Chapter 816: Look at You

The Blind Man drank his tea.

Across from him, Shopkeeper Xiao sat ramrod straight with both hands resting on his knees. He did not dare let his eyes wander, even though the man before him was blind.

Somewhere deep inside, he had the distinct feeling that this blind man could see straight through everything about him.

Thirteen.

Thirteen.

The Blind Man kept “chewing” on that age.

It no longer counted as a little brat.

But barely... it still fit inside the range.

If the boy were already grown, twenty years old or so, then there would be no real need to consider him.

But thirteen... that was awkward.

Not awkward for the other side.

Awkward because of how little they themselves actually understood about the prophecy.

The Blind Man was a man who loved pondering things.

Blindly pondering, one might say.

They still had no concrete clue pointing toward the remaining Demon Kings, but in the Blind Man’s view there were two major factors worth watching.

The first was age.

The second was distribution.

Yan had Tian Tian.

Surely the prophecy would not make every Demon King a “Yan person.”

The other states should receive a few as well.

As for background, there could certainly be one or two born among the common people, but most of them probably would not come from poor origins.

Their starting point mattered.

At any time, grassroots origins were more likely to be a decorative exception, included merely to prove such people existed.

There was one more factor too.

They should all possess some degree of fate and fortune.

That did not mean such people could not be killed.

But it was difficult to imagine one dying early from a headache and fever, or getting his throat cut incidentally when bandits broke into the house to rob it.

The Xie Clan.

A thousand-li colt.

Thirteen years old.

Of Great Chu’s Four Pillars of State, only the Xie Clan remained entirely intact.

And on Master’s achievement board... only this one was still unlit.

Interesting.

A little interesting.

Originally, the Blind Man had only been making another casual move.

There were too many variables.

The other side had just been beaten by them once.

It was entirely possible they would distrust the proposal or simply refuse to move at all.

The last man willing to gamble everything had been Nian Yao.

The next one would certainly think carefully before taking the same sort of risk.

But if the boy truly was one of the Demon Kings... the Blind Man suddenly felt a little more confidence in this “cooperation.”

If you are one of them... then let me see what you can do.

“Oh.”

The Blind Man suddenly made a sound.

Shopkeeper Xiao’s body twitched.

“Your Young Master. Are his eyes good?”

“This... this slave does not understand what Mister means.”

“I mean his eyes. Do they work well?”

“His eyes?”

“Yes. There’s no hidden meaning. I am simply asking about his eyesight.”

“This slave has never heard that the Young Master suffers from any eye disease.”

“Ah.”

The Blind Man sighed.

If the boy had been blind from birth, that would have matched rather nicely.

Then again... the Blind Man himself had not been born blind either.

“Carry one more sentence back for me.”

“Mister, please speak.”

“Tell your Young Master to protect his eyes.”

As he spoke... the Blind Man took an orange from his pocket.

In front of Shopkeeper Xiao, he peeled it and tossed the flesh to Dai Li.

Dai Li, overwhelmed by the favor, swallowed it in one bite.

His expression looked blissful.

The Blind Man pointed at Dai Li and said to Shopkeeper Xiao:

“For example, things like oranges that easily cause internal heat. Tell him not to eat too many.”

...

Once Shopkeeper Xiao received his instructions, he left.

His men could handle the business.

He himself would return as quickly as possible.

The Blind Man, meanwhile, enjoyed a peaceful lunch with his wife Yuexin.

There were only the two of them at home, and Yuexin had brought the food back from the Prince Residence’s administrative office, so their household had very few rules at the dining table.

“Husband, Father wrote to say Grandfather’s health has been poor since last winter.”

Yuexin’s grandfather was Wen Sutong.

Years ago, Zheng Fan had followed Li Fusheng into Qian and fought his way into the commandery capital of Chuzhou. Wen Sutong, who had already retired from office and returned home, was forcibly dragged back into service by Zheng Fan and made to serve for a time as a “puppet.”

When the Yan army later withdrew, the entire Wen family moved with them into Yan.

Old Master Wen had recognized Zheng Fan as a promising stock early.

Not only did he betroth his granddaughter to the Blind Man, he also sent the younger members of the Wen family to work under Zheng Fan at an early stage.

Several years had passed.

There had been reshuffling and pruning along the way, but quite a few Wen Clan juniors who genuinely knew how to work had developed well beneath the Prince Residence.

Old Master Wen himself had remained in Yanjing all these years.

As a model example of someone who had “submitted,” he had been treated generously by the late Emperor.

After the new sovereign ascended the throne, the honors did not cease.

He held no real authority.

But his signboard remained bright.

“Want to go back and visit?” the Blind Man asked.

“May I?” Yuexin sounded hopeful.

“If you want to go, go. I’ll arrange people to escort you.”

“Thank you, Husband.”

“No need to be so formal.”

After lunch... as they cleared the bowls and chopsticks...

Yuexin said:

“Elder Sister Feng asked Husband to visit when you have time.”

Then she added:

“It isn’t urgent.”

“Then I’ll go now.”

“In that case, I’ll clear this tonight.”

Yuexin washed her hands, helped her husband into an outer robe, then supported him as they left the house together.

Their home, like the Sword Saint’s, stood right beside the Prince Residence.

Strictly speaking, it was a small side courtyard attached to the Residence itself.

On the road, they happened to meet Xue San and Fan Li coming out of the Residence.

Xue San bent slightly at the waist.

“Yo. Eaten?”

Yuexin gave a half-curtsy.

“We have.”

“Heading back to the work unit after lunch?”

“Work unit?”

“Yes,” the Blind Man answered.

Then he asked:

“What about you two?”

“They found a silver mine near the Tianduan Mountains. Ah Li and I are going to take a look.”

“A silver mine?”

“No idea how large the deposit is. Don’t know how difficult it’ll be to extract either. Don’t expect too much. I’ll do a preliminary inspection first. If it looks promising, I’ll call you over to take a look together.”

“Good.”

After separating from Xue San and Fan Li, the Blind Man entered the administrative office first.

Yuexin went to another yamen to collect the memorials and reports for the afternoon.

By now, she was essentially one of Siniang’s assistants.

When the Blind Man entered, Siniang was reclining sideways in her chair.

One hand rested over her slightly rounded belly.

The other flipped through documents.

“Don’t work too hard,” the Blind Man said.

Siniang laughed.

“What, warning me to be careful not to disturb the pregnancy?”

“I trust your constitution. But getting pregnant is rare enough for you that you should at least look a little like a pregnant woman. Unless you plan to keep having more.”

Hearing that...

Siniang suddenly remembered the words the old monk had shouted that day in the Gourd Temple while smashing his forehead bloody.

“What is it?” the Blind Man asked, immediately sensing something different.

“Nothing.”

Siniang had no intention of telling him.

“Did you need something?” the Blind Man asked again.

“Yes.”

Siniang pulled out a report and waved it.

“This is the money, grain, weapons, and replacement troops scheduled for Fan City this summer.”

“Mm. What about it?”

“There’s quite a bit more money and grain than expected.”

“Gou Moli has a difficult job holding Fan City.”

“You two are close enough now. Fine. More money and grain than planned is one thing. But why are the replacement troops mostly Savages again?”

“They’re easier for him to control. As long as Gou Moli hasn’t gone stupid, he won’t rebel in Fan City. What would he do, submit to Chu?”

“That isn’t what I’m worried about.”

“Then what is?”

“The additional money and grain. The replacement troops dominated by Savages. Master’s original intention was for Gou Moli to manage Fan City properly, rebuild its defensive system, and hammer that nail firmly into place. But looking at this report... I can see another meaning. You’re planning to make trouble, aren’t you?”

“He only has so many soldiers. What trouble can he possibly make?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you.” Siniang looked at him. “Gou Moli understands how to behave. He would never raise this kind of request on his own. This report was definitely altered by you.”

“Yes.”

“Master hasn’t even had time to settle accounts with you over what happened at the princely investiture ceremony, and now you’re already trying to make trouble again?”

“It’ll be trouble inside Chu. That’s fine.”

“Really?”

“What sort of person am I? Don’t you know me by now?”

“Precisely because I know you too well, I’m asking. And I can say for certain you still haven’t told me the truth.”

Siniang smiled.

“I’m not approving this report.”

The Blind Man shook his head and sighed.

“I discovered something.”

“Speak.”

“The Xie Clan has a Young Master. Thirteen years old. Already capable of handling affairs independently.”

“You can’t just find any random child and stuff him into that prophecy,” Siniang said dismissively.

“We still have to test. Look, the cost of trial and error is nothing more than some extra money and grain plus a few more Savage troops. That’s already an extremely low price.”

“Blind Man. We are family.”

“An honor.”

“Don’t play with fire. If you genuinely anger Master, the rest of us won’t be able to speak for you either.”

“Actually, Master himself doesn’t seem to have any clear intention. I mean in this particular matter. Master is cautious enough, but also lazy enough. We are very powerful now. Not us personally. Our faction. But Prince Zhenbei Residence has already been ‘pacified.’ Great Yan’s westernmost military domain now exists in name only. A three-legged balance should have been the most stable arrangement. Once the Emperor finishes dealing with everything else, however, we will immediately begin to look... isolated. I’m not having people sew imperial robes and forcing Master to rebel tomorrow. What I am doing is making sure the foundation all of us worked so hard to build can continue existing steadily. So that it can support our freedom... and Master’s freedom... to do whatever the hell we please.”

Siniang remained silent for a long time.

Then she asked:

“How certain are you about the Xie Clan boy?”

“We have to look first. I haven’t even begun testing him. If we test him and catch a scent, then from that point onward we’ll finally have a target to focus on.”

“Fine.”

Siniang nodded.

“Oh, right.” The Blind Man seemed to remember something else. “There is one thing I think I should warn you about in advance.”

“Go on.”

“The pregnancy is still early now. But you should start preparing.”

“You’re worried about a difficult birth? I trust Xue San’s knife work. And I can sew cosmetic sutures myself.”

“I’m not worried about childbirth itself,” the Blind Man said. “I’m worried about problems that may appear after another few months, once the pregnancy becomes much more obvious.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your child is certain to be unusual. Our bloodlines are still there. A’Ming and Liang Cheng make that most obvious. Their strength may not be at its peak, but the foundation of their bloodlines is absolutely real. So genetically, your child will start from a very high point. I’m not saying the child will be born able to fight and smash things like Nezha. That would be too absurd. But... compared with yourself at your peak, your current condition is not much different from another kind of ‘severely injured state.’ I’m afraid that once the pregnancy advances far enough, your body, in your present condition, may not be able to bear the burden.”

Siniang looked down at her belly.

“I understand. I’ll prepare.”

“I didn’t think of this before, so I kept blaming Master for dragging the bloodline down. Now... if you want to deliver the child safely, we can only hope Master keeps dragging it down a little more.”

“Hope I do what?”

At that moment, Prince Pingxi happened to walk in carrying a bowl of white-fungus soup.

The Blind Man smiled.

“We were discussing the child. This subordinate thinks the child will probably resemble Master more in the future.”

Zheng Fan carried the soup over and looked at the Blind Man.

“You think I’m Fan Li? That easy to fool?”

“Master misunderstands. Fan Li is not easy to fool.”

“Heh. Look at you.”

...

The imperial procession was still traveling toward the capital.

After returning from the alliance meeting, the Emperor of Chu had taken the opportunity to conduct a southern inspection of his own state.

Inside the imperial carriage... the Emperor sat reviewing memorials.

A beautiful young man sat below him, reading reports delivered by the Phoenix Nest Internal Guard while peeling a mandarin orange.

The air inside the carriage was filled with the fragrance of citrus peel.

The Chu Emperor set down his brush and lightly massaged his wrist.

Looking at the young man below, he smiled.

“Eat too many and you’ll get internal heat.”

Xie Yu’an answered:

“Your Majesty, this subject does not actually like eating oranges.”

“Oh?”

“This subject likes the feeling of peeling them. It makes this subject... very happy.”

[End of Chapter 816]