Chapter 72

Chapter 72: He Will Definitely Find Her

Everyone present was shocked.

Even Gu Yuan Jia had not expected Prince Chang’an to personally cut off Huo Kang’s head.

Prince Chang’an Huo Zheng was known for his virtue. In the Capital, he had always acted with care and was friendly to his brothers.

Only after he reached Nanzhou did he reveal thunderous methods.

Gu Yuan Jia did not want to see Huo Zheng as a man who lost his head over a beauty, but he had jumped into the river with Chun Zhi and ordered the Nanzhou Navy to drag the river day and night. There was no way to explain that away.

Luckily, Huo Zheng did not delay proper business. While calling in the Nanzhou Navy to search for Chun Zhi, he also led troops to surround Prince Ning’s Residence.

Gu Yuan Jia hoped his new lord was wise. He wanted to believe Prince Chang’an was using the excuse of searching for Chun Zhi to numb Prince Ning and his followers so he could move the Nanzhou Navy without alarm. But seeing how urgent and almost wild Huo Zheng looked now, Young Master Gu understood the truth: calling in troops to search for Chun Zhi was not just a cover.

When Prince of Ning’s faction realized Prince Chang’an had personally killed Prince Ning, their legs went weak. They dropped to their knees and begged: “Prince, spare us. Please spare this official.”

Prince Ning Huo Kang was already dead under Huo Zheng’s sword. The lives of his underlings counted even less.

Huo Zheng turned and tossed his long sword to the nearest Shadow Guard, then ordered in a low voice: “Prince of Ning’s faction, leave none.”

“Yes.” The soldiers answered at once and carried out the order.

Gu Yuan Jia stepped forward and tried to speak: “Your Highness,” but Huo Zheng raised a hand, telling him to save his breath.

For years, Prince Ning Huo Kang had harmed Nanzhou. If they did not cut down his whole faction, they could not root out Nanzhou’s sickness. In the past, Huo Zheng might have handled it more gently. But now he had no patience and no time. He still had to finish this and go find Chun Zhi. She was waiting for him. [I cannot waste a single day.]

That night, Prince Ning’s Residence was almost washed in blood.

The rain did not stop. It poured for seven days straight.

After killing Huo Kang and pulling out his faction by the roots, Huo Zheng left all of Nanzhou jumpy and on edge.

By the time Lu Jing Yun heard the news, Nanzhou’s officialdom had already been cleaned out.

When Huo Zheng finished the most urgent tasks, he rushed back to the Lishui River to keep searching for Chun Zhi. He handed the follow-up matters to Gu Yuan Jia, Jiang He, and the newly appointed Nanzhou Prefect.

Lu Jing Yun also wanted to join the search, but Ji Ru Zhen kept a close watch on him. She told him: “Prince Chang’an caused a huge stir in Nanzhou. He has both merit and fault. No one knows what will happen when he returns to the Capital. You are a co?investigating official. You should keep your mind on proper work right now.”

After what happened with Chun Zhi, Lu Jing Yun’s heart had grown restless. Ji Ru Zhen, being a woman and sensitive, could feel the change in the man beside her. But no one can fight a dead person. Ji Ru Zhen knew this best. Even though she was deeply upset, she did not show it in front of Lu Jing Yun. She only urged him to put his mind on his duties.

Prince Chang’an had personally beheaded Prince Ning. When he returned to the Capital, the Imperial Court would argue without end. The Emperor might pull the co?investigating officials forward to act as shields for Prince Chang’an.

Lu Jing Yun had not helped Prince Chang’an much. If he did not handle the finishing tasks well, he would surely be questioned after returning to the Capital.

He knew Ji Ru Zhen was right, but after learning Chun Zhi might already be dead, his heart fell into chaos. He wanted to do nothing except find her.

Since Huo Zheng was already leading men to search along the river every day, Lu Jing Yun knew he would only make trouble if he joined. He forced down his tangled thoughts, said a few words to Ji Ru Zhen, secretly sent his own people to keep looking for Chun Zhi, and then threw himself into Nanzhou’s official affairs, working each day with Gu Yuan Jia and Jiang He.

When Prince Ning died, the news reached the Capital.

Supporters of the Eldest Prince, the Prince of Rui, and of the Ninth Prince seized the chance to use Prince Ning’s death against Huo Zheng. They put a black hat on him for trampling the law and killing recklessly. The Emperor issued three Imperial Edicts summoning Huo Zheng back to the Capital, but Huo Zheng, wanting to find Chun Zhi, refused to return.

In early June, Lu Jing Yun returned to the Capital first to report.

In mid?June, the Emperor sent Grand Palace Eunuch Xu with the Imperial Guard to Nanzhou to escort Huo Zheng back to the Capital.

By then, Huo Zheng had searched for Chun Zhi for more than a month.

He combed the thousand?li Lishui River from end to end many times and still found no trace of her.

When he finally went back to the Capital, he had Chun Zhi’s tofu workshop moved there too. He brought back her donkey named “Lucky Fortune” from Auntie Li’s home. He also gathered her bundle from the boat, the clothes she had worn, and the gold and bank notes hidden in the bundle. He kept every single item for her.

Huo Zheng believed Chun Zhi was still alive. She loved the beauty of this world too much to die easily. [As long as you are alive somewhere, I will find you. If mountains end and waters run dry, if you are at the ends of the earth, I will still find you.]

In late June, Huo Zheng returned to the Capital.

Gu Yuan Jia, Jiang He, and others stayed in Nanzhou to keep searching for Chun Zhi.

The Emperor was furious that Huo Zheng had disobeyed three times and delayed returning. The Prince Rui Faction and the Ninth Prince Faction added fuel to the fire. Officials in the court argued without rest over whether Prince Chang’an’s trip to Nanzhou, his killing of Prince Ning, and the bloodbath at Prince Ning’s Residence were merits greater than faults or faults greater than merits.

The common people cheered for Prince Chang’an. They said Prince Ning deserved to die and so did the corrupt officials who harmed the people. They said Prince Chang’an put the people first and was a good prince.

Many members of the Imperial Clan complained that no matter what, Huo Zheng should not have killed his uncle with his own hands. Some even said: “If he dares kill his uncle today, he will dare kill his father tomorrow.”

To punish Huo Zheng and calm the Imperial Clan, the Emperor ordered him flogged with one hundred lashes and confined to his manor for half a year to reflect.

Huo Zheng endured all one hundred lashes. With each blow, he thought of Chun Zhi. [If I had moved earlier against Prince Ning and his son, Huo Yu would never have found her. She would not have left. These one hundred lashes are what I deserve.]

When Chun Zhi left Linshui Town, she must have been very sad. She loved Linshui Town and the people there. If she had not been forced, she would never have chosen to go. His pain today could not cancel her pain.

After the one hundred lashes, Huo Zheng fell unconscious for three days with a high fever that would not break. Empress Wang summoned all the imperial physicians to treat him.

Even in his sickness, Huo Zheng kept calling Chun Zhi’s name. No one dared let that spread.

The imperial physicians told Empress Wang that Prince Chang’an suffered from both a wounded body and a wounded heart. He needed medicine inside and out, and he needed a cure for the heart.

Empress Wang did not know what his heart medicine should be.

As soon as Huo Zheng woke, he set out for Nanzhou again, still ill.

He had someone pretend to be him in the Prince’s Manor, sitting in seclusion to “reflect,” while he himself kept searching for Chun Zhi without stopping.

He searched and searched and still could not find her.

Exhausted in body and mind, he fell gravely ill on the road and almost died. He forced himself to recover, then used Nanzhou as the center and expanded the search east, south, west, and north. For half a year he did not stop even one day.

Summer slipped by as Huo Zheng searched day after day. Autumn shook down all the yellow leaves. Then winter came.