Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter 37

Zhenyi Nunnery is hidden away on Hongguang Mountain in the southern suburbs of the capital.

The nunnery was built against the side of a volcanic cave. More than half a mile to its left lies a deep, tranquil jade-green pool. Above the pool, a waterfall cascades like a strip of white silk, its sound roaring and thundering. Water overflowing from the pool flows past the front of the nunnery via a small stream, eventually meandering into the fields to the east.

A rustic, elegant little bridge rests quietly over the stream. One end connects to the road, while the other leads to the gate of Zhenyi Nunnery. It serves as a gentle transition between time and space, linking the clamor of the mortal world with the serenity within the nunnery. Beneath the bridge, the water murmurs, as if time itself were whispering, quietly recounting the stories of this thousand-year-old sanctuary.

Sunset behind the western hills.

Bingchen, the abbess of Zhenyi Nunnery—whose secular name was Li Jingxian, once one of Zhao Rouya’s personal maids before shaving her head to become a nun after the capital fell—returned to her meditation room. She shed her grey robes, donned black night-traveling attire, and strapped the long sword from the wall to her waist. She then quietly went to a small meditation room in the northwest corner of the nunnery and said to Zhao Rouya, who was meditating: "Princess, I am leaving now." With that, she turned and headed out.

Zhao Rouya looked up and said: "Please, wait."

Bingchen stopped and asked: "Princess, is there anything else you require?"

Zhao Rouya stood up and said: "Jingxian, once you reach the imperial palace, you must be wary of that old woman. Her heart is truly venomous!"

Bingchen replied: "I have been to the palace a few times before. She is indeed a vicious and ruthless old woman; I have always been cautious in my dealings with her."

Tears streaming down her face, Zhao Rouya said: "Jingxian, I heard that the girl Guimu has been tortured in the death row prison until she is no longer even human! Tell that old woman: as long as she lets Xiao Guimu go, I will agree to any conditions she sets."

Bingchen said: "Very well! I am leaving now."

Zhao Rouya wiped her tears and said: "Thank you for your hardship, Jingxian."

Cining Palace.

The night was as dark as ink, the moonlight as bright as silk. The eaves of Cining Palace shimmered with a chilling, cold light under the moon. Clad in black, Bingchen descended onto the palace wall as silently as a ghost. Though middle-aged, her figure under the moonlight appeared no older than a teenager, agile and powerful. Every leap was precise, as if she were one with the shadows. Having spent five years in the palace in her youth, she was intimately familiar with the layout.

Standing on the eaves of Cining Palace, Bingchen’s gaze was sharp as a hawk’s, scanning her surroundings. Zhao Rouya’s warning made her extra cautious tonight. She thought to herself: "If I am captured, that is a minor matter; what I fear most is failing the task Princess Zhao Rouya entrusted to me—Xiao Guimu’s life in the death row prison is hanging by a thread!"

A squad of guards carrying torches passed by the front of Cining Palace, their footsteps rhythmic and orderly. Bingchen watched them, a faint smile curling at the corner of her lips.

As the sound of footsteps faded into the distance, Bingchen’s figure suddenly leaped up, landing like a black bat before Empress Dowager Pi’s bed. Her sword pressed against the Empress Dowager’s throat.

Empress Dowager Pi turned pale. Upon recognizing Bingchen, she asked tremblingly: "What are you trying to do?"

Bingchen replied: "I have come to kill you, you venomous old witch!"

Empress Dowager Pi was, after all, a woman who had seen the world. She sat up in bed and said: "Li Jingxian, oh Li Jingxian, every time you come, you say you will kill me, yet each time, it is merely talk!"

Bingchen said: "Tonight is different. Perhaps I truly will kill you."

Empress Dowager Pi asked: "Tell me then, what is your purpose for coming tonight?"

Bingchen said: "Release Xiao Guimu!"

Empress Dowager Pi exclaimed: "That is impossible..." The tip of Bingchen’s sword pressed against her throat.

Bingchen asked: "Empress Dowager, state your terms."

Empress Dowager Pi said: "Jingxian, go back and ask Zhao Rouya: is she willing to die in place of her daughter?"

Bingchen asked: "Is there no room for negotiation?"

Empress Dowager Pi replied: "Even if I were to die by your hand, that remains the condition! It is not for my sake, but for the dignity of the Southern Han imperial house!"

Bingchen rested her sword on the Empress Dowager’s shoulder and asked: "If Princess Rouya commits suicide, what if you do not keep your word?"

Empress Dowager Pi said: "You, Jingxian, may come to claim my head at any time!"

Bingchen withdrew her sword and said: "I hope you keep your word!" Having said this, she pushed off with her feet and vanished into the night.

Watching the figure fly out of the window, Empress Dowager Pi cursed inwardly: "Jingxian, you are far too arrogant! Once Zhao Rouya is dead, I will find a way to deal with you!"

It was another ten-day holiday.

After breakfast, Gu Yusheng, without informing his brother or his sister-in-law Qi Qiongqiong, quietly led his horse out of the house.

He rode aimlessly through the streets, feeling unsettled. He thought: "I cannot enter the Wei Prince's mansion these days, and Yang Wenhua has gone to Jingnan for inspections. Where shall I spend this day? I haven't been to the Ten Thousand Tree Forest in the southern suburbs for a long time. I might as well go there to see the mountain flowers and clear my mind!" With that, he spurred his horse toward the South City Gate.

The Ten Thousand Tree Forest outside the South City Gate was a beautiful, ancient primeval forest, a popular spot in the old days for horseback riding and spring excursions. If you don't believe it, the folk song "Horseback riding outside the Zhengyang Gate" stands as proof.

Gu Yusheng exited the South City Gate. He dismounted in front of a small stall at the foot of the city wall. The stall sold cooked food.

Gu Yusheng walked toward the stall, calling out: "Clerk, pack me two flatbreads, three roasted goose heads, and a flask of aged wine!"

"Coming right up!"

A moment later, a girl in purple emerged carrying the package and silently stowed it in the saddlebag on Gu Yusheng’s horse.

Gu Yusheng took out some small silver coins and asked: "How much is it?"

The girl in purple said: "I don't want silver. Just tell me the exact date the General of Pacifying the South is to be beheaded."

Gu Yusheng turned his head to look and scolded: "You wretched girl!" The girl in purple was Purple Rose.

During the time Xiao Guimu was being tortured in the Ministry of Justice prison, the Northern Zhen army began pillaging and slaughtering in the Jingnan region.

The sky turned dark and gloomy.

On that morning, the famous "Three-Good" General Meng’an Dan Xinglian, having lost his head, personally led over a hundred men slowly toward the villages near Wuni Lake.

Riding on his horse, he told his subordinates: "I heard from Minister Ren Wan that the Southern Han's General of Pacifying the South has already been beheaded by their foolish emperor. This time we can let loose and pillage boldly. Brothers, grab plenty of grain and women! I haven't had a proper meal in days!"

At this moment, in the bamboo forest beside the official road, Princess Zhao Chuoyun of Bashu, Governor Zhang’s wife Gu Yuru, the horse-spear instructor Li Muwen and his wife Jiang Hong, and the Wuni Lake water fortress leaders Guan Yi, Quan Niannian, Mulan, and Guihua, along with over four hundred women, lay in ambush.

They caught the Northern Zhen soldiers off guard with a sudden, fierce blow.

Only General Meng’an Dan Xinglian was lucky enough to escape; the other hundred or so men became target practice for the women of the Wuni Lake water fortress—they were dead beyond all doubt.

On the way back to the fortress, the women complained that there weren't enough "targets"! And indeed, with over a hundred targets and four hundred swordswomen, it wasn't enough. Furthermore, the "Twin Swords" technique of the second leader Guan Yi and the third leader Quan Niannian had claimed seven targets alone.

Guan Yi scolded Quan Niannian: "You painter of men, you follow behind me every time! I kill one, and you follow up and stab the same one. How shameless!"

Quan Niannian laughed and said: "Scold me all you want; Third Sister will not be angry! But honestly, we are practicing the 'Twin Swords' together. How can we unleash the power to defeat the enemy if I don't stay with you?"

Guan Yi continued to scold: "Bullshit! Do we need to 'defeat the enemy' for a mere hundred men? Everywhere I go, you follow me like a glue, and no other man dares to approach me! From now on, you fight your battles, and I’ll fight mine. We won't use the 'Twin Swords' anymore!"

In front of Guan Yi, Quan Niannian’s temper was always mild. She laughed: "As you wish! But how shall we split the credit for today?"

Guan Yi grumbled: "What a burden! Four were stabbed by you, and three were killed by me slitting their throats. Is that enough?"

Quan Niannian happily pointed at her own nose with a jade finger and said: "Then Third Sister here is the hero of this battle!"

Guan Yi rolled her eyes at her: "Pretentious."

The victory banquet ended.

Night returned to the water fortress, quiet and peaceful.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

Zhao Chuoyun crept toward Gu Yuru’s bed. The moonlight streamed through the window, spilling onto Gu Yuru’s handsome face.

Zhao Chuoyun stood by the bed, staring for a long time at the handsome, tranquil face, as if admiring a work of art.

This girl looked exactly like her mother in her youth; she slept so peacefully, so sweetly. In those days, she used to practice swordplay with the girl's mother and sleep in the same room. She herself would toss and turn every night, lost in thought, but her mother would fall into a deep, sound sleep the moment her head hit the pillow, making her terribly jealous.

Zhao Chuoyun suddenly noticed a small mole beneath the girl’s ear, a sign of intelligence. Her mother didn't have one, but her father did. She had touched and kissed that very mole on her father's ear in her youth.

Zhao Chuoyun sat down by the bed, extending a finger to touch the intelligence mole, but Gu Yuru turned over toward the inside of the bed, pressing the mole beneath her. Zhao Chuoyun slowly retracted her hand.