Chapter 49: Section Fourteen

Since Sun Degong was a traitor, the engagement between Huang Shi and the Sun family was naturally void, but no one would think it unreasonable if Huang Shi kept her as a concubine. On the contrary, Huang Shi would probably earn praise for being both affectionate and righteous.

Miss Sun and Guaibaobao were brought in together, and the soldiers had not handled them roughly. Clearly they did not know how Huang Shi would deal with his former fiancée, so they dared not show her any disrespect.

Contrary to what Huang Shi had imagined, Miss Sun, though her eyes were full of grief and indignation, held her head high the entire time. Guaibaobao kept her head lowered, and Huang Shi could not see her expression at all.

Huang Shi nodded stiffly and cleared his throat. "Miss Sun, your father's crimes are unpardonable. Between him and me it is a national feud, not a personal grudge…"

Miss Sun glared at him in furious silence, and her gaze made Huang Shi's voice grow smaller and smaller. He could face Hong Taiji and Sun Degong without changing expression, could speak with fervent passion before Wang Huazhen, yet this innocent girl's gaze made Huang Shi feel utterly unable to withstand it.

He hastily ended his words of self-justification, not even knowing why he was so desperate to justify himself. "From now on, I will take care of you, Miss. Manxiong, escort the young lady away."

"Villain!" the girl suddenly shouted. She seemed to want to say more, but before the next words could leave her mouth, she was already choking too much to speak. Zhao Manxiong and a few soldiers stepped forward, but they dared not pull her by force, and loudly rebuking the future young madam also seemed improper, so everyone in the hall remained silent.

The girl quickly reined in her weakness. Her expression, in Huang Shi's eyes, seemed to be one of resolve. Gritting her teeth, she said, "My grandmother, my father, my mother, and my brothers all died at the hands of a villain like you. My sisters were all taken by your beastly underlings…"

Faced with such hatred, Huang Shi had no words. He cut off Miss Sun. "That was not my intention. I will see that you lack neither food nor clothing."

At these words, the hatred on the girl's face turned to madness, and the syllables squeezed out from between her teeth. "Duplicitous villain, you deceived my father so bitterly, and now you still want to fool me? My father and mother died miserably at your hands, and now you want to defile me. Huang Shi, you beast, don't think I know nothing. If not for my father's great cause, how could I ever have given myself to a base wretch like you…"

Several times in between, Yang Luhuo and Zhao Manxiong looked toward Huang Shi, but Huang Shi shook his head each time, signaling that there was no need to interrupt the girl's outburst. Though Miss Sun tried her utmost to curse him bitterly, she could only repeat a few impotent words like "beast" and "villain" over and over. Finally, exhausted from cursing, she stopped on her own, panting heavily. During this, Guaibaobao, head lowered, tugged once at the hem of her dress, but Miss Sun shook her off forcefully.

Just like that merchant spitting in his face, when Huang Shi was cursed by the innocent, he felt no anger, only a kind of sorrow — a sense of helplessness corroded by fate, the times, and feudal tradition. Slaughtering the innocent had never been Huang Shi's wish. As he averted his eyes from that venomous gaze, Huang Shi saw Jin Qiude watching him with piercing intensity. The moment he realized Huang Shi had noticed him, Jin Qiude immediately shook his head.

Thinking that Huang Shi could be intimate with a girl while simultaneously plotting against her father, Jin Qiude felt sincere admiration. He doubted he himself possessed such self-possession. When Huang Shi's gaze fell upon his face, Jin Qiude knew that Huang Shi was, after all, still somewhat soft-hearted — a woman who knew secrets could never be kept alive.

Huang Shi swallowed. He saw Zhao Manxiong also shaking his head at him in warning. Zhao Manxiong felt this woman was too dangerous — a gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall, as the saying went. Although Yang Luhuo had a similar feeling, he evaded Huang Shi's searching eyes and bit the corner of his lip without any reaction.

When Huang Shi raised his hand, Yang Luhuo finally spoke in desperation:

"My lord, think twice."

His arm had already swept heavily downward, pointing at Jin Qiude. The words "Leave her to your disposal" had already surged to his lips, but Huang Shi's mouth hung open, and he delayed giving the order.

Jin Qiude waited a moment. Seeing that Huang Shi's hand remained pointed at him but no sound came, he cupped his fists in salute and bowed. "Order received."

As he led the girl away, Miss Sun did not cry, did not make a scene, and did not speak. With perfect composure, she said she wished to return to her own boudoir. Huang Shi stiffly withdrew his arm, his face as wooden as a stone carving. Guaibaobao, trembling, threw herself forward and knelt on the ground. She cried out "My lord!" once, then did nothing but weep. Huang Shi maintained his lofty, statue-like demeanor, as if he did not hear the weeping at all.

Jin Qiude secretly rejoiced. "My lord has made the correct judgment, and my Jin Qiude's counsel played a part in it."

Miss Sun was taken away. Guaibaobao clung to Huang Shi's leg, pleading piteously, her form of address shifting between my lord, Master, Lord Huang, and Commander Huang.

"My lord, think twice." Yang Luhuo could not help speaking again. "She is only a woman."

"Do you think I am being overly cautious?" Huang Shi asked, his voice so icy that even he could not recognize it.

"This subordinate would not dare."

"She is also very beautiful, so you find it all the more a pity." The emotionless voice was cold as ice and snow, its metallic tone concealing the weakness and turmoil in its owner's heart. "The enmity for one's parents is irreconcilable under the same sky. No matter how beautiful she is, I believe there are women in this world more beautiful than her — and who do not share with me the enmity of a slaughtered family."

Guaibaobao let out a miserable cry and fainted.

Zhao Manxiong, Yang Luhuo, and the several soldiers were steeped in this murderous atmosphere. Not a single one of them dared to let out a deep breath. Jin Qiude finally returned. He cupped his fists with enthusiasm and said, "My lord, it is done."

Huang Shi nodded silently. Jin Qiude then cast a disgusted glance at Guaibaobao on the floor and looked up at Huang Shi. "My lord, leave this one to your subordinate as well."

Hearing this, Yang Luhuo spoke up loudly. "Brother Jin won't even spare a maidservant?"

"The Sun family treated her with great kindness. If my lord keeps her by his side, this subordinate will not be at ease," Jin Qiude said with righteous confidence.

"Nonsense. What importance does a maidservant have?"

Zhao Manxiong suddenly interjected, "If Miss Sun were here, no one could say anything if my lord took in a woman with a betrothal agreement, and naturally there would be no problem with her either. But with Miss Sun gone, for my lord to take a rebel general's maidservant as a concubine — this subordinate considers it improper."

Under normal circumstances, this would not have been a problem, but the relationship between Huang Shi and Sun Degong was extremely delicate, and right now was precisely the time when it was hardest to disentangle. A woman with a betrothal agreement was one thing, but keeping a senior maidservant like Guaibaobao as a concubine could always lead to unsavory rumors. Moreover, with the chaos of war not yet settled, for Huang Shi to impatiently take a concubine instead of rewarding his subordinates would be bad no matter how one looked at it.

Jin Qiude loudly agreed. "Exactly. Uproot evil completely."

"She counts as evil?" Yang Luhuo retorted, his face red and his neck bulging.

"Exactly," Jin Qiude said with righteous solemnity. "She is a confidante of the Sun family."

"Fear not the ten thousand, fear only the one in ten thousand," Zhao Manxiong chimed in from the side. "Can you guarantee her? Can you bear the responsibility for my lord's safety?"

Unable to out-argue them, Yang Luhuo merely cupped his fists toward Huang Shi. "My lord, between her and my lord there is no enmity of a slaughtered father."

Zhao Manxiong continued coldly. "My lord has issued a clear order: 'The women of the Sun residence may be taken as you please.' Since my lord cannot keep her, does Brother Yang intend to push her out to the soldiers outside? Then she would truly wish for death rather than life. Or does Brother Yang want my lord to break faith with his soldiers?"

"Do not kill her, and do not hand her over to the soldiers." Huang Shi, who had remained silent all this while, finally spoke.

"My lord!" Jin Qiude and Zhao Manxiong cried out in unison.

Huang Shi waved his hand to silence them. "I did say that all the women of the Sun residence would be bestowed upon my subordinates."

The girl's lips, her warmth, her smiles and tears, her sorrows and joys. After hearing Zhao Manxiong's words, Huang Shi understood that he could not keep her.

"Yang Luhuo is also my subordinate, is he not?" Huang Shi asked Zhao Manxiong. Without waiting for an answer, he turned to Yang Luhuo. "I give her to you."

Zhao Manxiong was indifferent either way, but Jin Qiude still attempted to argue.

Huang Shi said wearily, "All of you, withdraw. Yang Luhuo, you stay."

After Zhao Manxiong and Jin Qiude withdrew, Huang Shi pointed at Guaibaobao and recounted the events of that day. Finally, he said to Yang Luhuo, "No matter what, she refused to betray you. She is a very fine girl. I have not touched her; she is still untouched. Treat her well."

After hearing the story, Yang Luhuo stood stunned for a long time. Then, without a word, he unfastened his cloak and draped it over Guaibaobao, wrapping the girl from head to toe. Startled awake, Guaibaobao struggled in the pitch darkness. Yang Luhuo gently patted the cloak and spoke a few soft words, soothing the frightened girl. Then he lifted her horizontally in his arms, stood up, and said to Huang Shi with great respect, "As you command, my lord."

Sun Degong's study naturally had to be dealt with immediately. Huang Shi did not want any secret letters falling into other people's hands. He ordered Jin Qiude to handle this matter, then asked one more question. "And Miss Sun?"

"In her boudoir." Jin Qiude then apologized. "This subordinate was remiss and forgot to search her room."

"I will go myself."

Huang Shi left his personal guards outside and pushed open the door to Miss Sun's room alone. The girl hanging from the roof beam had her eyes wide open, her tongue protruding ungracefully, her face a purplish black.

Huang Shi gently closed the door, carried Miss Sun to the bed, closed her eyes and mouth, and after some arrangement, the girl looked as if she had merely fallen into a deep sleep. At this moment, it felt to Huang Shi as if a great stone and a massive hammer were pounding repeatedly inside his chest.

He saw a silk-wrapped bundle on the dressing table, very delicate, clearly something the girl had treasured greatly.

Huang Shi opened it with light, careful hands. Inside was a tree branch, covered with blooming plum blossoms.

"Master, your servant wishes to ask for a keepsake, something to hold as a memento." The girl's shy-before-speaking expression surfaced again before Huang Shi's eyes.

Huang Shi stroked the plum blossoms on this branch.

…

"It's a pity the plum blossoms will wither in a few days." In ancient times, the tokens lovers gave to girls were always jade — for the auspicious promise of everlasting permanence. The girl had been slightly dissatisfied with this gift from Huang Shi.

…

Gold and silver foil was carefully sewn onto every plum blossom, so the plum blossoms in Huang Shi's hands still bloomed proudly and defiantly; the blossoms pieced together would never wither.

……

"Rest assured, my lord, your servant has a way." That day when they parted, the girl touched the plum blossoms and pondered for a moment; a delighted smile surfaced on her bright, clear face.

……

"I was not this kind of person before!" Huang Shi actually felt some conscience escape from his eyes, and that bit of conscience then slid down his cheeks. Huang Shi recalled his favorite author from his past life, Gu Long — the demonic villains in martial arts novels generally did not kill people, unless they were lofty scholars, renowned ministers, great heroes, or beautiful women.

"If you cannot even be a demonic villain, do you still aspire to be an emperor?"

Huang Shi quickly kissed the girl on the forehead, turned and left the room. Yet another piece of conscience that an emperor cannot possess was cast aside, left behind beside the withered blossoms.