Chapter 215

Braving the wind and stepping on the snow, he arrived at a fairly large courtyard in Chang Le Lane, two streets away from Xingqing Palace, and Fang Chongyong grasped the nose ring on the gate and gently knocked the courtyard gate three times.

This is the Tang‑dynasty aristocratic custom of "calling the gate": gently knocking the nose ring on the main door three times, and within the brief interval a servant must open the door, otherwise it is rude. From the distinctive sound of the nose‑ring striking the gate, the host can gauge the force of the knock and tell whether the visitor is an honored guest or an uninvited one.

Sure enough, in an instant an elderly servant with white hair opened the courtyard gate and, upon seeing the girl beside Fang Chongyong, exclaimed, "Erniang, how did you return?"

"Send Grandpa out to welcome the honored guest."

The Erniang beside Fang Chongyong smiled and said.

Soon, a hurried figure in a brocade robe, a middle‑aged man with hair already half‑white, emerged from the courtyard. It was none other than the biological father of the former wife of the current Crown Prince Li Chang, Wei Zhaoxun.

The Erniang beside Fang Chongyong is Wei Erniang, who has served in the palace for years as a female official, and is the elder sister of Wei Sanniang.

"It's fine that you're back."

Seeing Wei Erniang, Wei Zhaoxun was not at all surprised, as this was the result of his own machinations. Yet he was still curious why it was Fang Chongyong who brought Wei Erniang back.

"The person has been safely delivered, intact, and I take my leave."

Fang Chongyong bowed to Wei Zhaoxun, subtly indicating that he had done nothing to Wei Erniang.

"General Fang, won't you come in for a cup of thick wine to warm yourself?"

Wei Zhaoxun, being quite restrained, invited him, for after all he was not familiar with Fang Chongyong and did not dare to be too blunt.

"No, I still have several people to escort; if I don't hurry, it will be dark."

Fang Chongyong smiled calmly, clasped his hands in a bow and took his leave. Still unsure of the situation, Wei Zhaoxun could only nod slightly, respectfully escorting him to the lane gate, everything left unsaid.

When he returned to his own courtyard, Wei Zhaoxun saw his daughter, whom he hadn't seen for years, staring off. He moved beside her and sighed, "You almost managed to escape from the Pear Garden before; now it's not bad to be able to return home safely."

"Sigh, could Grandpa do me a favor and send someone to the Fang household to ask whether I could become a concubine of Fang Chongyong?"

Wei Erniang asked softly.

"Nonsense! What kind of ridiculous talk is that!"

Hearing this, Wei Zhaoxun trembled with anger! The Wei family had produced many royal consorts; how could she become a concubine for another household!

"Erniang was only speaking; she didn't mean it seriously. Grandpa, no need to get worked up."

Wei Erniang smiled faintly, waved off Wei Zhaoxun indifferently, and walked straight into the house.

Soon after, Fang Chongyong returned to Chang Xing Lane and sent Du Niangzi, who was beside him, back to her own family. For the record, Du Niangzi is the niece of the Lǒngyòu Military Governor Du Xiwang. By the time he had returned the "series" of ladies to their families, the lanterns were just being lit and the curfew had long passed.

Back home, Fang Chongyong, while enjoying A Naye's massage, smiled and said to Wang Yunxiu, "My lady, you see, I'm still a man of my word, aren't I? Let's send away everyone who should be sent."

"Yes, yes, yes, I wronged you; I'll make amends, I'll toast you." Wang Yunxiu cheerfully poured wine for Fang Chongyong, her heart felt like it would soar to the heavens.

Those twenty palace maids, Wang Yunxiu immediately sensed they were far from ordinary; according to Fang Chongyong, the palace did have many unsavory maids. Yet each of these twenty looked like women from noble families, their bearing could not escape Wang Yunxiu's notice.

That day they waited for Fang Youde to return home, only to find he had brought back not a single woman. When Fang Chongyong asked, he learned that Fang Youde's military payroll actually included thirty‑six palace maids!

But Fang Da Qiu Ba simply waved his hand, assigning those thirty‑six trusted subordinates—who were the core of the newly forming Shen Ce Army—to the task, reported it to Gao Lishi, and had Ji Ge arrange marriages.

Upon learning that Fang Chongyong had let the maids into his home, Fang Youde ranted, urging him to quickly discard these hot‑potato problems, to use them as "rewards" for the Imperial Guard officers in the usual way, and then let Ji Ge arrange the marriages.

Fang Youde's behavior was a textbook example of the Fifth‑generation Qiu Ba style—repeating the same tricks—yet Fang Chongyong thought the matter might not be that simple and that it was better to clarify things.

Before tossing these girls out like cheap chicken, at least ask how many masters stand behind them before acting.

As it turned out, not asking meant not knowing; once asked, Fang Youde was terrified.

Among those twenty were Wei Zhaoxun's second daughter, Du Xiwang's niece, Pei Min's only daughter, Huangfu Weiming's sister… most outrageous was a woman surnamed Wu, the same Wu as Wu Meiniang; she is the sister of the palace censor Wu Jiu! Her grandfather Wu Zaide was a cousin of Wu Meiniang.

Wang Yunxiu's sixth sense was correct; none of these twenty women had simple family backgrounds—none were cheap lamps.

Such tangled relationships left Fang Youde clueless on how to handle them; taking all these women as concubines was absolutely out, and keeping them as household servants was even worse. He also could not mimic Fang Youde's blunt method of marrying them off to the Imperial Guard Qiu Ba.

In the end, Fang Chongyong gave the final word: wherever these people came from, they should return there. Though they are now in our hands, we act decisively and won't engage in the petty "pluck the goose after it passes" routine.

Since these women originally left their homes for the palace, they should now go back from the palace to their families and reunite with relatives. The simplest solution is often the most just and least contentious.

Thus came today's scene of Fang Chongyong sending the girls home one by one. Wei Erniang remained relatively calm, but the Wu‑surname sister, upon seeing her brother Wu Jiu, clung to Fang Chongyong and begged desperately to become his concubine, leaving the palace censor Wu Jiu both amused and exasperated; after dragging her back to the quarters and securing her, he finally emerged to thank Fang Chongyong for his hospitality.

"Hehe, our A Lang is quite charming now; you see, they one by one don't want to leave, looking at me with teary eyes as if pitied."

"A Lang is almost becoming an old slave."

A Naye, pinching Fang Chongyong's shoulder, teased.

"They're all scheming hags, no need to mention them; I'm not as if I've never seen women."

Fang Chongyong laughed heartily, waved his hand dismissively and said.

He was extremely confident in his looks, certain no woman would find him handsome enough to throw herself at him. These women, having been 'tempered' in the palace, naturally have sharp eyes and know how to align with power for their own benefit.

Fang Chongyong, still young, already holds high office and imperial favor; none of these women who came from the palace can resist his allure.

But if he discards these 'halos', what does Fang Chongyong have left?

Such 'beauty blessings' come quickly and go just as fast, like a spring breeze that passes by; Fang Chongyong is too lazy to tangle with these scheming hags, lest it later cause chaos at home.

"Tomorrow Pei Min will leave Chang'an for Youzhou to take up the post of military envoy; I will hand Pei Xiu over to him, that would be a complete merit!"

Fang Chongyong sighed, saying that this was Pei Xiu's own request; she said she no longer wished to stay in Chang'an and wanted to go to Youzhou with her father.

"Actually… we could keep her; the house isn't too small. Her father is a military envoy with extensive connections, which would greatly aid A Lang's career."

Wang Yunxiu said reluctantly. She felt displeased seeing Pei Xiu, but that did not prevent her from acknowledging that the family's background could greatly help Fang Chongyong.

Wang Yunxiu also understood clearly that one shouldn't go to extremes in doing things, otherwise the emperor will sooner or later give you trouble.

Ji Ge assigned twenty girls to Fang Chongyong; sending most of them away is no problem—after all, as a man, his energy is limited and he can't attend to that many. But not keeping even one is openly slapping Ji Ge in the face.

It's normal for Fang Youde not to keep a woman, since he doesn't even maintain a succession of lovers—he won't even let his stepmother find one for Fang Chongyong, clearly his heart is like still water and he wants nothing to do with such matters. But Fang Chongyong can't use that as an excuse.

Compared to others, Pei Xiu's background is already the simplest.

"That person is like a tomboy with an especially explosive temper; sleeping beside me, I still have to worry she might kill me one day. Keeping a woman like that for the New Year? As long as I have you guys, that's fine—don't run off; tonight we'll have a good time."

Fang Chongyong held Wang Yunxiu and Anaye in his arms, kissing each on the cheek. The two women laughed heartily; no matter what, Fang Chongyong truly treats them well.

"A Lang, just go ahead and brag—you used to say my front and back are about the same."

Anaye couldn't help but retort.

"Did he say that?"

Wang Yunxiu glanced at A'na'ye's proudly upright chest and asked doubtfully.

"Mm, I said it before—he's always been a blind man who keeps his eyes open."

……

The next day, after the snow had just stopped, in the long pavilion east of Ba Bridge, a small stove was heating wine; Fang Chongyong and Pei Min sat facing each other, while Pei Xiu stood like a stone statue beside them, her face grim, not uttering a word.

"Xiu, go over there and keep watch—don't let anyone approach."

Pei Min whispered a sentence to Pei Xiu beside him.

"Understood, Father."

Pei Xiu quietly withdrew to the side, leaving space for Fang Chongyong and Pei Min to talk privately.

"Many in the court believe the sage's wrath does not end here, and they fail to understand why the raging storm suddenly turned into a gentle breeze."

"All I can do here is raise a cup to General Fang, though I don't know how he persuaded the sage."

Pei Min poured a cup of warm, cloudy wine for Fang Chongyong, then another for himself, and drank it down in one gulp.

"Actually……"

Fang Chongyong leaned in, lowered his voice, and continued:

"That fire in the temporary palace—was it set by General Pei's men? Aside from the Right Golden Tusk Guard, only the Dragon Martial Army could have done it."

"But my father only learned of this later; I can't think of anyone else."

Fang Chongyong didn't believe that Zhang Guangsheng, who had only just become a colonel in the Left Golden Tusk Guard, had the gall for that.

Upon hearing this, Pei Min's heart jolted; his hand holding the wine cup trembled slightly, then he set it down. He looked embarrassed, waved his hand, and said, "General Fang, you're joking—this isn't something to play around with. Do you think the sage wouldn't investigate?"

"Of course not—because it was the sage who ordered you to set that fire!"

Fang Chongyong gave a faint smile, sat back on the stone bench, downed the cloudy wine on the table in one gulp, then fixed his gaze on Pei Min.

"General Fang, you really dare to guess."

Pei Min shook his head; no matter what, he would never admit to these things.

"Letting palace maids escape—if discovered, whoever it is will inevitably face the death penalty, at the very least imprisonment and dismissal."

"But when I saw General Pei secretly releasing the palace maids, the operation was huge; though they could have resisted, they didn't; though they could have won in a contest, they deliberately lost."

"I thus suspected there might be some private matters I didn't understand."

"Later I asked the sage what to do with the palace maids who hadn't received the Flowing Arrow; he said to find some pretext like rebellion and kill them—that's when I understood General Pei's painstaking effort."

"General Pei asked whether I could be trusted—not because he worried about his own acquittal, but because he wanted to know if I could spare those palace maids from disaster, right?"

Hearing Fang Chongyong's description, Pei Min was so shocked he could not speak for a while, and finally managed a helpless laugh:

"Don't blame the sage for being ruthless; he has received word that someone is directing palace maids to assassinate. His meaning is also clear: palace maids willing to follow a certain Pei are surely either rich or noble, and certainly would not take part in assassination."

"Those eager to seize the Flowing Arrow are also unlikely to be assassins. The rest are highly suspect. The sage can't tell them apart, so he might as well have them all slaughtered as a warning."

"The reason you succeeded in persuading the sage not to slaughter them all is that a wave of assassins has already died."

Pei Min let out a long sigh and said:

"Could palace maids possibly assassinate Ji Ge? Others I don't know about, but I know my daughter Pei Xiu alone would be more than enough—who says women can't wield a sword? Gongsun Niang danced with a sword; though it wasn't practical swordsmanship, it shows that women knowing a bit of swordplay was very common in this era."

"As long as she can get close, Pei Xiu alone could easily kill Ji Ge."

"So did you actually find any assassins?" Fang Chongyong asked doubtfully.

"Indeed we did, but only corpses. After the temporary palace caught fire, several palace maids rushed into the burning building amid the chaos to assassinate, only to miss their mark. After escaping, they were surrounded by the Right Golden Tusk Guard and all committed suicide."

Pei Min said in a low voice:

"Who is the mastermind behind this?"

"He doesn't know, and I fear Ji Ge doesn't either. Pei Min only knows that Ji Ge set up this scheme, preparing for a long time, yet still failed to catch the fox's tail."

"This time Ji Ge used the 'bright road, dark passage' stratagem: on the surface, Fang Youde was on guard duty, merely attracting the assassins' attention; the real capture of the assassins was carried out by Pei Min's trusted aides in the Right Golden Tusk Guard."

"And Pei Min personally escorting the palace maids of noble families to escape was also meant to draw the attention of the assassins' backers, making them think the defenses near the Liyuan Forbidden Garden Temporary Palace were lax."

"Perhaps among the officials present at the time there were accomplices of the assassins, but Ji Ge simply lacked evidence."

"Do not neglect small good deeds—I raise a cup to General Fang for those ignorant palace maids who merely wandered around Ghost Gate Pass."

Pei Min raised his wine cup again and downed the cloudy wine in one gulp.

"Why Ji Ge later treated the palace maids who fled, and the lenient Golden Tusk Guard soldiers, so courteously without blame—it's because those people were not assassins! Since they posed no threat or malice to his emperorship, Ji Ge naturally would not punish them severely, raising the punishment rod high and then setting it down lightly."

Pei Min knows this, and Fang Chongyong knows it too.

"I heard General Fang is about to go to Longyou to pick elite troops—is that true?"

Pei Min asked softly.

"Reporting to General Pei, indeed it is so."

Fang Chongyong gave a slight nod.

"Longyou is remote, full of troublemakers, and people's hearts are treacherous. General Fang, you cannot be without a personal guard at your side."

Having said that, Pei Min clapped his hands; not far away, the on-duty Pei Xiu immediately came to his side and asked, "Father, what arrangements do you need?"

"From now on, you will follow him as his personal guard."

Pei Min pointed at Fang Chongyong and said:

"Eh?"

Fang Chongyong and Pei Xiu shouted in unison, so surprised they could not speak. (End of Volume)

(Next Volume: The Yellow River Far Up Among White Clouds, My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven's!)

(End of Chapter)