Chapter 92: Feng Ze Refuses the Marriage

A month later, Shen Qianmo received a letter from Mo Qingshan, sent to her through Lu Ziqing.

Though the letter contained only a few brief lines, she was still greatly relieved to learn that the Mo family in the desolate city were all well.

Thinking that she ought to send a reply with her own greetings, she asked Qingluo to bring paper and ink, sat down at the table, spread out the stationery, and began to write.

For Shen Qianmo, the experience of writing a letter by hand, word by word, belonged to a distant past, let alone with a wolf-hair brush. Fortunately, she had studied calligraphy since childhood, and her fine, delicate script was still presentable; only, there were some traditional characters she was not very familiar with, so she had to replace them with simplified ones. She could only hope that Mo Qingshan would be able to make out the general meaning.

After sealing the letter, she was about to hand it to Qingluo and ask her to take it to the Ministry of Justice for delivery to Lu Ziqing, when Lvzhu hurried into the room, out of breath, and said, "Miss, the Consort of the General Pacifying the West has come to the residence. She says she has urgent business with you."

The Consort of the General Pacifying the West? Shen Qianmo could not, for a moment, recall who that was. Then her mind turned, and she remembered: was not the General Pacifying the West, Chu Pingchuan, Feng Ze's adoptive father? Then the consort of the General Pacifying the West would be Feng Ze's foster mother!

What could be so urgent as to bring the general's wife to the house in person? Shen Qianmo was puzzled and asked Lvzhu, "Where is the general's wife now?"

"She is in the flower hall having tea. Madam is keeping her company, though this servant noticed that the general's wife does not look well at all, and seems terribly anxious." Lvzhu answered.

"Let's go and see." For the general's wife to come calling in person, it must be something important indeed. Shen Qianmo smoothed the folds of her robe, called Lvzhu along, and made for the flower hall.

Inside the flower hall of the Marquis's residence, Madam Jiang, wife of the General Pacifying the West, was seated in a chair, drinking tea and exchanging pleasantries with Madam Cui, yet her gaze kept drifting toward the doorway, plainly distracted.

At the sound of footsteps outside, she immediately turned to look.

A woman in a pale green silk skirt walked into the room with brisk, steady steps. She was modest and elegant in appearance, not as willow-like and graceful as the usual young ladies from fine households, yet the gentle composure she naturally carried made one feel inexplicably comforted and at ease.

At the Qixi banquet in the palace last time, Jiang Shi had already seen Shen Qianmo once, and the song she had played and sung then had left a very deep impression on her.

This was a woman of uncommon gentleness on the outside and strength within. Ah, no wonder Feng Ze had been so devoted to her, unable to forget her.

For Shen Qianmo, however, this was her first time seeing the wife of the General Pacifying the West.

So this was Feng Ze's mother. She had long heard that the General Pacifying the West, Chu Pingchuan, and his wife were deeply attached, loving one another with true affection, and that even after many years without issue, they had resolutely refused to take concubines, adopting only Feng Ze as their sworn son.

Now that she saw her in person, the general's wife was indeed graceful and dignified, with a subtle air of scholarship in her features, enough to show she must have come from a learned family. Though already in her forties, her beauty had scarcely faded. Compared with Madam Cui beside her, loaded with hair ornaments and jewels, the difference in temperament between them was not merely slight.

Still, Lvzhu's description had not been false: the general's wife did indeed look unwell. Had something happened at the general's residence?

Shen Qianmo greeted her with composure. "Qianmo pays respects to the general's wife. Lvzhu tells me that you have come today in search of me on urgent business. May I ask what it is?"

She had never cared much for elaborate courtesy. Seeing the urgency in Jiang Shi's face, she dispensed with small talk and went straight to the point.

Jiang Shi was straightforward by nature as well. Hearing Shen Qianmo ask so directly, she no longer beat about the bush and said with concern, "Forgive my sudden visit, Miss Shen. It is truly because my foolish son has been running a high fever for several days without end and cannot rise from bed. We have invited renowned physicians one after another, yet none have helped. Even the imperial physicians in the palace are at their wits' end. I have heard that Miss Shen's medical skill is extraordinary. I wonder whether you could come to the general's residence and take a look at my son?"

As for Shen Qianmo's medical skill, Madam Cui no longer doubted it. The medicine Shen Qianmo had prescribed for Shen Qianxue last time had been highly effective; only a few days had passed, and Shen Qianxue's condition had already improved greatly.

Feng Ze could fall ill too? In Shen Qianmo's usual impression, the tall and broad-shouldered Feng Ze seemed like an iron bastion, indestructible. Yet now he had actually become so ill that he could not get out of bed. This truly surprised her.

On the carriage to the residence of the General Pacifying the West with Jiang Shi, Shen Qianmo finally learned from her the truth of Feng Ze's illness.

And it had to do with the last Qixi banquet in the palace.

At that banquet, Princess Qionghua had risen above the rest with a single performance of "Phoenix Dances through the Nine Heavens." According to the custom of the feast, she was entitled to ask Emperor Mingde for one wish. At the time, she had not made her request on the spot, only saying she would claim it later when she had decided.

Yet a few days ago, Princess Qionghua had suddenly petitioned the emperor for an imperial marriage decree, and the man she wished to marry was none other than General Wuwei Feng Ze.

Princess Qionghua was already nineteen this year. In the Great Sheng dynasty, a girl of nineteen was already considered an old maid. Had her mother not died young, leaving no one to arrange matters for her, the matter would never have dragged on until now.

Though a emperor's daughter need not worry about finding a husband, for Emperor Mingde it remained a matter of concern. Now that she had set her heart on Feng Ze, he was pleased to oblige. Feng Ze, after all, though only Chu Pingchuan's adopted son, was likely to become the sole heir to the residence of the General Pacifying the West in the future. Moreover, he was a handsome, capable man, accomplished both in war and in strategy, and so could hardly be said to wrong Princess Qionghua too greatly.

Thus Emperor Mingde immediately granted the princess's request, drafted the marriage edict for the two of them at once, and ordered Eunuch Li to go to the residence of the General Pacifying the West to proclaim the decree.

Yet what Emperor Mingde had never imagined was that that insufferably ignorant Feng Ze would actually refuse to accept the decree and reject the imperial marriage on the spot. This... was simply to place no regard whatsoever on him.

When Emperor Mingde heard Eunuch Li's report, he was so enraged that he nearly burst with fury. First Meng Yuanheng, then Shen Qianmo, and now even Feng Ze dared to be this way. These subjects, one after another, were simply too bold, defying his will as though the heavens had turned upside down.

He could scarcely contain his temper and immediately summoned Feng Ze to the palace, using all his authority to force Feng Ze to accept the marriage. But Feng Ze was of a stubborn, uncompromising nature, unable to bend. No matter how Emperor Mingde cajoled or threatened, enticed or coerced him, he remained silent and refused to agree.

Emperor Mingde was practically furious to the point of exploding. If not for Chu Pingchuan's military merit and the fact that the western border still depended on the residence of the General Pacifying the West for defense, he would already have had Feng Ze, who had dared defy an imperial decree, executed.

But if he did not punish him, where then would imperial dignity remain? In his wrath, and after barely considering Chu Pingchuan's face, Emperor Mingde had Feng Ze dragged away and beaten with a hundred heavy strokes on the spot.

These hundred strokes were personally supervised by the emperor. The eunuchs administering the punishment naturally showed no mercy, and after a full hundred blows, even Feng Ze, however iron-walled and stone-built, was left with torn flesh and bloodied wounds, and fell unconscious on the spot.

Ah, Feng Ze, how could he be so stubborn? There were many ways to refuse an imperial marriage; why insist on smashing headlong against Emperor Mingde?

Inside Feng Ze's chamber at the residence of the General Pacifying the West, Shen Qianmo looked at Feng Ze lying in bed, still not having regained consciousness, and could not help but let out a silent sigh.

A hundred blows were no empty threat. Feng Ze had indeed been seriously injured, especially the wounds on his back, which had already festered and suppurated. In ancient times there was no such thing as anti-inflammatory medicine, so naturally the wounds healed all the more slowly.

Fortunately, the medicines Old Duan had once left her were all top-grade remedies, especially effective for treating external injuries and infections.

Speaking of which, Old Duan's attainments in medicine were truly at the summit of the profession. Even Si Tu Gong could hardly hope to compare.

With the help of several servants from the general's residence, Shen Qianmo finished applying the external medicine for Feng Ze. Madam Chu, Jiang Shi, took several servants out to prepare the medicine for internal use, while Shen Qianmo was left to rest in the room, which also gave her the chance to keep watch over Feng Ze.

After putting away the medical kit she had brought, and seeing that Feng Ze was still unconscious, Shen Qianmo idly looked around his chamber.

The room was large, a fairly standard man's room overall. Its furnishings matched Feng Ze's own impression: sturdy and handsome. When she reached the desk, Shen Qianmo discovered to her surprise that there were many books neatly arranged there.

Who would have thought that Feng Ze, being a military man, liked to read?

She casually picked up a volume, opened it, and flipped through a few pages, only to find several sheets of carefully folded drawing paper tucked among the pages.

Curious, she drew one out and unfolded it, only to be struck with astonishment.

The woman in the painting seemed to be her!

Shen Qianmo took out all the drawing papers hidden in the book and spread them across the desk. Looking at them this way made her heart even more unsettled.

The women in these portraits were sometimes furrowing their brows in thought, sometimes coyly annoyed, sometimes serene and indifferent, sometimes smiling faintly. Though the brushwork was rather immature and the strokes not yet skilled, clearly the work of a beginner, the features, the clothing, even the bearing were unmistakable to any observant eye: it was her.

Could these have been painted by Feng Ze? Did he have feelings for her...

Just then, as Shen Qianmo held the portraits in her hands, her mind in turmoil, Feng Ze's embarrassed and angered low cry came from behind her: "Qianmo, y-you must not look at those paintings!"