Chapter 788: Caught!

There were no twists.

No reversals.

Nothing heart-stopping.

No accidents.

No mishaps.

Nothing went wrong at all.

Everything happened exactly as it should have.

And perhaps precisely because it was so completely “as expected”... when Marquis Zheng watched A’Ming walk into the hall carrying the wounded Grand General Nian over one shoulder, the scene felt strangely unreal.

Oh.

He really caught him.

The pleasure of life was like the chopped scallions sprinkled over the final bowl of egg fried rice.

Without them, the rice did not smell quite as good.

It lacked that little something.

But it still filled your stomach.

Add them... and it was not as though the dish suddenly became some jade-platter delicacy.

Still... when you happened to be in a good mood and truly wanted that taste... leaving them out became a crime.

Fan City was the bowl of egg fried rice.

Grand General Nian... was the scallion.

Marquis Zheng was a veteran gourmand.

Whatever he ate, he liked taking his time and making the meal feel complete.

Now... he was comfortable.

But human beings were cheap creatures sometimes.

Give them what they want too easily and they immediately begin worrying about losing it.

They start feeling it cannot possibly be real.

By reason...

Qu Tiannan was dead.

Shi Yuantang was dead.

Today...

Dugu Mu had died too.

Great Chu’s Four Great Pillars of State had been beaten down by Marquis Zheng until only one surviving family remained.

And yet... when it came to this particular Grand General of Chu...

Marquis Zheng had always felt something close to special affection.

They were both Old Tian’s fans, weren’t they?

More importantly... during the last campaign against Chu, when the State of Yan and Chu fought a true national war, the Chu side had suffered a miserable defeat across the board.

Only Grand General Nian preserved one last shred of dignity for Great Chu.

Add Old Tian’s own evaluation of Nian Yao... and Grand General Nian occupied a genuinely special place in Marquis Zheng’s heart.

“Turn him over. Let me take a look.”

A’Ming understood what Zheng Fan meant.

He lowered Nian Yao to the floor.

Nian Yao had probably been unconscious earlier.

Now, still tightly bound, he slowly woke.

“Master, this is not some substitute trick or cicada-shell escape. It is the genuine article. Him personally. No double.”

A’Ming spoke with absolute certainty.

And there was... a faint trace of displeasure in his tone.

Over these past few years, aside from seriously shielding Master from arrows on battlefields, because Master’s miserable luck meant that whenever he charged he seemed destined to attract some hidden shot... when had A’Ming ever treated another matter this seriously?

As far as A’Ming was concerned... once he got serious, the matter was done.

And now you still doubt me?

Sorry.

Even if you are Master...

I can still get annoyed.

In truth, this pursuit had never been especially difficult.

First... not every commander in the world could enter battle with a Sword Saint automatically assigned as personal protection the way Marquis Zheng did.

The Four Great Swordsmen were rare enough already.

And the present Sword Saint could open Second Grade whenever necessary.

That was luxury stacked on top of luxury.

Second... aside from the Brocade-Clad guards left behind to accompany Marquis Zheng into Fan City, several thousand elite veteran cavalry had joined A’Ming in pursuing toward Mount Meng.

Every one of them knew what kind of merit awaited the man who captured Nian Yao.

Who would not give everything he had?

Then there was the disastrous defeat of the Dugu Clan army outside Fan City.

Liang Cheng rapidly shifted forces afterward.

That forced the Chu navy to begin withdrawing early.

The Chu navy itself did not fear Yan troops swimming across the water to attack them.

On rivers, lakes, and seas... the Chu had always possessed absolute confidence.

The problem was that the river section they had been using to seal the area included a long stretch the Fan Clan had originally developed years ago to cooperate with Yan forces inside and outside.

The channel was not especially wide.

The current was not especially strong.

Once the Yan secured superiority on land, they could easily organize manpower and materials to block or choke off that river.

If that happened... the Chu navy would be trapped inside that stretch of water and everything north of it.

No help from Heaven.

No road through Earth.

What were the sailors supposed to do?

Abandon their ships and run overland?

So the Chu naval commander was decisive.

The moment the situation turned bad, he ordered the fleet south.

The Yan tried to interfere.

It achieved little.

If the Chu navy had waited another two hours... perhaps it truly might have received Grand General Nian.

Because Nian Yao had been running directly toward them.

But how could the Grand General possibly have discussed an emergency rendezvous plan with the navy beforehand?

In the end... they missed one another.

Then Nian Yao and his party reached the riverbank... and Yan cavalry caught up.

His guards remained behind to block pursuit.

Grand General Nian ran.

There was no other choice.

He would have to get into the mountains, find some place to hide, and live as a “wild man” for a while.

At that moment, Grand General Nian even thought about how Marquis Zheng had once abducted the Princess and crossed mountains and ridges to return to Jin.

He tried using that memory to encourage himself.

But back then...

Siniang and Xue San had split into separate groups to draw attention away from Marquis Zheng.

The Fan Clan had secretly arranged matters along the route.

Everything had been planned in advance.

And outside...

Prince Jingnan had personally led an army to pressure Zhennan Pass and pull Chu forces outward.

Where was Nian Yao supposed to find that kind of treatment?

After that... everything became simple.

A’Ming was the first to catch up with Nian Yao after he became separated from everyone else.

Nian Yao drew his saber.

He failed to beat A’Ming.

A’Ming injured him.

Bound him.

Then carried him back.

On the way...

Grand General Nian even made one small attempt to turn things around.

He waited for an opportunity and somehow pulled out a little blade that A’Ming had failed to find during the search.

Then... with A’Ming carrying him on his back... he slashed directly across A’Ming’s throat.

Nian Yao could be said to have exceeded his normal level with that move.

After all, once a man became accustomed to commanding armies... when did he still need to do this sort of thing personally?

For a normal person, having the throat cut like that would mean immediately clutching the wound and collapsing.

If the bleeding could not be stopped quickly... death would be almost certain.

A’Ming’s throat opened.

He merely turned his head very calmly... and looked at Grand General Nian.

“...” Nian Yao.

After that... there truly were no more twists.

Nian Yao was carried back to Fan City.

Carried into Fan Residence.

Carried all the way into the hall and placed before Marquis Zheng.

“Grand General?”

Marquis Zheng called to him.

Nian Yao sat on the floor and raised his head.

His eyesight was excellent.

He seemed to spot grains of rice on the dining table that Eighth Prince had scattered earlier while eating like a starving wolf.

“What a coincidence. Eating?”

Nian Yao twisted his bound body a few times.

Then called out:

“I’m hungry too.”

There was no expression of fearless acceptance of death.

No heroic atmosphere of going calmly to execution.

When Zheng Fan remained seated without responding...

Grand General Nian even smiled.

“Marquis Zheng, surely you can grant me one full meal? I ran for half the day and then got bounced all the way back over someone’s shoulder. I really am starving.”

Marquis Zheng nodded.

Then looked at Eighth Prince seated across from him.

“Can you still eat?”

Eighth Prince was already painfully full.

But he immediately answered:

“I can. A little more. A little more.”

“Siniang.”

Zheng Fan looked at Siniang.

“I deliberately made extra earlier. There’s still some in the kitchen. This servant will bring it.”

Siniang went to fetch the fried rice.

The hall fell quiet.

The Sword Saint heard that Nian Yao had been captured and came inside as well.

Longyuan in his arms.

Outwardly, it looked as though he had come thoughtfully to protect Marquis Zheng’s safety.

In truth... he had come to watch the spectacle.

Everyone enjoyed watching something unusual.

The Sword Saint was no exception.

A’Ming was family.

He found himself a place to sit.

Opened his wineskin.

And drank blood.

His vitality had never fully recovered in the first place.

Even while pursuing Nian Yao... he had not been at full strength.

Eighth Prince sat upright and proper.

He dared not look at Nian Yao.

He dared not look at his own brother-in-law either.

He looked like an obedient child.

Who could possibly connect him with the swaggering young prince who had once stood aboard a pleasure boat beneath Yupan City and pissed three zhang into the wind?

He wanted to say something.

Unfortunately... he could not think of anything.

Surely he could not greet Grand General Nian with:

Oh, you’re here?

And have Nian Yao answer:

Oh, you’re here too?

Grand General Nian simply sat there with an easy expression.

He did not look gloomy.

Marquis Zheng silently took out his black iron cigarette case.

Pulled out a cigarette.

Picked up the candle himself.

And lit it.

“Brother-in-law, I heard before that you like smoking tobacco. Looks like that really is true.”

Eighth Prince was simply searching for something to say.

Zheng Fan nodded.

“Occasionally.”

“I have some excellent Five-Mineral Powder stored in my residence. Next time I’ll send it to Brother-in-law to try.”

“I don’t take that stuff.”

“Oh. Right. Tobacco...”

Tobacco was nowhere near as fashionable in this era as Five-Mineral Powder.

Eighth Prince could only continue:

“Then I’ll look through the state treasury. Great Chu’s treasury has tribute goods collected from all over through generations. There ought to be some.”

Marquis Zheng tapped ash from the cigarette.

“Wasn’t the old Ying Capital burned?”

“...” Eighth Prince.

The capital had burned.

And the fire had begun inside the imperial palace itself.

Yet here this brat was talking about tribute goods preserved through generations in the treasury.

Of course...

Zheng Fan knew his brother-in-law had moved part of the treasury before abandoning the capital.

But surely they had not gone to the trouble of hauling away things like tobacco.

“Then apart from this, Brother-in-law, do you have any other hobbies?”

“Hahahahahaha!”

Grand General Nian suddenly burst out laughing.

In the hall... the corner of the Sword Saint’s mouth curved upward as well.

Then quickly disappeared.

Nian Yao looked at Eighth Prince.

“Didn’t you say yourself a few days ago that Marquis Pingxi especially likes married women? Even when he steals a Princess, she has to have already passed through another man’s wedding doors first, otherwise she doesn’t taste right?”

Eighth Prince shot to his feet.

He pointed at Nian Yao in terrified fury.

“You... you’re talking nonsense!”

“Nonsense? Marquis Pingxi’s fondness for married women is known beneath Heaven. Three ladies in his Residence. One is a Princess who had already married. One is the little widow from this very Fan Residence. As for the other one... I imagine she’s the woman who just went to bring food. Look at that figure. Most likely another experienced one.”

“Heh-heh-heh.”

Zheng Fan laughed too.

“Marquis Zheng, old Nian understands. Only young idiots with hot blood still obsess over some untouched courtesan or pretty little plaything. A man who truly knows how to live wants the sort of woman who knows when you’re cold, when you’re hot, and who belongs on top and underneath. Am I right?”

Marquis Zheng neither confirmed nor denied it.

But he was still smiling.

At that moment...

Siniang returned with the food and placed the fried rice in front of Nian Yao.

Nian Yao shrugged.

“Marquis, I’ll trouble you to untie me. Let me eat, then you can tie me back up afterward.”

Marquis Zheng stood.

Walked over.

Picked up the plate of fried rice from the floor.

“No need. I’ll feed you.”

Nian Yao smiled.

He leaned forward.

Opened his mouth.

“Well then, sorry to trouble you.”

Marquis Zheng nodded.

BANG!

The entire plate of egg fried rice smashed directly into Nian Yao’s face.

Then Zheng Fan kicked him squarely in the face.

Nian Yao toppled over.

Marquis Zheng immediately followed with kick after kick to his head.

Over and over, he cursed with the simplest, most forceful phrase capable of expressing the emotion directly:

“Fuck your mother!”

When he finally stopped...

Grand General Nian’s face was swollen and bruised.

Blood ran from his nose and the corner of his mouth.

Yet he was still licking grains of rice from the floor.

Eating as he said:

“Mm. Fragrant. Really fragrant.”

“Heh-heh.”

Marquis Zheng scraped the sole of his boot against the floor.

Then said:

“Nian Yao, I’m not a refined man. There’s no need to play this kind of scene with me. I’m very double-standard about things. You know what double standard means? It means... I can put on a performance. But if you expect me to cooperate while you put one on... tsk. I don’t like that very much. If you want to talk, then talk properly. I can give you the chance. Can you do that?”

At this point, they were surrounded by an army outside and experts inside.

They had long since left the territory of “the villain dies from talking too much.”

There was plenty of time to speak slowly.

Nian Yao swallowed the rice in his mouth.

Then answered:

“Yes.”

Marquis Zheng nodded.

“Oh. No, you can’t? Fine. Guards!”

“Here!”

Two Brocade-Clad personal guards entered from the doorway.

“The Grand General’s mouth is still far too hard. Let’s soften him up first. Drag him out. Castrate him.”

[End of Chapter 788]