{"id":4005,"date":"2026-06-14T21:56:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T21:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/pursuit-of-jade-127\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T21:56:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T21:56:50","slug":"pursuit-of-jade-127","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/my\/chapter\/pursuit-of-jade-127\/","title":{"rendered":"Pursuit of Jade 127"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 127

Everyone in the world knew that both of Meng Shuyuan’s sons had died on the battlefield.

Only his youngest daughter had survived long enough to marry a junior military officer who had married into the Meng family. But after Meng Shuyuan took his own life in Luo City, his daughter was returning from a temple where she had gone to offer prayers when her carriage overturned and plunged off a cliff.

No body was ever recovered.

Later, after the court delivered its final verdict, it was declared that Meng Shuyuan had delayed the delivery of military provisions by going to rescue the civilians trapped in Luo City. As a result, Xie Linshan and Crown Prince Chengde suffered a disastrous defeat at Jinzhou.

Whenever people cursed Meng Shuyuan, the phrase they repeated most often was:

“The Meng family deserved to die out.”

Xie Zhong was a retainer of the Xie family.

Naturally, he knew how grave the charge of being responsible for the Jinzhou tragedy was.

Hearing Zhu Youchang say that Meng Shuyuan had been wronged, sorrow inevitably welled up in his heart.

Just as he was about to offer a few words of comfort, Xie Zheng\u2014who had remained silent until now\u2014suddenly spoke.

“General Meng still has descendants alive in this world.”

The room fell silent.

Not only Zhu Youchang, but even Xie Zhong froze.

Ignoring the disability of his legs, Zhu Youchang pushed himself upright against the bed.

Fortunately, Xie Zhong hurriedly stopped him.

“Please, Marquis, tell me! Where are General Meng’s descendants now? Is Sister Lihua… still alive?”

Zhu Youchang clasped his hands toward Xie Zheng.

His mouth was twisted into an expression that looked both like laughter and sobbing.

Clouded tears rolled into his tangled beard.

Xie Zheng did not know the name of Meng Shuyuan’s daughter.

But upon hearing the name “Lihua,” he immediately thought of the memorial tablet in Lin’an Town bearing the name “Lihua.”

Lihua.

Pear Blossom.

The Fan couple had likely changed even their names for fear of attracting disaster.

Meeting Zhu Youchang’s hopeful gaze, Xie Zheng fell silent for a moment before saying:

“General Zhu, my condolences. General Meng’s daughter is no longer among the living. Only her two granddaughters remain.”

As one of Meng Shuyuan’s most trusted generals, Zhu Youchang had been almost like an adopted son to him.

He had been especially close to Meng Shuyuan’s children.

Meng Lihua, in particular, was a younger sister he had watched grow up.

Though he had long suspected she was dead, Xie Zheng’s revelation that Meng Shuyuan still had descendants had rekindled a glimmer of hope in him.

He had thought Meng Lihua might still be alive.

Now that hope was shattered.

Overwhelmed with grief, he covered his face and cried.

Xie Zhong was equally baffled.

How did Xie Zheng know so much about the Meng family’s descendants?

Given the Marquis’s temperament, even the servants around him had never dared mention members of the Meng family in his presence.

How had he managed to investigate their backgrounds so thoroughly without revealing a single hint?

The more Xie Zhong thought about it, the more confused he became.

His brows furrowed deeply.

He wanted to ask Xie Zheng, but knew this was not the time.

Instead, he patted Zhu Youchang’s shoulder and said:

“Please accept our condolences, General.”

Zhu Youchang also understood that from Xie Zheng’s perspective, before learning the truth, he should have hated the Meng family deeply.

The fact that Xie Zheng knew so much about Meng Shuyuan’s descendants made him wonder\u2014

Had he been gathering information for revenge?

The thought made his heart leap.

Suppressing his grief, he carefully studied Xie Zheng.

“May I ask, Marquis, where are my two nieces now?”

Xie Zheng replied:

“They are both safe. The elder is sixteen years old. When the rebels surrounded Lu City, the army dammed the river upstream in Jizhou to flood them. She crossed mountains through a storm at night to intercept and kill enemy scouts.”

“Later, she escorted military provisions to First-Line Gorge and beheaded Shi Hu, one of Prince Changxin’s fiercest generals.”

“She was accepted as the adopted daughter of Grand Tutor Tao Yi and entered military service through his recommendation…”

His deep voice remained calm and steady as he recounted Fan Changyu’s journey through the army.

Every brief sentence conjured vivid images in his mind.

Their reunion atop First-Line Gorge.

Her crying uncontrollably beside his bed.

The battlefield littered with corpses.

Her standing atop a mound of bodies, gripping a butcher’s cleaver with fierce determination.

The military path had never been easy.

He knew every hardship she had endured.

Every drop of blood she had shed.

Every tear she had cried.

“During the Battle of Chongzhou, she led the right-wing army as the vanguard. She saved He Jingyuan beneath enemy blades and slew Prince Changxin from horseback.”

“She was promoted to the rank of Fifth-Rank Cavalry Commandant.”

“During the Battle of Lu City, she revealed herself as Meng Changyu and volunteered to defend the city outside the walls alone, buying time with her life.”

“She declared that she was willing to die to restore the honor of her ancestors.”

As Zhu Youchang listened, tears streamed endlessly down his face.

When Xie Zheng finished speaking, he was so overcome that he could not even form words.

He covered his face and wept for a long time before finally choking out:

“This is the General’s bloodline…”

“This is the General’s bloodline!”

Xie Zhong was equally stunned.

He had long heard rumors of a female general rising in the northwest.

He had never imagined she was actually Meng Shuyuan’s descendant.

Nor had he imagined that his own Marquis knew her identity so thoroughly.

A thought suddenly crossed his mind.

Could it be that Xie Zheng had long known Meng Shuyuan had been wronged?

Lost in thought, he failed to support Zhu Youchang in time.

The old general pushed aside his hand and slid off the bed.

Both his legs were crippled.

Supporting himself with his hands, he knelt on the floor and bowed toward Xie Zheng.

“General Zhu, what are you doing? Please get up!”

Xie Zhong hurried forward to help him.

But Zhu Youchang refused to rise.

Xie Zheng was also caught off guard.

Unable to avoid the kneeling salute, he crouched down and personally tried to help him up.

“General Zhu, whatever it is, please stand first.”

Still, Zhu Youchang refused.

This hardened soldier, who had never shed a single tear even after losing his legs on the battlefield, now cried as though his heart were breaking.

Choking with emotion, he said:

“This kneeling salute is my thanks on behalf of the Meng family.”

“The Marquis knew nothing of the truth back then, yet still allowed that child to build her own future in the army.”

“I, Zhu, thank the Marquis for his righteousness and magnanimity!”

To this day, common people still wept when speaking of how Xie Linshan’s body had been mutilated and displayed on the walls of Jinzhou.

They cursed the Northern Di for their brutality.

As Xie Linshan’s son, Xie Zheng’s hatred for those responsible could only be greater than that of ordinary people.

Zhu Youchang could not understand how Xie Zheng had managed to treat Meng Shuyuan’s descendant fairly.

At this moment, all he felt was gratitude and admiration.

Hearing these words, Xie Zheng’s hand paused slightly.

Then he asked:

“General Zhu, what exactly happened back then?”

The moment the past was mentioned, Zhu Youchang began grinding his teeth in rage.

“It wasn’t General Meng who disregarded military orders and delayed the grain transport!”

“The real culprit was the Sixteenth Prince!”

“He was arrogant and hungry for glory. Seeing that only a few thousand Northern Di troops guarded Luo City while one hundred thousand civilians were trapped inside, he refused to obey General Meng’s orders and insisted on leading a rescue.”

“In the end, the Sixteenth Prince was captured alive.”

“The Northern Di demanded military provisions in exchange for him. Otherwise, they would use his blood to consecrate their battle banners!”

Xie Zhong’s expression changed dramatically.

Even Xie Zheng’s eyes darkened.

Because over the past seventeen years, information regarding the Sixteenth Prince had seemingly been deliberately erased.

No historical records mentioned what he had done during the Battle of Luo City.

When Xie Zheng had reopened the Jinzhou case and reviewed the archives in the Court of Judicial Review, the records stated only that General Meng Shuyuan had disobeyed orders to rescue the civilians trapped in Luo City.

He had failed to save them.

The Sixteenth Prince accompanying him had also died.

The delay in delivering provisions had contributed to Jinzhou’s fall.

Then Meng Shuyuan had committed suicide out of guilt.

Yet the Northern Di force occupying Luo City had never posed a serious threat.

Their numbers were small.

Their supplies limited.

They survived only by relying on Luo City’s easily defended terrain.

The court had ignored Luo City for two reasons.

First, the situation at Jinzhou was far more urgent.

Second, the enemy in Luo City had not yet been driven to desperation.

Capturing the city by force would have taken considerable time.

Compared to that, holding Jinzhou and keeping the Northern Di army outside the frontier was the wiser choice.

Afterward, they could easily eliminate the isolated force in Luo City.

It would have been no different from closing the gate and slaughtering trapped dogs.

That was why Xie Zheng had hated Meng Shuyuan for so many years.

Ignoring Luo City would cost many lives.

But if Jinzhou fell, the gates of Great Yin would stand open.

Foreign invaders would sweep southward.

The death toll would be ten times, a hundred times greater.

In his mind, Meng Shuyuan’s moment of compassion had led him to violate orders and commit an unforgivable mistake.

But now\u2014

It turned out that Meng Shuyuan had not misjudged the situation at all.

The Sixteenth Prince had been involved.

Xie Zhong frowned.

“So General Meng delayed the grain transport in order to rescue the Sixteenth Prince?”

Zhu Youchang immediately objected.

“General Meng was one of the Grand General’s most trusted officers. How could he possibly fail to distinguish priorities?”

“Commander Xie fought alongside the Grand General in those years. You should know what kind of man our General was!”

Xie Linshan had been granted the title of Grand General Protector of the Nation.

In all of Great Yin, only he was called “Grand General.”

As a former personal guard, Xie Zhong had followed him throughout his campaigns.

“Commander” had been Xie Zhong’s military title back then.

Hearing Zhu Youchang say this, Xie Zhong unconsciously relaxed a little.

With hatred burning in his eyes, Zhu Youchang continued:

“The Marquis was still young and may not know how favored the Sixteenth Prince was.”

“But Commander Xie certainly does.”

He looked toward Xie Zhong.

Xie Zhong nodded.

“The Sixteenth Prince’s maternal family was extremely powerful. His mother, Noble Consort Jia, was the most favored woman in the imperial harem.”

“In those days, people often said that if Crown Prince Chengde had not been so virtuous and respected by both officials and commoners, the late Emperor might have made the Sixteenth Prince Crown Prince instead.”

Xie Zheng remained silent.

His lowered eyes concealed every thought.

A prince who had once enjoyed such limitless favor…

Yet seventeen years later, only scattered traces of him remained.

That was deeply suspicious.

After Xie Zhong’s confirmation, Zhu Youchang continued.

“General Meng couldn’t abandon the Sixteenth Prince, but he also dared not delay the grain transport.”

“So he sent an urgent military report to the capital, requesting instructions from the Emperor.”

“Meanwhile, he ordered the main force to continue escorting provisions toward Jinzhou while keeping only a small detachment outside Luo City.”

“Two days later, an urgent courier arrived from the capital carrying a tiger tally and a personal letter from Wei Yan.”

At the mention of Wei Yan, Zhu Youchang’s jaw clenched.

He looked as though he wished to devour the man alive.

“That despicable bastard wrote that His Majesty had ordered General Meng to immediately return to Luo City and rescue the Sixteenth Prince.”

“The provisions would be escorted to Jinzhou by troops from Chongzhou.”

Chongzhou lay between Luo City and Jinzhou.

With crises on both fronts, the arrangement made perfect sense.

Meng Shuyuan’s army could return to attack Luo City while Chongzhou’s forces transported the grain.

No time would be lost.

But Xie Zheng immediately spotted a flaw.

“If troops were being mobilized, why was there only Wei Yan’s personal letter?”

“Why was there no imperial decree?”

Zhu Youchang slapped the bed in frustration.

“There was proof\u2014the tiger tally!”

“When I was rescued from prison, someone claiming to serve Crown Prince Chengde’s faction appeared. Afraid I might die before escaping, I handed the tally to him and begged him to clear General Meng’s name!”

Xie Zheng knew exactly what he meant.

After all, it was during the chaos between Qi Min’s men and Wei Yan’s trained killers that he had rescued Zhu Youchang.

He knew Qi Min’s people had participated in the prison break.

“I investigated the court records concerning tiger tally deployments from seventeen years ago.”

“There is no record of another tally being issued before Jinzhou fell.”

“There was!” Zhu Youchang exclaimed.

“It was Wei Qilin himself who delivered both the tally and the letter!”

“I didn’t recognize the Chongzhou tally, but General Meng certainly recognized the Changzhou tally.”

“He compared both halves and confirmed they matched before redirecting the army toward Luo City.”

As the truth slowly emerged, Xie Zheng became frighteningly calm.

“Two tiger tallies were mobilized at once.”

“The Changzhou army was responsible for escorting provisions.”

“Why was there still no imperial decree?”

Even now, Zhu Youchang looked anguished.

“That white-eyed traitor Wei Qilin said the Sixteenth Prince had caused enough trouble already.”

“If an imperial decree were issued, the crime would be officially recorded.”

“But if no decree existed and only the tiger tally was sent, then so long as Jinzhou was saved and Luo City recovered, everything would end happily.”

“The matter would simply be buried.”

“Everyone knew how favored the Sixteenth Prince was.”

“We saw the tiger tally and Wei Yan’s letter…”

“And we believed his lies.”

Suddenly, Xie Zheng asked:

“Wei Qilin betrayed General Meng?”

Zhu Youchang nearly spat blood from rage.

“Wei Qilin was Wei Yan’s dog from the very beginning!”

“After General Meng confirmed the tally and letter, he temporarily stored the provisions along the route and left men to guard them.”

“He then led the main army to rescue the Sixteenth Prince.”

“As for Wei Qilin, he took the Chongzhou tally and supposedly went to mobilize troops from Chongzhou.”

“Who could have imagined that after several days of desperate fighting at Luo City, the news that arrived wasn’t reinforcements\u2014”

“It was the news that Jinzhou had fallen and that Crown Prince Chengde and General Xie were dead!”

Unable to continue, Zhu Youchang covered his face and wept.

“No Chongzhou troops ever delivered those provisions!”

“The soldiers at Jinzhou starved until they couldn’t even lift their weapons!”

“They were slaughtered like livestock by the Northern Di!”

Even Xie Zhong felt his chest grow unbearably heavy.

No matter how one looked at it, Wei Yan was far from innocent.

Yet Xie Zheng, completely unaware of the truth, had been raised under Wei Yan’s roof.

For over ten years, he had called him Uncle.

Xie Zhong’s expression became complicated as he glanced at Xie Zheng.

The latter stood with his head slightly lowered, most of his face hidden in shadow.

No one could see his expression.

Only his voice sounded out:

“Wei Qilin never returned?”

Zhu Youchang’s eyes blazed with hatred.

“If he had dared return, I’d have been the first to kill him!”

Something was still wrong.

Something remained missing.

Xie Zheng remembered the letter that Wei Yan’s assassins had searched for in Fan Changyu’s home.

Slowly, he asked:

“Before General Meng died, aside from giving you the Changzhou tiger tally, did he leave any other instructions?”

The memory pierced Zhu Youchang like a knife.

His eyes reddened.

“The news of Jinzhou’s fall arrived that morning.”

“When we went to find the General, he was already sitting alone in his tent.”

“He looked utterly defeated.”

“He refused to say a single word.”

“I knew he blamed himself.”

“Afraid he might do something foolish, I stayed with him.”

“It was then that he handed me the tiger tally.”

“He said…”

“‘From this day onward, the Changzhou tiger tally is lost.'”

“‘Wait for the proper time before revealing it again.'”

“I didn’t understand what he meant.”

“I only stepped away briefly to fetch food…”

“When I returned…”

Zhu Youchang’s voice broke.

“The General had already knelt facing Jinzhou and taken his own life.”

He sobbed uncontrollably.

“Then the court’s accusations arrived.”

“The General had clearly changed course only after receiving a military deployment order.”

“Yet he became the one accused of violating orders and causing Jinzhou’s defeat!”

Seventeen years later, Zhu Youchang still cried out from the depths of his soul:

“General Meng was wronged!”

Outside, the storm raged on.

Cold wind swept through the open windows.

Even heaven itself seemed to be mourning the centuries-old injustice suffered by the Meng family.

Helping Zhu Youchang back up, Xie Zheng maintained a calm expression.

But the hand hanging at his side had already clenched into a fist.

“General Zhu.”

“You possessed the tiger tally.”

“You had irrefutable evidence.”

“Why didn’t you seek justice for General Meng?”

Emotion surged through Zhu Youchang once more.

“How could I not try?”

“I wanted to return to the capital and expose everything before the Emperor!”

“But all of General Meng’s officers were demoted and scattered throughout the empire.”

“I never even had a chance to see His Majesty.”

“I thought the Eastern Palace would investigate.”

“But then the Crown Prince’s residence caught fire.”

“The Crown Princess and Imperial Great-Grandson died in the flames…”

Zhu Youchang pounded the bed painfully.

“The only people I could still rely on were General Xie’s old subordinates.”

“At first I wasn’t certain Wei Yan was involved.”

“After all, General Xie’s wife was his own sister!”

“But after I finally managed to contact General Xie’s former men under the pretext of paying respects to General Xie…”

“Lady Xie overheard everything.”

“When Wei Yan discovered the truth and imprisoned us, it was Lady Xie who threatened him with her own life and forced him to spare us!”

His voice cracked into a wail.

“And then…”

“We remained imprisoned for seventeen years!”

Cold wind and rain swept into the room.

Xie Zheng’s loose hair stirred across his forehead.

His face had become deathly pale.

In a voice so soft that only he could hear it, he whispered:

“Mother…”

Xie Zhong’s expression also changed.

Shock filled his eyes.

“So Madam sent us back to the Xie ancestral estate in Huizhou because she feared we would become involved in this matter as well?”

“Then Madam’s death…”

He stopped abruptly.

Pain flashed across his face as he looked at Xie Zheng.

Sending Xie Zheng to be raised by Wei Yan…

That had been Madam Xie’s decision.

The only way to make Wei Yan completely accept the child’s existence.

Xie Zheng’s lips pressed into a thin, icy line.

Every muscle in his body tightened.

Then his fist smashed into the solid huanghuali table beside him.

The table exploded into splinters.

From deep within his throat emerged a name filled with boundless hatred and murderous fury:

“Wei Yan\u2014!”<\/p>","protected":false},"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"novel":[],"class_list":["post-4005","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/4005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4005"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/4005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4006,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/4005\/revisions\/4006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"novel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/my\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/novel?post=4005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}