Chapter 529: Friends Have Arrived [Many Thanks! Bowing Again! 43k Chapters in Arrears]

Exactly the hour of Yin (4:00 AM).

Bianjing,

east of the Imperial City,

the Chai family's Autumn Sounds Courtyard.

At this hour on ordinary days, it was still early, and the courtyard would surely be dark and silent.

But today, candlelight spilled out from within the house.

The main bedroom was very quiet,

with a faint fragrance drifting through the air.

"Cough."

A light cough sounded from behind the drawn bed curtains.

"Miss Yun Mu~"

"Miss, I am here."

The maid Miss Yun Mu, draped in clothes, walked over from the side.

After pouring a cup of warm water on the table, she lifted the bed curtains and handed the water over.

After taking a sip of water,

"What hour is it?"

"It is roughly past exactly the hour of Yin."

"Has Father not returned yet?"

"This servant spoke with the Guan Guan Pozi on night duty at the second gate; she said she would report to the courtyard as soon as the Master returns, but no one has come yet."

"Mm. I wonder what matter has made the palace send someone in such a hurry! Has any new news come back from the shops north of Changyuan?"

By the candlelight, Miss Yun Mu shook her head: "Miss, no!"

"Sigh! This afternoon, many relay horses were galloping wildly through the city; I do not know what has happened."

"Miss, once dawn breaks, this servant will have the household steward inquire further. Besides, as soon as the Zhang family and the Gu family have news, they will tell us."

"Mm."

After drinking another sip of water and preparing to lie down, a sound came from outside.

Miss Yun Mu took the teacup and asked softly, "Has the Master returned to the residence?"

"Replying to Miss Miss Yun Mu, yes, the Master just entered the gate."

The bed curtains shook vigorously; Chai Chai Zhengzheng, wearing sleeping clothes, lifted the curtains: "Let's go! Let's go see."

"Miss Fuyi, prepare the lanterns!" Miss Yun Mu shouted outward.

"Yes!"

In the courtyard of the Chai family matriarch,

lights burned bright,

in the side room of the main house,

the head of the Chai family, looking slightly weary from staying up late, sat on a chair, eyes closed, drinking a soup to nourish the body and relieve fatigue.

Lady Chai sat nearby, frowning with a thoughtful expression.

"Miss has arrived!"

The announcement of a maid from the outer room came through.

The head of the Chai family opened his eyes, while Lady Chai raised her head to look toward the door of the side room.

Chai Chai Zhengzheng, bringing in the morning chill, lifted the curtain and entered; after offering a formal bow, she said:

"Father!"

"You stayed in the palace for so long; what has happened?"

The head of the Chai family forced a slight smile: "Zheng'er, it is so early; why have you come over? Sit!"

As he spoke, the head of the Chai family and Lady Chai exchanged a glance.

Chai Chai Zhengzheng untied her cloak, handed it to Miss Yun Mu, sat in the seat below Lady Chai, and looked at her own father.

Seeing Lady Chai nod slightly, the head of the Chai family took a deep breath and said: "Zheng'er, something has occurred in several prefectures and counties north of Bianjing, including Bozhou and Caozhou."

Chai Chai Zhengzheng nodded once.

"Moreover, yesterday at noon, one of our stewards returned from Nanle County to Bianjing, saying..."

Chai Chai Zhengzheng blinked, some confusion in her eyes: "Nanle County? Yesterday at noon? How is it that your daughter knows nothing of this?"

The head of the Chai family put down his porcelain bowl and said: "What that steward reported was too shocking; your mother and I decided not to tell you."

"But last night, an eight-hundred-li urgent military report reached the palace, confirming that what the steward said is true!"

Seeing that Chai Chai Zhengzheng wanted to ask questions, the head of the Chai family waved his hand to signal her to listen, then said: "The day before yesterday, people in Beizhou gathered troops to rebel; they have already occupied Beizhou City and closed the city gates in all directions."

Hearing these words,

Chai Chai Zhengzheng furrowed her brows and said somewhat unbelievingly: "Re... rebel?"

The head of the Chai family nodded affirmatively.

Miss Yun Mu, standing aside attending to them, opened her mouth slightly, clearly shocked by this news as well.

The side room fell completely silent.

Chai Chai Zhengzheng's eyes darted about, blinking rapidly several times, clearly thinking over something.

After estimating someone's itinerary, Chai Chai Zhengzheng was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when she looked up and saw her father and mother exchanging 'meaningful glances.'

Seeing her daughter looking over, the head of the Chai family smiled.

But facing Chai Chai Zhengzheng's extremely concerned gaze, filled with inquiry,

Master Chai lowered his head and began to examine the teacup in his hand with great care.

After Lady Chai shot a disdainful glance at her husband, she turned sideways and said, "Chai Zhengzheng, I heard that after Young Master Jing of the Xu family received this news, he spurred his horse and rushed to Beizhou."

Chai Chai Zhengzheng's hands trembled: "He, how could he be like this!"

Lady Chai stood up, walked over, took her daughter's hand, and said, "Chai Zhengzheng, do not worry too much! When your father and I traveled from Cangzhou to Bianjing, we passed through Beizhou midway; we saw that the walls of Beizhou were towering. No matter how capable Young Master Jing is, it would be difficult for him to enter!"

"Since he has repeatedly achieved merit in the Northwest, he must be clever and understand when to advance or retreat; he will not risk his life! Do not worry! Ah!"

As she spoke, Lady Chai patted her daughter's hand.

Master Chai lifted his gaze from the teacup, looked at his beautiful young daughter who appeared lost in thought, sighed slightly, and changed the subject:

"Zheng'er, your mother is right!"

"Moreover, there is good news: previously, Your Majesty wished to see whether the soldiers of several northern military prefectures could maintain their combat effectiveness in winter; by a stroke of fate, three armies are currently rushing toward Beizhou."

Upon hearing these words, Chai Chai Zhengzheng came to her senses and nodded repeatedly.

"Let us hope they can enter the city in time to quell the rebellion; otherwise, if the bandits, driven to desperation, burn the cloth and military supplies stored in Beizhou, valued at several million strings of cash, it will be a catastrophic disaster!"

Within Beizhou City,

in the Department Magistrate's yamen,

the main gates stood wide open,

and in the courtyard, several braziers were propped up alongside bonfires burning directly on the ground.

Quite a few people had gathered around the bonfires, over which iron pots were placed, with white steam billowing upward.

From time to time, someone would toss a few pieces of wood into the braziers or bonfires, sending a trail of sparks drifting into the air.

From the innermost part of the yamen came sounds of laughter, music, and women's screams.

Not far from the bonfires, in a dark corner, inside a wooden cage usually used to imprison criminals, a man wearing only a white single-layer robe was locked up.

At this moment,

from the depths of the yamen,

someone emerged, holding a leg of mutton in one hand and carrying a jar of wine in the other.

Upon seeing this person, those by the bonfire hurriedly stood up, pressing their palms together in salute.

After nodding, that person walked toward the wooden cage at the side, squatted down to look at the man inside, and said, "Vice-Commandant Du, the Buddha Son's patience has its limits! If you do not surrender, your wife and children will..."

"Clang~"

The man in the wooden cage struggled slightly, shaking the cage; the other person said, "Bu Xiang, how can you have the face to call yourselves believers of Maitreya by doing such things?"

The man called Bu Xiang raised the leg of mutton in his hand and continued, "Vice-Commandant, if you surrender, you will have mutton to eat and wine to drink, and your family will be preserved!"

"If you do not surrender... nowadays, the city defenses of Beizhou still rely heavily on your guidance; truly, once the Buddha Son's people have figured out the situation, you will become dispensable."

"And then..."

Seeing the person in the wooden cage fall silent, Bu Xiang stood up, shook his head with a sigh, and said, "Very well! My niece is still so young... Alas, what a pity!"

"I... I... am willing to surrender!"

"Someone, come and open the cage!" Bu Xiang smiled and shouted toward the side.

Soon, Vice-Commandant Du was draped in clothes and led into the depths of the yamen.

Having been hungry for who knows how long, Vice-Commandant Du entered a room heated by an underfloor kang; the sudden shift from cold to hot made him shiver.

There were many people in the room; some Vice-Commandant Du recognized, while others were quite unfamiliar.

Looking at the burly, curly-bearded man sitting in the center of the hall, wearing armor beneath a purple kasaya, Vice-Commandant Du trembled as he clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Buddha Son Pan!"

"Hahaha! Brother Du has backbone; surprisingly, you held out for so many days! Come, please take a seat!"

The burly man, seated in a chair, smiled and extended his hand.

After some rounds of toasts and drinks, the burly man said, "Brother Du, what do you think of the city defense arrangements described by Bu Xiang? With high walls and deep moats, no matter how many troops the Great Zhou sends, they will never break into my Land of Ultimate Bliss!"

Having eaten and drunk until his body warmed up, Vice-Commandant Du shook his head: "Buddha Son, there is one place that requires strict vigilance!"

"Oh? Where?"

"The water gates on the east and west sides!"

"Water gates? Haha, Brother Du makes a valid point! Bu Xiang has already ordered men to install grilles at the water gates within the walls!"

Listening to their conversation, Bu Xiang, who had just released Vice-Commandant Du, nodded with self-satisfaction and said, "Vice-Commandant, in weather like this, entering the water would make one so cold they could not exert any strength..."

Vice-Commandant Du shook his head to interrupt him, saying, "My meaning is to completely seal off the water gates! Otherwise, if daring men risk death to saw through the grilles, or tie ropes to them and drag them with horses, it will become a flaw in the city defenses!"

The others sitting in the room, upon hearing these words, some nodded in agreement, while someone spoke out: "In this season, who would dare to enter the water? They would freeze to death!"

Vice-Commandant Du glanced at the person who had spoken: "When the great armies gather, whoever enters Beizhou first will achieve the Rong Xian Deng Zhi Gong! Titles for one's wife and hereditary privileges for one's sons will be assured; how could they not dare?"

"Hiss~" At the head of the room, Pan Ce, formerly the Vice-Commander of the Xuanyi Army and now the Maitreya Buddha Son, gasped sharply:

"Go, quickly send men to seal off the water gates!"

"Fortunately, no troops have arrived yet; otherwise... the future consequences would be endless!"

Someone in the room hurriedly walked outward,

but collided head-on with a person entering at the doorway.

The two separated, and the person entering said urgently, "Bud... Buddha Son, just now someone reported from the northern city wall: a long column carrying torches has appeared in the northwest! They are moving very fast!"

At these words, everyone in the room looked at each other in dismay, momentarily speechless.

It was still Vice-Commandant Du who spoke:

"Moving very fast means it is cavalry! Most likely, it is the newly trained cavalry between Beizhou and Zhending Prefecture! Their commander is from the Zhang family, the Duke of Britain."

"Cavalry cannot attack a city."

At these words, the atmosphere in the room immediately relaxed considerably.

Beizhou City,

near the eastern city wall inside the city,

In a courtyard by the street, some distance from the water gate,

candles burned within the yard, and shadows of figures flickered upon the window paper.

The candlelight spilling out illuminated the ground outside, where one could faintly discern someone lying prone upon the earth,

and by that dim candlelight, it was visible that this man was no more than twenty-odd years of age,

his stiff arms stretched forward, frost already formed upon his head and hands, blood beneath him, though no one knew how Longhe had been dead.

Beside him lay scattered quite a few medicinal herbs.

Inside the house,

faint sounds of lewd laughter and a woman's barely audible moans could be heard.

Suddenly,

a tall, robust black shadow appeared beside the corpse, approaching the house with silent steps.

"Creak~"

The sound of the door opening rang out in the dark night.

Then,

another tall shadow appeared upon the window paper inside the room,

"You—"

"Wha—"

Before either sentence could be finished, after a few soft shouts,

a 'hiss-hiss' sound of escaping air rang out inside the house, and instantly a streak of dark liquid sprayed across the window paper.

After a few more black shadows appeared, they entered the house.

Outside, beneath the window where the candlelight fell,

the frost-covered corpse from earlier was moved aside by someone.

A moment later,

several naked, steam-rising things were thrown to that spot.

Inside the house,

a woman with swollen red cheeks and lips pulled the quilt around herself, cowering in the far corner of the earthen kang, formed by a large wooden chest and the wall.

Her eyes, filled with extreme terror, stared at the several people who had appeared inside the room.

Although these people wore only thin clothing, with just one of them clad in chainmail armor,

the blades, spears, bows, and arrows they had carried into the house were piled high.

"Yuan Erlang, do not cover your nose; you must get used to this smell."

A youth, not yet grown but quite tall,

spoke to another young man while wiping bloodstains from his hands.

Gao Gao Puyu looked at the woman on the kang and said, "This Da Da Niangzi, we have avenged your blood feud for you. Is there any grain or food left in this courtyard? We are starving and freezing."

Having spoken, seeing that the woman showed no sign of responding and only stared at everyone with a terrified expression, Gao Gao Puyu shook his head, sighed, and walked outside.

Xu Xu Zaijing and Gu Gu Tingye exchanged a glance,

then followed in Gao Gao Puyu's footsteps,

and exited the house.

"Young Master, the five sets of armor from the bandits we killed are now complete."

Brother Qingyun stood to one side, holding a thick breastplate in each hand as he spoke.

Xu Xu Zaijing hummed in acknowledgment.

Gu Gu Tingye said, "Jing-ge'er, is that woman mad?"

Gao Gao Yunqing, standing nearby, said softly, "It is better if she is mad; if mad, she need not remember these tragic events."

Gu Gu Tingye, his face grim as he looked at the corpses in the courtyard, nodded.

Two quarter-hours later,

Xu Xu Zaijing and the others helped themselves, roughly consuming a mouthful of hot rice.

Everyone else exited the courtyard, taking the bandits' corpses and tossing them elsewhere.

Xu Xu Zaijing remained behind until last.

Before departing, Xu Xu Zaijing carried a bowl of hot porridge and a steamed cake into the room where the woman was.

Glancing at the woman in the corner who remained terrified,

Xu Xu Zaijing placed the items on the bed and said, "We have taken a few ginseng roots! Also... let the child in the chest eat something."

Ignoring how the woman suddenly tensed, her expression clearing as her eyes turned like those of a mother wolf, Xu Xu Zaijing turned and walked outward: "If it is not enough, there is more outside! But, absolutely do not leave the courtyard!"

Only after Xu Xu Zaijing's figure vanished at the doorway did the woman relax.

After glancing at the porridge and cake, the woman, her limbs weak and soft, dragged the bedding from beside the wall aside, opened the large wooden chest beneath it, and looking at the two children sleeping faintly inside, her eyes, which had already cried dry, filled once more with tears.

Just as she was about to reach for the steamed cake,

footsteps sounded again outside, causing the woman to swiftly close the wooden chest once more and stack the bedding neatly over it.

Xu Xu Zaijing, now clad in a set of bandit armor, appeared inside the room again; forcing a faint friendly smile, he placed a sheathed dagger in his hand beside the kang and said, "Wu Da Da Niangzi, keep this for self-defense."

Having spoken, Xu Xu Zaijing was about to stride outward again.

"Benefactor! May this humble one ask your Gao Xingdaming!"

The woman's hoarse voice rang out.

Xu Xu Zaijing halted his steps, turned back, and gave a slight nod: "Wu Da Da Niangzi, take care."

Having spoken, Xu Xu Zaijing walked outside.

Outside Beizhou City,

The morning light was just beginning to brighten,

Nearly a thousand cavalry troops were arrayed here,

Several cavalry commanders, weary from travel, reined in their horses beneath banners bearing the characters 'Zhang' and 'Huang,' gazing up at the towering walls of Beizhou City; their expressions were exceedingly grim.

"Commander! A man claiming to be He Guan, a Guard Commander of the Imperial Palace in Bianjing, is requesting an audience outside the formation."

"He Guan? How could he be here?"

(End of Chapter)