Chapter 20

After leaving the guest room where Wei Jing had stayed, Kou Xuan returned to his own room. The silvery moonlight caressed him, and as he let go of the heavy stone that had weighed upon his heart, he felt an immediate and unexpected lightness. He dared not speculate about Wei Jing’s true identity. But if his suspicions were right—given the overwhelming, all-encompassing manhunt—the new lord was no ordinary man. At that very moment, he realized that his family might have narrowly escaped extreme danger—or perhaps they were still caught in it.

Without hesitation, Kou Xuan pledged his allegiance to Wei Jing.

Now, everything was going smoothly. His life had been secure even before his decision to join, so what difference did it make now? As long as his resolve remained unshaken, there was nothing to fear. His anxieties faded away, but a curious new sensation arose in their place—a stirring, a subtle clamor in his soul.

Wei Jing was by no means an ordinary man; his future achievements would surely extend far beyond the limits of governing a mere county. With Kou Xuan’s wholehearted support, the possibilities seemed boundless.

Though the young man had lost his father, been repeatedly suppressed, and endured endless setbacks, Kou Xuan—barely twenty-five and still burning with youthful passion—saw in the crisis the seed of opportunity. Suddenly, a surge of heroic ambition welled up within him. His steps quickened noticeably, but since the inn’s backyard was small, he soon found himself back in his own guest room on the east side. Composing himself, he pushed the door open and discovered that Yan Ming was still inside.

The entire family was waiting for him. The moment they saw the joy shining on his face, they knew the matter had been accomplished. Although Wang Mi had no idea of the dangers that lurked, she too breathed a sigh of relief and, folding her hands in a gesture of gratitude, said, “This time, our lucky accident worked out perfectly.”

Who would have thought that after leaving his old home, he could still follow another county dignitary?

“That’s wonderful!” Kou Yue also broke into a joyful smile. Although she was spared the fate of having to marry Sun Zong and could remain with Yuan Lang, this outcome came at the price of the whole family having to leave their homeland. She felt deep guilt and worried that if her elder brother abandoned his post, hardships might follow later. But now, everything had turned around—a ray of hope emerging after a long dark stretch.

Neither her sister-in-law nor her elder sister knew the true background of these events, and Kou Xuan had no intention of letting them find out. Smiling, he exchanged a few words with them and then urged them to get some rest, since they’d have to hit the road again tomorrow.

After Wang Mi and Kou Yue had gone into the inner room, Kou Xuan gently closed its door. He waited the time it took to finish a cup of tea before returning quietly to speak to Yan Ming, saying, “Cunshan, keep a close eye on that Yuan Hong.”

Yuan Hong and Yan Ming were sharing a room. The former, a frail scholarly youth, had fallen into a deep sleep early on from exhaustion during the journey, unaware of anything that happened afterward.

As for Yuan Hong—if the Kou family hadn’t fled Hexiang, if Sun Zong had been available for comparison, and considering that Kou Yue had been genuinely pleased—Kou Xuan, though not particularly happy about it, would have probably grudgingly accepted him as a son-in-law. But now that they had left Hexiang, things were completely different.

Kou Xuan was no longer willing to have his sister married off to this man. The only reason he had taken her along in the first place was the pressure of the circumstances. With time running short and the need for a discreet escape, pacifying Yuan Hong—the party directly involved—was the wisest course of action.

Once away from Hexiang, matters could be handled more easily. If need be, he could rather bluntly abandon him, and if he still cared about Kou Yue, he could always devise another plan later. After all, there was no urgency. But now that Kou Xuan had pledged his loyalty to Wei Jing, it was an entirely different matter altogether.

He no longer considered abandoning Yuan Hong; instead, he urged Yan Ming to keep a close watch on the opponent—there must not be the slightest mistake. As for how to resolve the issue, they would deliberate once things had calmed down.

Yan Ming nodded, “Rest assured.”

Although he didn’t want to side with Wei Jing, he wasn’t about to leave either. Whether he enjoyed working for Wei Jing was another matter, but when it came to ease his friend’s worries, he had no hesitation.

---

“Madam, we’ve almost arrived at Pingtao!”

At noon, during a brief stop at a roadside tea pavilion, Kou Yue jumped off the carriage and quickly fell into step beside Shao Qing. The young girl, caught up in passionate love, had shed her worries and was radiant—her large eyes sparkling as she spoke.

Ever since Kou Xuan defected to Wei Jing, the Kou family had started addressing Shao Qing as “Madam.” Unlike Wang Mi, whose enthusiasm was mixed with deference, Kou Yue—simple in her heart—had merely changed the title, while her attitude remained unchanged.

Shao Qing truly enjoyed talking with her. “Yes, we should arrive this afternoon.”

After that day, the donkey carriage traveled for nearly ten more days, leaving the Qian River’s lower reaches behind. Likewise, they had also exited the search zone. These days on the road, not a single search soldier was seen, and the checkpoints looked as usual.

Finally, having completely evaded the pursuit—and with their destination within reach, so there was no need to continue the bumpy ride on the carriage—Shao Qing massaged her numb, aching lower back and let out a sigh. However, she didn’t activate her skill for gauging the distance traveled on the donkey carriage; after speaking, she turned her head again to look at Wei Jing.

Wei Jing’s appearance and demeanor needed no concealment at all. Dressed in a plain black short-sleeved cloth shirt, his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and tall stature naturally exuded an aura that set him apart—attracting extra glances from many of the farmers and coolies in the tea pavilion. He paid no mind. After scanning the interior and exterior of the tea pavilion, he nodded and said, “There’s roughly another twenty li to go; we should indeed arrive this afternoon.”

Shao Qing, upon receiving this confirmation, immediately lit up with joy.

Kou Xuan quickly stepped into the tea pavilion to call over the attendants. With so many people around, they could barely free up a single empty table.

Wei Jing sat down with Shao Qing, and then Kou Xuan and the others took their seats. The fare at the tea pavilion was rather simple, and everyone quickly filled their bellies. After picking up a cup of hot tea and blowing on it, Kou Xuan’s eyes flickered as he ordered Yuan Hong, “Da Lang, go feed the donkey.”

“Alright!”

When they first left Gong County, Kou Xuan sensed something was wrong and immediately distanced himself from Yuan Hong, preventing him from driving the carriage any further.

Yuan Hong, being physically frail, also struggled during the journey. He remained cautious but lacked full awareness, knowing only that the authorities were searching for fugitives but unaware of other details. Upon learning that Wei Jing was taking office as a county magistrate, and Kou Xuan decided to pledge allegiance, after his initial surprise, he became extremely attentive. Following Kou Xuan’s instructions, he quickly stood up, bowed slightly to Wei Jing, and hurried over.

“My lord.” Having dismissed Yuan Hong, Kou Xuan asked in a low voice, “Aren’t we going directly to the county yamen?”

He felt that wouldn’t be the best idea. The further west they went, the more abundant the mountains, the denser the forests, and the more crisscrossed the waterways became—and the more he sensed that the local people were rugged in temperament. In the past several days on the road, they had already witnessed a few instances of highway robbery and even more cases where disputes over the road escalated into quarrels and even full-blown brawls.

Recalling how swiftly and ruthlessly Wei Jing had dealt with the bandits, Kou Xuan felt no fear and was even more reassured. He proposed, “My lord, since we’re in unfamiliar territory, how about we find a place to lodge first and observe the situation for a couple of days?”

“Agreed,” Wei Jing nodded. After all, that had been his plan all along.

With the plan settled, Shao Qing was very much in agreement; however, before entering Pingtao, she needed to recompose herself.

Throughout the journey, she had dressed in male attire—posing as a young man with a yellowish-dark complexion—in order to stay at inns and pass checkpoints under Yang Ni’s identity. Her makeup skills were excellent, and she had never let anything slip. But now that she had reached her destination, she had to be even more cautious. She glanced down at her slightly protruding chest and thought, “Hmm, that area needs to be bound even tighter.”

Shao Qing had been using padding for her waist and chest binding all along, but now that her bust had developed well and become rather ample, tightening the binding too much was very uncomfortable. She had loosened it a bit on the road, and now she needed to readjust it.

After exchanging a word with Wei Jing, she hopped onto the donkey carriage ahead. Taking a deep breath to tighten the binding, she carefully touched up her makeup with a hand mirror and scrutinized her reflection over and over until she was sure that the moderately handsome young man before her showed no flaws. Only then did she call out to Wei Jing, who was waiting outside, and resumed the journey.

Wei Jing glanced at her flattened chest and couldn’t help but ask, “Do you really not feel any discomfort?”

“It’s fine.”

Discussing the topic made Shao Qing feel a bit embarrassed. She quickly waved her hand, dismissing it as nothing more than a trivial matter—as if she had just narrowly escaped death and leaped across a river.

……

Revitalized, Kou Xuan and Yan Ming repeatedly cracked their whips, and the two well-fed, content donkeys broke into a gallop. By dusk, they had reached the city gate of Pingtao County.

Pingtao—the place where three rivers converge.

Behind them, the mountains encircle the area, while a vast, flat tract of fertile land stretches at the foot of the hills and faces the water.

As a key hub for both land and water transport, Pingtao is not only sizable and bustling but also a melting pot—flourishing with passing merchants, marked by a rugged local character, and flanked by the two barbarian tribes of the Puyi, resulting in a chaotic intermingling of diverse elements.

Once the group entered Pingtao, they found a tavern and sat for a while; it didn’t take long for them to grasp the place’s overall situation.

Shao Qing silently mused that, indeed, as Wei Jing had said from the start, this region would be quite challenging to govern. However, that assessment was applicable only to a true Yang Ze—after all, one’s background and experiences are crucial factors in shaping one’s perspective and capability. She glanced at Wei Jing and, seeing that his expression was unchanged, wasn’t worried.

Moreover, after sitting in the tavern for half an hour, she had heard one name mentioned repeatedly—especially at the table next door, where the men were so animated that they seemed to be spitting out their words.

That man is called “County Officer Qu.”

“…You probably haven’t heard! The third young master of County Officer Qu’s family has taken on another bride. It’s said she’s the daughter of an official household that has fallen on hard times. While passing through our Pingtao, she was carried in. Oh my, that dewy, fresh beauty—rumor has it the third young master stayed with her continuously for half a month!”

A few middle-aged men exchanged sly glances and smirks. At the adjacent table sat a group of dust-covered small merchants, and one young man couldn’t help but exclaim, “After all, it’s an official’s family—even if their fortunes have declined, is it really necessary to send the daughter off mid-journey to become a concubine?”

“If you’re going to send her, you’d better wait until you reach your destination. Doing it on the way doesn’t suit your interests!”

At that, the man who’d been speaking suddenly downed a gulp of wine, turned around, and shook his head. “Little brother, you don’t know,” he said.

“You see, our Pingtao is under the jurisdiction of Lord Qu. When the dragon comes, you better be on guard; when the tiger shows up, you’ve got to lie low. So what about an official’s daughter? Even if her family hadn’t fallen on hard times, once she arrived in Pingtao, she still had to obey those with the surname Qu!”

“They just robbed her! The third young master, spotting her out in the street, simply snatched her up, carried her inside, and bedded her for half a month straight—and that family ended up scurrying away in disgrace!”

The middle-aged man, well under the influence, began spouting wild nonsense. Seeing that he had gone too far, his companions hurriedly grabbed him: “He’s drunk, just spouting nonsense!”

One of them covered his mouth while two helped him up, and they left immediately. The young man, who still wanted to ask more, was promptly yanked aside by an older companion and glared at. Both parties hurried off, and the tavern suddenly fell silent. Soon after, several tables of patrons stood up to settle their bills.

It seemed that this so-called “Lord Qu”—County Officer Qu—was nothing short of the overlord of Pingtao.

Shao Qing frowned. Even if the inebriated middle-aged man’s words were somewhat exaggerated, one could still tell just how overbearing the Qu family was on a daily basis. At the very least, the incident of the street robbery of a beautiful woman couldn’t be fabricated.

Kou Xuan couldn’t help but furrow his brows as well. But Wei Jing paid no heed. Glancing at the darkening sky outside, he ordered, “Let’s get settled first.”

This tavern functioned as a storefront at the front and an inn at the back. Kou Xuan took out a token—serving as the check-in identification much like those used in later times (even with harsher procedures)—and walked up to the counter, saying, “We need three upstairs rooms, preferably side by side.”

However, with anti-counterfeit technology being so poor these days, the tokens issued by the Kou family were all forgeries. As a result, the tokens used by Wei Jing and Shao Qing didn’t quite match the genuine ones—but that didn’t cause any trouble along the way.

The shopkeeper, a woman, smiled as she accepted it, “Alright!”

That voice was soft with a hint of gentle allure—uniquely captivating. Shao Qing glanced over and saw a striking, slightly dark-skinned beauty offering her a flirtatious smile.

Shao Qing wasn’t an innocent youth anymore and wasn’t taken aback, though Yuan Hong across the way turned red in the face, and Kou Xuan quickly averted his gaze.

In later times, one might casually compliment such a woman, but here in Pingtao, a beautiful young female shopkeeper was clearly not viewed as an ordinary, respectable lady.

Wei Jing furrowed his brow and said, “Let’s go in.” He immediately took Shao Qing by the arm and began to leave while Kou Xuan quickly grabbed a room key and led the way.

“Walk a bit slower.” With her chest bound too tightly, getting up too hastily left Shao Qing a little breathless and uncomfortable—and she hurriedly called out twice.

Wei Jing turned back and furrowed his brow. After slowing his pace and entering the room, he said, “Are you feeling unwell? Let me take a look.”

“What?”

Take a look?!

Shao Qing’s eyes widened in disbelief.