Chapter 32
Chapter 32: Go Find Liu Cheng An!
That night, Jiang Chao Sheng was helped back to Willow Spring Lane, smelling of wine.
The Qiong Lin Banquet had left his head heavy and his steps unsteady—until he saw the white cloth hanging at the Li family’s gate.
He stopped dead.
The cold punched the last of the drunken fog out of him.
“What…?”
He ran.
He didn’t slow until he reached the Li family courtyard—and then he froze.
Two coffins sat under the night sky.
Li Er Shan knelt in mourning clothes before them, shaking in the cold. Yet his back was straighter than it had ever been.
“Er Shan…” Jiang Chao Sheng’s voice trembled. “What happened?”
Li Er Shan turned, stiff and hollow. “Brother Sheng Zi… you’re back.” His throat worked, as if the words were jagged. “My dad… and my brother… they were killed. By the Blood Tiger Ridge bandits.”
Jiang Chao Sheng stared, the joy he’d carried out of the Imperial City collapsing like a lantern snuffed by rain.
Inside his robe, he still had pastries he’d tucked away from the banquet—brought for his sister and for Li Er Shan. Those two were always greedy for sweets.
Now the weight of them felt ridiculous.
He stepped to the coffins and bowed deeply, solemn and respectful.
And then Li Er Shan broke.
He lunged forward and grabbed Jiang Chao Sheng’s leg like a drowning man clutching driftwood. “Brother Sheng Zi, you have status now! You’re a tribute student—you can speak to officials!” His eyes were bloodshot, desperate. “Please. Please tell them to send troops to wipe out the bandits. I’ll go first. Even if I die, I’ll drag those beasts down with me!”
Jiang Chao Sheng’s face tightened. “Tomorrow I’m meeting a few classmates,” he said slowly. “They’re tribute students too. I’ll bring them with me to the yamen. Maybe it’ll help.”
“No.”
The voice came crisp and clear from behind them.
Jiang Chao Sheng turned.
Jiang Jiang stood at the gate, her face pale, her eyes sharp.
“Jiang Jiang?” Li Er Shan blinked, stunned.
“The bandits at Blood Tiger Ridge aren’t ordinary,” Jiang Jiang said, stepping into the courtyard. “Regular constables can’t deal with them.”
She moved closer, steady despite the grief. “Father already asked the prefect’s officials today. The authorities attacked Blood Tiger Ridge three times—and failed every time. Now they don’t have the money or manpower for a fourth attempt.”
She held out her hand to Li Er Shan.
Li Er Shan sniffed hard, then took it. With her help, he rose, shoulders shaking.
“To fight them, you need someone stronger,” Jiang Jiang said, voice firm. “Better troops. And someone who actually cares about commoners—someone willing to stand up for people like us.”
Li Er Shan’s laugh came out raw and hopeless. “And where do you find a person like that in the capital?”
“There is,” Jiang Jiang said.
Jiang Chao Sheng spoke at the same time.
“Liu Cheng An!”
“Gu Yan Qing!”
The words overlapped, and for a beat, all three of them just stared at each other.
Then Li Er Shan’s eyes lit, as if a spark had finally found dry tinder.
Young General Liu had won a victory not long ago. He was in the capital right now. And the Liu family’s army was the strongest in Qing Yun Kingdom.
“Yes,” Li Er Shan breathed, hope breaking through the redness of his gaze. “Young General Liu… he’ll stand up for the people. He will!”
Jiang Jiang’s heartbeat sped up.
In the original plot, Liu Cheng An would attack Blood Tiger Ridge—then accept their surrender, but only because Chu Yun Yue intervened and negotiated.
Now Chu Yun Yue wasn’t here.
If Liu Cheng An truly led troops against Blood Tiger Ridge this time… would he wipe them out completely?
Jiang Jiang’s hands tightened at her sides, excitement prickling under her grief.
“Tomorrow morning,” she said, looking straight at Li Er Shan, “I’ll go with you to the Liu family in the capital. We’ll find Young General Liu.”
This world was dangerous. Jiang Jiang knew how easily a nobody could die here.
If getting close to the male lead could change even a little… if it could shift fate, even slightly…
Jiang Chao Sheng said nothing. He watched Jiang Jiang and Li Er Shan, both blazing with hope, and swallowed what he wanted to say.
The Liu family was a century-old noble house. They didn’t seriously think they could knock once and meet Liu Cheng An.
If they wanted someone who might actually listen, wouldn’t it be better to find Gu Yan Qing?
Coincidentally, Jiang Chao Sheng had arranged to visit Chancellor Gu at the Chancellor’s Residence tomorrow with a few classmates. Maybe he could mention Blood Tiger Ridge there.
The night passed in strained silence.
Early the next morning, Jiang Jiang was already up. Lately, her body felt stronger than it ever had, her energy bright and sharp.
After the Li family tragedy, even the Jiang household felt heavy with gloom.
Jiang Ping’s smile had vanished. Mu Wan Ling looked worn and tired. Today Li Mang and Li Da Shan would be buried, and Madam Wang couldn’t manage anything alone, so Jiang Ping and Mu Wan Ling handled most of it.
Their kind of household didn’t have endless rules. They only wanted their dead laid to rest quickly. Outside the capital, there was a stretch of barren hills where the elders of Willow Spring Lane were usually buried.
They worked through the morning, until everything was settled.
“Dad, Mother, I’m going to check on Brother Er Shan,” Jiang Jiang said, already shouldering a small cloth bag.
Before anyone could stop her, she hurried out.
“That girl,” Mu Wan Ling murmured, watching her go. “Now that her health is better, she’s always running around.”
“She and Er Shan grew up together,” Jiang Ping said quietly. “Let her go talk to him.”
Then he turned to Jiang Chao Sheng. “You’re going back to the academy today, right? The palace exam is in a couple of days.”
“Yes,” Jiang Chao Sheng said, nodding. “I’ll go back today.”
And afterward, he would go to the Chancellor’s Residence.