The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 12 Li Zhiwei

Li Zhiwei was taken back to the Tang army's main camp near Chang'an by Pei Xuanbao.

Li Zhiwei lived up to her name. Even though Pei Xuanbao had secretly unleashed his sword energy and accelerated instantly, Li Zhiwei still noticed the ruthlessness he displayed towards Zhou Yan. Li Zhiwei pinched her own palm with her fingers.

The girl's breathing quickened, and a sense of absurdity welled up inside her.

Even after returning to her tent, Li Zhiwei was still in a daze.

Just as the menacing footsteps approached, the tent flap was violently flung open, and a man in his early thirties strode in, clad in golden, gleaming armor, fully armed and stained with blood, his left hand resting on the hilt of the horizontal sword at his waist.

The man strode over, lifted his cloak, and almost knelt down, placing his hands on Li Zhiwei's shoulders, saying, "Zhiwei, you're alright, that's great!"

“When the Eastern Capital fell, I kept thinking about you and your mother.”

Li Zhiwei took a small breath and looked at the man in front of her.

The 31-year-old man had bloodshot eyes and a lot of gray hair. His armor still smelled of blood. The An Lushan Rebellion was powerful. Last year, it was her father who had subdued Dongdu and settled her and her mother there.

Unexpectedly, when Chang'an was recaptured, Luoyang fell again.

She no longer knew how difficult the journey had been to survive.

Li Zhiwei looked at her father, her gaze quickly and discreetly sweeping over Pei Xuanbao and the generals and captains behind him.

Li Zhiwei wanted to tell Pei Xuanbao everything he had done right there, but she was keenly aware that her father was now a general in the army. If she cried and made a scene, saying she wanted to seek justice for that young man, it would be inappropriate for her to do so.

That would embarrass my father in the military and make him feel disgusted with me.

It will make Mother's last effort...

She bowed and said, word by word, "Your daughter Zhiwei greets Your Highness."

"Fortunately, with the help of General Pei of Hedong, my daughter was able to escape from the den of demons."

Pei Xuanbao gazed at Li Zhiwei, cupped his hands, and said:
"It is my duty as a subordinate."

Li Chu said, "This isn't an official matter, why call me 'Your Highness'? Xuanbao, thank you for your trouble. Everyone, please step back and allow my daughter and me to be together." After Pei Xuanbao left, Li Chu picked up Li Zhiwei, placed her on the low table beside the desk, and sat down, saying softly:

"How did you escape? Where's your mother?!"

Li Zhiwei looked at Li Chu.

Part of it was forced emotional manipulation, and part of it was genuine.

Those big, bright eyes quickly became misty.

Then large tears fell without her saying a word.

Looking at Li Chu like this, he seemed like a delicate doll.

Li Chu already felt guilty and apologetic about the consequences of his arrangements for his concubine Shen and his daughter. Seeing that his daughter had not embarrassed him in front of the generals, his affection for her deepened.

Seeing his daughter shed tears, the father's love and emotions intensified.

He removed his arm armor, cupped Li Zhiwei's hands in his own, and said softly:

"Your father will take good care of you and will find your mother."

During the Tang Dynasty, when fathers and sons or fathers and daughters had a very good relationship, they would use the term "Aye" (阿爷).

Li Zhiwei's lips trembled, as if she were suppressing her emotions. Finally, her grief collapsed like a torrent, gushing out as she cried out:
"Father, your daughter almost didn't get to see you again!"

She reached out and hugged Li Chu tightly; after all, they were father and daughter.

The fear he had suppressed before, the perilous escape from the Eastern Capital, the loss of all his abilities, being captured by monsters, and the prospect of being eaten—all these fears finally erupted when he met his father.

Li Zhiwei wept and trembled in her father's arms, like a fallen leaf in the autumn rain. Li Chu's pity for her grew stronger, and he asked Li Zhiwei to tell him how she had escaped.

Li Zhiwei concluded by saying that she had fallen into a market inhabited by demons, and cried as she spoke:
"If it weren't for a righteous man, my daughter would have been killed and eaten by a monster."

Li Chu comforted his daughter, saying:
"Where is that righteous man? I want to thank him properly for saving my daughter!"

Li Zhiwei had recovered from her crying. Her nose was slightly red. She sobbed and said, "After we escaped, General Pei questioned him and found out that he was not from a noble family or a powerful clan. So, he abandoned him to attract those monsters and only took his daughter with him."

Aristocratic families...

A ripple flashed in Li Chu's eyes.

Immediately, his political instincts kicked in, and he realized that his daughter might want him to punish Pei Xuanbao and seek justice for the young hero who was most likely dead.

But when he saw his daughter's still-childish face, and how weak, pitiful, and adorable she looked when she cried, how could she possibly have such cunning and scheming? Li Chu shook his head inwardly, dismissing his doubts.

In the end, I am the one who has let them down.

He patted Li Zhiwei's head and said softly, "Father will send someone to find your mother. After the rebels are completely wiped out, we will go and destroy that demon's lair to avenge my child. As for Pei Xuanbao, Father will go and talk to him in a little while."

Li Zhiwei realized that her father did not intend to pursue the matter.

The deceased young man was a commoner, a talented member of the Pei family of Hedong.

It's not too difficult to choose.

Li Chu comforted Li Zhiwei and let her enter Chang'an with the army. After this fierce battle north of Xiangji Temple, the Tang Dynasty's elite troops successfully recaptured Chang'an. The capture of the capital was a huge boost to morale.

Li Zhiwei was assigned a relatively intact villa in the palace, one that hadn't been severely damaged. The next day, she needed to pay her respects to her father's principal wife, Cui Lianqing, who was from the Boling Cui clan, as she arrived later.

Cui Lianqing's father was the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat of the Tang Dynasty, and her mother was the Lady of Han. The Lady of Han's sister was none other than Yang Yuhuan, the most beautiful woman in the world, whose smile was said to have caused flowers to bloom all over Chang'an.

During the Tianbao era, Yang Yuhuan was greatly favored. In addition, the Cui family, one of the five noble families and seven prominent clans, made Cui Lianqing a first-class noblewoman. She was also married to the Prince of Guangping and became arrogant and domineering.

However, at Mawei Slope, the Imperial Concubine died; when Chang'an, the Western Capital, fell, her mother's entire family was slaughtered. Although she followed the Prince of Guangping all the way to recover lost territory, the bond of gratitude gradually thinned.

The once arrogant woman is now much quieter, with a touch of aloof beauty. As she watches the sunset, when she sees Li Zhiwei, she no longer scrutinizes her or speaks with barbs as she used to. Instead, she gently beckons Li Zhiwei to come over.

“My child is still alive, but what about your mother?” She and Li Zhiwei’s mother, Shen Miyun, had many conflicts in the past, but now she asked as if she were just asking about an old friend. Her expression was gentle. Li Zhiwei’s face quieted down, and she forced a smile and said, “My mother should also be able to turn bad luck into good.”

Cui Lianqing looked at her face and said directly, "Your mother is dead, isn't she? At such a young age, you dare to say that your mother is still alive. People don't dare to underestimate you. You are worthy of the name Zhiwei."

"But why did you come back?"

Cui Lianqing reached out and stroked Li Zhiwei's face, revealing the cold truth beneath the previous tender father-daughter reunion, and said:
"His Highness left you and your mother in Xijing instead of taking them with you, and you did not accompany His Majesty to Fengxiang like us, nor were you under the protection of the army. You are so precocious, you must have known the hidden meaning long ago."

Li Zhiwei did not answer.

Cui Lianqing said lazily, "Your Highness has a new favorite woman, a member of the Dugu clan."

"Very young, with good writing skills and a graceful figure. This age reminds me of when we were young."

"You, me, your mother, and my famous concubine—we women all revolve around in this harem. Only when it's all over do we realize what we've been fighting for."

“There are always young and beautiful women from prominent families.”

"Can love and hate last forever?"

“Your mother and I have been fighting ever since we followed His Highness. Now that your mother is gone and you have returned, seeing you is like seeing an old friend, seeing how we were back then. It seems that my time is running out, isn’t it?”

"What's the matter with you coming to see me?"

Li Zhiwei pursed her lips and said, "Zhiwei has a benefactor..."

Cui Lianqing stared at her and said directly:
"Chang'an has only just been captured, and it is precisely the time to rely on all sides. Your Highness is thirty-one years old and already has more than a dozen children, while His Majesty has even more offspring. In Shu, Emperor Ming is still alive, and the rebels are also there."

"Don't even mention your maternal grandfather, your mother has already passed away. Even if they were still alive, even if your maternal family, the Shen family, were at its peak, it would be very difficult to protect oneself at this time, with too many princes and grandsons of the emperor."

"A clay Bodhisattva crossing the river can barely save itself, so what can it possibly hope to do?"

"If I were you, I would stay hidden in the palace!"

Li Zhiwei pursed her lips, took her leave, and then went to find her elder brother, Li Tiaolang, who said, "...He is already dead, and Yunxiu must be dead too."

"So what if you didn't die?!"

Li Zhiwei said, "If he's not dead, he must be waiting for me to find someone to rescue him."

"How could I possibly abandon my benefactor?!"

Li Jiaolang paused for a moment, then said:
"Yunxiu, stop fooling around. Things aren't that simple."

Li Zhiwei felt a deep emptiness in her heart.

She understood that the fact that she and her mother were unable to go to Fengxiang with her father or her grandfather meant a lot. Li Zhiwei was afraid. She wanted to back down. She wanted to shrink back.

Li Zhiwei hugged her knees and curled up in the cold palace.

I watched until the sun came out.

Li Zhiwei let out a breath. She found paper and pen and wrote a letter of thanks to His Majesty the Emperor, expressing her gratitude for his safe return and congratulating him on the recapture of Chang'an. She paused, and as she picked up the pen, she heard her heart pounding.

He thought of his father's evasiveness, his elder brother's admonition, and Consort Cui's words.

But she continued writing anyway.

The girl's right hand trembled with fear, so she raised her left hand and pressed it against her right hand.

Therefore, the text that is written remains quite stable.

It's a pity that upon arrival, we discovered a market inhabited by demons who feed on the flesh of Chang'an's people. Such a great victory has been marred by this incident, which may damage the emperor's prestige, the stability of Chang'an, and the legitimacy of my father's conquest of Chang'an.

This letter of thanks was sent to Fengxiang as an expression of the young princess's usual politeness. On the third day, His Majesty the Emperor ordered the Shuofang Army to be dispatched to sweep through the demon market and save the common people.

In addition, Princess Li Zhiwei was punished for speaking recklessly about state affairs.

According to the Tang Code, false statements are punishable by thirty strokes of the cane.

It cannot be exempted.

Cui Shi rested her chin on her hand, looking at the imprisoned girl, and asked, "What's the point?"

She poked Li Zhiwei's calf with a lady's fan.

Li Zhiwei hissed softly in pain, but still answered in a low voice, "I don't believe he's dead. I need to see him alive or dead. How can I think everything is fine just because I've survived?"

"That's how they do it, I don't want that."

Consort Cui asked, "Is it worth it?"

Li Zhiwei lay there, head bowed, and answered:
"Be grateful and repay kindness."

"The Li family's daughter is nothing special."

Consort Cui sighed, reached out, and lifted Li Zhiwei's face. The girl resisted, but Consort Cui forcefully pulled her up. Tears streamed down her face, and her eyes were red. Consort Cui's heart softened: "Does it hurt?"

Li Zhiwei bit her lower lip, her lips trembling.

"Do not."

Consort Cui asked, "Why did you say it didn't hurt?"

She was a clever and sharp woman, still possessing the arrogance of her youth, so she deliberately said, "Oh, I understand. It's because I'm not your mother after all. You would never show weakness and cry in front of me."

Li Zhiwei paused, and when she thought of that figure, she didn't know why, but she finally couldn't control herself and tears fell in large drops.

"Nonsense, nonsense!"

This intelligent, calm, and brave girl finally revealed her true colors, gritting her teeth and shedding tears, like an unwanted kitten baring its fangs and claws:
"I didn't cry, I didn't!"

(End of this chapter)