638. Agreement

Nothing to do with the Emperor?

King Li and the others disdained to explain to a young girl what it meant to bear the responsibilities of a ruler.

Emperor Yongxing assumed his younger sister was airing grievances on his behalf, but under the current circumstances, he could not allow her to be willful. He put on a stern face and said:

“Lin’an, do not be rude.

“We and our uncles still need to discuss matters; withdraw for now.”

A prince shook his head slightly:

“While the late emperor was on the throne, he was obsessed with cultivation and neglected the princesses’ marriages. Your Majesty, it is time to consider Lin’an’s marriage. She is no longer young, she should be wed and leave the palace.

“So she won’t keep on being so impulsive and discourteous, with no progress at all.”

Regardless of gender, marriage was the best catalyst for a person to mature and grow up.

Lin’an kept a cold face and showed no courtesy to her uncles, yet made a graceful curtsey and said:

“Brother Emperor, I know the reason for the anomaly at the Yongzhen Shanhe Temple. The ancestors have not flown into a rage, there is another cause.”

Emperor Yongxing was astonished at first. He had not expected such words from her. Then, delighted, he jumped up from the desk and pressed her for details:

“It was not the ancestors’ anger, but another reason? Lin’an, tell us properly, what exactly happened?”

The other royals also looked over, shocked and bewildered.

“The Sovereign Sword is now in Xu Qi’an’s hands. He fought a battle at Quanrong Mountain in Jianzhou, against the Buddhist Sect, the Church of the Warlock God, and the Yunzhou faction. He protected the Dragon Qi and Quanrong Mountain.

“The anomaly at the Yongzhen Shanhe Temple is connected to this.”

Lin’an faithfully recounted what she had heard from Huaiqing.

She did not clearly explain the significance of the battle at Quanrong Mountain, nor did she explain the deep connection between the anomaly and that battle.

But that was quite enough. For the royal family present, this information was sufficient to piece together and analyse the truth.

The Sovereign Sword is in Xu Qi’an’s hands; he had clashed with multiple powers at Quanrong Mountain, and protected the Dragon Qi… Emperor Yongxing’s pupils dilated, and his feelings were complex to the extreme.

After grasping the truth, a powerful sense of security welled up within him.

That Xu Qi’an was like a great general described in the histories, guarding the borders, giving his monarch peace of mind.

“So it was in Xu Qi’an’s hands all along…”

The greying King Yu murmured, “It seems the Jianzheng took the Sovereign Sword to give it to Xu Qi’an. Who would have thought that the Buddhist Sect, the Church of the Warlock God, and the traitors of Yunzhou would all gather at Quanrong Mountain?”

A prince furrowed his brow, “But what does this have to do with the ancestral tablets being smashed and the damage to the statue of Emperor Gaozu?”

The elderly King Li rose with his cane and said gravely:

“Either way, what matters is that the Dragon Qi was preserved. Immediately have the Provincial Commissioner of Jianzhou investigate this in detail, how many experts did the Buddhist Sect, the Church of the Warlock God, and the Yunzhou remnants deploy? The course of the battle, all the details, must be ascertained.

“Once we know, perhaps we will understand the reason for the damage to Emperor Gaozu’s statue.

“For the Jianzheng to have sent the Sovereign Sword out of the capital, this was certainly no trivial matter, we must get to the bottom of it.”

With that, he looked at Lin’an, his gaze much softened, and said:

“Girl, how did you come to know these things?”

Lin’an lifted her chin slightly, “Naturally I have my ways of contacting Xu Qi’an.”

King Li frowned, looking questioningly at Emperor Yongxing.

The Emperor sat at the desk, smiling:

“Lord uncle puts great weight on self-cultivation, and rarely leaves home, so you may be unaware that, long before Xu Qi’an rose to fame, Lin’an looked after him at every turn, and the two have a deep friendship.

“Our imperial face, in Xu Qi’an’s presence, is not even a tenth as effective as Lin’an’s.

“They have their own way to communicate privately, it is nothing strange.”

Deep friendship… King Li glanced at Lin’an, a glimmer in his eyes.

Emperor Yongxing paused briefly, then leaned forward, looking at King Li, and swept his gaze around the assembled princes:

“In that case, do we still need to issue a self-reproach edict?”

King Li waved his hand.

King Yu said:

“What is needed now is to clarify the truth as soon as possible. The greater Silver Gong Xu’s merit is, the better it is for Your Majesty. If someone uses the disturbance at the ancestral temple to slander Your Majesty, you can take the opportunity to reveal the truth.

“Not only will it not harm your reputation, it will even be beneficial.”

Emperor Yongxing’s smile widened, and he glanced lightly at the fourth prince.

The latter kept his head down, expressionless.

…

The meeting ended.

Huaiqing, accompanied by palace maids, walked gracefully back towards the Dexin Courtyard.

“Huaiqing.”

The fourth prince was heading the same way. Seeing his sister ahead, he quickened his pace to catch up.

Huaiqing slowed down to let him catch her, glancing at the two palace maids by her side and motioning for them to leave.

The fourth prince caught up, walking beside her, and said bitterly through clenched teeth:

“How hateful! This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, only for him to clear his name and restore his prestige.

“You should have seen how pleased he looked when he said Xu Qi’an and Lin’an had a deep friendship, it was clearly for our benefit.

“After King Li heard, his attitude towards Lin’an changed instantly…”

Here, the fourth prince looked Huaiqing up and down and said:

“I remember, Xu Qi’an was originally your man. You were the one who brought him to the palace banquet, where he wrote ‘Unaware of the sky in wine, a boat of dreams pressing on the Milky Way’.

“But now Lin’an has got in ahead of you.”

Huaiqing, whose face had been impassive, now darkened slightly, seeming a little angry. She turned her head to look at the fourth prince and said coolly:

“Royal Brother, do you really think, in the current situation, that you would do better than Yongxing if you took the throne?”

“I… Of course I would outperform him.”

The fourth prince frowned.

“It is only the difference between fifty and a hundred steps. The current state of the Great Feng is not something one person can reverse. Whoever sits on that seat won’t make much difference. Since that is the case, Royal Brother, why be so anxious?”

Huaiqing said coolly.

The fourth prince looked at her. “So you mean…”

Huaiqing turned and walked away: “How long has it been since you read history, Fourth Brother? The thirteenth chapter, volume two of the Annals of Zhou is very interesting. When you have the time, you should give it a look.”

…

Jianzhou.

Xu Qi’an controlled the stupa tower, fetching Mu Nanzhi, the little mare, Baiji, and Chai Xing’er, who had all been settled in Jianzhou City, and bringing them back to Quanrong Mountain.

While Chai Xing’er stayed in Jianzhou, her cultivation had been sealed. Of course, even so, she was still not someone the reincarnation of the Flower Goddess, who was as weak as a chicken, could handle.

Whether or not she was truly as weak as a chicken remained to be confirmed, since Xu Qi’an had never given her the chance.

Luckily, there was still Baiji. Although this fox yao cub was also utterly useless in a fight, thanks to her outstanding performance compared to the others, she had become their pillar of support.

There was no problem at all in dealing with a physically frail Chai Xing’er whose cultivation had been sealed.

To ensure nothing could go wrong, Xu Qi’an even fed Chai Xing’er some muscle-softening powder.

“Have you finished fighting? Did you win or lose? How bad were the losses on the Buddhist side?”

Baiji chattered away, pestering him for information about the battle on Quanrong Mountain.

This was not like her at all, so Xu Qi’an asked:

“Are you trying to leak information to the Nine-tailed Fox?”

Baiji’s eyes, black as buttons, froze for a moment, then she shook her head urgently after several seconds of daze:

“No, I won’t leak any news!”

Your expression says it all. Well, at least you’re much cleverer than Lingyin. If it had been Little Pea, she would have run away in fright by now, afraid of how terrifying her elder brother is… Xu Qi’an said:

“Of course we won. Otherwise, would I still be standing here?

“After the battle on Quanrong Mountain, Vajra Du’nan and Vajra Dufan perished, the Buddhists have completely lost its Protector Vajras.”

There are no more Buddhist Protector Vajras… Baiji’s black eyes went blank once again.

If one added on Arhat Duqing, who was captured outside Yongzhou City, the Buddhists had lost, in just one month, a second-rank arhat and two third-rank vajras.

That was something Mistress and her people had not achieved in centuries.

Even though Mistress had long since ordered all the Yao of the Wanyao Kingdom to hide themselves and withdraw from the great stage of the Central Plains.

I must tell Mistress this great news and make her happy… The look of joy flickered in Baiji’s eyes, but when she noticed Xu Qi’an watching her, she hurriedly blinked her bright, innocent eyes, adopting an innocent expression.

Piloting the stupa tower back to Quanrong Mountain, Xu Qi’an saw from afar the old man standing at the edge of the broken cliff, hands clasped behind his back, overlooking the vast land.

He wore plain clothes, with a head full of unruly silver hair drifting in the wind.

His gaze held the sharpness of a martial artist, but there was more of the weathered look of a man who had seen the world.

Xu Qi’an landed the stupa tower beside the old man and stepped out alone.

“Senior!”

He greeted him with cupped fists.

…

The main peak of Quanrong Mountain had half-collapsed and was no longer habitable. The internal structure of the mountain was damaged. For a long time to come, it would keep collapsing at intervals until it finally stabilised.

Fortunately, the Quanrong mountain range stretched for hundreds of li and was not an isolated mountain.

For the people of the Wulin Alliance, they only needed to find another peak and rebuild their headquarters.

At the military garrison, in the council hall.

Cao Qingyang sat at the chief seat listening to Vice Alliance Leader Wen Chengbi reporting the casualties.

Three hundred and twenty followers died when the main peak collapsed, unable to escape in time. For various reasons, these people had not managed to leave and were forever buried beneath the mountain.

As for the military garrison, which was some distance from the battlefield, the aftermath of the battle still reached it, toppling buildings. The preliminary death count was one hundred and thirty-four, with as many as five hundred injured.

“The casualties are bearable. Fortunately, the alliance leader moved most of the old, the weak, women, and children in advance. Those who died in the military garrison were mostly women and the elderly. Most of the soldiers and able-bodied men were outside at the time,” Wen Chengbi continued.

“Headquarters needs to be rebuilt. This is a massive expense. Besides, the Wulin Alliance’s treasury had not been evacuated and is now buried beneath the mountain. We don’t have the manpower or resources for such a project.”

Xiao Yuenu, Fu Jingmen, Yang Cuixue and the others looked worried.

After this battle, the Wulin Alliance had suffered enormous losses. The toll in lives was not too high, still within the range they could bear.

But their headquarters, established over centuries, had been destroyed overnight, with property losses enough to make one’s heart bleed.

Cao Qingyang said:

“Retrieving the silver is not a problem. Worst comes to worst, we’ll ask our ancestor to help dig into the mountain and clear the rubble. Martial artists above the fifth rank, come help together.”

The president of the Jianzhou Merchants’ Association, Qiao Weng, added:

“If all else fails, we’ll just have to ask everyone to contribute generously.”

These sect leaders and chiefs were all local heavyweights, with plenty of resources in their sects.

Fu Jingmen frowned repeatedly and said bluntly:

“What we can offer is limited, and we still have our own local people to care for. Everyone knows that the grain from the authorities won’t be enough to feed all those who suffered.”

Yang Cuixue picked up the topic:

“It would be costly to rebuild the headquarters in the mountains. Why not strike a compromise and expand the headquarters around the garrison town instead?”

Vice Leader Wen Chengbi shook his head firmly:

“That wouldn’t be in keeping with our traditions. Headquarters was built in the mountains to remind us of the founding principles of the Wulin Alliance. We’re not just an ordinary martial arts alliance.

“We are the righteous army, an army of justice that can capture cities and overthrow tyrants in troubled times.”

The Wulin Alliance headquarters was effectively a fortress built on natural defences.

Cao Qingyang knocked on the table, interrupting their debate, and said:

“Chengbi, go and consult the old ancestor.”

…

“I just went to Jianzhou for a look. For a moment, it felt like I had returned to the final years of the Great Zhou.”

The old man stood with his hands behind his back, face full of sighs.

“If the disaster is not contained, within two years, the Central Plains will see a change of dynasty.”

Xu Qi’an was silent.

The old man turned to face him, an inscrutable smile on his lips.

“Do you know why those two Dragon Qi chose the Wulin Alliance?”

“The Wulin Alliance has been managing Jianzhou for centuries. Jianzhou has always been stable, with good weather and well-fed people. Now, with the Great Feng’s fortune exhausted, the Dragon Qi are seeking a new master, and naturally see the Wulin Alliance as a suitable successor.”

Xu Qi’an replied calmly.

The old man nodded:

“Since ancient times, no dynasty is everlasting. Back then, after I handed the army over to him and returned to Jianzhou, I made an agreement with him. If the Great Feng should follow the ruinous path of the Great Zhou, I would personally bring it to an end.”

Before Xu Qi’an could respond, the old man smiled wryly:

“But neither of us expected that sissy boy to create the arcanist system.

“The rise of arcanists has made it much harder for men of humble birth to start a revolution. Today, unless there is support from outside, the people of the Central Plains alone could hardly change the dynasty.”

Xu Qi’an pondered for a moment, then ventured:

“That sissy boy?”

“The first Jianzheng!” The old man laughed. “He looked even prettier than women, always following your Great Feng’s Emperor Gaozu about. If I hadn’t known that shameless fellow only liked women, I’d have thought the two were…”

…brothers in arms, Xu Qi’an supplied silently in his heart.

“Senior, you and the Jianzheng, the current Jianzheng, I mean, do you have any agreement?”

“Yes.” The old man nodded.

So, the Wulin Alliance had always been the Jianzheng’s hidden piece… Xu Qi’an pressed on:

“What sort of agreement? When was it made?”

…

—End of volume—

638. Agreement

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