Aoyama

Chapter 414 A Mixed Taste of Ash
The city gates of Changping County have opened.

The Secret Service and the Anti-Corruption Guard sped westward, leaving only a few dozen men in the county town to lie in wait and continue searching for traces of Chen Ji.

As for Liao Zhong, he seems to have been forgotten; neither Wu Xuange nor Xuan She showed much interest in him.

In a house in Gongjifang, Changping County, the man in the house had just started the stove fire.

In the main room, a toddler of three or four years old sat on a low stool, staring longingly at the kitchen. A woman sat on a chair behind him, smiling as she tied his hair into a bun.

The toddler, smelling the aroma wafting from the kitchen, blinked his big, bright eyes and said, "Dad, I'm hungry. I want some candy from the kitchen stove."

The man laughed heartily in the kitchen, "The Kitchen God has already been sent away, so there's no more kitchen candy. Ping'er, wait a moment, the food will be ready soon..."

Before she could finish speaking, there was a knock on the door outside the courtyard, and the woman instinctively covered the child's mouth.

The man came out of the kitchen and met the woman's gaze silently.

The man waved to signal, and the woman hurriedly ran into the house with the baby in her arms, stuffing the baby into a wooden box containing clothes.

She rummaged through the box and pulled out a packet of candy wrapped in oil paper, stuffing it into the child's arms. She nervously instructed, "When Mommy plays hide-and-seek with you, you hide inside and eat the candy without coming out or making a sound. Mommy will have your father find you, and if he finds you, he won't let you eat the candy anymore."

The toddler quickly licked the candy and nodded.

The woman closed the suitcase, went back outside, and winked at the man. The man wiped his hands with his apron and went to open the door.

When the door opened, the man saw the white-haired village chief standing outside and immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "Village chief, what's wrong?"

The neighborhood chief jokingly said slowly, "Why are you taking so long to open the door? I can smell the lard from your wok. What, are you afraid I'll freeload?"

The man laughed heartily: "Of course not, I'll get you a bowl when the food is ready."

The village chief waved his hand: "Just kidding. Let's get down to business. This morning, the county magistrate and the county assistant summoned us all and said that if we see any unfamiliar faces, we must report them to the authorities and not cover them up. If we catch any major criminals, the reward will be enough for you to live on for the rest of your lives."

The man asked in a low voice, "Should this reward money be shared with the county magistrates?"

The village chief scoffed, "You really think you can catch these wanted criminals? They're the ones who tried to assassinate the Crown Prince. How many lives do you have to catch them? You'd better go back and beg the Three Pure Ones not to let you run into them."

The man gave an awkward laugh: "That's true."

The village chief waved his hand and said, "I'm leaving."

The man watched the village chief move on to the next house, then silently closed the door and bolted it. He slowly breathed a sigh of relief behind the door, his smile fading.

The man turned around and waved to the woman: "Bring Ping'er out."

The woman responded and went back into the house.

But the next moment, the man saw the woman frozen at the doorway of the main room, staring blankly into the room as if facing a formidable enemy. The man's heart skipped a beat, and he shuffled towards the main room, his legs feeling like lead.

He stepped into the main room and saw Liao Zhong, who had lost an arm, sitting on a wooden box with disheveled hair. No one knew when he had entered; he hadn't made a sound.

Liao Zhong's face was ashen, and his breath was weak: "It seems that you two don't like me very much. Why do you look like your parents have died?"

The man quickly walked up to the woman and said with a smile, "Not at all, it's an honor to have you here."

The atmosphere inside the room was stagnant. The man looked at Liao Zhong's broken state and wanted to strike first, but the lingering power of his past made him hesitate and dare not make a move.

Besides, there are children in the box, so we have to be careful not to harm them.

Both the man and the woman refrained from looking at the box, fearing that Liao Zhong might discover something amiss.

Liao Zhong gave a bitter laugh and patted the wooden box he was sitting on: "Back then, I told you two to lie low in Changping and pretend to be husband and wife, but you turned the fake couple into a real one. You're living a happy life. If I hadn't really been driven to desperation, I really wouldn't have had the heart to disturb you."

The man humbly clasped his hands in greeting: "What are you saying? My wife and I have been fortunate to receive your help in the past. Now that you are injured, we will definitely protect you."

"Really?" Liao Zhong suddenly stood up, opened the wooden box, and used his one arm to pull the child into his arms, laughing loudly: "Uncle caught you! Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Uncle won't be like your father, Uncle will give you candy!"

The couple's expressions changed drastically!

The woman tried to move, but the man held her back tightly. Her eyes were slightly red as she stared intently at the child in Liao Zhong's arms.

Liao Zhong carried the toddler in his one arm and walked past the two of them. He sat down in the courtyard and ordered, "Bring me a bowl of rice."

The man remained silent for a long time before finally responding softly. He went into the kitchen to fetch the food and respectfully placed it on the wooden table next to Liao Zhong.

Liao Zhong looked at the child with doting eyes: "Ping'er, are you hungry? How about Uncle feeds you? After we finish eating, Uncle will conjure up ten sorghum candies for you, okay?"

The toddler, unaware of what was happening, clapped and cheered, "Great!"

"Good boy," Liao Zhong let the child sit on his lap, and with difficulty, used his left arm to pick up a piece of cured meat and feed it to the child's mouth, watching the child eat it.

He didn't rush to feed the child a second bite, but instead stared at the child's face to see if there were any signs of poisoning.

While feeding him, Liao Zhong said without looking up, "You two don't need to be afraid. I've known about the birth of Ping'er for a long time. Only you two think you've kept it a secret."

Neither the man nor the woman dared to speak. Liao Zhong chuckled: "I've buried so many assassins for His Highness the Crown Prince in the nine counties surrounding the capital, why did I choose to come to Changping? Isn't it because you gave birth to Ping'er? Once a person has a weakness, they become easy prey."

Liao Zhong's words were casual and ordinary, yet they were as cold as a knife cutting into the hearts of the couple.

The man gritted his teeth: "Sir, this matter has nothing to do with Ping'er."

"Oh?" Liao Zhong said casually, "You two are receiving the Crown Prince's salary, while other people's children are starving, your child still has meat to eat. Isn't he eating the Crown Prince's salary?"

The woman knelt down with a thud: "Please, have mercy and release the child! My husband and I will do anything for you. Wherever you want to go, we'll go with you through fire and water!"

Liao Zhong sighed, "What are you doing? I didn't do anything to Ping'er... With Ping'er here, you can all go through fire and water with me, right Ping'er?"

At this moment, the child saw his mother kneel down and finally realized something was wrong, and burst into tears.

He wanted to hug his mother, but Liao Zhong held his neck and he couldn't move.

Seeing that the child was not poisoned, Liao Zhong ate a few mouthfuls of rice as if no one else was around, seemingly not taking the couple seriously at all.

The more he acted this way, the less the couple dared to move.

Liao Zhong ate a few bites of food, then put down his chopsticks: "Alright, stop with this sentimental act. Let me ask you, does His Highness the Crown Prince send messages by carrier pigeon?"

The man shook his head: "No."

Liao Zhong reached out and pinched Ping'er's arm, only to see that Ping'er's arm suddenly drooped down and dislocated.

Ping'er cried even harder, and the man quickly said, "A carrier pigeon did arrive in Changping County last night, but it didn't fly here; instead, it delivered the message to our superiors. They ordered that if you were to arrive, they should immediately report back to the capital..."

Liao Zhong then casually dislocated Ping'er's other arm: "That's all?"

The man gritted his teeth and said, "The higher-ups also said that if you were to appear, you should be killed without exception."

Liao Zhong wiped his mouth, casually reattached Ping'er's arm, but still held it tightly in his hand.

He stared blankly at the blue bricks in the courtyard, his expression forlorn: "I have served Your Highness for more than ten years. Back then, the Crown Prince was not yet the Crown Prince. When Prince Fu blocked his way, I framed the Empress for having an affair with Prince Jing, claiming that Prince Fu was not His Majesty's biological son. When the censors discovered that he was forming a faction, I poisoned the censors for him. When a palace maid became pregnant with his illegitimate child, I killed the palace maid for him..."

"On the night he became the crown prince, I walked quickly through the heavy snow by Taiye Pond. I wanted to shout for him, my heart was burning with passion! But in the end, it was finally my turn to be silenced."

Liao Zhong changed the subject, saying self-deprecatingly, "However, everyone chooses their own path. Thinking back to when I first arrived at the Eastern Palace as a advisor, I could see at a glance that the Crown Prince was resolute and ruthless. That brat Chen Ji said that His Highness was definitely not a wise ruler. What does he know about a wise ruler? Can a kind and upright person be a wise ruler? Does he think everyone is worthy of sitting in that position in the Jianji Hall? Even if someone becomes emperor, what good is it if they are not ruthless? They will still be a puppet of those civil officials."

The couple in the courtyard exchanged a glance, not daring to speak, and could only watch helplessly as Liao Zhong firmly controlled their child.

Liao Zhong smiled and said, "I have no regrets. After all, Your Highness's ruthlessness is something I taught you. It's just that I can no longer return to the capital. I have to leave."

The man said cautiously, "My wife and I are willing to protect you, sir."

Liao Zhong chuckled and patted Ping'er's head: "Yeah, what else can you do?"

The man swallowed his anger and said, "Where does Your Excellency wish to go? This humble servant can escort Your Excellency out to sea from Dongying Port."

Liao Zhong said slowly and deliberately, "Going out to sea is not an option; Dongying Port is Chen's territory."

The man then said, "This humble servant may also escort you to Guyuan, sir."

Liao Zhong shook his head: "Guyuan won't work either. Chen Ji has a base there, so he might have gone there."

The man took a deep breath: "Sir, we can travel from Datong to Jingchao."

Liao Zhong exclaimed, "Great harmony is wonderful!"

The man clasped his hands in a fist and said in a low voice, "Sir, the Secret Service's spies are now everywhere. Staying in Changping would only lead to more trouble. We should not delay and should set off tonight."

Liao Zhong chuckled: "The Secret Service... isn't that the very reason I kept you around? Lord Li, when you came to approach the Crown Prince as a spy, did you really think I didn't see through your secret agent identity?"

The man's expression changed drastically: "What do you mean, sir? I am loyal to Your Highness and am not a spy."

Liao Zhong, with his one arm around Ping'er, sighed, "Whether you are a spy or not, I know it in my heart. Yima County, Tongma Village, the third house upon entering the village, Lord Li, am I right?"

The man was taken aback: "Then you..."

Liao Zhong sighed, "The imperial court and the martial world are intertwined; there's no black and white, only a complex mix of emotions. I kept you around back then precisely for this day. Without you, my secret agent, how would I have ended up in Changping?"

The man then realized that he had been seen through more than ten years ago when he approached the Crown Prince. The reason why Liao Zhong did not expose him and even deliberately arranged for him to get married and have children in Changping County was to leave him a way out.

It's all a scheme!

Liao Zhong slowly stood up: "Lord Li, I have no intention of leaving now. With you and Ping'er here, I will stay here for half a year. What's wrong with leaving after things have calmed down?"

As he spoke, he picked up Ping'er and coaxed her, "Ping'er, don't cry. Wait half a year, and Uncle will take you to explore the world."

(End of this chapter)