It was a rare moment of compassion from Xu Fengnian in the eyes of the world, but not long after, he couldn’t help but wish he could slap himself a couple of times. Taking care of a child was simply too inconvenient for a grown man. With this little burden always by his side, she never complained when she was hungry, only blinking her eyes pitifully at Xu Fengnian. When riding a horse, her little bottom would hurt, but she never cried or made a fuss, just turned to look at Xu Fengnian with teary eyes. When walking together, she had to carry a heavy money pouch worth a tael of silver that she had no chance to spend. Her little hands turned red and swollen, and when the pouch slipped from her hands, she would silently pick it up again. When she couldn’t lift it, she would carry it on her tender shoulders. If she fell, she wouldn’t cry or complain about the pain, just get up and continue walking, falling and walking again. How far could this pair travel in a single day?
Moreover, when Xu Fengnian was alone, he could have simply endured the wild nights with his poor horse. But now that Tao Manwu was with him, he had to use two of his own clothes—one to pad her with and one to cover her with. The child was restless while sleeping and always kicked around. If it weren’t for Xu Fengnian feeding his flying swords every hour, the little girl might have frozen to death in just one night.
After a few days, Xu Fengnian finally gave in to this stubborn little girl and let her sleep in his arms at night. Even when facing the great demon Xie Ling, he had never felt so constrained.
Therefore, when the young prince finally saw the sword-hanging pavilion atop the city walls of Feihu City in Longyao Prefecture, he felt an immense sense of relief.
One must know that when the young prince was a child, he was the kind of person who loved to grab his younger brother by the feet and toss him around in the snow, or play upside-down games with his older sister. Huangman’er obviously enjoyed it more. Every time his brother pulled him out of the snow, he would always have a bright, Silly smile on his face. The three siblings never tired of their games. Only his second sister, Xu Wei Xiong, would stand at a distance, all alone, watching coldly. She was mature and intelligent, likely considering such childish games beneath her. However, she would occasionally join in a snowball fight, but only if it was against Xu Zhihu and Xu Longxiang with Xu Fengnian. Xu Zhihu was relatively frail, and Huangman’er had been instructed by his brother not to use too much force, so he always returned from the battles defeated. At this point, Xu Wei Xiong would be satisfied, lifting her sharp chin, clapping her hands, and saying with a cold face but a smiling mouth that she was going to study military books. After she left, Xu Fengnian and Xu Zhihu would exchange glances and share a silent smile, while the ever-happy Huangman’er, not understanding anything, would simply join his older sister and brother in laughing foolishly.
Since bypassing Liuxia City on this journey, especially after bringing along Tao Manwu, Xu Fengnian often found himself lost in thought. Perhaps he would crouch by the widened roadside, or gaze at a newly built post station from afar, or stand on high ground overlooking the flat, desolate wilderness. Even when he discovered an unnamed lake that used irrigation tools from Jiangnan, he would stop to observe. Tao Manwu, after all, was only a six or seven-year-old innocent child. It was already a miracle that she hadn’t cried herself to death after her parents’ death. Yet she could easily see through people’s hearts, discerning the true emotions hidden beneath all pretense and darkness. She could tell who harbored ill intentions and who was cold on the outside but warm within. After traveling with this man, who had taken on a new face, all the way to the outskirts of Feihu City, she finally saw him show genuine happiness for the first time—and she couldn’t help but feel warm and cheerful herself.
Approaching the city gate, Xu Fengnian dismounted and helped Tao Manwu off the horse. Holding the poor horse in one hand and the child in the other, he walked toward the city gate. The child’s little hands were swollen like steamed buns. After he carefully pricked the blisters, it was likely that new calluses would form, and eventually thick, hardened ones. From then on, Xu Fengnian no longer made things difficult for this child with such a tragic background, simply hanging the luggage on the horse’s back. As they neared the gate, they saw a horse caravan thundering out of the city. Xu Fengnian pulled his horse aside, stepping to the side with the child. The leading young man had long, loose hair and wore an expensive fur coat. His face was cold and stern. Behind him, six guards were clad in light armor, carrying Mang blades and well-crafted crossbows on their backs. Each horse had a quiver of arrows hanging from it, the arrows tightly packed. Xu Fengnian noticed that the fletching on the arrows was slightly worn but not enough to affect accuracy. Clearly, this was no idle nobleman or showy decoration. Xu Fengnian thus regarded this young man from a powerful Northern Wei family with a bit more respect. The city guards, who usually harassed ordinary citizens, immediately bowed and smiled as they watched the group leave, their smiles showing no hint of mockery or jealousy—only reverence.
The sharp-eyed city guards checked the travel documents proving Xu Fengnian’s reason for leaving his hometown. When they saw the poor horse he rode, they lost interest in extorting any money and let him pass without further trouble. As he entered the dimly lit city gate tunnel, Xu Fengnian instinctively looked up and smiled. He wondered whether Heyi, whose fate he did not know, could ever again cling to the ceiling like a gecko and strike him from above. In the past, he had actually felt a strange mix of annoyance and twisted anticipation and gratitude for such sudden surprises. At that time, with Li Chungan, a true immortal, by his side, the young prince rarely had the chance to act himself. Only Heyi, who treated the top ten martial experts in the world and the land immortals as if they were nothing, would follow him like an unshakable curse, determined to kill whoever she targeted. It was a kind of encouragement for Xu Fengnian. Yet even now, he still couldn’t understand why, after she had tried to kill him without mercy in the reed marshes, she had ultimately taken on the calamity of bad fortune for him.
After passing through the city gate, Xu Fengnian was filled with self-mockery. Was it because he was too cold and heartless that he couldn’t understand the subtle thoughts of those remarkable women? Like Hongshu from the Wutong Courtyard, he only realized her identity as an assassin after he began training in swordsmanship. At first, he had thought she was merely a plump koi in the Listening-to-Tide Pond, one who would grow thinner if not fed and starve to death if left unfed. In reality, she had secretly protected him from countless dangers, her hands stained with blood as red as rouge. Perhaps just before he rested his head on her lap, she had just killed several moths that had sneaked into the mansion, snuffing them out like candle wicks.
He chose an inn in the bustling northeastern corner of Feihu City, where many exiles from the Spring and Autumn Period had settled. The Northern Wei Dynasty’s division between north and south was clear and distinct—northern imperial clans and southern officials were the most obvious example. Across the vast territory of this empire, there were countless cases of scholars rising to prominence in the imperial court. After the initial inevitable unrest, there had been many bloody incidents where Northern Wei nobles slaughtered foreigners, sometimes dozens or even hundreds at a time. However, as the Northern Wei empress issued decrees to every corner of the empire, many sons of the Yelü and Murong clans died, and many high-ranking officials in the imperial court were punished or stripped of their titles. With her iron-fisted rule in the north and a rare tenderness toward the southern officials, she had brought about the current stability. The second generation of Spring and Autumn exiles had already begun to naturally consider themselves citizens of the Northern Wei, grateful and loyal to the wise and mighty emperor.
Murong, the empress, had once spent two years personally touring every inch of her newly conquered lands. Wherever she went, especially in major cities, countless people knelt in dense, black waves.
The former emperor of Liyang unified the Spring and Autumn Period, and when the new emperor ascended the throne, had he ever visited the eight former kingdoms? Had he ever come to Beiliang?
Xu Fengnian placed his luggage in the room, keeping the important items on his person without worrying about theft. However, the little girl stayed by the bag of silver coins, refusing to go eat. Probably, after carrying, holding, and bearing it all the way, she had developed an attachment to it. If it were to disappear, she would be heartbroken.
Xu Fengnian chuckled, saying, “You silly girl, if it were stolen, wouldn’t you be relieved? Come on, let’s go eat. Your stomach has been growling for a while now. It’s not a song, and I don’t like it.”
Little Tao Manwu looked at him with a serious expression, as if to say, “If it’s stolen, it’s not my fault.”
Xu Fengnian teased her, “Don’t worry, if it really is stolen, it’s not your fault. But I’ll exchange the banknote for the same weight in silver coins and make you carry them again.”
The little girl, always meticulous in everything she did, confirmed that this not-so-bad bad guy wasn’t joking, and her eyes welled up with tears.
If Xu Fengnian had softened at this point, he wouldn’t deserve his reputation for coldness and heartlessness. He simply said two words: “Eat!”
Tao Manwu followed behind him, timidly threatening, “Then I won’t sing songs for you anymore.”
Without turning his head, Xu Fengnian replied, “Fine. I was planning to be generous and give you a bowl of rice, but now I’ll deduct half a bowl, and you can’t have any side dishes.”
Tao Manwu immediately said, “Then I won’t sing for you tomorrow either.”
Xu Fengnian’s lips curled into a warm smile, his eyes gentle, but he said nothing.
The little girl immediately felt secretly delighted because, even without seeing his face, she knew he was smiling.
After sitting down, Xu Fengnian ordered one meat dish, three vegetable dishes, and two bowls of rice. Tao Manwu had excellent manners, eating silently and sleeping silently. Despite her young age, she had the grace of a young lady. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a beauty. When she grew up, she would probably only be of average appearance, likely resembling her father, Tao Qianzhi, more than her mother. Even if a woman was gentle and virtuous, being praised for inner beauty was still a consolation after the loss of extraordinary beauty.
The only meat dish on the table was a black fish, simply prepared. After washing off the mud, it was cut open, and half an ounce of pepper and a few garlic cloves were placed inside. It was then cooked with soybeans, and just before it was done, a few thumb-sized radishes were added, topped with chopped green onions. Among the vegetables was a soup made from five kinds of tree branches. Xu Fengnian could identify four of them: mulberry, locust, willow, and peach. This meal of meat and vegetables cost only forty coppers, a real bargain. Considering that a thousand coppers equaled one tael of silver, this meal was affordable even for an ordinary household wanting to occasionally treat themselves to a bit of luxury.
This made Xu Fengnian, who had checked all the prices on the menu behind the counter, fall into thought. The phrase “the people’s hearts” had been preached by Confucian scholars of every dynasty to their emperors, but how many rulers were willing to lower themselves to care about such small matters as food and dishes? Probably, the emperors wouldn’t even want to hear about it, let alone discuss it with their high-ranking ministers like common vegetable vendors or farmers. Such discussions from the throne and study halls would surely be laughed at by the scholars of the world.
Xu Fengnian glanced at Tao Manwu, who was Lower your head eating her meal. She had wanted to pick up a piece of the fragrant black fish, but seeing the bad guy’s gaze, she silently withdrew her chopsticks. Xu Fengnian picked a piece of white, tender fish meat for her and said indifferently, “From now on, use your own chopsticks.”
He added with a reminder, “Be careful with the bones. If you get poked, I won’t waste money on vinegar.”
The little girl looked up and smiled.
Xu Fengnian smiled and said, “Peach, have a little backbone, okay? You’re so easily bought with just a piece of fish?”
In public, he had agreed with her to use her new nickname, “Peach.” At first, the little girl resisted by staying silent. Later, when Xu Fengnian remained unyielding, walking instead of riding the horse and making her carry the heavy money pouch for half a day, she finally gave in, nodding silently when Xu Fengnian called her “Peach” again. Only then did he carry her onto the horse. The little girl, her shoulders burning with pain, bit her lip and cried for a long time.
Xu Fengnian ate quickly, leaving calculated leftovers for Tao Manwu, then patiently waited for her to slowly fill her stomach. Leaning against the window, he looked out at the bustling market, counting the grain shops, cloth stores, and pawnshops. When the little girl finished her meal without leaving a single grain, saying “Okay,” Xu Fengnian finally turned his attention back. He didn’t rush to get up but asked the waiter for a pot of tea. This made the innkeeper behind the counter beam with joy. A pot of tea wasn’t particularly profitable, but seeing the young gentleman’s demeanor, it was clear he would spend a lot of money at the inn. This was called “slow and steady gains.” For small businesses, getting rich overnight was an unrealistic dream; it was the small, steady profits that mattered. The waiter, well aware of the innkeeper’s calculations, understood immediately and served tea with a warm, smiling face.
As Xu Fengnian sipped his tea, he softly said, “Knock the Golden Bell.”
Tao Manwu obediently closed her mouth and tapped her teeth thirty-six times.
“Strike the Heavenly Drum.”
The little girl gently raised her hands and tapped her temples eighteen times.
“Wash the Face.”
The neatly seated little girl closed her eyes, rubbed her palms together until they were warm, then, with her fingers together, placed her little fingers near her nose, pushed upward across her eyebrows and the middle of her forehead, moved upward to her hairline, then rubbed outward to her temples, and slowly downward across her cheeks to her jawline. She repeated this six times.
When Xu Fengnian finished his cup of tea, Tao Manwu had completed the three tasks properly and methodically, looking quite serious.
Xu Fengnian was adept at multitasking, otherwise he would never have dared to wield two knives in front of Bai Huer Lian. As the little girl finished this basic Taoist health practice, he continued to look out at the bustling market while lost in thought.
In the Beiliang Mansion, no matter how many bloody reports from spies and informants in Northern Wei arrived, they were always just cold numbers and words: how many cavalry Northern Wei had, the distribution of cities, the status of warhorses, and so on. But these tiny, subtle details before him—what Li Yishan, the unparalleled strategist of Beiliang, had insisted that the young prince personally witness, were invaluable. This chief strategist, who had confined himself for twenty years, had no children of his own. Though he never said it outright, he regarded the young prince as his own flesh and blood. Yet he still supported the prince’s self-exile to Northern Wei. Even a man as refined as Li Yishan had cursed, saying, “To hell with the idea that a gentleman should not stand near a dangerous wall! Beiliang will need a damn gentleman as its king in the future!” This showed how deeply he distrusted Northern Wei.
Xu Fengnian still clearly remembered when he handed over the hand-drawn geographical map. Li Yishan, who had never acknowledged him as a disciple, had remained silent. The man, already gravely ill with only a few years left, finally said, “Go get two jugs of wine. Today, I’ll drink to this three-thousand-mile landscape.”
This was a man who had once used half a kingdom as a snack while drinking with Zhao Changle.
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