Chapter 786
The Laba Festival, Su Yunjin VS Ma Xiuying
Ma Xiuying wanted to see Su Yunjin. Chen Jie frowned. With a great battle imminent, why was Ma Xiuying doing this?
Chen Jie never underestimated Ma Xiuying. This wise empress, who became a famous figure throughout history, could not be an ordinary person, especially since a decisive battle was about to take place.
At this sensitive time, Ma Xiuying actually wants to invite Su Yunjin to drink Laba porridge. Is Laba porridge really that delicious?
Is there any other intention besides drinking Laba porridge?
At this moment, Chen Jie sat down and picked up the letter written by Ma Xiuying!
[To my dear sister Yun Jin: It has been several years since we last parted in Huangzhou Prefecture. I have missed you dearly and wonder how you are doing.]
[Recently, I came to Poyang Lake with the army. With the Laba Festival approaching, if you wish to see an old friend, please come with me to the Waiting-for-Husband Terrace at dawn on the Laba Festival. Each of us should bring ten guards. We will not discuss military matters, but only reminisce about our old times. Xiuying bows respectfully!]
Chen Jie stared at the letter in silence for a long time.
He looked up at Su Yunjin and asked, "You want to go?"
Su Yunjin said, "Since it is my sister who sincerely invited me, how could I refuse?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Jie looked at Su Yunjin's seemingly weak but actually firm eyes and said, "Yes, if you want to go, then go. Your husband will take care of everything else."
Su Yunjin nodded.
"My lord, you should go see Sister Huang first today. I need to write a letter to Sister Xiuying, so I won't be able to serve you in bed."
Chen Jie looked at Su Yunjin and nodded, saying, "Alright then, you should get some rest."
Watching Chen Jie leave, Su Yunjin said, "Grind the red plum for ink, and spread the green chrysanthemum for paper."
The two head maids immediately responded and followed. Su Yunjin wrote a reply, while Cuiju said, "Madam, a great battle is imminent, and the front lines are dangerous. Why do you want to go to such danger?"
Upon hearing this, Su Yunjin said, "If I refuse Ma Xiuying's invitation because I fear the threat of war, I will be at a disadvantage. I may not care about such things, but the Lady of Han cannot be at a disadvantage compared to the Lady of Wu. Therefore, I must go on this trip."
"Besides, this might not be a dangerous place, and I don't think Sister Xiuying would harm me."
As Su Yunjin spoke, she then said to Yin Hongmei, "By the way, take the dagger I put in the cabinet that day with me. If anything unexpected happens, the Lady of Han will definitely not fall into the hands of thieves alive!"
……
[Sister Xiuying, upon receiving this letter, I felt as if we were face to face. I was delighted to receive it and was greatly comforted to know that you are staying in Poyang. On the Laba Festival, we should have gathered together to reminisce about our separation. Since you have kindly invited me to meet, how could I refuse?]
[At the Waiting-for-Husband Terrace at dawn on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, I will meet you there without fail. Your sister, Yun Jin, bows respectfully!]
Ma Xiuying put down the letter in her hand. Zhu Chongba, who was standing next to her, looked at her and said, "You insisted on coming to the front line of Poyang Lake. If you're going to come, then come. But you also had to invite Su Yunjin to meet with you."
Upon hearing this, Ma Xiuying said, "What do you know? Yun Jin and I are both unfortunate people. You men fight to the death, and we can only endure it. Although the two armies are now facing each other, our sisterhood is still there. Today we continue our bond, so that in the future battle, we can leave a lineage and leave some blessings for our children and grandchildren."
"I can't persuade you, and she can't persuade Chen Jiu Si, but the child is innocent, and our Biao'er and his Li'er are innocent too!"
"So you're not allowed to use any tricks at this Laba Festival gathering. I just want to catch up with Yun Jin. If you try anything here, don't blame me for turning against you."
Ma Xiuying warned Zhu Chongba, who immediately laughed awkwardly upon hearing this: "Haha, haha, how could that be? What tricks could I possibly use? War is a man's business. Don't worry, don't worry, it won't involve you women."
"Better so."
Ma Xiuying glared at Zhu Chongba, who looked somewhat guilty. She knew perfectly well that her man would never let any opportunity slip by, even if others didn't know what was going on.
Ma Xiuying chased Zhu Chongba out. Once outside, Tang He looked at Zhu Chongba and made a gesture: "Should we do something with your sister-in-law's guards?"
Zhu Chongba said, "Forget it, forget it."
At this moment, Ma Xiuying took out a short knife from under her pillow and carried it with her. If Zhu Chongba could come up with the idea of kidnapping Su Yunjin, what about Chen Jiusi, who was far more cunning than Zhu Chongba?
Will he take this opportunity to attack me? If he does, I won't be able to live to become a prisoner.
These are two strong women who both want to protect their family, but the world ultimately does not go as they wish!
On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, at the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), the sky was overcast.
Waiting-for-Husband Terrace!
Wangfutai is a high hill on the shore of Poyang Lake. Legend has it that in ancient times, a fisherwoman looked out over the lake and her husband, who had not returned, turned into a stone statue. Later generations built the hill to commemorate him.
The platform is not large, only about three zhang square. There is a thatched pavilion on the platform, with a stone table and stone benches inside.
Ma Xiuying arrived early. She wore a light purple cotton robe with a gray squirrel fur vest over it, and her hair was simply tied up in a bun with a plain silver hairpin. She didn't bring any maids, only ten personal guards, who stood watch at a distance below the post.
She sat down at the stone table and looked out of the pavilion. From here, she could see the vast expanse of Poyang Lake. On the lake, two enormous fleets were facing each other—to the east was Zhu Chongba's water fortress, and to the west was Chen Jiusi's joint camp. Thousands of sails were like a forest, and banners blocked out the sun. Under the gloomy sky, they looked like two giant beasts poised to pounce.
Just then, a warship slowly approached from afar, and the woman standing at the bow was none other than Su Yunjin.
"You all wait down here."
Su Yunjin instructed the guards, and her personal maids Yin Hongmei and Cuiju tried to follow, but Su Yunjin stopped them.
Su Yunjin climbed the steps one by one, and when she reached the top of the mountain, she saw Ma Xiuying waiting there.
"My sister arrived very early."
Su Yunjin greeted them, and Ma Xiuying looked at Su Yunjin. Su Yunjin was also dressed simply, in a moon-white jacket and a dark blue skirt, with her hair loosely tied up and adorned with a jade hairpin.
Ten Han soldiers followed behind her, and two maids stood at the foot of the post.
The two women exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of disorientation in each other's eyes. Several years had passed since they last met, and both had become the most honored women in the world: the wives of the King of Han and the King of Wu.
“Sit down.” Ma Xiuying pointed to the stone bench opposite her.
Su Yunjin sat down and took out two celadon bowls and a pair of red lacquered wooden spoons from the food box she was carrying.
The bowl was made of coarse porcelain, similar to those used by farmers; it was something she brought from her hometown in Mianshui.
"I made the Laba porridge," Su Yunjin said softly. "It's made according to the recipe from my hometown in Mianshui. I used glutinous rice, red dates, lotus seeds, longan, peanuts, red beans, barley, and ginkgo nuts. I cooked it all night, and the heat was just right."
She ladled out a bowl and pushed it in front of Ma Xiuying.
The porridge was cooked until thick, the red dates were soft, and the red beans had blossomed. Steam rose from the porridge, carrying a sweet aroma.
Ma Xiuying didn't move, she just looked at her: "You know, they're about to have their final battle, right?"
"I know." Su Yunjin also served herself a bowl. "That's why I came to see you today. If we meet again after the final battle, everything will be different."
Ma Xiuying didn't answer. She picked up the wooden spoon, scooped up a spoonful of porridge, and put it in her mouth. The porridge was very sticky and sweet, but her heart was filled with bitterness.
"Why fight? If we don't fight, we can drink Laba porridge together, just like last time we met, and watch the stars together."
Ma Xiuying sighed, recalling their last meeting.
"The stars were so bright back then." Su Yunjin looked at the lake, her voice drifting. "Unlike now, the lake is full of warships, which cover half the sky."
The two fell silent, the only sound being the soft clinking of a wooden spoon against the rim of a bowl.
The sound of war drums came from afar, muffled, as if coming from underground. It was both sides practicing and preparing for war. In a few days, these drums would become the death knell.
"Sister," Su Yunjin suddenly spoke, "Are you scared?"
Ma Xiuying turned to look at her: "What are you afraid of?"
“I’m afraid that day will come…” Su Yunjin paused, “I’m afraid that after that day, one of us will be a widow.” The words were blunt, even cruel. But on this high hill, between these two women, there seemed to be no need for beating around the bush.
Ma Xiuying put down the wooden spoon and looked at the rising steam in the bowl: "Afraid? How could I not be afraid? Chongba is thirty this year, with twenty-seven wounds of varying sizes on his body. Last winter, he coughed up blood, and the doctor said it was damage to his lungs and internal organs. ...I heard that your husband is also riddled with injuries and illnesses?"
"Yes, a sword to the heart, pain that lasts all night." At this point, the two suddenly looked at each other and burst into laughter, their laughter full of bitterness, because the wounds on their bodies seemed to have been inflicted by each other. It was from the battle at Wushan in Hangzhou, where Chen Jiu Si gave Zhu Chong Ba a palm strike, and Zhu Chong Ba gave Chen Jiu Si a sword strike.
The two women looked at each other and smiled, then fell silent. They were both lucky and bitter.
Fortunately, they married not ordinary men, but powerful figures, overlords, and people destined to be recorded in history.
The tragedy is that, to them, these are husbands—husbands who can get hurt, feel pain, and even die.
“Sometimes I think, if…” Su Yunjin’s voice grew softer and softer, “If back then, you hadn’t married Zhu Chongba and I hadn’t married Chen Jiusi, but instead married two farmers, had a few children, and lived an ordinary farm life, it wouldn’t have been so bad. We would probably be best friends then, instead of like we are now.”
Ma Xiuying did not respond.
She remembered many years ago when Zhu Chongba was still a poor monk who came to her house to join the army. Her father, Master Ma, saw that he was courageous and betrothed her to him. On their wedding day, they didn't even have a decent wedding dress and had to borrow one from a neighbor's girl.
In the bridal chamber, Zhu Chongba held her hand and said, "Xiuying, I, Zhu Chongba, swear to heaven that one day I will make you wear a phoenix coronet and embroidered robes, and be the mother of the nation."
Later, she did wear the phoenix crown, but at the cost of her husband becoming the "King of Wu," the "Duke of Ming," the hope of countless people, and also the target of countless people.
"Don't be silly, Yun Jin. That's how the world is. You and I are considered lucky," Ma Xiuying said softly.
"In this world, there are natural disasters, man-made calamities, exorbitant taxes, miscellaneous levies, wars, bandits... Ordinary people's lives are as worthless as grass. If you and I were peasant women, we might still be worrying about food and drink for our families right now."
"It's a blessing from heaven that you and I were able to marry such a hero. So it's all fate. If you've taken this position, you have to be prepared for it."
“My son, Chongba, often says that he wants to conquer a peaceful world so that people will no longer have to resort to cannibalism or live a life of displacement. I believe in him and support him!”
“My husband said the same thing.” Su Yunjin’s voice was hoarse. “He said that the Yuan court was tyrannical and the people were suffering, and he wanted to save them from their misery. I believed him.”
The two women fell silent again.
How ironic that their husbands, both men who wanted to save the world, were now locked in a life-or-death struggle on Poyang Lake.
The same cause is to save the world, yet not everyone can live. Isn't that a huge joke?
“This is probably fate.” Ma Xiuying scooped up a spoonful of porridge, but didn’t eat it, just looked at it. “Our fate, their fate, the fate of the world.”
……
The porridge gradually cooled down.
Su Yunjin suddenly took out a brocade pouch from her bosom and handed it to Ma Xiuying: "Keep this."
Ma Xiuying opened it, and inside was a gold earring, very elegant in style. The last time they met in Huangzhou Prefecture, Ma Xiuying had praised the earring for being beautiful.
"What are you doing...?"
"We'll each take one of these earrings."
"If something happens to me that day... this earring will serve as a keepsake." Su Yunjin smiled faintly. "If something happens to you, I will keep yours. Whoever goes first will wait for us on the road to the underworld. When we meet, we will recognize each other by the earring."
Ma Xiuying's eyes welled up with tears, but she held them back. She took the plain silver hairpin from her hair and handed it to Su Yunjin: "This was left to me by my mother. You keep it."
Su Yunjin took the hairpin. It was very simple, with only a plum blossom carved on the tip. She remembered that Ma Xiuying had said that her mother had died young, and this was her mother's only keepsake.
The two exchanged tokens of affection, as if completing a ritual.
A bugle call sounded in the distance, signaling the troops to retreat. It was noon.
"It's time to go." Ma Xiuying stood up.
Su Yunjin also stood up. She looked at Ma Xiuying for a long time, then suddenly stepped forward and hugged her.
They hugged each other tightly and forcefully, as if they wanted to melt all the affection they had accumulated over the years into that embrace.
"Sister, take care."
"You too."
When they let go, both of their eyes were red, but neither of them cried.
Ma Xiuying turned around, walked down the hill, and after a few steps, she looked back and saw Su Yunjin still standing in the pavilion, looking at her. Behind her was the vast Poyang Lake and the forest of warships on the lake.
She waved at Su Yunjin.
Su Yunjin also waved.
Then, Ma Xiuying walked down the Waiting-for-Husband Terrace without looking back. Her personal guards came up to greet her and escorted her towards Zhu Chongba's water fortress.
Su Yunjin stood in the pavilion for a long time, until Ma Xiuying's figure disappeared on the mountain path, until the lake breeze cooled the two bowls of Laba porridge on the stone table.
She picked up her bowl and slowly finished it. The porridge was cold and a little bitter, but she drank it all up, not leaving a single drop.
Then she packed up the food box and said to the guards below, "Back to camp."
As she descended the mountain, she took one last look back at the Waiting-for-Husband Terrace. The thatched pavilion stood alone under the gloomy sky, like a grave.
She knew that this parting today might be their last.
After tomorrow, one of them might actually climb this hill, gaze at the lake, and wait for her husband who will never return.
Just like that fisherwoman from ancient times.
This is their fate.
Su Yunjin tightened her cloak and stepped into the cold December wind.
Meanwhile, in Zhu Chongba's water fortress, Ma Xiuying returned to her military tent, took out the pair of gold earrings from her bosom, looked at them for a long time, and then carefully put them into her inner pocket.
Outside the tent came the sounds of Zhu Chongba and his generals discussing matters; their voices were passionate, resounding, and filled with unwavering confidence in victory.
She closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, and prayed silently.
It's not about praying for your husband's victory, but about praying for his survival.
Perhaps tomorrow or the day after, Poyang Lake will be awash in blood.
And they could only wait.
Waiting on the Waiting-for-Husband Terrace, waiting in the military tent, waiting for the rest of my long life.
We await an outcome, a resolution, and for this chaotic world, which has been in turmoil for twenty years, to finally find peace.
Even if that stability was bought with her husband's blood.
This is the fate of women in chaotic times.
It's tough, but we have to accept it. (End of Chapter)