Chapter 1019: Dire Tidings

“Court is dismissed!”

The Emperor of Chu rose from the dragon throne and departed while the officials below knelt and cried, “Long live the Emperor!”

Today was the Autumn Splendor Festival.

In the distant past, it had been a festival unique to the Shanyue people. On this day, they would burn fragrant wood in sacrifice to their guardian god.

After Great Chu was founded, it absorbed a measure of Shanyue culture. The Chu people also came to observe the Autumn Splendor Festival, though they did not worship gods. They honored their ancestors instead.

Ordinary commoners did not burn fragrant wood either. They burned spirit money.

Today, many people throughout Ying Capital were burning paper money.

And somehow, even the imperial court seemed filled with the dying air of evening beneath a veil of ash.

Whether it was the Emperor’s expression or the posture of the hundred officials below, everyone seemed like a marionette going through the motions with everyone else, merely dealing with the business at hand... dealing with Great Chu itself.

Because news had already reached Ying Capital.

Shangjing had fallen.

The Yan had won.

That Prince of Yan had won, and won completely. Prosperous Great Qian had been overturned from the foundations up.

Most important of all, the Emperor of Qian had voluntarily surrendered together with his officials and the people of Shangjing.

Which meant that, setting aside the long-term pacification of the Qian lands, the Yan could at least begin withdrawing their attention and strength from the Qian battlefield.

And this time, without Qian tying them down, the Yan could turn their hawk-like gaze toward Great Chu with far greater leisure.

Great Chu, which was already on its last breath.

Strangely enough, when the news spread through Ying Capital, the common people were actually rather pleased.

That atmosphere of “joy” among the people formed a stark contrast with the lifeless scene at court.

At a certain level, news traveled very quickly through Ying Capital. In the understanding of ordinary people, this destruction of Qian had been achieved by their own Great Chu together with Great Yan’s Regent Prince.

It was true that Chu and Yan had a blood feud as deep as the sea.

That did not stop the Chu people from celebrating this victory.

The true heavyweights qualified to stand in the imperial court, however, understood something else.

Originally, Qian’s fall could hardly have been called good news for Chu, but neither was it necessarily disastrous.

His Majesty’s stab in the back had changed that.

Now it had become catastrophically bad news.

Before, they could still pretend to claim kinship.

They could bow their heads to the Regent Prince Residence without bowing to the State of Yan, preserve as much dignity and honor as possible, win themselves some breathing room, and cultivate a certain useful ambiguity.

Now... there was no room left to maneuver at all.

Everyone knew exactly what sort of temper Great Yan’s Regent Prince possessed.

Once he finished cleaning up the Qian lands... then... his next target...

All those old lessons about exhausting a state through militarism, years of continuous warfare, weary soldiers, suffering commoners, and the rest simply did not seem to apply to the Yan.

Across the past ten-odd years, not yet twenty, the Yan had erupted with a terrifying degree of blood courage and fighting strength.

Everyone knew that such an eruption could not last forever. Everyone understood that all things had their peaks and valleys.

The problem was that, at least for now, the Yan were still overflowing with martial vigor.

Their soldiers, their common people, their generals... all of them seemed to have grown accustomed to one campaign rolling straight into the next.

Who could blame them?

They almost always won.

...

“You lost again. How do you keep losing? Hahahahaha... Tell me, when you face that brother-in-law of yours, have you ever won? What? Not talking anymore? Have you noticed? The stretches of time I can control this dragon body of yours are getting longer and longer. You’re tired. You want to run away from it all, don’t you?”

The Emperor sat in a spacious but secluded palace hall hung with layers of curtains.

He was talking... to himself.

“Why not simply hand this body over to me altogether? You can fall asleep and never wake again. How about it? What? Still unwilling to accept it? Still unwilling to let go? You saw the expressions on those ministers’ faces at court today. The Xie Clan has already severed contact between its fief and Ying Capital. What does that mean? The Xie Clan’s designs are obvious to every passerby. They intend to replace your Xiong Clan as the new master of Great Chu. Originally, they no longer had the chance. That battle shattered more than half the Xie Clan’s elite forces. But now, behind the Xie fief lies the Jiangnan of Qian... and the Jiangnan of Yan. With Yan support, with the Regent Prince’s support, the Xie Clan can absolutely carve out a separatist dominion across the southern half of Chu. The Dugu Clan Head did not attend court today either. He reported himself ill at home. Several other clan heads did the same. However you treated them in the past, that is how they now intend to treat you. Their hearts have left you. Their loyalty has left you. Do you see? This is what it means for hearts and virtue to scatter. What do you have left as Emperor now? The Yan are about to unify All Xia. The great tide is not merely appearing. It has already become inevitable. What the Yan want at present is nominal unification, so they are willing, at least for this generation, to allow enfeoffment to continue. That suits those aristocratic houses perfectly. For the survival of their clans, for the interests of their clans, they can live without a state. They can abandon this state entirely. And in fairness, the nobles of Chu have already done rather well. They fought for Great Chu. They staked everything on it. By feeling and by reason, they can step off the ship now with clear consciences and take a rest. Truthfully, you understand your brother-in-law’s temper better than anyone. He will not spare you. Your younger sister will not plead for you. Even your own Empress Mother, thinking of her grandchildren, will not speak on your behalf. Everyone has deserted you. Even if you still possess Ying Capital, even if you still have some troops, even if you still have a few officials and generals of humble birth whom you personally raised up, what can they do for you now? All it takes is for your brother-in-law to return from the Qian lands. He need only plant his princely banner here. The regional nobles, the ministers at court, even your own Xiong Clan will demand that you abdicate. They will choose one of your sons to replace you. That is the last scrap of dignity they will leave you. You cannot compare with Ji Runhao. You never could. That man understood the art of emperors. He was harsh and stingy with grace. But he could win. You? You have done nothing but lose. It is like the Yan army. Their soldiers are exhausted. Their common people are exhausted. A father dies in battle and the son takes his place, generation after generation. But they have grown accustomed to victory. So long as they can win, they can endure everything. Chu... the people of Chu... can no longer endure you.”

The moment that voice finished speaking, seven people entered from outside the hall.

One was a swordsman with a somewhat disheveled, slovenly appearance.

Another was an old man carrying a wine flask.

The Emperor recognized both of them.

The other five, men and women alike, were uniformly dressed in black robes. Their eyes carried a coldness that seemed almost inhuman.

They entered.

Openly.

Without the slightest attempt at concealment.

“Your Majesty, forgive the offense.”

The old man with the wine flask rubbed his nose.

Behind him, the five black-robed figures stepped forward. Hooked chains and specially prepared purple ropes began winding around the Emperor’s body.

The Emperor simply sat there without moving and allowed them to do as they pleased.

“Curious, aren’t you? Curious how they could simply stroll in here as a group? Actually, you ought to feel relieved. The Phoenix Nest Internal Guard has remained loyal to you all along. They were willing to fight to the death for their Emperor. But whenever I occupied your body, I issued decrees in your name. I transferred them away. I also granted these people authority to enter the imperial palace directly. Surprised? Your weariness gave me the opportunity to awaken and take control of this body. What you never knew is that I can also make you ‘unable to see’ certain things. I simply never revealed that ability to you before.”

The Emperor’s body had now been completely bound in the special purple ropes. Talisman papers covered them from end to end.

The five black-robed men and women spread out around him.

The disheveled swordsman stood nearby with a grin.

The old man with the wine flask leaned close to the Emperor and asked, “Is it ready?”

“Yes. Thank you for your trouble. Suppress him properly and help me withdraw from this body. In return, I will transform what remains of Chu’s national fortune into fate and divide it among you. There is not much left, but it will be enough for your use. The place behind the Gate should be able to endure another thirty years while you wait for the next opportunity.”

The old man did not answer.

He continued staring at the Emperor.

Then the voice inside the Emperor spoke again.

“My... vessel? Where is it? Why did you not bring my new shell? Where am I supposed to reside? I told you before, I will not be housed inside some object. I want a flesh-and-blood body! Damn you, did all of you forget?”

“We didn’t forget.”

“Good. Good that you didn’t forget. If you didn’t forget...”

Who was speaking?

The Emperor of Chu slowly raised his head.

“They... are people I invited.”

“Old Fourth Xiong, what are you trying to do? Damn you! Old Fourth Xiong, what exactly are you trying to do!”

The voice no longer came from the Emperor’s mouth.

It roared through the palace hall itself.

Clearly, the Fire Phoenix spirit had lost control of this body.

“Just as you said earlier. Did you think you were the only one who could use that trick? We can make you ‘unable to see’ things as well.”

The Emperor looked at the old man with the wine flask.

“It is ready.”

“All right. This commoner... obeys the imperial command.”

The old man waved a hand.

The five black-robed figures pulled their chains at the same time. The Emperor rose from his seat and his body was suspended between them.

The talisman papers on the ropes began burning, yet they never burned away. Blue flames clung to their surfaces as if rooted there.

“Old Fourth Xiong! What are you doing? What are you doing!”

The Fire Phoenix spirit continued to roar.

“They do not want another thirty years. Like Us, they still refuse to admit defeat. They want to gamble on the final opportunity.”

The old man with the wine flask took a small straw effigy from inside his robes and placed it before the Emperor.

Then he began to chant.

The blue flames started seeping into the Emperor’s body.

“AAAAAAAGH!”

The Fire Phoenix spirit screamed beneath the agony of the burning.

“Old Fourth Xiong, you’ve gone mad! Mad! Mad! You actually made yourself the sacrificial offering! You’re offering yourself and me together! Who is that spirit-medium effigy pointed toward? Who is it... Her! Old Fourth Xiong, you really are filthy. She is your own niece, and you can still bring yourself to do this!”

“Were you not the one who said it just now? The greatest difference between Us and Ji Runhao is that he won and We lost. How did he treat his own sons? How did he treat his wife? We are merely learning by example.”

“Old Fourth Xiong, is that all the ambition you have left? Do you really think threatening him with his daughter will make him submit?”

A scene surfaced in the Emperor’s mind.

That day, Zheng Lanxin had sat upon the dragon throne.

Zheng Fan had stood below with both hands gripping his belt, leading all the generals around him in bowing to his daughter.

“He is not like me.”

The old man with the wine flask brought his palms together.

Then shouted:

“Seal! Suppress! Absolve!”

The blue flames went out all at once and turned into blue specks scattered across the Emperor’s skin.

Yet the agony of being burned did not diminish in the slightest.

It continued without pause.

“Your Majesty, are you truly going to leave the palace?” the old man asked.

“Yes. Of course. Or do you expect my brother-in-law to walk alone into the imperial palace of Great Chu and bare his neck for slaughter? We understand his temperament. If the only possible choice is to trade his own life for one chance at his daughter’s survival, he will not accept coercion. He will watch his daughter die. Then he will use the lives of the entire imperial house, the entire Xiong Clan, perhaps even all the people of Ying Capital, as funeral offerings for her. If you want him to take the bait, you must let him... see hope. He is surrounded by experts. He himself has entered Third Grade as a Martial Artist. On top of that, he has armies numbering in the hundreds of thousands protecting him. If you possessed the ability to assassinate him under ordinary circumstances, would you have needed to wait until today while watching helplessly as he first broke Chu and then destroyed Qian? This is our last opportunity.”

That night, the Emperor of Great Chu was suddenly stricken by a grave illness. An imperial decree ordered the Crown Prince to temporarily assume the powers of regency.

The news shook Ying Capital, but the disturbance was quickly suppressed.

It did not matter what commoners at the bottom gossiped about. The ministers and nobles who still possessed the power to shape the country’s present situation all reached the same conclusion.

His Majesty had completely admitted defeat.

He was voluntarily preparing to abdicate.

First the Crown Prince would act as regent.

Then, when Great Yan’s Regent Prince arrived carrying the momentum of a state-destroying victory, the transition would already have been prepared.

Many people in Ying Capital breathed a long sigh of relief that night.

If the situation in Great Chu could truly continue down this path, then perhaps this was already the best possible outcome.

No one noticed a black carriage leaving Ying Capital in secret under the escort of a detachment of Phoenix Nest Internal Guards.

Its destination... the Great Marsh.

...

Fengxin City.

The Prince Residence.

“Madam, this servant will go summon a physician immediately.”

“Come back.”

“Madam?”

“Go to Gourd Temple. Tell them... the Princess is ill.”

“Yes, Madam.”

The maid’s eyes were full of confusion.

Even as a servant, she could not understand why Madam would seek help from “ghosts and gods” while the Princess was burning with such a severe fever instead of calling a physician.

Wasn’t that usually the last measure people tried only after every ordinary method had failed?

Xiong Liqing sat beside the bed and looked at her daughter.

Big Girl’s face was flushed red. She kept coughing. To all appearances, it looked as though a chill had entered her body.

But Xiong Liqing knew better.

Her daughter possessed a Fire Phoenix spirit body.

How could she possibly suffer from an ordinary chill?

From the day she had been born until now, she had been just like Tian Tian in his early years.

She had never once fallen ill.

“Mother...”

Big Girl opened her eyes.

“Mother is here. Mother is right beside you.”

Xiong Liqing held her daughter’s hand.

“Father... has Father come back?”

“He’ll be back soon. Your father just won another enormous victory. He’ll be home soon. He misses his Big Girl terribly.”

“Mother...”

“Mother is here. I’m here. Don’t be afraid, little one. You’re only sick. Nothing will happen.”

“Un...cle...”

The word suddenly slipped from Big Girl’s lips.

The instant Xiong Liqing heard it, her gaze sharpened.

A terrifying possibility began taking shape in her mind.

Brother... if this truly is you... if you dare touch my daughter...

I will personally dig open the imperial mausoleums of every ancestor of the Xiong Clan!

“Amitabha.”

A Buddhist invocation sounded from outside.

“Let them in!” Xiong Liqing ordered.

“Yes!”

Monk Kongyuan and Liaofan entered together.

They saw Big Girl lying on the bed.

The old monk Kongyuan stepped forward first to examine her condition.

Liaofan, meanwhile, began to sway. The look in his eyes slowly changed.

“Why is this happening?” Monk Kongyuan murmured in confusion.

The next moment, Liaofan assumed a solemn, almost statuesque bearing.

“This is not a curse. I cannot undo it.”

“If it isn’t a curse, then what is it?” Xiong Liqing asked immediately. “What exactly is happening to my daughter?”

Suddenly, a paper man floated out from inside Liaofan’s kasaya.

It stood upright and puffed itself slightly fuller.

The instant it appeared, a green python lowered its head from the eaves.

At the same time, Longyuan beside Big Girl rose into the air on its own.

Xiong Liqing immediately barked:

“Let him look!”

The green python withdrew.

Longyuan remained pointed at the paper man, instinctively protecting its master.

Xiong Liqing reached out and directly grasped Longyuan’s blade.

Blood began spilling from her palm.

The sword trembled faintly.

At that moment, Big Girl opened her eyes again.

Only then did Longyuan settle back beside the bed.

The paper man finally approached Big Girl and examined her.

Then it said, “Stinking monk, this isn’t a curse. Even if your disciple really is the reincarnation of a true Buddha, if it isn’t a curse then there’s nothing he can undo. Besides, with the two of you sitting in that temple outside Fengxin City, any wandering adept or occult art that wants to enter has to pass you first. There are also Guides of Stars guarding the perimeter of the Prince Residence. And deeper inside the Residence, there’s something even more terrifying hidden away!”

The Daoist had never forgotten how, when he had once been only a single step from escaping Fengxin City, a black hand had reached out and crushed his bird to pieces.

That Prince... truly treasured his home.

Even the defenses against threats from occult arts had been arranged with meticulous care.

The Daoist himself was the best proof.

“If it isn’t a curse, then what is it?” Xiong Liqing asked.

The paper man answered:

“Karmic blessing.”

For a moment, Xiong Liqing froze.

Liaofan brought his palms together.

“Amitabha.”

A Buddha could dispel curses, transform calamity, purge baleful resentment.

But who had ever heard of a Buddha dispelling karmic blessings?

“Karmic blessing?” Xiong Liqing repeated slowly.

The paper man looked at Big Girl.

“Someone is bestowing blessings upon her. They’re giving her the most precious things they possess. This is a fortuitous encounter. This is an enormous blessing from Heaven. But she is still too young. She cannot bear fortune this heavy yet. There is bloodline power inside it... Hm? Two layers. Two layers of bloodline? How was that done?”

The paper man turned toward Liaofan.

Liaofan answered, “Bloodline of the flesh... bloodline of the spirit body.”

Understanding dawned on the paper man.

“Among her relatives, whose Fire Phoenix bloodline is as pure as hers?”

“My elder brother,” Xiong Liqing answered.

“No. There’s more. More than that...”

The paper man began pacing. It was so light that its feet kept drifting off the floor.

“They are kin, and close kin at that. Their blood was already similar. That is the first layer. Both possess Fire Phoenix spirit bodies. They are the only two living people in this age who possess them. That is the second layer. He is pouring his bloodline, his blessed fortune, his Fire Phoenix qi into her... But there is still more. This scale is too large. One person could never accomplish it alone. No single person in this world could. Even if Master Cang were still alive, even if he and I joined hands at the peak of our strength, we could not achieve this. Unless... Unless... Unless...”

“Unless what?!” Xiong Liqing demanded.

“Unless there are an entire group of Master Cangs and people like me standing behind him, all exerting their strength together. So it’s them. They finally moved. Those rats. That whole nest of rats has finally crawled out together! Hahahahaha! Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Those old relics who have hidden behind the Gate and dragged out their half-dead existence for so many years have fallen so low that they dare not attack the girl’s father and can only attack his daughter? What a disgrace. What a complete disgrace! Hahahahaha!”

“What will happen to my daughter?”

The paper man fell silent.

It looked at Big Girl and said, “The fever is only the beginning. It proves her body is smelting and absorbing the karmic blessing. If it stops here, she will run a fever for some time and then recover on her own. From then on, her Fire Phoenix bloodline will be purer and stronger, and her future talent will become even more astonishing. Even in terms of fortune, she will gain protection beyond ordinary people. Even the trouble caused by her being one without roots will be erased. But if someone deliberately continues feeding fuel to this karmic blessing... she is still too young. She has not fully grown, and there is only so much she can absorb. Once she reaches the point where her body can take no more... Then... she will become like the ore inside the furnaces at the foundry outside the city. She will... melt.”

After speaking, the paper man sounded puzzled again.

“They paid such an enormous price. Why target only her? How can they bear to spend so much? Could it be that the Prince would truly care about one...”

It stopped there.

Only then did the paper man remember that the girl’s mother, the Princess Consort herself, was standing directly in front of it.

Xiong Liqing did not become angry.

Instead, her hands and feet turned ice-cold.

She murmured:

“The Prince... will care.”

She knew perfectly well how much her husband treasured this daughter.

“So they want to use her to threaten... the Prince?” the paper man guessed.

No.

It was essentially the answer.

No one would pay such an enormous price merely to kill another man’s daughter.

Their target could only be one person.

The Prince.

Xiong Liqing drew a deep breath.

She looked once more at her feverish daughter.

Then she wiped the corner of her eye.

“Someone come. Write a letter according to my words and send it to the Prince. Say Big Girl suffered a strange fever for a time, but fortunately the two holy monks of Gourd Temple and a paper man intervened. Big Girl has already recovered completely.”

“Yes, Madam.”

A maid quickly wrote out the letter.

Xiong Liqing stamped it with her private seal and had it packed into a box.

“Send it. Tell the messenger to spare no horse and get it into the Prince’s hands as soon as possible.”

“Yes. This servant understands.”

The maid had just picked up the box and was preparing to leave when a towering figure blocked her path.

Xiong Liqing looked over in surprise.

A figure wearing a conical hat, his entire body completely covered, had entered through the doorway.

Xiong Liqing hurriedly rose and bowed.

“You came. I didn’t expect even you to be disturbed.”

The figure walked past Xiong Liqing.

Past the two monks.

Past the paper man.

He stopped beside the bed.

Big Girl slowly opened her eyes.

“Grand...pa...”

At that moment, baleful qi began churning violently around the figure.

The paper man retreated.

Both monks instinctively restrained their Buddhist cultivation rather than allow it to react against the baleful qi.

“Tell... him... the truth...”

Xiong Liqing remained silent.

As a mother, the decision she had made earlier had placed the greatest burden upon her.

It was also the decision that tormented her most.

But she did not want her husband to know full well that someone had dug a pit and still leap into it.

Sha Tuo Queshi reached out.

He closed one hand around Xiong Liqing’s throat and lifted her from the ground.

Very soon, however, he released her.

Xiong Liqing dropped back down and was caught by the maid beside her.

Clearly, Sha Tuo Queshi was exhausting every ounce of himself to think.

At the same time, he was forcing down his own instincts.

He was, after all, already dead.

He had been dead for a very long time.

He had become a zombie, but he was no longer the man he once had been.

While he slept, it was manageable.

But once he tried to think too deeply, too intensely, the instincts of this corpse body began slipping further out of control.

He was trying to reconcile that contradiction.

It was difficult.

It was painful.

But he had to do it.

Before that man married, before he had children, there had been many nights when he carried wine and side dishes to Sha Tuo Queshi’s coffin and sat there talking to him.

The conical hat on Sha Tuo Queshi’s head split apart beneath the violent trembling of his baleful qi, revealing his somewhat ferocious face.

He looked at Xiong Liqing.

“He... values... home... family.”

Sha Tuo Queshi glared at her as though he might devour someone alive.

Xiong Liqing closed her eyes.

Then nodded.

She reached out and knocked the box from the maid’s hands.

“All right.”

...

“You did well.”

“It was all because Your Highness instructed us properly.”

Xie Yu’an stood before Zheng Fan with great respect.

“Tell your father to pay more attention to his health. He has worked hard this time too.”

“My father will certainly be grateful for Your Highness’s concern.”

“Heh.”

“This Yu’an takes his leave.”

Xie Yu’an rose and left the cabin.

When he reached the deck, a small boat was waiting to receive him.

Other boats dotted the water, hauling corpses from the river.

The bodies belonged to Silver-Armored Guards who had attempted to assassinate the Regent Prince that morning.

Yes.

Qian was already gone.

Its Emperor and ministers had already knelt.

Yet who could have imagined that a band of Silver-Armored Guards would continue tailing the Prince’s procession all the way into Chu territory, then hide beneath the water and launch an assassination attempt?

Their ending was naturally miserable.

Never mind the Yan troops escorting the procession along both banks. A large detachment of Brocade-Clad personal guards also protected the great ship carrying the Prince.

The assassination that morning had not even managed to disturb His Highness’s pleasant sleep.

Xie Yu’an boarded the little boat.

The Shadow rowing it said, “Young Master, there are still plenty of bodies at the bottom. They tied stones to themselves in advance and hid beneath the river. Nearly half of them simply drowned down there.”

“Mm.”

Xie Yu’an nodded, then shook his head.

“A mantis trying to stop a chariot.”

The Shadow laughed.

“But only by doing something like that could they ever get even a little closer. Otherwise the army outside would have wiped them from the earth in an instant. The Yan truly mean to seize All Under Heaven... and to sit upon it afterward. Ah.”

“You’ll get used to it. Don’t laugh at me, but this Xie Clan thousand-li colt starts trembling at the hooves the moment I see that Prince now.”

“Young Master, that is perfectly normal. Nothing shameful about it. Let’s hurry back. The Clan Head is waiting for you.”

“Mm.”

Xie Yu’an sat down.

His father was waiting for him.

They were going to unite the great aristocratic houses, travel to Ying Capital, and force the Emperor of Chu to abdicate.

The conditions were already ripe.

Xie Yu’an even suspected that the result would be the same even if the Regent Prince himself never went to Ying Capital.

Perhaps... the Regent Prince simply wanted to be certain.

...

“I just can’t swallow this damned anger. I have to watch him abdicate with my own eyes.”

Zheng Fan lounged sideways in his chair.

The Blind Man and Liang Cheng sat before him.

Originally, Zheng Fan had wanted Liang Cheng to remain in the Qian lands.

Liang Cheng himself had requested permission to bring troops and return with them.

The grand opera was finished. The few stray kittens left over could be handed to the children to deal with. Liang Cheng had no interest in fighting the younger generation for stage time.

The Blind Man nodded.

“Once the Emperor of Chu abdicates, the unification of All Xia will, at least in name, be complete.”

“Exactly.”

Zheng Fan stretched.

“The war is over. Next, it’s time to catch rats. Those fellows behind the Gate should be dug out as well, before they have another chance to jump around.”

“Yes. This subordinate understands.”

At that moment, Siniang carried several bowls of noodles over.

“Husband, time to eat.”

Out on the deck, Fan Li stood gazing at the scenery along the riverbank.

Sword Maid sat on his shoulder, admiring the view from even higher up.

A’Ming carried an empty wineskin and went from corpse to corpse, refilling his “wine” from the assassins’ bodies.

Nearby, Xue San was leading men in checking the corpses.

Then he pulled out a letter.

It had been wrapped tightly in oiled hide and was waterproof.

Xue San opened it directly and swept his gaze down the contents.

He licked his lips.

Then held the letter in front of A’Ming.

A’Ming, who was busy filling his “wine,” looked somewhat impatient at first.

After reading it, however, his expression immediately turned grave.

Xue San asked, “What do you think would happen if I hid this letter and pretended I never found it?”

“You won’t,” A’Ming replied.

“From a purely rational perspective, I should.”

A’Ming gave a soft, humorless laugh.

“Someone has climbed onto your head to shit and piss, and you still want to stay rational?”

“True.”

“And I don’t think this was the only group carrying the message. There will be plenty more behind them, including messengers from home. You couldn’t stop all of them even if you wanted to.”

“Mm.”

Xue San waved a hand.

“Search every corpse.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Xue San reached down and scratched between his legs.

Then he grinned.

“I’m so excited I’m getting hard.”

...

“Master, we found this letter on the assassins. It’s addressed to you. More than half the assassins were carrying one, all with the exact same contents.”

Zheng Fan was eating noodles.

He looked up at Xue San as the latter entered.

He did not reach for the letter.

The Blind Man extended a hand instead.

Ordinarily, the Blind Man read letters in the Prince Residence.

It was tradition.

This time, however, Xue San did not hand it over.

And although the Blind Man had not opened the letter, he had already “read” it.

His expression slowly became solemn.

Zheng Fan put down his chopsticks.

He took the letter.

Opened it.

Swept his eyes over the contents.

Then placed it back on the table.

He picked up his chopsticks again.

And continued eating.

Everyone waited in silence for Master to finish his bowl of noodles.

The bowl emptied.

Zheng Fan set down his chopsticks.

He picked up the cloth beside the table and wiped his mouth.

Then he spoke.

“Siniang, make the meat topping a little lighter next time. I’m not saying your cooking has gotten worse. Maybe I’m just getting older and my tastes are becoming milder.”

“Yes, Hus... Master.”

“San’er, next time find the assassins and deal with them earlier. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to get woken up in the morning and then have to pretend you’re still asleep?”

“Yes, Master. San’er understands.”

“Ah Cheng, redeploy the troops along both banks. Next time, I don’t want any fish slipping through the net.”

“This subordinate understands.”

“A’Ming, when assassins appear, you should stand beside me first instead of running off to drink blood. Aren’t you afraid something might happen to me? I’m only a tiny little Third Grade Martial Artist.”

“This subordinate will pay attention next time.”

Fan Li began scratching his head.

“Blind Man, after you finished reading it yourself, you should have read it aloud to me first. Look what happened. You interrupted my meal.”

“This subordinate was negligent.”

Fan Li scratched his head even harder.

“Ah Li, move to the side. You’re blocking my light.”

“Yes!”

Fan Li shifted aside.

Sunlight entered the cabin and fell across Master’s face, dividing it faintly between light and shadow.

Zheng Fan nodded in satisfaction.

He smiled.

Then, slowly, his gaze darkened.

“Courting death.”

[End of Chapter 1019]