Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

Yuan Min returned to Mingyue Tower in the evening. When she went up to the third floor, she found it very quiet. Her maid, Xiao Luo'er, stepped forward and whispered, "Young Master returned at noon and locked himself in his study. He didn't make a sound. I didn't dare to disturb him."

"I understand, you can go now!"

Yuan Min pushed the door open and walked to the study. She gently pushed the door open, but it wasn't closed. She found Xue Wei standing by the window with his hands behind his back, his back looking particularly lonely.

She stepped forward, wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, and pressed herself against his back. "Old Xue, what happened?"

Xue Wei gently patted her hand, "I heard a lot of shocking things today."

"Can you tell me? If you can't, then don't, I won't blame you!"

Xue Wei turned around, cupped Yuan Min's pretty face in his hands, and looked into her eyes as he asked, "Amin, how did you marry me? Who was the matchmaker?"

Yuan Min's ears turned red, and she said shyly, "Back then, I was captivated by your horsemanship and archery skills, so I wrote you a letter. One day, your mother came to me and asked if I was willing to marry you. I agreed without hesitation. Then, a few days later, your mother arranged for someone to come to the Yuan residence to propose marriage. Everything went smoothly, and we completed the six rites in three months and got married."

Xue Wei was a little puzzled. Why would his mother choose Yuan Min? Was she also after Yuan Min's father's hundreds of shops?

"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly asking this?" Yuan Min asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing!"

Xue Wei shook his head. "Let me tell you something. I had a falling out with the Empress today. I threatened her that I would rather die than agree to her demands. I slammed two gold medals on the table and told her that I quit."

Yuan Min's face turned pale with fright. "You...how dare you defy the Emperor? She'll kill you!"

"Yes! She admitted that I was the first person in thirty years to dare threaten her and talk back to her, but for you, I'm willing to risk everything."

Yuan Min grasped his hand, her face full of heartache. "What happened?"

Xue Wei slowly said, "Back when my mother found you, the Crown Prince had just decided to marry Li Guo'er to me, but the Emperor objected. He wanted me to marry Wu Suisui because Wu Suisui was too young at the time. To prevent my marriage to Li Guo'er, the Emperor used you to make us get married, thus successfully thwarting the Crown Prince's attempt to arrange a marriage between me and Li Guo'er."

Yuan Min was shocked, her eyes filled with pain. Her marriage to Xue Wei was actually a tool used by the emperor. What was her marriage then?

"And then...?" Yuan Min asked, suppressing her inner pain.

"Three years later, I was imprisoned. At this time, the emperor thought that your mission was completed, so she instructed the government to make us divorce without any reason."

Yuan Min was overwhelmed with pain. It turned out that everything was a lie, and the marriage she had once cherished was actually a tool used by those in power.

Yuan Min trembled with excitement. She gritted her teeth and desperately tried to hold back her emotions, managing to squeeze out a voice, "So... so it was she who orchestrated this. So... she still wants you and Wu Suisui to marry?"

"Yes!"

Xue Wei lowered his head, forced to acknowledge this cruel reality.

"Let me go!"

Yuan Min suddenly snapped, broke free from Xue Wei's hand, and got up to leave.

"Amin, calm down and let me finish!"

"What else is there to say? I don't want to hear it anymore."

Yuan Min hurried away, and Xue Wei rushed up and grabbed her, holding her tightly despite her desperate struggles. He roared, "She is her, and we are us! She is not our master, she never has been! Our fate is in our own hands!"

Yuan Min was stunned. Suddenly, she turned around, hugged Xue Wei, and burst into tears in his arms.

Xue Wei gently patted her back and said softly, "She told me openly that if I didn't agree, she would kill you. So the conflict between us broke out. I turned on her in front of her and told her that even if I succumbed to her power now, I would hate her for the rest of my life. After she passed away, I would definitely take revenge on her and embark on another path of hidden guards, destroying her political plans. Or she could kill me now."

"She compromised?" Yuan Min asked, her voice choked with emotion.

Xue Wei nodded slightly. "Yes, she was forced to compromise. She gave us three years. I will marry Wu Suisui after three years."

At that moment, the anger in Yuan Min's eyes subsided, replaced by endless sorrow. "But we only have three years!"

Xue Wei held her tightly in his arms and whispered in her ear, "Believe me, three years is enough time for me to arrange everything. By then, she won't have a choice. I will never marry Wu Suisui. I will only marry you in this life. At worst, we can go overseas or to the Western Regions. I will buy a large piece of land and build our manor, but that is the last resort. I believe everything will change in three years."

Yuan Min hugged him tightly, tears streaming down her face. "We can go overseas. Even if we can't, even if we have to die, we'll die together. Just like you said, we'll share the same bed in life and the same grave in death!"

"Okay! If that day ever comes, we'll die together, but for now, we'll fight together and never let that day come."

After a long, long time, night fell, and the two finally calmed down.

Xue Wei cupped her face in his hands once more, gently kissing away her tears, and said with a smile, "Tell me about what's going on right now. I might have to go to Chang'an for three months."

Yuan Min sniffed, "What are you going to Chang'an for?"

"Go investigate something for that old woman. Since she's compromised, I'll do my job for her as usual."

Yuan Min couldn't help but chuckle when he addressed the emperor as "old woman."

Xue Wei took the file folder and emptied its contents.

With a clang, a silver token, a silver command arrow, and a scroll fell out.

"What is this?" Yuan Min examined the silver plaque closely. The front was engraved with "General of the Plum Blossom Guard," and the back had Xue Wei's name on it.

"So you're a Lieutenant General of the Plum Blossom Guard now?"

"It's just a nominal position. The Ministry of War hasn't registered it, and I don't have a single soldier under my command. However, this silver token allows me to call upon fifty Plum Blossom Guard soldiers at any time."

Xue Wei picked up the scroll. "This is a mission. A strange thing happened in Chang'an last month. A yellow dragon appeared in the Wei River. Tens of thousands of people witnessed it. The Emperor has appointed me as her private investigator to find out the details of this matter."

Yuan Min pondered for a moment and asked, "Could you postpone your departure by a few days?"

"Of course, she gave me three months, that's enough."

"Give me a few days, I'll get things settled in Luoyang, and then we'll go to Chang'an together."

Xue Wei grinned. "I'll help you!"

Just then, their stomachs rumbled simultaneously. They looked at each other, and Yuan Min burst into laughter through her tears. "Let's go eat!"

........

After dinner, Yuan Min was organizing documents in the study, while Xue Wei was making things worse by giving her a routine physical examination, such as measuring her bust, waist, and hips with his hands and checking the health of her skin with his eyes.

Yuan Min was thoroughly annoyed, so she slammed a thick stack of documents on the table. "Is this how you help me? You're like a rutting monkey, groping around everywhere."

"I was just concerned about your health," Xue said, looking aggrieved.

"Here, take this!"

Yuan Min shoved a document into his hand with an annoyance. "Check the terms carefully. This agreement needs to be signed tomorrow morning. This is the draft agreement prepared by the other party; I haven't seen it."

Xue Wei took the agreement, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "You've decided to buy Shangwanlou?"

"It's settled. Shangguan Wan'er is in a hurry for money, so she gave up another two thousand guan, making the total price twenty-eight thousand guan. She will pay in full tomorrow morning. We've also found a buyer. The Dugu family is willing to pay thirty-three thousand guan. The key is that this land belongs to their family. The deal will be completed in a month, and I will take a ten percent cut."

"We can use the evening shift to transport that batch of goods out."

Yuan Min nodded. "That's why I'm holding on so tightly. If the deal is finalized tomorrow morning, we can start working on it tomorrow night."

Xue Wei finally calmed down and slowly looked through Yuan Min's shop list.

"Are we going to sell to so many shops?"

"Take advantage of the good prices now and buy early, then go to Chang'an to find some bargains. This time I'm going to Chang'an to check out the market for shops there, and maybe I can decisively buy a few shops in good locations."