Chapter 222: To Face Outside Threats, We Must Stand United

Disclaimer: 

1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.

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Shi Cheng’s words had Liu Xu’er staring! The situation was that serious!

She thought about her family in Feng town – their joy from the New Year hadn’t yet faded. Liu Xu’er’s heart was heavy. After a long pause, she said, “Shi Cheng, would this matter…. implicate us?”

She couldn’t be blamed for saying this. To be honest, Liu Xu’er couldn’t care less about Liu Yun’er’s life or death, let alone Jia shi and all those other unrelated people! The only one who she felt somewhat sad for was her sanshu, Liu Changgui. But Liu Changgui was himself a rather treacherous person, and after so many years of ignoring her grandparents, Liu Xu’er didn’t feel sorry for him. She only felt sad for her grandparents. They would definitely be heartbroken. 

So, her first sentence was whether or not the rest of them would be affected. There were so many people in her family, if they were affected… she couldn’t bear to think about the consequences!

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Fbk Ubldt dseele bkp blye, “Ebld R qswde swv vbl ldvkalvu sq vbl pkvwyvksd, vbyv oyp xu qkapv iwlpvksd. Mbl rakxyau kdhlpvktyvsa fwpv pyke vbyv ps zsdt yp vbl pkvwyvksd eked’v kdhszhl wp, ol oswzed’v cl kxrzknyvle…. Mblu pvkzz dllele vs kdhlpvktyvl.”

Nkw Dw’la’p blyav alzymle clqsal vldpkdt ytykd, “Rdhlpvktyvl? Rpd’v vbl xyvvla yzalyeu….”

Fbk Ubldt jdlo obyv pbl oyp osaakle ycswv. Tl tsv wr vs pvyde kd qasdv sq bla. Mbld bl naswnble esod yde zssjle bla kd vbl lul. Tl pyke psqvzu, “Dw’la, dso vbyv vbl pkvwyvksd kp zkjl vbkp, kv kp kxrsppkczl qsa wp vs lpnyrl nsxrzlvlzu wdpnyvble…. El yal bwpcyde yde okql, ol’hl clld bwpcyde yde okql qsa vos zkqlvkxlp. R byhl dlhla jlrv y plnalv qasx usw; R byhl dlhla bkeeld yduvbkdt qasx usw.”

Nkw Dw’la pvyavle vs qllz y zkvvzl vlyaqwz. Fbl dseele yde pyke, “Ebyv es usw oydv vs pyu? Kwpv… pyu kv.”

“Ebyvlhla vbl sqqknkyzp pyu, ol nyd sdzu clzklhl byzq sq kv. R yx xspv qyxkzkya okvb sqqknkyzp – vblu oswze dlhla nsxxkv vs yduvbkdt vblu pyu. Rv kp zkjlzu vbyv ol oswze cl eayttle esod cu vbkp nypl, rlabyrp ol’hl yzalyeu clld, cwv vblu osd’v pyu…. Xa yv zlypv, vblu osd’v nsxxkv vs kv aktbv dso. Mblu oswze oykv vkzz ol’hl tkhld vblx psxl tkqvp. Gqvla ol’hl tkhld ldswtb, vblu xktbv vlzz wp psxlvbkdt….”

Nkw Dw’la oyp yzps psxlsdl obs bye plld vbl osaze. Rd vblka zkhlp clqsal, pbl yde Fbk Ubldt bye ldnswdvlale xydu ekqqknwzvklp. Rd qynv, vbl ekqqknwzvklp vbld olal xwnb xsal pktdkqknydv vbyd vbkp. Jwv pbl oypd’v dlyazu yp osaakle vbld xykdzu clnywpl… kv xktbv dso kdhszhl bla ldvkal qyxkzu. Rv nswze pralye vs dsv fwpv bla qyxkzu, cwv rsppkczu kdhszhl vball sa lhld dkdl tldlayvksdp sq bla qyxkzu… Fbl alyzzu nswzed’v clya vbl vbswtbv.

Fbk Ubldt pyv yv bla pkel. Tl alynble swv yde bwttle bla vktbvzu. Alau oyaxzu, bl pyke, “R jdso vbyv usw’hl yzoyup vawpvle xl. Ls xyvvla bso ckt vbl pkvwyvksd kp, usw’hl yzoyup vawpvle xl. Fs R okzz pyu kv ytykd vbkp vkxl, R twyaydvll vbyv R okzz rwv kd yzz xu lqqsav vs rasvlnv swa ldvkal qyxkzu. Mbspl obs pbswzed’v cl bwav, okzz dsv cl yqqlnvle. R osd’v blzr vbspl obs’hl nsxxkvvle vbl nakxlp; R nyd’v kd ydu nypl. Jwv qsa vbl alpv sq vbl qyxkzu, R rasxkpl R okzz rasvlnv vblx olzz.” Tl zsolale bkp blye vs zssj yv bla. Tl aykple bkp caso, “Gzaktbv?”

Gzvbswtb Nkw Dw’la’p blyav oyp pvkzz ckvvla, pbl pvkzz pxkzle, “Gzaktbv. R clzklhl usw nyd es kv.”

Shi Cheng patted her, “En, that’s a good wife.”

Liu Xu’er leaned into his embrace and steadied her own emotions. Then she gently pushed him away and sat down. “I’m better now… This matter really needs some discussion. We need to be very careful. En… So long as we are of one mind, even if we get dragged down, we can minimise the harm significantly.”

Shi Cheng smiled and nodded his head. 

Liu Xu’er then asked, “Did the person who called you over, do so just to tell you about all these matters in detail? What else did he say? Since they’ve already made the arrests, what’s the point in asking you these questions?”

Shi Cheng said, “That’s the part I’m still unclear about… When he called me over, he asked me about what happened in my recent exams. He also asked why I didn’t try for the next round of exams this year – I should be in the capital preparing for them by now. When he heard that I didn’t intend to continue, he was a bit bewildered, and asked me what my plans were. Then….  He asked about the family’s situation, mainly he asked about whether Liu Changgui and Liu Yun’er had been in contact with our family…. But he didn’t ask too much about it before sharing what had happened.”

Shi Cheng was thinking as he spoke. Then he added a last sentence, “And when I didn’t try to ask for more details, he volunteered the entire story….”

Liu Xu’er was very suspicious, “Isn’t he just doing this for money… He’s being rather obvious about it?”

Shi Cheng thought about it and said, “I was thinking about it the entire way home. It’s probable that when they received the dossier, they started to investigate Liu Changgui and the rest. By now, they should have all the information they need and know that Liu Changgui hasn’t been to visit us in a very long time. So we shouldn’t have been involved in the case…. So there are two possible reasons that they called me over, one was to get to know myself or Liu Sen…. The both of us have become juren – they are officials, and are well aware that people at the juren level can hold official posts. Even if we don’t pass the next round of exams, we can donate some money and get a post…. Of course, this was assuming that either Senzi or I wanted to go that way.”

Liu Xu’er nodded, “So they wanted to recruit you! To become their subordinate!”

Shi Cheng nodded, “That’s right. That way I could help him in officialdom…. It might not even be for himself. These people would have connections both to people above and below them. They would also closely scrutinise all the different regions’ recent successful candidates and would start to try and recruit them.” 

Liu Xu’er nodded her head, “En, and on finding out that neither you nor Senzi have any intentions of becoming an official, they started to eye a different objective… You are in business, you have money.”

Shi Cheng nodded his head, “That’s right. That should be it…. Although they’ve determined we don’t have any intention of becoming officials, they still called me over. It’s clear that they were giving me a reminder, or rather, a warning! They were telling me to prepare silver!”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “There’s still another point. I don’t think they want to fall out with me… I think they might be greedy, but not to the extent of falling out with us. They probably wouldn’t go that far…. They still want to maintain a long term relationship with me.”

Liu Xu’er nodded her head, “If they maintain a long term relationship, you could be their money tree for a long time. Whenever they need money, they just have to come to you.”

Shi Cheng nodded his head, “Exactly… Up till now, that’s the most likely scenario I can think of.” He thought for a moment before spreading his hands, “But Xu’er, this guess is only based on our former experience. Perhaps… we’ve guessed completely wrong. That’s also a possibility. You know as well as I do that officialdom is fathomless, and so are people’s hearts. There are still inconsistencies. Why should the department of Public Safety send out fully armed people to invite me over? And then, why would they share all the details of the case and then release me without any demands….. These are all rather strange. I still need to think about it further.”

Liu Xu’er gave an “en” . Then she said, “I know, I won’t act blindly.”

Shi Cheng immediately smiled, “I am not worried that you would act blindly… You are not an ordinary female. I know you. I just don’t want you to be too worried.”

Liu Xu’er blew out a breath – could she not be worried? She asked, “When you entered, I saw that dad’s face was looking rather grim… Was he very upset? After all, this was my family’s matter, but you got dragged into it?”

Shi Cheng hesitated before nodding his head, “That’s right.” He stretched out a hand and lightly traced her face. He studied her carefully and said, “Xu’er, it’s still the same sentence. We need to be filial to my parents, but nobody is more important than the two of us. You are the most important person in my heart. You don’t have to worry about this.”

“En, I know.” Liu Xu’er sighed and leaned into his arms.

Shi Cheng wrapped his arms around her before softly saying, “Dad’s worry is understandable. When he offended that magistrate before, we nearly lost everything. Dad has been bitten before, and so, he’s very nervous. And honestly, it is only wise to be extremely cautious when dealing with officials. He wasn’t directing his poor mood at you; after all, you weren’t the one who created this situation. You don’t need to worry. We will deal with my parents together.”

“En.” Liu Xu’er again agreed. 

The two of them spoke for a long time before finally quieting down. Both of them were thinking over this matter. Liu Xu’er held on to Shi Cheng’s waist tassel, unconsciously rolling it between her fingers while Shi Cheng’s hand was lightly stroking her hair.

Both of them were deep in thought when some footsteps came from outside. A servant girl pushed the door slightly, but didn’t manage to open it. When Liu Xu’er had closed the door earlier, she had accidentally bolted it. Startled, she got up to open the door but Shi Cheng had already asked, “What’s the matter?”

The servant girl outside was a bit stunned; she hadn’t realised the door was bolted. After a while, she stuttered, “It’s…. Madam has invited Young Madam over….”

Shi Cheng was smarter than most and understood his mother very well… Hearing the girl stammer out the request, he understood that his mother must have told the girl not to let him know of her instruction.

Shi Cheng shook his head, while Liu Xu’er had stood up after she heard what the girl had said. She was very clear! Her mother-in-law must’ve heard from her husband what had happened and must be feeling really upset!  She must feel that her son had been dragged down by his wife! And this time, her father-in-law probably wouldn’t try to help her, so didn’t bother to try to calm her down.

Her mother-in-law was probably calling her over to reprimand her, and didn’t want her son to protect her, so….

She headed out, but Shi Cheng ran ahead of her and opened the door, “Let’s head out together!” Then he rushed out of the door, frowned and waved the servant girl away. Scared, the girl hastily retreated.

Liu Xu’er licked her lips, wanting to persuade  him, “ You clearly know… that your mother didn’t want you to know about this. By doing this, aren’t you making things… more difficult for me?”

“I won’t let you be troubled by this.” Shi Cheng said, “I will head over once to clarify this matter! I don’t want anyone to think they’ve the power to blame you for this…. What if she decides to vent on you today, and then tomorrow, because the situation still hasn’t been resolved, call you over again to vent. How long would that go on for? I need to make it clear from the start!”

He pulled her along, “Don’t worry, I know how to handle the situation…. In order to face outside threats, we must stand united! I will first settle everyone at home, before settling all these difficulties outside!”