Chapter 483

The princess's marriage is, after all, a great joy celebrated throughout the country; Wen Boyuan originally wanted to have these beggars driven away, but Minister of Rites Wu Jing Shan deemed it inappropriate—not to mention a royal wedding, even an ordinary commoner's daughter marrying often encounters beggars coming to the door under the pretense of congratulations to beg for alms; handling such matters usually involves giving them some silver coins to add to the merriment. However, Princess Anping's distant marriage today has not been publicly announced, so how did these beggars find out?

Wen Boyuan coldly stared at the group of beggars ahead, densely packed and blocking the road; roughly estimating, there must be close to a hundred people. It's impossible for so many beggars to have coincidentally gathered here—could they have known in advance that the princess would pass this road? Thus they assembled here to seek rewards.

Wu Jing Shan said in a low voice, "Just give them some silver; after all, it's a great joy, and we shouldn't resort to force."

Wen Boyuan nodded, and before even leaving Kangdu he ran into this trouble. He is not in charge of giving rewards; his duty this time is to protect Princess Anping's safety. Wu Jing Shan is responsible for overall coordination and serves as their chief commander. As for logistical supplies, that falls to the vice marriage envoy Hu Xiaotian. The three of them thus have a clear division of labor, but this is only superficial; behind the scenes there is a balance of power and maneuvering, each backed by a patron. Put bluntly, one controls the troops' military authority, another controls the finances, while Wu Jing Shan's role is merely to smooth things over. Although he is a marriage envoy, he was the last to be appointed, somewhat like a fire brigade.

Actually, after Wu Jing Shan finished speaking, he himself realized that this matter should be handed to Hu Xiaotian. He turned to his personal guard Wu Kui and said, "Go call Lord Hu over; I have something to discuss with him."

Wu Kui turned his horse toward the convoy and soon returned, looking resentful, saying, "He said he must protect the princess. He also said that if you have any business, you can come find him yourself."

Wen Boyuan, listening on the side, secretly amused. Although he and Hu Xiaotian have had little interaction, he knows this kid is no good soul; he just didn't expect Hu Xiaotian to be so arrogant and hard to handle, openly defying Wu Jing Shan's summons even before leaving the imperial city. Wu Jing Shan, a third‑rank Minister of Rites and the chief marriage envoy of this mission, surely cannot swallow this insult.

Wu Jing Shan surprisingly showed no anger, habitually stroking his goat‑beard and softly saying, "Holding to one's duty is not wrong." He has already suffered two setbacks at Hu Xiaotian's hands; though advanced in age, his mind is not muddled, otherwise he could not have survived dynastic changes and remained employed. He does not want to be this marriage envoy, but Wen Boyuan and Hu Xiaotian, though juniors, each have powerful patrons behind them. The emperor likely appointed him as marriage envoy to balance the two sides and mediate the conflict between Hu Xiaotian and Wen Boyuan as much as possible.

Wu Jing Shan told Wu Kui, "Make another run and say there's a large group of beggars blocking the road ahead."

Wu Kui felt deeply puzzled. His lord is a third‑rank official—why should he be polite to a palace eunuch? But since Wu Jing Shan said so, he dared not disobey; he could only suppress his anger and go look for Hu Xiaotian again. He had just turned his horse around when he saw Hu Xiaotian swaying over on his donkey. In fact, aside from Hu Xiaotian himself, most people think he is riding a donkey. Many even secretly chuckle that a eunuch on a donkey is a perfect match.

Xiao Hui obviously wasn't used to such a grand spectacle; his ears drooped, he looked listless, and his steps were weak and lacking energy.

Wu Kui thought, "You're being sensible; otherwise, if you anger my master, you'll have to answer for it."

Hu Xiaotian originally had no intention of giving Wu Jing Shan face, but Long Xi Yue had asked him to come and see; the princess's words cannot be ignored. Moreover, hearing that a group of beggars had blocked the road stirred his curiosity, and the first thing that came to mind was the band of beggars he and Qiqi had encountered on the first day of the month.

Wu Jing Shan said, "Lord Hu, you've come at just the right time; a group of beggars ahead is blocking the road, asking for congratulatory money. How do you think this should be handled?" On the surface he sounded like he was consulting Hu Xiaotian, but in reality he was passing the problem to him.

Hu Xiaotian replied, "Sir Wu, you are our superior; the emperor himself said that I and General Wen must obey you—whatever you say, we will do." Passing the buck is easy; we haven't even left the capital yet, and whenever something comes up they just push it onto me, which I'm too lazy to handle. My duties are to protect the princess and guard the finances; besides, I've secretly taken care of Wen Boyuan, and I couldn't be bothered with anything else.

Wu Jing Shan said, "In my opinion, just take out some silver to send them away and that'll do."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Sir Wu, you're indeed clever, but where would the silver come from?" That question left Wu Jing Shan speechless, and he replied, "Aren't you in charge of all expenses along the way?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Sir Wu, you yourself said I am responsible for all expenses on the road—from here to Yongdu, several thousand li, the food, clothing, and daily needs of our seven hundred plus people; the money in my hands is all public funds, and since it's public money it must be spent clearly and transparently, and that does not include giving alms to beggars."

Wu Jing Shan said, "Well…"

Hu Xiaotian said, "However, since Sir Wu has spoken, this money will certainly be spent; but please have Sir Wu write a memo stating where the money goes, so that I can account for it later."

Although Wu Jing Shan knew this kid was deliberately making things difficult, his argument was sound enough; he nodded and said, "I'll make it up to you later."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Fine, then Sir Wu, how much should we give as a reward?"

Wu Jing Shan narrowed his eyes, looked at the kneeling mass of beggars ahead, and said, "Twenty taels, perhaps."

Hu Xiaotian secretly laughed at Wu Jing Shan's stinginess; with so many beggars, twenty taels would hardly be enough to send them off. He had someone fetch twenty taels and give them to Wu Kui to deliver, but Wu Kui soon returned, looking sullen, saying, "Sir, those beggars refuse it—maybe they think it's too little."

Upon hearing this, Wu Jing Shan flared up, "Beggars picking and choosing—if it weren't for the princess's wedding, I wouldn't be so generous." Hu Xiaotian said, "Twenty taels is too little for them; how much do they want?"

Didn't say!

Wen Boyuan let out a cold snort from the side and said, "Really, refusing a toast and drinking the penalty wine—I'll go check!" He grabbed the reins, the fine horse neighed, kicked up its four hooves and galloped toward the front of the procession. Hu Xiaotian felt something odd today; could this bunch of beggars be coming for him? He also spurred his horse to follow.

At the head of Yongxing Bridge knelt about a hundred or more beggars, who shouted in unison, "We wish the Princess a blessed marriage; we commoners have come specially to see her off, wishing her a smooth journey and eternal peace."

Wen Boyuan rode to the very front of the procession, pulled back on the reins, coldly stared at the beggars kneeling at the bridgehead, and loudly threatened, "We are escorting Princess Anping to Da Yong; as subjects of Dakang, how can you arbitrarily block the Princess's procession? Quickly withdraw to the sides and clear the road; if you delay the Princess's journey, we will seize you all and punish you."

One of the beggars chuckled hehe and said, "Sir, we are all good-hearted commoners; we came here only to speak a few words of blessing, to personally present something to the Princess, to fulfill a wish, harboring no ill intent."

At that moment Hu Xiaotian and Wu Jing shan also came up beside Wen Boyuan; Hu Xiaotian instantly recognized the speaker leading the beggars as Zhu Ba, who had stolen Qiqi's mount that day—this beggar's audacity was truly remarkable, daring to lead a crowd to block the wedding procession's path.

Wen Boyuan's hand slowly rested on his sword hilt as he shouted, "Make way!" His voice thundered like a clap across the dawn sky, making the bystanders' ears ring. From that shout alone one could judge his inner strength to be immense. Hu Xiaotian recalled Ji Feihua's assignment to him—taking down this fellow would not be so easy.

Zhu Ba was not frightened by Wen Boyuan's shout; he chuckled hehe and said, "Sir, you are indeed imposing, but it seems we have done nothing wrong—could presenting a gift to the Princess be a crime?"

Wen Boyuan was about to erupt when a languid voice said, "Since there is a gift to be presented, hand it to me—I will later deliver it to the Princess." It was Hu Xiaotian stepping forward at that moment.

Zhu Ba lifted his head to look at Hu Xiaotian, a faint smile touching his lips, and nodded, saying, "That works too!"

Hu Xiaotian dismounted and walked over to Zhu Ba, whereupon all the beggars rose to their feet.

Wen Boyuan and Wu Jing shan exchanged a glance, both flashing a hint of surprise on their faces, yet they did not know what connection Hu Xiaotian had with these beggars, nor why he stepped forward now.

Hu Xiaotian came before Zhu Ba, who said, "Great strength!"

The hulking Zhu Dalì, resembling a deity descended to earth, stepped out of the crowd, holding a white puppy in his arms; Hu Xiaotian burst out laughing, never expecting that these beggars had risen early and knelt here just to present a dog to the Princess.

Zhu Ba said, "Twelve years ago in winter, I, Zhu Ba, was starving and exhausted, gravely ill, lying near death on the street; I happened to collide with the convoy of the Noble Consort—if not for Lady Li giving me clothes and money for treatment, I would have frozen to death on the streets. Though the Noble Consort is no longer with us, I dare not forget this great kindness."

Hu Xiaotian never expected such a backstory; he laughed and said, "Twelve years ago—Princess Anping probably doesn't even remember it."

Zhu Ba said, "Back then the Princess was still a little girl; when the Noble Consort rescued me, her little dog suddenly ran away."

Hu Xiaotian's eyes shifted; Zhu Ba's story sounded plausible, but if they claimed to have recovered the dog lost twelve years ago, Hu Xiaotian would not believe it even if beaten to death.

The puppy cradled in Zhu Dalì's arms was pure snow‑white all over, like a fluffy snowball; its eyes were dark and glossy, its nose tip a black dot, making it utterly adorable.

Hu Xiaotian pointed at the dog and asked, "Is this the one?"

Second update uploaded—I guess you're low on Monthly Tickets, so scrape together a few rating tickets instead; I'm on a roll, writing smoothly, and I'm begging for ratings! Push the score up, push it up! If you have free tickets, please cast them—no need to spend money on ratings, thanks! (To be continued…~^~)