In a room covered with gauze curtains, candles flickered unnervingly. Nighttime had enveloped most of the light, leaving only a faint yellow in the room. The wind carried the intermittent sound of silver bells, and the sound of water made a person think of the Qinhuai cruise that year when he closed his eyes. The fragrance had also been specially blended. It was different from the sea of flowers stretching thousands of li in the southwest. Instead, it was sweet and cheap, like a viper’s tongue. The slightest touch could dizzy one’s head.

Mu Zhe sat on a chair and viewed the young woman behind the gauze. Her eyebrows were raised like a fox fairy, her eyes misty, lips stained blood-red, but she was a little less charming than before. He looked at her in a daze with a suddenly pained expression, and through the person before him, asked the lonely soul who had died several years ago: “Why didn’t you give birth to a daughter who looks exactly like you?”

Feng Xiaojin didn’t speak, and only closed his eyes indifferently. He could hear the other’s footsteps gradually approaching. They stopped there for a long time, and then a hand as old as tree bark touched his face.

“Why did you follow that dog official surnamed Tan instead of waiting for me?” Mu Zhe continued to ask, “They even said that you redeemed yourself.”

He didn’t understand why she had refused to leave Qinhuai with him once she had money.

Feng Xiaojin understood. It was actually not difficult to guess what choice a brothel girl would make when faced with a criminal who was being hunted by the Imperial court and a suave noble son from Wangcheng.

Mu Zhe had been confused for many years, simply because he didn’t want to admit it. He didn’t want to admit that the clean and pure goddess in his heart, like most women in the world, cared about a man’s status and actually didn’t fancy him at all in the first place. He didn’t want to admit that the separated lovers in his imagination was just wishful thinking. It was ridiculous that the cult leader was the best at playing with people’s hearts, but he was also susceptible to weaknesses of the heart and avoided them in cowardice. For so many years, he couldn’t figure out the simplest question, so much so that he turned into a lunatic.

Feng Xiaojin didn’t think that his mother was a bad woman, nor did he think that she was a good one. In the end, she was just an ordinary person. When she was young, she met a handsome young man from a prominent family and wanted to take a gamble. However, her life was miserable. She made the wrong gamble, and her life was ruined.

He could no longer remember what his so-called “father” looked like. When he was eight years old, he killed the tofu man and took all his family’s valuables all the way north. After going through a lot of hardships, he finally arrived in Wangcheng in the twelfth lunar month of winter. It was an astonishingly large city. The streets were wide enough for five carriages to drive side by side. There were carvings and paintings on the roofs of every house, and the glazed tiles were so bright that they were blinding in the direct sunlight.

The people were also different from the sharp and unkind neighbors in a small town. They were dressed in fashionable clothes, the nobles wrapped in thick furs, and they all looked very happy. The proprietress of a steamed bun shop spotted the little boy standing barefoot in the snow. She gave an exclamation and hurriedly sent a waiter to find some clean old clothes in the back courtyard, waving to him: “Child, don’t stay there, come in and warm yourself by the fire.”

Feng Xiaojin was pulled into the shop by the waiter. After scrubbing him and changing his clothes, the proprietress brought him steamed buns and hot soup and asked: “Have you come to Wangcheng to look for relatives?”

“Yes.” Feng Xiaojin looked at the red silk hanging on the tree outside and asked enviously while holding the hot soup, “Auntie, is the New Year in Wangcheng always so lively?”

“It is only the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the New Year has not yet come. The red silk is hung for a happy event in the Tan family. Tan-daren is taking a concubine today.” The proprietress said with a smile, “My family’s little one is going to beg for sweets later, so you can go along and play, ba. By the way, who are your relatives and where do they live?”

Tan Manor. Tan-daren. Feng Xiaojin raised his head and asked: “Is it the Tan Manor on Zhengyang Street? That Tan-daren?”

“Yes, Tan Manor on Zhengyang Street. It is the only Tan Manor in Wangcheng.” The proprietress said, “Tan Xiaozhong, Tan-daren, is marrying the Third Young Lady of Zhou Manor.”

Feng Xiaojin’s fingers moved slightly wrong, and the sweet peanut brown sugar filling in the steamed bun flowed out, covering his hand warmly. He asked: “Tan-daren is taking a concubine, so who is his wife?”

“The daughter of Li-daren from the Ministry of Finance. When they married, it was much livelier than today.”

The proprietress began to chatter. It must have been eleven or twelve years ago. She was not married yet, so she stood by the street and watched the bridal processions march down the long street. The young master of the Tan family, who was riding at the front of the procession, had a face as beautiful as a crown jewel and a smile as bright as the spring breeze. With just one glance, he became the dream of countless girls in Wangcheng.

Feng Xiaojin thought to himself, eleven or twelve years ago.

At that time, his mother was holding her belly or holding him, living in that dilapidated tofu shop and gazing north day after day. She believed that he was waiting for her, and that as long as she could reach the royal city and appear in front of him, the lovers would still be able to get married. And that what caused this current predicament was not a fickle heart, but man-made difficulties.

She felt that the man loved her, so she often secretly told her son about their brief encounter, the man’s promise, the prosperity of the royal city, and the “good days in the future” that existed in her fantasies.

“Your father will look for us,” she said.

Therefore, Feng Xiaojin believed that his father would definitely go to Qinhuai to pick up him and his mother. Once it was discovered that this person was gone, he would send his servants to look for him wildly in all directions. With such extravagant dreams in mind, he gritted his teeth and walked all the way to Wangcheng. 

But on the first day he arrived in the royal city, he encountered his father taking a concubine, and he also had a wife, son, and daughter.

Feng Xiaojin finished his steamed buns in silence and followed the proprietress’s son to the door of Tan Manor. A steward in brocade was smiling broadly as he handed out sweets to the children, and a matron shouted something along the lines of, “more children, more blessings.” The environment was so noisy that his mind began to distort. With an intense pain as if being eaten by ants, he saw his father for the first time, wearing red clothing and riding a white horse. He smiled so happily as he went to pick up the bride, and didn’t even look at Feng Xiaojin.

All the boxes were wrapped in red silk. Some were blown by the wind and fell to the ground, where they were trampled and stained. Feng Xiaojin thought of his mother. She had not bought a new piece of fabric in eight years.

“You silly boy.” An aunt next to him suddenly patted his shoulder and said, “Tan-daren is getting married. Why are you crying at such a happy event? Be careful that the people in charge don’t see you and scold you. Where are your parents?”

“Dead.” Feng Xiaojin looked at the back of the handsome horseman through the mist covering his eyes. “Mother is dead, and so is Father.”

“Aiya.” The aunt was a little regretful, and said softly, “I shouldn’t have asked. Stop crying, where do you live?”

Feng Xiaojin pushed her away and slowly walked out of the crowd.

He didn’t want to recognize that father anymore, even if there was a slight possibility that the other party would be willing to recognize him. He was also not willing to recount the suffering he and his mother had endured over the past eight years in exchange for the cheap sympathy from the people in the manor who were curious, pitying, or astonished. Not to mention that they might not even have any sympathy at all, and he would just be kicked out like a wild dog.

The tube of red silk that rolled to the ground would take almost half a year of stone grinding before his mother could afford it. As Feng Xiaojin walked, he thought obsessively about what the people in Tan Manor were doing when he was in that tofu shop, hungry, cold, and mistreated because of a missing copper plate.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and after the anger passed, he felt tired and numb again. He was like the walking dead, treading through the heavy snow in the royal city. The ill-fitting shoes on his feet fell off, but he didn’t feel the cold until he fell headfirst into the snow.

He thought he was going to die, but in the end, he woke up in a rickety carriage, surrounded by a circle of drunken men.

“Where are the officers and soldiers?”

“Don’t worry, we’ve already lost them.” 

They chatted and laughed. When the leading man saw that Feng Xiaojin was awake, he picked him up and tossed a bottle of wine over.

“Bastard, I see you’re homeless too. Come and follow me to the east to make a living.”

Feng Xiaojin took a sip from the wine bottle and choked until he coughed.

He didn’t ask who the other party was, but could guess a thing or two from them saying they “lost the officers and soldiers.”

They were enemies of the Imperial court.

That was, the enemies of his so-called father.

Feng Xiaojin said: “Okay.”

From then on, he became a vicious bandit who terrified the common people.

He once vowed to kill the entire Tan family and make them all go down to accompany his mother, so he worked hard to practice martial arts. Finally, five years later, he got the opportunity.

Tan Xiaozhong was ordered to escort disaster relief funds and food to the south. Although he brought many troops with him, he still suffered from the terrain and was beaten to pieces by the bandits. Screams echoed through the mountains and blood flowed like rivers.

Feng Xiaojin put the sword to his neck.

Tan Xiaozhong lay on the ground in a state of disarray. Perhaps because his face was covered in mud, he appeared much older than the day he took the concubine, with wrinkles and white hair. He swore loudly, cursing the bandits for their inhumanity: “How many people up and down the Baihe River are waiting for this batch of money and food? They are going to starve to death, starve to death! And you even want to grab the disaster relief supplies, you bastards! Thugs!”

“Is it so rare to starve to death?” Feng Xiaojin looked at him condescendingly. “Seven or eight years ago, my mother died of hunger and cold. Until her death, she was still waiting for a man who made a promise to her on a flower boat that he would find her. Where were you at that time, Tan-daren?”

Tan Xiaozhong didn’t understand the meaning of his words, and just got up with great difficulty to say: “The Imperial court knows that the common people are having a hard time, so it went around raising money and food. If you steal this batch of things, there will be thousands more women in the world who will also die of hunger and cold. At least……at least leave half of the food for me to transport to the disaster areas.”

Feng Xiaojin said: “It turns out you don’t remember her at all.”

“What?” Tan Xiaozhong said.

“If you have the ability, you can take these things back from me,” Feng Xiaojin said coldly. Then he got on his horse and walked away. He knew the laws of Dayan, and what an official who had lost relief supplies would face when he returned. This was more interesting than killing him.

Tan Xiaozhong was left behind to continue cursing.

The wind finally blew away all sounds.

But Tan Xiaozhong still died in the end.

The entire family died in Mu Zhe’s hands.

They simply died.

Feng Xiaojin thought to himself.

All men are mortal.

Mu Zhe caressed his face and refused to let go for a long time. He deliberately drank some wine, and while he was half drunk and half sober, he gazed at the beauty in front of him with a lifelong love. He felt that he was not old, but still young and full of vitality.

“You are not inferior at all.” Mu Zhe said, “Soon, I will make you the noblest woman in the world.”

A breeze gusted through the room, blowing the candle flames that were nearly extinguished. 

The shadows on the walls became stranger and stranger.

. . . . . .

Wumeng Yunle put the lampshade away and asked: “How long will it take for your injury to heal?”

“I don’t know. Neither the witch doctors nor A-Chang can say for sure.” Wumeng Yunyou frowned. “I feel as if all the bones in my body are aching. How has it been in the village lately?”

“Many nasty Nanyang people have come.” Wumeng Yunle said happily, “All the disciples are ready. They say that Dayan’s army may be coming soon.”

Wumeng Yunyou scoffed: “How could they pass through the dense forest unharmed? What about that Ku You? Is he still refusing to pay attention to you?”

“He is willing to talk to me,” Wumeng Yunle said leisurely. “That is enough.”

“But I heard A-Chang say that day that Master will use him to exchange for the lost gold.”

“I have already asked Master, and he says that Ku You will not be sent away, but will stay in our Baifu Sect forever.”

“He will not agree to marry you, and Master may kill him.”

Wumeng Yunle squeezed a handkerchief: “But Master knows that I like him, and I will not let him die. I want him to be my husband. 

Wumeng Yunyou couldn’t be bothered to listen to the girl’s ravings, so he pulled up the quilt to cover his head: “You’d better sober up a little, or Uncle will explain the truth to you.”

“I haven’t seen him for most of the day.” Wumeng Yunle turned back and looked out the window. “He seems to be staying with Master.”

. . . . . . . . 

A new letter was sent by green harrier.

Sure enough, as Liang Shu had guessed, the other party chose a lake in the dense forest as the exchange location.

Gao Lin said: “Pour all the gold and silver into the lake?”

“The miasma in this area is very strong,” Liang Shu said. “Our soldiers can only push the carts in and out quickly to avoid inhaling too much of the poisonous mist. This is indeed for their benefit.”

“The fact that they chose this place means that they have measured the depth of the lake.” Liu Xian’an said, “Are we going to do as they say?”

“Let’s exchange Ku You back first. They won’t be able to take this batch of gold and silver for the time being. We only need to wipe out the Baifu Sect in the shortest possible time, and there won’t be too much loss,” Gao Lin said. “The biggest problem now is that they will most likely not return the real Ku You.”

Liang Shu looked at the people of the Scimitar Silver Moon Tribe.

“Your Highness, please be at ease.” A man clasped his fists and said, “We will follow them and make sure no one notices us.”

“Then everything will proceed as planned.” Liang Shu told Cheng Suyue, “Go and load the gold and silver into the carts!”

Gao Lin also went to help, thinking to himself, Ku You must come back, but the money must also come back with him. After all, my family’s prince has already planned how to divide it up. He casually picked up a silver ingot and told his men to speed up. A soldier slipped over and asked: “Lieutenant General Gao, are we really going to give away so much money?”

“Yes, ah.” Gao Lin gave him a heavy pat. “Who made your commander so valuable?”

The soldier: “……”

What was going on? He had a vague feeling that Lieutenant General Gao wasn’t very worried?

After working all night and day, everyone finally loaded all the gold and silver into the carts and went all the way into the dense forest. Liang Shu personally led the team, and Cheng Suyue followed to escort them. At the junction where the fog was about to become thicker, the lake also appeared faintly at the end of their line of sight.

Ku You was hung and tied to an old crooked-necked tree. He was motionless and covered in blood, the quiet lake under his body.

“Your Royal Highness Xiao Wang, pour it in.” A woman in red stood in the forest. “It is best that we don’t play tricks, otherwise—” She glanced at the mechanism beside her. “If I cut this rope, hundreds of sharp arrows will shoot through his body.”

Cheng Suyue asked loudly: “What if we dump all the gold into the lake, but you still cut the rope?”

“Don’t worry, girl. The Baifu Buddha Mother is on our side. We don’t break our promises.” The woman in red chuckled. “Besides, we just want to get back the gold and silver. We don’t have the nerve to provoke His Royal Highness Xiao Wang. Leader Mu is still thinking of finding an opportunity for peace talks with His Highness, so he won’t play tricks with Commander Ku. What do you say?”

She easily jumped onto a branch so that she could see the other party more clearly: “This is the most reasonable method of exchange we could come up with. Even if the girl thinks it is unfair, there is nothing you can do about it. If you continue to hesitate…..” She held a burning torch between her fingers, which could burn the mechanism ropes at any time.

Liang Shu said: “Dump it!”

“Yes!” Cheng Suyue gestured, and the first batch of more than ten soldiers, their faces covered with towels, pushed the carts and rushed in the forest, dumping all the gold and silver contained inside into the lake. Then a second group of soldiers rushed forward.

Then the third.

Then the fourth.

. . . . . . . .

When the last ten carts of gold were dumped into the lake, the woman in red raised her hand and threw the torch into the lake, laughing loudly: “His Royal Highness Xiao Wang is indeed trustworthy, and so are we!”

After saying this, she turned around and fell lightly into the depths of the forest miasma. The other disciples of the Baifu Sect quickly disappeared without a trace, leaving only Ku You, who was still hanging alone in the middle of the lake.

Liang Shu flew forward and personally cut the ropes off with his sword. Ku You opened his eyes drowsily mid-air and spat out a mouthful of blood. He was in a daze, his golden eyes unfocused.

He said: “I, they, where is this, I—”

Before he could finish the sentence, Ku You’s eyes opened wide! Liang Shu wore an imperceptible layer of thin tencel gloves, and squeezed the hands that were about to make a sneak attack until the bones broke! Several Gu insects buzzed and fell into the lake. Liang Shu gave him a knee, causing him to gasp and stifle a scream. The two fell into the forest. Cheng Suyue immediately led people to shake out a huge blanket and wrap the injured person in it head to toe.

“Bring Commander Ku back quickly!” She shouted at the top of her lungs.

The woman in red who was hiding in the dense forest continued to watch them leave in a hurry, and then stood up with satisfaction.

And the people from the Scimitar Silver Moon Tribe also followed her silently.

. . . . . . . .

Liu Xian’an was waiting anxiously in the military camp. That something could make a forty-eight thousand year old Sleeping Immortal anxious showed that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was indeed very important. He continued to pace back and forth until Gao Lin’s eyes were dizzy. Gao Lin didn’t dare to give any advice, so he had to look at the other two people from the Liu family, but didn’t see any results. Because everyone from Baihe Mountain Village had formed a consensus that Second Young Master Liu’s pacing was a festive event that could parallel the New Year. It was too late to comfort him, so there was no reason to stop him.

Therefore, Lieutenant General Gao had no choice but to continue to feel dizzy until he heard noise coming from the entrance of the military camp.

“Commander Ku is back, Commander Ku is back!” The soldiers shouted happily.

Everyone hurriedly welcomed him out. When Gao Lin saw his prince’s expression, he understood. “The one who came back is really a fake.”

While acting appropriately, he quietly asked his sister: “The truth has been revealed so soon? I’ve been thinking for half a day that the Baifu Sect would have carefully selected the person since they’ve studied Ku You for so long. The fake they trained should have at least confused our prince for a moment.”

“I’m also puzzled. As soon as the prince took action, he broke the opponent’s wrists and knocked him unconscious,” Cheng Suyue said. “I looked at him on the road. His face is exactly the same as Ku You’s, as well as his eyes. There’s not even a trace of a mask.”

Gao Lin was extremely confused. How had he been discovered?

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Chapter One Hundred Ten << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Twelve