Thousand Verdant Mountains – Chapter 142 Part 2
Chapter 142 Part 2
When it was getting dark, Pei Xiaoyuan finally entered the county governor’s mansion.
After Pei Ji left, the position of the county governor remained vacant, and only Pei Ji’s former deputy was in charge of miscellaneous affairs. When Pei Xiaoyuan returned, the deputy welcomed him respectfully, but Pei Xiaoyuan told him not to receive him specially, and after a few pleasantries, he went to visit Cui Daosi.
Cui Daosi’s leg was seriously injured that day—he couldn’t walk yet and was sitting propped up on the couch. Though he held a book in his hands, his thoughts clearly lay elsewhere, and he appeared somewhat distracted. Suddenly seeing Pei Xiaoyuan, his face lit up with delight. He immediately set the scroll aside and tried to get up.
Pei Xiaoyuan quickly stepped forward to stop him, urging him not to get out of bed. The two exchanged a few words about what had happened since they last parted, and then Pei Xiaoyuan asked how Lu Wenjun was doing—whether her condition remained the same.
“As pure as a newborn.”
Cui Daosi replied, letting out a sigh.
“I just sent the person to see Linghu Gong yesterday, but she still didn’t recognize him and couldn’t remember anything.”
Pei Xiaoyuan was silent for a while.
Lu Wenjun jumped from the ten-zhang height that day, but Cui Daosi came to rescue her at the risk of his life. At that time, except for some scratches on her hands, feet and forehead, the rest seemed to be fine. After sleeping for a few days, she woke up, but unexpectedly, she had forgotten everything. When she was reminded of it deliberately, she had a splitting headache and was in unbearable pain.
Linghu Gong’s place was the seat of government in Hexi, where conditions were better, so he naturally sent her there to recuperate.
“Fortunately, the person is fine. I heard from someone yesterday that the person sent by the Princess to pick her up is on the way and will arrive soon. They will take her back to Chang’an and give her good treatment. I hope she can recover soon.” Cui Daosi sighed.
At this time, an old servant brought in the prepared medicine.
There were not many servants in the county governor’s mansion before, and after Pei Ji left, the number of people was reduced even more. Now there were only two to three old servants left to cook and sweep the floor. One of them, his legs no longer steady, nearly tripped while stepping over the threshold. Luckily, Pei Xiaoyuan reacted quickly—he rushed forward, catching the medicine bowl in one hand and steadying the old man with the other, preventing both a fall and a shattered bowl. The old servant was deeply flustered and apologized profusely. Pei Xiaoyuan told him to go rest, then brought the medicine to Cui Daosi himself and glanced around the living quarters.
Although this was considered the best guest room in the county governor mansion, it had been vacant for many years. The windows rattled in their frames, cracks veined the walls, and after sunset, the dim candlelight only made the gloom more apparent.
“Why didn’t Uncle go to Military Commissioner Mansion to recuperate? Both the residence and the doctors there are better than here. The Military Commissioner has communicated with me several times before, and he specifically mentioned this matter and said that you would not go. If he himself was not recuperating, he would have come here to pick you up in person.”
It would have been better if he hadn’t mentioned it. As soon as he mentioned it, Cui Daosi showed shame on his face and waved his hands: “Don’t mention this again! Your uncle has been cautious all his life, but at the end I did such a thing. In order to survive, I surrendered to the enemy and became an official. I am too ashamed to see people again. This place is already good enough.
“Ashina, this little barbarian traitor, is really hateful. He not only harmed the County Princess, but also hurt me. Your uncle also wanted to be like . If he would just drove me to to herd sheep for ten years, I would not say a word. But he threatened me with a sword, and if I didn’t agree…”
Cui Daosi sighed deeply, his face full of frustration.
“Forget it, forget it. I can’t blame anyone. Compared with you and your father, your uncle is all the more contemptible. I can only blame myself. Mencius said, ‘To preserve one’s integrity is the foundation of all.’ Zuo Zhuan said, ‘The sage yields to circumstance, the lesser man clings to principle, and the lowest fails in both.’ Your uncle now belongs to the lowest kind. It would’ve been better if I hadn’t come at all—coming here only makes me wish I could crawl into a hole in the ground!”
Given his background and upbringing, he had always valued reputation and virtue. Now, feeling deeply ashamed, his reaction was entirely understandable. In just a short time, Pei Xiaoyuan could see how much his uncle’s spirit had withered. The former elegance and composure of a refined scholar were nowhere to be seen. Fearing his uncle might take things too hard and do something rash, Pei quickly tried to console him: “Uncle mustn’t be so harsh on yourself. What you endured before was nothing but temporary humiliation for the sake of a greater cause. Did not Goujian serve Wu? Did not Emperor Zhaolie of Han once submit himself to Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao, Liu Biao—even Cao Mengde? There are countless such people, and which one of them is not a well-known figure? You, Uncle, not only preserved your integrity—you risked your life to save County Princess. Both County Princess and Grand Princess must be full of gratitude toward you. You mustn’t belittle yourself.”
It would be fine for others, but Cui Daosi was most worried that his nephew would look down on him. After hearing his nephew comforting him in this way and seeing his sincere expression, he felt a little relieved. After saying a few more words, he suddenly remembered something and asked whether the princess’ baby was a boy or a girl.
“I heard Qingtou mention it, and I’m really happy for you. I think your paternal uncle should have known the good news a long time ago, and I wonder how happy he must be.”
Pei Xiaoyuan was speechless again. He mumbled a few words and said that he was not sure yet.
He had been away for quite some time—over a year now. The princess had already been expecting before he left. If the child was growing quickly, they might even be able to sit up or crawl by now. Even if the princess was overwhelmed with duties in Chang’an, surely she wouldn’t be so busy as to not even have a moment to send a letter letting him know whether the child was a boy or a girl. Seeing his expression, Cui Daosi realized he must have had a falling out with the princess. Since Pei Xiaoyuan couldn’t bring himself to say more, Cui didn’t press the matter. Instead, he changed the subject and asked him if he was injured.
Naturally, Pei Xiaoyuan assured him that he was fine. Only then did Cui Daosi finally relax and urge him to go rest, saying there was no need to keep him company. Pei Xiaoyuan agreed and stood up to leave, but suddenly heard Cui Daosi calling him again. He paused and turned back.
Cui Daosi asked him to open a box and take out a bundle of gold ornaments. It turned out that he was asked to pass these on to the Hu woman who had served him in Wolf Court before if he met Chengping again next time.
“Uncle truly deserves to die! Everything that should not be done—I did them all. Really made you laugh. Fortunately, the Hu people doesn’t care about ‘virtue and propriety.’ With these, it’ll be easy enough for her to marry someone else in the future, without wasting her youth.”
Indeed, among the people of the Wolf Court, there weren’t the same rigid codes of ethics or social restraints as in the Central Plains. Marrying brother’s widow, marrying father’s widow all were seen as natural customs. If a husband stayed away from home for years, the wife could take in an overnight guest; should a child be born, it was considered a blessing to the household. When the husband eventually returned, he would often treat the child as his own and raise them as such. Chengping’s promiscuity with women was not entirely unrelated to this kind of custom.
Pei Xiaoyuan saw that after speaking, he turned away with a guilty expression and waved his hand, signaling him to leave. Clearly, he didn’t wish to say more on the matter. Pei Xiaoyuan could only let it be and replied with a quiet acknowledgment.
He came out and ate a few mouthfuls of foods to fill his stomach in front of Qingtou who was watching his face carefully, only to feel pain all over his body again.
The injuries from Chengping’s blade that day were not shallow, and he had not been able to properly take care of it, so it had not healed yet. His own hand, which had been injured a long time ago, also hurt. It hurt everywhere. Far from being relieved, his mood became more and more gloomy.
He couldn’t sleep, and it was too late to go to Linghu Gong’s place tonight. Tossing and turning on the bed in his old residence, he couldn’t sleep even more when he thought of Jinwuzhui.
That night during the breakout, Qingtou had initially ridden among them, tucked safely in the middle of the group. Perhaps relying on the mighty Jinwuzhui, he managed to avoid swords and spear all the way and broke through the encirclement. Later, however, he ran into a vicious Xifan soldier who thrust a spear at him. Jinwuzhui reared up and leapt, helping him dodge the fatal blow. In the chaos, Qingtou fell clumsily from the saddle and tumbled down a slope. After playing dead for a while, he poked his head out again—only to find Jinwuzhui had vanished without a trace.
The scene was too chaotic. As magnificent as Jinwuzhui was, it was still just a horse in the end. But to Pei Xiaoyuan, this steed had a far deeper meaning. He had fallen in love with it the moment he first laid eyes on it, and the thought of its fate had weighed heavily on his mind ever since. He had people keep an eye out, searched high and low, but the horse remained missing. Whether it was dead or alive, captured or lost—no one knew.
The more he thought about it, the more upset he became. He couldn’t sleep, so he got up and put on his clothes. Unconsciously, he walked to the nearby study only to stop in the courtyard.
Two years ago, around this time, he saw her here.
He looked at the door in front of him, as if hoping that a woman would walk out of the door the next moment.
However, after a long time, the door remained closed and everything was quiet. There was only a faint early spring moon above his head, quietly shining on his shadow cast on the ground.
“If Master can’t wait, why don’t you go back to Chang’an earlier?”
Qingtou, who had been following him secretly, couldn’t hold it in any longer, so he stuck his head out from behind the wall and muttered.
He wanted to see her face so badly that he wanted to fly back to Chang’an right away. Tonight.
Pei Xiaoyuan stood there for a while, and suddenly felt hot all over.
He actually wanted to leave for a long time.
The day after the war, he wanted to leave. He just suppressed the thought day by day. Now, he was so eager to go home that he could no longer suppress it.
He quickly climbed the steps, pushed open the door of the study, turned on the light, picked up the brush and quickly wrote two notes, one to Linghu Gong and one to Chengping. He then called Qingtou and gave him some instructions.
“Master, I want to go back too—” Qingtou stomped his feet behind him.
“Don’t follow me!”
He shouted, and walked out without looking back.