Chapter 212: Compassion in the Heart

"What are you doing!"

He saw dozens of palace maids surrounding a court official, clamoring, snatching, and pulling, circling him inside and out several times.

Yan Zhenqing let out a roar; behind him, Zhang Guangsheng immediately blew a whistle, and his Jinwu Guard soldiers, fierce as wolves and tigers, rushed forward and scattered the frenzied palace maids.

"Stop snatching! It's gone! It's really gone!"

Zheng Shuqing hid behind a donkey, clasping his head with both hands, kneeling on the ground, trembling in terror, shouting desperately.

He stuck his butt up, head on the ground like an ostrich, wishing he could bury his head in the snow. Zheng Shuqing's official hat was gone, his hair disheveled, and his clothes were in tatters as if he had been robbed and humiliated.

The arrow case that had been ripped down and thrown on the ground no longer contained a single arrow.

"Censor Zheng, it's already over."

Yan Zhenqing sighed, turned his mount, and hurriedly helped Zheng Shuqing to his feet.

"No, is it really over?"

Zheng Shuqing opened his eyes and looked around, seeing a group of Jinwu Guards staring straight ahead, not casting a glance toward him.

Zheng Shuqing quickly tidied his clothes, his heart still trembling, and said to Yan Zhenqing: "Terrifying— I was riding a donkey through here when palace maids burst out from the shadows and chased after me. All these women went mad; when they saw us holding Fengliu Arrows, they rushed at us with reckless desperation, caring not for life or death."

Usually, when Zheng Shuqing embraced his beautiful concubine, he could touch her however he wished; she never resisted, was extremely compliant, cooing and flattering with all her effort— back then, women truly seemed made of water.

Not a bit false.

But today, he realized from another angle what it means that "water can carry a boat and also capsize it."

"Censor Zheng, go rest at the camp; I will go elsewhere to inspect. You have no arrows left in your hand, so I doubt anyone will trouble you now."

Yan Zhenqing said helplessly, pointing toward the direction behind him. He still had many tasks to attend to; Zheng Shuqing would not be the only unlucky one, perhaps not even the most unlucky!

"Alright, alright, I'm going right now, going right now."

Zheng Shuqing quickly mounted the donkey and sprinted toward the direction Yan Zhenqing indicated. These central officials, carrying Fengliu Arrows and planning to "shoot beauties" in the Pear Garden, seemed to have inadvertently overlooked something important.

In the Tang dynasty, public morals were liberal; women were also spirited, not meek lambs. When pressed, they could fight back.

Official histories record many cases of fierce women murdering concubines, then killing their husbands in a fit of rage, and finally committing suicide to end it all.

As for keeping male favorites and having affairs, it was even more openly unashamed of worldly eyes.

When these five thousand palace maids reached the Pear Garden, at most only half of them had a chance to escape the dark imperial palace! To seize a sliver of survival, these maids cared little about dignity.

When the maids saw officials holding Fengliu Arrows, they lunged like wolves spotting sheep, running faster than the donkey! They tackled the officials to the ground, snatched the Fengliu Arrows from the case, and fled.

Anyway, the rules state that they recognize the arrow, not the person; once a maid obtains a Fengliu Arrow, she goes straight to the camp to await "allocation" and doesn't need to follow the official who "shot her."

And the maids who snatch Fengliu Arrows must not only run but also hide carefully to avoid having them taken by other robust maids. The origins of palace maids are varied; some may be daughters of officials who practiced martial arts in childhood.

If those officials holding Fengliu Arrows, at a banquet, pull a maid into their arms and kiss her, the maid would then be all delicate, as if she could barely lift a chopstick.

But once they strive to survive and change fate in the Pear Garden, the blood in these women is awakened! Not even officials— even a tiger— they would dare to fight.

Missing this chance, the next time a sage shows mercy, who knows when— perhaps not until the Year of the Monkey or the Month of the Horse. How many years of youth does a young woman have to squander?

After Zheng Shuqing left, Yan Zhenqing said to Zhang Guangsheng:

"General Zhang, we should split the force in two and act separately. Given the current situation, lives could be at stake. If we encounter central officials who are besieged, we must rescue them."

The Bi Shui to the west has frozen; it may not stop the maids from escaping, so I want to take some men there for a patrol.

The maids aim to snatch Fengliu Arrows, so once an official's arrow case is empty, they won't even glance at that person and will look for the next 'valuable' target.

Yan Zhenqing's request to split troops is indeed a clever move. Unarmed maids only want the Fengliu Arrow and have no reason to clash with the Jinwu Guard, so having fewer soldiers nearby isn't a big issue, while search efficiency doubles.

"Understood, I'll take half the men east, Censor Yan will take half west; we'll regroup at the camp before nightfall."

Zhang Guangsheng crossed his arms and saluted Yan Zhenqing.

"Alright, thank you, General Zhang."

Yan Zhenqing gave a slight nod, returned the salute, and led half the Jinwu Guard soldiers— ten men on ten horses—westward. To the west lies a small river that separates the Pear Garden Forbidden Enclave from the outskirts of Chang'an; this river, called Bi Shui, is a tributary of the Wei River.

He only needs to lead his men along the Bi Shui to search for the maids' traces.

The northern suburbs of Chang'an contain the Pear Garden Forbidden Enclave, surrounded on three sides by water: Bi Shui to the west, Wei River to the north, and Ba River to the east. North of the Wei River lies the site of the Qin-era Xianyang City, where imperial tombs from the Qin and Han dynasties stand.

Normally, it would suffice to station troops on the bridge over the Wei River to the north. But it's winter, and the narrow Bi Shui has frozen, so we cannot rule out the maids crossing it to escape further west.

Of course, given their physical condition and what they can carry, fleeing in the cold winter is essentially courting death.

Yan Zhenqing felt his heart sink to the bottom of a valley; this Pear Garden event was entirely unlike his expectations— far worse, and could easily result in deaths, perhaps many deaths!

"Father, something big is about to happen."

At the gate of the Pear Garden Forbidden Enclave, Fang Chongyong said to the stern-faced Fang Youde:

"Five thousand maids fighting over fewer than three hundred central officials and Imperial Guard commanders— too many mouths, too little rice— will surely cause trouble. But you needn't worry; letting some people have a hard time is fine, it certainly won't lead to deaths."

Fang Youde waved his hand dismissively and said.

As the Imperial Guard General in charge of security, Fang Youde naturally knew exactly how the 'Pear Garden Shooting Beauties' game worked, and that's why he was especially angry.

Emperor Li Longji no longer regarded his ministers as humans; he wanted to see these normally dignified, pretentious court officials being chased in a chaotic scramble by hordes of mad palace maids.

That is precisely what made Fang Youde feel angry.

When a ruler treats a minister as weeds, the minister sees the ruler as an enemy— a readily understandable principle.

As for the fate of the maids, Fang Youde hadn't considered it; he himself was not the type to cherish delicate women.

"Father, haven't you thought that these maids aren't uneducated ordinary women? They aren't puppets to be manipulated; when provoked, they will bite."

Fang Chongyong said in a deep voice.

In his understanding, just how terrifying could the maids be?

Earlier, Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin was strangled by a concubine after speaking too much while drunk; later, Emperor Jiajing of the Ming nearly met the same fate at the hands of palace maids. None of these emperors ever thought the palace women were anything but weak, easily abused.

In fact, Fang Youde also held such a view, not taking the maids seriously—a product of historical and temporal inertia.

"Then how do they bite?"

Fang Youde asked, puzzled.

"Father, do you think they'll slaughter each other over those Flirtatious Arrows? Perhaps some will, but do you think the losers won't join forces?"

Fang Chongyong shouted at Fang Youde. Even this man looked down on those palace women—no wonder everyone was treating this Pear Garden Arrow Maidens event as a game, not taking it seriously at all!

In Fang Chongyong's view, for this battle royale, Brother Ji's idea was that the palace women would reveal their ugliest sides fighting over the Flirtatious Arrows, while the court officials' initial plan was to hunt the beauties like prey. Neither side had considered what the palace women who failed to obtain Flirtatious Arrows would do.

Brother Ji thought these women would at most fight each other to the death, so just let them be. But Fang Chongyong believed things might not turn out that way.

He picked up a branch from the ground and drew a simple diagram on the earth.

"Father, the Pear Garden Forbidden Park is surrounded by water on three sides. The defensive focus is on the Bin River to the west. But in reality, that route is a dead end—even if they cross the frozen Bin River, there's nowhere to go on the other side.

The Wei River is different. Right now the Wei River hasn't frozen, and at the confluence of the Wei and Jing Rivers, not only is there a bridge leading to Xianyang to the north, but there's also a ferry crossing.

What if someone in the Jinwu Guard has been bought off and lets them through? Or what if someone is waiting to help these people leave? What then?"

Fang Chongyong drew a deep breath and asked.

Fang Youde was rendered speechless.

There were three great bridges over the Wei River: the West Wei River Bridge, the Middle Wei River Bridge, and the East Wei River Bridge.

The East Wei River Bridge was at the confluence of the Wei and Ba Rivers, the West Wei River Bridge was at the confluence of the Wei and Jing Rivers, and the Middle Wei River Bridge was due north of the Pear Garden Forbidden Park!

Was it possible for the palace women to get through via these three bridges?

The answer was not only yes, but the odds were very high!

They only needed to agree to become concubines in the households of those Jinwu Guard soldiers. Free beauties to bring home—which of those grunts would refuse?

Even if the risk was great, once they'd had their fun, they could always sell them!

The human trade in Chang'an had always been booming, and palace women were highly sought-after goods in that trade!

Many palace women had complicated backgrounds, and their families controlled significant resources. Bribing a few human traffickers to act as black gloves, using the rare opportunity of the Pear Garden Arrow Maidens event to smuggle someone out of the Pear Garden—it would be quite simple, wouldn't it?

After hearing Fang Chongyong's explanation, Fang Youde suddenly understood everything. During his four years in Shazhou, Fang Chongyong had immersed himself among the common people and was thoroughly familiar with both the legitimate and the criminal worlds, while Fang Youde's attention was primarily on military affairs—he paid little attention to grassroots and common matters.

In Brother Ji's eyes, a single palace woman was but a grain of sand, utterly unworthy of attention.

But in the eyes of a lowly grunt, a palace woman was a windfall, enough to make them risk everything!

No matter which scheme was in play, these grunts could not resist seduction, could not resist bribery—their "looking the other way" was inevitable.

"We need to take full control of the three bridges over the Wei River right now. That area falls under the Right Jinwu Guard's sector—it's Pei Min's people.

Given the Pei clan's connections, Pei Min has probably already drunk himself blind by now, deliberately not minding his business."

Fang Chongyong drove the point home further.

Fang Youde did not move. In his view, if the palace women ran away, so be it—it had nothing to do with him. He needed to deploy his forces around Brother Ji; that was his duty.

"A mass escape by the palace women may appear on the surface as their gaining freedom, but in reality it is a grave mistake. This will only enrage His Holiness and make him feel he has been made a fool of.

After today, the other palace women—those who haven't had their turn yet—will never again have the chance to leave the palace.

There is even a strong possibility that, in a fit of fury, His Holiness will issue a wanted notice with a bounty and launch a massive manhunt across all of Chang'an to capture the escaped palace women and kill them to vent his rage.

Heaven cherishes the virtue of life. I beg you, Father, to help them. Though all who live must die, they should not die so humbly and meaninglessly."

Fang Chongyong bowed deeply to Fang Youde and said.

It was easy to foresee that the central officials would be thoroughly humiliated by being chased around by the palace women, and Brother Ji would feel that the escapees had thrown his generosity back in his face. Given all this, how these people would be dealt with afterward was already glaringly obvious.

If they didn't die, Brother Ji could not recover his face, and the court officials could not recover theirs either.

Even those palace women who had obtained Flirtatious Arrows, once they entered the households of these bureaucrats, would be abused to vent rage.

"What if they try to force their way through?"

Fang Youde asked with a stern face.

"Talk them back, fight them back—either way is fine. As long as they're not allowed to leave the Pear Garden Forbidden Park, I will naturally find a way to deliver them from their suffering."

Fang Chongyong clasped his hands in salute to Fang Youde. Zhang Guangsheng couldn't handle this matter—he didn't have the standing, nor could he keep in check the people behind these palace women.

Only Fang Youde stepping forward could withstand the pressure.

Of course, all of this was merely Fang Chongyong's own speculation. He only felt things might go this way; he had no evidence whatsoever.

It was entirely possible that in the end nothing untoward happened at all, and the palace women simply fought each other to the death over the Flirtatious Arrows, with two thousand-plus killed or injured. Though Fang Chongyong found this scenario absurd, it could not be ruled out.

Just as the probability was low, yet there were times when a mouse bit a venomous snake to death. Before matters were settled, who could know how things would turn out?

"Understood. I shall go make the arrangements now."

Fang Youde looked at Fang Chongyong as though seeing him for the first time, sizing him up from head to toe, then gave a slight nod without saying anything more.

After taking a few steps, Fang Youde suddenly turned back and asked, "What benefit does this matter hold for you?"

"Actually, no benefit at all. Perhaps I'm simply kind-hearted and can't bear to see people bleed."

Fang Chongyong waved his hand dismissively and said.

"Heh."

Fang Youde gave a cold laugh, turned and walked away without another word.

(End of this chapter)