The Perilous Palace Dream - Chapter 97
chapter 97
Lu Yuda heard the noise and hurried over.
When he saw the Grand Tutor’s face full of rage, he was startled and quickly asked, “Grand Tutor, why are you angry?”
The Grand Tutor threw the invitation onto the table with a cold expression and leaned back in his chair, trying hard to suppress the anger boiling in his heart.
Seeing that the Grand Tutor did not wish to speak, Lu Yuda quietly withdrew.
The invitation was sent by Xiu Tulie but it was addressed to the present Emperor.
The writing was elegant, and no one knew whether it was written by Xiu Tulie himself.
It shimmered with flowery praise expressing admiration for the Emperor, and the cunningly chosen words were truly unbearable to look at.
If someone did not know the truth, they would not see anything strange.
But the Grand Tutor knew that the former Xiongnu prince had once developed filthy thoughts toward the young Emperor of Great Wei.
Therefore, he could immediately understand the allusions hidden between the lines.
For example, “being honest under the moon in the forest” was clearly referring to the moment when Xiu Tulie kidnapped the young Emperor from Huaxi Village, brought him into a secluded forest outside the city, and attempted to tear off his clothes and humiliate him.
After reminiscing in such shameless detail, the letter suddenly shifted without any transition and mentioned hearing that Princess Yong’an had arrived at Qinglong Pass on the border, and he “invited” the Emperor’s younger sister to visit the Xiongnu royal tent.
It seemed that Ge Qingyuan was also enraged and had actually revealed the secret that the Emperor was female to Xiu Tulie.
This man could not hold himself back and wrote such an invitation to tease the beauty he could not forget.
There was certainly the sinister intention of the instigator Ge Qingyuan as well.
He simply wanted to disgust the Marquis of Dingguo who had repeatedly ruined his plans.
Such an absurd invitation was naturally ignored by the Grand Tutor.
But the thought that despicable men were thinking about his Wei Lenghou’s woman in the stillness of the night felt like a thorn stuck in his throat.
Whether it was Ge Qingyuan or Xiu Tulie, neither of them deserved to live in this world.
Thinking this, Wei Lenghou pondered that it was time to add fresh firewood under the cauldron of the northern frontier.
He immediately wrote a letter, instructing spies disguised as merchants at the border to secretly send fine horses and money to supply military provisions to Xiu Tuhong’s tribe.
The scale of his support could only be described as bold.
Such actions would never escape the eyes of Xiu Tulie.
Wei Lenghou intended to make the two brothers turn against each other as soon as possible.
After the incident with the Moerha tribe, the brotherly bond between Xiu Tulie and Xiu Tuhong had already reached its end.
They had not yet torn their faces apart, but only a thin veil remained.
Xiu Tulie also had his own considerations. Xiu Tuhong’s power was not weak.
As a fierce general of the Xiongnu, he was highly respected by the elders of the various tribes.
If he launched a campaign rashly, it would seem neither justified nor wise.
Therefore, Xiu Tulie had not originally planned to act so soon.
But after hearing Ge Qingyuan’s persuasion, he changed his mind.
Ge Qingyuan said that because of the issues regarding land and wealth, the other tribal leaders were all envious and restless.
They would not necessarily oppose punishing Xiu Tuhong.
Moreover, Xiu Tuhong had just annexed the Moerha tribe and had not yet unified it effectively.
Thus, this was the moment when Xiu Tuhong was at his weakest.
The Great Wei court had just pacified the southern frontier and needed time to recuperate.
Even if they wanted to interfere in the northern region, they lacked the strength.
The enemy was weak while they were strong, and the enemy had no reliable allies.
This was the best chance to eliminate Xiu Tuhong.
Otherwise, Xiu Tuhong would surely gain strength with the help of Great Wei.
When that time came, the Emperor of Wei would regain strength, and the Chanyu would have to face both Xiu Tuhong and Wei Lenghou together.
Not long after Ge Qingyuan offered this advice, a group of Great Wei merchants was discovered transporting military supplies to Prince Xie Tuhong.
It almost perfectly matched Ge Qingyuan’s prediction.
The Chanyu, who always cherished talent, viewed Ge Qingyuan with newfound appreciation and regarded him as a strategist.
However, he also developed suspicion.
When this Lord Ge defected to Xiu Tulie’s side, he had been severely injured, yet he seemed to know many internal matters of the Xiongnu tribes.
It seemed he had planted or bribed many insiders.
Xiu Tulie thought to himself that once Xiu Tuhong’s rebellion was pacified, he must not keep this man named Ge.
But for now, having made up his mind, the two sides officially went to war.
Xiu Tulie had gathered almost all the tribes of the northern frontier, far outnumbering Xiu Tuhong.
Yet he still had his own small plans.
The northern tribes had always been ruled by dividing their power.
If he could save some effort early on and avoid exerting too much strength himself, it would be ideal.
This would weaken the tribes while maintaining the strength of the royal court.
The tribal leaders also shared similar thoughts.
They wanted to take advantage but did not want others to benefit.
They argued and dragged their feet.
Meanwhile, although Xiu Tuhong only had his own tribe, the Gerfan tribe, and the half destroyed Moerha tribe, he fought fiercely and won battle after battle.
For a time he was faintly dividing the land with Xiu Tulie, and the Xiongnu tribes were truly splitting apart.
War broke out at the border, and people within the pass were filled with fear.
The Grand Tutor now exercised extra caution in all matters involving drogon pearl.
He immediately arranged for the two princesses to depart and return inland, far from the border.
Because Princess Shaoyang was pregnant and could not endure travel, Nie Qinglin was worried about her elder sister and did not wish to return to the capital alone.
They temporarily settled in the ancient city of Pingyang.
Pingyang had once been the imperial capital of the previous dynasty.
Its architecture was simple yet grand.
As it was an important route connecting the north and south, merchants came and went in an endless stream, and the economy was prosperous and lively.
Madam Gu carefully oversaw everything along the journey with the household stewards.
After arriving at their destination, she had to return to Qinglong Pass.
Before parting, she unexpectedly felt reluctant to leave the Third Madam of the Wei household whom she had previously looked down upon.
Nie Qinglin knew that this Madam Gu was proud and aloof at heart, and she was not like those wives from noble households in the capital who flattered others with insincere manners.
She had completely assumed that Nie Qinglin was a concubine born of low status, yet she still treated her as a confidante.
Since Nie Qinglin wanted to show her goodwill properly, she had long instructed Nanny Shan to prepare a gift box for Madam Gu.
On the day of parting, Madam Gu prepared a bamboo tube of green tea that she had made herself and gave it to Nie Qinglin.
When she saw that the third madam of the Wei household had also prepared a gift box, she accepted it with a smile.
After exchanging farewell words for a while, she hurried on her way.
When she opened the gift box in the carriage, she was startled.
Inside was a complete set of tea ware.
She picked up a cup and saw a character for “Qing” carved under it.
This set of cinnabar tea ware was even more ancient and exquisite in craftsmanship than the one she had always treasured.
The teapot even contained an inscription written by Shen Si Gongtuo.
Such a priceless and rare treasure had actually been given to her so quietly and without display by the third madam.
She remembered how she had shown off her tea making skills proudly earlier when giving her own tea, and she suddenly felt a wave of shame.
She picked up a slip of paper inside the box and saw a line of firm and powerful characters: mountains and flowing waters conceal kindred spirits, a clay pot boils the water to brew true affection.
The third madam was so young, yet her bold and forthright manner did not lose to any man.
Madam Gu recalled the girl’s bearing and speech and unexpectedly felt a faint sense of regret.
Such a good young woman, if she had been born into a good family, she would have been the kind of talented young lady that even the wealthiest households could not easily hope to have.
But she was born far too low, and ended up becoming the third concubine of the Grand Tutor.
If the Grand Tutor treated such a girl as a toy for his amusement, then she would truly be a refined and delicate flower planted in a place where she would never belong.
The moment she thought this, she suddenly recalled the Grand Tutor’s stern face and cold expression when he reprimanded her husband.
Madam Gu quickly halted her disrespectful thoughts.
Instead, she found herself hoping that her husband would rise in rank quickly and return to the capital soon, so that she might resume their friendship over hot water and fragrant tea with the third madam.
Nie Qinglin did not know that her casual gift had moved Madam Gu so deeply.
At this moment, she was happily strolling through the shops of the ancient city with the Grand Tutor.
During past outings with the Grand Tutor in informal clothing, Nie Qinglin had mostly worn men’s attire.
Now that she borrowed the name of the third madam, it became convenient to dress as a woman when going out.
The Grand Tutor had left the borderlands and his spirits had lightened.
Qiu Mingyan had foolishly lost the emperor and blamed himself deeply after learning the truth, nearly to the point of shaving his head in repentance.
His desire to atone for his crime was firm, and since the Grand Tutor was not in the capital, Qiu Mingyan handled government affairs with great diligence.
When the spies in the capital reported recent matters to the Grand Tutor, they always added one more line: Minister Qiu has grown thinner again.
The Grand Tutor tapped the table with his long fingers, calculated the amount of weight Qiu Qing had lost, and felt there was still room for him to become thinner.
Then he set his worries aside and decided to stay in the ancient city for a few more days.
It would serve as a rare vacation after years of tireless work for the nation, and he was delighted to bring his beloved along to explore the old city.
More importantly, his younger brother Wei Yunzhi was also in the ancient city.
Recently, the Wei family had opened many shops in the central plains, directly shipping and selling goods.
Because everything sold by the Wei family was unique, their shops attracted long lines of customers wherever they opened, and supply could never keep up with demand.
However, because of the presence of Wei Lenghou, the Wei family never made connections with officials and always maintained the approach of doing honest business and keeping a low profile.
Even though they had opened more than ten shops in the central plains, they never revealed that their business had any connection to the powerful Marquis Dingguo.
But the shop in Pingyang had been personally secured by Wei Yunzhi and was the first one he managed alone.
Having grown up traveling by ship with his elders, he placed great importance on this first land based business venture that he oversaw himself.
He had never expected that his elder brother, Wei Lenghou, would arrive without sending any notice at all, appearing suddenly on the very day of the shop’s grand opening and ribbon cutting.
It truly startled him again and again.
Amid the sound of firecrackers, Wei Lenghou’s lips curved into a faint smile.
“What is wrong, Yunzhi? You look as though you are not very happy to see your elder brother.”
Wei Yunzhi gave a bitter smile and immediately noticed the beauty standing behind his brother.
He had seen her once before at the docks, and a face of such breathtaking beauty was very easy to recognize.
She had not covered her face today and descended gracefully from the carriage.
He could not help feeling quietly astonished.
How has elder brother still not replaced her? To favor one woman for so long was truly rare.
There was no time to think further.
He lowered his voice and said to his brother, “Elder brother, it would not matter to me if you planned to come, but you could have sent a word beforehand. I am only worried that you might not remain in a good mood later.”
Wei Lenghou raised an eyebrow slightly.
At that moment, he heard a soft voice mixed with surprise coming from behind Wei Yunzhi.
“Elder cousin, is that you?”
