Lu Yan’s departure for Yangzhou had been set for the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month.
Shen Zhen could not believe it until she got into the carriage. He was actually taking her with him! He wanted her to go to Yangzhou with him! Yangzhou! Yangzhou! She would be able to see her beloved Hong’er soon!
The carriage jerked forward, going towards the south of Chang’an. In less than half an hour, it had reached the gates of the city.
Shen Zhen leaned into the window, taking a peek. At once, she recalled unhappy memories. Anhua Gate. The gate in front of which she had been caught by Lu Yan the day she had tried to escape. Thinking back, the reason she felt fear in his presence after all the time they spent together was intimately linked to the events of that night. He had walked towards her, treading in snow, not swaying the slightest under violent winter winds.
Such a Lu Yan had resembled an envoy from the underworld. An arrogant, all-triumphant demon lord.
Shen Zhen stared at the customs and then, her eyes trailed to the fake household registration documents in Lu Yan’s hand. She could not help but sigh thoughtfully. They were leaving Chang’an using forged identity documents. But these had been provided by the Emperor. What a difference that makes! No one better to know than Shen Zhen. Lu Yan shot her a glance, stretched out his hand and pinched her tender cheek.
“I am on official business. You were trying to escape. There is a difference.”
Shen Zhen narrowed her eyes, rubbing her face in ill-will. She detested that man’s ability to read her like an open book.
Since he was on a mission in the Emperor’s name, Lu Yan was not using his identity as heir to the Grand Duchy of Zhen. Thus, their carriages had to wait in line for almost an hour before passing through the customs. The household registry he passed the customs guards read in big characters —— Wei Xian, Eldest Son of the Wei Household, Jingzhou, Jiaying County.
Since they had been made for the Emperor, the identification documents were indistinguishable from real ones. The font size, the paper and ink used … Everything was consistent with what the Ministry of Household Affairs would have issued. Even this Wei Xian was a real person.
After a while, the officers and soldiers that were examining the documents gave them back, shouting sternly:
“Pass!”
Leaving the city, Shen Zhen lifted the curtain once more, mentioning this was the first time she was leaving Chang’an. The carriage rolled its way to the east, the scenery gradually changing. At once, mountains, rivers, lakes appeared and the fresh air assailed one’s senses. Lu Yan narrowed his eyes at Shen Zhen. She had almost passed her whole upper body through the window! The corners of his mouth pulled down in disdain at such a lack of decorum. He turned his sight away from her, decided to ignore her.
She was not yet sixteen. And this was indeed her first time leaving the capital. It was no wonder she was curious. For his part, not even a phoenix flying by would have whipped up Lu Yan’s interest. He furrowed his eyebrows, closed his eyes and decided to rest for as long as Shen Zhen was putting on a show.
As the evening approached, Yang Zong lifted the curtain, calling out to Lu Yan.
“Master, taking the official road is making us lose too much time. We would be well-advised to take a shortcut once we get to Qijiang River.”
Lu Yan thought for a moment before negating slowly.
“In the past two years, such shortcuts have been prey to an increasing number of criminals. We are only accompanied by a dozen people. If we were to meet one we would actually be delayed. It is better to remain on the official road until we reach Luoyang. Once there, we will take a boat.”
And thus, they continued on their path. When the sun set on the horizon, they happened to be deep in a dense forest. Because there was no inn nearby, Lu Yan ordered his team to simply rest where they were.
It was the end of winter. Thus the nights were freezing cold. Shen Zhen held a small hard-warmer between her two hands, shivering from time to time. Shooting her a suspicious, sideway glance, Lu Yan feared she would get sick again. He shrugged out of his cloak, covering her small body with what very much appeared to be care. Shen Zhen’s beautiful eyes widened. She had obviously not expected such attention. Clutching the fur collar of his cloak, she tried to thank him.
“Your Lordship——”
Before she could utter another word, Lu Yan gently grabbed onto her throat. He did not exert strength, just rubbing the soft skin again and again. The movement was supposed to be something along the lines of a light punishment.
“Did I not tell you last night? What a bad memory you have, forgetting so fast”, Lu Yan whispered into the night.
Shen Zhen was shocked by the danger she could hear in his voice, a shock which served to restore her memory instantaneously. He had told her not to call him Your Lordship once they left Chang’an. Lu Yan continued to knead her snow-white throat.
“What should you call me?”
At that time, had anyone take Shen Zhen’s shoes and socks of, one would have seen how her small toes had curled up in nervousness and anxiety. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips quivered in something akin to shame. But under the pressure of his heavy gaze, she could only answer.
“My lord husband.”
Such a term made Shen Zhen’s head spin. Lu Yan seemed to enjoy her embarrassment.
“Make sure to remember.”
In the smallest of voices, Shen Zhen had no choice but to whisper:
“This concubine will remember.”
Indeed. Wei Xian of the Wei family of Jingzhou was married with children and Shen Zhen did not speak the Jingzhou dialect. Thus, Lu Yan had decided to make her a concubine Wei Xian had just bought in Chang’an.
As the night progressed, Shen Zhen leaned into the carriage’s wall, falling asleep slowly.
Lu Yan recalled what the Emperor had told him and sighed. Honestly, this Yangzhou affair was one Lu Yan would have wished to avoid. It all went back to a year ago.
Since the first month of last year, there had been a large number of refugees flooding the outskirts of Yangzhou. With them, came an endless stream of criminals, as could be imagines. The Emperor became suspicious of their doings and sent spies to evaluate the situation.
At first, the spies were able to gather useful information and sent it back faithfully. But, after a while, it is praises they started writing. What a lack of elemental subtlety, truly. Fluctuating tax yields, increasing numbers of refugees and the presence of criminals all went to prove that Yangzhou suffered severe problems. Sending back praises in such a situation just went to confirm the fact.
The Emperor’s last spy died just last month, supposedly by drowning in the Western Lake. Before the spy had died, he had succeeded in sending but a couple of sentences back — No one is innocent, no one is trustworthy in today’s Yangzhou. The magistrate is no different from the assassins he judges. Even the Governor in Danyang is corrupt to the bone.
The Yangzhou officials were keeping each other’s back, enslaving the people like cattle. What was surprising however was that large amounts of real money stolen from the people were not between the officials’ hands. Nonetheless, the officials were the ones who had blurred the trail. It was impossible to know where all the money had gone.
Raiding a wealthy city, especially a city as prosperous as Yangzhou, was no small feat. And under the Emperor’s nose to boot! One had to have a tiger’s courage! Whomever had accumulated such a great amount of money could only be a danger to the Emperor directly. No wonder Lu Yan’s venerable uncle looked like he was seated on pins and needles.
Lu Yan frowned, gently playing with the jadeite ring on his hand. Finally, he pulled a map out of a box. He observed it for a long while. And the more he looked at it, the more familiar it became, as if he had seen it already …
And then, he felt his stomach lurch and his heart sink. He remembered.
Could this Yangzhou be any closer to the Chengxi Canal that had been built by the Marquis Yunyang, Shen Zhen’s father?! The Chengxi Canal that had inexplicably collapsed.
***
The sky soon went from dark to light blue. The group resumed their way.
Without making any stops, they finally arrived by waterway to Luocheng, Yangzhou, ten days later.
Though it had just rained, Yangzhou’s sky was bright and beautiful, welcoming the travellers with joy.
Luocheng in Yangzhou was located in the south of Shugang, a new city built on a riverside plain. Due to well-developed river transport, there was a higher population density in that area. The streets were wide and clean, many different kinds of shops had been set up and it was, all-in-all, an extremely prosperous region.
At least, so it seemed at first glance.
Getting off the boat, Shen Zhen still felt dizzy and nauseous. Her whole body swayed as she took tentative steps.
From a distance, any libidinous man would have mistaken her for a drunk girl to be taken advantage of. She had spent the night vomiting and her body was already severely dehydrated. Her behavior made her appear like some sad, small butterfly, being blown away by the wind.
Seeing her like that, Lu Yan had no choice but to point to the nearest inn and stay the night.
Before entering one, he passed his arm around Shen Zhen’s waist, frowned deeply, and in a hoarse voice, whispered into her ear:
“Bear with it.”
Shen Zhen knew the man to be obsessed with cleanliness. If she dared to vomit on him, she would have been kicked out in the streets with ignominy. She covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes filling with tears. The discomfort she was suffering was so severe she wondered whether it would not be worth it to just get discarded by Lu Yan if she could just vomit once more to relieve herself.
What a hard time she was having.
Lu Yan quickly snaked an arm around Shen Zhen, who had hidden under a veil, pulling her rapidly into an inn called “Taoyuan”. He had not passed the threshold that a young woman seated on a stool doing some embroidery shot to her feet.
An uncomfortable silence settled between potential customers and the young woman. She was staring at the man in a daze, her lips parted slightly and the needle in her fingers falling to the ground.
One had to say that Lu Yan was not easy to physically exhaust. After days of having sat in a carriage slowly making its way on a bumpy road, he had exited it looking better than ever. And he would not be Lu Yan if he did not make a few feminine heads turn on his path.
Being dressed in a white robe inlaid with gold with an ostentatious gilded crown kept in place by a jadeite pin on his head, he exuded a pure and honest aura. It would have tricked even the most suspicious merchant. Any girl who got a look was bound to be star-struck by such a superior gentleman.
The young woman’s eyes widened and blurred in excitement. Only when Lu Yan took place in front of her was the young woman able to get a hold on herself. At that moment, a forty-year old woman seated by her slowly got up.
“Is the Lord planning on staying at our inn?”, she asked politely, albeit cautiously.
“How many rooms are available?”, Lu Yan retorted in a mixture of playfulness and worldly politeness, obviously trying to project a pleasing image of himself.
If one listened attentively, one would have discovered him a Jingzhou accent as well. The innkeeper, all smiles, replied:
“If the Lord is looking for a place to stay, the second floor is completely empty. More than thirty people can live there.”
Lu Yan nodded, calling Yang Zong in.
“We will be spending the night here.”
At those words, a dozen servants rushed in, carrying boxes of all sizes. At a glance, one knew the traveler was someone to reckon with. This was an obscenely rich man if ever they saw one! As if to prove the innkeeper right, Lu Yan paid more money than demanded, flaunting his generosity.
If an incomparably handsome face could tempt a woman to throw herself into a man’s arms, what to say about a man who, besides being heavenly, was also incredibly rich?!
Snapping out of her trance, the young woman noticed there was a veiled girl walking by his side. Taking a better look, she noted his around the beauty’s waist. Unable to bear the nausea any longer, Shen Zhen tried to distract herself by grabbing onto Lu Yan’s sleeves with strength.
He, for his part, was quite afraid she would indeed vomit. Lu Yan could not care for platitudes when he was threatened to be submerged in Shen Zhen’s gastric juices. His only desire was to get her to the second floor before catastrophe ensued.
Once the crowd had dispersed, the young woman grabbed onto the older woman’s hand in enthusiasm.
“Mother, who do you think they are?”
The inkeeper sneered.
“Strangers, obviously. With such a posture and accent, they cannot be from Yangzhou.”
The young woman gestured towards the top of the staircase with a kicked-up chin.
“The one who walked by just know, could she be his wife?”
The innkeeper snorted some more, her eyes cold.
“At times, I wonder whether you are not a stranger yourself, girl. Where are you living? Is this not Yangzhou?! Girls like that, your mother has seen thousands of them. Show me the wife who would so shamelessly hang on a man! And with such a willowy waist, she cannot but be a concubine. No man would want such a charmer as wife.”
Resting her elbow against the counter, the young woman placed her chin in her palm.
“But she was such a lady. So graceful! And her hands were so white and slender!”
Her mother poked at her forehead.
“I can’t believe I have given birth to someone so dense! Didn’t you see the man take another look at you?! As soon as he did, that fox spirit of his winded around him like a vine! She must not be that great a beauty if she feels threatened. You’ll see by her face tomorrow that Mother was right!”
Most men were like this. At home, they keep a virtuous pig, while they prance around with a charming fox by their side. And these foxes better be demons, with enchanting figures and sulfurous demeanor, if they wished to be kept around! They couldn’t become wives anyway, so why bother with refinement and countenance?!
