Changying The Lady

Wei Changfeng opened his palms to reveal a ball of paper. Wei Changying glanced at it. The paper looked like a poem note for impromptu poems on the Wei Family"s table. She said strangely, “What is this?”

“I looked at it by the lights on the porch just now….” Before Wei Changfeng finished his words, Wei Changying had already taken it from him quickly. She thought something was written on the paper, but she felt something heavy when she held the paper—something was wrapped in it. She opened it. It was an iron tablet with the size of a baby"s hand.

A hole was made at the top position of the iron tablet as if it had been for the rope to pa.s.s through in order to hang it. The tablet was engraved with tadpole-like words or graphics. They were neither seal scripts nor oracle bones. The Wei Family had a prosperous tradition of literacy. Although Wei Changying did not work hard in studying, she could still recognize these words. The language on this tablet was not from the mainland at all but rather similar to the language of the northern Rong tribe.

The style of the iron tablet was bold, but it also revealed a sense of solemnity. Although it was atramentous and inconspicuous, it really couldn"t be seen as an ordinary thing.

Wei Changying took a careful look at it for a while but couldn"t figure it out. She raised it in front of her brother, and asked doubtfully, “What is this? Who gives it to you?”

Wei Changfeng whispered, “When I was having a drink at the table, I went to Song Duan to ask about the warfare. However, I didn"t ask many questions because the fourth brother pulled my sleeve from behind and wanted to talk to Song Duan so that I gave way to him. But I was afraid that I would not be able to explain to you when I came back, so I chose a seat nearby and planned to go and talk to Song Duan after they finished talking. Yet, one of the northern state messengers came up to talk with me and propose toasts to me. Then, he shoved this piece of paper to me when no one was paying attention.”

Although Wei Gaochuan and Wei Gaochan were not born by the same mother, they both belonged to the third branch. Now the Wei Family wanted to betroth Wei Gaochan to Song Duan. Although the elders had made the decision, as the half-brother, by talking to Song Duan, Wei Gaochuan could help to rest Wei Gaochan"s mind and also to implicitly warn him—Wei Gaochan was privileged not only in her family background but her brother was also willing to stand out for her.

This was Wei Gaochuan"s duty so that Wei Changying would naturally not blame Wei Changfeng for giving up his seat to Wei Gaochuan. Putting this aside, she said, “Do you know the messenger who gave you this thing?”

“Grandpa introduced everyone before the banquet started so I naturally knew him.” Wei Changfeng said without hesitation, “The man"s name is Lv Zifang, and he is the secretary of Liao City. When the northern Rong tribe broke the city, the County Director of Liao City Wei Xu and the County Prime Minister Wei Ju personally led the soldiers to defense the breached east gate and north gate and asked Lv Zifang to lead the young and strong men in the city to escort women and children to escape from the other two gates. All the survivors of Liao City were able to stay alive because of this, and Lv Zifang was one of them. Song Han listed him as a messenger this time because of his meritorious service in protecting the people and also gave him a chance to meet grandfather and the third uncle.”

He pointed to the iron tablet in the paper ball and said solemnly, “Sister doesn"t know this, but I do. This is the amulet of the northern Rong tribe.”

Wei Changying said with surprise, “Amulet?”

“My grandfather asked me to write ‘The Ode of Resisting Northern Rong Tribes" before, so I found some books about the northern Rong tribes in my grandfather"s study.” Wei Changfeng frowned and said, “Northern Rong people believe in ghosts and G.o.ds, and the status of high priest in the clan is only under the Great Khan. Every time they have the newborn, they will go to the high priest"s tent to ask for an amulet to protect them. This kind of iron tablet cannot be obtained by ordinary northern Rong people. After all, northern Rong people do not know how to make iron so that all their irons are all obtained from Zhongyuan, which are very precious. Therefore, this small iron tablet must be owned by the one who has rather a high status in the northern Rong tribe.”

Wei Changying changed her expression and said, “If it is an amulet, the owner should always carry it around. Since it has been held by Lv Zifang, the fate of this Rong person can be imagined! Can it be said that there are important people among the soldiers captured or killed during this warfare? But I have never heard anything about this! What does the Song Family want to do by hiding this information?”

Wei Changfeng glanced at his sister and said softly, “Sister, it may not be that Song Han and his son are trying to hide something…. Look, why was Lv Zifang the one who gave me the amulet, but not Song Han or Song Duan? Lv Zifang has only one merit in this event that is the meritorious service of protecting the people! He has never fought with the army personally. How did he get to hold the personal belongings of those with status in the northern Rong tribe?”

“Have you talked to grandfather?” Wei Changying instinctively sensed that there was something wrong with Song Han and Song Duan and asked.

“Grandpa drank a bit more at the table.” Wei Changfeng sighed and said, “Now he has rested. It"s not proper for me to disturb him. Otherwise, how could I come and tell you such a thing first? I would definitely let grandfather know first. I am not worried about other things because after all Song Han and his son are only a collateral branch of the Song Family, and they are under the jurisdiction of the third uncle. If there is anything wrong with them, grandfather is able to handle them. I am just thinking that the third uncle just betrothed the fourth sister to Song Duan, and this news has been released. If Song Duan is actually not a virtuous person…. It will be bad if the fourth sister marries the wrong person.”

—His words did become a reality. The next day, when Wei Huan sobered up and listened to Wei Changfeng"s report, he immediately changed his face and ordered him to take out the iron tablet to let him look at it carefully. With Wei Huan"s experience and shrewdness, he sneered immediately, “Although Northern Hu is collectively called northern Rong people, in fact, they are divided into tribes. The northern Rong language on this iron tablet means ‘Chadu" in Chinese. It can be expected that the original owner of this iron tablet should be a close relative of the Khan of the Chadu tribe. The Chadu tribe is said to be the mother clan of the Great Khan"s uncle in the northern Rong tribes. When he was about to succeed in the position of the old Khan, he was stopped and provoked by his uncle. If the high priest hadn"t supported him, he couldn"t have even succeeded. However, the position of the high priest was only under the Great Khan. Thus, it can be expected that the Great Khan to have a hard time now.”

While Wei Huan, as the Family Head of the Wei Family, was not as famous as Wei Shigu in the country, he was no less knowledgeable than Wei Shigu and even dabbled in northern Rong language.

As a matter of fact, Wei Changfeng would also learn these in the future, but now he was still young and was not proficient in history so that Wei Huan did not want him to be distracted. Thus, he did not recognize the words on the iron tablet. At that moment, Wei Changfeng said surprisingly, “Grandfather, could it be that the matter in Liao City was due to the intention of the Great Khan"s uncle to force him to abdicate?” This great victory in the northern part of the province was worth celebrating for the Great Vi. Yet it was also a heavy loss to the northern Rong tribe. Since the position of the Great Khan was not so stable, the tribes under the ruling had suffered such losses and asked him to fight for them for “justice.” If the Great Khan refused to do so, it would be bound to unsettle the people. On the other hand, if he allowed doing so, while the Great Vi was declining day by day, the country had not yet been exhausted. It was not the time for the northern Rong tribe to invade the Great Vi. So did the western tribes.

The Great Khan was in such a dilemma that it was naturally an opportunity for his uncle….

Wei Huan looked approvingly at his grandson, but he shook his head and said, “It"s hard to say. You have to make a careful inquiry before you can confirm it. When I talked about the origin of this iron tablet, my actual meaning was that how dare Song Han and his son to do so!”

Wei Changfeng mused, “Was there actually an inside story of the great victory in the northern part of the province?” He felt that something was wrong when he talked to Wei Changying yesterday. Yet, due to his young age, it was the first time he had encountered such a thing so that he was a little uncertain. Now when Wei Huan talked about that Song Han and Song Duan, it was tantamount to confirming his conjectures.

“Is it just the inside story?” Wei Huan sneered, “I think Song Han would give his merit to his eldest son so that Song Duan could propose marriage to my family! However, how dare he take other people"s credit and give it to his son? The northern part of the province was already in peace, and Song Han sent his son back to Fengzhou to report victory first. Although he led a large army, he refused to march quickly with the excuse that casualties needed rest and recuperation! I used to think that he might want to do a good job. Now I"m afraid he is just trying to keep people"s mouth shut!”

He pointed to the iron tablet. “This thing was obtained from the priest, and the northern Rong people will keep it close to them for the rest of their life and will be buried with the body! Northern Rong people are nomadic, unlike the Great Vi people who settle down in one place. They travel around with horses all the year-round. In case it is difficult to find this kind of important thing after it is lost, they will tie it to the neck with a very short and strong thread so that it cannot be taken off from the head at all! There are occasional cases of leaving it to their next generations, but their next generations will do the same thing to protect it! So this iron tablet is probably obtained after beheading. If my guess is correct, the great victory in the north part of the province state does take place because some of the results of the battle have been sent back by Song Duan for inspection, and the appearance of the northern Rong people is different from that of people in the Zhongtu so that it is impossible to kill a random people to claim the credit! But it is hard to say how many of the merits belong to Song Han and his son…. This iron tablet for sure either belongs to the leader of the northern Rong tribe who intruded into the north part of the province or the vice-general of the troop! Song Han reported all the merits of killing the enemy on Song Duan! Then how can this iron tablet be handed over to you by Lv Zifang, who has never fought with the northern Rong people at all?”

“This enemy must be killed by someone who is related to Lv Zifang, and it is hard to say whether or not the merit of ambushing the northern Rong people also belongs to this person! After all, killing the leader of the enemy should be done by a great warrior. There is no shortage of courageous men in Fengzhou, but it is not easy to see someone with such great military talents that could command an ambush on the northern Rong people. Of course, our Wei Family values more on the general than the warriors!” Wei Huan said coldly, “So if ambushing the enemy is the merit of Song Han or Song Duan, there is no need to s.n.a.t.c.h the credit of killing the enemy. I"m afraid that these two things were actually accomplished by the same person. Since Song Han has already grabbed this person"s merit, he might as well take them all!”

Wei Changfeng didn"t expect that an iron tablet would relate to so many things. He could not help but frown and sigh, saying, “Yesterday I talked to my eldest sister, and we guessed that there was something wrong with Song Duan"s meritorious service. After all, Fengzhou is the hometown of our Wei family. Yet Song Han and his son dared to do such a thing? How could he be so sure that he would be able to fool grandfather?”

“It"s impossible to hide it from me for a long time, but he can hide it for a short time….” Wei Huan said peacefully, “That Lv Zifang, who gave you the iron tablet, do you know his family background? There is no well-known Lu family in the province. I remember he is a commoner, right? It was Weixu who happened to find that he was a brilliant writer after taking up an official post so that he was promoted!”

Wei Changfeng immediately understood as Wei Huan gave him this hint, “If it was one of the people from our Wei Family or from other well-known families in the province whose merits were taken by Song Han, it would be impossible to hide it from grandfather. However, if that person was just a commoner, then….”

The difference between aristocrats and commoners was so big like the distance between heaven and earth. Even if Song Han was only from a collateral branch of the Song Family, he was still a gentlefolk"s son. Although Wei Huan and Old Madam Song both disliked him because his origin was beneath the Wei Family, yet, if comparing it to commoners….Song Han and Song Duan would be considered as the ones with the same social status as Wei Huan and Old Madam Song.

Moreover, it was not easy for Song Han to meet Wei Huan, not to mention ordinary people. And if Song Han had failed to kill him to shut people"s mouths up, how wouldn"t he have been careful to prevent it from happening? He was the vice-governor of Fengzhou. Thus, if he used the pretext of protecting the safety of the people in the Wei Family so as to not allow the commoners to go near the Ruiyu Hall and other places, it would also be reasonable. Even if that person was not reconciled to being taken away from his meritorious service, yet he couldn"t see the one who was able to do him justice. How could he get his justice back?

To say the least, the news that Wei Gaochan would marry Song Duan has been spread. Once the ritual of betrothal gift had been done, even if Wei Huan found this out late, how could the Wei Family promise and then deny in succession? What"s more, the Song Family had generations of marriage history with the Wei Family. Under these circ.u.mstances, for the consideration of his granddaughter and for the reputation of the gentlefolk, Wei Huan would at most reprimanded Song Han and his son privately and would not make things public to fight with them for the justice of a commoner.

Then, Song Han and Song Duan would sincerely admit their mistakes, and the Wei Family could not take Wei Gaochan back to her mother"s home after the girl was married. Even if Wei Huan was annoyed by the unbearable moral conduct of these two people, he would have no choice but to continue to support Song Duan.

“Had it not been for Lv Zifang to attend the banquet last night, Changying to ask you to inquire about the warfare in the north of the province in detail and Gaochuan to want to back up for Gaochan…. Your changing of seats gave him a chance!” Wei Huan scowled and said, “If everything hadn"t been such a coincidence, how could have this iron tablet been handed to you unnoticedly? We…oh well, our family has a lot of work to do now. Song Han is in charge of the warfare in the north of the province. As long as the results sent by the northern province are accurate, how can we doubt Song Han?”

Asking for meritorious service and reporting the good news to the Royal Court, soothing the hearts and minds of the people in the province, tracing down the reason of northern Rong people"s entry into Fengzhou, and fighting secretly with Wei Qi and the Liu Family in Eastern Hu….Although Wei Huan was shrewd, he had many things to take care of so that it was inevitable that he could be negligent sometimes.

Wei Changfeng"s face changed, “Song Han did this nothing more than to propose marriage to the third uncle and deceive the fourth sister to marry. This is really too much.”

“Send someone to protect Lv Zifang first.” Wei Huan thought for a moment and told his trusted manservant behind him, “Although you happened to take the initiative to sit next to him last night, he still gave the iron tablet to you while no one was paying attention…. But at the banquet, there were already many people with different intentions. Once Song Duan learned this, this person"s life would be in danger!”

He then said, “Since Lv Zifang has been entrusted to hand over this iron tablet to you, it seems that the person who has been robbed of meritorious service also has some capability that he has always been able to escape so far!”

Wei Changfeng watched the manservant bow down and went out to send his order, reminding Wei Huan, “Grandpa, the marriage of the fourth sister….” Since Song Han and Song Duan were people with such bad moral conduct, Wei Gaochan certainly could not get married. The problem was that now the news has been spread, and everyone in the province knows that the hero of the great victory in the north of the province is going to be the son-in-law of the Wei Family. If this matter could not be solved as soon as possible, Wei Gaochan would be forced to marry due to Song Han and Song Duan. This would make Wei Gaochan feel wrong.

“Tell your grandmother not to arrange this marriage in a hurry.” Wei Huan said, “Your grandmother will make the right decisions.” He obviously didn"t pay much attention to the marriage of a granddaughter, and then he said, “Come back after you finish talking. I"ll have Lv Zifang secretly brought to the study for questioning, and you can listen to it aside.” This incident made Wei Huan once again feel the helplessness of his grandson"s young age. Such a big Ruiyu Hall, there was his second son in the Royal Court, Wei Shengyi, and he was the only one in Fengzhou. Earlier, it was all right. Yet he couldn"t handle it all when there were so many things happening. His grandson, who had turned 15, would be too spoiled to continue to only concentrate on his studies. Thus, it would be better for Wei Huan to teach him along.

Wei Changfeng bowed hurriedly and answered, “Yes!”