"Returning to Before Husband's Castration" 《回到老公自宫前》Chapter 46

The dragon boat race, the embroidered uniform guards drew lots, they happened to pick the jia group, they raced in the first round, Wang Da Xia was handsome and had a good figure, he was also strong, as the shop front of the embroidered uniform guards he was placed on the first row, the drummer was in front of him.

A red cloth was tied around his forehead to stop the sweat from his forehead entering his eyes and affecting his sight, he really was a red flower amongst thousands of men, extremely eye catching.

Wang Da Xia’s concentration attracted Wei Cai Wei’s gaze from the platform, Wang Da Xia stretched his neck to look at the packed platform, even though he couldn’t see the faces clearly, he still waved his oar in excitement in the general direction of Wei Cai Wei.

Wei Cai Wei had wanted to wave back at the smudge of red on the dragon boat but Ding Wu was beside her so she appeared indifferent.

The race began, the qishou guards took the lead, the embroidered uniform guards following closely, jinwu guards were behind them with the left yulin guards behind, each boat were tightly following the other, the distance between them was less than a person long, they were evenly matched, giving chase to each other, it was very nice to watch.

Wei Cai Wei nervously stared at that spot of red, she didn’t even realise her lapel was soaked with sweat.

Ding Wu had been fanning her all this time, but on seeing she was still hot he gave her the fan and went to buy a bowl of ice, when they used to play in Tieling, Ding Wu was always the one who went to buy things while sister Banxia rested.

Mung bean soups,  sour plum soup and other such things were sold where the commoners were to relieve from the heat, ice bowls were more expensive, those on the platform were people with some reputation in the capital, those who sold ice bowls were mainly here, an ice seller didn’t need to worry about customers, a lot of people were queued in front of the stands.

An ice bowl held a layer of ice at the bottom, on top was lotus root with the lotus seed painstakingly removed, there was also water caltrop and gorgon fruit, snowflake sugar was sprinkled on top, fresh walnut and apricot kernels were also sprinkled as well as chopped muskmelon and honey peach, refreshingly cool, sweet and tasty, it was the best to cool down.

Ding Wu considered which one had the smallest queue and went there to avoid sister Banxia from waiting, just as he was about to go to the ice bowl stand under the willow tree to the west, a hawker with a wheelbarrow came over, there was a barrel wrapped with a quilt in it, it stopped next to him.

The hawker pointed at the barrel, “Do you need an ice bowl? It’s ready and made from the finest ice, there are no bits or dirt, if you don’t believe me take a look.”

The quality of ice depended on the quality of the water, taking ice floes from the rivers during winter meant some were clean, some hand bits and rubbish, you would have diarrhoea if you ate it, they were people who passed away from diarrhoea each year from eating ice.

The hawker opened the lid of the barrel, Ding Wu stooped over to look and see if the ice inside was clean, he sensed a few people gather behind him but he wasn’t concerned, thinking they were people who wanted to buy ice bowls.

His nape was struck heavily, Ding Wu immediately passed out, the hawker stuffed him inside the barrel under the cover of the crowd and put the lid on.

Wei Cai Wei was completely focused on that spot of red disappearing down the river before she came to her senses, Ding Wu had still not returned, at first Wei Cai Wei thought there might have been too many people buying ice bowls so he needed to wait and didn’t pay attention, but when the dragon boats came back around, the sounds of the drums reaching the platform, everyone was straining their necks to intensely watch the river to see which guard was leading.

Wei Cai Wei also really wanted to know, only four teams could take number one in the preliminaries, if they weren’t first, they wouldn't qualify into the finals.

However when she stood up to look down the river, she also noticed everyone who had gone to buy ice bowls had returned to the platform, there were only the sellers at the ice bowl stores under the trees, there were no customers.

Where was Ding Wu?

The drums got closer, they were about to reach the finish, all four boats were spurred on, the drumming became more and more urgent, just like Wei Cai Wei’s mood.

She couldn’t wait here for Ding Wu to return.

Wei Cai Wei looked around while calling out Ding Wu’s name, he asked the ice bowl sellers and even called into the men’s toilets.

There was no response however.

Wei Cai Wei felt there was something wrong, Ding Wu would definitely not leave without saying anything.

She braved the heat and headed towards the finish line platform, the twenty-four commanders of the capital were there.

At this moment a boat reached the finish line first, snatching the safflower, the crowd cheered: “The embroidered uniform guards won!”

On the viewing platform, the embroidered uniform guard’s commander Lu Bing heard it and felt very happy, he calmly looked at the qishou commander, and the other commanders cupping his hands and saying: “Thank you for letting us win, thank you.”

The three commanders: Fake!

On the dragon boat, Wang Da Xia who had just won was already exhausted, he was agitated from the heat, he just jumped into the river to cool down, when he climbed ashore, his clothes were sticking to him, outlining his youthful figure, even little Wang almost couldn’t be concealed.

The women were all so shocked they used their fans to cover their faces, Lu Ying of course also saw but she was a woman pretending to be a man, she couldn’t avert her gaze.

Lu Bing burned with rage on seeing this, he felt Wang Da Xia was dishonouring his daughter’s eyes, but he couldn’t get angry in front of everyone, he ordered a subordinate: “Get him to change into dry clothes so he doesn’t catch a cold, he still needs to race later.”

At this moment a guard whispered a few words into Lu Ying’s ear, Lu Ying listened then immediately asked to be excused.

Wang Da Xia changed clothes, following the rest of the team to receive praise from Lu Bing, he happened to pass by Lu Ying who was hurrying away.

Lu Ying seemed to always have the same expression on her face, like she had suffered a stroke, completely expressionless, Wang Da Xia couldn’t read her mood, but when he climbed the stairs up to the platform, he saw Wei Cai Wei who was being stopped by guards.

Wei Cai Wei clearly appeared distraught, and Ding Wu wasn’t beside her.

Wang Da Xia was looking forward to Ding Wu disappearing— but not right now!

Wang Da Xia found an excuse, “All of you go up first, I need to go to the toilet.”

Wang Da Xia turned back, following behind Lu Ying.

Lu Ying went over and discovered there was someone missing from Wei Cai Wei’s side, she gave a look, “Go speak over there.”

On the day of the dragon boat race it wouldn’t be good for people to find out the embroidered uniform guards had lost a person who had been banished.

Leaving the crowd, Wei Cai Wei told Lu Ying how Ding Wu hadn’t come back from buying an ice bowl, Lu Ying however wasn’t worried, she said: “I sent someone to secretly follow Ding Wu, I’ll ask them.”

Lu Ying didn’t actually trust them and had continued to monitor Ding Wu.

Just like when she sent people to follow Wei Cai Wei, she didn’t allow for any mistakes.

For the first time Wei Cai Wei felt it was good that Lu Ying was so cautious, “Please hurry and find the spy.”

Lu Ying blew on a bamboo whistle, summoning the spy, but after blowing a few times no one came in response.

Lu Ying frowned, ordering her subordinates to spread out and search. 

They found two spies under a large willow tree, the two had already fainted, besides them were spilt ice bowls, lotus seeds, gorgon fruits, peach juice and such covered the ground.

Wei Cai Wei tested the air, “It’s fine, they only fainted, someone must have added something to the ice bowls.”

Wang Da Xia suddenly appeared: “This place is far from doctor Wei’s viewing platform, how could they keep an eye on him?”

“Why are you here? You still need to compete later!” Lu Ying took out a binocular from the chest of one of the spies, “Of course using these, they would be discovered if they got too near.”

Wang Da Xia lifted the binoculars, sure enough, he could even see a child sitting next to where Wei Cai Wei was seated picking their nose.

This was a great place to observe, far from the crowd, and it was shaded, and it was very close to where the ice bowl stands were, eating while watching.

Wang Da Xia returned the binoculars back to Lu Ying, “There’s two possibilities right now, first Ding Wu ran off and he had someone helping him, second, someone wanted to harm Ding Wu and kidnapped him under the watch of the embroidered uniform guards.”

Someone who had been exiled and fled on repatriation was considered an escaped criminal, he could be killed on sight!

Wei Cai Wei was torn with anxiety, “Ding Wu wouldn’t have run away, besides if he was to have an accomplice that would be me, but I was on the viewing platform, how can I split myself into two and add drugs to the ice bowls to knock out the embroidered uniform guards spies? Someone must have kidnapped him, and they’ve been watching him since the beginning so they knew the embroidered uniform guards were watching.”

Lu Ying said: “The kidnapper must have dressed up as an ice bowl seller, first they knocked out my spies then kidnapped Ding Wu. But Ding Wu is a living person, if someone had kidnapped him, he would have resisted but why did no one notice?”

Wang Da Xia saw how worried Wei Cai Wei was, he pointed at the ice bowl stands, “See how the barrels storing ice are wrapped with a quilt, a person could be hidden inside, I’ll go take a look, maybe someone who is skilled and daring would still be inside.”

Having spoken he really did look inside each barrel, he turned up empty handed.

On another side, Lu Ying was pulling on a hunting dog, Wei Cai Wei placed the fan Ding Wu usually used in front of the dog, wanting the dog to lead the way, before the dragon boat race began Ding Wu had been waving the fan to fan her.

Wei Cai Wei’s eyes were a little red, “He took care of me like a real sister, but I actually lost him.”

Wei Cai Wei was so regretful!

In her last life Ding Wu had lived peacefully as a minor government official in Tieling until the new dynasty, with the ascension of a new emperor, Ding Ru Kui was absolved of his crimes, his property was returned to him and only after he was given an official position did he return to the capital, the father and son reunited.

In this life because of her, Ding Wu was brought to the capital to confirm her identity, in the end he met this unexpected situation.

The hunting dog led them to where people were selling ice and no further.

Ding Wu couldn’t be underground.

Wang Da Xia asked the peddlers, each of them said they don’t know: “...We were surrounded by customers who wanted to buy ice bowls, we were busy taking money and doing business, who would notice these things.”

Where should they start looking in the capital?

Wei Cai Wei forced the tears back, making herself calm down, she said: “I think the biggest suspect is assistant minister Yan, we worked together to lie to him that night, but someone must have leaked it out and made him cautious. Ding Ru Kui was locked up alone, only with commander Lu’s order can he be seen, it would be very hard for him to kill Ding Ru Kui, but it’s not the same for Ding Wu. Ding Wu is Ding Ru Kui’s only soft spot, taking Ding Wu they can control Ding Ru Kui.”

Lu Ying’s eyes flashed, “You’re saying assistant minister Yan is using Ding Wu’s life to threaten Ding Ru Kui?”

Wei Cai Wei nodded, “As a kind father, if only he or his son can live, what choice would he make?”

Wang Da Xia was struck by an idea, he said: “Actually you can turn that question around, as long as Ding Ru Kui lives, Ding Ru must also live because his life needs to be used to threaten Ding Ru Kui, doctor Wei don’t worry, even if Ding Wu suffers his life won’t be in danger. The capital is so big, assistant minister Yan’s influence is also so vast, even if we have evidence we can’t get to him, so, we—”

“I understand what you mean.” Lu Ying said: “Let’s go to the prisons right now, see who passes the message to Ding Ru Kui to commit suicide by using Ding Ru, that would be the traitor, then we’ll follow the clues and find out from the traitor where Ding Wu is being held.”

Wang Da Xia wanted to follow but was stopped by Lu Ying, “There’s still the finals, if a substitute is put in just before it would affect morale, go do your job, I’ll do mine. Get number one, I will find Ding Wu.”