Chapter 281: Setting Out

Inside one of the inn’s finest guest rooms, Zheng Fan stared at the Longyuan Sword in front of him without speaking.

A’Ming stared at the Longyuan Sword in front of him without speaking.

Li Yiyong stared at the Longyuan Sword in front of them—and at the two silent men beside it then asked, “General, why aren’t either of you saying anything?”

A’Ming answered, “Because you’re here.”

“...”

Li Yiyong.

Zheng Fan reached out, patted Li Yiyong on the shoulder, and laughed.

“Hahaha. He loves joking around. Don’t take him seriously.”

“This subordinate would not dare. Would not dare.”

“Assistant General Li, return to camp first and have the brothers pack everything up. We leave for Shengle City the day after tomorrow.

“Once you get there, treat it like your own home. Among the troops under my command, there are far more outsiders than native Yan soldiers anyway.”

“To serve under the General is this subordinate’s good fortune.”

Zheng Fan felt around inside his sleeve, then looked at A’Ming.

Did you bring any money?

A’Ming shook his head.

Zheng Fan had no choice but to look back at Li Yiyong.

“Assistant General Li, do you have any money on you?”

Li Yiyong froze.

He was inwardly startled by just how straightforward his new superior was.

“General, please forgive this subordinate. I only just received the military order and hurried here, so I made no preparations. Once I return, I will personally bring the money over first thing tomorrow morning. I only ask that the General graciously accept it!”

“No, no, no. You misunderstood.

“I came back with the Marquis this time and left in a hurry, so I didn’t bring any silver.

“The brothers are about to follow me to a new posting. I should at least give everyone a proper welcoming gift.

“If it is convenient for you, advance a sum of silver first. Buy the men wine and meat and let them eat and drink well for a couple of meals.

“Once we return to Shengle, I’ll reimburse you.”

“This... no, no. Absolutely not. How could there possibly be—”

“All right. It’s settled.

“Don’t worry. We might be short on a few things back home right now, but silver is the one thing we don’t lack.

“And tell the brothers this as well: once you reach Shengle, your monthly pay will be the same as the Jingnan Army’s.”

Naturally, soldiers of the Jin Camp could not normally expect the same treatment as troops of the Jingnan Army.

To put it bluntly, they were surrendered turncoats.

But under Zheng Fan, their pay would be equal.

As for the extra expense that would create, the Blind Man and Siniang could worry about it.

General Zheng was responsible only for spending money and buying loyalty.

“This subordinate thanks the General for his immense favor on behalf of every brother in the camp!”

“All right. Go handle your affairs.”

“This subordinate takes his leave.”

After Li Yiyong departed, A’Ming asked, “Master is not going to visit the military camp personally?”

“Can’t be bothered.”

“Then Assistant General Li may turn around and claim all the credit for himself when he speaks to the men.”

*I fought the Yan people to secure equal treatment for all of you.*

*And I, Old Li, paid for the wine and meat out of my own pocket.*

Every commander knew that sort of trick.

It was practically a basic skill.

“Doesn’t matter. Once we get back to Shengle, Liang Cheng, the Blind Man, and the others can straighten them out.”

A’Ming nodded.

“True.”

Zheng Fan cleared his throat and pointed at the sword in front of them.

“This is the Sword Saint of Jin’s sword.

“Tell me, why do you think Tian Wujing gave it to me?”

“Master may wish to wait a moment before this subordinate answers.”

“Wait for what?”

“For this subordinate to gouge out both his own eyes first.”

“...”

Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan ran a hand over the sword hilt and sighed.

“This really is a fine sword.”

“Master could switch to practicing the sword.”

“Forget it.

“I’ll stick with the saber. If I start learning swordsmanship purely because it looks impressive, I’ll end up mediocre at both.

“On a battlefield, that could get me killed.

“For now, seal this sword away.

“The Sword Saint was only driven back by the Marquis of Jingnan back then. He wasn’t killed.

“And rumor has it that the Swordsmith of Chu personally forged this sword for the Sword Saint.

“Who knows? One day that Sword Saint might come looking for me to take it back.”

“We have quite a few people under us now.”

“Not every expert is Sha Tuo Queshi, fond of charging straight into a crowd.

“You saw how the Hundred-Li Sword siblings ran you in circles outside Shangjing.

“I’m not afraid of the Sword Saint coming to challenge me openly.

“I’m afraid he’ll turn into an old scheming bastard and pop out every so often to stab me once.

“If that happens, there’ll be no living with it.”

“True.”

“Tell me, after the Sword Saint was defeated by the Marquis of Jingnan, where did he go?

“Is he still somewhere in the lands of the Three Jin?

“Or did he go to the State of Dacheng?”

...

“I have been in Litian City the entire time.”

The Sword Saint answered while driving the carriage.

“Litian City?

“Then weren’t you right beside the Marquis of Jingnan?”

“I was careless in that battle, and Tian Wujing was formidable.

“He actually took the methods of formation deployment and battlefield killing and applied them to a jianghu duel.

“That was his ability.

“I was not convinced by the loss, but I did not lose unjustly.”

“In truth, Tian Wujing merely won through cleverness. In a contest of true strength, he is definitely no match for you, my lord.”

“There is no need to flatter me like that.

“A loss is a loss.

“I can afford to lose.”

“Yes, yes. My lord is broad-minded.”

“But no matter what, I lost.

“Swordsmen throughout the realm may have lost face because of me.

“I need to find an opportunity to fight Tian Wujing again.”

“So that is why you went to Litian City?”

“I went very early.

“Once I had treated my wounds a little, I headed there.

“I stayed at an inn not far from the Marquis of Jingnan’s residence.”

“This...”

“What?”

“That was far too dangerous.”

“It was fine.

“I think he knew I was there.

“I never deliberately concealed my movements.”

“Then...”

“An army encircling me?

“I never saw one.”

“So you simply remained in Litian City recovering from your injuries?”

“My wounds actually healed quite some time ago.

“I originally planned to go straight to Tian Wujing’s door and challenge him again.

“But then Tian Wujing received an imperial decree from your Yan emperor ordering him to lead an army onto the snowfields to fight the savages.”

“So, my lord, you...?”

“I could hardly make Tian Wujing carry injuries onto the snowfields and fight savages.

“That would have been dishonorable.”

“My lord truly understands the greater good.”

“Stop putting lofty hats on my head.

“My younger brother died beneath the hooves of the Jingnan Army.

“But at the end of the day, that was war between states.

“For a general to die on the battlefield is a fitting end.

“I still have a duty as his elder brother to avenge him.

“But if Tian Wujing intended to lead an army out to fight savages, then I could only wait.

“I would wait for him to finish the war.

“Wait for him to return.

“Then we could fight again.”

“Yes, yes.”

“Who could have imagined that what I ended up waiting for... was this?”

The Sword Saint turned and looked back toward the carriage.

“Could this child be...?”

“You guessed it long ago, didn’t you?

“Otherwise, why did you follow us?”

The Blind Man nodded with deliberate modesty.

“Tian Wujing is a madman who slaughtered his own entire clan.

“And his wife was ruthless enough herself.

“She came to me smelling of blood, carrying a child she had only just given birth to, and handed that child directly to me.”

As he spoke, the Blind Man clearly sensed an extraordinarily sharp aura surging around the Sword Saint.

The man’s emotions were beginning to slip out of control.

“I came to fight her husband again!

“Perhaps in our next clash I might kill this southern Marquis of Yan!

“And her husband’s hands are stained with my younger brother’s blood!

“Yet that woman—that woman—actually handed this child directly to me!

“How could she?

“How did she dare?”

The Blind Man could almost picture the scene inside that inn room.

The Sword Saint facing the wife of his enemy.

The wife of his enemy placing her enemy’s own flesh and blood into his hands.

And the Sword Saint’s face twisting with such suffocating frustration that it nearly cramped.

“My lord, your breadth of heart truly deserves admiration.”

This time, the Blind Man meant it sincerely.

“I have a feud with this bastard’s father.

“But no matter how deep the feud, it should not fall upon a newborn child.”

“Madam must have believed the child would actually be safest in your hands.”

The Blind Man still did not know exactly what had happened in Litian City.

He had spent the last several days traveling together with the Sword Saint and the others.

But presumably the atmosphere in the city had already become extremely strange at the time.

Dujuan had chosen a “protector” for her child.

With Tian Wujing still away—and no one knowing when he might return she entrusted the baby to... her own family’s enemy.

Given the Sword Saint’s strength, with the child beside him, how many people beneath Heaven could take the baby from his hands without mobilizing a large army?

And Dujuan had clearly judged the Sword Saint’s nature correctly.

The Sword Saint was a sword.

A very pure sword.

“This bastard has pissed through my clothes several times along the way.”

“My lord, where exactly are we heading?”

In truth, after several days on the road, the Blind Man already had a guess.

And the chances of that guess proving true were very high.

“That woman said the child could be entrusted to his godfather.”

“Uh...”

The Blind Man.

“His godfather is in Shengle.”

...

“Shengle City truly is a fine place.”

On a wooden cart, Yao Zizhan sighed with a wine flask in his left hand and a fistful of fennel beans in his right.

Behind them, Shengle City gradually receded into the distance.

Hero Chen, who was pulling the cart, laughed when he heard this.

“Reluctant to leave?”

“I am.

“I genuinely am.

“I’m reluctant to leave those children who had only just begun their studies.

“This old man has lived his entire life without ever serving as a private-school teacher before.

“Thinking about it now, those literary seeds in the Imperial Academy who used to come ask this old man for guidance on their essays—compared with those children... heh.

“It wasn’t even the same flavor.”

Hero Chen continued pulling the cart without answering.

In Hero Chen’s eyes, the gentlemen of the Imperial Academy were genuine scholars.

He himself only knew the sword.

He had hardly studied at all.

“And you?

“You can really bear to leave this place?

“I saw you paying quite a lot of attention to that little sword attendant.”

“She was born with a sword embryo.

“Her aptitude is even better than mine.”

“Tsk.

“That Zheng Fan really does enjoy collecting talented little brats.

“There’s even a young desert barbarian in my school.

“The way that child memorizes poetry and writes characters impressed even this old man.”

“Heh.”

Hero Chen laughed.

Yao Zizhan turned and looked toward Miss Su, who was walking beside the cart.

After everything she had experienced, Miss Su’s temper had restrained itself considerably.

Much of that adorably foolish arrogance and contempt for everyone around her had been ground away.

And whenever she looked at Hero Chen pulling the cart, there was now a slightly different light in her eyes.

Yao Zizhan chuckled.

“Miss Su, once we return home, this old man will have a word with that Luo fellow and have him marry you to our Hero Chen.”

Miss Su ignored the wretched old man.

“But speaking seriously, Hero Chen is an honest man.

“You come from the Silver-Armored Guard.

“In the end, you are hardly a good match for him.”

Miss Su clenched her silver teeth and retorted, “Old man, who exactly are you looking down on?”

“This old man looks down on this damned thing called fate.

“A few days ago, the Jingnan Army suddenly withdrew.

“Do you know why?”

“They said news came from that side that something happened to the Marquis of Jingnan’s wife.

“She seems to have died.”

“Then do you know who that wife of the Marquis of Jingnan actually was?”

“Dujuan.

“She originally headed the Secret Intelligence Department in Yinlang Commandery.

“How could I possibly not know?”

“Heh.”

Yao Zizhan deliberately took a mysterious sip of wine.

“Then do you know she had another identity?”

“Another identity?”

Miss Su gave a small scoff.

“Don’t tell me she was one of us from Qian.”

“She really was.”

“How is that possible?”

“Back then, this old man was still composing verses in the Imperial Academy.

“That Luo fellow had not yet become Grand Commander of the Silver-Armored Guard.

“The two of us were on rather good terms.”

Hero Chen, still pulling the cart, interjected, “You seem to be on good terms with everyone.”

Yao Zizhan threw a fennel bean at the back of Hero Chen’s head and cursed, “Nonsense!

“If you yourself have no ability, then of course you should make friends early with people who do have ability but whose talents have not yet been recognized.

“Otherwise, what are you supposed to live on later?”

Hero Chen heard this and nodded thoughtfully.

“That makes sense.”

Miss Su, however, was too impatient to wait.

She pressed, “What about Dujuan?”

“That day, the man surnamed Luo brought over a little girl who was only four years old.

“He said she was his goddaughter and wanted me to help choose a name for her.

“As it happened, the azaleas in the Imperial Academy were blooming at the time.

“So this old man gave her the name—

“Dujuan.”

Miss Su struggled to digest the revelation.

She murmured, “How can you tell us something like this so casually...?”

“She’s already met with disaster.

“There’s no need to keep it secret anymore.

“Originally, there probably were not many people who knew.

“And as Dujuan climbed higher and higher inside Yan’s Secret Intelligence Department, the number of people allowed to know her true identity would only have decreased.

“If this old man did not happen to carry the title of Literary Sage, that Luo fellow might have invited me over for tea long ago.

“Heh.

“I imagine even that Luo fellow never expected things to develop this far.

“There are plenty of extraordinarily intelligent and talented people in this world.

“But among them, those who can also enjoy smooth sailing throughout their official careers are few enough to count as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

“She entered the Secret Intelligence Department.

“Then climbed upward step by step.

“She became the person in charge of the Secret Intelligence Department in Yinlang Commandery.

“Then she became the woman beside the Marquis of Jingnan’s pillow.

“That Luo fellow himself was probably frightened by how far she managed to go.

“Hahahaha.”

Miss Su asked, “Then this time, was the matter carried out under His Majesty’s instructions?

“Was Miss Du’s death meant to make—”

Before Miss Su could finish, Yao Zizhan cut her off.

“What kind of man is Tian Wujing?”

“What?”

Miss Su froze.

“That is a man who, for the sake of his state, dared exterminate his own entire clan!

“How many emperors beneath Heaven dream of having a Tian Wujing beneath them, yet never obtain one?

“Tell me.

“Would a man like that really break with his own state because someone used his wife and child to threaten him?”

Miss Su thought for a moment.

In the end, she had no choice but to shake her head.

“Probably not.”

“If you were the one in charge, would you expend such an important chess piece in this manner before the child had even been born, merely to achieve this so-called goal?”

“No.

“I wouldn’t.

“This piece was too... too important.

“She—she could even have been preserved for the next generation to continue using.

“Far too precious.

“Far too precious.”

“Looks like you’re not stupid.”

For a moment, Miss Su had no idea how she was supposed to respond to that assessment.

But Yao Zizhan’s next sentence left her completely dumbfounded.

“Then I suppose it was our Emperor who did something stupid?”

[End of Chapter 281]