Chapter 651: - The Heir of the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence

Sparse rain pattered against the broken tiles of the Mountain God Temple, then dripped through the countless cracks, hanging curtains of rain throughout the ruined shrine.

A fortune-teller who looked to be around fifty sat cross-legged inside with a bonfire burning before him.

A clay kettle hung over the flames, heating water. In his own hand, he held a clay cup filled with glutinous rice. Every so often, he shook it, then brought the cup close to the burning firewood to roast it.

After a while, he pulled it back, shook the rice again until it rustled softly inside, then returned it to the fire.

He did not seem bothered by the heat against his hand. He repeated the process again and again.

Once the timing seemed right, he poured the already boiling water into the large clay cup.

“BZZZZZZZZ!”

For an instant, the sound was like thunder exploding.

A smile appeared on the fortune-teller’s face.

A short while later, he lifted the cup and poured its contents into a teapot containing tea leaves.

Then he poured the tea into a small bowl, brought it beneath his nose, and inhaled lightly. Afterward, he opened his mouth and took a powerful slurp. The tea spun rapidly across his lips, teeth, and tongue until the temperature became comfortable enough to swallow.

Warmth immediately surged through his body.

It was almost like drinking fine wine. His entire person began to feel faintly light and floating.

Winter cold, night rain, ruined temple.

At that moment, none of it mattered.

Footsteps sounded outside.

The newcomer wore a red robe, a black hat with upturned eaves, and cloud-patterned boots with thick enough soles to keep him above the puddles. He was very short, though, so there was little danger of the wind blowing him away.

“A guest?” the fortune-teller said.

He reached out, took another tea bowl, and poured a serving.

“I was drawn here by the thunderous sound and fragrance of your tea,” the newcomer replied.

“Come, come. Join me.”

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes did not enter immediately.

Instead he said:

“I am an unwelcome guest.”

“A guest is still a guest. That alone is reason enough to be glad and offer welcome.”

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes nodded.

He stopped at the broken threshold of the Mountain God Temple and swept one hand forward.

In an instant, brilliant streams of light shimmered into existence. Threads like spider silk appeared one after another, only to flare brilliantly for the briefest moment before dissolving into nothing.

Only then did the Little Eunuch in Red Robes step inside.

The fortune-teller pushed a bowl of tea toward him and drank another bowl himself, still noisily slurping it so it swirled around his lips and teeth.

To a person of Qian, or anyone who had genuinely studied the Way of Tea, drinking like this would be considered horribly inelegant.

But tea was meant to dispel weariness.

If one wanted relief quickly, then naturally one should drink quickly too. That was the satisfying way to do it.

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes extended one index finger and touched the edge of the bowl. With a slight pull, the tea rose out of the bowl on its own. He opened his mouth a fraction, and the stream entered.

The fortune-teller asked:

“Well?”

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes smiled.

“Crude.”

The fortune-teller shook his head helplessly.

“Perhaps you have drunk too much fine tea in the palace.”

“The palace of Great Yan is unlike those of other states. His Majesty has never been extravagant.”

“Not extravagant, true. But poverty has nothing to do with it either.”

That was simply fact.

The Emperor of Yan disliked indulgence, but neither did he deliberately force himself to sleep on brushwood and taste gall.

“You do have some nerve,” the Little Eunuch in Red Robes said. “To think you still dare linger in the outskirts of Yanjing. You should know the Secret Intelligence Department is looking for you.”

“But where can I go? The Jin lands belong to you Yan people too. In Chu, I have a grudge with their Chief Shaman. In Qian, I once insulted Master Zang to his face, and all those fellows on the Back Mountain dream of getting rid of me. The desert? Forget whether I can tolerate all that wind, sand, and dust. Years ago I stole a corpse puppet from the sacrifices of the Barbarian Royal Court. I imagine they still hold a grudge over that. Ai, what a difficult situation. The realm is vast, yet there is nowhere for me, Yan Feizi, to set down my feet.”

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes took a token from his sleeve and placed it on the ground before him.

“Will you accept it?”

“Heh. Now this is interesting. Did you come to kill me, or recruit me?”

“If you refuse, I kill you.”

“Would your Emperor approve of you doing that?”

“His Majesty is busy. He merely thinks your noise is disturbing his peace.”

“Hehehehe.”

Yan Feizi laughed like a honking goose.

But he still did not take the token.

“Ai, I have been free and idle too long. I truly do not like being restrained.”

“Then you will not leave this ruined temple alive today.”

At that very moment, more than a hundred experts of the Secret Intelligence Department had already surrounded the temple.

Yan Feizi shook his head as though it did not concern him.

“I can still walk out. Truthfully, of the former Four Great States, Great Yan was always the dullest and most boring place in my eyes. But this time I came because someone entrusted me with a task.”

“Who entrusted you?”

“Cannot say.”

“What task?”

“Cannot say.”

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes rose to his feet.

Yan Feizi said:

“Can you at least let me finish this pot of tea? You call it crude, but I spent quite a lot of effort making it.”

“I dislike listening to you prattle about ghosts and gods.”

“Now that is fucking funny. A Qi Refiner saying he dislikes mystical prattle. What, are you planning to become an immortal?”

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes retreated three steps.

Qi began flowing around his fingertips.

Yan Feizi reached out and lifted the teapot. He slapped one palm against it, shattering the pot, then reached into the fragments and pinched out a black seed.

“Do you know what this is? Heh. A lotus seed from Qian’s Back Mountain, born from that lotus itself. It can prolong life, awaken the spirit, and replenish qi. What if I trade this for my freedom?”

“For whom?”

“Your Emperor. Is it not rumored that His Majesty’s health has declined? Years ago, Master Zang entered Yanjing and severed Great Yan’s dragon vein. Today, one seed of his lotus can nourish the Emperor of Yan and extend his life. One drink, one peck, each with its cause and consequence. Does that not accord perfectly with the Dao of Heaven?”

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes shook his head.

“If I offered this to His Majesty, I would certainly die.”

The Emperor of Yan’s temperament would never tolerate anyone using his own life as leverage against him.

Besides, the Little Eunuch in Red Robes knew perfectly well that His Majesty’s body had long since reached the point where medicine and stone were useless. Miraculous pills and divine medicines would do nothing either. The pills His Majesty currently took were the sort of heterodox concoctions true Qi Refiners looked down upon. In reality, they existed only to force wakefulness and vigor.

“Then this becomes difficult.”

Yan Feizi scratched his head.

Suddenly he seemed to remember something.

“There is one more thing.”

He reached into his robes, took out another token, and tossed it directly to the Little Eunuch in Red Robes.

The little eunuch caught it and lowered his eyes.

It was a waist token of the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence.

Only a true member of the residence’s direct line could possess one.

“Do you know where I obtained this token?”

“No.”

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes answered with remarkable honesty.

Yan Feizi twisted his neck.

“Last year, while traveling through Great Yan’s Sanshi Commandery, I passed through a place called Chen Family Village and happened upon a young fisherman. The boy possessed astonishing bones and aptitude. Whether he practiced martial arts or refined qi, he would be superb material. If properly nurtured and carefully polished, perhaps one day he could become a second Tian Wujing. Naturally, I developed an appreciation for talent. But ability alone is not enough. I needed to observe his character too, so I secretly remained in the village. The boy had elderly parents who had him late in life. He served them diligently, handled all the work of the household, and did everything with care. I disguised myself as a destitute Daoist and went to his home begging for food. He shared the coarse rice in his house with me without the slightest disgust. Ai. Such a good child. Truly such a good child.”

The expression of the Little Eunuch in Red Robes changed.

A direct-line waist token of the Marquis Residence.

And that child...

Rumors about the heir of the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence had circulated in countless forms.

Some said he did not exist at all and had always been pure fiction.

Some said the heir was serving as a Lieutenant Commander in the Zhenbei Army.

Others claimed he was an official at court, hiding in plain sight.

Still others said he lived among the common people, passing his days as an ordinary man.

There were even people who sighed that the Marquis of Zhenbei had far worse luck than the Marquis of Jingnan, because at least the latter had found someone like Marquis Pingxi to help look after his child.

“So?” Yan Feizi asked. “Is this information worth my freedom?”

Anything concerning the heir of the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence was naturally major news.

But the Little Eunuch in Red Robes only sneered.

“You admire him and want to take him as a disciple, yet now you sell him out? From what I know, Yan Feizi, unreliable as you are, causing trouble wherever you go and never letting any place remain peaceful, you are not the kind of man who fears death enough to betray friends and family.”

In fact, the fundamental reason Yan Feizi had offended Qi Refiners in state after state was that he kept standing up for his friends.

Not for himself.

Yan Feizi dug at his ear.

He smiled.

“What is strange about that? I never said that young man was the heir of the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence. That boy’s surname is Chen. An old scholar in the village gave him a name so domineering it practically has dirt flying from it: Chen Xianba. This token, meanwhile, I took from the bottom of a chest in the household next door. That house has an old mother and one child. The child is lame in one leg, has blotches across his face, and is ugly enough to make a man wince. Worse, he is dull-witted, not even one-tenth as capable as my Chen Xianba. Heh. Tell me, the Prince of Jingnan leaving his child for Marquis Pingxi to raise is understandable. Tian Wujing may have known he would not meet a good end and therefore made arrangements in advance. But the Prince of Zhenbei? Did he simply think his own son was too ugly to look at and send him away because he could not stand the sight of him? Clearly he disliked his own son, yet he made it look as though the imperial court could not tolerate the heir of the Marquis of Zhenbei Residence. Pretentious. Far too pretentious.”

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes looked down at the waist token in his hand again.

“You do realize that after revealing this, you may be even less likely to leave.”

“You are still too young. Truly. Compared with that old Grand Elder who once lived in the palace, you fall far short. Why do you think I went to all this trouble setting up Thunderclap Tea here? It takes time and effort, and after all that, the only judgment I get from you is ‘crude.’ Truthfully, I do not even like the flavor very much myself. But someone does. Hahahahaha...”

At that moment, a column of black-armored cavalry appeared on the slope outside the Mountain God Temple.

At their head rode a man wearing ancient black armor, a long sword hanging at his waist.

He was one of the Four Great Swordsmen, a man once ranked alongside the Sword Saint.

Li Liangshen, commander of the Zhenbei Army.

Inside the temple, Yan Feizi and the Little Eunuch in Red Robes sensed the overwhelming sword intent surging outside almost simultaneously.

Thunderclap Tea was tea prepared to welcome men of the army.

Yan Feizi shouted, driving his voice outward with qi:

“Commander Li! That old woman asked me to carry a message. She says her old wounds can no longer be suppressed and she does not have much time left. She fears she will not be able to protect him much longer, so you need to send someone to bring him home. And Commander Li, I do not even want payment for carrying the message. Can you at least guarantee that I keep my life today?”

Li Liangshen rode a Pi Beast into the courtyard of the Mountain God Temple.

The Secret Intelligence Department experts around them did not dare block his way.

Facing Yan Feizi’s question, Li Liangshen gave only one simple answer.

“Yes.”

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes immediately ran to the doorway.

“His Majesty issued an oral command ordering me to investigate and seize this man!”

Li Liangshen’s gaze slowly settled on the little eunuch.

“Where is the imperial decree?”

“It is only an oral command.”

“This general recognizes written imperial decrees only. Step aside.”

“Commander Li, what if I refuse?”

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes stood in the doorway without moving.

Li Liangshen smiled.

He drew his sword.

“Then this general will destroy you and every rebel of the Secret Intelligence Department here on the charge of falsely transmitting an imperial order.”

What kind of man was Li Liangshen?

That night, the Commandery Princess had said she wanted Little Sixth dead.

Li Liangshen had answered:

Very well.

The Little Eunuch in Red Robes flushed crimson.

He growled:

“Does the Zhenbei Army intend to rebel?”

Li Liangshen raised his great sword and pointed it at the little eunuch blocking the doorway.

He spoke one word at a time.

“Everyone beneath Heaven knows my Prince has no desire to rebel. But if a little castrated wretch like you wishes to represent the imperial court and force our hand, fine. Very well. Then my Zhenbei Army can only have no choice but to rebel!”

[End of Chapter 651]