by Ning er
Along with Qi Jing Yuan’s words they looked ahead, seeing the armed forces of Western Chu with great loftiness, the entire army was in high spirits, every high ranking military officer with eyes bright and full of expression, people might get intimidated by them at first glance, it seemed that if the internal conflict between them will break out at this time, perhaps if Qi Jing Yuan and Qi Jing Han will be killed today, afterwhich Chu Fei Yang and others of the opposing party will not easily let Qi Jing Xuan get away with it.
“Alright! Then I will trust you this time!” As compared to killing Qi Jing Yuan causing himself to be in a dangerous situation, Qi Jing Xuan had chosen to compromise for the time being.
“Eldest prince, how could you believe……” Seeing Qi Jing Xuan had agreed to Qi Jing Yuan’s suggestion, General Piao Ji had his thoughts in a whirl, arguing noisily facing Qi Jing Xuan.
“Uncle, you just need to assign a bodyguard in a secret place to protect the prince! For other concerns, we shall discuss them after we settle the matter!” Qi Jing Xuan did not give General Hu Wei a chance to speak, watching Qi Jing Yuan continuously sneering at him. Qi Jing Xuan knew by heart, that this person is someone who would not allow any mistake when dealing with his opponent, if during this time General Piao Ji would say a word to offend Qi Jing Yuan again, perhaps he will lose an arm when he returned back to the palace.
After speaking, Qi Jing Xuan took Rui Wang from a bodyguard who was riding on the horseback, putting him in his own horseback, placing him in front of his body, taking Rui Wang along with him as they proceeded towards the borderland of the two countries.
“Wang Ye and Jun Wang, please stay here and wait, I shall go ahead to exchange for Rui Wang!” Seeing the opposing party sent out Qi Jing Xuan, Chu Fei Yang pulled up the tall and sturdy body of General Wei Wu, placing him on the horseback, as they rode on top of the warhorse rushing towards the direction of Qi Jing Xuan.
Seeing Chu Fei Yang taking his own initiative to go ahead, Jiang Mu Chen and Hai Chen Xi simultaneously furrowed their brows as they angrily glared at Chu Fei Yang’s rear view, and that General Wei Wu exposed a vicious gaze in his eyes.
“Didn’t expect that the eldest prince will personally come here!” Looking at the ashen face of Qi Jing Xuan, Chu Fei Yang spoke in a simple smile, but his both perspicacious eyes were carefully observing Rui Wang in front of him, as he spoke slowly “It must be tough for you, Wang Ye!”
Rui Wang was not very old, yet he was also someone with integrity, this time being held captive in Northern Qi making him discouraged to face other people. This time seeing Chu Fei Yang approach, he felt even more shameful, hearing Chu Fei Yang greet him, he just coldly glanced at Chu Fei Yang, refusing to communicate with him.
“Apparently, Chu Xiang really isn’t a perfect man! In this world, there’s still someone who hated Chu Xiang!” Seeing Chu Fei Yang getting snagged in front of Rui Wang, Qi Jing Xuan coldly sneered at him. His cold eyes glanced at General Wei Wu who was sitting in front of Chu Fei Yang, seeing the usually well-regarded General Wei Wu still straightened his waist looking solemn, Qi Jiang Xuan suddenly laughed and said “How are you these days, General? The Third Princess is quite worried about what had happened to you!”
General Wei Wu is actually the Third Princess’ father-in-law, but after all, the Third Princess was Emperor Ling Xiao beloved daughter. Although she was his daughter-in-law, but there were still differences between the ruler and his ministers, now that he heard Qi Jing Xuan talk about it, General Wei Wu’s face looked ashamed, and he could only apologize “Once I return back to the imperial palace, I will certainly beg for His Majesty’s forgiveness! Thanks for your concern, Eldest Prince!”
Hearing General Wei Wu said this, Qi Jing Yuan sneered. Probably Qi Jing Yuan had left out a person like General Wei Wu in his schemes before, but now he just needed to show off being concerned about the him, and in addition with him risking his life today to exchange hostages, even if he was not on good terms with the Third Princess, General Wei Wu would not clash with him in a hurry.
Little could he imaging thate Qi Jing Yuan was watching intently with mocking eyes.
The Crown Prince of one country being willing to sacrifice his own imperial wife for the sake of a General, as compared to Qi Jing Xuan’s small kindness, this decision seemed to be more meaningful. He could also make General Wei Wu be devoted to him.
“Since you’ve already confirmed that he is the right one, then we shall now begin!” Seeing the both sides had verified the hostages were not fake, Chu Fei Yang’s both eyes glanced towards Qi Jing Xuan, so as to avoid the opposing party to put on their secret tricks.
And Qi Jing Xuan just slightly nodded his head. The men on both sides dismounted from their horses, each handler had one had tightly gripping the bounds hands behind their hostage’s back, and the other hand reaching out for the person their countryman. Behind the back of the hostages, both troops focused their attention while staring at each and every move of the hostages, for the fear that there might be any unexpected mishap halfway through.
During this time the wind and snow suddenly went violent, yet all the people seemed as if they were not able to feel the chilliness of the cold wind. All the people’s attention were focused on the four persons in the distant place, feeling the palm of their hands were drenched in cold sweat, their faces seemed nervous similar to being in the battlefield for the very first time.
The two generals on both sides had already allowed their archers to make necessary preparation, the long bows were pulled reaching the limit and aimed at the opposite sides, if there wass anything wrong up ahead they will immediately set off the arrows!
But while the troops of Northern Qi under the command of General Piao Ji aimed their arrows at only two persons, Chu Fei Yang and Rui Wang, the trusted aide of Western Chu’s General Hu Wei was aiming their arrows towards all four!
Jiang Mu Chen and Hai Chen Xi were able to see General Hu Wei’s intention, yet they kept their silence. They wanted to see how Chu Fei Yang would keep his life in this situation.
Yet unexpectedly, the armed troops of ten thousand people had already received a hint from Chu Fei Yang earlier. A division of troops holding the shields immediately surrounded the ten thousand armed troops, protecting all the archers in the middle, yet they did not block the archers’ view on both Qi Jing Xuan and the other one, yet coincidentally it also blocked off their aim towards both Chu Fei Yang and the other man, suddenly causing all the people to be dissatisfied. But again this was a secret order from General Hu Wei, all the people could only hold their resentment to themselves without saying a word. They had no choice but to hold on to their original disposition not daring to have any negligence, or else it will only give rise to the chaotic warfare between two countries. Perhaps when Emperor Yu Qian got angered, even General Hu Wei will not easily get away from his crimes.
General Hu Wei absolutely did not anticipate that there’s someone who had the audacity to disobey his order, without permission that person had dispatched other soldiers to provide assistance to Chu Fei Yang. He was greatly angered, before he could manage to utter words to berate them, yet he discovered that Chu Fei Yang and Qi Jing Xuan’s hands were already touching their own people’s sleeves at the same time, both sides had already exerted their efforts to pull back both persons to their respective sides.
Chu Fei Yang cast a glance at Rui Wang who remained silent, afterwards he placed Rui Wang between him and the horse, and Qi Jing Xuan had also similarly placed General Wei Wu between both, people on both sides glanced at each other once again, then without speaking they climbed up to their respective warhorses, using the fastest speed to return to their respective camps.
Being different from that General Wei Wu who immediately took his action to kneel down on one knee upon seeing Qi Jing Yuan, after Rui Wang returned to a safe place his face turned even more uglier, those thin and pale cheeks had proven the psychological stress that he had went through today, after he saw
Hai Chen Xi’s delighted face, anger rushed up from the bottom of Rui Wang’s heart, particularly when he learned that Hai Chen Xi knew that he had been held captive then being rescued by Chu Fei Yang in exchange for another hostage, which caused Rui Wang’s facial complexion to turn extremely ugly.
“Wang Ye is already tired, bring Wang Ye down to take some rest!” Seeing Rui Wang still harbored hard feelings towards Hai Chen Xi, Chu Fei Yang allowed his subordinates to bring Rui Wang to the army camps to take some rest, as he still needed to deal with the enemy troops behind him which was in its disposition as if preparing for a battle.
The wind and snow swirled up in the air, making everyone’s line of sight to become more fuzzy, yet it caused people’s heart to become clearer and brighter, Hai Chen Xi looked at Rui Wang who had suffered yet still did not learn from experience, a bit of sarcastic smile streak across his heart, yet he also paid no attention to the Wang Ye who only had his arrogance and not being open-minded, he only focused all his attention on the enemies up ahead.
“Now that the matter has been completely settled, may we request the Crown Prince to hand over the treaty to Emperor Ling Xiao, as the gesture of friendship between the two countries!” Although Qi Jing Xuan and General Piao Ji were both glaring at the people like the tiger watching its prey, but Chu Fei Yang believed that with Qi Jing Yuan’s intelligence, it will be improbable for him to deal with the internal conflict and directly cross swords with the enemy troops, or else the one who will get the worst of the situation, will perhaps be Qi Jing Yuan himself!
“Of course I will!” Passing through the wind and snow, Qi Jing Yuan saw Chu Fei Yang and the two others riding on the horsebacks, their body posture were tall and straight, behind them the indestructible officers and soldiers protected the three persons, then he replied with this statement, afterwards he changed the direction of the horse, leading Qi Jing Han and the others as they took the initiative to leave the borderland.
“Chu Xiang you are truly brave, during that intense moment earlier, Chu Xiang actually didn’t discuss the matter with both of us as you proceed ahead alone. If something happened earlier, wouldn’t His Majesty put all the blame on both of us?” Watching the armed forces of the Northern Qi borderland instantly leaving the area, Jiang Mu Chen remarked coldly. His eyes seemed to be criticizing Chu Fei Yang “Chu Xiang, even if you wanted to take the credit for your achievement, you shouldn’t do it this way!”
“Wang Ye, why do you say such thing? His Majesty had dispatched me and Wang Ye, Jun Wang, three of us to come and exchange the hostage, such kind of meritorious service, of course it wasn’t only for me alone! But I didn’t expect that Wang Ye, being in a high position, had actually cared for such kind of meritorious service, that is quite surprising!” After speaking, Chu Fei Yang’s eyes simply glanced towards General Hu Wei who was standing aside, earlier he had haggled himself between life and death situation earlier, so he could clearly see who were the trusted men of General Hu Wei at this moment.
General Hu Wei wanted to intidimate him all along, yet he did not expect that based on this psychological effect, seeking victory in the midst of danger, enabled him to explore the hidden strength of the opponent!
And General Hu Wei also did not expect that Chu Fei Yang had already made necessary preparations for all these. Furthermore they even hid General Wei Wu of Northern Qi inside the army camps, and after a very long time, surprisingly he himself was not even aware of it. A cold feeling rushed to the bottom of his heart, as he looked at Chu Fei Yang bearing an untraceable fear in his eyes.
Jiang Mu Chen was riding on the horseback as he directly proceeded ahead to the army camp. Hai Chen Xi glanced at General Wei Wu who remained silent, then slowly spoke “What happened today must be tough for you! But General, since you’ve already made necessary arrangements for almost half day, yet it was not able to put into good use, that was truly pitiful!”
Earlier Hai Chen Xi and Jiang Mu Chen were able to see through General Wei Wu’s intention, although they did not speak to stop it, but quite unexpectedly Chu Fei Yang had a higher skill, he had suppressed General Wei Wu, also making the two of them who coldly observed sitting in the corner like clowns jumping up and down the beams, being treated by Chu Fei Yang like a joke, how could this not make Jiang Mu Chen and Hai Chen Xi became angry, then they relentlessly put all the blame on General Wei Wu.
Chapter 140: Part 2 The Dangerous Situation in the Borderland, The Distinctive Comeback | Chu Wang Fei
The Lantern Festival will soon come to an end, after sending off the people of Bei Qi, all the people in the capital felt somehow relieved.
Particularly those families of major officials who have daughters, also exhaled deeply as a relief, after all there were three princes who arrived from Bei Qi, although Hai Tian was being chosen as the imperial wife of the Crown Prince, but it was hard to say that the eldest prince and the tenth prince will not fancy their own daughters, now that they had finally sent them off, how could they not feel overjoyed?
Although it wasn’t a great day for the merchant to do their businesses on the fifth day of the year, but during that it was also the day when Wen Tai Shi’s funeral was held, it was intended that people should light up the firecrackers as a tradition to attract the God of Wealth, but because of their respect for Wen Tai Shi they had foregone such old tradition.
Thinking about the funeral during that day, in the long street of the town there were scholars who would join the procession of the funeral, there were common people on both sides who tearfully sent their farewells to the distinguished teacher of this generation, in fact they occupied the ten neighborhoods long of the street to send off Tai Shi, such kind of scene was truly unforgettable for those people who had witnessed it.
“My lady, Xiang Ye was already gone for more than ten days, we don’t know whether he will be able to hurry back home during the Lantern Festival!” Mu Chun filled up the hot water in the teacup then laid it down beside Yun Qian Meng, she had calculated in her heart the number of days when Chu Fei Yang had left the capital, then she asked in a low voice.
Yun Qian Meng was examining the account books in her hand, translating the complicated numerals into arabic numerals in her mind, afterwhich she computed using the four rules of arithmetic in her mind, then she wrote the final results on the fine writing paper using the wood charcoal brush, verifying them with the numbers written in the last pages of the account books, causing the few servant girls beside her to extend their heads as they curiously looked at the strange numbers written on the fine writing paper, their eyes looking puzzled.
“The borderland of Bei Qi was quite far away from the capital, moreover he was bearing the heavy responsibility, how can we make presumptuous guess on his date of return?” Yun Qian Meng glanced at the few servant girls in their curious expression, after a simply laugh she slowly spoke, looking at the numbers written on the last page of the account books which were exactly similar to her calculations, Yun Qian Meng then closed the account book, lifting up a the teacup on the table she took a sip, her eyes casted a glance towards the cedar tree in the courtyard, for the time being relaxing her eyes for a short period of time.
“My lady, what are these patterns, why didn’t humble servant see them before!” Ying Xia blinked her vivid big eyes, asking out of her curiosity.
Yun Qian Meng retracted her gaze, she saw the four servant girls were knocking against each other, then with a simple smile she lifted up the piece of fine writing paper on the table, pointing at the arabic numerals on top of it she said “These symbols are used for recording! They are similar to the monetary values that we normally see in the account books. Yet they had simplified those complicated characters, which will in turn increase our rate and efficiency in bookkeeping and computations!”
After speaking, Yun Qian Meng picked up the wood charcoal brush wrapped in white silk, on the fine writing paper she wrote the ten arabic numerals from zero to nine, one by one she explained “This is a number, ea
ch represents our Chinese characters zero, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine! But as compared to the writing style of complicated words of our Chinese characters, these numbers are very much easier to write and read!”
While speaking, Yun Qian Meng separately took out four pieces of fine writing papers, allowing the four servant girls to practice writing these arabic numerals following her style of writing.
The few servant girls were quite serious, bearing a curious mind towards these new things, learning them based on the patterns.
But in Yun Qian Meng’s mind she wasn’t only thinking about these, Mu Chun and the others were by her side for quite a long period of time, although during their teens they were still considered to be just like children in the modern times, but during the ancient times they were already in their marrying age, she shouldn’t keep them beside her all their lives!
Moreover during the recent days Rong Yun He had sent his men to deliver the account books, Yun Qian Meng knew it beforehand that, that the medicine store that they collaborated to build up will soon open its branches abundantly all over Xi Chu, during that time the account books will not only be a few just like what she had right now, even if she had an outstanding capability, perhaps she will not be able to calculate all the account books, it would be better to teach Mu Chun and the others, allowing them to learn how to compute, during that time she will be a bit more relaxed.
On the other hand, once they have the branches in the future, they will hire a storekeeper, if they have a suitable candidate, she will also be able to play the matchmaker for these four servant girls, giving them an opportunity for advancement.
“My lady, where did you learn all these? They were truly awesome!” After practising a few times, Mu Chun felt these numbers were indeed easier, as she looked at Yun Qian Meng with eyes filled with adoration. But, she was personally serving her lady master all day long, then how did her lady master learned all these?
