Chapter 606: A Bloody Loss with No Return (Part 2)

After the shogunate officials took their leave, Xie Xiuniang turned into the rear courtyard. Her gait was neither hurried nor slow; the deportment and bearing she had assiduously practiced day after day had long since seeped deep into her very bones.

Turning past a long corridor, she heard the voices of a gaggle of children coming from a side chamber, among them her own son, Wang Zheng.

She glanced inside. Over ten children sat cross-legged on heated cushions, each one speaking with the utmost seriousness.

Among them, her son Wang Zheng occupied the seat of highest honor. To his left and right were Zhong Diaoyang's son Zhong Yiyuan, Xie Yike's son Xie Tiandi, Han Zhong's son Han Hou, Han Chao's son Han Si, Wen Fangliang's son Wen Wentao, Gao Shiyin's son Gao Dexiang, as well as Zhao Xuan's son, Wen Daxing's son, Zhong Xiancai's adopted son, and others...

This bunch of little brats were all cadets of the Martial Arts Academy. At this moment, gathered around Wang Zheng, they were hypothesizing how they would handle the current disaster of treacherous merchants if it were up to them.

Gao Dexiang, sharing the exact same temperament as his father Gao Shiyin, bellowed loudly, "There's nothing to discuss — just chop every last one of them down!"

Han Si said cautiously, "It would be best to first dispatch the Intelligence Division to gather evidence of their crimes, so that our cause is just. Then we can advance to attack or retreat to defend..."

Wen Wentao said, "Young General, our division could employ a strategy of division — recruit traitors from among them, then use poison against poison."

The children present all clamored at once, offering plan after plan. Some were absurd, some had a modicum of feasibility; considering their young age, it was already quite remarkable.

Wang Zheng, utterly solemn, nodded from time to time. He looked toward Zhong Diaoyang's son Zhong Yiyuan, seated to his lower left: "What does Brother Yiyuan think?"

Zhong Yiyuan, like his father, was coarse and dark-complexioned, taciturn and steady. Slightly older than the rest, he said, "Young General, in this humble officer's view, this matter requires prudence. It would be best to co-opt one faction and slaughter another."

Wang Zheng said, "Mm. The words of you generals deeply accord with my own heart. Rewards for everyone... A-Di, bring me my money pouch... Ahem, why have the grain tickets dwindled so much... How terrible, there's not much of the monthly allowance left..."

Then inside the room came the sound of footsteps again, as one child after another gleefully stepped forward to receive their reward. Then Wang Zheng's astonished voice: "...A-Hou, what happened to your face?"

The other children also noticed one after another, each crying out in surprise and asking questions.

Then they heard Han Hou burst into a wail: "...It was Zhuzhu, Wen Zhuzhu! I only glanced at Yaoyao... a few glances, to coax a smile from her, and she hit me..."

Sobbing and sniffling, he said, "Wuu... Mother used to hit Father all the time back then. After Father became a god, she would often cry, saying she regretted it, that she shouldn't have struck Father back then... Must I end up like Father before Zhuzhu will stop hitting me? Wuwuwu..."

All the children were indignant.

"This is utterly outrageous — a little wife striking her lord and husband."

"This is truly preposterous. Wentao, you ought to go home and talk to your sister. If she hits A-Hou again, we won't play with her anymore."

"A gentle maiden, a gentleman's courtship. Sister Yao is adorable; it's perfectly normal for us to look. She hasn't even crossed the threshold yet and she's already beating her husband — what will become of things later?"

Wang Yao, the daughter born to Liu Qing, was lively and adorable. Not only did adults dote on her, even children liked her. Wen Zhuzhu was Wen Fangliang's legitimate daughter. In the tenth month of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, during a march, in the course of conversation, Han Zhong and Wen Fangliang had become in-laws by betrothal, matching Wen Zhuzhu with Han Hou.

Wen Zhuzhu was fine in every other respect — it was just that, despite her young age, her jealousy was immense.

Han Si was furious, Wen Wentao was mortified, and Wang Zheng consoled Han Hou: "A-Hou, don't worry. I will speak with Zhuzhu. She listens to me very well..."