Chapter 994: The Narrow-Minded Prince (Long Chapter!)

The Swordsmith wore a brocade robe of interwoven blue and black. Long locks hung from his temples and drifted gently in the wind.

Behind him, two young sword attendants each carried a sword case upon his back, their steps light and nimble.

The Swordsmith of Great Chu had arrived at Great Yan’s military camp.

Before reaching the command area, he passed through checkpoint after checkpoint.

The expressions of the two sword attendants had changed from their original calm imitation of their master into tightly suppressed anger and humiliation.

These Yan people were not inspecting them.

They were humiliating them!

Who are you?

Where did you come from?

Why have you come here?

A sword attendant’s status was close to that of a disciple. Again and again, the two boys could only watch their master repeat the same answers.

Yan dogs.

You go too far!

Yet every time their master answered, there was nothing unusual in his expression.

Checkpoint after checkpoint.

Step after step.

At last, the place beneath the great princely standard appeared before them.

The Swordsmith stopped.

The two sword attendants behind him stopped as well.

“How have I taught you? One who holds a sword must keep his heart free of distractions.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

The Swordsmith slowly closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

Of the two boys behind him, one was the son of a bondservant—someone born into what had once been the lowest-status class in Great Chu.

The other was a descendant of the Xiong imperial clan. Publicly, he was described as a collateral clansman.

In truth... he was the youngest son of the present Emperor’s second elder brother.

During the great fire in Ying Capital, the Chu Emperor had sent the rebellious brothers he had captured, together with their families, into the flames alongside the Yan.

But even in something like that... there could still be survivors.

Years ago, when Qian’s tattoo-faced Chancellor was murdered in prison, Master Cang had preserved Li Xundao and taken him up the mountain.

The Swordsmith had enough face to preserve one surviving remnant too.

The Swordsmith turned and looked at his two sword attendants.

They were trying to restrain their emotions.

Not very successfully.

The Swordsmith looked toward his senior disciple.

The boy was called A-Da and had been born into a bondservant family.

Among the Yan, households and sects commonly ranked children as Eldest Son, Second Son, and so forth.

The Chu preferred names like A-Da and A-Er.

“A-Da. Are you still angry?”

A-Da lowered his head.

The Swordsmith then looked toward A-Er, the surviving Xiong descendant.

“A-Er. Seeing this scene, shouldn’t you be happy?”

The Swordsmith had never concealed his true background from him.

By ordinary logic, now that Chu had fallen into such a miserable state, the boy should have felt some satisfaction at seeing his revenge unfold.

“Replying to Master, this slave is not happy. This slave is furious.”

“Why?”

“Because this slave is a Chu man. These mountains and rivers should belong to Great Chu, yet now they are occupied by Yan invaders. Master should be a glory of Great Chu’s Sword Dao, yet now you must carry your sword here and serve a Yan ruler. This slave feels... Great Chu should never have become like this.”

A faint smile appeared at the Swordsmith’s lips.

“A-Da. Your parents were imprisoned and killed by local nobles after offending them. Why are you angry?”

“Replying to Master, this slave does not know.”

“You should know this: the Yan personally rode down their aristocratic clans. The great houses of old Yan were much like the nobles of Chu. The Yan opened the imperial examinations and gave poor scholars a path into office. In the Yan army, merit in battle decides everything. Birth does not. The Yan ruler inside that command tent ahead of us was born among the common people. Put another way, his origin was much like yours. He even dug up graves and opened tombs, making the nobles of Great Chu mourn for a thousand li. So why... are you angry?”

“This slave... does not know. But this slave is angry.”

“Set aside my presence. Imagine I were not here. Would you still be angry?”

A-Da thought about it carefully.

At last, he found his answer.

“Yes.”

“Tell me why.”

“This is the land of Great Chu. Whether Great Chu is good or bad, that judgment should not belong to the Yan. Without the Yan, this slave would follow Master and properly practice swordsmanship and sword forging. If this slave’s own cultivation were insufficient, then I could forge a famous sword and gift it to someone who could help me kill my enemies. I would personally avenge my parents. I would personally carry a sword against corrupt nobles. And if one day the Emperor of Great Chu or some great Chancellor of Chu chose to imitate the Yan and ride down the aristocratic clans, then I would order my own future sword attendants to carry my swords and serve as the spearhead for the ruler and Chancellor. But whatever happened, we should never need to borrow the Yan’s hand to do it. The Yan are outsiders in the end. The Yan harbor the ambitions of wolves. The Yan... are not of our kind.”

After saying all that, A-Da looked somewhat nervously toward the Swordsmith.

“Master... did this slave say something wrong?”

In this age, a master’s responsibility was both to transmit skill and establish virtue.

Compared with teaching skill... helping a disciple establish character came first.

“You said nothing wrong,” the Swordsmith answered.

A-Da exhaled in relief.

“But do you know that the first person who borrowed a Yan blade to kill Chu people was His Majesty himself? And do you know that although there has long been a claim that, a century ago, Qian’s Emperor Taizong chose to launch his northern expedition because he had secretly coordinated with the Barbarian Royal Court to divide Yan from two sides, that has never been more than a claim? Yet the first ruler to openly and legitimately ally with foreign Savages... was Great Chu?”

“...” A-Da.

The Swordsmith did not continue.

He turned around and resumed walking.

Ahead...

Brocade-Clad personal guards blocked the way.

“Surrender your swords,” one guard ordered.

“Hahahaha.”

The Swordsmith laughed.

“If I surrender the swords, did His Highness summon me here merely to play chess and listen to music?”

“Let him through.”

A voice came from behind.

The Brocade-Clad guards immediately moved aside.

The speaker was the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint held no official post in eastern Jin.

But having no official post somehow made his standing greater than any office.

There was no need to say more.

One only had to watch the village operas of eastern Jin, where the Sword Saint was practically inseparable from their Prince, to understand.

Earlier, when the Fan City troops had nearly slipped beyond Gou Moli’s control, it was the Sword Saint who appeared to hold the field, representing the Prince’s will and lending Gou Moli legitimacy.

The Brocade-Clad guards withdrew.

The Swordsmith stepped forward.

The Sword Saint said:

“Aren’t you a little too harsh with your disciples? They’re still young.”

Clearly, the Sword Saint had “heard” the earlier conversation between the Swordsmith and his two attendants.

The Swordsmith shook his head.

“Some principles have to be understood by themselves.”

“And have you understood them?” the Sword Saint asked.

“No,” the Swordsmith answered bluntly. “Right now, I do not even understand why I have appeared here. And somehow I’m not here to assassinate that man, but to protect him.”

“You know why,” the Sword Saint said. “The Dugu Clan, like the Xie Clan, has to find itself a road of retreat and a new home. Your surname is Dugu, after all. So if you yourself are unwilling to face that truth, why insist that your disciples confront and penetrate it?”

“Blue comes from indigo and surpasses indigo. In this life I’m no match for you. Naturally, I have to put my hopes on the disciple generation.”

The Sword Saint heard this.

Even someone as composed as he was could not stop the corner of his mouth from rising.

The Swordsmith’s heart gave a jolt.

Damn it.

I handed him a ladder!

The Sword Saint said:

“I’m afraid you won’t have that chance. These two disciples of yours are indeed first-rate talents. I can see they have already begun resonating with the swords inside the cases on their backs. Whether in sword forging or swordsmanship, they will both become first-rate talents in the future. Given enough time, they will not be inferior to the so-called Four Great Swordsmen of our generation. But... only to *our generation*.”

The Sword Saint sighed.

“My oldest disciple is from Qian. Upright, honest, and a little stupid. He’s only scraped his way into Third Grade now, so I can barely be bothered mentioning him. My female disciple is a natural Sword Embryo. She is only Fourth Grade at present, still some distance from Third Grade. Not worth mentioning either. As for my two youngest disciples, they are the most troublesome of all. Always giving their old master headaches. My youngest female disciple was born able to resonate with Longyuan’s sword intent. I had to painfully part with Longyuan and give it to her early. My heart still aches when I think about it. As for that youngest male disciple, he’s even worse. When he was still nursing, he was constantly spraying sword qi around and cutting apart crib after crib. Who knows how many good things he ruined? Ai... what a worry.”

The Swordsmith rolled his eyes at the Sword Saint.

Damn it.

He really got to show off.

At their age, and at their level, victory and defeat had actually been settled long ago.

Back by the river, when he and the Baili Sword joined forces to block the Sword Saint two against one, that had already marked the dividing line.

But the two of them had also long since stopped caring much about those old victories and defeats.

They preferred looking toward the future.

Toward whose inheritors would ultimately prove stronger.

“You really made a profit,” the Swordsmith said. “Tell me something. Back then, did you start following that bastard Zheng so early because you somehow knew the two children he’d have later would both be spirit children? Were you squatting beside the henhouse like a weasel, waiting to pick up free eggs?”

The Sword Saint did not become angry.

Instead, he laughed.

“That’s exactly right. That’s what I was after. Tell me, did I profit?”

“Have some shame.”

“How many jin of iron is shame worth? How many liang of sword can it forge?” the Sword Saint countered. “Ten years from now, the Four Great Swordsmen of the jianghu will all be swept up by my Yu Huaping lineage.”

“Old Yu, you’re getting carried away.”

“Absolutely.”

“But the jianghu is still only the jianghu. I thought you had already jumped out of it. Turns out you’re still here. You know perfectly well how high officials of the court actually view you—view us, view this thing called... the jianghu. Even Tian Wujing said it years ago. The jianghu? Beneath notice.”

The Swordsmith was arguing purely for the sake of arguing now.

He simply could not stand watching the Sword Saint act so smug.

When all was said and done, every one of these men looked like grandmasters before outsiders, untouched by mortal smoke and dust only because the gap between them and ordinary people was too great.

Put them together privately, however... and they were no different from drinking companions among porters and hawkers bragging inside a tavern.

If it was time to curse, they cursed.

If it was time to be jealous, they got jealous.

If it was time to show off, they showed off.

If it was time to mock one another, they did that too.

Hearing this, the Sword Saint released a long sigh.

As though the words had touched a sore point.

The Swordsmith smiled first.

Then suddenly realized something was wrong.

Damn it.

Again?

“Hahahahahahaha...”

The Sword Saint burst into full laughter.

There had always been a jianghu inside his heart.

Unfortunately, there were very few people with whom he could share it.

Li Liangshen had ceased counting long ago.

The Baili Sword was dead.

Count them up... and nobody suited him better than the Swordsmith.

“I admit Tian Wujing’s words were half right and half wrong.”

The Sword Saint grinned.

“So my two youngest closed-door disciples... one sat on the Dragon Throne at the recent ceremony and received the kneeling salutes of Yan and Chu. The other is Heir Prince of Great Yan’s Regent Prince. Among people who practice the sword, none has a higher status than they do. Among people with higher status, none has better swordsmanship than they do. The jianghu? Fine. Maybe it really does count as a fart. Anyway, even if they can’t beat someone in the future, they can just call people over. Call his mother’s hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand iron cavalry. That’ll be enough to plow this jianghu back and forth several times.”

“Old Yu. If you’re going to be like this every day from now on, I truly won’t be able to stay here.”

“Only this once.”

“Then laugh a little more.”

The Swordsmith turned and glanced at his two disciples.

Suddenly... his two precious disciples did not seem nearly as fragrant as before.

“Come. I’ll take you to meet His Highness.”

“Fine.”

The Swordsmith followed the Sword Saint toward the command tent.

Just then...

Chen Xianba happened to emerge from inside carrying a stack of memorials.

The Swordsmith saw Chen Xianba.

Chen Xianba saw the Swordsmith.

Years earlier, Chen Xianba had indeed been noticed by the Prince at a very young age.

But the battle that truly laid the foundation of his rise was the thousand-li rush to reinforce Fan City... where Chen Xianba cut off Dugu Mu’s head.

In other words... the head of the Swordsmith’s grandfather.

Chen Xianba handed the stack of memorials to a nearby personal guard.

A smile appeared at his lips.

His right hand curled into a fist.

He pressed it against his chest.

Then bowed slightly.

“Greetings, Lord Swordsmith.”

The person Chen Xianba admired most in this life was his Prince.

Without realizing it, he imitated the Prince’s movements and habits.

Sometimes he even chewed them over afterward, trying to understand the deeper meaning.

Just like that day in the command tent, with the way his Prince had arranged things around Xie Yu’an—including ordering Chen Xianba himself to apologize.

Only afterward did Chen Xianba realize...

*that* was true finesse!

So the moment he recognized the Swordsmith, he greeted him with extreme respect.

The Swordsmith smiled faintly and returned the greeting according to Chu custom.

If cutting down Dugu Mu had been the battle that truly established the young man’s foundation... if taking three thousand cavalry back and forth across both banks of the Wei River had shown the arrogance of youth... then leading a small cavalry force a hundred li in pursuit of Xie Zhuyang could be called the finest proof that Chen Xianba had already established himself as a representative of eastern Jin’s new generation of generals.

Perhaps the victory personally commanded by the Prince in Shanggu Commandery had been too brilliant, overshadowing the fighting between Fan City and Guyue City.

But in truth... the nearly miraculous cavalry tactics employed by the young commanders Chen Xianba and Tian Tian had tormented Pillar of State Xie until he practically shed an entire layer of skin.

They had missed it by only a tiny amount.

Truly only a tiny amount.

The Regent Prince had nearly achieved the accomplishment of collecting the heads of all four Great Chu Pillars of State.

And Chen Xianba himself would have personally claimed half of them.

Zheng Fan had once worried that perhaps he had made the overall situation too favorable, changing the environment and growth trajectories of Chen Xianba and Tian Tian so much that they might never reach the achievements they had attained on the original path.

Looking at things now... he had worried for nothing.

The Prince had barely reread the report of the battle in Shanggu Commandery.

Instead, he repeatedly studied the detailed reports from Chen Xianba and Tian Tian’s side.

Zheng Fan considered himself a student made after birth.

He had learned and imitated continuously until he reached his current position.

But some people were born with a different script.

There truly were people who seemed to know by birth.

That was not superstition.

There was simply no other way to explain it.

They were so young... yet they simply knew how to command a battle.

Perhaps if you asked them to write a military classic today, they could not do it.

Throw them onto a battlefield, however... and they simply knew what response to make.

In the Swordsmith’s eyes... a vast aura of blood qi coiled around Chen Xianba.

That meant even if the young man had never entered the army and walked only the path of a Martial Artist, he still could have achieved a very high realm.

“Back when you commanded troops along the Wei River, I once considered finding an opportunity to kill you.”

Chen Xianba nodded.

“I know.”

“Oh?”

“There were several occasions when Chu’s deployments looked strange. Thinking back, you probably wanted to lure me into overextending. I didn’t take the bait.”

“What a pity.”

“Yes. Every time I requested a squad of Brocade-Clad personal guards from the Prince and prepared to advance recklessly, the Chu suddenly returned to normal.”

The Swordsmith asked:

“You still feel some regret over that?”

“Yes. My Prince is too great. He left too few heads for juniors like us to cut off. Too many monks, too little porridge. Too many wolves, too little meat. Not enough to divide.”

“So what am I now? I’ve walked into a wolf den?”

“Yes.”

“Heh.”

Chen Xianba walked past.

Then stopped again.

“Lord Swordsmith. If someday you decide you want to leave the wolf den, remember to tell me beforehand.”

“What will you do?”

Chen Xianba smiled.

“We’ll have been colleagues once. If you’re going to leave, I ought to fight for first place and give you... a proper send-off.”

...

“This is the register of military provisions and grain. Everything has been checked.”

“Good.”

The masked Nian Yao accepted the register.

He glanced over it once, then handed it to a Yan civil clerk beside him.

The clerk passed it down again.

Eventually... it reached Guo Dong.

The twenty thousand Chu imperial-clan Imperial Guards would still have all their needs supplied by the Chu themselves.

Guo Dong inspected the register very carefully.

Once finished, he wrote his own memorandum and sent it, together with the register, to the commander of this army.

Nian Yao sat there playing with a small dagger.

From time to time, he scraped dead skin from his palm with the blade.

“General, the count is complete. Nothing is missing.”

“Mm.”

Nian Yao nodded.

Guo Dong set the papers down and turned to leave.

Unexpectedly...

Nian Yao called after him.

“Wait.”

Guo Dong stopped.

“What is your name?”

“Guo Dong.”

Behind the mask, Nian Yao narrowed his eyes.

This Yan logistics officer’s face was disfigured.

It was difficult not to notice.

But when he heard the name...

Nian Yao froze.

...

“What is your name?”

“Guo... Dong...”

“Good. Then this general will carve a few flowers into your face and add a little seasoning to that pot of soup for your Marquis. Doesn’t your Marquis like spicy food? Fine. This general will give him plenty! Men! ‘Clean’ his face... then carve words into it!”

...

“Can you recognize me?” Nian Yao asked.

Guo Dong turned around.

“Although General covers his face with a mask, and although your voice is considerably sharper now, this humble officer can still recognize you.”

Then Guo Dong added:

“Even if one day you accidentally turn into ash, Dong will never forget you, General.”

Nian Yao noticed the water skin at Guo Dong’s waist and the cup hanging beside it.

That cup had a story.

It was said the Prince had once eaten at Guo Dong’s home and bestowed it upon him.

“This general is thirsty.”

At that moment, Xu An walked over.

He was here ostensibly to establish military discipline among the Imperial Guards in advance.

In truth, the pretext of installing military-discipline officers was being used to insert Yan eyes into the army.

Xu An saw what was happening.

He said nothing.

“Of course.”

Guo Dong answered cheerfully.

He unfastened the cup from his waist, poured water into it, and personally offered it to Nian Yao.

Nian Yao accepted the cup and drank.

“Do you not hate me?”

“His Highness already avenged us.”

Before a hundred thousand elite troops... the Prince had ordered Great Chu’s Grand General castrated.

“What else does General want to eat? I can arrange some special dishes for you. That small convenience is within my authority.”

“This general eats very well.”

“Then this humble officer can rest easy.”

“Guo Dong...”

“Does General have any other instructions?”

“You truly don’t hate me anymore?”

Guo Dong shook his head.

“I cannot afford to carry something as heavy as hatred.”

“Oh. So now you cannot afford it.”

“Dong was Yan then and is Yan now. I was a Yan soldier then and remain a Yan soldier now.”

As Guo Dong spoke... he shook his head.

“Dong is clumsy with words. I cannot think up those imposing rows of parallel phrases. If Grand General has the patience, wait a few more years. Let those stinking brats of mine study longer in the charitable school. Then they can say them to you.”

“Good. This general will wait.”

“Then wait well.”

Guo Dong turned to leave.

Nian Yao called after him:

“You don’t want the cup?”

“If General likes it, I can give it to you.”

“This general does not steal another man’s treasure. Take it back.”

“Fine.”

Guo Dong accepted the cup and tied it once more at his waist.

After he left...

Nian Yao said to Xu An beside him:

“He probably wants very badly to curse me.”

Xu An laughed.

“Dongzi wouldn’t. Dongzi let go of it long ago.”

“Oh?”

“Winners always find it easier to let go.”

“That is true.”

“There are also some things An probably should not say.”

“Say them. I’m listening.”

“General should still be more careful.”

“I was only teasing him... no, I was only teasing myself. What rule did I break with that?”

“His Highness wants you obedient.”

“His Highness is magnanimous,” Nian Yao said.

Xu An seemed somewhat surprised that Nian Yao could call a man who had personally ordered his castration “magnanimous.”

“You don’t agree?” Nian Yao asked.

Xu An shook his head.

“His Highness is petty.”

“Hahahaha. Now that is interesting. You actually dare describe your own Prince that way.”

“Grand General Nian, when coordinating with the Secret Intelligence Department, I learned that your family seems to still be alive. You did not come on this campaign for merit. You did not come for wealth or glory. You came to earn a road of survival for your family. Do you understand? Guo Dong genuinely no longer cares about you. If he went to His Highness and cried once... what do you think would happen to you?”

“He would kill me? While I’m still useful?”

“He would,” Xu An said, one word at a time. “Our Prince is very petty.”

“Petty...”

“That is why we are willing to die for him.”

...

“Where is Great Chu’s Pillar of State Xie Zhuyang!”

“Here.”

A silver-armored youth rode a Pi Beast to the front of Guyue City at the head of a cavalry column and shouted.

A short while later...

Guyue City’s gates opened.

Two files of armored soldiers marched out.

Xie Zhuyang sat in a wheelchair, pushed by a personal guard.

There was a saber wound at his waist.

The cut had reached the bone, leaving him unable to stand.

Even his physicians could not say with certainty whether, after the wound healed, Xie Zhuyang would ever be able to stand again.

And that saber strike... had come from the silver-armored youth before him.

Had that woman not appeared in time and driven the youth away, Xie Zhuyang might truly never have returned to Guyue City alive.

But... look at himself.

Then look at that young silver-armored general who had been wounded too.

He himself sat there like an old man being pushed about.

The youth could still sit astride his mount with saber at hand.

Youth...

It truly was youth.

“By order of Great Yan’s Regent Prince: Xie Zhuyang is to make preparations in advance. When our main army arrives, open the gates of Guyue City and provide supplies to the army without error!”

Tian Tian finished proclaiming the princely order.

Xie Zhuyang turned his head and looked back at the walls of Guyue City.

Not long ago... he had been willing to use himself as bait for this city and for Great Chu, trading his own life for one chance to overturn the board.

And now... he truly had to perform the act of opening the door and inviting the bandit inside.

Great Chu... had no hope left.

Helping the Yan attack Qian was, in truth, also buying more life for Chu.

Otherwise, the Yan would simply wait.

Simply grind.

And Great Chu could not outlast them.

After His Majesty lowered his head and formed an alliance with the Regent Prince, Chu itself had been preserved.

But correspondingly... every power and every clan within Chu, having already seen that the great ship of Chu offered no hope, had begun using the banner of “proper legitimacy” to cooperate with the Yan army.

To speak a truly treasonous truth... everyone was preparing a road of retreat and sowing goodwill for the future.

The affairs of the national war could be set aside.

Each had served his own master.

But after the national war... continuing to resist would become...

This was the tragedy of Great Chu.

Xie Zhuyang licked his dry, cracked lips.

Then shouted:

“I obey!”

...

“How is the wine?”

Zheng Fan looked toward Great Chu’s Eighth Prince seated below him.

The Eighth Prince drained his cup in one swallow.

“Sweet and sour, with an endless aftertaste.”

The Eighth Prince had once been captured alongside Nian Yao during the Battle of Fan City.

Zheng Fan had not made things too difficult for him then.

He had even allowed him to meet Xiong Liqing so that the two could exchange some touching words of “deep sibling affection.”

Afterward...

Zheng Fan packed him up and sent him back to Chu.

This time, the Eighth Prince had come as a military envoy from Chu.

Xie Yu’an handled the actual affairs.

The Eighth Prince served as the ceremonial facade.

Chu’s defeat at Fan City had cost it not only the main strength of the Dugu Clan’s private army and the Dugu Pillar of State.

Nian Yao’s fate had become a humiliation for all Great Chu.

Correspondingly... the Eighth Prince, who had also been captured, spent the years after returning home in political idleness.

The more Nian Yao stank... the more he stank too.

Only today had he finally been brought out and used again, thrown here by his imperial elder brother.

He had a sweet mouth.

Back when he was captured, he had submitted quickly enough.

Now the situation had reached this point.

Chu nobles were competing with one another to cooperate with the Yan, to cooperate with Great Yan’s Imperial Son-in-Law.

Even his own imperial brother was cooperating.

So what reason did an idle Prince like him have not to grovel and smile?

He called Zheng Fan “Brother-in-Law” to the left and “Brother-in-Law” to the right with extraordinary warmth.

Zheng Fan asked:

“Do you know what wine this is?”

“Brother-in-Law, that I truly cannot guess.”

“This is wine mixed with horse piss.”

“...” the Eighth Prince.

“This Prince once heard that during the First Battle of Wangjiang years ago, you rode a pleasure boat outside Yupan City, took an impressively long piss into the Wangjiang River, and said you were gifting it to the Yan soldiers downstream to drink as it flowed south.”

“Brother-in-Law... I was young then.”

“Thank you for your hospitality that year. So today, on behalf of the Great Yan soldiers who drowned in that river, I return the favor.”

The Eighth Prince rose from his seat.

He looked at Zheng Fan.

“Your Highness, why humiliate me like this all of a sudden?”

“You want to ask why I didn’t make things difficult for you back then? Simple. Back then I hadn’t beaten all of Chu flat yet. So I didn’t think humiliating you served any purpose. Now Chu has been beaten flat by me. Now, when I say I am going on campaign, every level of Chu must cooperate with me! Your Emperor lowers his head to me. The Xie Clan provides troops for me. Even the Swordsmith of the Dugu Clan has to hug his swords and stand guard here for me! And conveniently... you showed up today. So tell me. What use do you have? None beyond letting me casually vent that breath I owed you from years ago.”

“Your Highness, humiliating me like this only damages your own great reputation.”

Zheng Fan laughed.

He pointed toward the curtain of the command tent.

“You were the one who spread the story throughout Chu about pissing into the Wangjiang River. I give you permission to spread the story that I forced you to drink piss too. Go on. Come damage my reputation.”

Zheng Fan chuckled.

“Once you’ve damaged my reputation... do you still have the face to live?”

The Eighth Prince’s hands clenched desperately into his own clothes.

“I had thought Your Highness was a man who held All Under Heaven in his heart...”

Zheng Fan stepped down from the command seat.

He reached out.

Seized the Eighth Prince by the neck.

And interrupted him directly.

“This Prince holding All Under Heaven in his heart does not conflict with this Prince deliberately making sport of you.”

Bang!

The Eighth Prince’s face was slammed directly into the floor.

“This Prince has always been petty beyond belief.”

Zheng Fan pointed toward the wine jug that had been resting on the low table.

“There is another jug over there. No wine mixed into this one.”

He paused.

“Either go drink it... or walk out of this command tent.”

The Eighth Prince climbed to his feet.

Silently, he walked to the low table.

He picked up the wine jug.

Gulp.

Gulp.

Gulp...

“Does it taste good?”

“Good... very good.”

Zheng Fan turned around.

And happened to see his own son standing at the entrance to the command tent.

There had always been a tradition of outstanding students from the charitable school entering the Regent Prince’s command staff early.

Zheng Lin wore the clothes of a personal guard and had disguised his face.

The “real” Heir Prince had already returned to eastern Jin together with his elder sister.

A faint smile hung at the corner of Zheng Lin’s lips.

Clearly... he had not expected his own father... to possess such a mischievous side.

Zheng Fan reached up and lightly slapped his own forehead.

Wonderful.

The little bastard had just watched his father make a fool of himself.

...

Outside the command tent... father and son walked side by side.

Zheng Lin spoke in a mocking tone:

“That’s your command tent. You’re not worried about the smell?”

“Son, your father had to watch him drink it.”

Zheng Lin gave a cold little chuckle.

“He was right. You could have avenged yourself years ago. Instead you deliberately waited until now and invented that excuse around it. What a joke.”

“Are you trying to say your father is narrow-minded, or that I’m temperamental?”

“Both.”

Zheng Lin answered without hesitation.

“They all think you’re some towering, magnificent Prince. In my eyes, you aren’t.”

Zheng Fan reached out.

He wrapped one arm around his son’s shoulders.

Zheng Lin instinctively resisted.

But first, he was sealed.

Second, his father was still a Fourth Grade Martial Artist.

So the resistance failed.

He remained trapped in his father’s embrace.

“Back when I captured him, the reason I didn’t cause trouble for him was because I didn’t have a reason to.”

“So you admit that this time you were just a petty man intoxicated by success? Zheng Fan... how childish are you?”

“Fine. Your father is childish. Your father is a petty little man. Learn more from me. You’ll live longer.”

After receiving that explanation, Zheng Lin stepped backward twice.

At the same moment, Zheng Fan loosened his arm.

Zheng Lin escaped the paternal embrace.

“Go collect the memorials from the army. Your father is going to inspect the camp.”

After watching Zheng Fan walk away...

Zheng Lin turned around.

Unexpectedly... his master, the Sword Saint, was standing behind him.

“Master.”

Although his elder sister had once said he had no master’s lineage in his heart, Zheng Lin respected the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint was different from his godfathers.

But the Sword Saint... was stronger.

Zheng Lin believed the Sword Saint had not only witnessed what happened inside the command tent.

As the man constantly responsible for protecting his biological father, the Sword Saint had certainly “seen” everything.

After all, no movement inside the command tent could possibly escape him.

“All these years, your master has never wanted to meddle in matters between you and your father. But this time, I have to say something.”

“There’s nothing to say,” Zheng Lin replied.

“It was because of me. Years ago, your master’s wife was about to give birth. I was anxious to return. Your father accommodated me. He did not wait for his guards and instead traveled back together with me. When we passed the Wangjiang River, we encountered an assassination. Your father used the methods of a Fangshi, then invoked his status as a Marquis who had earned military merit for Great Yan, and drew tens of thousands of ghost soldiers from the riverbed to break the trap. Without those tens of thousands of dead soldiers answering the call and rising for one final strike, your father would probably have died on the frozen river that day. Then there would have been no elder sister for you. And there would have been no you.”

The Sword Saint continued:

“First, he beat Chu flat. That fulfilled the greater righteousness, because your father had promised Tian Wujing—your Brother Tian’s father. What happened today was to vent one breath on behalf of the dead souls from that year. Your father had always remembered it. He never forgot. You once asked me why I was always willing to remain beside your father and protect him. I can tell you this: for all the thousands upon thousands of faults your father possesses, one thing has never changed. He is cold in affection, yet extraordinarily heavy in loyalty. People say repaying debts and returning what one owes is only natural. But among the people I have met, I have never seen a second person who practices that supposed natural law as thoroughly as your father does.”

The Sword Saint smiled.

“There was a time when I too wondered why the gentlemen of the Residence followed your father from when he was still a small and insignificant man.”

“Then did Master find the reason?”

The Sword Saint looked at Zheng Lin.

He had in truth noticed some of the unusual connection between the Demon Kings and Zheng Fan.

He was part of the Residence himself.

Many of the Residence’s secrets were not hidden from him.

For a time... he had believed that was the true reason.

But then... without even noticing... he had nearly spent ten years beside Zheng Fan himself.

Only then did he realize...

The Sword Saint shook his head.

“I found it.”

“What was the reason?”

“There simply... no longer needed to be a reason.”

“What does that mean?”

“It is just like you being your father’s son. How could everything in this world need some chain of because and therefore? Most things... cannot escape four words.”

The Sword Saint looked toward Zheng Fan’s departing back.

“As a matter of course.”

[End of Chapter 994]