Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 88 Song Wei's Death
Qingzhou, once known as Guanggu, replaced Linzi as the core city of Qi and Lu. Numerous wars, including two destructions during the Sixteen Kingdoms and Northern and Southern Dynasties, could not destroy its prosperity.

Now, it is the seat of the Pinglu Army of the Tang Dynasty, and General Song Wei, who refuses to give up power until his death, must die in his own Jiedushi office.

Song Wei lay on the bed, gasping for breath, tears streaming down his wrinkled face. He was overcome with grief, seemingly possessed of a thousand words to say, yet his voice choked him, unable to find the words to begin. He simply kept repeating, "Don't hate me, I'm going to die sooner or later. Don't hate me, I'm going to die sooner or later!"

Who did he see? The innocent people he had looted and murdered, the civilians he had killed because he had fostered the enemy, his colleagues who had died in battle because of his jealousy of talented people, or the others he had let down in the past?
The tenth year of Xiantong, not even ten years ago. How did Song Wei, who was once so brave and brave, and who still had a righteous heart in his old age, become like this?
In the Shen Ce Army, he grew from a young boy in his teens to a veteran in his sixties, and only when he was in his sixties did he get the opportunity to lead an army alone for the first time.

He marched straight in and defeated the invading Nanzhao people so badly that they were at a loss as to what to do. Even the envoys from the Six Zhaos who were protecting the Nanzhao King Meng Shilong were killed by the sword of Song Wei's younger brother Song Jue.

But what happened? Yan Qingfu, upon his arrival, seized his entire army, robbed him of all his military achievements, and then, with all the pretense of honor, appointed him the Jiedushi of Dongchuan. Even the historians, in their records preserved for posterity, wrote of Yan Gong's remarkable feat of turning the tide and saving Shu from danger.

Song Wei's lifelong belief finally collapsed.

He once believed that as long as he worked hard, he would eventually succeed. He had endured countless humiliations and contempt, but as long as his official rank continued to rise, he relied on this tenacity to persevere until he was over 60 years old.

As a result, he discovered that a despicable villain who was good at currying favor with the eunuchs could easily take away everything you deserved.

Song Wei completely collapsed, and then he became the person he once hated the most. The eunuchs discovered that the once iron-willed general was more tactful than anyone else and could even cater to the wishes of the eunuchs.

Song Wei got what he wanted and became the chief of the Tang Dynasty's military commanders. Even the four most prestigious Tang Dynasty commanders had to rank below him due to their seniority.

It wasn't until after the disastrous defeat at Songzhou that a javelin pierced Song Wei's lower abdomen. As his condition worsened, Song Wei realized he was too old to fight on the battlefield. His remaining life span was already limited, and this injury had significantly shortened it. Yama and the Death God could take his life at any moment.

A young medical officer came in holding medicine, his expression gentle: "Song Shuai, take the medicine."

Song Wei sat up with difficulty, took the bowl and wanted to drink.

His pale eyebrows suddenly raised, his withered arms trembled, and he suddenly threw the medicine bowl at the doctor's face.

"It's you, you've been trying to harm me, right?" Song Wei roared, "Why do I keep seeing those weird things? I want to see Yan Qingfu and settle the debt I owe him, but he hasn't even once! Tell me, who do you belong to?"

The healer's face flushed red from the scalding medicine, his face bruised, but his eyes remained calm. "I'm just a small medical officer. All I have to do is try my best to treat Marshal Song's illness. As for Marshal Song's hallucinations, how could I possibly know?"

But Song Wei suddenly trembled again and shouted, "No, I didn't do it, don't come to me!"

He cried out sharply, "I shall die sooner or later, I shall die sooner or later!"

Song Wei rolled off the bed. The broken porcelain pieces pierced his old and rough skin, but not much blood came out.

He unwillingly raised his right hand in the pool of medicinal soup on the ground, as if he wanted to grab something, but the fire of life in his eyes gradually dimmed.

Song Wei's head tilted to the side, his face pressed against the hot medicine residue, and he completely stopped breathing.

The medical officer shouted and called two servants at the door to come and see to prove his innocence.

The medicinal decoction contained datura, but datura inherently has a calming and soothing effect, so the dosage was always very small. He and several other medical officers had been discussing the prescription for Song Wei's treatment, and they promptly informed the deputy governor, An Shiru, and the Yaya Wang Jingwu, the generals within the military governorship, of any adjustments to the prescription.

When the young medical officer returned to his residence, a smug smile appeared on his lips.

Why was he willing to go through fire and water and risk his life for the salt commander Huang Chao? Because Huang Chao rarely abandoned anyone and always left a way out for those who were loyal to him.

Everyone knew that Song Wei was seriously injured and dying. As for when he would die, few people would find it strange.

Small amounts of datura, combined with some other drugs, can also induce fear in people and trigger debilitating hallucinations.

For an elderly person like Song Wei, carefully controlling the dosage of medicine can determine the exact time of Song Wei's death.

What problems could those mediocre doctors find with his family secret recipe?

The young medical officer had perfectly completed the task Huang Chao had assigned him. He could choose to buy land with the money he had earned to live happily for the rest of his life, or he could continue to hide in Qingzhou City and find ways to do more for the Cao army and earn more money.

Both options look good.

……

Many days after General Zhu Wen was promoted to the commander of a thousand men, his soldiers witnessed another incredible thing.

Zhu Wen actually invited a camp prostitute into his tent.

Although everyone knew that Mr. Lan had always lived in the same tent with the general, ever since Lan Suting sucked out poisonous sores for the soldiers and cooked delicious meals for them, everyone treated her like a fairy and testified to each other that the general and Mr. Lan were innocent, as if their noses could really smell the unique fragrance of a virgin.

However, the two did sleep in separate beds, with a thick black cloth curtain drawn between them, which someone had glimpsed at the door of Zhu Wen's tent.

But bringing camp prostitutes into the tent once again caused the soldiers under his command to secretly discuss the matter.

General Xiao Zhu has never been a prostitute and doesn't care about women. Everyone thinks that such a handsome man like him would not be interested in ordinary women. Why did he change his mind today?

Mr. Kelan is still in the tent. With such a pure character, isn't the general afraid of polluting her?

But they were really overthinking it.

Zhu Wen just asked this camp prostitute from the Zhao family of Tianshui to sing some little songs.

Huo Cun and his companions loved to listen to bold and colorful Dunhuang lyrics such as "Snow on my chest, I follow you to bite, I am afraid of spending a thousand gold to buy my smile." Zhu Wen, on the other hand, preferred more plain music.

"The curtains are rolled up by the wind at dusk, and I, in my white clothes, put my hands behind my back and ask the sky. I often think of myself, but it becomes nothing again. Is my infatuation the same as mine elsewhere?"

The former daughter of aristocratic family, with a touch of sorrow in her eyes and brows, sang gracefully, her delicate and curvaceous figure dancing like a willow, her plain ribbons drifting like clouds. After a brief pause, she sang another song, "He Manzi," and then continued with "Palace Poems," a commentary on the piece by the poet Zhang Hu.

"Three thousand miles from my homeland, twenty years in the inner palace. A cry of 'He Manzi' brings tears to my eyes."

The tone is sad and moving.

Lan Suting said quietly, "It's said that decades ago, Emperor Wuzong's concubine, Meng Cairen, died of grief while singing the song 'He Manzi' at his deathbed. She was probably worried that Wuzong would die midway through his reform plan. Prince Guang has always been friendly with the Niu Party. If he came to power, all of Wuzong's efforts would be wasted."

Zhu Wen had also heard his father, Zhu Cheng, recount this historical event, saying that Emperor Wuzong was the only virtuous ruler who could have made the Tang Dynasty great again, but his life was too short. Later, Emperor Xuanzong came to power and reversed Wuzong's policies, causing the country to decline again, as it continues to this day.

Zhu Wen nodded slightly in approval of Zhao Ji's song, and then poured a bottle of wine into his mouth. Compared with shochu, yellow wine was more refreshing.

Lan Suting sighed, took out a piece of orange-yellow crystal candy, and said to Zhao Ji, "Sister, you are tired from singing. Have some candy to moisten your throat."

Zhao Ji's eyes showed gratitude and she thanked him and took it.

This is Lan Suting's favorite pear paste candy. It is said that it was invented by Wei Zheng, the prime minister at the time of the founding of the country, to treat his mother's asthma. This is probably just a joke made up by candy merchants to promote their products.

But this candy with a faint medicinal flavor really suits Lan Suting's well-educated and cultured temperament.

Zhu Wen said this slightly transparent candy looked like sliced ​​radish. As expected of a little rabbit, he loved radish.

Radish is easy to store and was a favorite vegetable of the Tang people, often cooked with mutton. In the Guanzhong dialect, it is transliterated as "luo luo".

Lan Suting argued that radish is obviously white, but pear paste candy is yellow.

After all, it will take more than two hundred years for yellow radishes to appear in this land.

Zhao Ji's maiden name was Yao Niang, a common name in the Tang Dynasty. She was eighteen years old, and her beauty was not as elegant as Lan Suting's, but she had a good figure and was not bad at singing and dancing.

The Tianshui Zhao clan, from which she came, was a Han dynasty family with a long history almost as old as the Taiyuan Wang clan and the Longxi Li clan. However, in terms of strength, it was somewhat insignificant among the Tang Dynasty's aristocratic families.

It is said that the ancestor of this clan, Zhao Chongguo, once said that a thousand years from now, our Zhao clan would be the leader among all clans. Now, a thousand years have passed, and this prophecy has not yet come true.

"Zhizhen." Zhu Wen cast a leisurely gaze at Lan Suting. "I felt quite happy when I did that. Those aristocratic families watched the people cannibalize each other and refused to provide any food. When I dealt with them and saw the grateful faces of those starving people, I felt like I was carrying out punishment on behalf of God."

"Thinking about it afterwards, if you were there, you would definitely have dissuaded me."

Killing those who are in charge is only natural.

But Yao Niang was only one year older than Lan Suting, practically still a young girl. The Tang Dynasty was a relatively open society, and many daughters of wealthy families married late, many not getting married until they were 20 or even later.

"Su Ting has said it before, implicating others is not a good thing." Lan Su Ting looked at Zhu Wen with a gaze as clear as autumn water and sighed.

"But those who appear innocent have also benefited from the injustice of their elders," Zhu Wen said. "Besides, this has been the practice for thousands of years."

Lan Suting said seriously, "Yes, Emperor Gaozu of our dynasty loved to do this kind of thing. For example, King Du Fuwei of Wu was secretly executed by Emperor Gaozu because of the rebellion of his old friend Fu Gongju. His descendants were confiscated into the Xi officialdom, and his wife and daughters were made official prostitutes. Later, Emperor Taizong launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident and overthrew Emperor Gaozu, only then was Du Fuwei rehabilitated and his family released. But is this kind of thing considered benevolent and righteous?"

"Benevolence and righteousness..." Zhu Wen pondered the words. "We shout slogans of punishing the criminals and avenging the people, but in reality, we are just dissatisfied with this world and want to make our lives better. If we can make the lives of the people better as well, that would be even better."

The "we" Zhu Wen mentioned certainly did not include Lan Suting, but this was the bloody truth beneath the splendid packaging. When Zhu Wen was young, he also believed in the so-called complete justice, but later found that it was completely impossible to achieve.

"You sang very well today, I allow you to leave." Zhu Wen said to Yao Niang.

Yao Niang showed a sad look, and was about to cry: "I have nowhere to go back to."

"Don't the Zhao family in Tianshui have many branches? Won't they take you in? Chen Liqing, who was under Marshal Yan, also lost her reputation, but was taken in by her family?" Zhu Wen asked. He knew that after the Zhejiangdong branch of the Yingchuan Chen family, to which Chen Liqing belonged, was massacred by Qiu Fu's righteous army, she was raised by the Yingchuan family.

"General Chen Liqing has shown a talent for archery and horsemanship since she was young, making her a worthy investment for our family," Yao Niang complained. "But a girl like me, who can do nothing but dance and sing, would be no different from a worn-out shoe in the eyes of the other branches of the Zhao family if I lost my reputation."

When she spoke of losing her reputation, she did not mean her chastity, but her experience as a camp prostitute in the Cao Army, just like Chen Liqing's humiliation at the hands of the rebels in Qiu Fu's army, which could no longer be concealed.

"Then what are you going to do, sister?" Lan Suting asked with concern.

"What else can I do?" Yao Niang sighed, "I can only save money for a few more years, then redeem myself, change my name and surname, find a down-to-earth man to marry, and live an ordinary life like this until old age..."

As she spoke, she lowered her head and began to sob.

This kind of thing may seem unfair to "down-to-earth people." But in reality, ordinary people in the lower classes were very lucky to be able to marry a wife. If they could get a beautiful woman like Yao Niang with a dowry, they would definitely treasure her.

The once-arrogant daughter of aristocratic families had, after just one month, completely resigned herself to her fate. Even if the Cao army was defeated and she fell into the hands of the government troops, her fate would be to continue as a camp prostitute. The other branches of the Tianshui Zhao clan would have no intention of saving her, but the younger members might be willing to look after the business of this distant cousin.

This is the power of power. Zhu Wen changed the fate of many people with just a thought.

"Although I executed those members of the aristocratic families, the people cheered. But there were also many people on the street cheering for the killing of Alliance Leader Wang. If one day I, Zhu Wen, was captured and executed by the imperial court, there would definitely be a group of people rushing to cheer."

"But you are still willing to believe in the goodness in people's hearts, right?" Lan Suting said softly.

"I can only believe it. If I think people's hearts are rotten, it means that I am rotten too." Zhu Wen responded.

The difference between Zhu Wen and the people in Tianque is that he only thinks that he should be smarter and more motivated, but he never thinks that he and the people are two different kinds of creatures.

As for words like "punishing the criminals and comforting the people", it is nice to use them to comfort yourself sometimes.

(End of this chapter)