Chapter 30: Madame Wen Qing (Part 1)

  After a dozen pots of thin porridge were cooked, the refugees also lined up, holding bowls and other containers, waiting to be served porridge. Li Mu's army set off again, and the woman named Wen Qing followed with the troops. Moreover, Li Yinghong was very close to this woman named Wen Qing, and Li Yinghong abandoned his horse to ride together in a carriage, leading the way ahead. Li Mu and his entourage of horses and chariots followed behind their convoy.

  As they walked along, Gao Yuan also asked Du Yi: "Do you know who this Wen Qing lady is?"

  Du Yi had followed Li Mu for a long time and had been to Handan several times, so he was clear about many things. He said: "This Wen Qing lady is very famous in Handan, her maiden name is Lin, and her grandfather is Lin Xiangru, the same Lin Xiangru who returned the jade intact to Zhao."

  Gao Yuan was taken aback and said, "Lin Xiangru? Is that the same Lin Xiangru who, as an old general, carried a whip and apologized to Lian Po, demonstrating the harmony between generals and ministers?"

  Du Yi was taken aback, saying: "What's going on? Isn't Wen Taifu not a prime minister? But General Lian did apologize to Wen Taifu in the past, and later they became sworn brothers. This Madame Wen Qing is actually Wen Taifu's granddaughter. By this generation, the Wen family only had Madame Wen Qing left, and she had already resigned from office to do business. In fact, Wen Taifu also used to do business when he was young, but later entered the imperial court as an official after being recommended by someone. Now Madame Wen Qing is simply reviving her ancestors' business."

  The so-called "Prime Minister and Chancellor" is the name taken from the story of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru compiled into a play by later generations. Although Lin Xiangru was once appointed as Shangqing, he never served as Prime Minister, but Lian Po did serve as acting Prime Minister for a period of time.

  Du Yi said, "Because General Lin and General Lian were sworn brothers, the Grand General is also very respectful to General Lin's descendants. Moreover, Wen Qing's husband's family name was Luo Yuan, who was a military general of Zhao's army and had served under the Grand General in the past. Unfortunately, he died for his country in the Battle of Fei three years ago, leaving behind only Wen Qing and their two-year-old son. It is a pity that Wen Qing was less than twenty years old at that time and was as beautiful as a fairy, but she has been widowed."

  Gao Yuan listened and also sighed with emotion, then asked: "Is the relationship between Madame Wen Qing and her daughter very good?"

  Du Yi nodded and said, "Yes, after Madame Wen Qing became a widow, there were still several distant relatives of the Luo family who came to fight for the property. But with General Li personally taking charge and upholding justice, all of the Luo family's property was ultimately returned to Madame Wen Qing. As a result, Madame Wen Qing is very grateful to General Li. General Li often lets his eldest daughter go in his place to pay respects to Madame Wen Qing, so over time, the two became familiar with each other. Madame Wen Qing took care of her children while managing the family business, and unexpectedly, she expanded the business even further. Now she is one of the top wealthy households in Handan. Although Madame Wen Qing has a lot of money, she doesn't covet wealth like other merchants do. Every year, she distributes porridge and medicine to the poor, and takes in many widows and orphans of fallen soldiers. In Handan City, she is known as a kind-hearted woman."

  At this time, Wang Hu and Wang Bao brothers also came over. Wang Hu said: "Since Mrs. Wen Qing is young, rich, and has a good reputation, why not find someone to marry again?"

  Du Yidao said, "Who says it's not? In the past few years, many people have come to propose to Madame Wenqing, advising her to remarry and introducing her to young masters and scholars. There were at least eight such suitors, but Madame Wenqing didn't bat an eyelid. She just focused on raising her son. Now, in Handan City, there are three men who want to marry Madame Wenqing the most. Do you know who they are?"

  Wang Bao shook his head and said, "I've grown up to this age, but this is my first time in Handan. Madam Wenqing also heard it for the first time. Who do you think wants to marry her? Don't keep me in suspense, just say it."

  Du Yidao said: "The first is our king's younger brother, Prince Jia; the second is Zhao Bin's older brother, Zhao Yang, whom you met yesterday; and the third is a famous scholar from Qi State, named Yan Ju. Now all the gambling dens in Handan have already set up betting pools for these three people: Prince Jia has odds of 1 to 3 against him, Zhao Yang has odds of 1 to 4 against him, and Yan Ju has odds of 1 to 7 against him. However, it's said that Lady Wen Qing doesn't think any of them have a chance."

  Gao Yuan Dao said, "Both Gongzi Jia and Zhao Yang are disciples of the imperial family, but Yan Ju is from the state of Qi. Even if he is a famous scholar, what makes him think he can compete with Gongzi Jia and Zhao Yang for Wen Qing's hand?"

  Du Yi smiled and said, "You don't know this, but Yan Ju, although he came from the state of Qi, has the title of Jixia scholar. He is also well-versed in military strategy and once discussed with the king the tactics of deploying troops. The king praised him as a remarkable man. Moreover, he was recommended to the king by Prime Minister Guo Kuo. This time, Guo Kuo originally wanted to recommend Yan Ju to be the deputy general under the great general, but was rejected, so it didn't happen."

  Everyone finally understood and nodded in agreement. Gao Yuan knew that Guo Kuo was a great treacherous minister of the late Zhao state, serving under two rulers, King Xiaowu of Zhao and King Qian of Zhao. It can be said that the destruction of the Zhao state is directly related to Guo Kuo. This is because the two famous generals of the Zhao state, Lian Po and Li Mu, were both framed by Guo Kuo.

  During the reign of Zhao King Xiaocheng, Guo Kuo presented a memorial to the throne and had Lian Po's military authority revoked. Lian Po left Zhao and went into hiding in Wei. After Zhao King Jia succeeded to the throne, Zhao suffered several defeats at the hands of Qin. King Jia wanted to reappoint Lian Po, so he sent an envoy to ask him to come out of retirement. To show that he was still vigorous, Lian Po ate a peck of rice and ten jin of meat in front of the envoy, then donned his armor, mounted his horse, and galloped around the training grounds. However, Guo Kuo feared that if Lian Po returned to power, he would be in danger, so he bribed the envoy to slander Lian Po. The envoy reported back to King Jia: "Although General Lian is old, he still eats well; however, when I sat with him for a short time, he urinated three times." King Jia took this as evidence that Lian Po was too old and useless, so he did not reappoint him.

  Li Mu's death was also due to Guo Kai accepting bribes from the Qin state and slandering Li Mu to King Zhao Xiang, which led to King Zhao Xiang mistakenly killing Li Mu. Therefore, after Gao Yuan heard Guo Kai's name, it seemed that Guo Kai recommended Yan Ju to King Zhao Xiang, probably wanting to use Yan Ju to replace Li Mu. So Gao Yuan was also secretly on guard and thought that he should be careful with this person, and it would be best to get rid of him, which might change Li Mu's fate.

  Du Yi continued, "I'll tell you another secret. Do you know who the four great beauties of Handan are?"

  As soon as a beautiful woman is mentioned, men's interest increases greatly. Wang Hu was no fool and immediately said: "Is Mrs. Wenqing considered one?"

  Du Yi nodded and said: "Right, Mrs. Wen Qing is listed first."

  "Who is the second one?"

  "Is it the young lady?"

  Du Yi smiled and said, "Still, Gao Yuan is clever. In fact, Big Sister's current age is still young. If she waits another three or four years, Madame Wen Qing will probably have to hand over the title of Handan's number one beauty to Big Sister."

  "Then who were the third and fourth?" Wang Hu asked again on horseback.

  "Ranked third is the king's concubine, Yu Jiufang, and fourth is Wu Hongxian, daughter of Wu Lie, the owner of Handan Liehui Hall, who is also our eldest sister's greatest rival."

  Wang Bao found it somewhat strange and asked: "How is she Big Sister's greatest opponent?"

  Du Yi smiled and said: "You will know when you return to Handan."

  Everyone spoke in unison, and before long, they arrived at the gate of a mansion. Lin Wenqing and Li Yinghong also got off the carriage and came to the front of Li Mu's carriage, saying: "Please get off the carriage, General, we have arrived."

  Li Mu also got down from the chariot. Although Lian Wenqing's manor was not small in scale, it was still not enough to accommodate five or six thousand soldiers for residence. Therefore, Li Mu also ordered that only three hundred soldiers would enter the manor, and the others would camp outside the manor to rest. Lian Wenqing also instructed the servants of the manor to arrange wine and food for Li Mu's soldiers, allowing them to rest well.

  Then, she led Li Mu, Zhao Xuan, Gao Yuan, Li Yi Hong and Du Yi into the mansion, to the main hall. Before entering the main hall, several middle-aged women servants had already rushed out, saying: "Madam has finally returned, young master has been crying and looking for madam."

  Lin Wenqing listened and hastily said: "Where's Huan'er? Quickly bring him over."

  A woman came up from behind and said, "Young master, look quickly, the madam has already returned." She was holding a child of five or six years old in her arms, who had already opened his arms and was murmuring, "Mother hug, mother hug."

  Lin Wenqing hastily pulled the child into his arms and, through the thin veil that covered her face, kissed her little face several times, saying: "Huan'er, hasn't mother already come back?"

  Li Yinghong patted the child's face and said, "Huan'er, do you still remember who I am?"

  Huan'er looked at Li Yinghong and said: "Auntie Yinghong."

  Li Yinghong burst out laughing and said, "You still remember me! Come, let Auntie hold you." She reached out to take the child from Lin Wenqing's arms, but Huan'er refused to leave her mother's embrace. He clung tightly to Lin Wenqing's clothes, shouting, "Huan'er wants Mama to hold him, Huan'er wants Mama to hold him!" His face was on the verge of tears.

  Li Yinghong was so angry that he stomped his foot and gently tapped on his little head, saying: "Stinky Huan'er, Auntie doesn't like you anymore." This also made Li Mu and the others burst out laughing.

  "General, Wen Qing will take his leave for a moment. Please enter the house and rest first. After Wen Qing changes his clothes, he will come to meet with you again. A banquet has been prepared to welcome you. Zhou Shan, please attend to the general and the others on my behalf."

  Li Mu smiled and said, "Go ahead, the child is the most important thing. We are used to simple living in the military camp, no need to be polite."

  Lin Wenqing withdrew to the side room with the child in her arms, and Zhou Shan came over and said, "The general is inviting you." He led Li Mu and the others into the house, where they sat down separately, and then ordered the servants to bring up wine. At this time, drinking tea was still limited to Sichuan province, and had not yet spread throughout the Central Plains, so guests were entertained with wine.

  After the wine was brought over, Zhou Shan personally poured a glass for Li Mu. Li Mu smiled and said, "Zhou Shan, are you living well here?"

  Zhou Shan had also served in Li Mu's army, but due to his old age, he could no longer be a soldier, so he retired and was taken in by Lin Wenqing. Because of his loyalty and dedication, as well as his experience in leading troops and organizational abilities, he gained Lin Wenqing's trust and is now one of Lin Wenqing's most trusted assistants. This time, when Lin Wenqing came to the city to distribute porridge for disaster relief, he also brought Zhou Shan along.

  After hearing Li Mu's words, Zhou Shan hastily said: "I'll report back to the general, I've been doing very well here, thanks to the lady."