Chapter 16: The Sect Leader's Husband

Tu Han did not take the main path. Dragging the disciple with him, he followed a side trail to the secluded residence of the Protector Elder.

Su Po, who held the office of Protector Elder, did not make things difficult for the disciple. After questioning him and confirming the circumstances, he instructed, "Do not mention this matter to anyone else. Understand?"

The disciple still did not know exactly what had happened, but he knew it had something to do with the food box he had delivered. He had also begun to suspect that Song Yanqing might have tampered with it. Since he could not afford to offend Song Yanqing either, he naturally did not dare speak carelessly.

"This disciple understands," he answered with repeated nods.

Su Po waved him away.

Tu Han walked to the doorway and confirmed that the disciple had gone. Then he came back on his crutch and said in his hoarse voice, "Elder, the Shangqing Sect is a famous righteous sect, yet one of its disciples has resorted to such a vile, poisonous, underhanded method. Are we really going to let this pass without pursuing it?"

Su Po remained silent for a moment, then asked, "Pursue it? How do you want to pursue it?"

Tu Han said angrily, "Song Yanqing acts without fear because he relies on the Song clan's background. He knows the Shangqing Sect doesn't dare punish him, and that's why he behaves so recklessly. We might as well expose the matter and make it public. Once everyone knows, the sect rules will be there for all to see. Even if the other two Elders don't want to punish him, they'll have no choice!"

Su Po slowly closed his eyes. "You understand better than anyone. Because of Prince Ning's involvement, the imperial court is intent on sweeping away his 'remnants,' while several major sects are watching us like tigers. If they weren't wary of the Song clan, the Shangqing Sect might already have been reduced to ashes. If we offend the Song clan, they need only reveal the faintest hint of displeasure and the Shangqing Sect could be forced into desperate straits. Which matters more—one Song Yanqing, or the survival of the Shangqing Sect?"

Tu Han said with bitter pain, "Elder, the Shangqing Sect is actually of no use to the Song clan anymore. The only reason they grudgingly continue to support us is because Song Shu is a disciple of the Shangqing Sect. The reputation of betraying one's master and forebears isn't easy to bear, especially for a family of the Song clan's standing. Their support is nothing more than a show for all beneath Heaven. The Song clan is merely waiting for an opportunity, a chance to abandon the Shangqing Sect with a proper and legitimate excuse. It isn't because they truly want to protect us. That day will come sooner or later! This disciple still believes we should abandon this place and withdraw into seclusion for the time being, then wait for another day. Otherwise, we're simply sitting here waiting to die!"

"This is not one of your military campaigns, where you can decisively abandon a position whenever you wish." Su Po sighed softly. "You may say such things in front of me, but don't mention them before anyone else. Otherwise people may begin to suspect your identity."

He turned his head and looked at Tu Han. "If the day you're talking about truly comes, remember this: do not concern yourself with this place. Leave immediately and go to Demon Ridge to find your master."

Tu Han looked as though he still wanted to speak, but Su Po raised a hand and stopped him.

"Enough. Say no more. Go back. Make certain Niu Youdao is protected. Dong Guo Haoran was highly skilled in physiognomy. If he chose Niu Youdao as a disciple, there must have been a reason. He would not have loosed an arrow without a target. Don't let anything happen to the boy."

"Yes." Tu Han answered quietly, then turned and left.

If it was fortune, it was no calamity; if it was calamity, there was no avoiding it. The auspicious day arrived. Niu Youdao, who had never married even in his previous life, made up for it early in this one—very early, while he was still fresh-faced and barely grown. Large red lanterns hung beneath the peach tree. Their light shone against the blossoms as both lanterns and flowers swayed in the wind above the cliff, creating a strangely poignant beauty.

Though Peach Blossom Spring was decked in lanterns and colored silk and looked festive enough, the Shangqing Sect did not make a grand affair of the wedding. There was not even a proper formal banquet, much less invitations sent widely to other cultivation sects. A group of inner disciples appeared for the ceremony.

Among them, Song Yanqing watched Tang Yi, dressed in brilliant red beneath a red bridal veil, bow through the wedding rites with Niu Youdao. His eyes seemed ready to spit fire. Several people stood unobtrusively to either side of him, guarding against the possibility that he might cause trouble. At the slightest unusual movement, they would restrain him immediately.

"Escort them to the bridal chamber!" the master of ceremonies called out in a ringing voice.

The newlyweds were led away. The guests drank a couple of ceremonial cups of wedding wine and then dispersed. Some sighed, some shook their heads, and their expressions varied. Quite a few people secretly found amusement in Song Yanqing's face, which had gone black as the bottom of a pot. Everyone in the Shangqing Sect knew he liked Tang Yi. Who did not like a beautiful woman? No one had dared compete with Song Yanqing, that was all. Now some nameless junior had appeared from nowhere and ruined his plans. More than a few people quietly enjoyed his misfortune.

In the bridal chamber, the newlyweds sat side by side on the bed, watching the pair of red candles burn. They drank the cross-cupped wine. Tang Yi's red veil was lifted. The female disciple overseeing the rites then withdrew and closed the door, leaving the husband and wife alone to do as they wished.

A faint fragrance, seemingly from Tang Yi herself, drifted from beside him. Niu Youdao sat there with nothing to do, glancing from time to time at the exquisitely beautiful bride beside him. He had no idea what to say. More importantly, he still could not understand what these people were really trying to accomplish, and his mind remained alert as he considered the possibilities.

Tang Yi simply sat there in silence, extraordinarily calm. And so the two of them sat dryly beside one another until dawn. They did not even properly touch hands once. When someone knocked outside and called to the room, Tang Yi finally rose and left.

A female disciple came in afterward and told Niu Youdao, "Martial Uncle Tang said there are still sect matters she needs to handle, so she has gone ahead."

"Oh." Niu Youdao nodded.

Once everyone else was gone, he fell straight onto the bed and slept. He did not wake until evening. When he finally emerged from the room, the lanterns and red silk decorating the quiet courtyard looked strangely glaring. Everything left him with the feeling of a vivid dream that had already dissolved.

Outside the gate, Tu Han was lighting the lanterns beneath the peach tree. Once he finished outside, the taciturn man passed Niu Youdao without a word and went into the courtyard to light the rest. Still dressed in his bright red wedding robe, Niu Youdao stood beneath the peach tree and looked toward Shangqing Palace on the opposite cliff. Lamps were gradually lighting there as well.

Night slowly descended. Scattered petals drifted on the wind and landed softly on his shoulders. That wedding day was essentially the only time Niu Youdao saw Tang Yi. In the years that followed, the two of them almost never met. He lived at Peach Blossom Spring, but Tang Yi did not.

Only at New Year would she come by once. She would sit across from him and share a meal, then sleep for one night in a side room rather than sharing his chamber. At first light, she would leave again. Quiet. Peaceful. Lonely. Those were Niu Youdao's impressions of life after the wedding.

When Chen Guishuo had been around, at least there had occasionally been someone to talk to. Tu Han, his replacement, was painfully taciturn, and ugly besides. Tu Han did seem to love wine. He often hugged a wine gourd and drank himself half senseless. Only when Tu Han was drunk could Niu Youdao coax him into conversation, and every so often he managed to draw out a useful piece of information.

It was from Tu Han that he finally learned Tang Yi had become Sect Leader of the Shangqing Sect not long after their wedding. In other words, he was now the husband of the Shangqing Sect's Sect Leader, yet he remained under house arrest. Niu Youdao became even more confused. What exactly did the Shangqing Sect mean by treating him this way?

He had no clue, and no one gave him any answer... Another spring wind arrived. Beneath the peach tree whose blossoms seemed never to fade, forever brilliant as rosy clouds, a straight-backed young man stood with his hands clasped behind him. He had handsome brows and eyes, strongly defined features, and a face carrying a restrained firmness. His bearing was gentle and tranquil. His long hair, casually tied into a ponytail behind his head, lent him a trace of lazy ease.

It was Niu Youdao. The sun and moon flew by. In the blink of an eye, Niu Youdao had been under house arrest for five years. The small adolescent boy had grown into a young man of considerable presence. Most young people would have gone half mad from being shut away like this, but he had fared reasonably well. The habits and self-command he had cultivated in his previous life continued to benefit him subtly in this one. He could settle his mind. He possessed the heart for seated cultivation, tranquility, and non-action. He simply treated the years as a period of secluded cultivation.

Things had already come this far, so he was in no hurry. He believed that sooner or later he would leave this place by his own ability. The Shangqing Sect did not provide him with cultivation resources, but the Transmission Protective Talismans inside his body were his greatest reliance.

Up to now, he had refined and absorbed only two of those talismans, yet his cultivation had already reached the peak of the Qi Refinement Realm. And as his cultivation grew higher, the speed at which he refined the Transmission Protective Talismans would naturally increase as well.

That was the source of his confidence. Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul—putting aside the legendary realms said to exist beyond those, the information he had coaxed out of Tu Han suggested that there were not many Nascent Soul experts in the world. Anyone who reached the Nascent Soul Realm stood among the foremost experts beneath Heaven. Golden Core cultivators were already formidable experts in their own right.

At present, only the Shangqing Sect's three Elders had reached the Golden Core Realm. There had originally been two more, but Tang Mu and Dong Guo Haoran, both unusually gifted Golden Core experts, were now dead. Most of the others from their generation still remained within the Foundation Establishment Realm. Sect Leader Tang Yi seemed to have broken through to Foundation Establishment only the previous year, with the combined assistance of the three Elders. The rest of the disciples were still lingering in the Qi Refinement Realm.

Measured against that, Niu Youdao's present cultivation was not particularly low within the Shangqing Sect. He simply kept a low profile and did not reveal it. Until he understood the situation and had enough confidence to protect himself, he had no intention of showing his hand.

His state of mind was quite good now. There was food and drink here, and the place was quiet—a fine environment for cultivating in peace. He had heard that the world outside was in turmoil. He might not be able to find a better secluded place to cultivate even if he left, so there was no hurry.

After relaxing his thoughts, Niu Youdao reclined once more on the chair beneath the tree. Breathing the faint fragrance of peach blossoms, he settled into a lazy half-doze... Night had fallen over the capital of the State of Yan. Lamps were beginning to glow. Shops crowded both sides of prosperous streets filled with pedestrians. The suffering of ordinary people in the outside world seemed to have nothing to do with this place. The great numbers of beggars sheltering in shadowed corners appeared to be living in another world entirely.

In a quiet quarter away from the bustle stood a residence bearing two characters above its gate: Song Residence. This was the home of Song Jiuming, Commandant of Justice of the State of Yan. A carriage arrived. A man wrapped in a cloak stepped down, stroked his beard, and mounted the steps with a somewhat swaggering air.

A servant quickly emerged from the gatehouse, bowing and scraping. "Mr. Cao!"

Another gate servant immediately ran inside to report the arrival.

After a few words at the entrance, a man hurried out to receive the visitor. Before he had even crossed the threshold, he cupped his hands and laughed. "What wind has blown Mr. Cao here? Please, come inside!"

The man who came out personally to welcome him was Song Jiuming's eldest son, Song Quan, who already held official rank. The visitor, Cao Fengduo, held no official post, but he was one of the strategists and retainers serving at the side of the Grand Minister of Works. That was why Song Quan himself had come out to greet him.

The two entered side by side, chatting and laughing, and made their way to a reception hall in the inner residence for tea. After a short wait, Song Jiuming finally arrived. He wore informal clothes, and his fair-skinned face appeared remarkably well preserved in both looks and complexion.

The two men in the hall rose.

Cao Fengduo cupped his hands. "Greetings, Commandant of Justice."

Song Jiuming gave a faint acknowledgment and went directly to the main seat. With a stern expression, he asked, "Mr. Cao has come in person. Has the Grand Minister given some instruction?"

"Precisely." Cao Fengduo acknowledged it, then lowered his voice. "Tomorrow, Prince Ning Shang Jianbo's son, Shang Chaozong, will be released from prison..."

[End of Chapter 16]