Chapter 313: Hello Chang'an
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Chapter 313: He Is No Longer Untainted
Chang Suining finally exhaled in relief, a smile softening her features as she watched her elder brother, Chang Sui'an, stride toward her.
He Wuhu followed close behind, cupping his hands and bowing with his usual booming voice:
“General! We have safely brought the Young Master back!”
It was the first task the General had ever entrusted to him — and by the heavens, He Wuhu had not failed!
As he spoke, he turned and gestured proudly.
“And also this—this young gentleman. We’ve brought this one safely back as well!”
He knew perfectly well the “young gentleman” was in fact a lady in disguise. Her disguise, though decent, was not half as convincing as his General’s had once been. He’d seen through it the first day — but since she wished to dress as a man, he had tactfully pretended not to notice.
“...Sister Chang!” The young lady who entered could no longer restrain her joy. The effort to keep her voice low collapsed altogether as she rushed forward, pushing aside the tearful Chang Sui'an to embrace Chang Suining tightly.
“You’re really here!”
“Tongtong Ah-jie.” Chang Suining gently patted her back twice, then righted her shoulders with quiet reassurance. “Ah-jie is safe — that is enough.”
Earlier, she had written to Princess Xuan’an, requesting the return of the captive she’d once left in the Princess’s manor. Unexpectedly, her brother had insisted on personally coming to deliver it — with Li Tong tagging along under the pretense of “broadening her horizons.”
No one had foreseen the flood along the way. It was fortune indeed that they survived.
“All thanks to this General He!” Li Tong turned to He Wuhu gratefully. “Had General He not found us when he did, we might never have made it.”
He Wuhu flushed bright red. General He! — heavens, what nonsense! That was just the title his brothers called him out of misplaced pride, and he, too vain to deny it, had let them.
Now, before his true General, he felt sheer embarrassment. He scratched his head, laughing awkwardly.
“Ah—no, no, I’m but a lowly soldier under the General’s command! Merely carrying out orders — nothing more than my duty!”
He risked a cautious glance at Chang Suining.
But she was only smiling, her gaze sweeping over him and his men. “You’ve all worked hard these many days. Go and rest.”
He Wuhu grinned from ear to ear, saluted loudly, and led his brothers out.
Outside, the men relaxed at once.
“Big Brother,” one whispered, “we brought back the General’s brother safe and sound! She’ll surely reward us, right?”
“Reward your head!” He Wuhu kicked him. “What do you think this is — Wuhu Mountain, splitting loot after a raid?”
“I—I mean a reward, not loot!”
“Reward, loot — same thing! Shame on you!” He glared. “Serving our General is a sacred duty — understand that? Duty!”
The seventh brother looked pitiful. “It’s not like that! It’s just... everyone in camp’s wearing those blessed copper tokens the General gave, even Commander Xiao’s horse has one on its neck! But we—nothing! We feel bare, like orphans. We just thought maybe we could each ask for one, so folks know we’re her men!”
He Wuhu’s brows furrowed.
His men looked at him with puppy-like hope. Finally, he muttered, “Fine. I’ll... find a chance to bring it up.”
Meanwhile, inside the hall, only Chang Suining, Chang Sui'an, and Li Tong remained. Ah Che stood guard outside.
Chang Sui'an explained breathlessly that after He Wuhu had found them, they’d first returned to the Bianzhou camp, but upon learning his sister was still in Xingyang, he hadn’t even paused for tea — he’d set off at once.
As for why they had been delayed over twenty days, the tale was long.
At first, the flood had blocked their path. They encountered refugees by the hundreds. Moved by pity, Chang Sui'an could not refuse their pleas, and Li Tong, inexperienced and tender-hearted, gave away most of their food supplies.
It was kindness — but also folly.
If, before prison, Chang Sui'an’s reputation in the capital as “naïve and too generous” had dimmed somewhat, then traveling beside Li Tong had restored that glow in full — and even brighter.
He himself nearly went blind from the shine. When he started cautioning her to be more restrained, one could imagine how dire it had become.
Li Tong, however, was intoxicated by gratitude and praise. “Helping others feels so good,” she had said — as if she were a living bodhisattva descending to earth.
But that blessed feeling did not last. One night, thieves struck, sweeping away their coin and baggage.
Though the guards reacted swiftly, the culprits were seasoned rogues, hiding among the refugees — and in the end, only one item was recovered.
As for what that was, Chang Sui'an grew awkward. “We’ll... discuss that later.”
After being stripped of everything, Li Tong was wracked with guilt — though the guards cheerfully told her this, too, was “a valuable life experience.”
Princess Xuan’an had, after all, warned them beforehand: the young lady might court disaster, but they were only to keep her and the cargo safe. If she wished to act foolish, she must learn from it herself.
One day, He Wuhu came across a group of refugees queuing for porridge and asked a well-dressed youth if he’d seen a man fitting a certain description.
He described the man’s build, face, and accent in great detail.
The youth listened silently, staring into his bowl. Then he lifted his gaze and asked, “The man you seek — is his surname Chang?”
He Wuhu’s heart leapt. “Yes! You’ve seen him?”
The youth raised his eyes — and He Wuhu froze.
Then recognition struck. His whole body jolted with glee. “By the heavens! It’s you! Chang Langjun himself!”
So they had gone from pitying refugees… to becoming refugees.
They had considered revealing their ties to Princess Xuan’an or General Ningyuan to seek official aid. But at the time, government offices were overwhelmed, and Li Tong’s pride forbade her to beg.
Meanwhile, news of the massacred Aristocratic clans had spread — the land was crawling with fugitives. To proclaim himself as the brother of the general who executed Xu Zhengye was to invite peril.
Only after joining He Wuhu’s men did their ordeal end.
From then on, they continued helping refugees when they could, though they never suffered another robbery.
Not because all they met were good — but because He Wuhu’s men exuded such banditry that lesser thieves took one look and thought, Better not mess with them — I’d rather not be robbed myself!
Li Tong learned her first lesson from the journey: even kindness needs sharp edges.
Chang Suining approved her newfound wisdom and, after comforting them both, finally found a moment to ask calmly:
“And the person I wanted found — do you still have them?”
Her tone was mild, without a hint of reproach.
After so many had perished in this flood, having these two stand before her safe and sound was already blessing enough.
“He’s still alive!” Chang Sui'an replied with a sheepish smile. “That thing I mentioned earlier—the one that was stolen and later found again—well… that ‘thing’ was him.”
Chang Suining: “……”
Indeed, Fan Ou’s journey had been one of sheer misfortune.
And Fan Ou himself would have agreed.
Since the day Chang Suining left Xuanzhou last year, he had been imprisoned alone in a hidden chamber within the residence of Princess Xuan’an for more than half a year. He had no idea where he was kept. For all that time, he lived in utter darkness, with no means of escape.
Every two days, someone would come to deliver just enough food and water to keep him alive—but never enough to be full.
At first, whenever Fan Ou heard approaching footsteps, he would brace himself for interrogation or torture. No matter what they did, he swore to himself he would not utter a single word.
But the truth was—no one ever said a word to him.
The silent figure only delivered the food, mouth tighter than his own, and left without answering a single question.
Days and nights blended into one another. Fan Ou lost all sense of time. Hunger and exhaustion hollowed him out, his mind growing faint. The endless silence pressed in on him until he thought he would go mad. He would have welcomed even pain—some torture, some voice, anything—to prove he still existed.
Just when he thought he had gone completely insane, the misery abruptly ended.
He was shoved into a familiar sack and carried away from the secret room.
Then came a long, dizzying journey. He drifted in and out of consciousness, unaware of where he was being taken.
The night he was “stolen,” someone untied the sack and found a half-dead man inside. They shrieked in alarm.
Fan Ou had used the last of his strength to wriggle halfway out and whisper, “Help me…”
But before help could come, Li Tong’s guards had already caught up. The thieves panicked, stuffed him back in the sack, and fled with him again.
After that came hunger so deep it blurred his vision; a flood sweeping the sack downstream; being fished out for the third time by Chang Sui'an’s men. By then, one lone tear rolled from the corner of his eye—tears not from relief, but despair.
He realized he had been wrong.
That night, when he begged, “Help me,” he should have said instead—
“Kill me.”
“Kill me,” he murmured one night when Chang Sui'an untied the sack again. His voice was flat and lifeless.
Chang Sui'an sighed softly. “Don’t say such things. You’re just tired—don’t speak in anger.”
Fan Ou: “……”
Did he look like a man capable of anger anymore?
Chang Sui'an offered him a bowl of porridge, saying gently, “There were too many refugees yesterday. I failed to get a portion—not that I meant to starve you. But today, there’s enough! Here—eat, I’ll feed you.”
Fan Ou stared at the simple white porridge, trembling.
Damn it all… After all he had endured, after everything, he actually felt moved.
The boy’s innocent sincerity and kindness—so bright, so guileless—were the cruelest form of torture imaginable.
He was no longer pure.
He had betrayed his master.
How could he—how could he, a man loyal to the Prince—harbor even the faintest warmth toward an enemy?
He wanted to refuse. He truly did. But his body was weak, his will long since crushed. The scent of the porridge called to his starving flesh. Instinct overcame pride. His lips trembled—and he opened his mouth.
Eyes closed, tears slipping silently down his cheeks, Fan Ou drank the entire bowl.
These details, of course, escaped Chang Sui'an’s notice, and Chang Suining knew nothing of them.
All she knew was that Fan Ou still lived. And for that, she praised her brother, smiling faintly.
“In a disaster such as this,” she said, “even a proper courier company could not have guaranteed safe delivery. You’ve done well.”
Her words filled Chang Sui'an with joy. Not only had she not scolded him for recklessness, she had actually praised him.
“Ning Ning,” he asked eagerly, “do you wish to see him now?”
“No rush,” she replied. “Let him rest for two days first.”
Then, calling Ah Che inside, she issued a quiet order—
“Return to the Bianzhou camp. Bring me the traitor who tried to assassinate Deputy Commander Jin and helped Xu Zhengye escape. Bring them here to Xingyang.”
Bianzhou was close—two days’ ride at most.
Once that traitor—no, those two traitors—were brought to Xingyang, and once the captured assassin of Cui Jing was placed before her alongside Fan Ou, she could finally test whether her long-held suspicions were true or false.
Everyone knew Fan Ou served Prince Rong. That was no secret.
But what she wanted to uncover was whether the hand that had been quietly stirring chaos from behind the scenes—those strings that pulled Xu Zhengye and Li Yi alike, that guided the repeated assassination attempts against Cui Jing—
whether that hand belonged to the very man she had once trusted most:
her seemingly gentle, detached Uncle Prince.
The next morning, a new imperial edict arrived, commending General Ningyuan Chang Suining for her meritorious service in flood relief and prayer rituals.
And naturally, the decree came accompanied by those same young officials under Deputy Minister Zhan.
After receiving the edict, Chang Suining’s gaze met several familiar faces.
Tan Li’s eyes were bright with delight at their reunion, while Song Xian, standing beside him, seemed subtly changed from before.
Yet since they were here on official duty, and Deputy Minister Zhan stood close by, neither Tan Li nor the others could linger in casual talk. When Zhan announced, “We still have official business ahead,” they all bowed to take their leave.
As they withdrew, Tan Li, walking at the end, turned and waved at her with a cheerful grin.
Chang Suining returned the smile with a nod.
A few paces later, Song Xian, too, hesitated and looked back, his nod courteous and solemn.
She was faintly surprised, but nodded in return.
When the group was gone, she summoned Ah Che. “Go,” she said. “Find out what they mean by ‘official business.’”
In her mind, she already knew. Deputy Minister Zhan’s “official business” could only mean one thing—
The final judgment on the Zheng clan.
At long last, all would be settled.
(End of Chapter)
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