Chapter 5: 5

This Xie is a bandit, how can he be worthy of you!

On this day, Lu shi prepared five animals and took a group of attendants with her to go out of the city with Fulan. They took a ferry to Junshan Mountain, where they went to the temple to offer sacrifices to the gods for blessing her husband from danger that day.

After the sacrifice to the gods, they came out of the temple. When she was going down the mountain, Fulan asked, “Sister-in-law, is Master in the mountain? If so, I’ll go and see this old man.

Her master, Li Yaoweng, was a famous doctor. When he was young, he worked as an imperial physician in the palace. Later, he left the palace and traveled around, compiling medical books and practicing medicine with the folk. Many years ago, he traveled to Dongting and found that he loved the landscape here so he decided to set up a hut in Junshan. Fulan’s father admired his name, came to visit him personally and they gradually got to know each other. Seeing that the princess was young and showed interest in his herbal medicine, and also liked her intelligence, he took as her as half a disciple and taught her some medical skills in his spare time.

When Fulan got married at the beginning of the year, Master was still in Junshan.

Lu Shi smiled and said, “Not long after you got married, Yao Weng went down the mountain. I don’t know when he will return.”

Fulan said, “Sister-in-law, you should go back to the city first. I will go to Master’s place to look at the medicine garden.”

Lu Shi knew the relationship between her sister-in-law and Yaoweng and nodded, “Alright. Then I’ll go back to the city first, come back early.”

Fulan agreed and watched Lu shi go down the mountain, and followed the mountain path to Master’s residence.

There is a hut hidden in the middle of the mountain, woven bamboo as a hedge, a few grass huts and a large medicine garden at the back.

Although master has left the mountain, there is still a young servant named A Da who takes care of the medicine garden.

A Da was an orphan who was picked up by Master. He was busy at the back of the house. When he saw the princess coming, he was very surprised. He hurriedly put down his hoe and ran out to greet her.

Fulan told him not to worry. She came to the medicinal garden and helped dry some fresh herbs he had just picked, and was so busy that before she knew it, half a day had passed.

Mu mama started urging her to go back to the city.

The sun was already setting and Fulan knew it was time to leave, so she told A Da to take good care of the medicine garden and washed her hands. The group went down the mountain and passed by an old cypress. The maid Zhu Yu smiled and said, “Mistress, they said this old cypress is a divine tree, capable of psychic powers, and many people come here to worship it. Since we are passing by, let’s go and pay our respects too.” 

The old cypress is deeply rooted in the wall of the mountain, with intertwined roots and luxuriant leaves. For thousands of years, the mountain wind blows strongly, but it has remained unchanged.

Fulan stopped and looked into the distance for a moment.

“It’s getting late, let’s go down the mountain.”

After she finished speaking, she withdrew her gaze, turned around and continued to walk down the mountain steps.

There is a local legend that this old cypress that grows on the cliff halfway up Junshan Mountain was planted by Xiangjun and Lady Xiang in the beginning of time, it is the same age as Junshan Mountain and can give blessings for marriage.

Several of the younger maids were excited, but the princess was not interested, so they had to give up and followed down the mountain.

The guards who were waiting at the foot of the mountain rocked the boat, sent Fulan and her party ashore, and took the carriage back to the city. 

When Fulan entered the palace, she got a piece of news.

Xie Changgeng quelled the rebellion of the King of Jiangdu and sent a letter to Mu Xuanqing, saying that he would arrive in Changsha soon.

Lu shi informed Fulan as soon as she returned. She hurried to her sister-in-law’s boudoir with the letter and found her with a smile on her face.

“Lan’er, my brother-in-law said in his letter that he came here to pay respects to father and the king. Naturally, in addition to paying respects to father, he must also be taking you back.”

Just half a year after the marriage, the young sister-in-law went back to Changsha by herself, despite the fact that the mountains are far away. Although it was due to the dream and that she was worried about her brother that she rushed back in person. But these days, from the mouths of Zhu Yu and other maids, Lu shi knew that Xie mu was not a good person to get along with. When my sister-in-law left that day, she had a disagreement with Xie mu, and Xie mu even mentioned the matter of taking a concubine.

The newlyweds have only been married for a little more than half a year, and when the husband was away, the bride ignored her mother-in-law’s obstruction and forcibly returned to her parents’ home. Even if there is a reason for the incident, in the eyes of the world, it is the bride’s side that was not justified.

 The husband has been saved, the injury is not serious, but the sister-in-law did not mention going back.

Lu Shi suspected that she was angry because of the concubine mentioned by Xie mu.

She was afraid that her sister-in-law would be oversensitive. Although she didn’t mention it in front of her, Lu shi was still very worried about her, lest she hates the Xie family and even lose the heart of her new husband.

When Xie Changgeng returned home, if he blamed her and did not come to pick her up, there would be some difficulties for my sister-in-law.

Not returning is naturally impossible. If you go back by yourself, it will be shameful and you will lose face. In the future her situation at Xie family may be even more unfavorable.

She was secretly worried, and when she went to worship Emperor Junshan today, she even prayed for her sister-in-law.

She did not expect to get what she wanted. When she came back, she actually received such good news, how could she not rejoice?

She handed over Xie Changgeng’s letter to Mu Xuanqing.

“Lan’er, look!”

Fulan didn’t take the letter, and there was not a hint of joy on her face.

You are reading story Pihanjin at novel35.com

Lu shi was puzzled and asked, “What’s the matter? Brother-in-law is coming to pick you up, isn’t this a good thing?

Fulan asked the maids to go out, and when only she and Lu shi were left in the room, she said, “Sister-in-law, I’m not going back.”

 “I want to divorce and break off my ties with the Xie family.”

Lu shi was shocked and thought she had heard wrongly. But when she saw that her sister-in-law looked solemn and did not look like she was talking nonsense, she was surprised and said, “What’s wrong? How can you want a divorce after only half a year of marriage? You used to be devoted to Xie Jialang? I’m afraid you haven’t even spoken a word since you got married, why are you suddenly breaking off your relationship?”

While Fulan was silent, Lu shi suddenly remembered the maid’s words, and hastily padvised, “Lan’er, sister-in-law didn’t say anything earlier because I was afraid you would be overly concerned.  I also heard your maid mention a few things, saying that your mother-in-law intends to take Qi’s daughter into the family. If you don’t want to, wait until you see brother-in-law and talk to him. If you don’t nod your head, no matter how deep the relationship between him and Qi’s daughter is, he will definitely not be able to disrespect Changsha and carry her into the house.”

She held her sister-in-law’s hand and lowered her voice: “Lan’er, listen to me, you are the Mistress of the Xie family, as long as you don’t let go of this matter, no one will be able to enter the door. With your appearance and using some means, why worry about not being able to hold brother-in-law’s heart? Besides, there is also Changsha. Although the country is small, your position as the master is there! It’s just a woman, why is it that you are so disheartened!”

Fulan said, “Sister-in-law, I understand what you have said, but I want to break away from the Xie family, not because of the Qi’s daughter, but because I have changed my mind. I don’t like that surname Xie anymore, and I don’t want to waste my life in the Xie family anymore.”

“When I came home this time, I had no intentions of going back. I won’t change my mind either. I beg sister-in-law to forgive my wilfulness, don’t persuade me to go back.”

Her tone was still calm, but her attitude, however, was very firm.

Lu shi stared at Mu Fulan in surprise, and in a trance, she felt a sense of strangeness.

This is not what a sixteen-year-old girl should think.

The sister-in-law in her memory was gentle and chaste.

She thought back to the night of the eve of her wedding. Her sister-in-law’s nervousness, anticipation and shyness are all still vivid in her mind.

Lu Shi really did not know, but in just over half a year, what had happened to her that made her make such a decision?

She seemed to have grown up suddenly and was no longer the princess of the Mu family that she knew so well.

“Lan’er…”

Lu shi was in a dilemma and hesitated.

“If you really do not want to stay in the Xie family, sister-in-law will naturally not force you to return. It’s just that it is not a trivial matter, and it won’t be that easy. Although your mother-in-law proposed to take a concubine, the person has not entered the door. Even if she did, this is not an excuse for us to talk about divorce. Furthermore, this marriage was set for you by your father and it concerns the safety of the Yangtze River waterway and the peace of Dongting. How do we explain this?”

The turmoil in the imperial court that has gone on for many years has not yet completely subsided. It began when Empress Liu came to power. When the war started, there was a lot of turmoil in various places and many vassal states, either ambitious or involuntary, were involved.

Since ancient times, the two sides of the Yangtze River has had bandits. Dongting is connected to the Yangtze River in the north and the four waters of Xiang, Zi, Yuan, Lishui as well as Miluo in the west. The waterways are well connected which is favourable for the bandits. Due to the war, the riots continued in all four directions of Dongting.

Three years ago, the old Changsha wang had a feeling that he might die soon. When he was alive, he could still rely on his former influence to deter the bandits on four sides, but if he was gone, the chaos of the times may one day affect Changsha. His son, Mu Xuanqing, might not be able to support the situation alone for a while.

At that time, nineteen-year-old Xie Changgeng had gathered his troops to wipe out the bandits in Yangtze River, firmly controlling the upstream waterway, and also controlling the transportation of the court’s grain.

The old Changsha wang had received Xie Changgeng’s help before when he was suppressing the Jiangyang robbers who had been harming a place bordering Changsha for many years. The two of them had history.

This young man left a deep impression on him. Although he had a humble origin, he had an outstanding ability and disciplined behavior, so knew that his origins were not a concern.

His gaze fell on Xie Changgeng.

As if he had the same mind, Xie also took the initiative to propose marriage.

The marriage was thus arranged logically.

The thirteen-year-old princess of Changsha was promised to Xie Changgeng, the nineteen-year-old bandit leader of Yangtze River.

Soon after, Xie was hired by the imperial court on the recommendation of the King of Changsha, and was elevated to the prefect of Jiangling.

In that year, Changsha wang passed away, and Xie Changgeng on the basis of military merit. Surprisingly, in just three years, he became the youngest military envoy in the history of this dynasty.

The marriage was a good connection for both Xie and Changsha.

Xie Changgeng entered into officialdom and Changsha, just as the old Changsha king had hoped, was at peace with the four borders and free of danger.

How could Fulan not understand the concerns of her sister-in-law?

She said, “Sister-in-law, you don’t have to ask, I will talk to him. If he agrees, it won’t affect the safety of the four waters of Dongting, is it possible for you to complete my request?”

At this moment, the door was pushed open. 

Fulan turned her head and saw her elder brother Mu Xuanqing sitting on a wheelchair by the door, his face full of anger.

“A-mei! The Xie family is bullying people too much! How long has it been, how dare they humiliate you like this! This Xie is a bandit, how can he be worthy of you! You don’t have to worry. Even if brother is useless, he won’t let you be humiliated like this!”

TL: Love reading about supportive families, especially in this genre! One thing I do have to note though is WHY do the leads, especially female, have to always be so young? I can only read rebirth novels because usually there’s usually some life experience that makes it believable for a 15/16 year old to be so mature.

You can find story with these keywords: Pihanjin, Read Pihanjin, Pihanjin novel, Pihanjin book, Pihanjin story, Pihanjin full, Pihanjin Latest Chapter