Chapter 350: Arrangements

Keeping the Sword Saint around and continuing to treat him with courtesy was, in the end, about preserving a hope. He had once been a terrifying existence who forcibly opened his realm and stepped into Second Grade. A man capable of creating miracles ought to be rather familiar with miracles, no?

And even if nothing came of it, supporting one Sword Saint was hardly a serious burden.

Truthfully, the expense of keeping the Sword Saint was far lower than the cost of supporting Zheng Fan himself.

After arriving in this world, Zheng Fan—who had once been a comic artist—often found that many of the people around him felt like protagonists viewed from the perspective of supporting characters in a comic.

Their lives all seemed to come with cheats built in.

As for himself, without the support of the Seven Demon Kings, there was no possibility he could have reached where he stood today.

And after repeatedly discovering that something always went wrong whenever he personally charged into battle, General Zheng had long since accepted reality.

He was not some “Chosen One.”

In truth, most of the people in history who ultimately accomplished great things were extremely good at lying low and enduring.

Sima Yi, for example.

General Zheng had genuinely considered it before: work hard at keeping his body healthy, nourish himself often, and if he could not overturn the three great mountains pressing down above his head then simply outlive them!

“Don’t think about anything else. Oh, right. Before long, most of the people from Shengle City will probably relocate here. We’ll provide houses and jobs. That lady will come too, so don’t worry.”

That woman would definitely come.

A woman alone, with a child to raise and a livelihood to worry about, would have every reason to follow.

“I’m already a cripple. Why drag her into this?”

“Well, then this is where we get to test whether your judgment of people is any good.”

Out of professional instinct from his previous life, Zheng Fan felt that a plot like this was undeniably melodramatic but also undeniably entertaining.

“Using a cripple like me to test her—what is the point? Either I suffer, or she suffers. Her life has already been hard enough.”

“You really are a good man.”

Zheng Fan sighed and handed the Sword Saint a proper “good-person card.”

“I wouldn’t say that. I’m only trying to atone for what I’ve done.”

“Don’t be so gloomy. At the very least, the Sword Maid is still waiting for you to continue guiding her. Twenty years from now, if another female Sword Saint appears in this world, wouldn’t that become a fine tale?”

“Do you not know that once her cultivation succeeds, the first person she actually wants to kill is you?”

The Second Sword of Qian—the Sword Maid’s master—had been shot to death by a storm of arrows under General Zheng’s direct order.

“She’s still a long way from growing up.”

“You’re not afraid?”

“Your younger brother also died because of me, and yet here I am, still sitting beside you and talking.”

The Sword Saint narrowed his eyes.

Then said:

“True.”

“Leave the future to the future. You, meanwhile, stop turning things over in your head and focus on recovering.”

Zheng Fan left the room and stretched once he stepped outside.

He did not like the feeling of being arranged by others.

One sentence from someone else, and the course of your life was decided.

That feeling—of not being the one holding your own fate—was genuinely unpleasant.

But there was no denying that Tian Wujing’s final sentence had tempted him enormously.

If he could establish himself firmly at Snow Sea Pass and turn this place into an autonomous frontier command that truly belonged to him...

On one side, he could tell the savages of the snowfields the story of *Uncle Savage’s Cabin*.

On the other, he could pressure Chu—or perhaps play the various factions there against one another.

To a certain extent, he genuinely had an opportunity to develop into a force resembling the old Marquis of Zhenbei’s Residence.

Tian Wujing had said the terrain here was strategically vital.

What he really meant was that a man could hold a major fortress like this and use it as leverage against the court.

If relations ever truly broke down at worst, Zheng Fan could simply let the savages through the pass again.

At worst, he could march south and open the road for Chu to come in.

Zheng Fan genuinely did not want to do things like that.

But if he were truly pushed too far he was not Li Liangting.

Nor was he Tian Wujing.

If everything else failed, then fuck it—

I’ll flip the whole table.

Come on.

Let’s hurt each other!

“Haaah...”

General Zheng released a long breath.

In an instant, his mindset adjusted completely.

His entire body filled with energy again at the thought of the future and the great enterprise waiting for him!

Only after Zheng Fan came outside did he learn that A’Ming had already taken more than twenty riders and left the fortress for Shengle.

Naturally, Zheng Fan did not feel touched by A’Ming suddenly becoming so proactive about work.

He knew perfectly well what was really happening.

A’Ming was craving the private stock of fine wine back in Shengle City so badly that he could not bear delaying for even a moment.

In truth, there was one more reason.

But A’Ming had not said it.

And no one else knew.

The young widow who had been washed, dressed up, and placed inside General Zheng’s residence earlier that had actually been A’Ming’s arrangement.

If he did not hurry up and disappear now, was he supposed to stay until nightfall and let the Master settle accounts with him?

A proud vampire had merely thought he would lift a finger and cater to the Master for once.

Instead, he had botched it.

Naturally, he needed to get out of the way and let the wind die down first.

Outside the fortress, Liang Cheng was busy handling military affairs.

As for Tian Wujing, Zheng Fan had already accompanied him through a meal and spoken everything that needed speaking.

There was no need to visit again.

Zheng Fan understood that Tian Wujing was not the kind of man who cared about pomp or empty courtesy.

Then Zheng Fan abruptly discovered something awkward.

Right now, he had absolutely nothing to do.

True, he was long accustomed to this useless life of eating, drinking, and waiting for death while relying on the Demon Kings for everything.

But when the emptiness hit suddenly, it could still feel rather hollow.

General Zheng returned to his residence.

Whenever he felt empty, he liked to sleep.

Sleep was the best medicine for emptiness.

But the moment he entered, Zheng Fan discovered the young widow sitting in the main hall with her child in her arms.

This time, he recognized her.

“My lord, you’ve returned.”

“You...”

Zheng Fan entered the hall and sat in a chair.

The woman placed the child on another chair beside her.

Then she knelt personally at Zheng Fan’s feet and began removing his boots.

Zheng Fan did not stop her.

“My lord, the water is hot. This concubine will wash your feet.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

A short while later, the woman returned carrying a wooden basin.

She tested the water temperature with her own hand first, then carefully lifted Zheng Fan’s feet into the basin and began washing them.

Zheng Fan made as though he were about to lean forward and lift her chin so she would look up.

But before he even completed the motion, the woman raised her head by herself.

There was a mole at the corner of her mouth.

Rather than detracting from her appearance, it made her look even more mature and alluring.

“You’ve worked hard,” Zheng Fan said.

“This concubine owes my lord her life and the life of my daughter. I have nothing with which to repay such grace. Whatever my lord requires of me, there is nothing I would refuse.”

In the usual wuxia novel if you saved a woman, and you were ugly, she would say:

*In my next life, I’ll become an ox or horse to repay Young Hero’s kindness!*

If you were handsome, then it became:

*This concubine is willing to pledge herself to you.*

Of course, this particular older sister was not some female martial hero.

She did not have many choices.

Even putting aside the savage siege, once the fighting ended, she was still a widow whose household had been destroyed, carrying a child with her.

How was she supposed to survive?

And this age did not possess quite so much affectation.

Only when food and clothing were sufficient did people have the luxury of becoming particular about such things.

When survival itself became difficult, most people chose practicality.

“You overstate it. I have... I already have a wife,” General Zheng said.

The woman froze slightly.

In a later age, that sentence would mean:

*I already have a wife, so the two of us can only fool around.*

Or perhaps:

*You can be my mistress.*

But here, in an age where a man having several wives and concubines was entirely normal, the sentence meant only one thing—

*Your lord is afraid of his wife.*

The woman smiled.

She had never imagined that General Zheng—a man who commanded so many armored soldiers and had accomplished such great deeds would actually be henpecked.

Something inside Zheng Fan’s heart stirred.

Quite a few people could restrain themselves in front of beauty.

But people who could prevent even their hearts from stirring?

Those were genuinely rare.

Unless they were like A’Ming or Liang Cheng.

But those two were cold-blooded creatures.

And while the woman washed Zheng Fan’s feet, she would occasionally scratch them lightly as well.

“This concubine does not dare ask for status, nor would I ever hope for it. I ask only for a chance to repay even a small part of my lord’s grace in saving our lives.”

If he were speaking from the heart was Siniang a tigress?

Truthfully, Siniang had always been urging Zheng Fan to accept several young women she had personally trained.

Zheng Fan had never acted on it.

For one thing, General Zheng genuinely had no interest in little girls.

For another, as the man who had once written a continuation of the comic *Feng Siniang*, General Zheng knew Siniang’s character setting perfectly well.

She liked helping women she encountered punish faithless men.

Would that personality perhaps transform somehow when the matter involved herself?

Possible...

But General Zheng did not dare gamble on it.

Back then, he had even cheerfully poured his full creativity into designing ways for Siniang to torment unfaithful men.

Now, looking back, he could only wonder whether his brain had been full of paste.

“Oh, right. You still have milk, don’t you?” Zheng Fan asked.

The woman froze.

She turned her head and looked toward the hall entrance.

The residence gate was closed.

After hesitating briefly, she began loosening her clothes.

“Put them back on.”

Zheng Fan’s voice had grown slightly rough.

The woman stopped.

“I do not like repeating myself.”

The woman dressed again.

“I have a child as well. Still very young. Once he arrives after a while, you can serve as his wet nurse.”

“Thank you, my lord. This servant will remember your great grace and kindness for the rest of her life.”

The woman prostrated herself before Zheng Fan and kowtowed.

She understood.

This meant he was willing to keep her.

In a world this chaotic, merely obtaining a place where she and her child could survive was already enough to leave her overwhelmed with gratitude.

“Get up. Right—I still haven’t asked your name.”

“This servant’s given name is Yinyue. My husband’s surname was Hou, while my natal clan’s surname is Ke. My lord may call this servant Madam Ke.”

“...”

Zheng Fan fell silent.

...

Outside Snow Sea Pass, the Yan army was still wrapping up military operations.

Groups of savage prisoners were bound together and handed over to the Shengle Army for transfer.

Inside the newly erected command tent, the Marquis of Jingnan sat alone.

In his hand, he held a red dudou.

If one looked carefully, the stitching on the little bellyband was rather crude.

The tiger embroidered across the front was almost comically round-headed and clumsy.

The Marquis of Jingnan sat there without moving.

The personal guards outside had received instructions beforehand.

When several generals arrived wanting to report matters, they were stopped and told to make their own decisions.

The great battle was already over.

Nothing truly important remained.

Looking down at the dudou in his hands, a trace of remembrance entered the Marquis of Jingnan’s otherwise calm eyes.

“Very healthy...”

“Very sturdy...”

“Always moving around...”

“And terribly mischievous...”

The Marquis murmured the words quietly to himself.

Slowly, the corner of his mouth curved upward.

Almost like a smile.

But deep inside his eyes redness gradually spread.

[End of Chapter 350]