“Master, everything is packed,” said Su Su in a coquettish voice. She was dressed in an intricate white silk dress with multiple layers, her makeup exquisite, her beauty capable of toppling kingdoms.
Li Miaozhen nodded slightly and opened the sachet tied to her waist. A vortex-like suction force emerged, drawing in more than a dozen ghostly entities from within the military tent.
“It’s such a pity that you still haven’t broken through to the Fourth Grade Realm,” Su Su sighed and said, “Otherwise, with the level of a Human Sect disciple, you would have no match.”
“How could it be so easy to form a Nascent Soul?” Li Miaozhen sighed helplessly.
She had been stuck at the Golden Core Realm for a full two years.
The bandit problem in Yun Province had been cleared up. Li Miaozhen had cooperated with the local Yun Province army and two Golden Gong holders to attack and capture strongholds, leveling the largest camps and dozens of smaller ones.
Of course, the bandit problem in Yun Province was like a stubborn parasite, having bred and survived on this land for hundreds of years. It wasn’t something that could be completely eradicated just by saying so.
After a few years, it would rise from the ashes again, taking root and sprouting.
The current results were the best that the local army could achieve. Yun Province would be stable for some years, and Li Miaozhen was satisfied with this outcome.
Next, she was going to do her own thing – the Heaven-Human Debate!
The Celestial Sect and the Human Sect had to debate their philosophies once every sixty years. Before that, the outstanding young disciples of both sects would clash first, warming up for the Heaven-Human Debate.
Li Miaozhen was one of the most outstanding disciples of this generation’s Celestial Sect. Another was Li Miaozhen’s senior brother, also a member of the Heaven and Earth Society, holding the seventh fragment of the Earth Book.
However, that guy was in the Northeast, lost in debauchery.
“It’s a pity that annoying stinky egg perished. Otherwise, he could have helped me investigate the massacre of the Su family,” Su Su suddenly said.
Li Miaozhen looked at the charming spirit who had grown up with her, her heart stirring. In fact, Su Su’s family wasn’t in the capital. Even if that guy wanted to investigate, he couldn’t leave the capital to go thousands of miles away to investigate an old case.
Su Su understood this reasoning herself, but she always mentioned it from time to time, seemingly lamenting the unsolved massacre, but actually lamenting that shameless man.
So, one must practice the Tai Shang Forgetting Emotions… Li Miaozhen sighed inwardly.
When loved ones pass away, grief is unbearable. When lovers change their hearts, resentment intertwines… The seven emotions and six desires of the human world are all karmic fires. How else could one say that deep emotions lead to a short life?
Only by being emotionless can one exist eternally.
Leading Su Su out of the military tent, over four hundred Feiyan Army soldiers were assembled in the square, quietly waiting.
The four hundred soldiers all removed their armor.
Li Miaozhen slowly scanned the soldiers. At this moment, some had changed into casual clothes, some wore coarse linen, some dressed like wealthy gentlemen, and some were as ragged as beggars… This was their original appearance.
The Feiyan Army was a motley crew, with members from all over the world, including disciples of the Beggar Sect, wandering knights of the jianghu, and robbers who stole from the rich to help the poor, and so on.
They had all gathered in Yun Province because of one person, forming into an army. That person was called the Flying Swallow Heroine.
Now that Li Miaozhen was leaving, this army would naturally disband.
After the bandit suppression ended, Yang Chuannan had privately approached Li Miaozhen, wanting to incorporate the Feiyan Army into the regular army, nurturing them into Yun Province’s elite force. He hoped she could persuade the Feiyan Army soldiers to stay in Yun Province.
But not a single person was willing to stay.
“For more than a year, we have fought side by side, uprooting hundreds of large and small strongholds, slaying thousands of bandits. Wherever we passed, the common people could rest and recuperate without fear of bandits. Wherever we passed, merchants could conduct trade and make a living. Wherever we passed, the light of justice shone down…
“I, Li Miaozhen, thank you all, brothers, for your unwavering companionship. However, all good things must come to an end. Our journey in Yun Province has concluded, and I will continue forward. You should return home to reunite with your families and friends.
“The path of life is long, sometimes rough, sometimes smooth, sometimes bitter, sometimes joyous. I hope everyone will remember the times in Yun Province and not forget your original intentions.
“At this point, Li Miaozhen looked at the four hundred soldiers, clasped her fists, and said in a strong voice, “Do good deeds, don’t ask about the future.”
The four hundred soldiers clasped their fists, their voices rising like a tidal wave:
“Do good deeds, don’t ask about the future.”
This was the Flying Swallow Heroine they were willing to serve and follow.
…
Southern Borderlands.
The reason why the Gu Clan was called a barbarian tribe was not because they ate raw meat and drank blood, but because they took Gu as their foundation, with their cultivation system and living habits all aligning with Gu insects.
Only in this way could they cultivate Gu insects and assimilate with them.
To describe it more aptly, the development of the Gu Clan followed a “Gu-based” path, so their level of civilization couldn’t compare with the “human-based” Great Feng, Western Regions, and various countries in the Northeast.
The difference in civilization was reflected in various aspects, the most obvious being culture and architecture.
The Gu Clan still used ancient pictographs, and their buildings were mainly mud huts and grass houses, using pottery instead of porcelain.
However, their clothing was not much different from the common people of Great Feng. The Southern Borderlands Gu Clan was skilled in mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing, producing silk of quality several times higher than that of Great Feng.
But they were not good at weaving, so they were often bought at low prices by Great Feng merchants, or exchanged for ready-made fabrics.
Bo Mountain stretched for hundreds of miles, rich in resources.
In the mountains were countless birds, beasts, herbs, and wild fruits. At the foot of the mountain was a fertile plain, crisscrossed with rivers, where the Power Gu Tribe had established their main base.
The Power Gu Tribe had cultivated thousands of acres in this plain, with some tribespeople farming and others hunting, exchanging goods among themselves, well-fed and clothed.
Mo Sang, carrying a ox horn bow, returned from hunting with a group of young men. Some carried wild boars weighing hundreds of catties, some held colorful golden pheasants, all returning with a full load.
At the foot of the mountain, Mo Sang saw his sister Li Na picking vegetables with the women in the fields.
Li Na wore a simple cloth dress, exposing two long, well-proportioned calves. The climate in the Southern Borderlands was hot, so the silk dresses and long sleeves of Great Feng couldn’t be worn here. Therefore, the Gu Clan people would cut and modify Great Feng clothing.
The skirts only reached the knees, and the sleeves were short to the elbows.
“Li Na!”
Mo Sang called out, waiting for his sister to look up before continuing, “Grandmother Tian Gu sent a message by snow eagle yesterday, asking you to see her today. Why are you still dawdling here?”
Li Na was visibly startled, then slapped her forehead, “Oh no, I forgot! Mo Sang, why didn’t you remind me earlier?”
Mo Sang heard the men behind him burst into laughter, and the women in the field joined in.
For a moment, the air was filled with merriment, but Mo Sang felt somewhat embarrassed and turned back to scold the men, “What are you laughing at?”
Meanwhile, Li Na, wearing soft cloth boots, washed her hands clean by the stream, preparing to go to the Tian Gu Tribe a hundred miles away.
Seeing this, Mo Sang quickly called out, “The dam of the Tian Gu Tribe has a breach, remember to help repair it!”
“I know!” Li Na responded crisply and ran off.
…
Compared to the Power Gu Tribe, the Tian Gu Tribe was more like a county town of the Great Feng Dynasty. Although somewhat rudimentary, it had moved beyond grass huts, mainly consisting of mud houses and brick houses.
The Tian Gu Tribe was built at the foot of Luoxia Mountain. From the foot to the middle of the mountain, terraced fields were arranged in an orderly manner. There was a dam on the mountain, which had suddenly breached yesterday, destroying the terraced fields.
Li Na, who had often played in various tribes as a child, easily climbed Luoxia Mountain. After trekking through the mountain range for a long time, she saw the collapsed dam opening.
She saw dozens of people from the Tian Gu Tribe standing at the edge of the reservoir, led by the white-haired Grandmother Tian Gu.
Li Na’s gaze swept past them to the reservoir, where the body of a monster was floating on the water surface. The monster was over ten zhang long, covered in black scales, with a pointed head, thin long neck, and webbed claws.
Grandmother Tian Gu noticed Li Na and waved to her.
Li Na lightly jumped between the rocks, came to Grandmother Tian Gu’s side, and said sweetly, “Grandmother, what kind of monster is that?”
“A Jiao!”
Grandmother Tian Gu revealed a kindly smile, “It came from who knows where, destroyed the dam, and all the newly planted seedlings in the tribe were washed away.”
“Oh.”
It was Li Na’s first time seeing a Jiao, but she had heard of them. These monsters lived in the dense, intertwining waterways of the Southern Borderlands, moving around through underground rivers.
One of Li Na’s uncles was said to have been eaten by a Jiao while playing in the water.
“Help collect some rocks to plug the breach as soon as possible,” said Grandmother Tian Gu.
“Okay!”
Li Na was most adept at hard labor. She immediately ran off, and in less than half a quarter of an hour, people heard muffled footsteps. Looking in that direction, they saw a “stone mountain” slowly moving.
This stone mountain was over twenty zhang high (60-70 meters), capable of causing huge waves if thrown into the reservoir.
The stone mountain wasn’t moving by itself, but was being carried by Li Na. However, compared to the twenty-zhang giant rock, she looked as small as an ant.
The people of the Tian Gu Tribe remained expressionless, seemingly long accustomed to such sights.
Among the seven tribes of the Gu Clan, the Power Gu Tribe was known for its incredible strength. Li Na’s father, Long Tu, was the true mountain-mover. Years ago, when fighting against Great Feng, he had carried a mountain and hurled it at the army, crushing thousands of people.
The giant rock slowly moved near the dam, then with a thunderous sound, Li Na set it down.
Everyone standing on the dam looked down and saw Li Na slowly sinking her waist, steadying her horse stance, gathering energy for several breaths, then suddenly shouting “Hei hou!” as she threw a punch at the surface of the giant rock.
With a crackling sound, spider-web-like cracks appeared on the rock’s surface and rapidly spread, shattering it into pieces in an instant.
Now they had materials to repair the dam, without the people of the Tian Gu Tribe having to laboriously collect them, greatly saving time and effort.
Leaving the tribespeople to repair the dam, Grandmother Tian Gu took Li Na down the mountain, returning to her residence, a courtyard house with a skywell.
Grandmother Tian Gu’s daughter-in-law was in the courtyard drying Gu insect corpses for medicine, while her son was in the backyard raising Gu insects.
Grandmother Tian Gu led Li Na straight into the house, took out a wooden box from the cabinet, and with a “click,” the box opened. Inside lay a white jade-like insect, shaped like a scorpion with six jointed limbs.
Two jet-black eyes on its head made it look somewhat cute.
“This is the Seven Absolute Gu that my old partner refined. Before he passed, this Gu was only half complete. It took me twenty years to finally finish it,” Grandmother Tian Gu pushed the box to Li Na and said:
“Now I’m entrusting it to you for safekeeping.”
“For me?” Li Na was somewhat surprised.
“Not for you, but for you to keep safe. In the future, you will give it to someone with the right destiny.”
A string of question marks flashed through Li Na’s mind.
She hadn’t fully grasped the situation, suddenly being gifted the Seven Absolute Gu and asked to pass it on to someone with the right destiny.
Grandmother Tian Gu closed the box and said, “Do you remember the story I told you about those two thieves?”
Li Na nodded vigorously, “I remember.”
At the same time, she thought of Number Three. Come to think of it, Number Three hadn’t sent a message for a long time, and the Earth Book chat group had returned to its previous quietness.
“The Tian Gu Tribe has a legend that on the day the Gu God awakens, the entire Southern Borderlands, and even the Nine Provinces, will become a world of Gu. Although the Gu Clan survives by raising and refining Gu, Gu are just tools. We are still human.”
Grandmother Tian Gu’s eyes revealed a complex expression, “This isn’t just a legend, it’s the doomsday scenario that generations of the Tian Gu Tribe have deduced. Many ancestors suffered heavenly retribution trying to glimpse this future.
“To keep the Gu God in eternal slumber, twenty years ago, the old man thought of a way. He wanted to steal something to suppress the Gu God, to keep it asleep for generations to come.
“So he left the Southern Borderlands, and there was no news of him since. Not long after, his natal Gu withered in the tribe, and I knew he had died.”
“What was the thing to be stolen?” Li Na hugged the wooden box, her ocean-blue eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Grandmother Tian Gu shook her head, patting Li Na’s hand, her voice kind, “Grandmother is old now, unable to withstand the heavenly retribution.”
This is why they say heavenly secrets must not be revealed.
“Last night, I glimpsed a change in fate. That thing is about to emerge, Li Na, and you’re involved in it.” Grandmother Tian Gu stared at her intently.
“Me?”
Li Na blinked her blue eyes, unable to understand how she, an ordinary child, could appear in Grandmother Tian Gu’s “story”.
“Go to the capital. Your cultivation is sufficient, you just lack experience. This is a good opportunity to walk in the human world.” Grandmother Tian Gu added:
“I’ve discussed this with your father, and he agrees.”
Go to the capital… Li Na examined the wooden box in her hands, finding that she wasn’t too averse to the idea. The first things that came to her mind were Number Three, Number One, and Daoist Jin Lian.
…
At noon, warm sunlight hung in the sky, and the Xu mansion was filled with joyous laughter.
Tables of banquets were set up in the courtyard, with a few tables on the left for the Xu clan members, and a few on the right for Xu Pingzhi and Xu Qi’an’s colleagues and old friends.
The county magistrate of Lele County and the constables were among them, of course, along with the chief constable of the county office, Lü Qing.
Unfortunately, Li Yuchun, Song Tingfeng, and others were in Yun Province and couldn’t attend the banquet.
Xu Pingzhi led Xu Qi’an to toast at each table. Xu Qi’an was originally just going through the motions, but when he heard everyone congratulating him and calling him “Lord Viscount”… he suddenly fell in love with the feeling.
When they reached Magistrate Zhu’s table, the fat-faced county magistrate sighed, “This official has a niece, eighteen years old, quite pretty. I originally thought of betrothing her to Ning Yan, but now it seems that won’t work.”
Magistrate Zhu’s daughter was already married, otherwise, she might have been a barely suitable match for Xu Qi’an. But his niece wouldn’t do, her status wasn’t high enough.
Constable Wang chimed in with a laugh, “Ning Yan is now a viscount, only ladies from noble families or wealthy merchants’ daughters would be suitable for him.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Lü Qing, sitting at the neighboring table, heard this and felt quite uncomfortable, melancholic and dejected.
Originally, with her status as the chief constable of the county office, she would have been more than qualified to match a night watchman. And being in the same line of work, it could have been considered a match made in heaven.
But after Xu Qi’an was ennobled, he had entered the aristocratic class. He certainly couldn’t take a female constable as his principal wife; it wouldn’t be proper.
The banquet didn’t disperse until two quarters past the Wei hour (1:30 PM). Xu Qi’an and Second Uncle Xu were responsible for seeing the guests off, while Aunt directed the servants to clean up.
At three quarters past the Shen hour, Second Young Master Xu returned with the servants and maids.
Aunt, living up to her role as a loving mother, instructed the cook to reheat a table of leftovers from lunch for Second Young Master.
“Second Young Master, eat well and then rest. You need to get up early tomorrow for the examination at the Imperial Academy,” Aunt said attentively as she picked dishes for her son.
It wasn’t quite dinnertime yet, but Second Young Master Xu had to get up early tomorrow, so he needed to eat earlier, rest earlier. Poor sleep would affect tomorrow’s exam.
Xu Qi’an sat to the side drinking tea and suddenly asked, “Second Young Master, what subjects are tested in the metropolitan examination?”
While eating, Second Young Master Xu briefly explained, “Policy questions, classical interpretation, and poetry.”
He paused, then added, “Starting from the previous emperor, poetry was removed from the imperial examinations. It wasn’t until the eleventh year of the Yuanjing era, when Wang Zhenwen entered the Imperial Cabinet, that poetry was reinstated in the examinations under his promotion.”
During the two hundred years of orthodox Confucian dispute, the poetry world had weakened to the point of withdrawing from the stage of imperial examinations.
“If Elder Brother were to participate in the imperial examinations, without mentioning anything else, he could at least revitalize the poetry world,” Second Young Master Xu commented objectively. He took a sip of wine, then turned to look at his father, saying softly:
“Since the end of last year, Elder Brother’s reputation in the poetry world has been rising, and Father has also gradually become famous.”
Xu Pingzhi, who was sitting with Xu Ling’yin on his knee and playing with his daughter, was stunned. Then he broke into a pleased smile and laughed heartily:
“Actually, it’s all due to Elder Son’s extraordinary talent. I didn’t nurture him much. These scholars just like to make a big deal out of small matters… How do they praise me?”
Xu Xinnian’s mouth twitched, “They praise you for being an unfilial son.”
“???”
Xu Pingzhi angrily slapped the table, “How absurd! On what grounds do they say such things?”
Second Young Master Xu glanced at his elder brother and chuckled, “The more poems Elder Brother writes, the more infamous you become, Father. Who knows, you might go down in history.”
That night, Xu Pingzhi was too worried to sleep.
Aunt scolded, “You’re not even dead yet, and you’re worrying about your reputation hundreds of years from now. What nonsense!”
“Women’s views,” Xu Pingzhi snorted, deeply concerned. “Second Son has the potential to become Prime Minister, and Elder Son will also leave his mark in history. When future generations evaluate them, they’ll all say a word of praise. But when it comes to me, it’s just four words: ‘an unfilial son’.”
Aunt muttered, “Well, at least that’s still leaving a mark in history… Oh right, let me tell you something. If Second Son is assigned to a post outside the capital in the future, can you find a way to keep him in the capital?”
“Don’t even think about it. He’s a student of the Cloud Deer Academy, being assigned outside the capital is inevitable. Let’s hope it’s not too far,” Xu Pingzhi said helplessly.
Students of the Cloud Deer Academy had little chance of entering the power center of the capital’s officialdom. Most would be assigned to various provinces and regions. Even if they remained in the capital, they would only hold minor positions.
“Why don’t you ask Ning Yan to say something? He’s a night watchman and knows the princess. He must have some way,” Aunt said, sitting cross-legged on the bed. In the candlelight, her delicate brows were slightly furrowed.
“This is a matter for the Ministry of Personnel. What does it have to do with a night watchman?” Xu Pingzhi lowered his voice:
“Night watchmen monitor all officials and are most hated by civil officials. If Ning Yan intervenes, it would only backfire.”
Aunt flopped onto the bed, hugging a pillow, her brow furrowed with worry.
…
“Knock knock knock…”
Xu Xinnian, dressed in a white single garment and about to go to bed, heard a knock at the door. He opened it to see Xu Qi’an standing outside.
“What does Elder Brother want?”
Xu Qi’an scrutinized his fair-skinned, extraordinarily handsome little brother, grinning as he said, “Come over and guess the exam questions.”