Chapter 13: How About We Consummate the Marriage Right Now?

"Qi Xiahhu, how does this Ganzhou salt taste?" Zhang Zhao suddenly blurted out just as the atmosphere in the temple was turning awkward.

Qi Xiahhu's face instantly changed color. He stared at Zhang Zhao in shock, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead with a sudden rush.

"Y-young lord, why do you say such a thing? The stronghold can't even get coarse salt from Shouchang, so where would Ganzhou salt come from?"

"You still dare lie to me! Before the spirit of the Grand Guardian, under the bright light of heaven, if you speak one more false word, aren't you afraid the thunder will strike you dead?" Zhang Zhao shot to his feet and roared.

Qi Xiahhu shuddered violently. Only now did he remember that his wife's younger brother had just come to report that the Grand Guardian had manifested his divine power in the temple, and had even bestowed golden armor and a golden helmet to help the young lord slay the enemy.

Could there really be a spirit here? Otherwise how could that young lord, who by all accounts only knew how to chant sutras and eat vegetarian meals, suddenly think of Ganzhou salt?

Run! That was Qi Xiahhu's first reaction. Since the Grand Guardian's spirit had seen through him, if he didn't flee at once, he might really be struck by lightning.

Zhang Zhao had long anticipated what Qi Xiahhu might do. He lunged forward a step, seized Qi Xiahhu's arm ahead of time and twisted it back, then kicked at the hollow of Qi Xiahhu's right knee.

Qi Xiahhu cried out in alarm, staggered, and dropped to one knee on the ground. Zhang Zhao took the opportunity to press down on his back and neck, pinning him firmly.

Qi Xiahhu was actually taller and sturdier than Zhang Zhao, and normally practiced some boxing and staff fighting, so by rights he should not have been subdued so easily.

But he had a guilty conscience and was badly shaken. On top of that, he believed the Grand Guardian's heroic spirit had truly seen through his little scheme, and in his panic he even forgot to resist.

"You speak of righteousness with such conviction, yet in your heart you're still working your own little calculations. Qi Xiahhu, are you worthy of your father, who fought the Ganzhou Uyghurs in bloody battle at Yumen Pass?"

Even as Zhang Zhao roared, he was secretly drenched in cold sweat himself. Damn it, you really can't know a man's heart by his face!

This Qi Xiahhu — at first glance he'd seemed a bold and forthright fellow. Later, when he'd helped Lady Cao Sanniang out of a tight spot, Zhang Zhao had thought he still had some conscience. And just now, watching him kowtow to the deity's statue, he'd believed the man could be saved.

But as it turned out, the bastard had long since been in contact with the Uyghurs. No wonder he'd been so at ease letting more than a hundred Uyghurs under Geduo's command come straight into the stronghold.

Damn it all — if Zhang Zhao hadn't known how things turned out in later history, and hadn't let his imagination run wild connecting the salt to the Ganzhou Uyghurs, he really might have been fooled by this dog. And when the time came, if he'd handed over his entire plan expecting Qi Xiahhu to lend a hand, he'd have died a thoroughly miserable death.

Pinned to the ground by Zhang Zhao, Qi Xiahhu felt as though a great mountain were pressing on his back. Several times he struggled to rise but couldn't summon the strength, which made him even more convinced that the Grand Guardian's spirit truly was present — because the old Zhang Zhao, let alone subduing him, Qi Xiahhu, probably couldn't even have beaten one of the sturdier women in his own stronghold.

"Young lord, I had no choice! These hundred-odd people still have to live! The Great King Linggong gives us no way to survive, so we had no choice but to find another place to go!"

Damn — if he hadn't brought that up, it would've been fine, but the more he mentioned it, the angrier Zhang Zhao got. As for the only remaining political legacy left by his "good father" Zhang Chengfeng, old Zhang Zhong looked foolish but was actually even more foolish. He'd originally thought Qi Xiahhu counted as a man of talent, but now, looking at him — hell, the man looked clever but was actually a fool as well.

Furious, Zhang Zhao hauled Qi Xiahhu up and marched him toward the door, then pointed at the Uyghur camp in the valley and roared in a low voice.

"You idiot, open your eyes and look! Look at what these Kucha Uyghurs want to do! They want your stronghold, they want your women, they want your daughter to bear their descendants, and they want your young son to be their slave — but the one thing they don't want is you!

Because you and the twenty or thirty able-bodied men under you are of no value to them at all — on the contrary, you'd be a threat!

Why would the Uyghurs accept your surrender instead of killing you all and seizing everything you have? Don't tell me that Bald-Hair Tiger, whose bandit name is known all the way to Dunhuang, is some great and compassionate Buddha!"

With that, Zhang Zhao abruptly released Qi Xiahhu. "Fool! I thought you were somebody, but you can't even see this much. Fool! If you want your wife and children to become slaves, I won't stop you. Go on down right now — go inform on me to the Uyghurs!"

But even as he said this, Zhang Zhao had secretly hidden a short knife in his sleeve. If Qi Xiahhu really dared to go down, Zhang Zhao would finish him with a single stroke.

Still, Zhang Zhao believed Qi Xiahhu probably wouldn't go down. From the way he'd helped Lady Cao Sanniang out of trouble earlier, one could see that although this man had agreed to submit to the Uyghurs, in his heart he didn't want to become one of them. He still hoped to work with Zhang Zhao and maintain a certain independence — after all, no one wants to be a slave to a foreign tribe.

Sure enough, once released, Qi Xiahhu did not immediately flee. Instead he turned back to look at Zhang Zhao with lifeless eyes.

"Young lord, the Uyghurs have the ambitions of wolves, but the Military Governor's office also treats us as though we don't exist! Without enough salt and hemp cloth, we won't survive this winter.

And even if we get through this year, what about afterward? Must we go through this salt and cloth shortage every single year? Grand Guardian! How are we supposed to survive?"

This was the truth in Qi Xiahhu's heart!

"How are you supposed to survive?" Zhang Zhao nodded. He had long since thought of a way, but it would probably take forcing Lady Cao Sanniang up Mount Liang before she'd do it!

"Do you all know whose descendant Lady Cao Sanniang is?" Zhang Zhao pointed at Lady Cao Sanniang beside him and asked Qi Xiahhu.

Lady Cao Sanniang froze for a moment, suddenly sensing something bad. But before she could speak, Zhang Zhao seized the conversation.

"This is the granddaughter of the Great King Linggong, the eldest legitimate daughter of the Military Governor's Administrative Assistant, Lord Cao Yuangzhong. If you can save her, do you still fear you won't be able to return to Dunhuang?"

A look of joy burst onto Qi Xiahhu's face, and he threw himself forward, kowtowing to Lady Cao Sanniang like a pestle pounding garlic.

"So it is the Third Lady of the Cao family before me! Please, in your great mercy, save the hundred and forty people of my stronghold!"

A bitter smile appeared on Lady Cao Sanniang's face. "Chief Qi, I can barely save myself, how..."

But before she could finish, Zhang Zhao interrupted her again. "Third Lady, you can definitely do it — because if you can't, then tonight you'll consummate the marriage with me!"

Huh? Consummate the marriage? Even though Lady Cao Sanniang had grown somewhat accustomed to Zhang Zhao's shamelessness and his leaping, erratic way of thinking, this still made her blush bright red. How had it come around to consummating a marriage?

"I am the young lord's niece!"

"What niece! My brother Yuangzhong was not born of Lady Suo, the Commandery Lady, so you and I share no blood at all." Zhang Zhao deliberately put on an all-or-nothing attitude.

"If Third Lady doesn't find a way out for Qi Xiahhu and his people, then sooner or later we'll all be killed by the Uyghurs. And how could I bear to see Third Lady fall into Uyghur hands? Better that you and I enjoy one carefree night together, and tomorrow I'll send you and your servants on your way first, then die fighting the enemy alongside Zhang Zhong and Yin Yaozi. At least we won't have come through this mortal world for nothing."

Zhang Zhao spoke with impassioned fervor, his face showing none of the shameless, teasing expression he usually wore around Lady Cao Sanniang. At least Shanniang, listening to their conversation from a distance, believed him — the little bean-sprout of a girl was already so frantic that tears were about to fall.

And seeing how resolute Zhang Zhao was, not seeming to be pretending, Lady Cao Sanniang grew anxious too. Whether it was being taken by Zhang Zhao and then sent on her way, or falling into Uyghur hands, she wanted neither!

She had originally thought that since the Grand Guardian's spirit had manifested, it would surely help her escape her predicament. But now, after waiting so long and observing carefully, it seemed that apart from that set of golden armor, the Grand Guardian had shown no other divine power. What was she to do?

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