“Corpse oil?”
Yu Zixi’s smile was uniquely charming, his demeanor as if discussing the famous peonies of Dezhou Prefecture, peaceful and lovely. “Bodies are placed on stone pits for burning. When burned to half-charred and rotten, water is used to extinguish the fire, and the bodies are thrown into the water in the pit. The oil from within the bodies slowly seeps out, dissolving into the water. That oil is excellent for beautifying the skin.”
“Ugh…” Xiao Baozi made vomiting motions and said angrily: “Give me back my morning jade buns!”
“Human meat buns, how about it?” Yu Zixi smiled. “The flavor is quite unique.”
Qin Chang Ge smiled. Yu Zixi was still the same—as beautiful as he could be, and his words as disgusting as they could be. But if you actually asked him to apply corpse oil or eat human flesh, he would definitely kill you immediately.
“Your Excellency is practicing corpse oil here?” Qin Chang Ge looked around. “In my Xiliang royal family’s imperial garden villa, at the foot of Shanglin Nunnery, a Buddhist pure land, using living people to fight to the death to refine oil?”
“So what?” Yu Zixi smiled charmingly. “The feng shui here is very good—the oil refined will definitely be of the finest quality.”
“Your Excellency must hold high office and noble rank in Xiliang,” Qin Chang Ge smiled. “But I remember Xiliang law: when princes break the law, they receive the same punishment as commoners.”
“Who says I’m breaking the law?” Yu Zixi’s eyes slanted obliquely upward, his skin lustrous and glossy. With a flick of his red robes, a paper slip flew out smoothly, gliding slowly against the wind as if invisible hands were supporting it from below, stopping precisely three inches before Qin Chang Ge’s eyes for her to view.
Seeing this, Baozi was dissatisfied and struggled to stand on tiptoe, reaching up to grab it. Yu Zixi watched him with flowing eyes, flicked his sleeve, and a blue stone from nearby silently moved closer. Baozi climbed onto it—just right.
He said with delight: “You’re not bad. I don’t think you’re a sissy anymore.”
Yu Zixi smiled sweetly. “Thank you, thank you.”
Qin Chang Ge stared at that paper slip.
“Life and Death Contract.”
The Life and Death Contract was a custom left from the Yuan Dynasty. The previous Yuan Dynasty had risen from the grasslands—originally the Hasan tribe, nomadic people from the Western Cang Plateau below Qingma Mountain, following water and grass, growing in heavenly winds. Their people were fierce and skilled in battle. During the decline of the former Qi Dynasty, they rose up and swept across the plateau. Their snow-bright curved sabers, carrying the mutton smell of plateau cattle and sheep, cut through the warm, intoxicating sky, and in the blink of an eye shattered the long-peaceful dynasty that had forgotten what weapons were through singing and dancing. After occupying the beautiful rivers and mountains of the inner lands, the Hasan people stripped off their thick, greasy sheepskin robes and changed into light, soft silk. They removed the blood-dripping fat mutton from their tables and replaced it with refined Southern delicacies. They divorced their wives—women with large breasts and thick hips whose faces had been blackened and reddened by the four-season winds of the grassland and whose behavior was crude—and took in the delicate daughters of fallen officials who were weak as willows, beautiful as spring flowers, and skilled in music. They strictly forbade their subjects from calling them the Hasan tribe, claiming to be the divine race from beneath the sacred Qingma Mountain, following heavenly mandate to save all beings.
The Life and Death Contract was an ancient Hasan custom—a ladder for slaves or those of low status to advance to high positions. The Hasan covenant recorded: “Sons of base slaves, if you possess incomparable courage and wish to become warriors under the masters, to cast off the shackles of slavery for life, then come sign the Life and Death Contract—life and death don’t matter, glory to the victor.”
The Life and Death Contract was for those seeking to escape their base status, engaging in life-or-death combat without regard for survival. Once signed, it meant life or death had nothing to do with others. After the Yuan Dynasty was established, because of this practice’s bloody cruelty, such contracts gradually became rare. When the Xiliang Dynasty was newly established, during reforms of the previous dynasty’s systems, Qin Chang Ge had once discovered this thing and originally wanted to order its abolition. Later, hearing that such incidents were almost nonexistent domestically, she let it be. Unexpectedly, this demon-beautiful Yu Zixi had now exploited a legal loophole, picking up old previous-dynasty customs to play killing games.
Yu Zixi still wouldn’t give up. Smiling, he beckoned over a gray-armored soldier and said: “Jin Wu, tell her how you came to my side.”
Jin Wu immediately stepped forward, pointed at the group of fighting beggars, and said loudly: “This humble one was originally just like them—a beggar searching for food in mud pits, spat upon by thousands and bullied by all! This humble one is now a sixth-rank Military Strategy Cavalry Captain, in charge of weapons and archery affairs for the Prince’s mansion! If not for His Lordship giving this humble one the opportunity, how would this humble one have today? This humble one thanks His Lordship for his grace!”
“How many times have I told you not to speak so loudly,” Yu Zixi smiled gracefully. “Being reasonable doesn’t require a loud voice. Killing is best done invisibly. Everything about you is good except this lack of comprehension.”
“Yes!” Jin Wu bowed deeply, his armor clanging. “This humble one will definitely learn well how to kill invisibly!”
Qin Chang Ge’s face was full of smiles, but in her heart she was already too lazy to talk with this pair of perverted master and servant. She walked on her own to the group of beggars still fighting each other, watched for a while, then suddenly said: “Though the Life and Death Contract is cruel, it has always been fair. Your Lordship, your Life and Death Contract seems somewhat unfair.”
Yu Zixi’s gaze swept over to look at that disabled young man, smiling alluringly: “Only the most fierce and brave lives that struggle out from blood, fire, and mire are qualified to become warriors under my command. I select people regardless of birth or family background, regardless of character or conduct—only success or failure matters. The more someone is a victor emerging from adverse and difficult circumstances, the greater their chances of advancement under my command, and even initial appointments are determined accordingly. You think it’s unfair to him, but I think I’m completely fair to him. Who else would give a cripple a chance?”
“My rule is that only those who can kill are worthy of being my subordinates,” Yu Zixi smiled gracefully. “Among them, no matter who—as long as they can protect themselves from being killed and can kill one person, even if they lose, I will still take care of them.”
“They were originally friends together, weren’t they?” Qin Chang Ge watched for a while and smiled slightly. “Only by killing friends can they have a chance to live, a ladder to advancement?”
“Before life, death, glory, and disgrace, there are no friends.” Yu Zixi smiled. “I don’t want fools who give up this opportunity for so-called friendship.”
As the two conversed, the situation in the field suddenly changed!