Read Novel Full Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Du Sinan had discerning insight and was good at reading people. When he was still in Nanchu, he once evaluated Li De with four words: lord of this generation.
The evaluation of Li Xuanzhen was also four words: this outstanding lord also.
When it came to Li Zhongqian, it was eight words: Courage but no strategy, not a great weapon.
His ambitions were far-reaching, his vision long-term. He would achieve his goals by any means, not in the least content to join Li Zhongqian’s tent as a strategist. Even if forced to make him comply, he would not sincerely plan and strategize for Li Zhongqian, possibly even colluding in secret with Li Xuanzhen.
Keeping this person by her side was tantamount to cutting her own escape route.
Therefore, Yaoying could not use Du Sinan.
Could not kill, could not use. Putting him under her watchful eye was also not bad.
Li Xuanzhen admired Du Sinan’s talent and was not willing to miss out on this talent, so he always sent people to monitor him.
Every time Yaoying came to him door, the East Palace1 would be notified.
The most valued strategist in the East Palace right now was Wei Ming from Hedong, who was small-minded, vindictive, and jealous of the wise and capable. Du Sinan became famous in his youth; Wei Ming had already heard of him and quite feared him.
The information was sent into Wei Ming’s hands. She believed he would take advantage of this opportunity to slander and obstruct Li Xuanzhen’s promotion of Du Sinan.
And thus, every time she went out of the palace, Yaoying would go to Du Sinan’s house for a visit.
She was idle anyway.
Today, she came over just because it was on her way to the west market.
……
It was the busiest time of the day in the market, and the market lanes was crowded with people weaving around and rubbing shoulder to shoulder.
After Li De ascended to the throne, he issued a government decree re-establishing the city bureau to manage trade in the east and west markets. Because of proper management and extremely low taxation, it had attracted merchants from all four directions.
There were a great number of stores. The voices of peddlers rose and fell in succession, with southerners, northerners, Tokharian, Indian and Hu2 people alike bargaining in their clumsy Mandarin.
Li Yaoying put on the drapery hat, dismissed the strong slaves, and brought only a few sturdy servants. Finding a saddle shop, she picked out a saddle.
The shopkeeper boasted that all the saddles in the store came from the Beiting, which were not only light and sturdy, but also filled with sheep fat, so that they would not easily be ruined by rain or horse sweat.
While the Central Plains were in upheaval, the Western Regions3 were also not peaceful. Over the decades, dozens of large and small tribes had declared their own kings. The southern and northern land of the Western Regions have been divided by various tribes, and the Silk Road has been cut off for dozens of years. Beiting caravans wanted to trade with the Central Plains but often, just after departing on the journey, tribes would plunder them on the road. The previously frequent caravans travelling between the Western Regions and the Central Plains have all nearly vanished.
Such a rare and expensive thing, the shopkeeper happened to get a batch of hard-to-find Beiting horse harnesses on the market, and was quite proud of himself.
Yaoying asked a few questions about the Western Regions.
Although she hid her identity and wore a curtain hat to cover her face, her manners were out of the ordinary and her bearing was outstanding.
The shopkeeper presumed that she must be a noble person disguised as a commoner. Wanting to show off, he said everything he knew without evasion.
Walking out of the saddle shop, Yaoying frowned lightly.
The northern tribes often invaded the south, and a vast area of land north of Chang’an had not yet been recovered.
Li De wanted to use the Hu to control the Hu, to recover the Hexi Corridor4 from within through the support of some Hu tribes. He sent out large amounts of gold, silver, and treasure for this reason. Several Turkic tribes promised to join and their tribal chiefs and tribal princes have arrived in Chang’an.
Before long, Li De will likely send Li Zhongqian to lead troops to the Western Regions to quell the chaos.
The Western Regions had broken free of the Central Plains’ control for decades. From what the shopkeeper said, the Central Plains were now gradually stabilizing but the Western Regions were still warring. Moreover, several powerful tribes had suddenly emerged, two of which had the potential to sweep the Western Regions. Was recovering the lost land easier said that done?
In the novel, Li Zhongqian died in the vast and obscure sands of the Western Regions.
He was reckless and impulsive. Confused by the treacherous people sent by Li Xuanzhen and Du Sinan, his army went deep and was trapped in a heavy siege, fighting until he died of exhaustion.
Li Xuanzhen did not allow his soldiers to collect his corpse, letting the vultures peck at his dead body.
The second prince, who had been fighting for nearly ten years and had made great contributions to the founding of Great Wei, ended up a skeleton.5
……
The nightmare that haunted Li Yaoying for many years was the scene of Li Zhongqian’s tragic death in the desert.
Yaoying rode out of the west market’s gate.
The person who really wanted to kill Li Zhongqian was Li Xuanzhen. Without Du Sinan, there could still be other people to make plans for Li Xuanzhen.
Eldest brother would not spare the three of them.
When second brother returns, she had to have a proper chat with him.
The Wusun horse rounded the street corner when, from up ahead, suddenly came the loud bellowing of some strong slaves clearing the way.
The people on the road moved away.
Yaoying came back from her contemplation and followed the sound.
A few strong slaves rode atop some tall horses, splitting the congested crowd. They surrounded an imperial carriage heading for the northwest corner of Yining Square.
The spring breeze blew through and lifted the soft curtain of the carriage, and a tense, pretty face flashed by.
Xie Qing, who has excellent eyesight, stared at the carriage for a while. Driving the horse half a horse length forward and whispered lowly, “Your Highness, it’s Princess Fukang6.”
Yaoying’s eyebrows were lightly knitted.
……
Princess Fukang Zhu Luyun. Daughter of the last emperor of the former dynasty, female lead of “Great Wei’s Li Xuanzhen”, the woman destined to be entangled with Li Xuanzhen for half a lifetime.
A few years ago, Li De sent someone to find the former princess Zhu Luyun and raised her in order to win the heart of the people. Immediately after ascending the throne, he crowned her as Princess Fukang.
Li De treated Zhu Luyun like his own child.
However, Zhu Luyun believed that Li De deliberately delayed in his rescue, killing her father. She pretended to rely on Li De, but in fact, had been secretly plotting revenge.
The men of the Li family are were ruthless and vicious, killing countless enemies on the battlefield, valiant and courage. Nearly all of them were brave and fierce, excellent generals, but they all had a shortcoming: they easily fell head over heels for a woman.
Li Xuanzhen’s problem was particularly serious.
He and Zhu Luyun’s love-hate entanglement, decades-long obsession, today you stab me, tomorrow I cut you, splitting then getting back together, lasted half a lifetime. Finally, the two people lived peacefully to old age. The people beside them became injured and died because of the two yet also congratulated the two for finally resolving the grievances between the two families. A happy marriage.
In short, where Zhu Luyun went, chickens would fly and dogs would jump, everything a complete mess.
Crown Princess Zheng shi was very ill, the lingering sickness often cropping up. Her anger at Li Xuanzhen and Zhu Luyun accounted for half of it.
……
Zhu Luyun was overly proud of her noble identify, how could she go to Yining Square?
The Hu people lived in Yining Square.
Zhu Luyun had always looked down at the Hu people, feeling it was beneath her dignity to associate with them.
Yaoying’s mind moved and instructed Xie Qing: “Send someone to follow her.”
Xie Qing answered and gestured to the subordinates.
A strong servant leapt off his horse and mixed into the crowd.
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This beginning of this novel is heavier on history than I remember. Don’t worry though, this should be it for historical knowledge! Note: I use both king and wang despite them being the same character in Chinese. I use king to refer to non-Chinese ‘kings’ while wang is for Chinese ‘princes’.
I said this before but I get so very happy when you leave reviews saying you enjoyed the novel because I feel a sense of pride that you liked something I ‘recommended’ LOL. Please don’t drop this novel because it seems heavy on like.. geography, it really is world-building that will come into play later on.
1 East Palace: the palace that the crown prince would use, located within the palace grounds (which would also have other palaces for the emperor and his harem). Other princesses and princes would establish their own residences outside of the palace when they turned of age.
2 Hu people: refers to the groups living north and west of ancient China but also can mean foreigners or barbarians.
3 Western Regions: land beyond the Yumen Pass (past the northwest).
4 Hexi Corridor: stretch of oases that covered a part of the Silk Road.
5 Chinese people have extensive funeral rituals with huge emphasis on respecting the dead. Leaving him without a burial was highly disrespectful and inappropriate.
6 In case it wasn’t clear, her title is Fukang Princess (meaning good fortune, health, happiness etc) and her name is Zhu Luyun.