"Clang... clang... clang..."
"Screech... screech... screech..."
A stout prison guard in Bijin City scraped and struck an iron rod against the iron bars, producing a grating sound.
"Hey, General Zhou, young friend, good grandson..." Zhou Fugui's garrulous cellmate had long been awakened, but Zhou Fugui remained sound asleep. So he shouted at Zhou Fugui, "I'm calling you, it's definitely not me... Are you... dead? Alas, what a pity and what a sorrow! So young, and to meet death in Bijin City before even experiencing the joys of the marriage bed. Go complain to the King of Hell, perhaps he'll marry his daughter to you..."
"Damn you, I'm coming, I'm coming, you're so long-winded. I say, brothers, hurry up and send me on my way. What sin did I, Zhou, commit to meet this bird of a man here..." Zhou Fugui, unable to bear his cellmate's nagging any longer, crawled out from the darkness, saying with a mix of laughter and tears.
"Hahaha..." The stout prison guard couldn't help but laugh at this, and waving his iron rod, said to Zhou Fugui, "Want to die? It's not that easy. Commander Zhou, come with us, someone is visiting."
After saying this, the stout prison guard opened the cell door and let Zhou Fugui out. Several guards stepped forward and shackled Zhou Fugui.
"May I ask you officers, who is visiting?" Zhou Fugui asked.
Zhou Fugui had been in the Bijin City Tingwei Prison, a dark and hellish place, for quite some time. This was the first time anyone had come to visit. Could it be his mother and the others? Zhou Fugui thought to himself.
Zhou Fugui knew clearly that it wasn't that his mother and the others didn't want to visit, but that the imperial court did not permit it. Could it be that the imperial court had now granted permission for them to visit?
He missed them dearly all these days.
"Stop making a fuss..." The stout prison guard seemed envious and a little jealous as he reprimanded, "You'll know when you get there?"
"Alas, Tuli Hu, elder brother..." As the guards escorted Zhou Fugui out, another guard said, "Who is Commander Zhou? He is the Yang Youji of our Great Yan country, a brave and fierce general. Therefore, we must not be disrespectful to him, but treat him with courtesy, is that right? Commander Zhou?"
"Oh? Treat with courtesy? You speak well, but if there were some wine and meat, it would be even more courteous, wouldn't it? Officers..." Zhou Fugui said with a smile.
"Commander Zhou..." The guards seemed a little timid. One of them said to Zhou Fugui, "As long as Commander Zhou can put in a good word for us with that person, everything will be fine from now on."
In fact, just by not having been tortured or mistreated by the prison guards and jailers after entering Bijin City, Zhou Fugui was already being treated well. As for the food, which was like dog food, if the prisoners' families didn't send money, would they expect the guards to pay out of their own pockets?
It was said that the salaries of the prison guards and jailers in Bijin City were not high. They relied on extorting and withholding money, grain, meat, and wine sent by the prisoners' families.
"Who is it?" The guards seemed a little afraid, which made Zhou Fugui even more curious, and he asked again.
"Let's go, Commander Zhou, you'll know when we get there." A leading guard said, then ordered his subordinates, "Someone, get Commander Zhou some new clothes. He stinks, be careful not to offend the visitor, we can't afford to offend her!"
.........
"Empress Dowager, greetings and peace. Your servants withdraw!"
In a courtyard of the Bijin City Tingwei Prison, several prison guards bowed with their hands clasped over their chests and retreated. Only Empress Murong Qing of Great Yan and Zhou Fugui, who was looking bewildered, remained in the courtyard.
Zhou Fugui had expected his mother Liu, or Xiao Qing, or his elder sister-in-law, or his younger sister, or his little nephew Hutou, or even Xiao Yunü to visit. Of course, he had also thought of Murong Huiying, but he had never imagined that the Empress of Great Yan, Murong Qing, the mother of the nation, would come to see him? Or did she have other motives?
There were a few trees planted in the courtyard. Beneath the trees, there was a stone table and several stone stools. One of the stone stools was covered with a brocade cushion. Empress Murong Qing sat on the cushion. A ray of sunlight shone down from the courtyard, illuminating the golden-yellow, cross-collared, narrow-sleeved long gown on Murong Qing, making her radiant and dignified.
Murong Qing was also wearing a black woolen cloak, with narrow sleeves and a cinched waist, further accentuating her broad shoulders and slender waist. A jade belt inlaid with jade was tied around her waist, which was so slender it could barely be held. The hem of the cloak hung down long, and her slender legs, wrapped in dark gray trousers, were faintly visible. A pair of jade feet were in double red boots. Her waterfall-like hair, draped behind her head, and her fiery red lips, combined with her dazzlingly white delicate skin, created a unique charm with the three pure colors.
Her well-defined features appeared even more alluring under the heavy makeup. The high collar covered her long neck.
Willow-leaf eyebrows, phoenix eyes, skin like snow, dignified and beautiful, truly worthy of being the Empress of Great Yan, the mother of the nation. Zhou Fugui praised her silently in his heart.
Zhou Fugui had seen Murong Qing in the Yan Palace tent before, but at that time, the distance was too great, and Zhou Fugui dared not look closely. At this moment, because Zhou Fugui was filled with doubt, he stared at Murong Qing to his heart's content...
She was a feast for the eyes, perhaps that's what Murong Qing was.
"General Zhou... General Zhou?" Murong Qing called Zhou Fugui twice.
"Ah? Oh, oh, your humble subject Fugui pays his respects to Your Highness the Empress!" Zhou Fugui said, his face blushing slightly, and he hastily bowed with his hands clasped in salute.
With the shackles removed, Zhou Fugui found it much easier to move his hands, feet, and bend his body.
"General Zhou..." Murong Qing said with a slight smile upon seeing this, "General Zhou need not be so formal. My clan is not like the Han people, with so many etiquettes."
Murong Qing was not offended by Zhou Fugui staring at her like a lecherous old man, but rather felt a little smug.
Murong Qing was also quite confident in her beauty.
Zhou Fugui, a young general, was also considered top-notch in appearance in Great Yan. Murong Qing naturally felt a little proud that he could be so captivated.
"Your Highness the Empress, virtuous and elegant, your heavenly appearance here. Your humble subject dares not neglect his礼!" Zhou Fugui continued, cupping his hands.
"Heh heh, General Zhou, please sit," Murong Qing said with a smile.
This kind of person should not die, wouldn't it be a pity for him to die? At this moment, Zhou Fugui appeared gentle and refined, full of scholarly demeanor, nowhere like the fierce general who charged into battle. He looked more like a scholar from the Southern Dynasties, which greatly improved Murong Qing's impression of him.
Great Yan was not short of fierce generals and brave warriors, but a general like Zhou Fugui was rare, almost non-existent.
"Thank you, Your Highness the Empress." Zhou Fugui bowed again, and then stopped being overly courteous, as any more would seem affected. He then sat down imposingly on the stone stool and glanced at the sunlight in the courtyard.
This was the first time Zhou Fugui had seen sunlight since being imprisoned, and it felt exceptionally dazzling.
"General Zhou is indeed a man of distinguished appearance," Murong Qing said afterward.
"A month in this great prison is like being in the eighteen levels of hell. Your Highness the Empress is joking," Zhou Fugui said with a wry smile.
"General Zhou need not be so..." Murong Qing smiled slightly upon hearing this, "Does General Zhou not know Mencius's 'Gaozi II'?"
"'When Heaven is about to confer a great office on any man, it first exercises his heart with suffering, and his sinews and bones with toil. It exposes his body to hunger, and subjects him to extreme poverty. It confounds his undertakings. By these means it stimulates his mind, and nourishes his nature, and corrects whatever is in him, and overcomes all difficulties he can come.' " How could Zhou Fugui not know "Mencius's Gaozi II"? He shook his head and said, "What great office or not, your humble subject has no grand ambitions. I only wish to live peacefully in this world. It was so in the past, and it is so now, but it seems unattainable at present!"
"The affairs of the world are unpredictable, and not necessarily as General thinks," Murong Qing said softly, "Those who should die may not die, while those who should not die might."
"Your Highness the Empress, you... what do you mean by this?" If one could avoid death, that would be best. Zhou Fugui was human, and humans had a will to survive. Murong Qing's words ignited a glimmer of hope in Zhou Fugui's heart, so he asked.
"Does General Zhou fear death?" Murong Qing asked in return.
"Your humble subject is but mortal flesh and blood, how could I not fear death? I am terrified to death, at all times..." Zhou Fugui replied honestly.
"Afraid of death, yet you slaughtered the entire Duan family?" Murong Qing asked with a slight smile.
"The hatred of a brother's murder must be avenged, and the shame of a sister's humiliation must be washed away," Zhou Fugui replied. "This has nothing to do with whether one fears death or not."
"There are many ways to seek revenge and wash away shame. Why did General Zhou choose this path?" Murong Qing sighed, "Although General Zhou is a Han person, at such a young age, he has become famous throughout the land. He will surely be heavily relied upon by the court in the future. Wouldn't this be regrettable?"
"Heh heh, Your Highness the Empress, if your humble subject had any other path to take, I would not have chosen this path of no return," Zhou Fugui said with a wry smile.
"Path of no return? That's not necessarily true," Murong Qing said, shaking her head slightly. "General has committed such a grave crime, and by rights should die, and die a miserable death. However, General Zhou, whether you are sentenced to death or not, depends on who wants you dead and who wants you alive."
"Who wants me dead and who wants me alive?" Zhou Fugui pondered Murong Qing's words carefully.
Those who want me dead must be the aggrieved parties from the Duan or Qin families. And those who want me alive should be Murong Bole, Murong Tengge, Murong Huiying, and the like, Zhou Fugui thought to himself.
"Not long ago, Parthia presented a pet, named 'Snow Claw', which is a long-haired cat," Murong Qing said slowly. "Snow Claw has a charming face, long and beautiful fur, and elegant demeanor. The Great Chieftain immensely favors it, calling it 'Consort', and ordered it to be fed carefully. Any loss of its fur would result in a beating. Snow Claw is certainly pampered and lives in luxury, but General Zhou... no matter how pampered and luxurious Snow Claw is, it is merely a plaything in others' hands, its life and death at the whim of others."
"Your Highness the Empress..." Zhou Fugui stood up and cupped his hands.
Murong Qing smiled and actually reached out her jade hand and patted Zhou Fugui on the waist.