The Beauty Within the Gates
Chapter 78
Since the founding of Great Feng, the Eastern Capital had been peaceful for more than twenty years and had never seen unrest, so when a military mutiny suddenly broke out tonight, no one had time to react.
In the middle of the night, people gathered in clusters on the streets. Even the guests at the taverns no longer watched the girls or the operas, and all came out from the taverns and teahouses, looking toward the direction of the inner imperial city and buzzing with chatter.
Guards from the Patrol Command were already sweeping the streets.
The common people all crowded around them, asking about the situation inside. “Officer, have the rebels been suppressed?”
The officer did give everyone some reassurance. “A mere band of traitors. What is there to fear?”
Everyone let out a breath of relief, and someone else asked, “What sort of rebels would have such great nerve, daring to revolt right beneath the Son of Heaven’s nose? His Majesty’s virtuous reputation is plain for all to see. What kind of treacherous heart does this person have, wanting to plunge the people of Great Feng into war again…”
“That’s right, that’s right…”
This time, the officer did not answer. “Do not ask what you should not ask. In short, they are rebels, no mistake about that. Hurry back. Is your life more important, or is watching the excitement more important…”
Seeing that the soldiers had begun driving people away, everyone slowly dispersed.
Two people walked over from the crowd, still discussing it. “How many people in the current court could lead troops and quietly break into the city gates? I heard that if the men from the Cavalry Command had not blocked them at the inner city gate in time, it really would have been hard to say who would win or lose tonight…”
“The gate forces here are rotten to the core. Not a single one of them was useful. Having only the three hundred men of the Cavalry Command fight it out really was wretched luck…”
Wen Shuse’s heart had already leapt into her throat. She no longer dared to listen. She dropped the curtain and urged the man in front, “Uncle Wen, faster.”
Seeing her anxious expression, Aunt Qing spoke to comfort her. “Miss, do not worry. Young Master is blessed by heaven and will surely be safe.”
After hearing all of this along the way, how could Wen Shuse possibly feel at ease? She was so anxious that even her voice changed pitch. “Aunt, if anything happens to him, how am I supposed to live with myself for the rest of my life? If I had known, no matter what, I would have gone into his room last night and said everything that needed to be said.”
Wen Shuse regretted it so deeply her insides nearly turned green. “Where in this world is there any wife like me? First, I stabbed him until he was riddled with wounds, and then the day before yesterday, after drinking a pot of wine, I nearly angered him to death again.”
The more she thought about it, the more she felt she had wronged him. “If he can come back safely this time, then whatever he wants to do, let him do it. I truly will not force him anymore.”
Aunt Qing continued to persuade her. “Miss, do not blame yourself for now. Young Master is very clever. He was able to escape unharmed even from the Crown Prince’s territory before. Now, here in the Eastern Capital, right beneath the Son of Heaven’s nose, how could anything happen to him…”
Though she said that, when the carriage arrived at the military camp, and she saw that everyone going in and out was wounded, the entire place was in complete chaos, even Aunt Qing could not help growing afraid.
Wen Shuse got down from the carriage and hurried through the gate. As soon as she reported Deputy Commander Xie’s name, she saw the guard’s face turn solemn and pained. Without saying a word, he lowered his head and led her inside.
Wen Shuse’s legs went weak.
Along the way, she encountered several waves of stretchers covered with white cloth. She wanted to look, yet did not dare to, afraid that the moment the white cloth was lifted from one of those stretchers, the face she saw would be her husband’s.
—
The arrowhead in Xie Shao’s shoulder had already been removed. After the wound was disinfected, medicine was applied, and gauze was wrapped around it. Although no vital point had been struck, the suffering of flesh and skin was unavoidable.
He lay on the bed and closed his eyes wearily, but once the wound began to ache, his head throbbed along with it, making it impossible for him to sleep at all.
Minzhang had also been injured. After learning that Xie Shao was all right, he went off to find a military physician to bandage his wound, while Zhao Huai stayed behind to guard the door.
Just as Zhao Huai pushed open the door and carried out a basin of bloody water, he heard movement beneath the corridor. He raised his head and saw a guard leading a young lady hurriedly down the hall.
Although it was the middle of the night, the military camp was lit everywhere with lamps, bright as broad daylight.
The young lady wore a white silk dress with an apricot-trailing belt, her robes cut from glistening fabric like shards of ice. Picking her way past a jumble of scattered swords and spears, her light skirts fluttering in the breeze, she looked like a fairy who had stepped right out of a painting.
Zhao Huai stared, momentarily stunned. There was no need to guess who would come seeking this place at such an hour.
Earlier, when the men below had heard that the newly appointed Deputy Commander Xie was already married, they had quietly speculated among themselves: what kind of young lady could possibly be a match for the chief, with a face like his, beyond compare in this world?
Now, seeing her, Zhao Huai understood at last how narrow his own imagination had been.
There truly was, in all the world, a young lady fit to stand beside the master. One handsome beyond measure, the other strikingly beautiful. Heaven, it seemed, did play favorites, and every blessing had been heaped upon the chief.
Only when she’d reached him did he come back to himself. He hurriedly drew his eyes away, stood at respectful attention, and called out, “Madam.”
But Wen Shuse paid him no mind. Her gaze was fixed unblinking on the basin of water in his hands, her face stricken with grief. Before Zhao Huai could so much as react, she stepped past him and rushed inside, weeping as she cried out, “Husband, I came too late…”
There was no time to warn her. She was already through the door, leaving Zhao Huai standing there, dumbstruck.
Almost in the same instant her voice rang out, the man lying on the couch within snapped his eyes open, only to close them again the moment she burst through the door.
He hadn’t expected she would come. He’d had no intention of telling her, not wanting her to worry, yet she had still come, and in his heart, he unexpectedly felt a trace of comfort and anticipation.
Back in the valley outside Nanjing, when he’d been in mortal danger, and she had found him, she had thrown herself into his arms in that moment, weeping aloud.
Now, lying here so gravely wounded, he wondered how she would react this time.
But for her to be this anxious, she must have been worried.
Money, fame, and status were certainly precious, but compared with a living, breathing human life, they seemed far too insignificant. If the suffering he had endured this time could call her conscience back, then it could not be considered a loss.
As the saying goes, only after losing something do one learn to cherish it. Once she experienced the feeling of losing him again, she would remember his good points, and only then would she reflect on how improper those words she had said to him had been.
Just now, Zhao Huai had been afraid of disturbing his rest, so only one lamp had been left in the room. The bed was also placed deeper inside, against the wall, making the light even dimmer.
After Wen Shuse entered the room, she looked around before finally finding him. At a glance, the most obvious thing about his entire body was his face.
It was too pale.
This time, Wen Shuse was truly frightened into tears. She crept forward cautiously while trying to give herself courage. Even if he truly had gone to see King Yama, he was still her husband and would not harm her. Yet at the same time, she was afraid that he really would never wake again. Trembling, she felt her way to the bedside, not daring to look. She first closed her eyes and grabbed his arm, shaking it. “Husband, wake up. Open your eyes and look at me…”
She called to him for a long while, but the person on the bed did not move at all.
Now that she had touched him, she seemed no longer quite so afraid. She opened her eyes and, at close range, clearly saw that face. It truly had no color at all, and even his lips were pale and cracked. She sobbed even harder. “Husband, do not frighten me like this. You always keep so many knives on you, don’t you? Last time on the boat, with one ‘kacha…’ you slit that assassin’s throat. So fierce, so commanding, I’ve never forgotten it. In Nanjing, even the Crown Prince could do nothing to you. How did you stumble so badly this time and fall into the gutter…”
Listening to her crying, so grief-stricken that she seemed utterly devastated, his little wife perhaps truly thought he was dead. She continued holding him and shaking him. “Husband, I am your wife. Don’t leave me behind, please. I was wrong…”
His brains were nearly being shaken loose by her, yet he still worked hard to hold his breath, waiting for her to continue, waiting to hear exactly where she had been wrong.
But before he could hear what came next, there were suddenly two sharp smacks, pa, pa, as her palms struck his face.
Xie Shao was utterly shocked. How could he have imagined that, even when he had already ended up like this, his little wife would still be so heartless as to deal him such a vicious blow? When the young lady’s hand pinched and squeezed his arm twice, he finally could not endure it anymore and gritted out, “Stop your wailing. I am not dead yet.”
The young lady’s voice went out in an instant; even her crying stopped. A pair of eyes stared straight at him, waiting for him to open his eyes.
Both sides of his face still hurt, and his arm hurt too. Xie Shao truly did not want to look at her. When he opened his eyes, he did not glance at her face at all, no longer holding even the slightest bit of hope. “Sorry, I’m not dead. Disappointed you, didn’t I?”
How could he think that?
Wen Shuse hurriedly shook her head. Her heart panicked, and for some reason, she blurted out, “No, I was only thinking about how I should address my husband…”
Xie Shao froze. In the end, his gaze still shifted over. After not seeing her for a single day yesterday, his little wife had grown even more radiant. Then, from those wide, innocent eyes of hers, he understood what she meant by those words.
His little wife bore grudges over the smallest slight, and as expected, she truly had no heart. Even when he had nearly died, she still would not let him off and wanted to stab him once more in the heart.
Aside from her drunken misbehavior, the two of them had not spoken properly for several days. And now, the moment she opened her mouth, it seemed only to add frost to snow — as though things between them might never recover at all.
For a moment, he did not know whether he should poison her mute or stab his own ears deaf.
His chest tightened, and his breathing grew ragged.
Wen Shuse also seemed to realize how deadly those words of hers were and hurriedly apologized. “Husband, do not be angry. No matter what surname you have, you are still my husband.”
It would be better if she stopped talking and simply let him fend for himself.
He turned his head away and no longer looked at her, nor did he want to speak with her again, afraid that although he had not died under the Crown Prince’s arrow, he would be angered to death alive by his little wife’s mouth.
But Wen Shuse was extremely happy. Knowing that her husband had not died and was still alive and well made her happier than anything.
Whether he was willing to pay attention to her or not, she began bustling about on her own, thoughtfully making arrangements for him. “Husband, are you thirsty?”
Without waiting for him to nod, she considerately placed a pillow under the back of his neck and propped him up, then carefully brought the cup of water to his lips and said softly, “Husband, do not drink too much at once. Take it slowly, do not choke. First, moisten your lips…”
After feeding him water, she asked him again, “Husband, are you hungry?”
Still not waiting for him to answer, she got up and left the room, then soon returned. Who knew where she had found two honey peaches? She peeled them with a knife, cut them into small pieces, and fed them into his mouth piece by piece. “Are they sweet?”
The young lady’s attentiveness temporarily eased the mental injury that mouth of hers had caused him.
He suddenly realized that as long as she did not speak, she was not so bad after all…
“I know Husband is in pain and cannot sleep. When I was little, my elder brother got into a fight with someone and was stabbed in the back by a hidden knife. In the middle of the night, he kept crying out and insisted that I stay beside him and talk to him. He said that as long as he could hear my voice, it would not hurt as much. Later, I found out that while I had read to him for half the night, he had not listened at all and had long since fallen asleep…”
After experiencing a matter of life and death and taking a trip around the gates of the underworld, his body was indeed far too weak. As he listened to the young lady’s voice, the pain seemed to gradually quiet down, and his sleepiness grew heavier and heavier.
After an unknown amount of time, Wen Shuse noticed the exhaustion on her husband’s face and stopped speaking. She leaned slightly closer and looked at the gauze wrapped around his chest. The blood had seeped through layer after layer to the outside, and the injury was no lighter than Pei Qing’s injury had been last time.
It must hurt terribly.
She raised her hand, and with her small palm she fanned him gently, slowly, back and forth. She did not know whether it worked or not, but her husband finally fell asleep.
The night was long. When Xie Shao opened his eyes again, it was already bright outside. The moment he woke, the pain in his chest became especially obvious. He turned his head, intending to call Minzhang in, only to unexpectedly see that his wife was still there.
She was slumped across the edge of his bed, sleeping soundly.
Half of her face, pressed against her arm, had already been flattened out of shape. At this moment, her mouth was slightly open. Though her mouth was small, those two lips were rosy and full.
Looking at that simple, endearing expression, she had probably been lying there the entire night.
A sudden warmth rose in his chest. Time and again, at every brush with death, it had been his little wife at his side. Compared with this affection, all the grievances before seemed no longer worth fussing over.
A thought even rose up in him that he could only despise himself for.
So be it if she was calculating. What young lady was not calculating? At worst, from now on, he would do his best to satisfy her. To be able to receive a moment of this kind of tenderness in return was not so bad at all.