Mr. Wei, unsure how to describe it, swallowed hard and whispered, "She's an absolute beauty."
Prefect Wang's lips curled up slightly, his two wisps of mustache lifted high, and his eyes curved downwards, pressing down the wrinkles around his eyes. He glanced at Du Yu, who was sitting cross-legged on the armchair opposite him. Not daring to refuse Du Yu, and eager to see the beauty, he clenched his fists and said, "Brother Du, do you have anything else to say?"
When Du Yu heard that he was about to see the guest off, he himself was reluctant to leave. He waved his hand and said, "Sir, please do what you need to do. I can wait here. I have to patrol the streets after I go out, so I'd like to chat a little longer."
It turns out that when Du Yu was imprisoned in the neighboring jail, Prefect Zhou, on the orders of Duke Du, kept a very close watch on him. Besides reading, practicing martial arts, eating, drinking, and relieving himself, he was forbidden to do anything else. But Prefect Wang was farsighted; he knew that once Du Yu was released, he would likely not only forget Prefect Zhou's strict discipline but also resent him for confining him.
He was a shrewd speculator, which allowed him to gradually rise through the ranks of Yingtian Prefecture amidst repeated upheavals. Initially, he intended to profit from the situation long-term, and as the deputy to Prefect Zhou, he often smuggled erotic novels and erotic illustrations to Du Yu to satisfy his cravings. Du Yu, annoyed by the constant nagging of the tutor, was a young man in his late teens who loved these things. Having received them, he regarded Prefect Wang as a close friend. Now, he himself worked as a patrolman in Yingtian Prefecture, and in his spare time, he liked to chat with Prefect Wang.
Seeing that Du Yu was unwilling to leave and fearing that the beauty would wait too long, Prefect Wang said to Mr. Wei, "If that's the case, let Miss Su wait downstairs and have the young lady come up to meet you."
Mr. Wei went out after hearing this.
Then Prefect Wang smiled apologetically at Du Yu and said, "It was an old matchmaker who knew my wife was unwell and insisted on finding me a concubine. You know my wife's family is fierce, and we can't let the news get out of the way elsewhere, so we brought her here to be chosen."
Intrigued, Du Yu pulled up a chair and sat down next to Prefect Wang, saying, "In that case, how about I act as your advisor?"
Outside, Mr. Wei relayed the message that Zhenshu should go up alone, which greatly alarmed Granny Su. It turned out that she hadn't seen Magistrate Wang for some time because she hadn't made the difference between being a wife and a concubine clear to both sides, fearing that saying too much would cause trouble. Today, she had come along to mediate, hoping to get Magistrate Wang to take a liking to Zhenshu, but without letting Zhenshu know that she was there to be matched with someone.
Upon hearing that the Prefect of the Prince's Mansion had ordered Zhenshu to go up alone, she hurriedly followed, saying, "How can I let her go alone? I'll come along."
Mr. Wei reached out to stop Granny Su, and ordered two yamen runners to hold up their spears and block her, saying, "There are other guests in the yamen. If Granny Su goes there, it would be inappropriate."
Aunt Su was frantic down below, worried that Zhenshu would find out that the commotion was caused by the woman wanting to become a concubine, and also worried that Magistrate Wang would find out that the woman didn't want to blame him in the future. She was sweating profusely.
As Zhenshu walked upstairs, Mr. Wei caught up with her, pushed open the door of a room, and said, "Please come in, young lady."
Zhenshu entered the room carrying the painting. Because of the bright light from one side of the window, she did not see the two people sitting behind the table in the back of the room. She stood at a distance, cupped her hands, and said, "May I ask which sir wishes to see the calligraphy and painting?"
When the prefect saw that the girl was wearing a sky-blue, narrow-sleeved long jacket and a moon-white skirt, she stood tall and graceful with a swan-like neck and fair skin. She was an absolute beauty. He couldn't stop smiling and said to Du Yu, "Look, she even brought something with her."
Du Yu carefully examined the woman who had entered, then abruptly sat up from his chair. Prefect Wang quickly pulled him aside, saying, "Brother Du, please sit down."
He then pointed to the chair in the front circle and said, "Please sit down, young lady."
Zhenshu saw that there was only a round-backed chair at the lower end of the table, and that it was Du Yu, whom she hadn't seen for several years, staring at her. She thought to herself, "I've tried so hard to avoid him, but I never expected to run into him here." A sudden unease arose in her heart, but being a worldly young woman, she walked over and sat down gracefully. Just then, the Prefect Wang asked, "I heard that you are the granddaughter of Master Song?"
Zhen Shu said, "That's right."
The prefect then asked, "Have you read any books?"
Zhenshu heard his question sound a bit strange, but she still replied, "I have read the Four Books and Five Classics, as well as the works of various philosophers."
Prefect Wang shook his head and said, "A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent; she should read less."
He then pointed to her unbound feet and said, "How come your feet have never been bound? Unbound feet are not a good thing for a woman."
Zhenshu suddenly realized that she had probably been tricked into coming here by Aunt Su to be a matchmaker. Seeing Du Yu's expressionless face and his fixed gaze on her, she felt a surge of anger, resentment, and shame, and her face flushed red. She fell silent. Prefect Wang thought he had embarrassed the young lady with his question and might have been disrespectful. However, this lady was exceptionally beautiful and had unbound feet; he feared she might not behave properly after entering the manor and would cuckold him. Therefore, he asked again, "Do you know your duties as a concubine?"
Upon hearing this, Zhenshu's mind went blank again. It turned out that the matchmaker, Aunt Su, had not only failed to make her a wife, but also a concubine. In front of Du Yu, whom she had not seen for many years and who had tricked her into losing her virginity, she was filled with anger, shame, and rage. Her stubbornness surged up, and she deliberately wanted to humiliate the two of them in front of everyone. She raised her eyebrows and sneered, "I know."
Intrigued, Prefect Wang gestured and said, "Tell me about it."
Zhen Shu said: "As a concubine, one should compete for favor, insult the wife, and cause chaos in the household."
Upon hearing this, Prefect Wang was so angry that his beard bristled. He said, "Nonsense! I heard that you came to the capital after losing your reputation in your hometown. If you have such thoughts in mind, I'm afraid you won't even be a good concubine."
Zhen Shu still frowned and sneered, "Does Your Excellency not want to? If I don't compete for favor, why should I be a concubine? If I am suppressed by the main wife, how can I have peace of mind? If I can't cause trouble in the family, then I'm just a concubine for nothing."
Prefect Wang slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Nonsense! Nonsense!"
Having finished speaking, he noticed the girl's undeniable beauty and her straightforward and frank words. Meanwhile, his wife was nearing death. Even if she was stubborn, if he could forcefully tame her and bring her home as a concubine, it would be a great comfort in his middle age. Therefore, he softened his voice and said, "You're too straightforward. How could you say such things to my face? When you come to my home, I will properly train you and teach you some manners."
Zhen Shuteng stood up, holding the scroll to his chest, and still sneered, "This little woman is very knowledgeable about things, no need for you to teach her, sir."
When the Prefect Wang heard the hidden meaning in her words, he suddenly realized that she might be implying that he was not a virgin and had indeed lost his virginity. He felt a mixture of disappointment and reluctance, and since Du Yu was blocking his way out, he couldn't keep this little concubine who was almost within his grasp. So he pressed her down with his hand and said, "Sit down and talk slowly, talk slowly."
Zhenshu said, "No need, sir. I have already met you. In my opinion, you are too old. I'm afraid I would be willing to be your grandfather, but it is absolutely impossible for me to be your concubine."
After saying that, he suddenly pulled open the door and saw Mr. Wei craning his neck to listen. He sneered twice, then grabbed the scroll and strode downstairs.
The Prefect Wang had intended to show off his newly acquired beauty to Du Yu, but to his surprise, she turned out to be a thorny rose, running away at the slightest provocation and declaring that he could only be her grandfather. To save face, he still smiled and said to Du Yu, "She's a bit lacking in discipline, a bit lacking in discipline, but her appearance is still good. We can train her slowly once she's taken home."
Du Yu moved a chair to sit facing the Prefect Wang, and reached out to hook him, saying, "There's something in your eye, let me take a look."
Prefect Wang leaned closer and asked, "What is that?"
Du Yu clenched his fist and punched the man squarely in the eye socket. He then jumped up and slammed the magistrate's head onto the table, pounding it several times. He said, "That's my wife! How dare you bring her here as your concubine? I think you don't want to live anymore."
After beating the prefect, he got up and went to the outer room, but Zhenshu was nowhere to be seen. He slapped his forehead and shouted, "Wife, wife, wait for me!"
☆、97|Chapter 97
It turned out that Du Yu had gone straight from Hanjiahe to Chengjiabaozi by the Daxia River, where he entrusted the task of finding Zhenshu to Tengsheng before leaving. Later, in Chengjiabaozi, he met with Yu Yichen and Sun Yuqi's men, and after a long and fruitless struggle, Sun Yuqi, with his larger force, managed to steal the gold mine map. Having gained nothing, and seeing that Liangzhou was so close, he decided to go there first to see the Prince of Huiping. Then, he took some silver and headed to Huixian, intending to find his wife, secretly marry her, and bring her back to Liangzhou.
He was originally a fugitive. If Prince Ping didn't send him back after he arrived in Liangzhou, it would be an open act of defiance against the capital, especially at a crucial time when the emperor was in poor health and the throne was about to change hands. Fearing that revealing himself would expose his crimes, Du Yu also fled alone to Huixian. Furthermore, Liu Zhang was still searching for him everywhere for the crimes he had committed at Hanjiahe, so he was in a very sorry state, constantly on the run.
By the time he secretly made his way to Huixian, it was already three months later. On the way, he heard that Huixian had been reduced to scorched earth by the Tartars, and he was extremely anxious. When he actually arrived in Huixian, he realized how tragic the scene was. At this time, half of the population of Huixian's villages and towns had been captured by the Tartars, and the other half had either died or fled. Every village and town was a desolate wasteland, with no one left standing.
The area marked by the Hanjia River was inhabited. Du Yu only knew that his wife's surname was Song, but he didn't know which village or family she came from. He inquired along the way, but dared not cross the Hanjia River. He had asked about many lost loved ones along the way, and he was unaware of Zhen Shu's widespread reputation; he was only asking about a woman surnamed Song with many sisters. Naturally, countless people inquired about their relatives in this way, and besides, people had suffered a great calamity and had long forgotten about the rape of the second daughter of the second branch of the Song family by bandits.
Therefore, Du Yu did not get any specific information. After inquiring for a while, he heard that there was a family named Song in Caijia Temple with four daughters. He thought it must be this family. When he arrived at the door, he found only scorched earth and ruins. He asked an elderly scholar, who was Tong Qisheng's grandfather. He was blind and deaf but still alive. Moreover, he did not know that Song Anrong's family had left in a hurry. After listening for a long time, he waved his hand and said, "This family had strong laborers. The men were all kidnapped by the Tartars, and the women are probably all dead."
Upon hearing this, Du Yu was alarmed and went to Hanjiahe to inquire. However, he was discovered by Liu Zhang's servants, who launched another chase. Along the way, portraits of him were kept as evidence in various prefectures and cities. Du Yu fled back to Liangzhou like a stray dog, howling and crying. His tragic state is beyond description.
He fled back to Liangzhou, where he was framed by Yu Yichen for stealing a treasure map, causing a rift between Prince Ping and the new emperor. From then on, he devoted himself to leading troops in Liangzhou to kill the Tartars, single-mindedly seeking revenge for his wife. As for writing a letter to Dou Mingluan telling her not to wait for him, he wrote it while he was in Liangzhou, thinking of his wife and filled with joy.
The previous incident in the capital was dangerous. Just then, Dou Mingluan wrote two letters truthfully recording Zhenshu's words. Duke Du had also learned in advance that Yu Yichen was going to lead the Tartars into Wenxian County. He urgently wrote to him, urging him to come to the aid of the emperor. This was also to break the deadlock that had kept the emperor and his brothers apart for many years and prevented the father and son from seeing each other. It was also a good opportunity to counter Yu Yichen's attempt to seize military power.
Only then could Du Yu return to the capital.
He had just seen Zhenshu and at first glance she looked somewhat like his wife, but that was three years ago. At that time, Zhenshu had just grown up and was still a young girl. She was often out in the sun and her skin was slightly dark. Her appearance was also rustic and unsophisticated, far from the charming and pretty girl she is now.
He went outside but then panicked, fearing that his impulsive actions would lead to the loss of his wife again. He ran downstairs shouting, but Zhenshu was nowhere to be seen. He slapped his forehead and said, "Idiot! I didn't even ask her name."
That time in the Wuling Mountains, Zhenshu, fearing he was a swindler, hadn't told him her maiden name. Later, preoccupied with luring her into bed, he didn't ask about it either. Today, seeing her again, he'd forgotten, and in a fit of rage, he stormed out of the government office courtyard, yelling and shouting. He grabbed the gatekeeper and demanded, "Where did the young lady who just came out go?"
The constable strangled him until he could hardly breathe, then pointed his spear and said, "He went east."
Du Yu dismissed the yamen runners and saw Huang Zijing, who had been patrolling the streets with him, standing outside the yamen. He reached out and called out, "Quick, help me find my wife."
He was a general leading troops in Liangzhou. He had previously come to the aid of the emperor and annihilated the Tartars. Duke Du still sent the soldiers of Liangzhou back to Liangzhou, but arranged for Du Yu to be a patrolman in the capital, under the supervision of Yu Yichen. On the surface, it was to punish him for his crimes, but in reality, it was also a compromise with Yu Yichen, hoping to make Yu Yichen not to touch Duke Du's faction for the time being.
Hearing Du Yu's strange cry, the patrolling constables dragged over their spears and asked, "Boss, what's wrong?"
Du Yu described her as follows: "A tall, thin, fair-skinned girl, dressed in a sky-blue dress, went that way. Find her quickly."
Everyone ran forward after hearing this, and Du Yu also ran and looked around as he headed east. After walking a short distance, he came across Zhen Shu's figure in a vegetable market. She was taller than the other girls, and because she did not bind her feet, her back was not sloping and her shoulders were not bent. She walked tall and straight ahead.
Du Yu pulled Huang Zijing over and asked, "What do you think of me?"
Huang Zijing said, "Very good."
Du Yu then asked, "How are you dressed? Is your face dirty?"
Huang Zijing said, "The clothes are a bit dirty, but the face is alright."
Du Yu hurriedly patted his clothes twice and said, "I can't control this anymore."
Having said that, he pushed through the crowd and ran over, calling out in a hoarse voice behind Zhenshu, "My lady!"
Zhenshu had just seen Du Yu silently watching her from his armchair, and assumed he had let go of the past. When she came out, Du Yu didn't appear either. She glared at Granny Su resentfully before leaving the government office. Seeing that everything was still quiet inside, she thought to herself that she had taken herself too seriously. After all, the matter was long past, and it was still a stain on Du Yu's reputation. Now that he was about to marry Dou Mingluan, he would probably avoid these things as much as possible and wouldn't think of bothering her again. Relieved, she strode towards the East Market. Passing by the vegetable market, she remembered that Wang Ma had been unwell lately, so she decided to buy vegetables for dinner and stroll through the market.
Suddenly, she heard someone call her "wife" behind her; it was Du Yu's voice. Instantly, her ears tingled, her feet itched, and anger welled up within her. She turned around, glared at him, and said, "Get lost!"
Du Yu listened as if receiving a divine decree, bowed his head and called out again, "My wife!"
Seeing that he still hadn't left, and that he was still wearing the ceremonial robes for patrolling the streets, and that his tall stature made him the center of attention, Zhenshu said seriously, "I don't know you, go away."
Du Yu knew he had lied to her, and even the Prefect of the Prince's Mansion knew that she had ruined her reputation in Hui County. He felt extremely ashamed, but still called out softly, "My wife!"
Zhen Shu was about to shout in anger, but she held back and turned around to ask, "Who are you?"
Du Yu had lied to her earlier, saying his name was Lin Dayu, but now he couldn't bring himself to say it. He could only stammer, "My name is Du Jinyu?"
This is his courtesy name.
"What?" Zhenshu exclaimed, "What big fish or goldfish? I don't understand. Get out of my way and stop blocking my way to buy groceries."
After saying that, he stormed up to a fishmonger's stall and said angrily, "Boss, I want to buy a fish."
The shopkeeper brandished his knife and asked, "Which one?"
Zhen Shu pointed to the largest one and said through gritted teeth, "The biggest one."
Upon hearing this, the boss scooped up the fish, slammed it onto the cutting board, knocked it unconscious with a small spiked club, gutted it, and scraped off its entrails while scaling it. He then asked Zhenshu, "Young lady, what would you like to eat?"
Zhen Shu said, "I'll chop off the head to make soup, and I'll mince the fish body to use as filling when I get back."
The boss exclaimed, "Great!"
After saying that, he swayed the fish in the water a couple of times, scooped it up, laid it across the cutting board, and with a swift stroke of his knife, the fat fish head slid a long way off the cutting board. The shopkeeper grabbed it, strung it with a rope, and picked it up. He then took another rope, strung it around the tail, and handed it to Zhenshu, saying, "Young lady, carry it further away to avoid getting your skirt dirty."
Zhenshu gave him the copper coin, picked up the fish, and turned to leave.
Seeing the pitiful state of the large fish, and recalling that he himself had once been a large fish, Du Yu felt a chill. Seeing Zhen Shu walking back the way he came, he quickly followed.
Zhen Shu walked straight to Huang Zijing, who was standing some distance away, knelt down and bowed, and said loudly, "Your Majesty, if a rogue assaults a woman in the street, what should be his punishment?"
When Huang Zijing saw this beautiful woman walk up to him and say these words in a loud voice, he scratched his head anxiously and said, "Of course, she should be sent to Yingtian Prefecture for caning."
Zhen Shu pointed at Du Yu with her finger and said, "That man has been pestering my daughter and won't leave. I wish to accuse him of indecent assault. Is that alright?"
Du Yu dared not approach from a distance, not knowing what Zhen Shu was saying to Huang Zijing. Seeing Huang Zijing nodding slightly, and Zhen Shu turning to leave, he hurriedly chased after her, calling out, "Wife, wife!"
Huang Zijing quickly stopped him, saying, "Boss, you've probably mistaken him for someone else. He doesn't know you at all."
Du Yu pried Huang Zijing's hand away and said, "What do you know? That really is my wife. We bowed to heaven and earth and consummated our marriage three years ago. What do you know?"
He broke free from Huang Zijing and ran forward, but Zhenshu deliberately hid, so he couldn't catch her. He could only shout in the street, pointing at Huang Zijing and saying, "Look what you've done! I've lost her again."
Zhenshu hid behind the stall for a while to cool off before turning back to the East Market through another alley.
She entered the house, threw the fish under the stove in the kitchen, and went upstairs to ask Madam Su, "Does Mother think that a daughter can only be someone's concubine?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Su exclaimed in surprise, "What are you saying? What do you mean by 'concubine'?"
Zhenshu said angrily, "You said it was about sending calligraphy and paintings, but the Prefect Wang thought I was offering myself as his concubine, and even asked me about the rules of being a concubine."
Aunt Su deceived both sides. Madam Su thought to herself that Aunt Su had also deceived her, but she still covered up for her by saying, "I told you that the lady of that family is about to die, and she will make you her official wife after she dies."
Seeing that Su was still trying to argue, Zhenshu didn't want to scold or reprimand her. She stormed downstairs and hid in Song Anrong's old house on the second floor of the shop in front of her. She sat there alone. After a while, she suddenly heard a soft laugh beside her. It sounded like Zhenyi's voice. Now Zhenyi was always running away. She had turned fifteen this year and was a young lady. Zhenshu usually didn't care about her.