“Baiji, do you want to go into the Stupa tower?”
Xu Qi’an led the little mare to a stop beneath the archway at the foot of the mountain, tied the mare to a pillar, and asked the little white fox for her opinion.
“No! Madam already said, I’m out this time to train and broaden my horizons.” The little white fox replied in her childish voice, speaking very earnestly.
For some reason, a sudden thought flashed through Xu Qi’an’s mind:
If he put it together with Little Pea, he wondered what kind of sparks might fly.
It’d probably get beaten up rather badly… Xu Qi’an thought inwardly.
“Is your madam beautiful?”
Xu Qi’an helped the princess consort down from her horse.
“She’s unimaginably beautiful.” Baiji replied in a soft, moist voice.
Xu Qi’an noticed that Mu Nanzhi shot him a frosty sidelong glance.
So you’re not truly free of all mortal desires after all… He smiled to himself.
The two of them, with the fox, left the little mare at the foot of the mountain and climbed the stone steps. The grasses and trees of Qingyun Mountain were lush and verdant, and even in the cold of winter there were still vast swathes of green.
Seeing her enthusiastically admiring the scenery along the way, Xu Qi’an said:
“The plants and trees here are nourished by righteous qi all year round, so they are different from those outside and have undergone some mutations. Even in winter…”
Mu Nanzhi interrupted coldly, “Do I need you to explain?”
…Almost forgot, you’re the reincarnation of the Flower Goddess! Xu Qi’an immediately shut his mouth.
With Mu Nanzhi’s level, she most likely saw through everything at a glance.
Xu Qi’an had never mentioned her reincarnation as the Flower God, pretending not to know.
Mu Nanzhi also acted as if he didn’t know.
They had such an extraordinary tacit understanding, like an old married couple who had lived together for many years and could understand each other with little need for words.
Soon, they reached the academy along the mountain path. Xu Qi’an went to visit the three great scholars, his teachers in name.
The three scholars received Xu Qi’an in a serene and elegant pavilion.
“Ningyan, it’s been a long time, I trust you have been well?”
Xu Xinnian’s teacher, Scholar Zhang Shen, greeted him with a smile, then looked at Mu Nanzhi: “And this lady is…?”
“This is my wife, though we’re not yet formally married,” Xu Qi’an introduced.
The three great scholars looked surprised, and even Mu Nanzhi turned her face in astonishment to stare at Xu Qi’an.
Mu Nanzhi quickly put her hands together and retorted:
“This humble nun has entered the monastic life. Benefactor Xu, please don’t talk nonsense and sully this poor nun’s reputation.”
The little white fox, squatting on the tea table, raised her little face and looked at her, saying:
“Auntie, what reputation does a nun have to worry about? You should have said: Don’t ruin this poor nun’s cultivation.”
Mu Nanzhi responded with a sharp flick to the fox’s head, both annoyed and embarrassed:
“As if you know everything.
“Shall I build you a stage so you can perform for three days and three nights?”
Baiji was young and just at that age where she was eager to show off. She had punctured Mu Nanzhi’s act more than once or twice, though she herself wasn’t aware of it.
Seeing the four men all staring at her, Mu Nanzhi felt embarrassed, huffed, and got up to leave.
“Auntie, wait for me…”
The little white fox hurriedly jumped down from the table, waving her fluffy fox tail, chasing after her anxiously like an abandoned kitten.
Xu Qi’an watched the woman and the fox leave, then shook his head and sighed:
“My wife has been married before, has a terrible temper, and is about the same age as my Auntie… ah, please forgive me, teachers.”
Married before?!
Old enough to be his mother?!
The three great scholars looked at Xu Qi’an with eyes that now held something extra.
“Sirs, I’ve come to visit you this time in hopes of asking you for a few ‘laws follow commandments’ spells.”
Xu Qi’an rubbed his hands together, feeling a little embarrassed at his freeloading.
The reason he wanted spells from the three scholars rather than Zhao Shou was because he could withstand the backlash of a fourth rank spell, but Zhao Shou was a peak third rank, only a step away from true ‘great scholar’ level, and spells at that level were not something Xu Qi’an could handle.
“Spells, is it!”
“I see!”
“That’s no trouble at all, no trouble!”
The three great scholars each gave him a kindly smile and rubbed their own hands, saying:
“Ningyan, have you written anything new lately?”
“No!” Xu Qi’an shook his head regretfully and was about to explain.
But the three great scholars immediately dropped their amiable expressions and adopted a look of “We’re just passing acquaintances,” saying:
“Confucian spells aren’t passed to outsiders. Silver Gong Xu, please leave, you mustn’t make things difficult for us.”
So now I’m just Silver Gong Xu? That’s a bit much… You just want my poems for free… Xu Qi’an lampooned to himself, but then realised he had no right to complain.
He paused and said, “I’ve suddenly had some inspiration.”
The three scholars’ eyes brightened at once, and they straightened up, their posture attentive and solemn.
Xu Qi’an recited slowly:
“Last year today at this door, her face reflected peach blossoms red.”
A qilu verse… The three great scholars listened closely, savouring the opening couplet.
These lines highlighted the vividness of memory, clear to the very day, with the latter half, her face and the peach blossoms, letting the three scholars know the poem was about love.
As exceptionally learned men, their understanding of poetry was profound.
They determined that this poem was travelling the path of mood and emotion, unlike “subtle fragrance drifts with the moon at dusk.”
Indeed, based on these first lines, in their minds they began to either compose the rest or speculate on the poem’s emotional direction.
Xu Qi’an turned to gaze out of the window, his voice low:
“Who knows where that face has gone, yet the blossoms still smile in her stead.”
The three great scholars fell silent, savouring the words, feeling an inexplicable sense of melancholy arise in their hearts.
Peach blossoms as a highlight to the beauty, “last year” as a backdrop, when the latter half was heard, one couldn’t help but feel that sense of “all things are as before, yet people have changed.”
Anyone prone to sadness would be moved to tears upon hearing it.
“A fine poem. If this is circulated, it will be loved and praised by all the girls in the Jiaofangsi.”
Zhang Shen stroked his beard and sighed.
Poems about heartbreak always struck a chord in the softest part of a courtesan’s heart.
“With this poem, Ningyan can once again enjoy everything at Jiaofangsi free of charge.”
Li Mubai praised.
“Ningyan, did you write this poem for Fuxiang? If this spreads, the Jiaofangsi girls will all weep for your deep feelings.”
Chen Tai said with a sigh.
Xu Qi’an’s eyes flickered: “This poem has no title, may I trouble you three teachers to choose one.”
At once, the three great scholars’ breathing grew heavy, they eyed one another, faces filled with caution, wariness, and distrust.
Seeing this, Xu Qi’an rose and bowed. “I still have business with the Dean. If you’ll excuse me.”
He left the pavilion.
…
He looked around outside for a moment but did not see Mu Nanzhi. Since there was no danger on Qingyun Mountain, he did not go searching for her.
Xu Qi’an made his way with ease through the “classroom area” and “dormitory area”, walking towards the rear mountain for quite some time, until the wind brought with it the gentle “rustle” of swaying bamboo leaves.
A bamboo grove appeared ahead, the green leaves interspersed with withered yellow.
And a small pavilion partially hidden by the bamboo grove.
Dean Zhao Shou was already standing in the fenced yard before the pavilion, waiting for some time.
“I have just paid my respects to the three teachers,” Xu Qi’an said with a bow.
Zhao Shou returned the gesture. Xu Qi’an now had the status to be on equal footing with him.
“Respect for one’s teachers is commendable,” Zhao Shou praised with a smile.
He knew the three great scholars were nominally Xu Qi’an’s teachers.
Xu Qi’an glanced at him. “I wrote them a poem, but did not give them titles.”
The smile on Zhao Shou’s face slowly faded.
“Enough, speak freely. Why are you here to see me?” Zhao Shou pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking that he still had a mess to deal with later.
“Why did Duke Wei seal the Warlock God?” As expected, Xu Qi’an got straight to the point.
… Zhao Shou made a “please” gesture. “Let’s talk inside.”
The two entered the room. Zhao Shou glanced at the empty tea table and said with some displeasure:
“There should be tea here.”
With a flash of clear light, two steaming cups of tea appeared on the table.
This is possible too? Xu Qi’an was utterly shocked.
He mumbled internally: I’ve still underestimated these Confucian hacks.
Seeing his confusion, Zhao Shou explained with a smile:
“It’s not conjuring something from nothing, merely casting a spell to summon tea from those drinking nearby.”
He glanced at the cup. “Good, it hasn’t been drunk from.”
If, when I’m sleeping at night, I mutter under my covers: there ought to be a wife here.
Would I be able to summon someone else’s wife over? Hehehe.
Xu Qi’an said with an earnest expression, “Dean, please give me a few laws follow commandments spells.”
Zhao Shou took a sip of tea and smiled, saying:
“Because the power of the Confucian Sage is fading and the Warlock God is about to break free from the seal, in order to prevent the Central Plains and even all of Jiuzhou from falling into ruin, Wei Yuan chose to sacrifice himself to reinforce the Confucian Sage’s seal.”
Xu Qi’an withdrew his idle thoughts and gazed deeply at Zhao Shou:
“You know that’s not what I want to ask.
“Why did the Confucian Sage seal the Warlock God, and why did he also seal the Gu God? Back then, the Heaven Gu Elder conspired with Xu Pingfeng to seize fortune for the sake of strengthening the seal.
“Because the Confucian Sage’s statue beneath the Abyss in the Southern Marches cracked as well. The strength of Confucians is linked to fortune, and the Sage bore great fortune, so the Heaven Gu Elder believed that by seizing immense fortune, the seal could be reinforced.
“Because it shares the same source as the Confucian Sage’s power.”
Zhao Shou was silent for a while, did not object, and nodded:
“The Gu God is a primordial deity, utterly merciless to all beings, its nature given to killing and strife. Such a malevolent being naturally needed sealing. As for the Warlock God’s scheme to invade the Central Plains, you should know well how frightening a Beyond-rank enemy is, there’s no need for me to say more.”
Xu Qi’an shook his head and gave a wry smile:
“Dean, I have a background in solving cases, don’t try to reason your way through things with me.
“Sealing the Warlock God was for the sake of the Central Plains’ safety, but the Warlock God existed long before the Confucian Sage.
“If the Warlock God wished to invade the Central Plains, then the Central Plains would already belong to the Church of the Warlock God. There’s more to the Confucian Sage’s reasons for sealing the Warlock God, aren’t there?”
Zhao Shou kept silent.
Xu Qi’an continued:
“With the age of gods and demons at an end, there have been five Beyond-rank beings so far: the Confucian Sage, the Warlock God, the Gu God, the Buddha, and the Daoist Venerable. The Confucian Sage was the youngest, the last to appear, and the first to die.
“The whole reason of sealing the Warlock God for the Central Plains’ safety doesn’t hold water.
“And more than that, the Buddhist Sect covets the Central Plains too. According to your logic, should the Confucian Sage also have sealed the Buddha?”
Xu Qi’an pressed Zhao Shou relentlessly.
The room fell silent. After a few moments facing off in silence, Zhao Shou slowly said:
“Who told you that the Confucian Sage didn’t seal the Buddha?”
In that instant, Xu Qi’an felt as if a current shot down his back, his scalp tingling.
…
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