Chapter 768: Ripples

Zheng Fan did not weep tears of joy.

Nor did he stand there frozen for a long time.

He did not clutch his head in disbelief and mutter to himself either.

Perhaps he had imagined scenes like this many times before.

But now that it had truly appeared before him... all that happened was that the corner of his mouth curved into a smile of exactly the right degree.

He was not preserving face.

Nor was he deliberately restraining himself.

Inside... he was genuinely very happy.

Just not happy enough that he needed some exaggerated display to prove it.

Perhaps it had come too suddenly.

The emotion had not yet had time to ferment.

Zheng Fan walked over to Xiong Liqing.

Normally, the Princess of Great Chu was open and poised.

Even in the bedroom she liked playing games such as:

Little Zhengzi, attend this palace...

But today... at this moment... a trace of a young woman's shy bashfulness appeared on her face.

Siniang rested her cheek against one hand and watched the pair with the delighted smile of an auntie.

Matron Ke wore a flattering smile.

Liu Ruqing... looked completely envious.

"You're pregnant?"

Marquis Zheng asked a useless question.

It was not as though she could have eaten herself this round during the three-odd months he had been away on campaign.

"Mm-hm."

The Princess answered softly.

Fortunately, Marquis Zheng's head still worked well enough that he did not follow by instinct with the stupidest possible question:

Whose?

Before Xue San left for the snowfields, he had already told Zheng Fan both his discovery and his suspicions.

The Demon Child had advanced.

It was impossible for him to influence Zheng Fan as silently as before.

Still...

Zheng Fan had not expected that afternoon before the expedition to the snowfields... to have actually hit the target.

Whenever an Emperor favored a woman, even if she were only a palace maid, someone specifically recorded it.

Later, once her pregnancy began to show, the dates could be checked.

The entire purpose... was to guarantee the purity of imperial blood.

Marquis Pingxi Residence did not possess such elaborate rules.

But first... excluding Matron Ke, there were only three ladies in the Residence.

Siniang was impossible.

She might show her face outside while managing industries and handling affairs.

But she had absolutely no interest in any other man.

She did not need anyone monitoring her.

And no one dared monitor her anyway.

So that left only two other women inside the Residence.

Never mind the Brocade-Clad personal guards protecting the outer layers.

The Demon Kings themselves occasionally watched the household and were exceptionally sensitive to the slightest trace of anything unusual.

That alone was enough to eliminate all kinds of messy possibilities.

And beneath the Residence... the Marquis's own godfather was constantly watching over the peace of the household.

Other families enshrined their ancestors inside ancestral halls and relied upon them for symbolic protection.

The ancestors of Marquis Pingxi Residence... provided protection of an entirely physical kind.

Marquis Zheng sat down on the empty stone stool beside them.

Then said:

"Very good."

Beyond that... he genuinely could not think of anything more to say for the moment.

...

Outside the side courtyard... the Blind Man's figure appeared.

His left hand rested on his right forearm, fingers lightly tapping and kneading it.

At that moment... a red stone flew over and stopped beside him.

"You should have expected this situation," the Blind Man said.

The Demon Child remained silent.

"I like seeing this scene. Truly. Why did Zhao Jiulang move against Du Juan back then? Looking at it now, perhaps he was wrong. But that conclusion only exists because he already acted. If he had never acted, could you still say he was wrong?"

The Blind Man coughed twice.

"In the end, blood descendants are different. Once there is a bloodline heir, once there is inheritance, the household is still the same household... but at the same time, it is no longer quite the same household. Tian Tian is the answer Master gave Tian Wujing. But when it comes to Master's own child... what then?"

A shadowy black infant appeared above the red stone and turned to look at the Blind Man.

"I know. I know. You're a child too. But you should understand better than anyone how long I've tolerated you. All of us are here to play. To have fun. To stop these days from becoming decadent and wasted. You've played enough. No... since you can't keep playing anymore, then naturally it should be my turn to take over."

The aura around the Demon Child became sinister.

"Don't try to scare me. It won't work. If several hundred or several thousand living people were standing in front of you, and you said you'd kill them all, I'd believe you. But a woman carrying a child? You wouldn't bear to touch a single hair on her head. I'm not provoking you. You genuinely wouldn't do it. So why bother?"

The Blind Man turned and began walking away.

The Demon Child followed.

The Blind Man ordered Xiao Yibo to prepare a carriage.

He climbed inside.

The Demon Child entered as well.

The carriage left Marquis Pingxi Residence.

Then left Fengxin City.

At last... it reached an empty stretch of land outside the city.

The carriage stopped.

The Blind Man climbed down and walked up a small earthen rise.

He stretched lazily.

The red stone floated in front of him.

"I'm in a good mood today. More precisely, I've been in a good mood for quite a while. I know you're in a terrible mood right now, so I don't mind letting you vent some anger."

The red stone shot directly toward the Blind Man.

Three layers of psychic barriers formed in front of him.

BANG!

In an instant... all three barriers shattered.

The red stone slammed into the Blind Man's body.

He flew backward and crashed to the ground.

Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Yet he continued smiling.

The infant wreathed in resentment floated before him.

"Almost forgot. I haven't advanced yet. You have. Master didn't say it outright before he left for the snowfields, but I have a feeling that during the assassination at Wangjiang... you called him Dad, didn't you?"

The resentment around the Demon Child surged violently.

Powerful mental force swept toward the Blind Man.

The Blind Man lowered his head.

His own mental force poured outward.

The two powers locked into a stalemate.

"Live the sort of life you're supposed to live. Who in this world gets to be carefree forever? You've suffered. Fine. But speaking from conscience, which one of us didn't suffer back when we were still characters in comics? A person can live willfully. But a child... eventually has to learn how to grow up."

BOOM!

The Blind Man's body was hurled away again.

He slammed heavily into the ground.

At exactly that moment... black clouds began gathering across the sky above them.

The Blind Man wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and climbed back to his feet.

"Look at that. With no one here for you to attach yourself to, you move your body a little and Heaven already wants to strike you with lightning. Why bother?"

"You brought me out... just to say... these things...?"

The Blind Man shook his head.

"Not really. I didn't come out here merely to talk. Since today is such a happy day for everyone, I thought we might as well settle whatever old grudges remained between us. That way, at least there'll be one less knot in our hearts during the days ahead."

The Demon Child drilled back into the red stone.

The stone dropped to the ground.

The Blind Man looked somewhat surprised.

He walked forward and picked it up.

"Done fighting?"

The stone gave no response.

"Heh. Seems I was flattering myself. Fine. We'll call this chapter closed."

The Blind Man took a handkerchief from his sleeve.

He wiped away the blood.

Then climbed back into the carriage.

...

At the same time... a letter left Fengxin City and traveled south.

It passed through crowded roads.

Crossed mountains and ridges.

Endured danger after danger.

Not a moment was wasted.

Several of the couriers who carried it narrowly escaped death.

In the end... the letter landed in a hand with long, slender fingers.

The Regent of Great Chu opened the letter.

He glanced over it once.

Then set it down.

He rose from his Imperial Study and headed toward the palace where the Queen Mother lived.

The Queen Mother had only recently recovered from a serious illness.

She sat before a dressing mirror while maids arranged her hair.

The Regent entered.

Aside from the two maids who still had work in their hands, every eunuch and servant inside the chamber immediately knelt.

"Mother."

"What is it?"

"Little Sister is pregnant."

The Queen Mother nodded.

"Prepare everything she'll need and send it over."

"Your son understands."

The Queen Mother waved one hand.

Every servant withdrew.

Only mother and son remained.

"By rights, what Liqing did on her wedding day disgraced the imperial house. Yet I find that I don't blame her at all. Back when I was only one of your father's consorts, I regarded the dignity of the imperial house as something unbelievably important. It seemed like some sacred thing in Heaven that could not tolerate the slightest offense or desecration. Then you became Regent, which is not much different from being Emperor, and I became Queen Mother. All at once, the dignity of the imperial house stopped seeming so remarkable. Before, it hung in the heavens. Now, it has become something belonging to our own family. Outsiders think it towers above everything. But at the end of the day... it's just our family's rolling pin. I've read all the letters Liqing sent me. From them, I can tell that Marquis Pingxi of Yan, the man who likes digging up other people's ancestral graves, at least treats his own women very well. Outside, he can be as hardheaded and outrageous as he likes. If he can let the women in his own home live comfortably, then he still counts as a man. I'm not saying this to make things difficult for you as Emperor. I'm simply wondering whether there might be another way. This isn't your mother becoming lonely in the rear palace and deciding she wants to interfere in politics. What I'm thinking is this: When the late Emperor of Yan was alive, wasn't there once talk of reducing Situ Lei, Emperor of Cheng, to the title of State Lord? Essentially acknowledging a state within a state?"

"Mother's meaning is clear to me. But I don't think it would accomplish much. First, my brother-in-law has always had a very large appetite. Second, the new sovereign of Yan has clearly inherited his father's style. Toward my brother-in-law, he shows no intention of fearing him or holding him down."

"Still, we ought to send a proper gift, shouldn't we? Whether it works or not can wait. Disgusting them a little would still be worthwhile. He's only a Marquis right now. By Great Chu's standards for an imperial son-in-law, why don't we enfeoff him as a Prince? A State Lord would be fine too. Force the Yan court on the other side... to add a few more weights to the scale as well."

"Mother."

"Mm?"

"Your son understands."

"Then treat it as nothing more than an old woman's nonsense."

"Mother speaks too seriously."

The Regent left the sleeping chamber and returned to his Imperial Study.

Grand General Nian Yao had just arrived and was waiting there.

"This slave pays respects to Master. May Master enjoy ten thousand years of health and fortune!"

"Rise."

"Thank you, Master."

"I just returned from the Queen Mother. Liqing is pregnant. The Queen Mother's thought is that I should grant our imperial son-in-law the title of Prince."

Grand General Nian's expression stiffened immediately.

"What? Jealous?"

"This slave would not dare. What this slave fears is that Master grants him a title today, and tomorrow he immediately leads troops across the border. If that happens, Master will lose far too much face."

"I think so too. Phoenix Nest's latest report says that after the Yan destroyed the Barbarian Royal Court, Tian Wujing apparently never returned. The Prince Jingnan banner that appeared by the Wei River some days ago could not have been Tian Wujing himself. I'll have to trouble you again. Go back there and watch the front for another half year. Return to court after my enthronement."

"This slave obeys."

"Don't embarrass me."

"Master jests. If the man opposite me were Tian Wujing, this slave could only promise Master that I would do my best. But if Tian Wujing isn't there... then this slave truly isn't afraid of our imperial son-in-law."

[End of Chapter 768]