Prince Xu Fengnian, whose seven acupoints remained unopened, had diligently removed the chaotic energy threads implanted into his body by Huang Baozhuang’s techniques. He had just opened the Dicang acupoint and, in conjunction with the sword qi “Rolling Dragon Wall” cultivated within his body over the past period, exhaled once and unleashed a powerful sword qi that destroyed a lotus flower. The pond was shallow, defying normal expectations. After bathing and changing clothes in the morning, he questioned two maids and learned that this lotus was a rare variety known as the “Han Furong,” or “Drought Crape Myrtle.” This plant could not grow in water with fluctuating levels and preferred dry conditions; if its roots were submerged too long, they would rot and the plant would die. The pond’s water level required careful management. When cultivated properly, these lotus flowers bloomed several months earlier than regular lotuses, and their blooming period was longer. A single plant was highly valuable, hence the nickname “Ten Gold Lotus” and the humorous moniker “Fierce Wife Lotus.” Even wealthy families could only afford to grow one or two in a tub, let alone a pond with over a hundred plants. Maintaining such a pond required both wealth and effort, clearly indicating the immense wealth of the Wei family.
After exhaling sword qi and cutting down a green lotus, Xu Fengnian felt completely refreshed, his energy flowing without the slightest obstruction. The Great Huangting technique was wondrous, and its most immediate benefit was an extraordinary enhancement of the senses. Though Xu Fengnian appeared to be following the incantation with his eyes closed, he was actually listening intently to the slow blooming of a flower bud nearby. During this process, the “Rolling Dragon Wall” sword qi surged through his meridians, in stark contrast to the shy unfolding of the flower in the pond. Unfortunately, the young prince could only maintain this state for an hour before being overwhelmed by the immense energy surging within him. He mused that once his sixth sense was awakened, he might endure the entire night to witness the full bloom of a lotus. Stretching lazily, he quipped with self-mockery: “A fine young man should be able to last longer.”
Xu Fengnian sat back at the table, reflecting on his current resources. Those flying swords were valuable only if fully mastered, but for now, they were no more than useless scrap metal—impressive to look at but impractical for use. Although the process of feeding blood to the sword was arduous, without the guidance of the old man in sheepskin robes and his “Two Sleeves of Green Snakes” technique, this clumsy method of sword cultivation was another form of training. In this world, it was rare to find something that brought great rewards with only a little hardship. Once his sword cultivation reached its peak, attaining the “Finger Zen” realm would no longer seem so distant. He had five masks crafted by Shu Xiu, which were clever but unorthodox tools—nonetheless, quite useful. The silk armor he wore close to his skin, claimed to be impervious to fire and water, and resistant to blades and spears, was mostly empty talk. Against a top-tier martial artist, it would offer little protection, but it could still help against common sword or knife attacks. He had torn off six pages from the sword manual, and the most useful was the newly acquired “Rolling Dragon Wall” technique. Not only had it inadvertently helped him break through one acupoint, but during these past days of diligently circulating his energy through complex meridians rather than the simple ones, he had found the early stages to be extremely difficult and uncomfortable. Yet, once he grew accustomed to it, it truly lived up to the old saying: “First bitter, then sweet.” Ancient wisdom was never deceptive. The twelve techniques he had selected from hundreds of secret manuals—among them, “Stabbing the Whale, Stacking Thunder, Covering Armor”—he reviewed daily in his mind, waiting for the day he could unleash his accumulated power.
His decision to infiltrate the Fish Dragon Gang and travel north to the Northern Desert, choosing Liuxia City as a foothold, was based on two considerations. First, the area north of Youzhou experienced fewer battles, offering greater space for martial artists. Second, the city’s governor, Tao Qianzhi, was a man destined to die. Tao was not only a master of military strategy but also possessed formidable martial skills, particularly in understanding the military and political affairs of Beiliang. He had previously served as the Chong She General of the southern Gusai Province in the Northern Desert. However, due to the death of a royal relative during a military inspection—killed by a surprise attack led by Chen Zhibao—he was implicated and demoted to the position of city governor in Liuxia. In reality, this was a covert promotion. Though his official rank had dropped by one level, he now held both military and administrative power in the border city, a stroke of fortune that freed him from the constraints of the military. As long as he achieved some merit, he would surely catch the attention of the Northern Desert’s Jie Jie Ling (Festival Holder) or even the Northern Desert Empress herself, offering far greater opportunities than the rigid hierarchy of the Northern Desert army.
According to intelligence gathered by Beiliang, Tao Qianzhi had unique insights into military tactics, especially in unconventional warfare. He was known for his brutal nature, and it was said that he could not sleep unless he killed a Beiliang soldier every day. Upon arriving in Liuxia from Gusai, he brought no family members, no money, and no treasures—only six prison carts containing over forty captured Beiliang soldiers. Within a month, all of them were executed. However, Tao maintained strong relationships with many generals in the Northern Desert border forces, who would send him new captives for his daily beheadings. In short, Tao Qianzhi was a rising star in the Northern Desert court, favored by various factions. He possessed both military leadership and public acclaim, destined to rise like a carp leaping over the dragon gate and become an indispensable cornerstone of the Northern Desert imperial court.
According to Northern Desert law, a city governor could command sixty elite armored guards. Tao Qianzhi himself was likely a second-tier martial artist. Xu Fengnian weighed the odds between them and chuckled darkly. Cross-border assassinations between the two empires were frequent, but mostly carried out by suicide agents with low success rates. The Northern Desert once invested heavily in forming an assassination team, recruiting two to three top experts from each of the internal sects, along with over a hundred elite soldiers from the military. Around 130 people were divided into three groups and infiltrated Beiliang, avoiding strong points and targeting mid-level officials in Beiliang’s military and political circles. However, Beiliang had set a trap, and the three adopted sons—Chen Zhibao, Yuan Zuozong, and Chu Lushan—each led a third of the forces, accompanied by nearly a hundred hawks and hounds raised by the Beiliang Prince’s Mansion. They wiped out the entire Northern Desert team, causing a major shock in the Northern Desert court. The Northern Desert Empress launched a large-scale purge, resulting in many heads rolling. However, in reality, only a few Beiliang spies embedded in the Northern Desert court for years were uncovered. Ironically, the investigation eventually led to the Northern Desert Right Chancellor, revealing that one of his trusted spies was a double agent. Taking advantage of the Right Chancellor’s powerful reputation, this spy had been selling military secrets to both sides, leading the once-powerful Right Chancellor to resign in disgrace and live in seclusion as a commoner.
The enmity between Liang and Mang was too complex to explain in a few words. It was like a chopping block where today your blood was spilled, and tomorrow mine was added. Layer upon layer, it had solidified into a nauseating blood monument.
A gentle knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. Xu Fengnian knew it was either Qiushui or Chunnong. He said, “Come in.”
It was Chunnong, the more petite of the two. She had fair skin and a slightly round face that was not overtly heart-shaped. This delicate little girl seemed as if she might break if handled too roughly in bed. No wonder she was worth fifty taels of gold. Unfortunately, until Xu Fengnian fully mastered the Great Huangting technique, he had to remain a monk abstaining from meat. In the Wutong Courtyard, there were many beauties worth more than eighty taels of silver, and the young prince, aside from his cultivation, had such remarkable restraint that it was almost legendary.
The little maid entered the room carrying a food tray. Her slender legs peeked out from under her skirt as she playfully kicked the door shut behind her. When she saw Xu Fengnian looking at her, she blushed and smiled shyly. She placed the tray on the table and stood beside him, lowering her head and timidly saying, “Qiushui said she would warm your bed tonight. I don’t know when you plan to rest, Master.” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word “sleep with,” so she stared at her toes, her ears turning red. In fact, during the cold spring months, it was common for servant girls to warm their master’s bed. In the sweltering summer, the servant girl had to fan him all night long, no matter how sore her hand became, and she was not allowed to fall asleep even for a moment. She and Qiushui had been carefully trained and were well-versed in serving their master. However, in the Wei household, they rarely had the opportunity to appear before him. Seeing this handsome young man favored by the master, they felt no romantic affection, only the natural shyness and timidity of young women.
Xu Fengnian opened the food tray and picked up a piece of cake that melted in his mouth. He looked at the maid. Her face and figure were worth only about seventy taels of silver, but she had beautiful eyebrows and eyes. Her brows were especially charming, and even at her young age, she exuded a subtle allure. When she debuted, a horse breeder had appraised her eyebrows alone at thirty taels of silver. Xu Fengnian, having spent years among beauties, had an excellent eye.
Xu Fengnian picked up a piece of cake and handed it to the girl with a smile. “Don’t rush. Sit down and chat with me for a while.”
The girl softly replied, “Okay,” and sat slightly sideways across from Xu Fengnian. She took the cake but kept her head lowered, slowly nibbling at it with her small mouth.
Xu Fengnian said something rather blunt. “You should have Qingming Festival ancestral worship here in Liuxia, right? Where can I buy yellow paper? In a couple of days, I want to burn some at the street corner to pay respects to the south.”
The pretty maid lifted her head to speak but realized she still had cake in her mouth. Afraid of speaking unclearly and offending the young master, she quickly swallowed it. She reached out to wipe away a few crumbs from the corner of her mouth. Her naturally charming eyes softened as she said with a gentle voice, “Master can just give the order. Chunnong will prepare everything for you tomorrow.”
Xu Fengnian nodded with a smile and reached out to wipe away some cake crumbs that weren’t actually there. He teased with a wink. “Here it is.”
The little maid gave him a coy glance and lowered her head, too shy to look at him.
Qiushui knocked and entered, catching the scene. She also blushed slightly. She carried several famous calligraphy and paintings, saying the master had asked Xu Fengnian to appraise them for authenticity. Most of the scrolls had copper or sandalwood axes, which were not light. Xu Fengnian stood up to help move them to the table. Qiushui saw that Chunnong was still in a daze and secretly tapped her on the forehead, scolding softly, “Didn’t you notice the lamp was dim? Why didn’t you add oil for the master?”
Chunnong pouted Grievancely but seeing Qiushui’s slightly stern gaze, she quickly smiled and hurried to add oil to the delicate oil lamp shaped like a white jade Guanyin holding a vase.
Xu Fengnian paid no mind to their small antics. He wiped his hands on his sleeves and, after Qiushui moved the food tray, slowly unrolled a painting on the table. He smiled—it was “Summer Flowers” by Chen Chun from the previous dynasty. Unfortunately, the original was in the Beiliang Prince’s Mansion, so he didn’t rush to reveal the truth. He rolled it up and placed it at the corner of the table, then opened the second scroll. It was “Pheasant and Chrysanthemum in the Mountains” by Lü Ji, vivid in color and precise in brushwork. Over the past three hundred years, collectors had stamped the blank spaces densely, proving the painting’s rarity. Xu Fengnian had learned the art of appreciation from the national scholar Li Yishan over many years and had considerable skill. Even without those numerous seals, he could tell it was genuine. He rolled it up again and opened the third painting, “Plum Blossoms and Zither” by the former Southern Tang Emperor. However, this one was a forgery. Interestingly, aside from authenticity, the brushwork of this copy was actually superior.
After finishing all the paintings, Xu Fengnian said quietly, “Qiushui, Chunnong, bring paper and brush.”
Qiushui held up her sleeve with two fingers and began grinding ink. Chunnong didn’t dare to slack off and helped place a paperweight on the Xuan paper. Xu Fengnian wrote slowly, exuding a calm and leisurely demeanor. Qiushui and Chunnong exchanged glances and saw admiration in each other’s eyes. They hadn’t expected Master Xu to have such beautiful handwriting, reaching a level of hidden mastery that they couldn’t hope to achieve even after ten years of hard practice. Of the eleven paintings, Xu Fengnian deliberately failed to identify three as genuine or fake, pretending he couldn’t be sure. He misjudged two obscure ones but correctly identified the other six. For the remaining eight, he provided detailed reasons for their authenticity or forgery and estimated their relative values. Some of his valuations were correct, others not. Since Old Fox Wei Feng had clearly intended to test him, the young prince couldn’t afford to be too honest. As for the small regular script he wrote, he naturally concealed some details. Such a slip-up would never happen. After the ink dried slightly, Qiushui cherished the small script, carefully tucking it into her bosom. She bent down to lift the heavy paintings and prepared to return to the master to report.
Xu Fengnian smiled at Chunnong. “Go help Qiushui. You don’t need to warm the bed tonight.”
Chunnong felt half relieved and half disappointed. She widened her eyes, clearly confused.
Xu Fengnian gently patted her cheek and said, “After Qingming.”
Qiushui and Chunnong both carried the paintings out of the room. In the corridor, another maid of the same age who had come with an umbrella for Qiushui was waiting. Seeing Chunnong, she was surprised, and the jealousy she had felt earlier gradually faded. Her eyes now held genuine warmth. It wasn’t raining, so there was no need for an umbrella to block the rain. However, since the paintings in her arms were of unknown value, she had taken the extra precaution of bringing an oil-paper umbrella. The three maids walked back together, naturally exchanging some playful banter between women. Qiushui and Chunnong, raised by the same horse breeder, were like sisters. There was a subtle distance between them and the other maid, who had a different background. However, clever women naturally wore a thick mask of pretense when interacting with others.
Xu Fengnian closed the door and sat cross-legged on the bed. This was his usual posture when traveling with the little Li Chonggang doll. As long as there was a bed to sleep on, he would always sit in this self-imposed hardship. He never took off his soft armor, and his room was always adjacent or facing Li the old sword immortal’s. This showed how much the young prince feared death.
In the city governor’s mansion in Liuxia, Tao Qianzhi, a tall and strong man, wore the robes of a civil official but could not hide the aura of a general who had risen from the battlefield. His study was simple, and on the first day, he had sold off all the antiques and treasures left behind by the previous city governor. The proceeds were distributed to the soldiers of Liuxia. The civil officials and scribes received not a single copper coin. During this time, an official who had some influence secretly embezzled two hundred taels of silver. After being reported, thirty elite soldiers from the city governor’s mansion stormed in, and his bloodied head was hung on the flagpole of the martial arts field. The official had some background, and his family members complained to the deputy commander of the Longyao Prefecture, but the complaint vanished without a trace. No one in Liuxia dared to provoke the new city governor, who was unfamiliar with the local situation.
Tao Qianzhi did not bring his family, but this former fourth-grade military general was not a rigid man. Every so often, he would pay to invite famous courtesans from the city’s pleasure houses to his residence for companionship. He never hesitated to pay the full amount. At first, some brothels were too afraid to accept the money, but he insisted on forcing it into their hands. After a period of anxiety, they found that the city governor did not hold grudges or seek revenge later. Gradually, they felt relieved. As the stories of this former general’s bravery spread through Liuxia, people’s perception of Tao Qianzhi gradually improved. Many brothels began to offer their top courtesans to the city governor’s mansion. These women, worth hundreds of taels of gold for a single night, were offered for just a few taels of silver. Tao Qianzhi did not dwell on such minor details, further enhancing his image as a great general. This reassured the people of Liuxia, who had previously feared that thieves would come like a comb and officials would plunder like a razor.
The rain continued to fall, and Tao Qianzhi sat alone in his sparsely furnished study, reading a military treatise by lamplight.
A trusted subordinate officer, who had followed him from Gusai, stood respectfully at the door. “The Princess of Hongyan in Yuchan Province has come in the rain to visit.”
Tao Qianzhi frowned slightly and said indifferently, “If she comes alone, I won’t see her.”
A woman with a fur forehead and a full figure appeared beside the officer. Behind her was an elderly man in brocade robes with his hands in his sleeves. She stepped across the threshold, her hands resting on the jade belt gifted by the emperor, and coquettishly said, “Oh, General Tao, you have such a grand air. Are you afraid of rumors?”
Tao Qianzhi, a valiant city governor, frowned slightly but showed no fear of this royal relative with the Xianbei belt around her waist. He sneered coldly, “The princess is famous for her beauty and for keeping male concubines. The small city governor of Liuxia is not worthy of your attention.”
The old man in brocade robes let out a heavy snort.
Tao Qianzhi’s lips curled upward, his eyes filled with disdain. The princess with the fur forehead, holding a satin umbrella, laughed wantonly like a blooming flower. She waved her hand to signal her old retainer not to take offense and stared at the rude middle-aged city governor with eyes full of seduction. “General Tao, to be honest, I didn’t want to come to this house. You kill someone every day, and the place is full of negative energy. I don’t have the strong yang energy you have, and I’m afraid of being haunted by ghosts. Besides, Qingming is coming soon…”
Tao Qianzhi replied coldly, “If the princess has no important business, I won’t accompany you further.”
The plump beauty, the highest-ranking aristocrat in Yuchan Province, was repeatedly rebuffed but still showed no anger. She laughed, “Alright, I won’t beat around the bush with General Tao. Someone asked me to deliver a message to General Tao. It’s eight characters: ‘On Qingming Day, do not go out.'”
Tao Qianzhi, feeling mocked, was filled with anger, and the study was filled with killing intent.
The old man in brocade robes had waves surging in his sleeves.
The princess gently patted her cheek, apologetically saying, “Oh, my clumsy mouth, what am I saying? I got it wrong. The eight characters are indeed ‘On Qingming Day, do not go out.’ General Tao, please don’t doubt me. The person who said these eight characters is someone I dare not disobey in the slightest.”
Tao Qianzhi turned his back, his tone unchanged and cold. “I won’t accompany you further!”
The princess of Hongyan shook the rain-soaked silk umbrella and smiled. “I will remember how General Tao treated me today.”
In the eaves of the courtyard, the old man in brocade robes, whose martial arts were undoubtedly superior to Tao Qianzhi’s, took the umbrella and opened it, tilting it toward his mistress. Angrily, he asked, “Princess, why didn’t you let me teach that ungrateful fifth-grade city governor a lesson?”
The woman with the fur forehead, who had not yet stepped into the rain, extended her hand to catch the falling raindrops. She did not answer the question but gazed into the distance with a dazed expression. “Why is the heavens crying?”
Two days later, in the early morning, the rain grew heavier, and the roads were filled with mud. City Governor Tao Qianzhi led thirty personal riders out of the city to visit the grave of a fallen comrade whose ancestral home was in Liuxia.
A heavy rain fell on Qingming.
Burning paper was difficult, but killing people was easy.
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