Under the old locust tree, seeking shade, Xu Xiaoqing curiously asked, “Today’s visit to Xiamawei, should I address you as your Uncle Lu, the Tangxi Sword Immortal, or as Lu Baijie, the Vice Minister of War from the Lu family?”
Xu Fengnian softly replied, “Both. As the Tangxi Sword Immortal, he inquired about swords and gifted them, settling all emotional debts. By lowering his status and greeting me first as a senior would to a junior, I don’t need to go out of my way to visit Minister Lu Daolin at the Ministry of Rites. Uncle Lu is a remarkable man, but unfortunately, being in the imperial court and holding a high position means he must always consider his family’s interests, making it impossible for him to balance both sentiment and duty. I understand this and won’t make things difficult for him. If someone else were to do this, they wouldn’t dare personally visit right under the Emperor’s nose, let alone sit down with me for a meal with such cordiality—they’d probably just send a messenger to Xiamawei.”
Xu Xiaoqing sneered, “Politicians indeed have more twists and turns than the Nine-Bend Yellow River.”
Xu Fengnian chuckled, “Actually, that was quite straightforward.”
Changing the subject from such unpleasant matters, Xu Xiaoqing curiously asked, “Can you guess who will be the first to come to Xiamawei and cause you trouble?”
Xu Fengnian thought for a moment and slowly replied, “The capital is full of powerful people with far-reaching influence, but those bold enough to directly confront me are few and far between. Princess Sui Zhu, who harbors a deep hatred for me, is definitely one of them. There are a few others…”
Before he could finish, Tong Ziliang, the young courier, knocked on the courtyard gate and then reported, “Your Highness, the Princess is visiting Xiamawei incognito.”
Xu Xiaoqing was momentarily stunned. Xu Fengnian, who often had an uncanny knack for predictions, stood up with a self-deprecating smile and said, “I should go meet her.”
Princess Sui Zhu, Zhao Fengya, had already arrived at the outer courtyard, still accompanied by the Eastern Yue nobleman Zhang Huan, who always carried a pair of Barbaric Brocade (barbarian brocade) double blades at his waist. Previously, one of the twelve eunuchs who had accompanied them to Wudang, Sun Diaosi, quickly fell out of favor and faded from sight after returning to the palace. Seeing Xu Fengnian, whose waist bore only a jade belt with nothing else, she scoffed, “Now you don’t even dare to carry a sword? What’s the matter? Are you afraid someone will challenge you to a duel and expose your weakness? And what about that claim of killing Di Wuhe from the Ti Bingshan? Who are you trying to fool?”
Xu Fengnian narrowed his eyes, those rare and beautiful phoenix-shaped eyes that many women would envy, and smiled slightly, “Believe it if you will, doubt it if you won’t.”
Zhao Fengya was furious, “Why didn’t Xu Bo come to the capital instead of you, you good-for-nothing? What are you doing here, making a spectacle of yourself? Don’t you feel ashamed?”
Xu Fengnian replied indifferently, “Xu Xiao said you were to take me to try some of the capital’s delicacies, but I think I’ll pass.”
Zhao Fengya spat, “You’re such a pile of dung! I’d rather go out of my way to avoid you!”
Xu Fengnian feigned surprise and said, “Your Highness, you certainly don’t seem to be going out of your way to avoid me.”
Zhao Fengya sneered, “Originally, I just wanted Zhang Huan to expose your true face. But seeing how much worse you’ve become, not even daring to carry a sword, I can’t even be bothered to step on a pile of dung like you!”
Standing behind Xu Fengnian, Xu Xiaoqing’s lips curled into a smirk, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
Zhang Huan, who carried two Long and short (short and long) swords, had been cautious ever since he first saw Xu Fengnian. Seeing the young woman in purple only made him more alert. He deeply resented the Princess’s reckless provocation, feeling like a mute eating bitter melon—suffering silently. The world of martial arts was different from the political arena. In politics, the more cunning and experienced the old foxes were, the more dangerous they became, and the more respect they commanded. In the martial world, however, it was better to challenge an old man than a young man. Once martial artists passed their prime, their cultivation and skills often stagnated, with late bloomers being exceedingly rare. Facing the Prince of Beiliang, whose prowess had grown significantly since their encounter on Wudang, already made Zhang Huan uneasy. And then there was that young woman in dark robes, whose beauty and attire were seductive and whose aura was so strong that Zhang Huan felt he might as well surrender without even drawing his sword.
Xu Fengnian smiled cheerfully, “Then there’s no need to dirty the Princess’s feet. Everyone’s happy.”
Princess Sui Zhu turned to leave, uttering a prophetic warning that shook the heavens, “Dare to assassinate a prince, and I’ll see how you, Xu Fengnian, manage to leave Tai’an City alive!”
Xu Fengnian looked up at the empty autumn sky and casually remarked, “Look, a sparrow came, and then it flew away.”
Zhao Fengya turned around angrily, but even Zhang Huan dared not stop her. She walked down the steps and pointed at Xu Fengnian, who stood above, “Say that again!”
Xu Fengnian looked down at the fiery and haughty woman with a small nose, her freckles scattered playfully, and smiled, “I was talking about the sparrow. What does that have to do with the Princess?”
Without turning her head, Zhao Fengya shouted, “Zhang Huan, kill him!”
Zhang Huan reluctantly and slowly drew the longer of his two Barbarian Faction (barbarian faction) swords, and then… nothing happened.
Confused, Princess Sui Zhu turned to look, ready to scold him, only to see a terrifying sight that made her scream. Behind Zhang Huan, a large red robe floated in the air, and a female ghost was laughing joyfully, her six arms extended. One hand pressed down on Zhang Huan’s arm as he tried to draw his sword, and another rested on his head.
Like most imperial women, Zhao Fengya believed in the Daoist teachings and the gods. She was so frightened that she stumbled backward, tripped on the steps, and fell. Instinctively closing her eyes and bracing for the impact, she instead fell into a warm embrace.
Opening her eyes, she found herself staring at a face she had never seen so close before. A strand of his white hair hung down to her nose, soft and tickling.
※※※
In a narrow, old house in the capital, two grown men sat pitifully on the steps, watching a woman in the courtyard press a large stone over pickled cabbage. In the capital, whether rich or poor, every household followed the tradition of using large stones and jars to preserve vegetables for winter. The woman wore simple clothes, her appearance plain and unremarkable, but when she focused intently on the pickled cabbage, her expression became unusually serious. There were two jars in the courtyard—one held five or six river carp that would soon meet their end that night. The two men had gone to the river a few nights earlier to steal them, keeping them in the water jar to cleanse them of mud and earth. Unfortunately, one of them had been injured and was wrapped like a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling). The method of preparing pickled fish had been his suggestion, and the master and servant had both found it quite delicious after trying it once.
The injured man’s face was hard to see clearly, and he wore a wooden sword at his waist. Holding a grudge against his companion, he liked to tease him with words, “Liu Gang, is that your name because you like pickled cabbage? And since you need big jars to pickle cabbage, and you just happen to have six jars, your father must not have cared much about naming you. I think you were probably picked up from the roadside. You finally got the chance to travel the world, so why not go find your real father? The world is vast, yet you had to come to the capital. Coming to the capital to mooch off others is bad enough, but why is your maid’s swordsmanship better than yours? Aren’t you just cheating people? And that old man Huang is no good either—he set me up on purpose. After I dueled Qi Jiajie and Bai Changjiang, those two old turtles, I realized that the best swordsman in your house was the maid who likes to make pickled cabbage. I almost ran away from the capital in shame, planning to practice swordsmanship for another seven or eight years before reappearing in the martial world. If I hadn’t met my beloved, I would have really missed out. Oh, by the way, Liu Gang, why don’t you just let her stay and pickle cabbage? What’s the point of practicing swordsmanship? Then you can tell others that she lost to me in a second duel, making her lose interest in swordsmanship. How about that?”
The young man nicknamed Liu Gang said nothing, only watching the woman work in the courtyard.
The wooden sword wanderer, who had lost three duels in a row, lamented, “I thought coming to the capital would finally be my time to shine, but I’ve had the worst luck imaginable. A couple of days ago, we went to steal fish from the river and ran into the city guards. When they saw me, they asked if I was Wen Busheng. ‘Busheng’ to your old man! Just because I like to adjust my little friend before a duel, does that mean I lack the demeanor of a martial expert? But my good looks are undeniable. Why hasn’t any woman come to flirt with me after a duel? Liu Gang, you’re just an average swordsman, maybe a couple of years more experienced than me in the martial world. Tell me why, so I can find some clever words to impress Miss Li when I see her.”
The young man in the green robe, with a short bamboo pole resting on his lap, calmly said, “Didn’t you claim to Miss Li that you would become the most famous swordsman in the world and marry her? She agreed, so why are you taking this detour? Just practice your sword skills until you’re invincible.”
The zongzi-wrapped wooden sword man shouted, “Invincible? Do you really think being the best swordsman is as easy as making a jar of pickled cabbage? Do you think you can just stir it a few times and it’s ready to eat?”
The elegant young man in green and holding a bamboo pole never took his eyes off the woman but smiled and said, “As long as you defeat the Tangxi Sword Immortal Lu Baijie, you’ll at least be the most famous swordsman in Tai’an City. Then Miss Li will surely look at you differently.”
The ragged wooden sword wanderer sighed, “You’re so boring, nothing like Xiao Nian. I’d rather not live with you if I had the money to rent a house. Lu Baijie is the Vice Minister of War, a top official in the world. Even if I win against him, I’ll be at odds with the government forever. If Lu Baijie is vindictive, he might send hundreds or even thousands of henchmen to ambush me. I only have two sword techniques, and my inner strength isn’t as good as yours. What should I do? Even if I escape, in the chaos of swords and blades, if I injure government soldiers, it’ll be even worse. My journey in the martial world hasn’t even seen a victory yet, and I’ll be executed and my head displayed, and Xiao Nian will laugh at me.”
Wu Jiading, the young sword prodigy from the Wu family, glanced at this overly anxious swordsman, finding it absurd. How could such a cowardly, life-loving wanderer wield two swords with such mastery? His inner strength was mediocre, his skills were average, and his temperament was nothing special. Could it be that Huang Sanjia really had the power to turn the mundane into the extraordinary, to turn stone into gold? As the current champion of the Wu family sword tomb, which had been a sacred ground for swordsmanship for centuries, Wu Jiading’s understanding of sword techniques was unparalleled, except for the Peach Blossom Sword God Deng Ta’a and a few old masters from the sword tomb. Yet he couldn’t figure out how this wooden sword man beside him could stand out. The Ghost Sword technique had always been considered the lowest form of swordsmanship. Although the sword tomb embraced all styles equally, the Ghost Sword technique had the fewest practitioners throughout history, while the Royal Sword and Tyrant Sword techniques had the most.
Wen Hua turned and asked, “Liu Gang, do you have any spare money? Lend me some. I have a duel with the Tangxi Sword Immortal in a few days, and I can’t wear these rags anymore. They don’t do justice to my talents. Sigh, if Xiao Nian were here, even if he had to steal, he’d get me a new set of clothes. Unlike you, who has no sense of taste at all. No wonder your sword skills are worse than your maid’s. I curse you to choke on a fish bone while eating pickled fish tonight.”
Wu Jiading said with a tone of helplessness, “Do you really sound like someone asking for a loan?”
Wen Hua rolled his eyes and said, “You call that being considerate when your maid uses the Two Sleeves of Green Snake technique, which she stole from the old sword master, to fight me?”
The woman, who always paid more attention to pickling cabbage than practicing swordsmanship, turned to look. Only at such moments would she open her eyes. This woman, whose name was very common but who carried the Su Wang sword, calmly asked, “Do you know about Li Chungan’s two wishes?”
To everyone’s surprise, Wen Hua didn’t respond with his usual sarcasm. He leaned back, looked at the sky, and softly said, “Of course I know. The old master wished for future swordsmen to be able to break through mountains and rivers. Unfortunately, I, Wen Hua, never had the chance to meet the great sword master Li in my lifetime. I tried my best but couldn’t cultivate the sword intent of the old master. At most, I could only follow behind the Peach Blossom Sword Immortal Deng Ta’a, destined to eat dust.”
Li Chungan wished that every sincere swordsman in the world could master the Two Sleeves of Green Snake.
Li Chungan wished that every brilliant young swordsman in the world could open the Heaven’s Gate with their swords.
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