Chapter 464: Meeting Gift

“Uncle...!”

That drawn-out “Uncle” was nothing less than oil poured onto a fire. Count Zheng abruptly caught Liu Ruqing by the wrist.

The outside world had misunderstood him for years, but Count Zheng had never admitted to genuinely sharing Cao Cao’s famous taste for married women.

And even that so-called “Cao Cao preference” struck Count Zheng as rather unfair to the Prime Minister. Women in ancient times married far too young. By the standards of this age, girls who would still be in high school in later generations would already have children here, probably more than one.

That left the Prime Minister with painfully few choices. Any woman who was beautiful and had grown into her looks had most likely already been promised to someone. At the very least, the Prime Minister had possessed a bottom line. He was not an animal.

So all that talk about some “entry requirement” had never really made sense. In chaotic times, the throne belonged to whoever had the strongest soldiers and horses. Likewise, if a woman was beautiful enough, what entry requirement?

None existed.

Liu Ruqing was beautiful. She possessed a soft, waterlike fragility, and every shift of her eyes seemed capable of plucking at a man’s heart and making him want to protect her.

Especially when she called him “Uncle.”

That single word seemed capable of hooking a man’s heart straight out of his chest. No ordinary man could withstand it.

Marrying into the Fan Clan had been Liu Ruqing’s good fortune. The Fan Clan might not have been an aristocratic house, but its wealth and influence were more than enough to shelter her.

Otherwise, after becoming a widow, how could she possibly have continued living such a peaceful, leisurely life inside the Fan Residence, almost like a woman in the Grand View Garden? Let alone continue supporting that useless younger brother of hers, Liu Zhong.

Of course, every blessing came with a cost.

Fan Zhengwen was no fool. He was a merchant, and a merchant to the bone. In his eyes, aside from himself and his children, even the entire Fan Clan could be treated as a bargaining chip if the price was right. Otherwise, he would never have actively urged Zheng Fan to gamble everything on the Princess affair.

Naturally, Fan Zhengwen could see Liu Ruqing’s beauty. He protected her, kept her hidden inside the Fan Residence, and allowed her to continue living without worry. As a result, although Liu Ruqing carried a trace of a widow’s melancholy, she possessed none of a widow’s bitterness or resentment. If that melancholy appeared in just the right measure, it only made her more alluring.

Fan Zhengwen was unquestionably an expert at “raising flowers.”

But he had not done it out of affection for his dead younger brother. He had done it like the owner of an antique shop patiently nurturing a piece of jade.

The moment Count Zheng appeared, Fan Zhengwen sent Liu Ruqing away without the slightest hesitation.

In that sense, Liu Ruqing had been unfortunate.

But where in this world could anyone have everything go their way?

In any case, Count Zheng could no longer endure it.

His hand closed around Liu Ruqing’s pale wrist.

She naturally understood what was about to happen. She did not dare avoid him, but neither did she actively lean into it. There was not the slightest trace of courtesan affectation about her. All she could do was turn her face aside, exposing the neck that had already flushed scarlet beneath Count Zheng’s gaze.

Thunder from Heaven meeting fire from Earth often happened in a single instant.

Most of the time, men thought with the walnut above their necks. Occasionally, they thought with the pair below.

But just then, a muffled boom came from underground.

Count Zheng sobered instantly.

He had only just returned home and had not fully shaken off the conditioned vigilance of weeks spent fleeing for his life. He sprang from the bathing pool, threw a robe around himself with his left hand, and drew his saber with his right.

Once he calmed slightly and moved his thinking from the lower walnuts back to the upper one, the situation became easy to analyze.

The sound had come from below.

There were three secret chambers beneath his feet.

One was empty. One held the Savage King. The last contained Sha Tuo Queshi.

Unless the Savage King had suddenly comprehended some peerless martial art inside his cage and produced that disturbance himself, the noise could only have come from Sha Tuo Queshi.

Count Zheng turned back and looked at Liu Ruqing. She was sitting beside the bathing pool, the hem of her skirt soaked through. Whether the earlier tremor had frightened her or Zheng Fan himself had, he could not tell.

“You should go rest first.”

The next words, *I’ll be right back,* reached the edge of Count Zheng’s tongue.

After a moment’s hesitation, he swallowed them.

...

Xiong Liqing was supporting Siniang as they toured the residence, with Eunuch Zhao following behind.

Count Pingye Residence naturally could not compare with the Fan Residence’s extravagant splendor, but it was still refined. Because of Zheng Fan’s personal preferences, along with various security considerations, the residence was somewhat quiet and sparse.

A small boy bundled up like a little rice dumpling sat alone on a set of steps playing with toys.

His hair was thick and black, his eyes bright. He was delicate enough to resemble a porcelain doll.

Some children looked dull from the first glance. This child was different. The moment one saw him, it was impossible not to sense a lively intelligence about him.

“Elder Sister, is this his child?” Xiong Liqing could not help asking.

Siniang smiled. “He is the Marquis of Jingnan’s son. What, you didn’t know?”

Among the upper ranks, the fact that Zheng Fan was raising the Marquis of Jingnan’s son was hardly a secret.

“I’d heard rumors, but I never imagined they were true. I never involved myself much in matters like these before, so most of what I heard was simply entertainment.”

After a moment, Xiong Liqing sighed.

“So the relationship between him and the Marquis of Jingnan truly is extraordinary.”

Siniang nodded. “Even blood brothers would hardly be closer.”

Tian Tian, who had been sitting alone on the steps, immediately rocked himself upright when he saw people approaching. He wore so many layers that he looked like a little roly-poly toy as he toddled toward them.

“Come here. Let Auntie hold you.”

Xiong Liqing stepped forward and lifted Tian Tian into her arms.

“Whew. Little fellow, you’re heavy.”

Siniang laughed. “He’s been sturdy since he was born.”

Tian Tian showed no fear of strangers whatsoever. Held in Xiong Liqing’s arms, he immediately began giggling.

A red shadow suddenly shot toward them.

Siniang’s gaze sharpened.

“Demon Child!”

The shadow stopped and hovered in the air.

Tian Tian turned his head. The moment he saw the red stone, his smile became even brighter. He struggled out of Xiong Liqing’s arms. She had already been having trouble holding him, so the instant he twisted free he began falling.

The Demon Child caught him and carried him gently down onto the steps.

“Jiejie. Jiejie. Jiejie.”

Tian Tian called happily toward the Demon Child.

When Tian Tian had been very young, the Demon Child had often made that sound beside him. It had therefore become the first word he learned. After several months apart, his pronunciation was much clearer now.

Xiong Liqing pointed at the red stone.

“Elder Sister, I’ve always wondered. Is there a demon beast inside that stone too?”

Siniang shook her head. “Truthfully, I’ve wondered myself. Perhaps it simply grew up.”

“Hm?”

Siniang smiled but did not explain.

Perhaps the Demon Child had finally understood the Princess’s value and matured a little. If some useless woman had dared grow close to Master, the Demon Child would probably have lost control and attacked long ago.

Just then, a tremor came from underground.

“What was that, Elder Sister?”

“Nothing serious. If it came from underground, there shouldn’t be much of a problem. Since we’re here, I may as well take you down and show you.”

Siniang led Xiong Liqing into a hidden passage.

The Princess did not find the existence of a secret passage strange at all. In her view, it would have been stranger for a great household not to possess one.

The first secret chamber was empty. More precisely, it contained only an iron table, and upon that table rested several enormous chunks of stone.

“What are these?” the Princess asked.

“Scraps. A dwarf once used this room as his workshop.”

“Workshop?”

“A workroom. A little foundry.”

“Oh.”

Xue San had once split open the meteorite in this chamber. The red stone hidden inside had then been taken by the Demon Child as its “new home.”

Siniang opened a heavy bronze door and entered the second chamber.

In truth, all three chambers were internally connected, though from outside they each had separate entrances.

Someone lived in this one.

The man was confined inside a cage, but the cage contained a desk, brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone. Everything had been kept quite clean.

The man himself was another matter. His hair had grown long and tangled into something resembling filthy dreadlocks. At the moment, he was sitting there with an embroidered shoe in his hand, studying and playing with it intently.

When he noticed someone entering, Gou Moli put the shoe down and looked toward Siniang.

Then his attention settled heavily upon the girl beside her.

Xiong Liqing did not find the man’s gaze especially sharp. Yet it felt like liquid mercury, as though a single glance were trying to seep through her entire body.

She had grown up in an imperial palace. Acting had been instinctive since birth, and she was extremely sensitive both to reading other people and to the feeling of being examined herself.

Gou Moli stretched lazily.

“Greetings, Mr. Feng. And this noble young lady is?”

For Gou Moli, recognizing at a glance that Xiong Liqing possessed an extraordinary background was hardly difficult.

“The Fourth Princess of Great Chu,” Siniang introduced.

“Hohohoho...”

Gou Moli stood and bowed through the bars.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

He straightened, looked back toward Siniang, and asked:

“How did she get here?”

The Blind Man had always been responsible for managing Gou Moli. He was told what he needed to know, such as certain changes on the snowfields, because otherwise he could not offer useful strategic advice. Matters he did not need to know were naturally kept from him.

“Snatched her.”

“Snatched her?” Gou Moli blinked.

“Yes.”

“You’re not joking?”

“I don’t have the time.”

Gou Moli released a long breath.

“I genuinely believe now that our Count Zheng is Heaven’s chosen man.”

Siniang replied calmly, “Naturally.”

“Ah, magnificent. Ah, exhilarating. Ah, what a pity I wasn’t there.” Gou Moli sadly scratched at his filthy braids, then pleaded, “Little Dog would like to go outside and see the world too.”

“Who is he?”

Xiong Liqing could not stop herself from asking.

Siniang had introduced her earlier, but had never introduced the man in the cage.

And although this man appeared somewhat mad and ridiculous, there was something profoundly unusual about him.

Xiong Liqing remembered Nian Yao back when he had still been a household slave in her Fourth Brother’s residence. In those days he too had bowed and scraped before everyone. But once Fourth Brother released him into the world, Nian Yao quickly became a vicious blade in his hand.

During the chaos among the Chu princes, Nian Yao alone captured three Princes.

“The Savage King.”

“He... he is the Savage King?”

Xiong Liqing clearly found it difficult to believe.

No.

What she found even harder to believe was that the Savage King was imprisoned inside Zheng Fan’s own home.

For nearly a century, the Savages of the snowfields had been bullied by the Jin people almost like livestock. It was only after the Savage King appeared that the tribes were unified and successfully broke through Snow Sea Pass. He had even defeated the seemingly invincible Yan army along the Wang River.

To some extent, the Savage King and Great Chu had once been allies. Qu Tiannan’s Azure Luan Army had occupied Yupan City while the Savage King’s cavalry positioned themselves outside it, the two forces supporting one another like horns.

But everyone beneath Heaven knew the Savage King had been defeated, captured, and sent to Yanjing.

Naturally, Xiong Liqing would never assume the man before her was an impostor. This was Snow Sea Pass, and her “husband” Zheng Fan was the very man who had blocked the Savages’ retreat there.

How could the Savage King in his hands possibly be fake?

Gou Moli slowly turned in a circle inside the cage, deliberately presenting himself like merchandise for the Princess’s inspection, as though proving that he was the genuine article.

A smile appeared on Xiong Liqing’s face.

“Elder Sister, do you know what he once said to me?”

“Nothing he could say would surprise me.”

“I’m starting to believe him now. He even dares secretly keep *this* man.”

Gou Moli immediately declared, “It is my honor to be one of Count Pingye’s treasured collectibles.”

Xiong Liqing pointed at him.

“He won’t escape, will he?”

The Savage King froze.

“Your Highness, this is our first meeting. Why slander me?”

“If he escapes and returns to the snowfields, there will be another disaster,” the Princess said.

“Your Highness, that isn’t very kind!”

The Savage King was currently doing everything he could to obtain a little freedom. He no longer wanted to remain merely a strategist behind the curtain. He wanted to emerge openly as one of Zheng Fan’s subordinates.

In his view, as Zheng Fan climbed higher and higher, that possibility would inevitably become reality one day.

But now he was genuinely nervous, because he understood something even more clearly: no amount of rational calculation could withstand a few soft words whispered beside a man’s pillow.

Beat Gou Moli to death and he still would not believe that Count Pingye had stolen back an actual Princess merely to keep her as tribute.

“Master has his own considerations,” Siniang said, then stepped forward and opened another door.

The Savage King hurriedly called after her:

“My neighbor made some noise just now.”

“Mm.”

Siniang did not appear concerned.

“I’ve been eating well and sleeping wonderfully these past few months.”

When he had first been confined here, the baleful aura leaking from Sha Tuo Queshi had tormented Gou Moli nearly to madness.

Ever since Sha Tuo Queshi fell into deep sleep, however, that baleful aura had stopped spilling outward. The Savage King’s quality of life had naturally improved.

“Master would rather your neighbor woke up sooner,” Siniang said with a smile, gesturing for Xiong Liqing to follow.

The Princess entered the chamber where Sha Tuo Queshi slept.

Liang Cheng was already standing beside the coffin.

“Where is Master?” Siniang asked.

By all logic, if something happened here, Zheng Fan should have been the first person down. No one present had a deeper relationship with Sha Tuo Queshi than he did.

Liang Cheng answered:

“Master just left.”

“Oh?”

“I told him Sha Tuo Queshi had not awakened, so Master left in disappointment. I believe he went next door.”

“Then what caused the disturbance?”

“The baleful qi refined inside his body had accumulated and stagnated to a certain point. He may have sensed Master’s aura when Master returned, causing the two to resonate. It was rather like... popcorn. You know popcorn?”

Siniang nodded. “A very vivid comparison.”

“Master seemed quite disappointed,” Liang Cheng said.

He had come charging down here full of excitement.

Of course, leaving immediately after learning the truth did not mean Zheng Fan was coldhearted. Count Zheng simply preferred speaking privately to Sha Tuo Queshi late at night, when the surroundings were quiet and no one else was present.

“It really is inconvenient not having a genuine peak expert at his side. You know how badly Master needs to feel safe.”

Liang Cheng nodded.

Only then did Xiong Liqing finally find a chance to speak.

“Who is he?”

“The barbarian Left Guli King, Sha Tuo Queshi.”

“I know that name. I’ve heard of him. Didn’t he die in battle before the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence?”

“Yes. Master happened to be at the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence at the time.”

Xiong Liqing nodded and did not ask how it had been done.

After everything she had seen today, she felt nothing inside this residence could surprise her anymore.

Siniang reached out and patted the coffin lid.

“Since you’re here, greet him properly. It’s your first meeting.”

“Greet him?”

“Mm. Be sweet. You won’t lose anything.”

Back then, Master himself had acted on exactly that principle and rushed to kowtow first.

“He was the barbarian Left Guli King, and he is also one of the honored dead. I should indeed pay my respects.”

Xiong Liqing knelt.

Siniang stopped her before she could make the gesture too formal.

“Forget all that ceremony. Just treat him as your godfather.”

“Godfather?”

Xiong Liqing looked up and blinked at Siniang, clearly trying to determine whether she was being teased.

Seeing Siniang’s perfectly serious expression, the Princess pursed her lips and put on her sweetest smile.

“Godfather, your daughter-in-law has come to see you. Please bless me so that everything goes smoothly, that I remain safe and sound, and that illness and calamity stay far away...”

Liang Cheng leaned toward Siniang and whispered:

“Has he become a local land god now?”

Siniang shrugged.

“Godfather, when I have my fifth child in the future, I’ll let that child take the surname Sha Tuo.”

Liang Cheng could not help smiling.

“She seems even better than you at making elders happy.”

Siniang glanced sideways at him.

“Why do I feel you’ve entered the role even more deeply than I have?”

After a pause, she added:

“If you aren’t going to train troops, go pour some blood over your A’Ming.”

“I dislike remarks carrying that sort of implication,” Liang Cheng replied.

“Who told you that, among all of us, only you and A’Ming enjoy living in ice cellars?”

A’Ming was currently being kept in the ice cellar.

Low temperatures preserved freshness.

Xiong Liqing slowly rose. She felt she had paid sufficient respects.

The moment she stood upright, a human-shaped jade token glowing green slowly rose from the coffin and floated before her.

Seeing this, Liang Cheng said:

“As expected, sweet talk wins an elder’s favor. Over the past two years, the baleful aura around Sha Tuo Queshi has worn away the original consciousness inside this Jade Figurine Token. It can now be used as a proper ritual artifact.”

Xiong Liqing immediately brightened and reached out to accept it.

Unexpectedly, the Jade Figurine Token suddenly swerved away from her and floated directly in front of Siniang.

“...”

Xiong Liqing stared.

Liang Cheng looked somewhat surprised as well. He knew Siniang was not manipulating it. This was Sha Tuo Queshi’s own will even while asleep.

Siniang extended one hand, accepted the Jade Figurine Token, and gave a slight curtsy toward the coffin.

Then she glanced at Liang Cheng with a faintly provocative expression.

“What would you call this?”

Liang Cheng answered:

“Even the elders are afraid of the most formidable daughter-in-law in the family.”

————

[End of Chapter 464]