranged for Chun Yumin, the two servants and the old lady to wait at the corner of the street, and he also ordered Cen Shou and YangYue to keep a watch on them. At first he planned to tell Jinixia to stay with them, but when he turned around, he couldn’t find her anywhere…
“Where’s Jinxia?” He furrowed his eyebrows.
“As soon as the horse carriage stopped, Constable Yuan had already slipped away.” Cen Shou pointed at the crowd, chuckling. “This girl is like an eel, she can slip in anywhere.”
Lu Yi sighed, without saying anything else, signaling to Cen Fu to clear the road ahead.
Cen Fu nodded his head, accepting the order. From his pocket, he took out his identification badge. Upon seeing the badge and without exception, everyone immediately cleared the way. Lu Yi walked slowly, continuing towards the very front of the crowd, only stopping his steps when he was a foot away from the execution stage.
Several officials were standing around the stage holding weapons.
It was already early summer and, as the day approached noon, the scorching sun was shining in the middle of the execution stage, making the people feel like boiling in the summer heat. Lu Yi narrowed his eyes, looking ahead; the state official leading the execution was Hu Zongxian, beside him were four or five more officials and, among them, there was someone who was neither wearing an official hat nor a gown, yet he was standing the closest to Hu Zongxian. Lu Yi’s eyebrows tightened, he was clearly displeased with the scene.
Hu Zongxian’s face was calm like water, upon hearing the angry screams from the crowd, it seemed like he’d completely deafened his ears. When Lu Yi and the others approached the stage, some people quickly recognized them, but those without an official uniform or who had never met them before completely ignored them, not knowing they were JinYiWei.
*[deafened his ears = pretend not to hear, TN]
Wang Zhi and his son were pulled out of the prison carriage. While he was being dragged to the execution stage, people’s rage started pumping up, cursing them and even starting to throw stuff at Wang Zhi and his son, pushing and pulling to the point that other officers couldn’t approach the stage.
Dirt was thrown at Wang Zhi’s half-gray hair; the stench immediately hit him. He raised his head, looked at the people around him, then looked again at the execution stage where Hu Zongxian was… The top of his lips continued to rise.
Hu Zongxian couldn’t tell what Wang Zhi was thinking through his eyes, but his two eyebrows suddenly frowned.
They both stared at each other, face to face.
Jinxia nudged Lu Yi and said suspiciously, “Why is he looking at Hu Daren? Could it be that Hu Daren had promised to protect him? So, now he’s hating him because he didn’t keep his promise?”
Lu Yi did not answer, just shook his head.
When noon arrived, Hu Zongxian shifted his gaze away from Wang Zhi’s smirk. In his hand, he was rotating a board with the word ‘execution’, then suddenly he threw it at the stage.
As soon as the plank fell on the floor, everyone turned around, falling silent.
“Father…” Wang Zhi’s son called out to him in a wailing tone.
“Son, don’t be afraid, when you get to the underworld, father will walk alongside.” Wang Zhi said, staring deeply at Hu Zongxian with a cold gaze, then turned to look at the people around him, exclaiming in a loud and clear voice, “Killing me alone is meaningless, it will only make the people of the two provinces suffer. After I die, this place will be in chaos for another ten years!”
As soon as he said that, there was an uproar around him. Those people had lived there for a long time and suffered through many hardships created by the Japanese pirates. How could they believe his words? They could only hope that the Japanese pirate leader would be killed as soon as possible, rather than listening to Wang Zhi talking nonsense.
Hu Zongxian, who was on the stage, looked down as soon as he heard his words, then waved his hand saying out loud, “Execute!”
The shadow of the executioner’s sword shaded the sunlight for an instant, then Wang Zhi’s head rolled on the floor, and the people immediately shouted out of joy full of victory.
“A pirate leader, can’t believe he said we will suffer after he died…” Jinxia tried to think, “If it weren’t for him, the Japanese pirates wouldn’t be here, yet now he thinks to have some merit?”
Lu Yi did not move, in a low voice, said to her, “The person next to Hu Zongxian, have you seen him before?”
“Him… His personal advisor?” Jinxia narrowed her eyes to look forward; that person wasn’t very tall, his face was slightly yellow, his beard was long and sharp, his expression full of irritation.
“He is not an ordinary personal advisor, he is Xu Wei Xu Wenzhang.” Lu Yi said lightly, “Back then, my father planned to invite him to become the acting chief advisor, but he refused. It’s unexpected to find him with Hu Zongxian now.”
Jinxia chuckled, “Then, he is definitely not an ordinary person, he even refused your father.”
Lu Yi glanced at her.
Jinxia hurriedly corrected her words, “Actually, this is fate, maybe he was destined to be with Hu Daren. I hope your father can open his mind.”
Lu Yi did not reply to her statement, adding, “This Xu Wei, although his name is not well-known, he is a talented man, an expert in calligraphy and poetry, on top of that, his war strategy…”
At this point, Jinxia realized something. She looked up at the execution stage, Xu Wei and Hu Zongxian had already left the place.
“When he beheaded Wang Zhi earlier, he and Hu Daren didn’t seem too happy.” If Xu Wei is a normal person who looks at wealth and status, certainly, he would not reject Lu Bing’s offer. Jinxia remembered the look on Wang Zhi’s face, it was full of hatred, “Maybe there is something behind this Wang Zhi’s case.”
Lu Yi turned around and looked at her, “This is why we’re here.”
He tilted his head to look at her face, then he reached out his hand to push aside the leftover strands of hair on her forehead.
The bodies of Wang Zhi and his son were removed, a bucket of water was splashed to clean the stage and the crowd slowly dispersed. Lu Yi and the others also returned to their carriages.
Chun Yumin had long lived away from these kinds of things and had never seen such a scene. Although she did not witness the execution with her own eyes, just by hearing the sound and voices around her, in her heart, she already felt restless and didn’t dare to move from her spot. As soon as she heard Lu Yi had returned, she hurriedly opened the curtain of the carriage and asked, “The person, has he been beheaded?”
Lu Yi nodded his head and looked at her pale face, “Are you scared?”
Chun Yumin quickly shook his head, “No.”
“We better go eat first to take away the fear.” Jinxia, who was standing beside, offered sincerely.
Cen Shou said in utter amazement, “You just watched an execution, yet you can still eat?”
Lu Yi turned to look at her, letting out a laugh, “Are you hungry already?”
“Brother, when I am scared, I get hungry easily.” Jinxia’s face was very serious, there was no doubt in her statement, “I think Ms. Chun is the same as me.”
“You think everyone is like you.” Lu Yi mocked her in one sentence, then said, “Come on, eat first then let’s find a place to rest.”
Jinxia was smiling and about to get on the horse carriage when, in the corner of her eyes, a familiar figure appeared: the physique was broad and big. She turned around and looked carefully, that person was no other than Xie Xiao. As soon as he’d left Wu’An Gang, his beard had returned, each strand of it was like a pinstripe, looking very fake.
“Brother Xie!” Jinxia immediately yelled.
Alongside with Xie Xiao, there was Shangguan Xi, still in her elegant and dignified appearance; besides them, there was another person; his body was big and tall, a bamboo-woven hat covered his face.
Seeing Shangguan Xi, Jinxia was much happier than seeing Xie Xiao. She called out to her in a high voice, “Sister Shangguan, you’re here too!”
A clear voice passed through the carriage. How could A’Rui not hear it? His entire body immediately tensed up, he raised his ears and tried to listen to their conversation.
“Miss Yuan.” Shangguan Xi smiled gently at Jinxia, then raised her hand to greet Lu Yi.
YangYue also came over and greeted them with respect.
