Chapter 912: The Sword Saint's Sigh

Zheng Lin was still baring his gums and glaring toward that stone gate.

Of course, the reality of it was far more babyishly fierce than genuinely terrifying.

But at this moment, Zheng Fan, his biological father, understood what his son meant.

There was a kind of invisible bond between father and son.

Even when a child could not speak... sometimes you still seemed able to understand him.

And likewise...

Zheng Fan was not the only person who could see clearly what Zheng Lin’s reaction meant.

In the end... once the “ancestor worship” concluded, Zheng Fan left with the Princess Consorts and the children.

At the rear walked Fan Li, A’Ming, and Xue San.

Third Master muttered quietly:

“Master used to rely on us. Then he found himself a foster father to rely on. Then a sworn elder brother. I keep thinking that once the children grow up, Master will still be able to keep relying on them. To spend an entire life relying on people so openly and thoroughly... Aiyo. Truly enviable.”

He was not mocking.

Not teasing either.

He meant every word.

This fortune.

This fate.

It practically defied Heaven itself.

But after thinking more carefully... perhaps that was precisely what made Master so formidable.

According to that Daoist whose bird had been blown apart...

Master was a Rootless Person, rejected by Heaven and Earth.

When he was weak, accidents could easily happen and kill him young.

Fortunately, Master had always known how to lean against mountains.

Otherwise, with only the Demon Kings themselves supporting him, those early years might genuinely have been difficult to survive.

Perhaps this was simply what it meant to answer every move with a counter.

Fan Li nodded.

“Master has good fate.”

“Yes. Good fate is something you really can’t learn,” Third Master said.

He rolled his neck and quietly pulled a military dagger from his clothes.

“You think there’s any chance our godson will choose my dagger during the Grasping of Fortune?”

The Grasping of Fortune was only a ceremony.

A process.

Something carrying auspicious symbolism.

But for Zheng Lin... it was not nearly so simple.

He had been born already as the Heir Prince.

And he had so many Demon King uncles who had been waiting for him long before he arrived.

Whether one called it future ambition or simply future interests and hobbies... it would be wrong to say everything had already been arranged.

But at the very least... the lobbying campaign had already begun.

“Why not an apothecary?” A’Ming asked.

The image of a dwarf standing beside a bubbling green vat did, admittedly, fit extremely well.

And in Third Master’s case... it was not even inaccurate.

“So I smeared several kinds of poison on the dagger,” Third Master said.

Then he lifted the blade to his lips and licked it.

The poison was harmless so long as there was no wound and it did not enter the bloodstream.

“What did you prepare?” Xue San asked A’Ming. “Fine wine or human blood?”

“Wine,” A’Ming answered.

“That’s remarkably restrained of you,” Third Master said.

A’Ming glanced at him.

“I don’t believe Master and Siniang would allow me to put human blood openly on the table. And likewise... I don’t believe your poisoned dagger will be allowed there either.”

Third Master froze.

Then cursed:

“Fuck. I acted too rashly.”

“A’Li, what did you prepare?” A’Ming asked.

“Nothing,” Fan Li answered.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Why?”

Fan Li scratched his head.

“Because I was too late.”

...

That night...

Prince Pingxi Residence was covered in lanterns and bright as day.

For a household that usually preferred quiet, such a noisy grand occasion was rare.

Among all the territories governed by Prince Pingxi Residence... apart from Gongsun Zhi and Gong Wang, who had only just taken office at Snow Sea Pass and Zhennan Pass, nearly every senior general had gathered in Fengxin City to report for duty.

They dared concentrate so many commanders in one place because they had confidence.

As long as Snow Sea Pass did not fall, nothing would happen in the snowfields.

As long as Zhennan Pass and Fan City remained in their hands, Chu could not make trouble.

As for the west... unless Ji Old Sixth had three curses placed on him in a row and then swallowed an entire vat of pig fat in one breath, there was no chance he would choose this moment to move against the feudal lords.

And to speak bluntly... if the Emperor truly tried something like that, the intelligence and personal networks the Blind Man and Siniang had built long ago made it impossible for eastern Jin to be caught unaware.

That was why Prince Pingxi Residence could afford to stage something resembling all the heroes gathering in a sworn-brotherhood hall.

Naturally... that comfortable strategic situation had been won through the campaigns of the previous two years.

The banquet began.

The military officers sat together.

The civil officials under Prince Pingxi Residence sat together too.

Everyone ate and drank.

Neither side interfered with the other.

A division between civil and military administration had already begun to take shape.

Prince Pingxi himself had risen by grasping both military and civil authority in one hand.

But going forward...

Prince Pingxi Residence relied primarily on the Standard Household system, supplemented by various other institutions.

Together, these had already greatly weakened the local governing power of the great field commanders.

In plain language...

I already walked this road.

Now that I’m done with it...

I’ve blocked it behind me so no one else can follow.

The generals naturally did not dare resent their own Prince.

So they directed their irritation toward the civil officials.

But the head of the civil bureaucracy was Mr. Bei.

Even the rough military men did not dare become too presumptuous.

So both sides simply ignored one another.

Only when the Prince himself appeared did everyone stand and gather to welcome him.

“Sit. Sit.”

The Prince waved everyone down.

Then he took a cup of wine and went table by table, offering each group a toast.

Everyone at each table drained their cups.

He merely touched the wine to his lips.

Nobody complained.

Nobody urged him to drink more.

Once he had completed the round...

Chen Daole brought out a series of scrolls.

They were not imperial decrees.

But they were yellow.

He began reviewing the achievements eastern Jin had made during the past year under the leadership of Prince Pingxi Residence.

Most concerned local administration.

That was the civil officials’ domain.

Then came rewards.

Prince Pingxi Residence would raise benefits and allowances.

As for official appointments, the Residence had authority to appoint local officials, but the paperwork still had to be sent to Yanjing for the seal to be added.

After that...

He Chunlai, like Chen Daole before him, took out his own scrolls and began reviewing the military achievements of the past year.

This part was rather awkward.

The most glorious victory of the previous year had not been fought by eastern Jin’s direct-line troops.

So the list of achievements sounded somewhat miserable.

For example... operations against Savage tribes that refused submission.

Could that really be called a military operation?

The regular army only needed to send a few representatives.

Dogleg Savage tribes like the Hailan Tribe would happily flatten the offending settlement themselves.

Then there were border clashes with Chu.

Could those truly be called clashes?

A few dozen scout riders biting at each other along the frontier...

The only achievements remotely worthy of display came from Fan City.

After Gou Moli stabilized Fan City early on, he began actively expanding his influence.

There had been no large-scale pitched battles.

But small victories came one after another.

The Savage King who had once swept across most of Jin now stood on the smaller stage of Fan City... and still managed to thrive magnificently.

Unfortunately... he remained in Fan City.

He had not returned.

Compared with the civil officials’ solid improvements across every category of administration... the more the generals listened to this military summary, the more depressed they became.

Only Keyan Dongge, invited here by special exception, continued obediently drinking and eating.

Even Jin Shuke, normally the calmest among them, had put down his chopsticks and become solemn.

But the Prince himself sat there watching everyone.

Nobody dared voice any grievance.

He Chunlai began reading the military rewards.

Compared with the civil side, where promotions and new titles had been handed out in large numbers... the rewards for the military looked meager.

Mostly silver and goods.

And not even especially large amounts.

Every general whose name was called stood, knelt, and accepted his reward.

But one after another... they looked listless.

Fortunately, the oppressive atmosphere did not last long.

The Prince rose from his chair.

He asked:

“Do you think... it’s too little?”

Instantly... every military officer jolted.

All of them left their seats and dropped to their knees together.

“This subordinate general would not dare!”

“This subordinate general would not dare!”

Once all the generals knelt, the civil officials on the other side also stood.

But they did not kneel with them.

The Prince began pacing slowly.

The banquet hall, which had been noisy moments before... now held only the sound of his boots scraping against the brick floor.

“By ordinary logic, this is the point where I should say a few uplifting words. Comfort all of you. Raise morale. Then everyone can finish this meal full of fighting spirit. After that... we can all go watch my son perform his Grasping of Fortune. But somehow... I’ve lost the mood.”

At that moment...

Keyan Dongge spoke:

“Your Highness, we are guilty.”

Immediately, every nearby general echoed:

“We are guilty.”

“No. You are not guilty. No guilt. It’s simply that I... I feel unhappy. A few days ago, I went up the mountain to pray. While offering wine there... I thought about the brothers who once stood beside me and fought for me. The brothers who died in Jin territory were fortunate enough. We could at least recover their bones. But what about the brothers who died in Chu? The brothers who died in Qian? We... can receive rewards here. We can drink here. What about them? Have wild dogs and vultures already eaten their bones clean? Without blood offerings... are they hungry? Are they cold? Compared with them... I... all of you... aren’t we far too fortunate?”

The generals remained prostrate.

Not one spoke.

“Life keeps improving. Eastern Jin will advance another great step every single year. We will have powerful armies and strong horses. We will have full granaries and abundant supplies. We will have seas of laborers. We will. We definitely will. I do not intend to lead all of you out merely to gather the bones of those comrades who died in foreign lands and bring them home. I intend to make the places where they sleep... our own land. I want the brothers sleeping outside... to wake up and find themselves sleeping at home. So yes. I’m angry. And all of you... sitting here with those damned funeral faces... who the hell are you showing them to!”

The Prince erupted.

That roar came down like thunder.

Several generals could visibly be seen trembling.

It was not an act.

Prince Pingxi normally disliked dealing with mundane administrative matters.

Because of that, he was genuinely less familiar with the civil officials.

They feared him.

But in the army... his authority was something one could practically see.

These people had fought beside him in battle after battle from the early years.

Their reverence for Prince Pingxi came from the bones.

“If you feel wronged... I will allow you to remove your armor and return to the fields right now. If you feel your career is being delayed... I can guarantee you an equivalent post in Yan proper. If you feel I am favoring one side and mistreating another... say it. I will personally make up the reward you think you deserve. And afterward... get the hell away from me. As far away as you can! Are you afraid there will be no wars left to fight? Afraid there will be no merit left to earn? Qian and Chu still stand! Plenty of small states still refuse the King’s transforming virtue! The achievements are sitting there in the open, waiting for you! Wait two or three years. You can’t even wait that long? Do I really need to explain this logic to you... on this day... in this place? If you can’t even understand something this simple... then that brain of yours... isn’t fit to serve under me. I’m afraid one day... that pig brain will get me killed!”

The Prince stood there alone, furiously berating them.

More than two hundred civil and military officials filled the courtyard.

Not one made a sound.

“I said... stop giving me those damned funeral faces.”

The generals kneeling on the ground looked confused.

Then they tried to twist their expressions.

They did not quite understand what counted as “not wearing a funeral face.”

So the results looked exceptionally strange.

“Smile.”

“Heh-heh...”

“Heh-heh...”

“I can’t hear you.”

“Heh-heh-heh...”

“Heh-heh-heh...”

“Louder!”

“Hahahahahaha!”

“Hahahahahaha!”

All the generals burst into loud laughter.

The Prince laughed with them.

Then... his gaze shifted toward the civil officials.

In an instant... every civil official swept by that gaze felt a chill run down his back.

No one knew who started it.

Perhaps simply the few with the weakest nerves.

Several dropped directly to their knees.

Everyone else followed.

“Ha... hahahaha...”

Very soon... laughter echoed throughout the vast courtyard of Prince Pingxi Residence.

Not far away... at a separate table for members of the household...

Tian Tian and Ji Chuanye stood by the railing and watched the scene.

“My Imperial Father cannot make his ministers act like this,” Ji Chuanye said.

His father did not lack imperial authority.

Imperial Grandfather had already prepared the road for him.

But his father’s ministers... would never be this obedient.

Obedient to the point that when the Emperor ordered them to laugh... they all laughed together.

In Ji Chuanye’s mind, principles from books his tutors had taught him in the palace began surfacing.

For example:

If the ruler regards his minister as an enemy, the minister will regard the ruler as an enemy in return.

But Ji Chuanye also understood clearly... the scene before him was not like that.

Those people kneeling at one word from his Godfather... then laughing at another... would not hate Godfather.

They would not feel humiliated by him.

Ji Chuanye had not gone over and personally asked them.

But the Crown Prince believed the answer had to be this.

Were these people... simply more shameless than Imperial Father’s ministers?

Tian Tian pursed his lips.

He wanted to explain it to his little brother.

Unfortunately... he discovered he could not.

At that moment... the Blind Man walked behind them.

He said:

“His Majesty inherited the late Emperor’s officials. In truth, some of those foundations go back even farther, into older institutions and ancestral systems. The Prince... personally built and selected his followers from beginning to end. One inherited the shop as its next manager. The other founded the business as its owner. They are different.”

Most founding rulers in history paid little attention to rules.

They held enormous power personally and could mold the people beneath them almost however they pleased.

After several generations...

Emperors began speaking more and more about rules.

Ministers began shouting about “making the ruler equal to Yao and Shun.”

It was not because several generations of development had simply refined everyone into nobles.

At the root... imperial power had contracted.

It had declined.

Ji Chuanye nodded thoughtfully.

Then he bowed to the Blind Man.

The Blind Man did not feel there was anything taboo about saying such things to the Crown Prince.

This Crown Prince had already seen plenty of far more taboo scenes in eastern Jin.

Besides... there were some matters Prince Pingxi Residence, the imperial court, and the Emperor all understood perfectly well without anyone saying them aloud.

The banquet continued.

Inside one hall of the rear residence... everything had already been prepared.

At the center stood a large round table covered with festive red cloth.

Over the cloth sat something resembling an enormous bamboo steamer lid.

Beneath it... the objects for the Grasping of Fortune had already been arranged.

Books.

Seals.

Rulers.

And many others.

But the Grasping of Fortune was, after all, a major occasion.

So certain meticulous people naturally came by in advance to inspect the arrangement.

Third Master arrived first.

He placed a tricolored lotus inside after draining out its poison.

“Heh-heh. Bright and colorful. A child should like this, right?”

When Third Master left... he happened to meet A’Ming walking in.

The two silently nodded at one another and passed.

A’Ming placed a cocktail he had personally mixed inside.

Its colors were brilliant.

When A’Ming came back out... he encountered Liang Cheng heading in.

A’Ming asked immediately:

“Weren’t you kneeling out front laughing?”

“Finished laughing. The banquet is almost over. If I came any later, I’d miss my chance,” Liang Cheng replied.

A’Ming noticed what Liang Cheng held.

Liang Cheng made no attempt to hide it.

He lifted the object.

It was a tiny human-shaped suit of armor.

Not something a child could genuinely wear.

More like a toy.

“What is that? A forged-iron Barbie doll?”

“I made it myself during spare time in the army. Something for the child to play with,” Liang Cheng answered.

“Hypocrite.”

Liang Cheng shook his head and did not bother continuing the argument.

He entered the hall, lifted the “steamer lid,” and placed his item inside.

When Liang Cheng came back out... he actually ran into Fan Li.

“Mm? Didn’t they say you weren’t putting anything in?” Liang Cheng asked.

Fan Li gave a simple grin.

Then pulled an enormous naan from behind his back.

It was almost half a man tall.

“That big? Trying to feed a reincarnated starving ghost?”

Fan Li scratched his head.

“An older child might like it.”

“Fair enough.”

Liang Cheng did not linger.

He walked away.

Everyone could put in whatever they wanted.

At least it counted as fair competition.

But once Fan Li reached the “steamer lid”... he broke open the enormous naan in his hands.

From inside... he took out a sword of extraordinary translucent brilliance.

Then placed it among the Grasping of Fortune objects.

As for the naan...

Fan Li ate it while walking away.

At a corner leading into another courtyard... a graceful figure suddenly jumped down from the wall.

She landed on Fan Li’s shoulder.

Fan Li caught her with one hand and slapped her lightly on the bottom.

The girl used the force naturally and settled onto his shoulder.

At the same time... both arms wrapped familiarly around Fan Li’s neck.

Her toes kicked lightly against his chest.

She asked:

“Did you steal it out?”

“Mm.”

“Put it inside?”

“Mm.”

“Good. Aiyo, but I truly don’t understand why Master didn’t come put it in himself. Could it be because he was the one who originally deposited the Baili Sword with Prince Pingxi Residence... so he’s embarrassed to go ask for it back himself?”

Fan Li shook his head.

“He cares about face.”

...

In the small courtyard next door to Prince Pingxi Residence... the Sword Saint stood by the wall.

The duck that stubbornly refused to return to its coop stood beside his feet.

The Sword Maid was the Sword Saint’s disciple.

That was beyond question.

But her first master... had been Yuan Zhenxing.

In the Sword Maid’s heart, her first master would forever remain Qian’s Second Sword.

The Sword Saint was willing to teach the Sword Maid everything he knew.

But people who practiced the sword often possessed an almost harsh pursuit of perfection.

So once... the Sword Saint had wanted Tian Tian as his disciple.

Tian Tian possessed the body of a spirit child.

Whatever he learned would produce twice the result with half the effort.

But Tian Tian refused.

Refused was refused.

The Sword Saint had long since accepted it.

One could only say... it left a little regret.

Spirit-child bodies were rare.

Having the Sword Maid beside him to inherit his legacy ought already to have been enough.

Then... then... then the Prince Pingxi he had constantly mocked about lacking children... truly demonstrated what it meant for thirty years to belong to the eastern bank of the river and thirty years to the western bank.

Now that bastard had gained not merely a son and a daughter... but both were spirit children!

A Fire Phoenix Spirit Body.

Even among Great Chu’s imperial clan, something like that would make the royal family lose its mind with joy.

And the younger boy... he did not appear to possess a spirit body.

But how could that sealed thing escape the Sword Saint’s senses?

A child who had to be sealed immediately after birth... what kind of monster was that?

The Sword Saint could not help looking into the courtyard.

Liu Dahu was practicing saber techniques.

The Sword Saint’s little son sat in his crib holding a wooden saber.

His elder brother practiced outside.

The baby followed along, waving his own little wooden weapon.

Among the toys inside the crib... there were seven tiny wooden swords of different styles.

And exactly one wooden saber.

The Sword Saint walked over.

He reached down and lifted his son.

The child was very close to his father.

He immediately opened both arms to welcome the embrace.

Without changing expression... the Sword Saint quietly removed the wooden saber.

After holding his son for a while... he placed the child back into the crib.

His son sat there.

His gaze swept over the seven exquisitely carved wooden swords before him.

Once.

Then again.

Finally... the corner of his eye twitched.

“Waaaaah...”

He began crying.

The Sword Saint had no choice but to put the wooden saber back.

The child stopped crying immediately.

He grabbed the saber again.

Then resumed waving it along with the elder brother outside, who was practicing with a real blade.

The Sword Saint turned away.

And released an extraordinarily melancholy sigh.

“Ah...”

[End of Chapter 912]