The Marquis Is Innocent

Wei Shao personally selected the birthday gifts for Qiao Ping last night; pearls, golden cups, ten bolts of silk, and two paintings by famous artists.

Actually, for himself to do such a thing and even order Wei Liang to send it to Yanzhou, Wei Shao’s heart was uneasy, even ashamed. As if he had betrayed his father and brother, he felt less and less courageous to step into the family temple.

However, Qiao Ping was not directly involved in that battle that year. He was her father, his own daughter’s maternal grandfather. Now that, by mistake, he has married Xiao Qiao, and now she has given birth to his child, the spirits of his father and brother in heaven should be able to sympathize with him. Moreover, this should also be the will of his grandmother. He knew that his grandmother would have wanted him to be able to stop dwelling on his past hatred. He needed to learn to be like his grandmother, someone with a broad heart.

Once he was on his way, Wei Shao kept reassuring himself. Finally, as the distance to Yuyang shortened, the conflict in his heart was overshadowed by the emotion of seeing her and his daughter soon. He stopped thinking about anything else but joy and anticipation.

……

At night, Wei Shao finally arrived at Renqiu City. If he kept going, he would reach Yuyang in two days.

Wei Shao felt that he could have continued on his way. But lightning ripped through the night sky, and thunder rolled overhead. It was raining, and Lei Ze and others had tired looks on their faces.

Wei Shao ordered them to stop and stay at the Renqiu post office that night. The journey was light and austere. When Wei Shao arrived, he asked the postmaster not to alert the Renqiu Magistrate. He would only stay overnight and continue on his way in the morning.

Lei Ze asked someone to bring the box and put it on the desk. It was more than a foot high and wide, with beautifully patterned python skin adorning its surface. Lei Ze did not know what it contained.

Wei Shao himself also felt tired. But his spirit is very high. He was lying in bed in the post house, listening to muffled thunder rolling across the sky in the distance with his eyes closed. The rain pattered and fell on the tiles above his head. He could not help but recall the night of last year.

It was also a thunderstorm night. He chased her alone to the post house and finally caught her up. He yielded in front of her. And she reciprocated his desire for pleasure. That night, she showed off her beauty under him. When he thought about it, the feeling had not yet dispersed. He felt like he was on a mountain of immortality, the most beautiful world.

Wei Shao’s mouth was dry from the memories. Haunted by longing, he could not stand himself, simply wanting to continue the journey.

A bolt of lightning struck outside the window. In a flash, blue lightning illuminated the walls of the post house, the box that sat on top of the desk, and the sword that sat next to Wei Shao’s.

A thunderstorm followed overhead, exploding, and the beams shook slightly. A layer of fine dust rustled down from the cracks in the tile roof.

The door of the room suddenly rapped violently. After the thunderstorm, the sharp rap on the door sounded extra harsh. Wei Shao opened his eyes, leaped off the bed, and quickly opened the door.

“My Lord, it’s not good! The urgent report from Luoyang just arrived. General Wei Liang and his party got attacked at the city gate of East County. General Wei was seriously wounded and managed to kill his way out, but all his attendants died. The two men, Qiao Yue and Qiao Ping made statements to the public and led Yanzhou to join Liu Yan!”

Wei Shao’s figure froze.

Another bolt of lightning struck down, illuminating his pale face, which was white as if it were a stern ghost. He turned around violently and pulled out his sword.

A green light swept through, and the box on the table cut into two. East China Sea Pearls, Kunlun precious stones, and Lin Luang’s exotic treasures, following the blade of his sword, scattered and rolled down to the ground.

These are the things that Wei Shao took out of the Luoyang treasury that night before he left. When he saw something that looked good, he put it in. At that time, he thought even if he couldn’t make Man Man happy, he could bring it back for his daughter to play with.

“My Lord!” Lei Ze looked at his stiff back carrying his sword and called out worriedly.

Wei Shao slowly turned around and put the sword back into its sheath.

“Return to Luoyang.” His tone had turned calm while his expression was gloomy and cold.