Chapter 853 – Side Story: The Overbearing Lord and His Tender Little Wife
It was late spring in March, with grass growing and orioles flying. This should have been the season of flourishing life, but now no one ventured out to enjoy the scenery.
In Songzhou, under the city of Xiaba.
Songzhou was originally one of the ten states and thirty-three counties of Zhong Zhao. With the fall of Zhong Zhao, the lords across the land were in a constant state of conflict. Songzhou had changed hands several times and was now under a new master. Xiaba was the largest city in Songzhou, and while the flames of war had just begun to wane, the air was still filled with tension inside and outside the city.
Even the Common People could feel the nervy atmosphere surrounding them.
Inside a tea house, a few commoners sat whispering, their voices hushed as if fearing eavesdroppers.
“Hey, have you heard? Our current… ahem…” A man in rough grey cloth pointed above his head, his face showing a mix of fear and disdain. “…turns out she’s from the Liu Clan of Hejian County… but wasn’t it said she started as a Bandit?”
“Hejian Liu Clan? Never heard of them.”
“They used to be gentry from Dongqing, but honestly, they’re nothing special around here, at least better than Bandits.”
As the two were quietly talking, a snort of laughter came from beside them.
They turned in unison to see a rough-looking man, also dressed as a Common Person.
“You guys are stuck in the past,” the man said, sipping his coarse tea with half-closed eyes, a hint of mockery on his face as he addressed the two. “The former Guard Commander pushed that person’s old man off the city wall to force her retreat. You wouldn’t believe how she reacted! She claimed she was born and raised there, and then—bam! Killed her old man right there on the battlefield… tsk tsk, shot straight through the heart, what a clean death.”
The Common People in the tea house were startled and looked around nervously, fearing a Soldier might burst in and arrest someone.
However, they were too curious and pressed the rough man for details.
After a moment of hesitation, the man smiled and spilled the rest of the gossip he knew.
That “person” he referred to was none other than Xiaba’s new master, the Jiang clan.
As for her killing her father on the battlefield, now that was a juicy tidbit.
The Jiang clan’s troops had besieged Xiaba for over two months, and after several battles, Xiaba’s position was becoming increasingly dire.
As they faced the imminent fall of the city, the local nobles grew more uneasy.
They had heard tales of the Jiang clan pillaging like locusts, and if the city fell, their fortunes would become fodder for the enemy.
Many nobles chose to secretly escape, but one family remained behind, drunkenly boasting about their ties to the Jiang clan’s lord. This turned out to be a disaster—one of their family was captured by the city’s defenders to threaten the Jiang clan into retreating.
The one who got captured was none other than Liu Zhi.
Liu Zhi, originally from Dongqing’s Hejian County.
Years ago, when Dongqing fell, he fled the war with the Liu clan’s second branch to seek refuge in Zhong Zhao.
By pure coincidence, he ended up in Xiaba.
Some listeners expressed doubt, wondering if that Liu Zhi was just impersonating someone.
The rough man chuckled, “Everyone in the former Dongqing knew Liu Zhi was the biological father of the Jiang clan. That Jiang was originally a Bandit from Dongqing, but when things escalated, the court had no choice but to bring her in. When she was appointed, this father and daughter had a falling out. Liu Zhi even revealed a shocking detail—this murderous spawn had killed Liu Zhi‘s only son!”
First, she killed her own kin, and now she killed her father on the battlefield. She’s truly a venomous woman.
“No wonder… the atmosphere these past few days felt off; this explains it.”
The Common People murmured their opinions, but none dared to raise their voices.
After all, it was someone else’s affair. Why risk their lives just to complain?
At that moment, a troop of nearly a thousand soldiers escorted a convoy of carts into the city, the inside full of muffled crying.
Leading the group was a woman with a pale face, disheveled hair, her wrinkled skin lifeless and her sunken eyes hollow.
Outside, a stout general clad in armor rode a tall horse, holding a whip in his right hand as he strode at the front.
Before long, a young general in white and silver armor came galloping in, clutching a long Silver Spear.
“General Fu—”
“Han Mei has arrived, how’s it looking with the lord?”
General Fu snapped back to attention and hurried forward.
“Not much to report, just that… the lord doesn’t seem to be in a great mood.”
General Fu scoffed, sneering, “Those fledgling scholars are just looking for trouble.”
Li Yun tightened his grip on the reins, choosing not to respond.
General Fu patted Li Yun‘s arm discreetly, whispering, “Don’t worry, the lord holds the military power; they won’t dare cause a ruckus. Besides, that Liu Zhi? Who even knows if he’s the lord’s biological father… How dare he latch onto the lord like that!”
The scholars had failed in their revolt three years back.
What could a group of old codgers, only capable of accusing the lord of “killing his father on the battlefield,” do that was really so frightening?
With the siege of Songzhou in sight and so many soldiers sacrificing themselves, how could they expect the lord to back down just because some supposed “father” said so? Absolutely not! If the lord retreated, it would be a betrayal to the fallen soldiers!
But General Fu hadn’t realized just how ruthless his lord could be, saying “kill” and then killing on a whim.
The two of them escorted the cart carrying dozens of women into the city to meet Jiang Pengji, these women could testify that the lord was not Liu Zhi’s “biological daughter.”
As long as they denied this connection, there would be no so-called charges of “killing one’s father on the battlefield.”
“Lift your head—”
The cold voice held a hint of hoarseness, adding a pinch of magnetism, sounding almost nothing like a woman at first.
Gu Zhen trembled as she knelt below, and upon hearing the voice, she fought to quell her panic, slightly lifting her head but not daring to meet the gaze of the woman sitting above.
Who would have thought that the one the Liu clan considered a disgrace, who was spat upon by Liu Zhi, would one day become the most formidable lord in the world?
“Madam Gu Zhen, I have brought you here solely to inquire about a few matters.”
Seated above, Jiang Pengji, approximately twenty-seven or twenty-eight, exuded a powerful aura, commanding respect without anger.
Gu Zhen was Liu Zhi‘s legal wife, but sadly aging and faded, she never won Liu Zhi‘s affections.
The Liu clan’s second branch had fled to Songzhou’s Xiaba, while Liu Zhi took concubines left and right, allowing his Beloved Concubine to torment and humiliate his first wife.
Gu Zhen aged exceptionally fast, her hair turned gray, looking as if her light was waning.
“Ask whatever you wish, my lord.”
Gu Zhen‘s back hunched, her figure bent, looking quite pitiful.
“You and I both know, though I’m accounted as your daughter, I am not truly yours,” Jiang Pengji cut straight to the heart. Upon hearing this, Gu Zhen’s face turned pale, but Jiang Pengji seemed not to notice her reaction, continuing with cold words, “My real mother was named Gu Min, she died giving birth to me. Not long after you became widowed, you married Liu Zhi, bringing me along. Am I correct?”
Gu Zhen was an inconspicuous branch daughter of the Gu family from Langya, while Gu Min was the legitimate daughter of the Gu clan, regrettably born simple-minded and never married.
After marrying, Gu Zhen‘s husband died young, and upon returning to her family, she couldn’t resist her desire and ended up entangled with the debauched Liu Zhi.
