Chapter 661: The Sword Saint's Sword

In the courtyard, a fox and a black cat were chasing a flock of chickens in circles while a duck stood off to one side, rocking its body as though finally avenged.

"Quack! Quack! Quack!"

Marquis Zheng and the Sword Saint sat on little stools. On a square stool between them were sunflower seeds, peanuts, and some candied fruit.

Liu Ruqing was brewing tea nearby over a small stove.

Gifts brought by guests could not be opened in front of them, so everything Zheng Fan had carried over had been neatly set on the table inside the house.

The sunflower seeds, roasted peanuts, and other snacks had been bought by Liu Dahu at the old woman's orders. After getting over her initial bout of weak knees, she herself had immediately gone out with a basket and returned with a great pile of vegetables.

At that moment, the old woman was squatting in a corner cleaning a fish. Almost as if deliberately showing off, she handled the kitchen knife with startling efficiency.

Tian Tian sat with Liu Dahu. Dahu had taken out his old collection of wooden sabers and swords and was letting Tian Tian choose among them.

They were all toys the Sword Saint had carved for him in the past.

But Dahu no longer used wooden blades. He had begun practicing with a real saber.

Yes.

His father was the Sword Saint, yet he practiced the saber.

Everyone else was practicing the saber and horsemanship in preparation for entering the army and charging into battle. As for the sword, unless you reached a level like the Marquis of Pingxi, where you could hold one for appearances while directing formations, or reached Li Liangshen's level and could still carve through thousands of troops with a sword in hand, then frankly speaking... you were better off obediently practicing the saber.

Tian Tian intended to practice the saber just like his godfather. On that point, he was extremely certain.

So he chose a wooden saber and held it in his hands.

"Thank you, Big Brother."

"Hehe."

Liu Dahu was very fond of this child who looked as though he had stepped straight out of a New Year painting.

Inside the kitchen, Feng Siniang said, "You're pregnant. Let me do it."

"Oh, listen to you. It's only been a few months. It doesn't matter. I'm not that precious. In the old days, women went down into the fields to work even when their bellies were almost ready to give birth."

"That's different," the Princess said.

The child in your belly is the Sword Saint's.

Everyone had the limitations of their own perspective. The Princess had been born to noble blood and noble status, so certain habits naturally came with it.

What she really meant was that other children were ordinary.

This one was not.

She understood that once the Sword Saint had this child, it would be equivalent to binding him completely to Fengxin City and to the courtyard beside the Marquis Residence.

That meant not only her husband's generation, but even their children could enjoy the Sword Saint's protection.

Of course, the Princess was not foolish enough to put words like "bloodline" and "high and low status" on her lips. Even inside the Marquis Residence, she deliberately played such things down because her husband had been born a commoner.

More importantly, she could clearly sense her husband's contempt for the very idea of bloodline superiority.

"What's different about it?" Madam Wu said. "My man says women should move around more while they're pregnant. It's good for giving birth. Besides, you two are true noble ladies. How could I possibly let..."

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!

Feng Siniang began chopping vegetables. The kitchen knife blurred over the cutting board.

"..." Madam Wu.

This noble lady really did know how to cook.

"Light the stove," Feng Siniang said. "We'll fry up a couple dishes first so the men have something to go with their wine."

"All right."

Madam Wu sat behind the stove and lit the fire.

The Princess sat down beside her.

"No, no, it's dirty here, my lady. It's dirty."

"It's fine. I've never tended a stove in my life. I want to try."

That part was not a lie.

The other reason, of course, was that the Princess did not want to stand there with nothing at all to do. That would have been far too awkward.

...

"Things at home are more or less settled now," Zheng Fan said as he cracked sunflower seeds. "At Snow Sea Pass and Zhennan Pass, Keyan Dongge has ten thousand regular troops and Jin Shuke has twenty thousand. Those have both been finalized."

"Regular troops" did not include auxiliaries. These were genuine standing troops who could be pulled directly into field battle and sent charging into an enemy line.

Ten thousand at Snow Sea Pass was more than enough.

The snowfields were a bowl of loose sand now. Even if a second Savage King somehow emerged, as long as Keyan Dongge refused to send a single soldier outside the pass without orders from the Marquis Residence, then with ten thousand regulars and the laborers inside the city assisting them, no matter how many Savages came, breaking Snow Sea Pass in a short time would still be impossible.

Jin Shuke faced Chu, so the pressure on him would be greater.

There was actually another force stationed at Jing City as a forward outpost. To the north, at the tail end of Shanggu Commandery, stood Zhennan Pass. Giving Jin Shuke twenty thousand troops meant that while ensuring Zhennan Pass could not be lost, he still had enough strength left over to seize opportunities and make trouble when the Marquis Residence needed him to.

Those two passes could be called the strategic pillars of Jin.

Back in the day, together with South Gate Pass, they had been known as the three great strategic passes of the Three Jin.

Compared with the battles once fought at Snow Sea Pass, or with the spectacle beneath Zhennan Pass where armies totaling nearly a million men had faced one another and slaughtered their way through the field, the Marquis Residence's present deployments at those two passes were honestly not much to look at.

But real war had never been a board game where victory simply went to whoever stacked up more pieces.

Snow Sea Pass could be set aside. It was fundamentally secure.

At Zhennan Pass, if Chu showed any movement, the Marquis Residence at Fengxin City could dispatch reinforcements at any time.

And if even the forces around the Marquis Residence could no longer hold Chu in check, then naturally they would immediately request reinforcements from the court.

At that point, they would simply fight another national war.

Here at Fengxin City, there were three garrison forces in total.

One was Liang Cheng's personal force of twenty thousand iron cavalry.

The finest riders, the best horses, the strongest armor, the sharpest weapons. Those twenty thousand cavalry were the true trump card of the Marquis of Pingxi Residence.

In Liang Cheng's own words, their combat strength was absolutely no weaker than an equal number of regular Zhenbei Army or Jingnan Army troops from the old days, and he meant before those armies had fought through years of war and been diluted by waves of replacement recruits.

Liang Cheng's force was eastern Jin's true mobile field army.

Its task was to watch every direction and be ready to put out fires at a moment's notice.

After that came the two garrison forces under Gou Moli and Ding Hao, which guarded the approaches around Fengxin City.

Ding Hao's force actually had only five thousand regular troops.

Gou Moli's had a little over ten thousand.

The city garrison inside Fengxin City, the various yamens, and the guards of the Marquis Residence belonged to a separate system entirely. Nominally, Xue San and Fan Li were its chief commanders.

Looked at from that angle, Gong Wang's earlier little dealings with Yingdu, absorbing extra money and grain, had not been entirely without reason. One could even say he had been pushed into it.

The Marquis Residence had only allotted him ten thousand regular troops.

In other words, Gong Wang was authorized to maintain fewer men than he had commanded before.

The same was true for Gongsun Zhi. His allotment was ten thousand as well.

Their actual armies contained more men than that, but once your supply line was capped, there was only so much room you had left to thrash around.

On top of that, the Marquis Residence had used the Standard-household system to force through integration and redistribution, stripping away quite a bit of their old foundations to fill out the other garrisons.

It was openly digging at their walls and blocking their development.

Gongsun Zhi, however, had always remained calm about it.

He was a Yan man, so his state of mind was good.

Besides, he had already broken with Li Bao's son once before. Surely he could not break with the Marquis Residence a second time.

Li Bao's son had not been capable of doing anything to him.

The Marquis presently sitting over his head genuinely could cut his head off.

Most importantly, if Gongsun Zhi changed masters yet again, wouldn't he become a textbook "slave of three surnames"?

After Gong Wang received his beating, he also became thoroughly submissive.

The Blind Man and Liang Cheng had even made a special trip that spring to sit down with the two of them, talk heart-to-heart, and offer reassurance.

Eastern Jin was in the middle of development. Everyone needed to tighten their belts, endure a little hardship, and get through the difficult period together.

Later, naturally, there would be room for everyone to grow.

And so on.

Gong Wang and Gongsun Zhi had responded by pounding their chests and declaring that they fully understood the Marquis's intentions and were willing to obey every decision of the Marquis Residence without condition.

So on paper, excluding Fengxin City's own garrison, the remaining seven garrison forces combined had fewer than ninety thousand regular troops.

Most of them came from Standard households. The soldiers drew pay, and their families also enjoyed the benefits attached to Standard-household status.

As for costs, Snow Sea Pass and Zhennan Pass were respectively the sites of the trade markets with the snowfields and Chu. In a later age, they would have functioned rather like customs ports.

After the taxes openly remitted to the Marquis Residence were deducted, the hidden grease and customary unofficial income left over was already enough to cover the costs of maintaining those garrisons.

At Fengxin City, the men under Ding Hao and Gou Moli existed in a half-training, half-production state.

So the forces that represented pure military expenditure, with no local production or trade offsetting their upkeep, were really only Liang Cheng's command, plus Gong Wang and Gongsun Zhi, whose hands were forbidden from reaching out for extra income.

Large-scale spring planting had already been completed.

Once autumn arrived, the people of eastern Jin would no longer need to live on potato gruel. The lives of the common people and the finances of the Marquis Residence would both steadily improve.

Empty land had advantages too.

There were no powerful local clans to interfere with you.

All the land belonged to the Marquis Residence.

No.

It belonged to the state.

Nearly every workshop belonged to the Marquis Residence as well.

The people farming the land were effectively working military-colony fields recorded directly on the Marquis Residence's ledgers.

In another time and another world, the founding emperor of the Ming had created the weisuo military-colony system. Later generations had turned it into a joke and treated the entire design as unrealistic.

But when the system had first been established, it had actually worked quite well.

It was only later, when military-colony land was swallowed up by powerful interests and great households, stripping the soldiers of their means of production, that the weisuo system decayed.

For the present Marquis of Pingxi Residence in eastern Jin, none of those problems existed yet.

In other words, even though the Marquis Residence maintained all these troops, this was not actually the limit of what it could support.

There was simply no reason to push to that limit now.

The family's foundations were still thin. There was no need to overdraw them in advance.

When a real war came and regular troop numbers were insufficient, they could use the standing army as the backbone and levy auxiliary forces around it.

For now, the requirement was simple.

Enough to use.

Enough to defend themselves.

And then... work hard at farming.

Work hard at expanding trade.

Work hard at developing workshops.

Turn eastern Jin into a region with tremendous war potential...

No.

Turn it into a paradise for the common people.

Of course, Marquis Zheng could already boast when he went outside that he commanded a hundred thousand iron cavalry.

Whenever some dispute arose, he could slap the table and say:

"You'd better give this Marquis an explanation. Even if this Marquis can swallow the insult, the hundred thousand sons under my command will never agree!"

Out of that hundred thousand, however, if one was talking about troops who truly matched the quality of the old Zhenbei Army and Jingnan Army, not even forty thousand would qualify even if you beat the numbers to death.

Most of those were concentrated under Liang Cheng and Jin Shuke.

Still... it was more than enough to frighten people.

"You tell me all this and I don't really understand it," the Sword Saint said. "But I can hear one thing clearly enough. Eastern Jin has been managed very well these past months. This land, the people here, my home... none of them need to suffer the flames of war again."

Marquis Zheng nodded.

"That much won't be a problem."

"Good. Then talk more about this trip to the capital."

When it came to military affairs, the Sword Saint truly possessed self-awareness now.

"The trip to the capital... I actually have a great many thoughts, but almost none that I can say aloud."

"None?"

"Mm. Unless it involves my interests, the Marquis Residence's interests, or eastern Jin's interests, I don't have the standing or the room to stick my mouth into anything else.

"Roughly speaking, it'll go like this. You and I take a group of people and head for the capital. We pass through Litian City on the way, then join up with Old Tian. After that, we enter Yanjing together.

"Once we're inside, Old Tian sits down, and I sit behind him. Whichever imperial prince Old Tian finds unpleasant, I go cripple that prince. Whatever Old Tian says, I echo. When he nods, I go, 'Mm, mm, mm.'

"Yeah.

"More or less like that."

The Sword Saint frowned.

"What's wrong?" Marquis Zheng asked.

"I suddenly don't want to go with you anymore. It's a little embarrassing."

"..." Zheng Fan.

The Sword Saint looked toward the house.

"I really want to stay with her. I mean it. Zheng Fan, you should've had a child earlier."

"..." Zheng Fan.

"I didn't understand before. But now that my heart has something it truly cares about, I'm very happy."

"..." Zheng Fan.

Then the Sword Saint sighed.

"But I genuinely am afraid you'll die. There are times when your luck is truly awful. To this day, I still cannot understand how, that day in the rain, a rock from a catapult managed to fly from so damned far away and hit you while you were riding a horse."

"..." Zheng Fan.

"If you die, this courtyard will never be peaceful again."

"With your ability, you could take your family somewhere secluded. Your life wouldn't be bad."

The Sword Saint shook his head.

"But that isn't the life I want. And it isn't the life they want."

Whew.

Could you not pause so dramatically when you talk?

For a moment there, you scared the hell out of me. I thought you were about to throw down the job and refuse to accompany me to Yanjing.

"Zheng Fan."

"Go ahead."

"I'm very worried that the Emperor of Yan still has no intention of stopping."

"Heh. Where else could he even fight? The snowfields are a nest of quails right now. We just fought Chu. The Three Frontiers army of Qian hasn't even been transferred away despite Qian and Chu fighting in the southeast.

"No matter how dissatisfied His Majesty is, he can't possibly throw his life away, stop living altogether, and suddenly go fight the Barbarians now, can he?"

The Sword Saint heard that and said nothing more.

In fields he did not understand, he had learned not to say too much.

Past experience had already proven that he only made trouble when he did.

"Ahem..."

The Princess came running over.

"Husband, can we serve the food?"

Zheng Fan nodded.

"Set it out here. Bring a few more chairs and stools. Everyone can sit around together."

And so they ate.

The Marquis Zheng household ate together in perfect warmth and harmony.

The Sword Saint household did its best to cooperate and pretend they were eating in perfect warmth and harmony.

In any case... after a meal filled with warmth and harmony, Marquis Zheng did not linger. He took his wives and child and said his farewells.

The old woman originally wanted to see the guests out.

Then she suddenly realized... there was nowhere to see them to.

They lived next door!

After Marquis Zheng left, the chickens that had been bullied half to death by the fox and cat earlier began frantically chasing the duck around the courtyard.

Madam Wu went back inside to lie down and rest.

The old woman cleared the bowls and chopsticks without asking a single question.

On this point, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had already reached an understanding.

And after the Marquis personally came to their door today, they were even more determined not to ask about the man's affairs.

A man had his own mind, his own thoughts, his own concerns.

As women of the household, it was not their place to pry.

Of course... they did not know that most of the time, the Sword Saint did not actually have many thoughts or concerns at all.

Having achieved enlightenment, the Sword Saint's present responsibilities were limited to killing people with a sword.

Using his brain was not included.

Still, the old woman did remind him of one thing.

"Don't forget the return gift."

Someone brought you gifts, so you returned gifts.

The old woman did not understand why anyone would hold a hundred-day celebration when the child had not even been born yet.

But since that was the excuse under which the gathering had been held, and the guests had come bearing gifts, then no matter whether those gifts were heavy or light, and no matter whether the guests were from the Marquis Residence or anywhere else, something had to be returned.

The Sword Saint nodded.

Liu Dahu called out, "Tian Tian said he likes sachima!"

"That dry, hard pastry?" the old woman asked.

"That's the one."

"Then hurry and buy some now. If we can't send it today, send it first thing tomorrow morning. Buy plenty. It doesn't need to be especially expensive. The Marquis won't care about that, but we do need to show closeness. The quantity should look generous. Take a basket."

"All right."

The Sword Saint picked up a carrying basket.

As for the shoulder pole... that was Longyuan Sword.

With the "pole" across his shoulders, the Sword Saint left the house.

Liu Dahu hurried after him.

Father and son walked down the street.

Every so often, Liu Dahu looked up at his father without asking anything.

He merely wore a foolish grin.

"What are you grinning like an idiot for?" the Sword Saint asked.

"Dad, you're really amazing," Liu Dahu said.

Any father who could make his son feel proud of him would find it deeply satisfying.

The Sword Saint was no exception.

Even if the source of his son's pride currently had something called "Zheng Fan" acting as an intermediary.

"I'm all right," the Sword Saint said modestly.

"Dad, are you one of the Marquis's secret personal guards?"

"Hm?"

"One of my classmates has a father who's a personal guard beside the Marquis. He wears Flying Fish Robes. He's really impressive."

After Liu Dahu entered school, the academy divided its students into classes.

One was more or less an ordinary class.

The other was a future-officer training class.

In the Blind Man's words, it was a genuine Whampoa Academy under the Marquis of Pingxi Residence.

Many of the children there had parents who were military officers or people serving inside the Marquis Residence.

The Sword Saint suddenly remembered that.

One reason he had let Zheng Fan come openly to the house this time and declare their relationship was to give his family real security.

The second reason was that he realized he could no longer be so selfish.

He could have given his son a confident, happy childhood.

But he had not.

He liked peaceful, quiet years.

But back then, when his son encountered classmates on the street, the boy had deliberately gone over and taken the hand of the Sword Saint, who was still recovering from injury and walking with a crutch, then loudly called him "Dad" for fear anyone might fail to understand their relationship.

His son was sensible.

That was true.

But the Sword Saint could have been something his son proudly showed off to his classmates.

He could have made him happier.

In the end... he had been selfish.

At that moment Liu Dahu asked, "Dad, since you're beside the Marquis, have you ever met the Sword Saint?"

"Heh. I have."

"I saw him too. Last time I went with the Marquis to Yingdu, I saw the Sword Saint. He was wearing a bamboo hat, so I couldn't see his face, but we all thought he was incredible. The strongest swordsman in the world."

"Hahaha. Naturally."

"Dad, you still haven't answered me. Have you seen the Sword Saint's real face?"

"Son, do you want to?"

"Yes!"

In an instant, Longyuan, which had been serving as a shoulder pole, flew free of its scabbard.

It transformed into a streak of crimson like a roaming dragon and shot straight into the sky.

A terrifying, tyrannical sword aura erupted from the earth and shook the entire flow of qi throughout Fengxin City.

At once, black figures surged in from every direction.

Some were the Marquis's personal guards, others hidden sentries or scouts from the army. All of them were experts tasked with protecting the Marquis Residence and maintaining security in the city.

The instant they sensed that horrifying sword aura, they assumed a powerful enemy had entered the city and immediately rushed toward the source.

After surrounding the area, several men among them recognized the Sword Saint's true appearance.

They instantly dropped to one knee.

"My lord, what happened?"

"My lord, has an assassin entered the city?"

"My lord, where is the assassin?"

Above them, Longyuan continued to soar through the air, carving one brilliant rainbow of sword qi after another across the sky.

Below, Yu Huaping stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

Calmly, he said:

"Nothing happened.

"My son wanted to see me."

[End of Chapter 661]