Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 61 Saint Tian Xiang
No one doesn't like Junior Sister.

After returning to the main force, Zhu Wen became more certain of this.

When Zhu Wen just brought Lan Suting back, Duan Hongyan teased him with a few words about hiding a beautiful girl in a golden house, and then she became very kind to Lan Suting, often holding Lan Suting's little hand and asking questions like "Sister, is there anything I need?" and "Did my junior brother bully you?"

However, after seeing Tian Jun, Duan Hongyan felt a little hostile for some reason. She said that Tian Jun really didn't look like a "Qinglong" and gave Tian Jun the nickname "Four-legged Snake", which made Tian Jun very angry and wanted to fight Duan Hongyan.

Of course Zhu Wen had to stop it immediately, because Duan Hongyan did not like close combat, and if a fight broke out, he would inevitably suffer from soul-separation syndrome. The personality of "Duan Qingyu" was not under control, and it was said that he had done some strange things.

Then one day, Zhu Wen saw the two women walking together arm in arm, just like they had been friends since childhood.

Tian Jun was wearing a brand new helmet, as shiny as the porcelain bottle Zhu Wen used to hold tea leaves.

There is a pair of glass-like horns on it, shining like a rainbow in the sunlight.

Duan Hongyan once told Zhu Wen that ancient Persians would wear helmets with ox horns. It seems that this helmet is just a helmet with ox horns replaced with dragon horns, but no one knows what material the dragon horns are made of.

"How can a Little Dragon Girl be without dragon horns? I hired a master craftsman to make it for Sister Jun, and I even swung the hammer a few times." Duan Hongyan winked proudly at Zhu Wen and turned to Tian Jun: "Do you like it?"

Of course Tian Jun liked it very much.

So much so that every time she quarreled with Zhu Wen, she would directly use the pair of dragon horns on her helmet to hit Zhu Wen.

The dragon's horns are very hard and it hurts a lot when they hit your body.

Of course Zhu Wen knew that his junior sister was gentle to everyone.

The reason why she has a willful side is that if she is not willful at all, her gentleness will not be so noticeable.

But that's also what makes her scary.

Zhu Wen was certain that Duan Hongyan had done this intentionally, with the sole purpose of teasing him.

Another day, when Zhu Wen was inspecting the military camp, he faintly heard crying coming from Tian Jun's tent.

Zhu Wen had no family members in his camp, and the only women were Lan Suting and Tian Jun, so Tian Jun naturally lived in a single tent.

That silly beauty who is more heroic than any man would actually cry alone?
Zhu Wen thought to himself that this was not good. If his junior sister Duan Hongyan knew about this, she would accuse him of bullying Tian Jun. It was clear that he was the one who was being bullied by Tian Jun with those two horns these days.

He took out a knife and silently cut a small hole in the tent, looking through it.

Tian Jun's pretty face was covered in tear stains, and she was sobbing softly. She was clutching something in her hand, which seemed to be a sachet.

Could it be her mother's? Zhu Wen was puzzled, because Tian Jun clearly said that her parents were still alive and she just didn't want to go home.

Even though the Wei Bo Tian family has declined, with Tian Jun's skills, it is not difficult for her to find a good position in the Wei Bo soldiers. Why does she want to be a mercenary?
Zhu Wen decided to ask in person.

Faced with Tian Jun's straightforward and innocent personality, it is better to make things clear than to hide them.

He went straight to the door of the tent and walked in on his own.

Tian Jun quickly spotted the uninvited guest, covered her tear-stained face with her hands, and shouted angrily, "What are you doing, you scoundrel? Are you planning to do something bad to me again?"

"You must have never read any books. Dengtu Zi was wronged by Song Yu. And I was also wronged by you." Zhu Wen said calmly.

"You took advantage of me last time!" Tian Jun shouted indignantly, "If it weren't for that ingot of gold, I would have told your junior sister."

Even though Tian Jun was a fool, she obviously discovered that her junior sister was the only girl who could deal with Zhu Wen; and judging from the fact that she did not tell Duan Hongyan, she still had some sense.

"Because you looked so alluring at the time, I accidentally made a common mistake men make. Didn't I tell you that if you do it again, you can scratch a few bloody marks on my face."

Zhu Wen's serious expression and sincere eyes made Tian Jun speechless.

Even if Tian Jun was unwilling to admit it, the other party was indeed the most handsome boy she had ever seen. He looked even more handsome when he was serious than when he was usually casual.

Moreover, Zhu Wen could ignore such a beauty as Chuoying, as if he was an old monk in meditation.

Thinking of this, her anger suddenly subsided a little.

"Then what are you doing suddenly breaking into my tent?" No matter what, Zhu Wen still felt very embarrassed and uncomfortable when he saw her face full of tears.

Zhu Wen recalled the conversation he had with Tian Jun when he was drunk in Mount Tai.

"You said you wouldn't be attracted to me, so what kind of men do you like? Let me ask."

Tian Jun's eyes sparkled: "He's cold on the outside, warm on the inside, and towering like an iceberg. He'd better wear a slim-fitting black dress. Sometimes he clearly wants to be nice to others, but outsiders only see him as using bad ideas to scheme against them."

"No wonder you said the gap between me and your standards is not cold enough. If you find a man like this, will you marry him?"

"No, I plan to sleep with him and then marry someone else." Because she was already drunk, Tian Jun said without any shyness: "I will fight with him for the rest of my life. After I have accomplished something great, I will rebel against him. By then, either I will wipe out his entire family, or he will wipe out mine."

"Well, let me give you an idea. It would be best if all your children were his. That way, if you lose, he'll be slaughtering his own descendants. You can arrange for a retainer to tell him the truth a month or two after the dust settles."

Tian Jun's face was red with wine, and she smiled brightly: "What a good idea, it's settled!"

Even though she had such a bad idea, Zhu Wen was still a little surprised as to why she had such plans for love and life.

This is really not what an ordinary 19-year-old girl should think.

He felt he would find the answer today.

"Is this sachet yours?"

Tian Jun lowered his head and hesitated slightly: "Would you please listen to my story?"

She wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve, and her tone suddenly became quite serious.

Zhu Wen also nodded seriously.

"In the third year of Xiantong, a brother and sister secretly arrived in Weizhou Town. They wanted to launch a mutiny, retake Weizhou and present it to the imperial court. However, after so many years of separatist rule, the Tian family of Weizhou no longer had any influence over the guards."

"Of course, the operation quickly failed. The brother died painfully after suffering various tortures, while the sister became a camp prostitute. As a humiliation and revenge for her, the ugliest, greasy, and slovenly soldiers in Weizhou could play with her body at will."

Zhu Wen couldn't help but be shocked.

Then he added, "No, it was the third year of Xiantong, and you were only four years old..." "She is my sister." Tian Jun's voice was filled with tears. "She is the great-granddaughter of the late Grand Marshal Tian Hongzheng, and the granddaughter of the late Shangshu You Pushe Tian Bu."

Of course she was not talking about her biological sister, but her cousin sister.

"We are descendants of Tian Xu, Prince of Yanmen. Ever since Tian Hongzheng's branch seized the post of Jiedushi and surrendered to the imperial court, ours has been relegated to the lower ranks. By the time of my grandfather's generation, we were merely low-ranking military officers with a monthly salary of five kan."

"I hated her at first. I thought if Tian Hongzheng hadn't seized power back then, I would have lived a life of luxury. But when I went to bully her, she always looked at me tenderly. Her eyes were as clear as spring water on a snowy mountain, as if she was pitying me."

"As I grew older, she became more and more haggard. For a woman who had been tortured like that, to still maintain her beauty at nearly thirty, was quite difficult."

"But she was still so gentle, always smiling at everyone. Even those who trampled on and insulted her."

"On my fifteenth birthday, I finally couldn't stand it anymore, so I took a knife and sneaked into her private room, wanting to end her suffering."

"When I climbed in through the window, she smiled at me like a fairy, as if she had fully anticipated my visit and what I was going to do."

"She told me that she hadn't suffered much these years. This world was just a spiritual practice for her. Her body was like a ferry, crossing the six realms of suffering and reaching the other shore."

"When she arrived in Weizhou, she discovered that under the rule of the Yabing, the people here were even poorer than those in the areas governed by the imperial court. Over the years, she has been supporting a group of homeless children in the slums behind Weizhou City, hoping that they can grow up to be decent people."

"But her health is getting worse and worse. She won't be able to earn as much money in the future, and she's afraid of disappointing those children. She wants me to take her to the other side and apologize to those children on her behalf."

"She wanted to fulfill her last wish in life, to be a bride. She dug out her long-treasured red wedding dress and begged me to wear men's clothes and marry her."

"The moment she dressed up, I truly understood what it meant to be unrivaled and stunningly beautiful. Her demeanor and grace made me feel willing to die with her."

"I held her in my arms and stabbed the knife into her chest while she was smiling. In her last moments, she looked so calm and peaceful, with a smile on her lips."

At this point, Tian Jun burst into tears.

As for whose relic the sachet that Tian Jun was holding belonged to, there was no need to explain further.

Zhu Wen gently rubbed her back with his palm, trying to ease her pain: "What happened next?"

“That was my first time killing someone.”

"Later, I went to see those children. As I expected, most of them were ungrateful and started yelling and screaming when they heard that the beautiful sister would no longer bring money. Only a few children realized what 'dead' meant and burst into tears like me."

"I killed most of them and took a few grateful children with me to join Commander Kou."

After saying that, Tian Jun's body went limp and she fell directly into Zhu Wen's arms.

"What's your sister's name?"

"The fragrance of the fields and flowers."

Zhu Wen wiped her tears with his hands and sighed, "Such a loyal and brave woman, the court should rescue her at all costs."

He added, "This corrupt world cannot accommodate a saint like her. She simply returned to heaven."

Tian Jun nodded with tears in her eyes, and her tears kept falling on Zhu Wen's chest and clothes, forming a wet lake.

"Yes, for a girl like her, only the palace in heaven is worthy of her..." Tian Jun said, sobbing.

"As a coward like me, it's impossible for me to be so brave and responsible. By appearing a little stupid, I can at least avoid most of the responsibilities in the world..."

Zhu Wen completely understood why Tian Jun had set such a life ending for himself at such a young age.

Live like a summer flower, die like a maple leaf. Tian Xiang and Kou Qianzhi both achieved this. Their tragic and solemn withering undoubtedly gave her great shock and longing.

Her life has been shaped like this, even though she does not want to torture herself like the person who shaped her, as if all the suffering in the world is caused by her own lack of ability.

"I never thought I could be a hero. But I think we should leave a world for future generations where heroes don't shed blood or tears."

As Zhu Wen spoke, he gently put his arm around Tian Jun's waist, his hand sliding across her long hair.

Tian Jun stopped crying and leaned against him gently, with a hint of innocence in her red eyes and a kind of pitiful temperament that was never seen in ordinary times.

"No, this world doesn't need heroes." Lan Suting's gentle voice suddenly sounded like a wind chime.

Because he was immersed in the story told by Tian Jun, Zhu Wen didn't notice when she came in.

"The I Ching says: 'Seeing a group of dragons without a leader is auspicious.' Su Ting believes that one day, such a bright era will arrive. Everyone will be confident, independent, and love others as they love themselves."

Lan Suting spoke quite seriously, her clear eyes filled with longing for such a world.

Zhu Wen sighed, "When I was little, my grandfather told me that the saying 'a group of dragons without a leader' actually means 'everyone is a dragon.' But Zhizhen, I've always felt that the evil and greed in human nature are innate. Even if another thousand or two thousand years pass, how could we possibly have a world where everyone is a dragon?"

"Then change it, educate it." Lan Suting said solemnly, "Generation after generation will embrace this dream and build the world. Eventually, this era will arrive."

She really believed it.

Zhu Wen also knew that she was qualified to say this.

Such silliness can't help but make people feel moved and pity from the bottom of their hearts.

"I can't think about something so far away." Zhu Wen picked up Tian Jun and put her on the couch. Then he said to Lan Suting, "But, Zhizhen, you are really becoming more and more endearing to me. If anyone hurts you, I will definitely want to wipe out his entire family."

Zhu Wen spoke calmly, but he knew that if what happened to Tian Xiang happened to Lan Suting, he would definitely make it happen.

Of course, I wouldn't let this happen in the first place.

Lan Suting was stunned for a moment: "Killing an entire family is a very unethical thing. Please don't say such things again, Commander. I know the Commander's good intentions towards Suting."

She then said to Zhu Wen, "Fairy Chaoying sent someone with a letter today. Would the commander like to take a look at it?"

　According to this book's worldview, the Weizhou governor who exiled Tian Xiang to serve as a prostitute in the third year of the Xiantong reign was He Hongjing. Eight years later, another mutiny erupted in Weizhou, and He Hongjing's son, He Quanhao, who succeeded him as governor, was killed by the mutinous soldiers. Historical records do not record whether the He family was exterminated in this incident. This demonstrates the unruly nature of the Weizhou guards, who were unruly and arbitrarily dismissed and executed governors. Therefore, the surrender of Tian Hongzheng and his son to the court in the past (during the reign of Emperor Xianzong of Tang) did not solve the practical problem. The desire for secession rested with the middle-level guards. If the governor failed to meet the demands of the guards, he would be expelled at best, or even his entire family would be exterminated at worst.

　　Of course, during the reign of Emperor Muzong of Tang, the Tang court also had serious responsibility for improper handling of the tragic deaths of Tian Hongzheng and his son Tian Bu. Interested readers can search for information online for the specific circumstances, and the author will not elaborate here.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)