Volume 7: Ziwei Remains

Midsummer night, at midnight. The lanterns had dimmed, and all sounds of the world were hushed.

Taiping Prefecture had a total of twelve city gates on its east, west, north, and south sides. The southern gates were, in order, Anhua Gate, Mingde Gate, and Qixia Gate.

Mingde Gate’s city gate was about fifteen zhang and two chi wide, divided into three layers and three towers, from outside to inside: the sluice gate tower, the arrow tower, and the main tower. Except for the southern gate’s arrow tower, all other towers had arched gate openings below them, each three zhang high, three zhang wide, and eight zhang deep.

The main tower was a multi-storied building, seven bays wide, two bays deep, and ten zhang high, with a three-tiered hip-and-gable roof, surrounded by a corridor. It was one of the largest city towers in Taiping Prefecture.

The guardian of Mingde Gate was named Lu Chenfei. It was rumored that he was once the left-hand man of the late Divine Guardian General, Sixth Prince Wu Ruian. However, due to his dereliction of duty in escorting Princess Zhaohua for a political marriage years ago, which resulted in the prince being out of contact for three years until now, Empress Chen Zhao sentenced him for failing to protect his master.

He should have been executed, but due to his illustrious military achievements, his merits and demerits balanced out, and he was ultimately demoted to city gate guardian and concurrently director of the Patrol and Inspection Bureau.

What did the director of the Patrol and Inspection Bureau do?

In short, it was a low-level official who helped the public catch cats, dogs, and thieves during the day, and occasionally had to take shifts to guard the city gates during curfew at night.

It could be said that a tiger had fallen into the plains, with no place to exercise its might.

Lu Chenfei was often ridiculed by his colleagues, but he paid no mind. His catchphrase was: “No matter how small or idle my official position, I will never forget Prince Wu’s teachings! I will always be a soldier of Xuanguan Kingdom, and I will pledge my life to serve the country, no matter what post I hold!”

Lu Chenfei conducted his patrols punctually every day, come rain or shine. At night, after curfew, while the officials standing inside the city gate one by one dozed off, he still stood tall and straight like a pine, unmoving like a mountain.

It was as if an endless surge of primal power coursed through him every day, and the passion and vitality he exuded were enough to ward off all gossip. Gradually, he once again became an official admired and respected by the masses—a director of the Patrol and Inspection Bureau whom even those who only caught cats and dogs looked up to.

That night, Lu Chenfei was on his routine night watch. Besides him, there were forty guards under the main tower of Mingde Gate, divided into two rows, twenty on each side.

“Do you still remember the essentials of military posture?” Lu Chenfei stood among the guards, tirelessly lecturing on the most basic attitude of a soldier, which was to stand in proper military posture.

Lu Chenfei looked left and right, then couldn’t help but curse, “Zhang Laoliu, did you not eat dinner? Or did your wife run off with someone? You look so unlucky!”

Laughter erupted from the crowd, and Lu Chenfei glared again, “What are you laughing at? Is it that funny? You, Liu Dapang, did you eat Zhang Laoliu’s dinner? Your belly’s sticking out so much? All of you, cheer up!”

The crowd, upon Lu Chenfei’s glare, immediately straightened their faces and stood at attention.

“Neck straight, chest out, legs firm!”

“Chin in, stomach in, hips tucked!”

“Eyes wide open! Head reaching for the sky!”

“Remember! We are the guardians of Mingde Gate, the first line of defense for His Majesty! We will not allow even a single fly to fly in…”

Just then, the distant sound of horse hooves suddenly interrupted his words.

The sound of hooves came from far away, drawing nearer and clearer.

Everyone immediately became highly alert, looking into the distance.

Before long, a grayish-brown carriage came into view. Two red lanterns hung on the carriage, and from a distance, it seemed as if only two lanterns were slowly approaching in the darkness.

With a soft “whoa,” the carriage steadily halted before the city gate.

Only then did everyone clearly see that the driver was a young man. He was dressed in a Daoist robe, with clear features and bright eyes, exuding an air of ethereal detachment. Beside him sat a young boy, who appeared to be only about ten years old.

“Who are you? How dare you enter the city during curfew? Do you not wish to live?” Lu Chenfei roared, blocking the carriage.

The soldiers, too, uniformly pointed their swords and halberds.

The man, unhurried, calmly jumped off the carriage, cupped his fists, and said, “I am Zhong Xu. I was delayed on the way today, and thus had no choice but to enter the city at this hour. Please forgive me and be accommodating.”

“Accommodating?” Lu Chenfei chuckled mockingly, “If I accommodate you and let you into the city, and then you’re caught by the patrolling guards, who will accommodate me? Men! Seize him!”

“Wait.” Just then, a pleasant female voice came from inside the carriage.

Lu Chenfei’s heart skipped a beat. He felt her voice was very familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before, but he couldn’t recall where at the moment.

He couldn’t bother with much else at this point; he just narrowed his eyes and shouted, “Who else is in there? Get out immediately!”

There was a rustling sound inside the carriage, but after a long while, no one emerged.

Lu Chenfei continued angrily, “Are the people inside too unsightly to be seen? If you don’t come out now, don’t blame me for being impolite!” His words made all the guards raise their guard, their swords and halberds uniformly struck the ground, causing no small tremor.

“Vice General Lu, long time no see, you’re still so impulsive,” a woman’s voice said then, as she lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, revealing her fair, clean wrist.

On her wrist, she wore a bracelet that was entirely lustrous and contained faint golden threads.

The bracelet gleamed brightly, stinging Lu Chenfei’s eyes.

“Could it be… you…” Lu Chenfei’s mouth gaped open, looking somewhat incredulous.

Immediately after, the carriage curtain was pulled back halfway, and at this point, it was clear who was sitting inside the carriage.

Inside the carriage sat three people: one man and two women. The man’s complexion was like jade, so handsome he didn’t seem mortal.

He sat smiling in the middle, with the two women seated on his left and right.

He parted his lips, smiled faintly, and said, “Since you’re doing so well in the patrol camp, then stay here from now on.”

“Your… Your Highness?!” Lu Chenfei’s eyes widened, instantly filled with a myriad of inexplicable emotions. There was excitement, surprise, and a longing that had lingered for a very long time.

His eyes welled up with tears, almost immediately overflowing, and he choked back sobs for a long time, unable to speak.

Aside from Lu Chenfei, none of the city guards had ever seen Wu Ruian, so they were all a bit confused.

But the next moment, seeing Lu Chenfei kneel on one knee, they knew a truly formidable figure had arrived, and they all knelt down in unison.

Lu Chenfei cupped his fists in salute, tears welling in his eyes, and choked out, “Your subordinate Lu Chenfei respectfully welcomes the Divine Guardian General, Prince Wu, back to court!”

His cry finally dispelled the doubts in everyone’s hearts.

Everyone was utterly astonished, and after a long moment, they all nodded and shouted, “Your humble generals respectfully welcome Prince Wu back to court!”

That night, approaching the fifth watch, the first signal drum sounded from the Chengtian Gate of Taiji Palace, and the drum towers on the east, west, north, and south main streets were struck in sequence.

However, today’s drum sounds were not merely to signal the dawn; they also conveyed this momentous news to everyone.

As the three thousand drumbeats spread in waves, everyone in the city learned the news immediately—Prince Wu Ruian, who had been out of contact for three years, had finally returned safe and sound.