Chapter 1158: The Consorts Who Ruined the State

There was more than a hint in Shao Pingbo's tone of teaching Blackwater Terrace how to do its work.

Yet he truly had taught Blackwater Terrace a lesson.

According to word passed down from above, His Majesty had given Chief Steward Tao a savage scolding, saying that the whole of Blackwater Terrace was actually worth less than one useful man and ordering them to learn from Lord Shao.

The Blackwater Terrace man replied respectfully, "Yes. I'll arrange it immediately."

"Wait." Shao Pingbo turned his head and stopped him. "Has the Seventh Princess been settled in properly?"

The man replied, "She's already been placed in a farmhouse. She can be sent over at any time. It's just..."

Shao Pingbo asked, "She's still making trouble?"

The man smiled bitterly. "Yes. She's been demanding to see you the entire time. She insists on seeing you personally. Otherwise, she refuses to cooperate."

"Why does she need to see me? Didn't His Majesty explain everything clearly to her?" Shao Pingbo's voice was cold. In truth, he had deliberately been avoiding the princess because he did not want to see her.

The man had no answer. If the Seventh Princess insisted on causing a scene, what exactly was he supposed to do?

Shao Pingbo saw his difficulty and frowned slightly.

Considering how important the matter was, and not wanting anything to go wrong at the final moment, he ultimately decided to meet her. "The Princess wishes to see me. I would not dare disobey. Come. Let's go take a look."

The man immediately extended a hand to lead the way.

Under cover of darkness, they descended the mountain and came to a small farmhouse courtyard at its foot.

Men were hidden around the courtyard as guards. After several coded signals were exchanged, Shao Pingbo's group passed through without obstruction.

The moment they entered the courtyard, there came a clatter from inside as something was smashed. Then a young woman's clear voice rang out.

"What kind of rotten garbage is this? Is it pig feed? And what kind of wretched place is this? Is it fit for people to live in? Tell Shao Pingbo to get out here! Is this how he serves this Princess? Tell him to get out here and see me!"

Shao Pingbo's footsteps slowed.

After listening for a moment, he raised one hand to stop the two guards by the door from going in to announce him. He walked to the doorway himself, pushed it open, and said, "My subordinates handled matters poorly and angered the Princess. This subject will certainly punish them properly afterward."

Inside stood a girl of fifteen or sixteen.

Even dressed in ordinary farm clothes, she could not conceal the difference in her bearing. Her lips were red, her teeth white, her skin fair and delicate. She had grown into a tall, graceful young beauty full of youthful vitality, with a pair of large, bright eyes.

She was indeed beautiful.

This was Taishu Xiong's daughter, the Seventh Princess, Taishu Huan'er. At present, her face was full of anger.

Two men holding trays inside the room had been berated into awkward silence. Both felt that even waiting on an ancestor could not possibly be this difficult.

Naturally, they could not send palace maids from the Jin imperial palace out here to serve her. Two Blackwater Terrace operatives had temporarily been assigned the task instead.

Hearing Shao Pingbo's voice, Taishu Huan'er immediately turned and glared at him. "Shao Pingbo! You finally dare come see me!"

Shao Pingbo raised one hand.

The two men reacted as though pardoned from execution and hurriedly slipped away in disgrace.

Only then did Shao Pingbo bow respectfully. "This subject greets the Seventh Princess."

Taishu Huan'er pointed straight at his nose. "Do you still have this Princess in your eyes at all?"

Shao Pingbo cupped his hands. "The Princess speaks too severely."

Taishu Huan'er refused to let him off. "I heard that making me marry Chen Changgong was your rotten idea. You actually want me to marry some decrepit old man almost fifty years old! Do you have any idea how much my mother has cried? She washes her face with tears every day! Shao Pingbo, do you admit your crime?"

Shao Pingbo's expression did not change.

He crouched, picked up fragments of the broken clay bowl from the floor, and slowly scraped the spilled food back into what remained of the bowl.

"Has the Princess ever seen people truly starving? When I was in Beizhou, I saw many. White bones of those who starved to death lay beside the roads..."

He paused. "Perhaps the Princess cannot understand such things. I only hope you understand this: there are no people in this world more miserable than the starving, and nothing matters more than filling one's stomach."

"If this little grievance the Princess suffers can be exchanged for the common people beneath Heaven having enough food and warm clothing, then it does not count as a grievance."

Taishu Huan'er sneered. "What high-sounding words. I've seen plenty of men like you. For your official position, for your own rise, you're shameless and despicable, willing to use any method whatsoever!"

Shao Pingbo said, "Perhaps I do stop at nothing when handling affairs. But in the end... whether the Princess believes me or not, I believe the common people beneath Heaven have suffered for too long. Some things must be done by someone."

"If the wars beneath Heaven can be brought to an end, what does a little infamy matter? If my lifelong wish can be fulfilled, why should I care what name I leave behind after death?"

He stood.

Ignoring the dirt mixed into the food, he pinched up a little and put it into his mouth. He chewed slowly. His teeth struck grit and he paused, but he still swallowed.

"Such good food. So delicious. How can the Princess waste it like this? The people of Jin are poor. How many would beg for even this mouthful and never obtain it?"

Seeing him eat food smeared with dirt and dust, Taishu Huan'er's face immediately filled with disgust. She instinctively took one step back.

Yet something unusual flickered in the assessing look she gave him.

Shao Pingbo turned and handed the broken bowl of food to Shao Sansheng. "Keep it. Don't waste it. I'll have it for my midnight meal."

"Yes." Shao Sansheng accepted it with both hands.

Others might not know, but after following Shao Pingbo for many years, he knew perfectly well that the Eldest Young Master was not putting on an act.

Shao Pingbo never wasted grain. He ate and drank in moderation, and after every meal not a single grain of rice remained in his bowl.

When the Eldest Young Master governed Beizhou, his methods had indeed been harsh. But to ensure the people of Beizhou could fill their stomachs, he had truly exhausted his mind and strength and devoted himself tirelessly to good governance.

The Eldest Young Master could not stand people who wasted food.

Taishu Huan'er said, "Stop pretending in front of me! Beizhou? Shao Pingbo, I heard you were driven out of Beizhou and fled to my State of Jin like a homeless dog. An incompetent man who now wants to climb upward by relying on a woman. What kind of man are you?"

She was deliberately trying to provoke him.

She wanted to use taunts to force him to abandon the plan. It was a dying struggle, one final attempt to fight for herself, and it was also the reason she had insisted on seeing Shao Pingbo.

Unfortunately, she was far too naive.

Shao Pingbo's cheek twitched once. He drew a deep breath and calmly said, "Princess, stop making trouble. His Majesty should already have explained everything that needed explaining."

"Even if the Princess refuses to think of yourself, you should think of your mother. If the Princess defies the imperial command, then it means Her Highness the Noble Consort did not take His Majesty's words seriously."

"If the Princess ruins His Majesty's great affair, have you considered what will happen to the Noble Consort?"

"You..." Taishu Huan'er pointed at him, grief and fury across her face.

He had brought out her mother to threaten her, leaving her helpless. She trembled with rage.

Shao Pingbo remained calm. "Princess, the night is late. Rest early. Tomorrow the Princess still needs to move to another place." He cupped his hands and turned to leave.

"Stop right there!" Taishu Huan'er shouted.

Shao Pingbo stopped with his back to her. "Does the Princess have any further instructions?"

Taishu Huan'er said, "The reason I agreed to marry Chen Changgong is because Imperial Father promised me one condition. In the future, he will grant me one request! After how you've treated me today, have you considered that I may not let you off in the future?"

Still facing away, Shao Pingbo replied, "This subject heard of it. His Majesty did agree to the Princess's condition, but there was a premise attached."

"His Majesty said that as long as the request is not excessive, he will grant it. Therefore, whatever request the Princess makes will not be able to trouble this subject."

How could he possibly take the threat of a young girl like this seriously?

Taishu Huan'er shouted in grief and anger, "Shao Pingbo, sooner or later retribution will find you!"

"I've done enough bad things that retribution is bound to come sooner or later. On that point, this subject understands better than anyone. The Princess need not concern yourself."

"Princess, rest early."

He left those words behind and walked away.

No matter how she shouted after him, he never looked back. He disappeared into the night.

...

When Chen Changgong, commander of Xiping Pass, woke early the next morning, he was still half asleep.

Lying on the couch, he reached to either side and felt only emptiness. The two warm, jade-soft bodies he expected were nowhere to be found.

He opened his eyes.

The two delicate beauties were already fully dressed and standing beside the couch with their hands folded, quietly waiting on him.

Seeing him wake, both women bowed together. "Grand General."

Their salutes were exquisitely precise. Every smile and movement was measured perfectly.

Chen Changgong pushed himself upright and stared. Suspicion entered his eyes. "You know palace etiquette?"

The two women stepped forward together to help him dress.

One said, "We were originally women of the palace. The two of us once attended His Majesty, the sovereign of Wei. This concubine's original name is Chang Xiu'er."

The other said, "This concubine's original name is Sang Sui."

Chen Changgong had his arms spread while they dressed him, but his body suddenly stiffened.

Slowly, he looked from one side to the other as though seeing ghosts. "You... you two are Noble Consort Chang and Noble Consort Sang?"

Chang Xiu'er smiled as she continued serving him. "The two of us originally meant to leave Xiping Pass with a merchant caravan and flee the State of Wei. Who could have known the General's men would stop us at the checkpoint and present us to the General?"

"At first, we did not dare reveal our identities. But seeing that the General has treated the two of us with genuine affection, we no longer dare deceive you."

What she said was true.

The two women had originally been traveling with an ordinary merchant caravan trying to leave through the pass. During a search at the checkpoint, the guards unexpectedly discovered two peerless beauties being concealed among the merchants.

When they confirmed it was merely an ordinary caravan, the soldiers deliberately made things difficult. To preserve his life and get through the checkpoint, the caravan master painfully surrendered the two women he had been passing off as his concubines.

After confirming they were merely weak women with no cultivation, the soldiers below presented them to Chen Changgong.

With a great battle imminent, Chen Changgong originally had no intention of accepting them. But once he saw their beauty, he could not restrain himself.

He had indeed enjoyed himself thoroughly these past few days.

Never in his dreams had he imagined these two women were actually the two favored consorts of Xuan Chengtian, the former sovereign of Wei!

Only now did Chen Changgong understand why they were so beautiful.

They had been an emperor's favored consorts.

Once the truth sank in, Chen Changgong staggered backward in shock. His legs struck the edge of the couch, and he fell sitting onto it.

He pointed at the women, unable to speak for a long time.

Xuan Chengtian might have stepped down, but he had once been the emperor of Wei and was the current Empress Regnant's own younger brother.

Worse still, these two escaped Noble Consorts were precisely the infamous consorts blamed for bringing ruin upon the state.

And Chen Changgong had actually slept with both of them.

If this became known, how much military merit would he need before it could withstand the political attacks such a handle would provoke?

His heart pounded with terror. He knew he had touched women he never should have touched.

His gaze swept aside.

Suddenly he lunged over, drew his treasured sword with a hiss, and advanced on the two women.

The women had seen enough of the world not to panic. Neither showed the slightest fear.

Noble Consort Chang smiled. "Does the General intend to kill us and silence witnesses? Since the two of us were able to appear here, does the General truly believe killing us will conceal the matter?"

Chen Changgong's face twisted savagely. He pointed the sword at them. "You must be spies from Jin! His Majesty is wise. He will understand I was framed!"

Noble Consort Sang replied, "And what if His Majesty is wise? If the General truly believes this affair will not damage your future in the slightest, then the two of us will submit to whatever punishment you choose."

Noble Consort Chang followed, "Damage to your future is the smaller problem. Can the General guarantee no one inside Wei will use this affair against you?"

"You know perfectly well what kind of people fill the court. Perhaps right now they will suppress the matter in order to keep the General steady. But what about the future?"

"Is it worth gambling everything on what may happen later?"

Noble Consort Sang said, "The State of Jin is willing to guarantee the General wealth and honor and overlook everything that happened before. The Seventh Princess herself will serve as the guarantee. All previous promises remain valid!"

"The secret envoy has been waiting below the mountain for quite some time, awaiting the General's summons!"

[End of Chapter 1158]