Xing Pingchun went to find Xing Muzheng, but he wasn’t home.
He was at the newly established military camp in Yuzhou. The new guards unit was created for the safety of the local people, and also to suppress bandits and enemies if needed. Aside from his returning old subordinates, the rest were all freshly recruited local soldiers—raw recruits who needed to be trained from the ground up.
This visit to the camp wasn’t for anything else but to handle rewards for those involved in the “Gu” poisoning incident. He ordered a list made, and everyone whose name was on it would be rewarded. Li Qingquan, Ah Da, Wang Yong, and Peng Shi all received heavy rewards. The others were also rewarded based on their merits. Xing Muzheng ordered the quartermaster to distribute all rewards within two days. Present, Li Qingquan, Ah Da, Peng Shi and others all knelt to receive their rewards.
Seeing Li Qingquan kneel a bit stiffly, Xing Muzheng waved the others away, leaving only him.
Li Qingquan looked slightly embarrassed, lowered his head and hands. Xing Muzheng asked, “Are your injuries healed?”
Li Qingquan cupped his hands. “Many thanks for your concern, Commander. This subordinate is fully recovered.”
Xing Muzheng asked again, “Do you harbor any resentment?”
Li Qingquan paused. “This subordinate… willingly accepted punishment.”
Xing Muzheng gave him a glance. “So you do resent it.”
Li Qingquan lowered his head, giving a vague denial.
Xing Muzheng sighed. Li Qingquan quickly explained, “Commander, I don’t resent your punishment. I just don’t understand the reasoning behind it. I only wanted to ensure you left behind an heir, so I cooperated with Feng Yuyan using retreat to advance…”
“I know,” Xing Muzheng said. “The reason I punished you is because you let yourself be blinded by the word ‘heir.’”
Li Qingquan stood stunned.
He’d been injured in battle in that area. The doctor had told him he could never have children, so he had become obsessed with the matter of lineage. That was why he pushed so hard for the heir issue. Was the Commander telling him… he had let it become a fixation?
“Also, if anyone dares disrespect Madam again, it won’t be as lenient as just a few beatings.”
Having said this, Xing Muzheng strode out of the tent, with Ah Da and the others quickly following behind. Xing Muzheng headed straight toward the main camp. Several subordinates approached to report military affairs—although Xing Muzheng had long established his own system of military discipline and many matters could be handled according to protocol, some decisions still required his personal approval. Since he had been absent for nearly half a year, several key decisions had been postponed, all awaiting his final word.
Standing on high ground, Xing Muzheng oversaw the training of the new recruits. He addressed each matter in turn, then instructed Peng Shi to pick five hundred strong recruits to test the newly developed crossbows. After that, he turned to visit the weapons depot to inspect the improved catapults. Seeing the sky begin to darken, he planned to return home before sunset and quickened his pace.
Ah Da caught up to him and finally voiced the question that had been weighing on him: “Commander, what do you plan to do about Madam? That Wang Tieniu—should I go beat him up?”
If beating him were enough, he would’ve killed him already. A flash of murderous intent crossed Xing Muzheng’s eyes. That woman had even risked her life to protect that man—as if he were some treasure. And worse, the previous incident had caused Qian Jiaoniang to be gravely injured and nearly lose her life. The lingering fear gnawed at Xing Muzheng, and now he viewed it all with a hint of dread.
Seeing his silence, Ah Da grew anxious and said, “Commander, Madam has truly treated you well. When you were imprisoned by Miss Feng, it was she who notified us so we could come rescue you. And during your illness, it was always her taking care of you. Even when you lost control and hurt her, she never complained or blamed you. She even begged a divine physician to treat you and cleverly captured the ‘Gu’ poisoner to help cure you. Where else are you going to find such a virtuous wife?”
Truthfully, Ah Da also knew—once the imperial edict was issued, the matter was set in stone. Even if the Commander begged, the imperial family wouldn’t go back on its word so easily. But if the Commander really let such a good wife go off and marry another, it would be like throwing away a treasure. Besides, Madam was terribly wronged. The whole affair was baseless. A woman who had faithfully maintained the household for nine years didn’t even get a moment to enjoy happiness—instead, she was smeared with scandal. If it were someone more thin-skinned, they might’ve hanged themselves by now. It was impressive that Madam still had the spirit to talk about marrying someone else…
Wait, was he starting to think off-track?
Li Qingquan, who had joined them, said, “All that may be true—but it was an imperial decree. Even the Commander can’t defy the will of the Emperor, can he?”
None of these brothers had considered that maybe the edict was something the Commander himself requested before he was poisoned. And even so, not even the Commander could reverse a royal command—wasn’t this putting him in an impossible position?
“But… are we really going to let Madam marry someone else?”
“What do you expect? For the Commander to defy the Emperor? At this point, all we can do is give Madam a large sum of silver…”
“Enough,” Xing Muzheng cut them off coldly. What, they wanted him to hand over silver and cheerfully send Jiaoniang off to marry Wang Tieniu? Unless he’d been poisoned again! “I’ve heard all you had to say. Jiao—Madam Qian—is a good woman. She is my wife. I will not divorce her. There’s no need for more discussion.”
Once, during a campaign, Xing Muzheng had been injured and accidentally fell off a cliff. It was a reclusive father-and-daughter pair of hunters who saved him. The daughter was pretty and lively, and took careful care of him for a month, seeming to develop feelings. But his heart remained unmoved. When his men finally found him, he simply gave the family a generous reward and left.
At first, when Qian Jiaoniang took care of him, he had thought the same—that he would treat her and her son better once he recovered. But somewhere along the way, things changed. He wanted her. Telling him to give her a reward and let her leave with another man—what nonsense! That was a fool’s dream.
“Marquis.” A voice called from afar.
Xing Muzheng looked up—Xie Zhang was stepping out of a sedan chair, straightening his official hat as he approached quickly. He adjusted his official robes and knelt. “This humble official greets the Marquis.”
Xing Muzheng told him to rise. Xie Zhang stood, concern written all over his face. “Marquis, I heard you suffered a serious illness. I wanted to visit, but your residence wasn’t receiving guests. May I ask if you’ve fully recovered?”
“Thank you for your concern. It was just a sudden illness. I was feeling irritable and didn’t want to see anyone. I’ve recovered now, and was planning to summon you tomorrow.”
“This humble official has many matters to consult with you. The request to reduce taxes for Yuzhou’s citizens is still in my sleeve. The funds for road construction are also awaiting your approval. But most urgently—” Xie Zhang leaned in slightly. Xing Muzheng waved his attendants away. Xie Zhang lowered his voice, “This humble official has recently discovered someone trafficking illegal salt…”
Xing Muzheng’s dark eyes narrowed. “In Yuzhou?”
“Exactly.”
Xing Muzheng thought for a moment. “Return to the marquis’s residence—we’ll speak in detail there.”
