In this world, Changling had only seen two people survive under “Ferry Soul.”
One was Shen Yao, because her sword had been switched by someone, and the strike stopped abruptly before landing. The other… was this Island Master Xu before her eyes.
To be fair, if she herself had taken that strike just now, she would need to lie prone for at least a day and night before having any possibility of regaining consciousness.
This person’s level of endurance was truly exceptional. If he could be used for practice sparring, it would undoubtedly greatly benefit the advancement of her own martial arts.
Xu Laifeng still didn’t know that the black-clothed person before him was currently sizing him up with the gaze one would use on a “sandbag.” He had just stepped forward when he suddenly heard Changling say: “Your martial arts are excellent. Why work for Jing Wuwei?”
“I don’t work for anyone,” Xu Laifeng walked forward two steps. “I’m just lonely on East Sea Island and wanted to join the excitement. Unfortunately, your martial arts assembly here has too many rules. Non-Central Plains people cannot participate, and General Jing just happened to give me this opportunity, so why wouldn’t I…”
Having finished speaking, his right hand slightly curved—a posture preparing to strike. Changling lowered her head and laughed once: “Those cowards in the Central Plains martial world aren’t worthy of being your opponents.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Unless I participate.” Changling enunciated each word: “Otherwise, at the martial arts assembly, you won’t find an opponent.”
Xu Laifeng was stunned. If these words had come from anyone else, they would certainly be taken as sophistry to escape. But having just crossed hands with this person, he wasn’t surprised to hear this. He only said: “Since you hold yourself in such high regard, why not compete right now?”
“I’m ashamed to say.” Changling placed one hand behind her back, silently gathering her internal breath. “I’m somewhat injured and my available internal energy is quite limited. Just now I only used thirty percent. Right now I’m feeling rather inadequate.”
Without even blinking, she claimed fifty percent was thirty percent. One could say she had preliminarily stepped through the door of the boasting world.
Xu Laifeng was shaken by “thirty percent” for a moment, but quickly reacted: “Are you proposing to duel at the martial arts assembly?”
Changling raised her eyebrows: “If Island Master Xu wishes to eliminate me right now, then by all means, try.”
Xu Laifeng smiled: “This sharp turn in conversation—if I refuse to let you go now, it would seem I’m taking advantage of someone in distress.” As he spoke, he lowered his hand, making a gesture of withdrawal.
“Very well.” Xu Laifeng said: “Since we’re arranging a duel, please show your true face. Otherwise, at the martial arts assembly, how would I know which one is you?”
Seeing him agree so readily, Changling was somewhat surprised. But removing her face covering was absolutely impossible. “Since I’m masked, naturally I don’t wish to reveal my identity. On the day of the martial arts assembly, I will give you a hint.”
“Then I’m afraid I cannot fulfill your wish…” Hearing this, the internal energy Changling had been accumulating for a long time was about to burst forth, when she saw Xu Laifeng extend a finger: “Unless you give me a code phrase or hand signal…”
Changling: “…”
Before the words fell, Changling’s ears twitched. A force like moving mountains and overturning seas appeared behind them without warning. Xu Laifeng suddenly flung his sleeve, pushing back with a surging palm strike without hesitation. When the two palms suddenly collided, he finally saw clearly that the person ambushing from behind was actually the other black-clothed person who had been surrounded by three on the rooftop earlier.
He didn’t know how this person had escaped or how they had pursued to this place. Just from the sticky force this palm strike brought out, it was like octopus tentacles that could entangle a person, making it impossible for him to withdraw his hand for the moment. Before Xu Laifeng could say “I made peace with that person,” he saw the black-clothed person throw a dagger forward: “Stab him!”
Changling caught the dagger and froze. That black-clothed person seemed to have his body also stiffened, unable to act, and only urged: “I can’t hold on much longer, hurry!”
Xu Laifeng was frightened by this turn of events until hot sweat broke out on his forehead. “You can’t play like this…”
Before the word “this” could leave his mouth, his vision went dark and his entire body collapsed to the ground.
Changling crouched down and reached into his chest to pull out the half folding fan. The black-clothed person saw she had only knocked Xu Laifeng unconscious and asked: “Not killing him? Aren’t you afraid he’ll recognize you later?”
“I don’t like stabbing people in the back.” Changling tossed the dagger back to the black-clothed person and glanced at him: “So you’ve recognized me?”
The black-clothed person walked to the shop door on the side and pulled out the short sword, saying flatly: “This sword belongs to my brother, and my brother doesn’t know how to use short swords at all.”
“…” The short sword was something she had grabbed on her way out. Now looking at it, she remembered it was the one Fu Yanyang had brought when he stuck to her learning martial arts a few days ago.
Changling steadied herself: “Is that you?”
The black-clothed person pulled down his mask, revealing refined features: “Yes, it’s me.”
“Why are you here…” Chaotic footsteps sounded in the distance. Fu Yangui raised a finger, signaling her to stay quiet. After listening and confirming they were people pursuing from the Jing residence, he said to Changling: “Want to move somewhere else to talk?”
Fu Yangui’s right arm had a blade wound. The cut was quite deep. Even after tightly binding it with several layers of cloth strips, blood was still seeping through. This outskirt area was remote, and after groping along the lakeside grass for a while, they hadn’t found any hemostatic herbs. Changling grew tired of walking and sat down leaning against a tree: “I think you should hurry back to treat your wound.”
“General Jing has already sent out guards to search the entire city. If I go back now, I’ll probably be stopped before reaching the residence.” Fu Yangui sat down by the lake: “When dawn comes and they still haven’t found anyone, he’ll naturally withdraw his troops.”
“Why?”
“I think he’ll be eager to attend morning court to see who’s absent…” Fu Yangui tore two more cloth strips to wrap around his arm. “Before dawn, someone will deliver court robes, and I’ll enter the palace directly.”
Changling quietly watched Fu Yangui for a moment before slowly speaking: “When did you figure it out?”
“Figure out what?”
“That I’m not Jing Nanxu.”
On the rooftop, he had seen her sword at first glance. In normal people’s cognition, how could a father harm his daughter? Yet his first reaction was to have her leave first, which showed he clearly knew she couldn’t stay.
“When we first met at Qiang River and you fainted, I already figured it out then.” Fu Yangui said indifferently: “Your face shows no traces of disguise or skin replacement. How could you possibly be Nanxu?”
Changling: “Since you figured it out so early, why have you never exposed me?”
“Initially it was just curiosity—wondering what background a woman who could kill the Five Poisons Sect Master with bare hands had. I thought if I continued to mistake your identity, you would find an opportunity to escape, and then I’d send people to secretly follow you. The answer would naturally be revealed… Who knew you would just come to Jinling with me like this. I won’t hide it from you, miss—I even suspected you came for me at one point… I just didn’t expect you to turn around and go to the Jing residence.” Fu Yangui turned his eyes toward Changling: “I suppose you were targeting Jing Wuwei from the start.”
Changling showed some shock—not being shocked was impossible. She thought she had been careful enough, yet every footprint she made had silently fallen under someone else’s watchful eyes. This person’s scheming depth was truly chilling.
“But you didn’t expose me and even protected me at every turn. Tonight you even personally infiltrated the general’s residence.” The more like facing a formidable enemy she felt, the clearer Changling’s mind became: “Your relationship with Jing Wuwei isn’t as harmonious as it appears, is it?”
Hearing this, Fu Yangui gazed deeply at Changling: “You’re even smarter than I imagined. I truly didn’t misjudge you.”
Misjudge?
Changling’s brows slightly furrowed. She only heard him say: “Let’s cooperate—to eliminate Jing Wuwei.”
At this moment, the fog by the lake hadn’t dispersed. The silvery moon slanted down, falling on half of Fu Yangui’s face, giving him an inscrutable appearance. Changling was stunned and asked: “You’re the esteemed Prime Minister, deeply valued by the emperor, with exceptionally strong martial arts. If you want to deal with Jing Wuwei, why seek me out?”
“General Jing holds Eastern Xia’s military authority. Even His Majesty must constantly act according to his mood. To eliminate him—how could it be easily accomplished just by having imperial favor?” Fu Yangui said: “But you’re different. You’re Jing Wuwei’s ‘daughter,’ and right now he urgently needs you, this ‘daughter,’ to help him accomplish something. Therefore, you’re the best partner for cooperation.”
“He needs me?” Changling didn’t understand: “Why?”
Fu Yangui didn’t answer this question and instead asked: “You still haven’t answered me—are you willing to cooperate?”
“You don’t even know who I am, yet you dare trust me?”
“The enemy of my enemy can be my friend.” Fu Yangui said: “As long as the goal is the same, why not?”
Changling’s eyes flickered slightly.
His insight and courage were both extraordinary, and he seemed honest enough… Indeed a good potential partner, just unfortunately…
“I never cooperate with anyone.” Changling stood up: “Prime Minister Fu’s kind intentions—I appreciate them.”
“Are you approaching Jing Wuwei to discover the whereabouts of that half folding fan, or…” Fu Yangui suddenly asked: “Do you have a grudge against him and want to take his life?”
Changling glanced at him: “Does the reason matter?”
“If it’s the former, you won’t discover it with your strength alone.” Fu Yangui also stood up: “If it’s the latter… Jing Wuwei dared to bring home a daughter from the Five Poisons Sect. If he had no guard against you, that wouldn’t be his style. Even if your martial arts are impressive, have you considered who will take over Jing family’s military authority after his death? This person Jing Can’s viciousness exceeds even Jing Wuwei’s. Unless you’re already prepared to immediately flee Eastern Xia after succeeding, otherwise, I advise you not to act rashly.”
“Is this advice?”
He smiled slightly: “No, I simply don’t wish to lose an excellent partner.”
Changling was indifferent: “May I ask Prime Minister Fu—why do you want to eliminate Jing Wuwei?”
“If you’re willing to cooperate, I can naturally tell you honestly.”
Changling made a sound of acknowledgment: “Then let’s forget it.”
She walked a few steps and heard Fu Yangui say behind her: “Miss Changting can consider it slowly. I’ll await your message.”
The Jing residence was in chaos like a pot of porridge due to the earlier incident. The maids and servants in the residence ran back and forth, frightened beyond measure.
Therefore, when Changling climbed over the back wall into the northern wing and pretended to have been awakened and appeared in the courtyard, she didn’t arouse suspicion. Madam Xue Ningyu happened to come by. Seeing Changling’s confused expression, she hurriedly explained: “Thieves entered the residence and have already escaped. Your father is sending people to pursue and capture them. Hurry back to your room and don’t come out randomly before dawn.”
Changling returned to her room and patiently waited by the door for a while. After hearing Madam Xue Ningyu’s group’s footsteps fade away, she finally bolted the door, returned to the bed curtains, and took out the half folding fan to examine it carefully.
Judging from the tear marks on the fan surface, it should have been torn in half. The fan rivet was slightly bent, yet the fan ribs hadn’t scattered. It looked as if someone had broken it into two pieces with one motion. The imitation was indeed remarkably lifelike—the fan surface bore two lines of poetry: “Northern pavilion hears bells and chimes, southern neighbor smells pine and cypress fragrance; dawn falls on pool water, white as snowflakes scatter in the ravine.”
Changling read it three times. With her limited literary attainment, she truly couldn’t discern what mystery this poem held besides describing mountains and water.
A disciple of Wu Run in the Yue family? From childhood to adulthood, never mind seeing a memorial tablet of this “patriarch,” she hadn’t even heard of him… Could Jing Wuwei be fabricating a fake folding fan just to deceive those simple-minded second-generation martial artists?
But her eldest brother entrusting the half folding fan to Ye Qi was definitely real…
Xu Laifeng’s deduction was worth pondering—if back then Fu Liujing harmed her just for revenge, then his scheming against her eldest brother together with Shen Yao was very likely to obtain that half folding fan—but why did her eldest brother insist on having Ye Qi deliver that fan to Fu Liujing before dying? What was the reason for that?
Changling pressed her fingers between her brows and began to carefully ponder everything that had happened tonight.
Fu Yangui’s proposed “cooperation”—she naturally didn’t take it to heart. But as he said, Jing Wuwei was surrounded by expert masters. Before having a thorough plan, she really shouldn’t act rashly. Moreover… he had hidden away all the Yue family’s old belongings. The rumors about Wu Run and those intricate connections behind him all had inseparable relationships with the former Yue family. If… she could find these important items, perhaps some questions would be easily resolved.
Changling opened the folding fan. Her tangled brain hurt from thinking. She thought: If only Ye Qi were here.
As soon as this thought arose, she herself was startled. When had she started wanting to rely on that unreliable sickly person?
She silently chanted “the delicate and precious young marquis is untouchable,” shook her head, hid the half folding fan, and took a brief nap before dawn.
Three days later, Changling rode a horse with two sets of change clothes and went to Qingcheng Academy—although Jinling’s local young gentlemen could choose to return home, if they wished, sleeping quarters would still be arranged for them.
To prevent encountering last night’s kind of situation again, when she stayed out all night, she could use the excuse of staying overnight at the academy, saving Jing Wuwei from becoming suspicious.
The dormitory rooms Qingcheng Academy provided for martial students were exceptionally spacious. At each end of the room was a table, chair, bed, and cabinet, with a curtain thoughtfully placed in the middle—in case roommates didn’t get along, pulling the curtain would keep them out of each other’s sight.
Changling had just finished hanging up her clothes when she heard someone behind her say: “Why is it you?”
Turning her head, she saw the great beauty Fang appear at the doorway. Behind her, two servants carrying a large bundle couldn’t squeeze through the door no matter how they maneuvered. “Miss, this door is too small.”
Fang Zhuyi glared back, then looked toward Changling: “I didn’t expect you’d also move here to live.”
“This way there’s more time for sleeping.”
Fang Zhuyi’s lips twitched: “Did uncle send you to Qingcheng Academy to participate in the martial examination?”
“He just sent me here to pass time.”
“What about you? Are you here just to pass time?”
“No.” After Changling finished these two words, she pulled the curtain: “Changing clothes. Miss Fang, please do as you wish.”
“…” The great beauty who had been cold all her life, upon meeting a beauty even colder than herself, experienced for the first time what it felt like to forcibly swallow words back down.
Qingcheng Academy’s martial studies had seven courses total. Among the literary courses were military strategy and martial virtue. The martial arts courses included basic martial arts, weapons, mounted archery, internal energy cultivation, and there was also a music and ceremony course—playing the zither, blowing flutes, and such. As for why martial students should learn music, it was said to be newly added by Old Man Shu. Seeing this group of students with heads full of fighting and killing all day, he thought that at dusk, as the sun set, he’d cultivate their temperament with beautiful melodies and reduce their violent tendencies.
Unfortunately, on the very first day of school, the music and ceremony teacher played truant—Young Marquis He was missing all day. Old Man Shu searched the entire academy but couldn’t find him. When servants from the He residence rushed over to deliver a leave request, it was almost dark.
Old Man Shu, who knew nothing about music theory, was so angry his beard blew up to the sky. He could only pull over Mo Chuan to perform a segment of percussive drumming, which stirred the new students’ hearts until they couldn’t wait to grab swords and fight another three hundred rounds.
No one cared where Young Marquis He had gone. In everyone’s view, Marquis He coming to Qingcheng Academy was just for show anyway. It didn’t matter whether he appeared or not.
But Changling—she was distracted and dazed all day. Hearing that Ye Qi had requested leave, she found it strange—this sickly person had previously said he came to Qingcheng Academy to see her. Now there wasn’t even a shadow of him. Could it be that upon hearing she wasn’t actually Changling herself, he just casually waved his hand and left?
The more Changling thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Her arm dropped, and the chopsticks in her hand pierced straight through the dining table, causing several students at the same table who were about to grab meat to silently withdraw their chopsticks.
At the same time, the sickly person being “thought of” by someone was in a creek town several hundred li away, slowly pacing out of a farmhouse. Not knowing what he had experienced the moment before, he couldn’t even walk steadily. Seventh Uncle quickly stepped forward to support him: “My lord…”
Ye Qi walked out two steps, looked up at the dark clouds covering the moon, and an inexplicably heavy expression appeared in his eyes: “Seventh Uncle, after we return this time, begin preparations. See how to have eldest brother, third brother and his wife, and little sister quietly leave Jinling, but don’t let anyone become suspicious…”
“But…”
He raised his hand, signaling Seventh Uncle to stop talking: “My mind is made up. I just don’t want any future troubles.”
Seventh Uncle’s lips tightened. In the end, he didn’t try to persuade and only sighed: “This world was originally yielded by you, my lord… Whatever you wish to do is beyond reproach. This old servant will follow you to the death.”