Author: moondancer (page 5 of 13)

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“Lingxin, you didn’t mention that Minister Lan also met with assassins,” the emperor suddenly said.

Qu Lingxin bowed and replied meaningfully, “Your Majesty, the stars only convey the truth. They may not be comprehensive, but they will not lie.”

The implication was that Lan Jue was lying. Everyone in the hall was clear on this, but Lan Jue just stared at him, pretending not to understand, and his face didn’t even twitch.

Thus, some ministers echoed, “No matter what, Your Majesty, it is impossible for the Lord of Western Tang to absolve himself of all blame.”

“Come on!” Lan Jue shouted back. “Even if Western Tang isn’t that big, I don’t know everyone in it, and I don’t know Elder Lin either. How do I know why assassins killed him, can you be a bit more reasonable?!”

His whole person expressed ‘I’m going to beat you up if you keep acting like this’, and he had been so loud that it seemed like the entire hall shook.

Lan Jue insisted that the Iron-Clad Guards had failed their duties, and he was completely justified to do so — they had chased the assassins through the streets and made such a clamour that everyone knew something was happening, even the emperor who was soaking in the rear palace with his beauties and stars couldn’t avoid knowing of his sister’s actions. Yet in a situation such as this, the assassins could still succeed?

To add insult to injury, Lan Jue also added a seemingly unintentional curse: “They’re too audacious. They failed to kill the Grand Princess so now they’re messing with the Guards, it’s preposterous!”

As a result, Bai Jing’an had to watch himself being pinned with the label of ‘lazy’. The Grand Princess reacted faster than him to realise something was wrong and hinted with her eyes, causing him to startle and hurriedly kneel to plead guilty. “It was this minister who was incompetent and failed to arrest the rebellious assassins. Your Majesty, please forgive me.”

Longque had been lost and hadn’t been found yet. Grand Princess Qinghe secretly handed this task to Bai Jing’an, and indeed, the Iron-Clad Guards obeyed her over the emperor, they would never let the emperor know that they lost the sword. Before Lan Jue came, Chu Xiang had theorised that as long as he targeted the Guards, the Grand Princess would be forced to step out — no matter who was blaming Lan Jue, she would help protect him.

According to Chu Xiang: “The emperor is superstitious, and although he is simpleminded, no one despises having power. He would be angry at losing the imperial sword no matter how inactive he usually is, so the Grand Princess definitely hid it from him. The Iron-Clad Guards moved out with such great furor, yet despite the streets being filled with their men, assassins still appeared. And with their efficacy being so low, it would be inevitable for their true purpose to be questioned. If in this case they continue to pursue the question of whether you have anything to do with Elder Lin’s death, the Grand Princess will worry that they’ll uncover the loss of Longque — after all, she doesn’t know if you are involved or not. So even if you did steal it, she must protect you in front of the emperor.”

Lan Jue also remembered that he said, “At that time, apart from the Grand Princess’ enemies, whoever refuses to let you go is the one trying to frame you.”

The only people in the court who dared to openly oppose the Grand Princess were the two most senior officials. They had previously opposed her presence at court on the grounds of preventing a woman from becoming the power behind the throne, yet now they said nothing.

“Wouldn’t it be too obvious to target me then?” Lan Jue had asked.

To this, Chu Xiang was very confident. “News travels slowly, Your Excellency. You are not an uneducated brute, but whomever is framing you, no matter why they are doing so, has a fundamental misunderstanding of your true self. Unless it’s someone next to you like Yang Feng who turned traitor, but I don’t think you would leave such a weakness. A trap laid for a wise man needs to be designed carefully, but a trap for an ignorant villager…” Therefore, even in ancient times, experience gained through information warfare in the modern era was extremely effective.

“This is a hole they dug themselves, I’m not the one who called me a barbarian,” Lan Jue sneered.

So when the Grand Princess spoke up for Lan Jue, he just waited to see who would be the one to oppose her.

Sure enough, just like Chu Xiang said, Lan Jue’s reputation for bravery was not respected in the capital, which favoured obscene lyrics and erotic songs. Not only did his military feats not garner esteem, most people believed that this Lord of Western Tang had more muscles than brains, had nothing in his skull but air, and could be no more than a barbarian. In an era where information was conveyed almost entirely by mouths and letters were sent only by the strength of your legs, this became an excellent cover.

The mastermind could calculate everything, but he fell into a trap made by falsified ‘character settings’.

But Lan Jue was a little surprised — the first one to object was, unexpectedly, Qu Lingxin.

Qu Lingxin — the Master of the Observatory, the direct superior of this incident’s nominal victim — turned to the emperor and said, “Your Majesty, although Commander Bai does have fault, he was not the fundamental cause. Regarding this incident, the stars’ guidance has indicated to me that suspicion falls on Western Tang — I ask Your Majesty to consider this carefully.”

‘The stars’ guidance’. Just these three words were enough for an astrologer to present testimony before the court.

Lan Jue couldn’t suppress a sneer. What guidance, this supposedly mighty emperor couldn’t even compare with someone who counted stars for a living.

However, what reason did the Observatory have for targeting Western Tang?

* * *

While all this was happening, Chu Xiang naturally had no intention of honestly staying in the post house to recuperate. As planned, he went to Chunjiang Pavilion.

This time, he was finally greeted by Bai Mo’s maidservant.

The maids of Peonies were also stunningly beautiful. These teenage girls hadn’t yet grown into their adult bodies, but one could already see the beautiful outlines of their future faces. Chu Hexing, in comparison, really was a little clay monkey — although she wasn’t ugly, she definitely couldn’t be called beautiful.

With this girl’s foundation, Chu Xiang could tell at a glance that if she received special operations training, she would become a battle goddess on par with his Team Leader Shao Yun.

Unfortunately she was born at the wrong time.

A jug of wine was placed on the table in front of Chu Xiang as the maid explained that the Peony was still freshening up and gently asked him to wait.

“There’s no tea?” Chu Xiang, remembering the last time he blacked out after drinking, adamantly refused to touch alcohol again. Moreover, the injury on his waist still ached — drinking wine now was purely asking for punishment.

“My Lord is joking, who would drink tea in a place like this?” the maid replied respectfully.

He looked down at the cup, then swept his eyes over everything in the room that might be able to hide concealed weapons. The Peony’s room was very clean, he found nothing. As for the wine, he sniffed it a few times, then thought helplessly — this era has exquisite mechanisms and equally exquisite martial arts, but when it comes to anything that needs a bit of modern technology like chemical purification, they really can’t match up to the 28th century.

As the commanding officer of a vanguard fleet voyaging into deep space, identifying poisons was also a necessary skill. Although there was AI assistance during actual battles, they had to train in all the most demanding conditions during simulated training, including AI malfunction, losing contact with the main fleet, and being stranded on an unknown planet, among others. They could even identify alien poisons, so for something of this era, Chu Xiang could basically tell what was mixed into the wine just by smelling it.

He said it before, making an invisible, odourless, and tasteless poison was a tall order even in the 28th century, let alone in historical times.

“That’s true, you have to be drunk in this place. Drink and be merry in deathly sleep, being sober in the waking world is too disappointing,” Chu Xiang said unhurriedly as he swirled the wine in his cup. Then he held the cup in front of the maid. “Drink it.”

“Lord, this slave cannot receive guests, otherwise, the lady will punish me–”

“I want you to drink it,” Chu Xiang smiled. His arm was as steady as rock. “Let her punish me.”

The maid retreated backwards half a step. “You are troubling this slave…”

“It’s fine,” he said, then, pretending to be surprised, “oh, are you worried that you’ll faint? You won’t, I think that with your physical fitness, you can last until you leave my sight. Besides, haven’t you trained in how to respond after blowing your cover? Or are you just a newbie who’s using me as a training dummy?”

The maid’s face didn’t change from its beautiful smile, but a hair stick flashed out from her sleeve with its end glinting in the light — it had clearly been treated with poison.

The sharp accessory poked directly between Chu Xiang’s eyebrows, so fast that there was no way for him to avoid it.

Despite this, the young gentleman still held his wine cup as if toasting to the moon and didn’t move an inch from his seat. The maid’s hair stick stopped just in front of his skull without the previous pretence of warmth, and her hands were as steady as a machine’s.

At this time, a Peony in full regalia walked out of the inner room. The cup in Chu Xiang’s hands turned and was instead offered to Madam Bai Mo.

Ignoring both the maid and her murderous blade, he still held a smile as he said, “Madam Mo’s hospitality is truly eye-opening. Is this the basis of Madam’s fame?”

“Indeed, ordinary guests would not experience this.” Madam Mo watched him for a while, then took the cup and casually handed it over to her maid, who put away her weapon, regained her gentle and sweet demeanour, and took away the cup of drugged wine.

She walked to the table and sat down. Instead of having the attitude of someone receiving a guest, she nonchalantly brushed her hair and asked bluntly, “Who are you? Your intentions to probe us have been obvious the last few days, but you weren’t led here by our informants and neither are you from the Guards. Since you’re here, you might as well say it.”

“I am Chu Xiang, an advisor for the Lord of Western Tang, Lan Jue.”

“The Lord of  Western Tang?” Bai Mo raised an eyebrow. “I thought it was a cover, for him to suddenly show up to rescue you that night… So there really is someone like you beside him. It seems like he isn’t as stupid as in the rumours.”

This was tantamount to admitting that she had sent the assassins back then. It went more smoothly than Chu Xiang had anticipated.

“Let’s hear it, who do you want dead? As long as the price is right, anyone is possible.”

This wasn’t the attitude of someone dealing in human lives. Although Chu Xiang had never come into contact with the contract killers of this world, he had met assassins who lived among interstellar nomads. Those who took astonishing risks to make a living had an equally astonishing level of caution — all his fleet comrades who tried to fish them up returned empty-handed, because they would disappear into thin air as soon as there was the slightest hint of trouble, and they would never trade with people they didn’t know or didn’t come recommended.

Chu Xiang noticed countless gazes coming from all around the room. Many maids knelt by the door and every single one hid killing intent in their eyes.

If he didn’t impress these assassins, he would never walk out of this room alive.

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When they were a dozen or so metres away, Chu Xiang reached over and pressed hard on his wound, causing fresh blood to well up between his fingers. Before Lan Jue could express his surprise, he felt two chilly fingers quickly touch the corner of his mouth. Blood cooled quickly once it left the body and what touched his mouth was already cold, but he felt as if he had been scalded.

“What are you doing!” he scolded quietly.

Bai Jing’an moved to greet them. When he arrived, Chu Xiang was leaning on Lan Jue’s with his head buried in his shoulder and his arms hanging limply, looking as if he was too injured to speak.

Seeing this scene, what Bai Jing’an intended to say instead became, “Lord Lan encountered an assassination attempt?”

Lan Jue pursed his lips in displeasure. “Obviously.”

“This–” Bai Jing’an hesitated for a few seconds, then reached for Chu Xiang’s hand. Lan Jue retreated half a step and glared, causing him to hastily explain, “I only wish to examine Sir Chu’s injuries.”

Although Bai Jing’an’s tone was respectful, his actions were very forceful as he stepped forward and took Chu Xiang’s hand. The man’s pulse was floating and irregular, indeed not faked, and as soon as he made contact, he knew that this person’s physique was very poor and he had no foundation in martial arts. If a person like this was made to fight, they would pass out before anyone could pull out a sword.

“May I ask what kind of assassin you encountered?”

The purportedly unconscious Chu Xiang was worried for a moment, but fortunately, Lan Jue wasn’t as brainless as rumours said. “I haven’t even complained about Commander Bai’s improper defence, yet you’re interrogating me?” he immediately shot back. “Could it be that I stabbed my own man and gave each other internal injuries on a short walk outside, just to trick you?”

Then he raised his chin to show the bloodstain on his lips.

Yang Feng hurried to their side and, not knowing the truth, was frightened out of his wits. “My Lord, you’re hurt!!!”

“Internal injuries, I’m fine.”

The scene became chaotic — it wasn’t good for Lan Jue to argue with Iron-Clad Guards, the Guards didn’t care for Yang Feng who was at the same level as them, and there was also the addition of Chu Hexing, who swore constantly and refused to stop jumping around. Bai Jing’an could only silently accept their accusations and signal his men to call for a medic.

“My Lord encountered assassins and had to escape the post house in order to avoid them, and was even injured. But you, Commander Bai, as soon as you came you surrounded us without a word because you thought we were harbouring assassins. If we were, would our lord be hurt? This is obviously a false accusation. Slandering the lord of a principality is a serious crime!” Yang Feng shouted.

Bai Jing’an was unmoved. “An elder from the Observatory was murdered tonight, and we found marks belonging to a unique sword skill from Western Tang, so we were obligated to investigate. I hope the lord doesn’t blame us.”

An elder from the Observatory?

While Chu Xiang pretended to be half-dead, he was confused because he thought that whoever was inside the Observatory’s carriage had been fake. So in other words, the real person met assassins at the same time? The real and fake goods died together?

“Are you a fool!” Chu Hexing yelled. “Everyone knows not to let others recognise you if you fight on the street, do you think assassins don’t know how to disguise themselves?”

“Even if that is the case,” Bai Jing’an said, still calm and not at all affected merely because the person scolding him had a low status, “the technique used by the assassin is very obscure. I would not have recognised it either if not for previously crossing blades with a skilled swordsman from Western Tang.”

“That doesn’t mean we haven’t been framed, they can be subtle too!” Chu Hexing argued back with Bai Jing’an’s own vocabulary.

Bai Jing’an fell silent. Western Tang’s borders weren’t peaceful, the people there were martially inclined; it was said that there was a technique popular throughout the principality called the Thirteen Styles of Duanshui, which Lan Jue himself also used in battle. With its widespread fame, it would be easy to imitate it. There was indeed a large possibility that the evidence on the Observatory elder which pointed to Western Tang’s sword style was deliberately planted.

However, he did not give in. “This matter involves an elder of the Observatory and I can only act according to the orders given. The astrologers of the Observatory are not ordinary people, and their abilities may be of use in desperate times such as now. Thus, I ask the lord to temporarily remain in the post house — we will dispatch additional men to protect your safety.”

The commander steadily strode away amidst Chu Hexing’s scolding, while the remaining Guards melted into the darkness yet did not leave.

Lan Jue crossed the door’s threshold, and after confirming that there weren’t any eavesdroppers, Chu Xiang lifted his head from within his embrace.

“Many thanks, Your Excellency,” he said as Chu Hexing slowly supported him to sit at the table. The night was quiet and there was no sign of the medic. Chu Xiang sadly glanced at his blood-soaked clothes, then couldn’t help but say to Chu Hexing, “Help me boil some water, I want to wash–”

“No,” Lan Jue interjected, “you’re too weak, don’t touch water.”

Chu Xiang: “…” I miss the time when people listened to me!

“Just now, it was fortunate that you had quick wits,” Lan Jue said.

“…Your Excellency was the one who saved me first,” Chu Xiang said. “There is no way for me to repay you, my life and body both belong to you.”

Although his face was pale, his wan smile still made Lan Jue’s heart confused.

Things felt strange for a moment. Lan Jue didn’t look away and neither did Chu Xiang, which made Lan Jue feel a trickle of admiration.

“Who do you think is framing us?” he asked.

Yang Feng was even more bewildered. “Our Western Tang has always kept a low profile, why does someone suddenly want to target us?”

“Not just us, an elder from the Observatory died as well. They dared to touch the emperor’s most beloved Observatory, and even succeeded. I don’t believe this is something Eastern Tang can do from thousands of miles away. The person plotting against you should be within Tianyan and their goal can also be guessed: they want the emperor to dispose of you. They know that in order to destabilise a vassal state, they must either send troops to raze it to the ground or let the emperor take action while holding the moral high ground,” Chu Xiang replied. “This person’s status must be sufficiently high, but tonight you left the post house and gave them a chance. I must ask, how did you know to appear there at that exact moment?”

Lan Jue did not answer. He seamlessly changed the subject instead. “Any candidates?”

“Not yet.” Chu Xiang thought that he didn’t want to reveal any spying assignments, so he obediently followed the topic. “You should have no enemies in the capital. A failed marriage proposal shouldn’t result in a feud.”

In comparison, it was Chu Xiang who had offended more people. His poem which cursed people to die was still making rounds in the streets.

“We are in the open. No matter who it is, just wait and see,” Lan Jue said unhurriedly.

“But Excellency, what will you do if the emperor intervenes?”

Lan Jue frowned. “Tell the truth.”

“Our enemy has made everything look like a coincidence, and in addition, your actions tonight did leave loopholes. Anything you say will only increase suspicion.”

“Then what do you think?”

Chu Xiang began chuckling. “Don’t the rumours say you’re illiterate? You can play into it a bit. There’s no need to explain too much, because most people will feel that someone who’s illiterate doesn’t have the brains to scheme like this.”

I just don’t know if lords of principalities have ever studied acting, Chu Xiang thought.

As they were discussing, there was the sound of wind coming from outside the window. Lan Jue raised a hand and caught the stone which flew through the window.

There were three words carved on it with a small knife:

Awaiting your arrangements

Lan Jue let out an admiring breath. “What good skills. There are Iron-Clad Guards everywhere, yet the assassins have the means to pass a message! It seems Sir Chu’s vision is quite good.”

“Your Excellency, leave the assassins to me, you just focus on dealing with the emperor.”

* * *

Chu Xiang didn’t guess wrong — the next day, the emperor unprecedentedly attended morning court for once. An edict was sent to the various lords four hours in advance to notify them that the emperor would be present and everyone was summoned.

The emperor — already over sixty years old — sat on the dragon throne, accompanied by his beautiful young concubines. Two women lay bonelessly on his fat belly, while his imperial sister sat below him with a scrupulously proper posture.

When the ministers saluted, it was Princess Qinghe who allowed them to rise. The emperor’s gaze remained on his favoured concubines, who knew if there was any meaning to his presence here.

Ten years ago, when the current emperor ascended the throne, he chose Changle¹With the characters 长乐, meaning long-lasting joy as the era name. At the time, the world’s forces had been divided for a long time and the power of the central government was weak, it was impossible for them to recover overnight. In addition, this emperor was an only son so he had no choice but to ascend even though he hardly had the qualifications to rule even a city. This depleted the country’s fortunes even further, and in recent years, the Changle Emperor seemed to have lost interest in everything and spent his time wallowing in whatever enjoyment he could get before the world changed hands.

The ministers were used to this.

Below the emperor, standing at around the same level as the Grand Princess, was a young man. He had black hair and black clothes, wore no jewellery, and had a single long lock of grey hair on his left temple. His eyes seemed to have no pupils, so looking into them was like falling into the void or into an abyss of stars.

This was Qu Lingxin, the master of the Observatory and the person the emperor relied upon the most, even more prominent than the Grand Princess.

Although the common people denounced these people as charlatans, the Observatory was a serious institute set up to support ‘astronomy officials’. The phrase ‘whomever obtains Longque, obtains the world’ first came from something Qu Lingxin derived from the stars. No one knew how he reached this conclusion, but the emperor had the utmost faith in both him and it.

Grand Princess Qinghe, not daring to let the emperor know that she lost the Longque sword, suppressed the matter while Bai Jing’an and the Iron-Clad Guards became busy, only saying to the outside world that they were capturing troublemaking rebels and assassins. The emperor himself only cared to know where Longque was, he had no interest in the details and wasn’t the kind to meddle.

The emperor was silent as he leaned against the cushions and drank wine. After a while, Qu Lingxin looked in a certain direction and suddenly said, “Last night, an elder of the Observatory met his end on his way home. The stars have informed me that the assassin is from Jinzhou, which Commander Bai Jing’an of the Iron-Clad Guards has also confirmed. Lord Lan, where were you when this incident occurred?”

Before he departed, Chu Xiang had disregarded the doctor’s orders to stumble his way, dishevelled and barefoot, out of bed and into Lan Jue’s room. The man had looked neither elegant nor dignified, and his hair was even a little messy from rolling on his bed, but even so, his expression was serious as he gripped Lan Jue’s wrist. “No, this time your opponents are all cunning vipers, I can’t not worry,” he had said.

Lan Jue’s heart skipped a beat, then raced like a little wolf pup jumping for joy at seeing the moon.

“You have to pay attention to traps in other people’s words, and times and places…” Chu Xiang rambled for a long time, then he shook his head. “Remember your character, don’t seem too smart or too polite, why don’t I act it out for you…”

 Recalling that guy pretending to be ‘the Lord of Western Tang who has rocks for brains’ as if he had any strength in his body, Lan Jue almost couldn’t resist bursting into laughter right then.

Qu Lingxin’s gaze returned from the void and fell on Lan Jue.

So Lan Jue calmly followed the script. “I also crashed into assassins outside the post house last night. When was Elder Lin killed? Could it be that we met the same bunch of assassins?”

He appeared very angry, even learning from the way Chu Hexing’s roughneck accent would come out when she became agitated.

“This is Tianyan, the capital, and they still dare to show their faces at the post house for lords to live in! They’re lucky they run fast otherwise I’d’ve bashed their heads in!”

Many ministers showed forbearing expressions and couldn’t bear to look at him — Lan Jue, the Lord of Western Tang, indeed looked exceedingly handsome, but…

He was so vulgar! Too violent, there wasn’t a bit of refinement in him.

Author:
If you try hard, anyone can get a little gold man! In addition, Little Xiangxiang’s invincible golden body is being reassembled, the first part will be here soon!

Translator:
There’ll be an extra chapter released next Monday to celebrate the New Year.

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• 1
  With the characters 长乐, meaning long-lasting joy

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Chu Xiang couldn’t trust anyone at this time, because the assassins’ disguises were too exquisite. This wasn’t the first time Chu Xiang had seen the flower girl, he had also seen her on the night he and Lan Jue talked in the rain. No one could have guessed that this weak and helpless girl was actually a cold-blooded killer.

The girl was very fast. Chu Xiang desperately pulled at the things around him to throw behind himself as obstacles, feeling like he was playing some kind of virtual reality parkour game — the situation seemed tense but he was in reality incomparably calm within.

He even had the time to consider how he should throw off his tail.

If he didn’t meet another assassin… the answer was still that he couldn’t!

He did everything he could to run in the direction of the post house, because the patrolling guards there would be at least slightly more reliable; occasionally he saw soldiers standing guard at alley entrances, but he couldn’t be certain that they weren’t assassins in disguise. Once again, he missed Longque’s scanning function.

Longque’s central AI was called Xie Zhiwei. The engineer who originally developed this series of AI was surnamed Xie, so the entire AI series belonged to the Xie family. Zhiwei was what Chu Xiang chose for him.

“Zhiwei, your scanning and predictive modelling functions are very useful,” Longque’s captain had always praised this about his AI. “You’re much better than the others. General Ye’s AI loves gossip a bit too much, while Han Yi’s AI is unique — that one’s mouth is so vicious that it can talk people to death.”

“Actually, Captain, aren’t you just lazy? Your IQ is being wasted,” Xie Zhiwei said helplessly.

“Learning to use tools is the most basic requirement for human development!” Chu Xiang argued, “I have the most cutting-edge AI, why should I memorise star charts myself?”

“What would you do if one day I’m not by your side?”

“There won’t be such a day,” he replied firmly. “I’ll be here as long as the ship is here, I’ve sworn it to the power core.”

* * *

Now that he thought about it, he had set such a big flag that he felt chills.

What he feared most happened — three more shadows flew out of a darkened alleyway, causing Chu Xiang’s scalp to almost explode in fright. Twisting and rolling, he darted out of the encirclement through a tiny gap, but this time the assassins weren’t surprised. Perhaps they had already received news that Chu Xiang had some skills.

Long blades blocked his path, causing Chu Xiang to pivot and run in another direction.

The new assassins who appeared were wrapped in black cloth with only a pair of bright eyes revealed. “Why bother, sir? It would be better to depart in a more dignified way,” one said, his voice deep and relaxed. He was sure that his prey had no way to escape.

“No no, I just came here, I don’t want to leave yet,” Chu Xiang replied.

The encirclement tightened in an instant as moonlight glinted on steel blades. Death in the era of cold weapons was much more distressing; among the stars, a single shot from a mothership’s fully charged main cannon could turn half a small planet into dust and high energy guns could annihilate enemy soldiers, but humans would always be more afraid at the sight of cold steel and blood.

Even after experiencing the self-detonation of a mothership’s power core, Chu Xiang found himself still unable to die calmly.

He wanted to live. No matter in which world, he had things he wanted to do.

If he lived, he could have an unlimited future.

In that instant, as many meaningless scenes flashed through his mind and the sword slashed down–

* * *

Clang–

The sword had been deflected by a short spear, which the newcomer wielded with one hand. The other held Chu Xiang. Just that silver spear blocked almost ten swords, and with a horizontal sweep, all the assassins retreated.

“Lan Jue… Lan… Your Excellency?”¹Previously Your Majesty when referring to Lan Jue with 君上 Chu Xiang stuttered, stunned.

Lan Jue chuckled lightly, then casually pierced the chest of an assassin who wanted to sneak closer. As blood sprayed, Chu Xiang hurriedly used his sleeves to block it, narrowly avoiding the fate of being blinded.

“Why are you here!”

“Let’s go first!” Lan Jue dragged Chu Xiang through an opening and ran.

Late night urban environments were perfect for assassinations; even if Lan Jue wanted to fight, he had Chu Xiang with him, so they could only run. Chu Xiang himself was exhausted from his previous sprint and his wound hurt. When he saw Lan Jue, he had instantly relaxed, so now his vision was filled with golden stars.

“Wait… Your Excellency, wait…”

After taking another two steps, he had to support himself against a wall even as his other hand firmly grasped on to Lan Jue.

Lan Jue quickly turned around. “What is it?”

“I can’t… I can’t walk anymore…” he panted, then looked at Lan Jue with a determined gaze.

The sentence ‘I can’t abandon you’ had already flowed to Lan Jue’s mouth according to the situation, but the subsequent development of events was very unexpected. “Please carry me!” Chu Xiang exclaimed as he leaned his entire weight on Lan Jue and hugged his shoulders.

Lan Jue: “…”

While he was in a daze, this man twisted around him even more and patted his chest to urge him. “Hurry up, the assassins are about to get here!”

Lan Jue decisively reached out to his knees, picked him up in his arms, and sprinted away with his long legs.

His physical strength was trained on battlefields, so he still had the energy to ask as he ran, “How did you provoke this many assassins? What on earth did you do to the Grand Princess?”

What’s with his tone, the Grand Princess is over fifty years old… Chu Xiang leaned on Lan Jue’s solid shoulder. He had lost blood and was a little cold, now that he was so close to a warm chest, he felt quite drowsy.

“Well…” he said with his eyes closed and adjusting his posture to something more comfortable, “This time isn’t the Grand Princess, I was the one who crossed a line and they’re just testing us a bit.”

His tone was very calm, as if everything was under control, but Lan Jue was sure that Chu Xiang would be dead if he hadn’t arrived just now.

He couldn’t help but expose him. “How would you escape if I wasn’t here?”

“Nothing is absolutely certain in the world. The result this time is that you are here and I got lucky,” Chu Xiang smiled, then shifted his head comfortably and almost fell asleep.

Sure enough, as Chu Xiang said, the assassins were only ‘testing’ them and did not pursue to the end. Three streets later, their tails had disappeared.

Lan Jue, who had grown up in battle, had the habit of carrying basic medicine with him. He simply tossed Chu Xiang onto a random sack in an alley, almost startling the half-asleep man into jumping to his feet, then unceremoniously opened his clothes and sprinkled a handful of medicine. It hurt so much that Chu Xiang shed tears and hissed as he inhaled.

But its blood-clotting effect was also extraordinarily fast.

As Lan Jue pressed on his bloody wound, he said in an unkind tone, “Are whorehouses fun to visit?”

Chu Xiang had the illusion that his superior had grabbed him to make him write reviews because he had problems in his private life, so he subconsciously replied, “I know I was wrong, I won’t go in the future… uh… no, Your Excellency, the brothel has people that you can use.”

“Oh?”

“Tianyan currently contains both rebel parties and killers for hire, but you do not need to consider the former — those people are just taking advantage of the chaos to add oil to the fire, they have no real strategy or plan. They don’t care who’s the monarch, they’re just muddying the waters right now. When your power grows sufficiently in the future, those ‘righteous warriors’ will voluntarily join you.”

“Then you mean for me to recruit hired killers?” Lan Jue raised an eyebrow.

“Is there anyone more suitable for secretly accumulating strength than assassins? They are efficient, precise, and can be found in all walks of life. They not only have command over information networks but also have the ability to act on it. Your Excellency, information is an important resource — if you want to compete for the world, being well-informed is no less important than having a full treasury,” Chu Xiang smiled as he replied. “They have become aware of my existence, so they are now investigating our aim and our identities. This gives us the initiative.”

“What capital do you have to recruit assassins?”

“Your Excellency, not everyone has a choice. Some only become killers to live,” he said confidently. “Unless they’re psychopaths who love to kill, then I would be wrong.”

Lan Jue pressed on Chu Xiang’s wound, and the abrupt pain made Chu Xiang grab his wrist and cry for mercy in a low voice. “Don’t… Excellency, it hurts…”

Seeing that he really was in pain and even had a layer of cold sweat on his brow, Lan Jue felt strangely happy but also couldn’t bear to do it again. “Then what will you do now?” he asked.

“Ow…” Chu Xiang gasped a few times, then said, “I only provide options, only you have the right to choose. If you think it is feasible, then I will maintain contact. This assassination attempt was to test me, if I died so easily then of course I wouldn’t be qualified to meet their leader.” 

Snorting, Lan Jue raised the corner of his mouth into a smirk, clearly meaning that if he wasn’t here then he would be deader than dead. He thought for a moment. “I don’t like assassins, but compared to the nobles who eat enough to fill a ditch every day, they are more acceptable.”

Chu Xiang almost wanted to ask, Do you have anyone you like? However, looking at the man’s hand that was still on his wound, he forcefully swallowed back the urge.

Tsk, feudal monarch! he slandered.

Chu Xiang admitted that this was a symptom of time travel, he once again forgot that he was no longer the captain of Longque.

The light of the stars was already embedded deep in his bones. Chu Xiang smiled bitterly, thinking that he would never be able to dig it out for the rest of his life. If Longque was still here, if he had a powered exoskeleton and an energy gun…

There were no ifs in the world, Chu Xiang held no regrets for what he did in another universe. He only needed to remember that behind him, his family and country were both safe, for it to be enough.

“Let’s go.” Lan Jue picked him up again, carefully avoiding his wound, and walked to the post house.

However, when they arrived, they were surprised to find Commander Bai Jing’an of the Iron-Clad Guards waiting for them with his platoon surrounding the entire post house.

Author:
To be fair, Lan Jue has also achieved things. Out of my stories, Lan Jue is the first gong to save the shou, my other shous are all better at fighting than the gongs… Lan Jue should be proud.

And you don’t need to worry about Chu Xiang’s incompetent martial arts, this is just the beginning, I didn’t give him a golden finger but an invincible golden body!!! It’ll be unlocked bit by bit, and in a sense, he’ll get Longque back. I originally wanted to name this book ‘Longque’, but some of my early readers said that it made it sound like a mahjong player or something… orz So that’s how it got its current title.

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  Previously Your Majesty when referring to Lan Jue with 君上

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Chu Xiang visited the brothels for several days in a row. When the Western Tang spies reported this to their lord, his face was gloomy.

“He’s at a brothel?” Lan Jue himself didn’t realise that his tone threatened danger.

Yang Feng hesitated a moment, then offered, “Could it be that Sir Chu discovered a useful clue in the brothel?”

“That would need him to soak there for more than a few days?”

When Yang Feng glimpsed his lord’s dark expression, he forcibly swallowed what he was going to say.

“He’s using my money to go to a brothel, and even spent a whole pile of taels on a Peony courtesan?” Lan Jue muttered to himself.

Since he couldn’t find the reason for Lan Jue’s anger, Yang Feng tried to think of a way to calm him down for half a day before admitting that he had no idea.

Before the room could become even more depressing, the spy received Yang Feng’s hint and hurriedly changed the subject. “My Lord, a message came from Western Tang — the young lord has been temporarily imprisoned in his own palace but there is no danger to his life, you can rest assured.”

“Mn.”

Lan Jue nodded, he wasn’t very worried about Lan Nian, that child was as sneaky as a ghost. Even if things went badly, he had confidants within the principality who could help him escape if it came to it. He hadn’t had a good life when younger, so his survival ability was first-rate.

“Keep an eye on him. Remember to report who he meets with and what he’s doing.”

The spy paused for a moment before he reacted, realising that his lord was talking about Chu Xiang.

“I really want to go back sooner,” Lan Jue said.

* * *

Ronghua Street was one of Tianyan’s most bustling night market streets, any random person you saw walking there might be a wealthy businessman. Even the carriages of court officials who passed through here showed much less arrogance than usual.

A white carriage emerged at the head of the street, pulled by pure white horses dripping with gold ornaments and looking gorgeous yet solemn. If an ordinary family used white, they would never be able to match with so much brilliant gold and would instead resemble a funerary procession.

It was a carriage from the Observatory which had just departed the star observation deck and travelled along the upper city’s main road to directly enter Ronghua Street.

However, as they passed by, not a few people muttered to each other that they were either doomsayers or quacks — one month ago, there had been a fiery red dawn, and it was the emperor’s favoured astrologers from the Observatory who declared that this was a sign of the descent of Yinghuo, which heralded chaos in the world, and its flames must be extinguished if there was to be peace. As a result, the red uniformed Iron-Clad Guards took to the streets with their sabres and killed anyone who dared to say the words ‘evil star’ on the spot. The people of the city had been in a panic for a long time and business also dropped significantly.

‘It’s better to let the rebels come to kill these charlatans’ — this was what many people thought.

Throughout the dynasties, many emperors would set up institutions such as an Astronomical Bureau or a Star Gazing Pavilion to study the stars, but there had never been an emperor as obsessed with astrology as the current one. He spent all day looking at stars with his concubines and the court astrologers had an unimaginably high status. It was said that he even had to look at the day’s star chart before holding morning court, to see if it was suitable to go out.

Chu Xiang had no desire to meet the Observatory’s carriage, since he still remembered that he was stamped with ‘evil star’ on his head. Ancient metaphysics was different from the 28th century’s superstitious rituals for gacha game luck. Chu Xiang had no contact with it in the past and wasn’t interested in it either, he wasn’t sure if the astrologers really had some way to deduce heaven’s secrets so he was still a little worried that he would be seen through.

It wasn’t a good thing to hang around brothels, plus Chu Xiang didn’t have this hobby ‘in the past’, so it was very hard for him to see Madam Bai Mo. There were so many nobles already pursuing her, Chu Xiang needed to find another way.

Until he accidentally walked to the night market and saw the snow-white carriage.

Killing intent came from all directions.

Just as the horses and carriage passed in front of him, the slate-paved road suddenly exploded as if someone had stepped on a landmine. The horses were instantly covered in wounds, but the carriage itself was somehow unharmed. The Iron-Clad Guards escorting it all drew out their swords as the crowd burst into screams. From within the throng of people, a few black shadows flew out and engaged with the guards.

The assassins, swift and silent, were well trained. They held a bladed tonfa in each hand which had curvatures resembling feathers, so this type of weapon was called ‘feather fangs’ on the market.¹See end of chapter for image example Assassins liked to dip the edges of these feather-like weapons in poison, turning them into venomous serpents coiled in the darkness, ready to strike.

Darkness and chaos were the best protection for assassins, so the lanterns were placed on the ground together and lit to create an area of flickering light.

The Iron-Clad Guards kept the Observatory carriage and astrologers in the center of their protective circle, and as they waved their sabres, it was as if the dark-clothed assassins’ serpentine attacks were hitting a steel wall.

But the stalemate was not to last, because the crowd began to stampede in a panic.

The Guards watched this indifferently. Anyone who was squeezed into the combat area would be caught in their flashing slashes, flesh and blood flew everywhere as their sword flourishes turned crimson red.

Chu Xiang rolled on the ground without any care for his image, so although he was stepped on a few times, he avoided the fate of being turned into mincemeat.

“As expected of the Iron-Clad Guards, you truly are ruthless,” the leader of the assassins sneered.

The leader turned out to be a woman, but the Guards did not waver; they used their bodies as shields as, with a sharp order, the assassins all switched to crossbows and fired at short range. It was impossible for the Guards’ defence to have no gaps. Crossbow bolts slammed into the carriage and the horses, causing them to scream and rear up.

A Guard turned and slashed down, opening a huge gash on the horse’s neck and making blood spray everywhere.

“Murder, murder–!”

“Please spare my life, sir please, I have nothing to do with it!”

A large amount of blood flew through the air, causing more panicked shrieks for mercy. Street stalls were thrown into disorder while people pushed and shoved to escape, but Ronghua Street had been filled with people coming and going — people outside didn’t know what happened inside, which resulted in a huge crowd crush and multiple injuries.

Chu Xiang rolled to the foot of a wall where a flower girl was already huddled. Her lips were split and her flowers were also crushed.

A lantern seller on the street suddenly tossed a lantern up into the air, which then fell straight down onto the carriage. A Guard flew up to intercept, but the instant that his sabre touched it, there was a boom and he became engulfed in fire. He had already turned into a bonfire when he landed again. As he flailed uncontrollably, he spread flames all around him and implicated many people.

The other Guards turned around and one of them quickly dispatched their comrade. Then more lit lanterns were thrown at them, and at the same time, the assassins leapt in.

Light glinted off blades. The assassins neither dodged nor retreated and used their own bodies to greet it. The Iron-Clad Guards were shocked, but could not pull out their sabres from where they were stuck within the assassin’s flesh and bones.

An assassin disguised as a limping old woman flipped over the bloody river towards the carriage with strangely agile movements. Neither his thick makeup nor his silver wig could conceal the fanatical fire in his eyes. He had thick ropes of explosives tied around him, and within half a second of slithering into the carriage, there was a muffled bang.

Carriages belonging to the Observatory were very sturdy and were even soundproof. The sound of the explosion was very small, and the carriage only rocked a little.

The Guards didn’t even turn around, they only focused on cutting the assassins into strings.

–The people inside are fakes, Chu Xiang secretly concluded. From the way the Guards were utterly unfazed, no matter who the assassins had intended to kill, the ones currently inside the carriage could only be stand-ins.

The assassin leader, seeming as if she also realised this, blew a whistle to signal a retreat.

Then Chu Xiang reflexively raised his hand in a block and pain came from his waist. He had successfully grabbed the dagger which the flower girl was clutching, but his physical condition was so weak that it still pierced his flesh.

Chu Xiang quickly scanned the wound — red blood, clean blade. Fortunately, it wasn’t poisoned.

But in the next second he backed away with all his strength, pulling away from the flower girl. The girl, taking off her disguise, pulled out a dagger from within her flower basket with murderous intent in her eyes. She had obviously been targeting him from the start.

Is there no end to this! Chu Xiang complained to himself.

“An assassin slipped through the net!” he shouted.

However, his voice mixed into the existing noise and wasn’t taken seriously by the Guards. He couldn’t just rush over there either, they were killing without distinguishing friend or foe and could even easily kill their own people, he wouldn’t receive any help from them.

So Chu Xiang ran away without another word.

He used one hand to keep pressure on his wound, and the other to desperately push obstacles into his path behind him. The street was full of panicked people, he would definitely die if he ran there, so Chu Xiang instead plunged into a small alleyway.

This was far from the first time Chu Xiang had been hunted down. The fleet referred to this kind of decapitation operation against captains as ‘a self-guided escape & kill group tour’ — no captain was weak, their solo combat abilities even exceeded that of the average special forces soldier. Any mothership captain was a trump card on the battlefield, the best among them could turn the tide with a single person alone.

As the captain of Longque, he had been dispatched on covert missions as well. Once, when they captured the relay station of a smuggling group, he infiltrated alone and killed their leader within the command tower. Chu Xiang didn’t like to use thermal weapons and always used an energy sword when carrying out assassinations. Although his AI complained to him countless times that he looked like ‘one of those people running around with glowing tubes from the old Star Wars movies’, the close combat model energy sword designated as Silver Empress III was indeed his sidearm as someone with the rank of captain.

Chu Xiang subconsciously reached backwards as he sprinted, and of course he touched only air.

At the next intersection he chose a path at random, only to come to a dead end within a few dozen metres. The female assassin chasing him pounced. Chu Xiang captured the right moment to dodge, once again rolling awkwardly, before turning and continuing his escape.

It would be great if I had an AI, he couldn’t help but think. Longque’s central AI would be able to scan the entire district’s terrain and show him the most suitable route to take, and there would be absolutely no chance for him to run into a dead end.

But at this moment, Chu Xiang could only rely on his pathetic body to avoid the elite assassin behind him.

This wasn’t the Grand Princess’ assassin, he concluded firmly, because her assassins didn’t have this level of skill.

The blade swiped at his back several times and cut his sleeve open.

Author:
Lan Jue: This lord needs a little black room, the allusion of a golden canary isn’t bad.
Chu Xiang: No! I can still fight!

Translator:

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  See end of chapter for image example

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Lan Jue lifted his chin slightly. “You’re so confident?”

“Regardless of whether I am or not, you are still the lord of a principality, your foundation will not be shaken with just this kind of gossip,” Chu Xiang replied. “What we need to worry about is the purpose of this incident. Was it a coincidence or will there be a follow-up?”

“Then what if they smear the lord? If they get false evidence–”

“Since it’s false, we have ways to prove the truth,” he said. There was a smile in his eyes like a spring breeze blowing through willows, as if he was only talking about a casual outing.

Before Yang Feng could say anything, Lan Jue had already raised a hand to stop him and, turning to Chu Xiang, he asked with a curious smile, “What solution do you have?”

“Your Majesty need only leave it to me,” Chu Xiang grinned.

* * *

Chu Xiang wasn’t in a hurry after this conversation. He had always dared to think wildly — even if he only had a guess, he could still grasp it keenly. With the addition of the slow pace of life in this era, he really didn’t feel rushed.

Now there were two possibilities: first, that this matter was targeting Lan Jue, as a result of Eastern Tang people making trouble; and second, that the assassin was just bad at cleaning up and the disaster only coincidentally fell on Lan Jue’s head.

As for whether Lan Jue trusted him, Chu Xiang didn’t care too much. Lan Jue hadn’t yet handed over his hidden manpower to him, showing that he was leaving room to protect himself. Gaining the trust of his future monarch was a non-issue to Chu Xiang — as time went by and enough days passed, sincerity would naturally show itself.

He and Chu Hexing had been here for just a few days and the little girl had already put on weight. Although Lan Jue was ridiculed as a backwater lord, none of the people in the post house dared to neglect him; even a lowly maid like Chu Hexing received treatment far better than an ordinary person would have. She now wore a pink dress, had her hair in twin buns, and used freshly bloomed flowers as accessories.

Chu Xiang rubbed her head. “From now on you should pay attention to your words and deeds, don’t always curse, you should also be friendlier with others, and stop acting like you want to fight people all the time…” Remembering what Yang Feng told him about what happened the previous evening, he warned her, “Like that commander of the Iron-Clad Guards, you might not be able to beat him even if you did your best. At times like that you have to understand a truth, which is that you must be able to bend and stretch, you can’t always go tit-for-tat.”

Chu Hexing bared her little white teeth in a grin. “Okay gege, I know.”

“Also, you can’t be so casual with Lord Lan,” he said seriously.

“Oh…” Chu Hexing felt aggrieved.

Feeling himself softening, Chu Xiang resumed rubbing her head. “Because he is someone deserving of respect.”

“Don’t be tricked!” Chu Hexing stubbornly warned him. “A lot of nobles say one thing but do another! I think that lord treats gege really weirdly!”

“Does he?” Chu Xiang chuckled. He had done nothing of note in this world — apart from composing or reciting poems, he only listened to some gossip about nobles. The Lord of Western Tang was infamous in aristocratic circles. Despite being a small territory, its leader had ample military achievements, so Chu Xiang felt that he had an adequate grasp on Lan Jue’s character.

The most famous event must be the Battle of Shaqiu Pass eight years prior. At the time, foreign tribes were restless and invaded Dongzhou, and smoke rose all over the border regions. If the outlanders could not be repelled, everything would collapse like a thousand-mile embankment and their civilization would lose much of its foundation. However the central government was unable to dispatch troops to suppress the invasion and had to ask the lords of its vassal states to do so instead. Of them, the first to reach the front lines was unexpectedly the Western Tang Army, who had rushed all the way from far away Jinzhou.

The young lord then became famous in a single battle. From then on, although the capital’s nobles all said he wasn’t one of them, or wasn’t educated enough, none of them dared to truly offend him.

He chatted with Chu Hexing for a while longer before asking the key question. “Little Xing, can you tell your brother about your parents, and why they sold you to a brothel?”

* * *

The imperial capital Tianyan was the most enchanting flower in the land. She bloomed atop blood and bones and her roots reached the deepest abyss; this place was the pinnacle of power and the eye of the storm in troubled times. Even as the vassal states ripped each other apart around her, those within Tianyan could still sing and dance to their heart’s content.

Every spring, what the capital’s nobles talked about the most was the selection of the Peony. In the major dancehalls and brothels, they would use flowers to vote for the most beautiful person of that spring — it wasn’t necessarily a woman, sometimes a brothel’s catamite was far more beautiful than any noble young miss.

Tianyan’s most famous brothel was Jingshan Court, but this year’s Peony was from Chunjiang Pavilion instead. On a flower-lined platform high above, a handsome beauty in men’s clothing was playing a guqin. The music drifted through the air, high yet clear, towards the dignitaries and scholars in the audience who were listening intently, but who knew if they could hear its real meaning.

“The woman on the stage is this year’s Peony, she’s called Bai Mo. The lady who went to my house to buy me said she was Mo-niang’s maid, and that it was Mo-niang who took a fancy to me,” Chu Hexing said quietly as she pulled Chu Xiang to mix into the outer edges of the crowd.

It was popular for women to crossdress as male this year, which had begun with this Madam Bai Mo. This fashion trend had even spread to the aristocratic circles, causing many young ladies to wear men’s clothing, but no matter how they tossed about, none of them could compare to a prostitute.

Chu Xiang nodded, then asked Chu Hexing to go back to the post house.

“Gege, why can’t I go! I have to go with you, what if you meet another bad person?”

Chu Xiang, laughing in surprise, looked at the girl who only came up to his chest. “Even if I do meet a bad person, you’re so tiny, how can you help?”

“Why can’t I, if it’s a fight I definitely can do it!” she retorted indignantly.

“Then can you help me protect Lord Lan?” Chu Xiang asked. “People want to hurt him, not me. The ones after me didn’t succeed, so they won’t do anything for now. Plus, I’m his person now, so killing me is to openly offend him. If you protect him well, it’s the same as protecting me.”

This explanation was half true and half false but Chu Hexing had no way of determining this, so she nodded obediently. “Okay, I won’t leave him for half a step!”

Sorry, Lan Jue! Chu Xiang said silently.

Visiting brothels. In the past, many of Chu Xiang’s colleagues had loved transmigration stories, and they had once discussed that if they did transmigrate, the one place they had to go to was the brothel!

At the time, Chu Xiang had even mocked them: “You’re all people who graduated from Starfleet Academy’s modern philosophy class, can you have some dignity!”

Now he was the one going to a brothel.

Chunjiang Pavilion was built on the banks of a river. Its many gazebos which seemed to float on the water and were connected by bridges had no walls and were instead surrounded by sheer curtains. A graceful beauty sat behind each curtain, each doing a variety of activities — playing guqin, playing weiqi, reading, painting, and more. Chu Xiang felt that if they were comparing cultural literacy, these talents from the brothel would be far superior to Lord Lan, and if they disregarded four-dimensional space-time battle tactics, they would also be superior to him.

It was a pity that they were born at the wrong time.

If it were during the interstellar era, they could pull out any random one and, with their many versatile skills, it would be more surprising if they didn’t become an inheritor of China’s intangible cultural heritage, or at least become a celebrity popular throughout half the universe. However, in these dark years, they could only be someone else’s plaything and let destiny take its course.

Chu Xiang sighed, then casually tossed a pouch of money over and randomly selected a lady.

The brothel’s madam, seeing that he was both handsome and generous, immediately winked wildly and let a Peony-level courtesan attend him instead of the low-class lady he chose.

Lower class courtesans could rarely receive any good guests, they were either people who suddenly came into a windfall of money or someone with strange habits. Not everyone could see a real Peony — often, chasing a Peony was even harder than chasing a noble young miss, involving both gifts and comparing skills with competitors. Madam Mo herself only played guqin for guests in return for their money and never exchanged a word.

“Who did Madam Mo receive tonight?” Chu Xiang couldn’t help but ask.

The girl attending him was slightly disappointed, but still smiled sweetly. “Madam doesn’t have a guest tonight, she’s performing every day this week. Young Master, this slave isn’t bad either, I won’t disappoint you. If you only look at Madam Mo, I’m going to be jealous.”

“Okay okay okay,” Chu Xiang said, picking up his wine cup, “then I’ll leave it to you.”

Chu Xiang, who had sneaked into a brothel, acted like a philanderer and wasn’t shy at all. He even hugged the Peony as he drank wine, and was hardly the type to raise suspicion here — after all, for someone from the culture of the 28th century, this level of physical contact was nothing. During several battles that Chu Xiang had experienced, time was very limited. Every chance to shower was truly a race against time, there was no time at all to distinguish between genders. He had even helped Team Leader Shao Yun clean her mechanical spine without feeling an ounce of anything untoward.

It was a pity that the courtesan didn’t think so. In the space of just a few sentences, this handsome young man had already touched her heartstrings. Although he gently turned her down when she wanted to take him into her inner chambers, he was extremely generous with his money. The beauty was just regretful that they couldn’t have a spring night together.

He’s still thinking about Madam Mo. The rejected courtesan gritted her teeth resentfully.

Chu Xiang hadn’t drank alcohol for a long time, so the reason for his hasty departure was… he miscalculated his alcohol tolerance. The Starfleet prohibited the consumption of alcohol, even if someone wanted to drink, they couldn’t do it openly. As a result, he was so tipsy that the corners of his eyes were tinged red and he even winked at Yang Feng when he opened the post house’s door for him.

He raised a finger to his lips. “Shh, don’t tell His Majesty… the girl who I was drinking with today really isn’t as pretty as him.”

Yang Feng petrified, because behind Chu Xiang, Lan Jue had his arms crossed, eyebrows raised, and thoughts inscrutable.

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The door locked with a bang, leaving the three teenagers to fend for themselves.

After a while, Lan Nian climbed down from the table, while his two playmates slumped to the ground and sighed deeply.

“What should we do, Young Lord?”

“Cui Wei, Bai Lihong, don’t worry, my lord father will come back,” Lan Nian said calmly.

“But what if we starve to death…” Cui Wei began, visibly worried.

Bai Lihong raised his arms. “Young Lord, I’m fatter than Cui Wei, if that happens you can eat me!”

“Go to hell,” Lan Nian scolded, “Am I a beast? I’ll beat you until you see your fish grandma!”

But Bai Lihong wasn’t to be outdone. “It’s better than starving!”

Lan Nian snorted, and as his lips curled into a smile, he went up to a large vase which he smashed open, revealing a big pile of dried meats and wine jugs. Standing in front of the mountain of meat, he propped his hands on his waist and said proudly, “Look! You’ve never been hungry before, so you don’t know how to save food.”

“Wow, you’re doing it again Young Lord, you’re really not afraid that the lord will beat you up?”

“Just let him, it’s not as if he hasn’t done it before. Besides, if it weren’t for me preparing for a rainy day, we might really have had to eat Bai Lihong!” Lan Nian didn’t care, he threw a piece of dried meat over. “I just don’t know what kind of wife he can find at the capital with a personality like that.”

“He’ll find a good lady to clean out your dirty mouth!”

“Shit, you make it sound like you don’t swear! And would a good lady even like my father? He swears too, where do you think I learned it from.” Lan Nian stared out. “I think he’ll definitely bring back another feral kid, I’ll bet a month’s pocket money on it.”

“Why do I feel like Young Lord has already won…”

* * *

Tianyan’s evenings were always lively, especially due to the many spring banquets being held, but tonight was unusually ‘lively’.

“Murder, murder–!”

The night was pierced by a shrill scream. Iron-Clad Guards, not people to move less loudly just because it was late at night, galloped through the streets with sharp blades at their hips as the clatter of horse hooves thundered throughout the capital. Chief Justice Zhang Fengyu had been found dead in his study, bleeding from all seven orifices¹Both eyes, both ears, the nostrils, the mouth — his wife’s miserable howl had woken up practically half the city.

Cases involving an intersection between assassins and government employees were all handed over to the emperor’s personal Iron-Clad Guards. This group were uniformly dressed in dark red robes, which made them look very ominous, as if they were covered in dried blood. They added another layer of chill to the moonless, windy night.

The Iron-Clad Guards moved out. This wouldn’t be a small case — Zhang Fengyu was the Chief Justice and one of his daughters was part of the imperial harem, so he could be said to be somewhat related to the emperor. A strict curfew was imposed on the entire neighbourhood while the Guards’ Commander, Bai Jing’an, led a team to the crime scene.

A banquet had been held at Chief Justice Zhang’s home that night and many nobles were present as guests, all of whom had been requested by the Guards to remain in the main hall. None of then dared to speak against Bai Jing’an when the resolute commander interrogated them.

“When was Sir Zhang’s body found?” he asked a female attendant.

She trembled and stuttered as she replied, “It was after all the lords arrived, when the feast was about to start. The master still hadn’t come out so someone was sent to call him, but as a result they found that he had been killed.”

“Did anything unusual happen tonight?” Bai Jing’an continued to ask.

“No… Nothing unusual,” she answered obediently.

“Who else is in the manor?”

“Except for… Except for the guests, there’s only the cooks from Zuixian Plaza, and… oh, and the dancers from Jingshan Court.”

Jingshan Court was the most famous brothel in the capital, their dancers possessed many special skills and appeared often at banquets hosted by nobles. It wasn’t surprising that Chief Justice Zhang invited their dancers to his banquet.

“Where are Jingshan Court’s dancers now?”

The shivering women were huddled together in a corner of the hall. Their bright makeup couldn’t hide their terror; some cried quietly, while others trembled against the wall.

Once there was an assassination attempt, the first suspects would naturally be these dancers with unclear backgrounds, because any assassin would be likelier to hide among them than among the nobles. Moreover, the Iron-Clad Guards of the capital had a bloody reputation — they would rather kill innocents than let the guilty escape.

When Bai Jing’an pulled out his sabre, the dancers exclaimed in surprise then covered each other’s mouths.

“Perhaps, among you, there is a murderer,” he growled in a low voice, as if something in his chest was rumbling, “your mission is over, I hope you can come forward yourself. There is no need to bring your innocent sisters to death with you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, all the dancers burst into tears.

“If no one comes forward, I can only let everyone stay behind,” he said.

A guard reported to him: “Sir, the cooks and all the other servants have been checked. All the kitchen’s cooks have alibis, none of them came into contact with Chief Justice Zhang.”

“What does the coroner say?”

“He was beaten to death, which caused bleeding from the orifices. We’d initially thought he had been poisoned, but when the coroner got here he immediately knew that he died due to trauma. What’s strange is that the coroner said that according to the evidence, the assailant punched him to death.”

“Punched to death,” Bai Jing’an repeated, then glanced at the slender dancers and slowly frowned.

“And the murderer’s fists weren’t small either, it should be a man and quite a strong one at that.”

Bai Jing’an’s frown deepened even more as the dancers let out a relieved breath. They were squeezed together and crying in fear, but indeed, none of them had a pair of big iron fists.

“Ordinary assassins don’t do this. Maybe it wasn’t an assassination, but a crime of passion?” the guard wondered.

Another guard brought the coroner’s detailed report. “Sir, traces of a fight were found at the scene. The assailant shouldn’t be an assassin, it looks like they had an argument before coming to blows, so it should be because of a dispute.”

At this time, one of the dancers couldn’t help but sob, “Everyone saw what happened at the Spring Banquet at Linghe Pool, the only people who had conflicts with Sir Zhang recently are… are…”

Lord of Western Tang, Lan Jue.

“The Lord of Western Tang didn’t attend this banquet,” a servant said quietly.

“If he beat someone to death of course he has to run, otherwise wouldn’t staying be irrefutable evidence!”

“The Lord of Western Tang does have the ability to beat Chief Justice Zhang to death with his bare hands, but do you think a lord of a principality would beat someone to death like a street gangster?” Bai Jing’an interjected.

“…That’s the Lord of Western Tang, it’s hard to say…” someone in the crowd muttered.

* * *

Bai Jing’an brought his men to the post house and knocked for a long time, long enough for the night dew to add a layer of dampness to his deep red uniform. Finally, the door opened a small crack.

A girl… no, half a girl appeared from behind the door.

“What’re you knocking in the middle of the night for?” Chu Hexing asked, very rudely.

The Guards were stunned, never having expected to meet such a girl — was this one of the Lord of Western Tang’s maids? Someone so disrespectful?

Bai Jing’an raised the token of the Iron-Clad Guards in his hands. “Tianyan’s Iron-Clad Guards, asking to see the Lord of Western Tang.”

“Asleep!” Chu Hexing snarled.

Bai Jing’an’s sabre was unsheathed in an instant. Fortunately, Yang Feng rushed out, dragged Chu Hexing backwards, and asked, “It’s very late, I wonder what is the reason for your visit?”

“Murder case,” was the reply.

* * *

The Iron-Clad could not so easily touch the lord of a principality, even if Lan Jue was covered in suspicion and circumstantial evidence they could not interrogate him. They could run rampant in the capital, but the authority to deal with lords of principalities still rested solely with the half-useless emperor.

Iron-Clad Guards were stationed outside the post house and temporarily placed Lan Jue and his servant under house arrest in their courtyard residence. Chu Xiang and Chu Hexing weren’t restricted because they weren’t on the initial registration list, and Lan Jue was the lord of a principality after all, so Bai Jing’an didn’t strictly enforce their movements.

Yang Feng was so frustrated that he went to Chu Xiang privately — not to strategise, it was purely to complain. Yang Feng was Lan Jue’s personal attendant, which in Chu Xiang’s eyes was similar to an aide-de-camp; that was, he carried bags, ran errands, passed on orders, and might block a few knives at critical moments, but had no redeeming features in terms of discussing tactics or strategy.

Now that he came to vent, Chu Xiang had the opportunity to ask something he couldn’t find out from Lan Jue. “Sir Yang, may I ask, what exactly was the dispute between His Majesty and Chief Justice Zhang that Commander Bai mentioned?”

“The Lord intended to ask for the hand of the youngest Zhang daughter in marriage, but Old Man Zhang adamantly refused,” Yang Feng answered frankly.

…Chu Xiang couldn’t help clicking his tongue.

At this moment, Lan Jue coincidentally emerged from the back room and explained, “Because Old Zhang has a couple important business routes in his hands and special channels for purchasing grain and grass. My principality has been suffering from famine for many years, I have no other choice.”

“However, this trip was unsuccessful,” Chu Xiang said as he bowed in salute.

“Yes.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiang frowned. “But you are only one person. Even if it did succeed, if there came another famine in the future, how many marriages can you have?”

Lan Jue was silent for a moment, then, “It was originally a last resort. Since it is so, then it doesn’t matter if it fails.”

“If you want enough food and clothing, it must start from yourself. Your Majesty, in the future… please don’t consider marriage so easily again,” Chu Xiang said.

Marriage was a favoured strategy in ancient times, but Chu Xiang didn’t take it seriously at all. In another world where he had studied thousands of years of history, not a single marriage had solved the fundamental issue. Binding a country’s fate to the life of a single woman was truly barbaric.

But after saying that, Chu Xiang belatedly realised that he seemed to have ‘overstepped’ a little. Just as he wanted to say something to rectify it, Lan Jue unexpectedly nodded. “You’re right.”

Chu Xiang: “…What’s more important now is to take care of the matter of you being framed.”

“Yes, who’s the one framing our lord!” Yang Feng said angrily.

“It’s not important who it is,” Chu Xiang said, “it’s the same no matter who. We just need to solve it, right?”

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• 1
  Both eyes, both ears, the nostrils, the mouth

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Yang Feng did his best to suppress his furious blush while Lan Jue, noticing this and glaring at his uselessness, directly kicked him out.

Chu Xiang smiled gently at him, as if he was saying something exceptionally tender. “Just think of this as my meeting gift for Your Majesty to show my sincerity, alright?”

Turning back to look at Chu Xiang, his eyes seemed to conceal roiling lava but his voice was as steady as before when he asked, “How do you plan to take it back?”

“Your Majesty’s absence is an opportunity for the Lord of Eastern Tang, but it may not be a certain disaster for us either.”

Fortune and misfortune depended on each other, opportunities coexisted with crises. The principality’s lord wasn’t in his territory and so could not control its foundation, but at the same time, they could do many things from the outside. Even if the nobles of the capital looked down on the Lord of Western Tang, he was still a legitimated vassal king, not some powerless commoner.

Lan Jue: “Why?”

“There are two ways. First, if we can make the Grand Princess or even the emperor himself personally order the land returned — in this way, we can continue to keep a low profile and slowly build our strength, but we all know that this is too hard. There is no reason to cut off the Lord of Eastern Tang, he has made no mistakes. The current lord, Jing Ronghan, is a confidant of the emperor, who wasn’t reprimanded even though he claimed sickness and didn’t come to the capital when summoned. It is unlikely for this plan to succeed.”

“Then the second plan?” Lan Jue asked, nodding.

The young man who sat on the daybed revealed a soft smile, yet what he said was: “The second plan is much simpler, just kill the Lord of Eastern Tang.”

‘Kill’, he said this so dispassionately that even Lan Jue was surprised at the chill rushing through his body. Other than that, however, there was no sense of blood when he said it, as if it was just another common method.

“Western Tang and Eastern Tang were originally one — if the Lord of Eastern Tang dies, even if the emperor wants to appoint a new lord, they could never be as fast as our Western Tang taking over. By that time, the central government’s grasp on the vassal states will weaken, such that even if we expose our ambitions, there are so many other territories also rising up that it won’t matter if we add one more,” Chu Xiang explained slowly. “It must be said that human lives aren’t precious here, it won’t take much for the aristocrats to also become fish on the chopping board. Or–”

Chu Xiang was thinking of a specific action plan; even without a chip in his brain linking him to an AI, his mind still turned quickly. However, Lan Jue suddenly gestured for him to stop.

“There’s no rush,” he interjected, “change your dressings first.”

“Huh?”

The two fingers resting on his neck were many times softer than the blade tip from that night.

Chu Hexing, who had been dozing off, was the first to jump up. “Oh yes, gege, how did you get it? It looks like a knife was stuck there, did you meet assassins again?”

Glancing lightly at Lan Jue, Chu Xiang answered vaguely, “You can say that.”

This made her as angry as a pufferfish. She gritted her teeth. “That blind bastard, if I find them I’ll rip out their intestines and tie it around their neck at least ten times–”

Chu Xiang almost laughed out loud at the sight of Lan Jue, standing behind Chu Hexing’s back, touching his abdomen then touching his neck.

However, the captain, who had excellent acting skills, recovered in time and slapped Chu Hexing’s head lightly. “No swearing.”

“Oh…” The girl scratched her head with a bright red face. “I’m used to arguing with people, in the future… I won’t in the future…”

Lan Jue, sitting nearby as he watched Chu Hexing change Chu Xiang’s bandages, asked, “How old are you this year?”

“I’m fourteen!” she answered.

“The same as my son,” he nodded, “you’ll be friends.”

At this, Chu Xiang interjected, “How can my sister and the young lord… ow…”

Lan Jue snorted and said nothing, but the air pressure around him instantly increased.

“Okay, I’ll definitely go easy on him and not fight!” Chu Hexing said enthusiastically, not noticing a thing.

Lan Jue kept his smile toward the girl. “You might not be able to beat him. That boy grew up herding horses on the grasslands — his mother was a slave in charge of training horses when she was young, and after her husband died, she joined the army using his name to earn money in order to support her son. Even I may not be able to win against her, and she was the one who taught her son how to fight.”

“Wow, that’s amazing!”

Chu Xiang silently supported his forehead — why was his little sister so violent? He hoped she wouldn’t become a fighting maniac like Han Yi in the future.

“Forget it, I’ll do it.” Looking at Chu Xiang’s neck which had been wrapped into a dumpling, Lan Jue straightforwardly grabbed the bandages from Chu Hexing’s hands.

Chu Xiang rushed to stand. “How can I bother Your Majesty with this? I–”

“Shut up,” Lan Jue ordered coldly. “Don’t move.”

“…Yes sir.”

He undid the wrappings which Chu Hexing had made a mess of and exchanged them for new ones, in addition to carefully smearing the wound with medicinal ointment. Although this place couldn’t compare to the 28th century, it had a history vastly different from what Chu Xiang learned at the Academy; for example, the medical treatments available in this world were quite advanced. This ointment was said to have some strange purifying effects and possibly included the juices of a magical plant, it made Chu Xiang very comfortable after applying it.

He even narrowed his eyes and lifted his chin, so Lan Jue inexplicably… felt like he was teasing a white cat, only to once again recall the memory of this person holding him and calling him beautiful.  He had perfect etiquette, Lan Jue thought, but beneath the surface, he could tell at a glance that this man wasn’t as respectful of power as he presented himself.

He suddenly felt a little irritated, Lan Jue disliked hypocritically refined young masters like this.

His hands subconsciously increased their strength, causing Chu Xiang to grunt lightly, unsure why Lan Jue suddenly became angry.

Lan Jue cleared his throat. “Fortunately, the wound isn’t infected. You only need two more days of medicine before it’s cured.”

He also ordered Yang Feng, who was standing outside the door, to invite a physician to check it regularly.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Xiang said, “Your Majesty, you should be careful of assassins for the next few days, since the Lord of Eastern Tang may hire people to kill you. Nowadays, the world is in chaos and assassins run rampant in the capital. We cannot ignore it.”

“Mn,” Lan Jue nodded.

* * *

Licheng, the capital of Western Tang, in Jinzhou.

When Tang was split into two, the flat, fertile plains were divided into Eastern Tang, and today it was still a land of plenty where canals flowed through lantern-lit towns; whereas Western Tang, separated from Eastern Tang by a single river, had undulating mountains and rugged terrain interspersed with lush forests. In addition, its western border was adjacent to a vast steppe from which foreign tribes often invaded.

Licheng was located in a wooded area and trees shaded the interior densely, so people also called it the Leafy City.

The city had been Western Tang’s capital for less than ten years and their lord was only 24 years old, both principality and lord were young. Their foundations weren’t solid at all. In addition, the lord’s heir, Lan Nian, was only an adopted son.

The teen stood on a table in the main hall with his robe tucked into his belt, wielding two daggers in his hands as he confronted the guards. His teeth were bared, revealing his canines, and the corners of his mouth were stained with blood which didn’t belong to him. Not far away was a guardsman clutching at his neck and gasping for breath as blood flowed from between his fingers. The boy was like a little wolf cub from the steppes who had grown up eating lambs.

In the center of the hall was a nobleman of around forty years old stroking his beard as he said to the people around him, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, this wildling was brought by the old woman my nephew married, he’s not part of our Lan family at all.”

The person next to him was dressed like a scribe. “The Lan family was once revered before the incident, and although now cannot compare to then, at least the roots are still there. It is unthinkable for someone so uncultured to be part of the Lan family, it’s nonsensical for the Lord of Western Tang to appoint him as the heir,” he said, waving a folding fan.

“Very true. Back then he was only fourteen but he married a woman over twelve years older than him, the woman even had a child only ten years younger than him, isn’t this just messing around! Thank goodness that the woman died not long afterwards.”

Up on the table, Lan Nian’s sneer was the spitting image of his father’s. His voice was quite hoarse since it was in the process of changing, so he sounded like a wild beast as he roared, “Lan Jing, you’re so stupid, will Eastern Tang really let you be Lord of Western Tang after killing my father and I? And give you a pile of money? Has your brain been flooded for you to believe it?!”

“You mutt, I’m your uncle, has your father not taught you respect?”

“Respect is for humans, my father said before, just a sword is enough for animals!” Lan Nian said loudly.

The scribe from Eastern Tang clicked his tongue and the nominal royal uncle suddenly felt he couldn’t show his face.

“Come!” Lan Jing thundered, “Take him down for me!”

The guards advanced.

“Let’s see who dares!” Lan Nian shouted in response, “I am the Young Lord of Western Tang, the only son of Lord Lan Jue. If anyone dares to touch me, when he returns, the lord will wipe out your whole family!”

The soldiers froze — Royal Uncle Lan Jing was after all just the Royal Uncle, the lord of the principality wasn’t present. Lan Jing had mobilised private soldiers to surround the young lord’s residence in the name of ‘helping the lord clean up his dirty bloodline’ but who knew if the lord would endure this? The confidants who knew the inside story weren’t at ease either, everyone in the territory knew of Lan Jue’s feats on the battlefield. Could Lan Jing’s troops really stop the lord?

“Stop daydreaming, attack!”

“Just try it!” Lan Nian shouted again.

Lan Jing couldn’t move Tang’s army, he could only control his own private soldiers. Despite there being several hundred men present, in the end they weren’t professional soldiers, so he could only grit his teeth and watch as Lan Nian successfully bluffed them into a retreat.

“I’ll do it!” He grabbed a sword and wanted to charge, but Lan Nian waved his dagger and his two companions also bared their teeth, looking as if they would bite him to death as soon as he got close enough.

“Master, no…” Lan Jing’s followers hurriedly grabbed hold of him, saying, “What if the lord comes back…”

“Trash!” Lan Jing was furious, but the guards around him all looked so timid that he was also affected, so he had no choice but to snarl viciously, “You watch these three brats carefully!”

Author:
In order to deal with Chu Xiang’s little sister buff, Lan Jue digs out his son as an assistant.

Lan Nian vs. Chu Hexing, round one, Lan Nian is imprisoned, Chu Hexing is third wheeling. Chu Hexing wins!

Lan Jue: What’s the use of having a son (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Lan Nian: Believe it or not, I’ll defect to the enemy camp! You widower!

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Chu Xiang’s fever subsided by the next day, though he still felt a little groggy when he opened his eyes. Crisp sunshine filtered through the window, still chilled from last night’s rain. Thankfully his neck didn’t hurt much. It’s good that there’s no morning training or patrols in ancient times, he thought as he huddled under the quilt and refused to get up.

He seemed to have had a… very, very long dream last night. In the dream, there were the stars, his comrades, his AI who always bickered with him… and what else? He couldn’t remember much of it. Rubbing his painful temples, he decided to not think about it.

As soon as he moved, a sound came from the doorway where Chu Hexing was peeking in. She let out an ah, then quickly brought in a basin of water.

“Gege, I’ve brought you water for washing your face!”

“Little Xing…” Chu Xiang began, his voice still a little hoarse, “Why did you get up so early?”

“Oh, just wash your face quickly, I’ve made breakfast for you, my congee is really tasty you know. Even Lord Lan drank a bowl just now, if it weren’t for him helping feed you medicine last night, I wouldn’t have let him!” she said.

“Wait…” Chu Xiang held his forehead again, Lan Jue fed him medicine? Lan Jue was a lord from ancient history, could it be so easy to increase his favorability? It must be a bug! Oh, actually it wasn’t completely unreasonable — Lan Jue did grow up in the border regions instead of in a nobleman’s manor with strict etiquette, he might have even rolled around with little beggars as a boy.

But, Chu Xiang thought with a headache, I didn’t say weird things while I had the fever, right? If he had spewed out 28th century combat jargon, they might think he was crazy, or more likely, they would think he had been possessed and tie him up then throw him into a river to see if he would float.

“Don’t tell me you stayed up all night!” Chu Xiang exclaimed, surprised at the clothes Chu Hexing wore.

Chu Hexing shook her head. “I napped at the door several times.”

“How can you sleep outside my door!”

She blinked and said, matter-of-factly, “Gege is sick, of course I need to look after you!”

“You…” Shaking his head, Chu Xiang couldn’t resist pinching her face a few times. “Don’t do this. I’m several times your age, I don’t need a child looking after me.”

With both his lifetimes put together, he could easily be mocked as an old man, but it wasn’t false either. Even if human lifespans were greatly extended in the 28th century, he had already flown through the stars for over two decades.

“Gege, if you don’t let me do anything, then won’t I turn into a little piggy!” Chu Hexing pouted. “Since you won’t let me be your bed servant, I can at least take care of your daily chores!”

“No,” he stated, extremely seriously. Although it would be a long journey to reverse a feudal girl’s thinking, it was absolutely impossible for him to treat a young child as a maid. “If you want to do something, I can teach you how to read and write, or how to do arithmetic.”

“Huh? But girls shouldn’t learn that, otherwise no one will want them in the future,” Chu Hexing said doubtfully.

“Nonsense.” Chu Xiang tapped her head, whoever dared to say that in front of Spec Ops Team Leader Shao Yun would definitely experience the pleasure of being torn to pieces. He couldn’t help showing a warm smile at the thought of his comrades, stunning Chu Hexing.

After thinking for a while, he said gently, “Little Xing, no one can choose their birth circumstances, but we can choose what we do with our lives, not just follow what others want. Where I come from, everyone has the chance to grow up safe and happy, and everyone can choose who they want to be. You can choose the gardens or the starry sky, girls can also choose to step onto the battlefield. I know that right now, here, many people have told you that you can’t do this, can’t do that… but they’re wrong. I don’t want this world to always be like this, and it certainly won’t always be like this.”

At the girl’s bewildered expression, he deliberately teased her. “Otherwise, what am I here for?”

Chu Hexing was stunned — it was the first time she had ever heard such shocking words — but she quickly had her own understanding of it. “Really, you’re telling the truth? Um… that’s right, since you’ve descended to earth, how can you still be a Xingjun if you don’t change something! Yeah, there are lady Xingjun in the sky as well, right?!”

…Feudal superstition was still useful once in a while. Chu Xiang thought that Captain Shao Yun probably wouldn’t mind being called that, she was dramatic enough for it.

So he nodded, “Of course.”

“Wow!” Chu Hexing was very excited.

“So do you believe me or not?” he asked her, smiling.

“I do!” Chu Hexing bounced on the spot. “Gege is right, so if I learn to read, I can also help with gege’s things, right? Then I can teach more children to read, and after that writing poems won’t just be something for nobles, right?”

Another voice cut in from outside the door. “You do need to learn your words. And if you want to learn archery or how to ride horses, I can arrange a tutor.”

Lan Jue strode through the doorway, causing Chu Hexing to jump nervously. She knew that this was the monarch her brother now followed, he had a prestigious position and she should kneel, but she had always felt petty towards nobles so she stood still with her mouth pouted. Who knew that Lan Jue would vigorously rub her hair, making her face flare into a blush.

Chu Xiang hurriedly moved to stand, but Lan Jue easily pushed him back down.

The image of this man with crimson cheeks and hazy eyes flashed in his mind, so he was somewhat cold when he said, “Lie down, don’t croak before getting my things done.”

…Your Majesty, can we say something more auspicious? Chu Xiang smiled bitterly. “Yes, thanking Your Majesty for your concern.” He carefully examined Lan Jue and found nothing unusual in his face.

However, his little move did not escape Lan Jue’s eyes. This person was confused by the fever yesterday and likely did not remember what he did, he was only worried… Lan Jue looked at the young master who had regained his dignified appearance and inexplicably thought of when he said ‘beautiful’ in that delicate tone, it was just… exactly as frivolous as a prodigal son, yet people could hardly refuse him.

“I’ll make sure my brother eats his medicine on time!” Chu Hexing piped up.

Lan Jue chuckled, and as he did so a small dimple appeared at the corner of his mouth, making him look rather cute and entirely incompatible with his identity as the lord of a principality. Chu Hexing’s feelings towards him instantly reversed.

“You’re too skinny, practising martial arts can strengthen your physique,” he said to her.

Maybe it was because Lan Jue was being so amiable that Chu Hexing lost any grudge she had against him due to his noble status within the span of a few sentences. Now her eyes lit up as she excitedly asked, “Can my brother also do it?”

Lan Jue gave Chu Xiang a sideways glance. “Too old.”

Moreover, people typically became weaker when they were drunk. All his subordinates could knock down a few walls if they drank too much, but this person could only hug his quilt…

Chu Xiang: “…His Majesty is right… But Your Majesty, you don’t seem to mind girls learning martial skills?”

“Why can’t they?” Lan Jue asked rhetorically. “Ten years ago when I was fourteen, my lord father wanted to see a successor before he died, so I chose a consort from the people closest to me. She had once been an officer of my vanguard who went through life and death together with me, so she was willing to do me this favour.”

Perhaps it was due to the environment he grew up in, but Chu Xiang was certain that this era would never produce a second Lan Jue who disregarded his status like this, who could even call getting married a favour–

Chu Xiang suddenly became interested. He remembered that the Lord of Western Tang did have a marriage, and it was also known that his consort was a widow twelve years his senior who already had a child, with the child being only ten years younger than Lan Jue.

In the current world view, marrying a widow from a humble background — according to rumours, her family were servants who trained war horses — to take her as his consort was tantamount to ‘ignoring etiquette and tradition’, which firmly stamped him as a barbarian. However, this incident happened a long time ago, when the Lan family was still in exile, so they wouldn’t have been able to marry in a noble daughter even if they wanted to.

“I feel sorry for the late princess-consort,” Chu Xiang said, “she was a heroic woman. Please accept my condolences.”

Lan Jue nodded and was about to say something when Yang Feng suddenly announced himself from the door.

“My Lord, a message from home.”

Lan Jue frowned and took the letter.

“It’s from the young lord.”

Upon opening it, Lan Jue’s expression instantly turned as cold as frost.

Yang Feng’s face also changed drastically, as if he had seen a ghost.

There was a bloody handprint on the letter.

It was a youth’s handprint. Judging from the handwriting, which wasn’t beautiful but also wasn’t particularly sloppy, Chu Xiang judged that the bloody handprint was only used to show urgency, not because the author was in any kind of life-threatening situation. However, Lan Jue wasn’t so calm.

He read through the letter ten lines at a glance.

“Very good,” he sneered, “Royal Uncle allied with the Left General and locked Lan Nian up in the palace, it seems they plan to kill me on my way back?”

“Then isn’t the young lord in danger!” Yang Feng exclaimed.

“Fortunately, those old bastards have never taken Little Nian as my descendant, so they won’t deliberately endanger his life,” Lan Jue said.

“Your Majesty,” Chu Xiang suddenly said. “Your Majesty once said that the country is in the grips of a disaster. With all due respect, the geographical environment of Western Tang isn’t very good and its treasury isn’t particularly full either. It can be said that any lord appointed there would be disturbed by all manner of things, and their lives won’t be as good as that of wealthy businessmen living carefreely in the capital.”

“You dare–” Yang Feng began angrily.

But Lan Jue held up a hand to stop him, and nodded. “You’re right.”

“Before Your Majesty set out, did you not make any conjectures or preparations?”

“As you say, Western Tang has little money or power, so I never thought that Royal Uncle would have the intention to seize power, and neither did I make much preparation for it.”

“Then why do you think he suddenly wants to seize power?”

Lan Jue looked at Chu Xiang with a frown.

So Chu Xiang continued, “The Lord of Eastern Tang is reaching the end of his life and did not come to this year’s Spring Banquet. It has always been his dearly held wish to be the lord of all of Tang, look, isn’t it a good opportunity now?”

Lan Jue: “Do you think that Eastern Tang promised them benefits?”

Chu Xiang: “Western Tang is barren. Rather than be a hard-working lord, it would be better to take the money and live a life of leisure.”

“So you think that Eastern Tang promised Royal Uncle a lot of money to make him help them?”

“They may also be using him,” Chu Xiang offered. “Since Western Tang itself has no real assets, it cannot be just a General of the Left and an idle royal relative who are behind this.”

Except for those with special obsessions or people like Lan Jue who truly cared for his land and people, no one who desired wealth would want Western Tang.

“My Lord, shall we go back immediately to rescue the young lord?” Yang Feng asked.

“…” Chu Xiang truly wanted to curse, but fortunately, he held it back. He forced himself to be calm as he said, “How many people do you have? You only remember that the young lord is in danger, but the target this time isn’t him. Your young lord tried every means to send out a letter to remind you that there might be an ambush on the road, but you want to run straight to your death?”

Chu Xiang internally rolled his eyes, this civil servant! Couldn’t civil servants just obediently do logistics!

“You know very well how many soldiers and horses Western Tang has,” he said.

“But without me there, Royal Uncle cannot mobilise the army.”

“He doesn’t need the army,” Chu Xiang retorted. “How many people are with you now?”

“Only Yang Feng serves me openly, there are ten following secretly,” Lan Jue calmly answered.

“Even if your skills are great, if they take you by surprise, just a hundred ordinary soldiers can defeat you, no? So you must not return to Western Tang now,” he said, “you are in the open, we don’t know where the ambush will be, we don’t even know the specific method. Moreover, how do you know they won’t take action in the capital?”

“Then, how do you think we should deal with it?”

“We’ll solve it at the source. Your Majesty, Tang has been divided for too long, it’s time to take it back.”

Author:
Lan Jue: I’ve been hooked!
Chu Xiang: When? What did I do???
Chu Hexing: Debuff from the bro-con little sister, activate!!!
……
Don’t worry, although Captain Chu’s performance is a little tragic, the text is definitely sweet! Take my lost teeth as proof!

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2937 Galactic calendar, Phobos Starship Base.

The captains with the rank of rear admiral set up a table to play the ever-popular party game ‘Undercover’.¹谁是卧底: lit. who is undercover; a game to be played in a group of 3+ people, everyone is given a word (e.g. finger) except for one person who gets a different word (e.g. toe) and takes turns describing their word, the goal is to find out who has the different word (‘is undercover’); every round they vote someone out until either the undercover person is voted out or is the last one standing. I’d describe it as a cross between werewolf/mafia and charades. This was a regular activity at their gatherings which Chu Xiang could survive to the end almost every time, but not every captain was so good at it. The one who lost most miserably was always Chu Xiang’s friend Han Yi, captain of the mothership Youlan.

Captain Han was very troubled by this, because…

“I don’t understand why I have to write a review just because I can’t play this game!” Han Yi bit his pen. This was the rule set down by Fleet Commander Ye — whoever lost Undercover had to write a review, so a perfectly good game was played with killing intent emanating from all players. And in order to prevent the captains from cheating by making their AIs help write it, every review had to be handwritten. This was the 28th century, making them write it by hand was no different from torture.

Han Yi and Chu Xiang had both come from the special forces and had known each other for a long time. Chu Xiang knew that this person’s individual combat ability was off the charts, but he had one problem —

“Han Yi, every time you perform a mission, you rush in like crazy. Can’t you reflect on how brutish your methods are?”

“…I’m trying my best,” Han Yi said innocently.

“…Trying your best doesn’t mean making your killing posture more elegant or your stabbing stance more beautiful, but to make your methods more refined!” Chu Xiang rubbed his forehead. “An excellent commander needs good acting skills, acting! Last time General Ye went to negotiate with the pirate’s representatives in Sector Delta, he pretended to be a civilian with no combat capabilities and took advantage of their surprise to take down their leader. But if it were you…”

Han Yi nodded very seriously. “I would charge in from their front door straight to the control room, blood would flow like rivers and the floor would be covered in bodies.”

“Get it right, I’m not complimenting you.”

* * *

Maybe it was because he had a fever that Chu Xiang dreamed about the 28th century again.

This body’s condition was much too shabby — just turning over made him feel uncomfortable all over, he wanted to beat his chest out of frustration. There was a thick bandage wrapped around his neck, because although it was just a minor injury, his physical fitness was no longer that of a captain capable of walking sideways in the interstellar world, not to mention that the sanitary conditions of this place couldn’t compare to a sterile medical ward.

Fortunately I was enthusiastic enough and didn’t hesitate to kneel and kowtow when I acknowledged my new master, Chu Xiang thought, praising his own acting skills. He was much better than his coworkers who could only charge violently.

But in truth, excluding all this, Lan Jue was indeed a leader worth following.

Without even considering anything else, just based on his simple, somewhat silly vision… This wasn’t the peaceful society of the 28th century, it was impossible for him to have attended the philosophy classes provided by Starfleet Academy in this backwards and feudal society which was fully worthy of being labelled the Dark Ages. Lan Jue’s thoughts could almost be considered revolutionary beyond reason.

And why did he look so good? He was prettier than any starlet!

Chu Xiang was so muddled from the fever that he muttered to himself, turned over, and huddled beneath the covers.
Longque’s captain had also been famous throughout the fleet, not for his combat ability but for his lifestyle habits — he controlled his appearance very tightly and not one of his soldiers aboard Longque dared to be slovenly. Their logistics department assembled a group of female soldiers from those who graduated from the arts department specifically to deal with the issue of ‘substandard appearance’, and their people had been trained to the point that they could maintain their hairstyles even if they had to fight through a bloodbath.

Lan Jue was too good-looking, Chu Xiang thought that he could eat an extra bowl of rice at dinner if he took a few more glances!

As he daydreamed, the door creaked open.

…It can’t be an assassin anyways, he thought. Now that he was part of Lan Jue’s entourage, he had moved into the post house which was specifically to host visiting dignitaries, and thus was heavily guarded. Not even the Grand Princess’ Iron-Clad Guards could get to him here. He was too lazy to open his eyes, and besides, with the high fever his vision was too blurry and it made him dizzy.

A hand stretched out to touch his forehead and cheeks, then examined the wound on his neck.

The hand was very cool and very comfortable, Chu Xiang couldn’t resist pressing against it.

“Mnn… Don’t go…” he muttered as he dazedly moved closer, not allowing the owner of the hand to take it back.

But the hand still heartlessly left, and not only did it leave, it also forcefully pulled the quilt off him. Chu Xiang hummed in dissatisfaction and hugged it tighter, so that person instead had to turn to untangling his limbs, and spent quite a while at it until they could finally cover Chu Xiang properly.

“Drink your medicine,” they said.

A stomach-churning smell penetrated Chu Xiang’s nose. He opened his eyes a sliver and found a bowl of thick liquid, it looked like… well, he had been greeted with something that looked like sewage. He scowled in disgust and ducked away.

The same voice said angrily, “Don’t mess around!”

“Disgusting!” Chu Xiang categorically refused. Due to the fever, his eyes were red as he stared at the medicine, and his voice trembled slightly.

“You drink it properly for me!”

“No!”

Then…

Then a hand reached out, pinched his chin, forced his mouth open, and poured a large bowl of bitter medicine down his throat.

Afterwards, that same hand also covered his mouth to prevent him from spitting it back out.

“Mmmphh!!!”

Who was so brave! Who dared to touch a captain, were they tired of living?! Too disrespectful! Drag him out for extra training, extra extra training!

Chu Xiang’s arms and legs were weak, he could only struggle feebly for a short time before his entire, overly warm body hung on Lan Jue’s shoulder, while Lan Jue… Lan Jue had already stiffened into a stone sculpture. He knew that Chu Xiang didn’t have the healthiest body. When the girl said he had a fever, he thought that he was partly responsible for causing him to be exposed to rain, so he personally came to see him, but who knew that when he walked through the door what he saw would no longer be a majestic young man, and instead…

The confused Chu Xiang unexpectedly glanced at him with bent eyes, leaned his weight against his shoulder, hooked his chin, blew out a warm breath, and said in a soft and sticky voice, “Hey, beautiful~”

Lan Jue was stunned.

He had been on the battlefield, killed outlanders, fought bandits, and smothered the borders’ chaos, but never had someone–

“It’s so bitter… You’re definitely sweet, beautiful, give me a kiss?”

Of course this sentence was a joke. Talking nonsense was very common between comrades who fought through life and death together, which not even a general like Chu Xiang was exempt from. By living together on the same mothership for long periods of time, as they floated through the vast empty space, everyone from the highest commanding officers to the lowest privates became as close as family.

However, Lan Jue only felt an oncoming wave of heat which instantly burned him until his head filled with smoke.

This person is confused by his fever…

He knew this, so he wouldn’t argue with someone who wasn’t in their right mind.

But… His hands shook for a moment, he should have thrown him away and scolded him for being impertinent, or at least left him for Yang Feng to deal with, yet, as if possessed, he instead froze in place.

He looked at Chu Xiang, who — in the midst of his high fever — looked extremely docile, no longer so awe-inspiringly proud.

This person was unique. He seemed to be incompatible with the mortal world, with a temperament that prevented him from ever disappearing into a crowd. Even if he merely stood still, he shone like a fallen star. Lan Jue admired such a soul, but two days ago in the pouring rain, this man looked at him and chose to surrender. In the moment when he humbly knelt at his feet, Lan Jue’s heart had skipped a beat.

The feverish man hugged Lan Jue, whose body temperature was lower than his own, and sighed comfortably.

This sound broke Lan Jue out of his stupor and he subconsciously pushed him back onto the bed.

Chu Xiang fell back and did not get up again. He lay there on his back, looking into the void with disorientated eyes.

Lan Jue hurriedly stood and prepared to leave.

Suddenly, he heard a soft voice from behind him, and his feet immediately stopped their escape.

That person seemed to have thought of something, or perhaps the fever had cooked his brain, because he was crying. His body sank into the soft bedding even as his thoughts drifted far away.

“Don’t go… I’m so scared,” he murmured quietly.

* * *

2953 Galactic calendar, Sector Delta. The last cruiser broke away from their mothership Longque and flew towards the gravitational waves’ periphery.

The gravity well of the black hole bomb was so great that spaceships couldn’t escape even if they turned on warp speed. The Galactic Federation’s faster than light technology was very advanced, far stronger than anything the alien pirates in Sector Delta had, therefore their ships could still struggle to leave while their enemies had already been rolled up into the black hole.

Space distorted like a broken display screen, or like an old TV with bad signal, as objects deformed due to excessive gravity.

There were no longer any busy dispatchers or soldiers manning Longque’s main bridge, only a single figure remained.

Chu Xiang pressed his hand on the console and the central AI read his biometrics for permission to order the power core to self-destruct.

“Do you wish to activate self-destruction of the power core? Please confirm,” said the AI’s even voice.

“Confirmed.”

“Please repeat your authorisation.”

“Commanding officer Rear Admiral Chu Xiang, service number CH0103, Captain of Longque, is performing this action and confirms that it is correct.”

“Ignition of the warp power core has begun, thirty seconds countdown to detonation.”

He did it, he used his body as a barrier, both ship and captain.

“I’m sorry, destroying your core is my only choice, we’re going to die together,” he said to Longque’s AI.

The central AI replied calmly, “It does not matter, Captain, I am with you.”

A sharp siren sounded throughout the bridge, so piercing that it seemed as if it was hurrying people to their deaths, which made both their hearts and minds messy. “Can you turn off that alarm?” he requested impatiently.

“Yes.”

The surroundings immediately fell into silence, as if the battleship didn’t exist and what they faced was only the vacuum of space.

“You… What happens when an AI dies?”

“I do not know, Captain. Death is as mysterious as the center of black holes, only when you go there yourself will you know what happens.”

“But I know that once humans die, there’s nothing left,” Chu Xiang abruptly said. “I’m scared, I really am… very scared.”

“…Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen…”

“If it’s like that, then Captain, I finally beat you for once. I can turn off the emotion module for fear, so I’m not afraid,” the AI replied briskly.

Chu Xiang chuckled even as a single tear slid down his cheek. “Okay okay, you win. I’m really jealous that you can just turn it off.”

“Captain, it was my honour to have flown with you.”

“…Four, three, two…”

“I as well.”

“…One, zero.”

* * *

After saying that, the feverish man fell asleep, but crystal tears still dripped from his closed eyes. For an unknown reason, Lan Jue couldn’t help reaching out and wiping them away with the tips of his fingers.

The hot tears quickly cooled and evaporated. He touched Chu Xiang’s forehead, his body temperature steadily dropped.

Lan Jue’s thoughts turned to his poem, and how he wasn’t afraid to say everyone would freeze to death right in front of the banquet host. His earlier line alluding to their clothing really wasn’t subtle at all.

The young man had a beautiful smile; although his poem was exceedingly offensive, his smile truly was beautiful. The young reed-thin girl bought from the brothel also kept calling him her brother. Unlike people at the border, those who lived in the capital were deep-rooted and placed great emphasis on bloodlines, but he said — she was his sister now.

A strange emotion swept through his body.

“An interesting person,” Lan Jue commented quietly.

Author:
Chu Xiang turns on the flirting mode in overdrive!
Lan Jue: You’re seducing me!
Chu Xiang: I didn’t, I’m not.jpg
Lan Jue: You’ve seduced me, so let’s do something pleasurable!
Chu Xiang: I didn’t… Come on then! Beauty!
……
I’m still me, the dedicated dog food manufacturer!!! Please line up to receive your dog food in an orderly manner, don’t push, there’s still a lot!

Translator:
Updates will be twice a week from now on, Tuesday and Friday.

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• 1
  谁是卧底: lit. who is undercover; a game to be played in a group of 3+ people, everyone is given a word (e.g. finger) except for one person who gets a different word (e.g. toe) and takes turns describing their word, the goal is to find out who has the different word (‘is undercover’); every round they vote someone out until either the undercover person is voted out or is the last one standing. I’d describe it as a cross between werewolf/mafia and charades.

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Tianyan, evening, in pouring rain.

The sun actually had not yet set, but the sky was so gloomy that evening looked more like midnight. Heavy rain slapped the ground with a dense drumming noise. In weather like this, the street vendors had long ago packed up and gone home, and even the guards who should have been patrolling were holed up in taverns.

Despite the heavy rain, there was quite the commotion in front of the post house, since nobles from all walks of life would still come and go from mansion to manor as long as the socialising season wasn’t yet over. In short, they didn’t need to worry about the rain. If the soles of their shoes got even the slightest bit wet, someone would be punished for it.

Lan Jue, standing at the door to the post house, refused Yang Feng’s umbrella.

An old man selling shoes limped by the post house’s door and was chased away by several aristocratic boys.

“My Lord, it’s raining, why do you stand here?” Yang Feng asked.

“Waiting for someone,” Lan Jue replied.

Yang Feng lowered his head, then said quietly, “My Lord, there was a group of Iron-Clad Guards last night. Although we did our best, two slipped through the net.” In other words, the person you’re waiting for is probably already cold…

But before Yang Feng could say this, a figure appeared on the street. The young man was dressed in pure white today, and he walked against the flow of horses and carriages on their way to spring banquets. On this dark and rainy night, he, like the Lord of Western Tang, did not hold an umbrella. He was soaked from head to toe and his long hair plastered against his face, yet his eyes shone like stars.

He didn’t seem surprised to see Lan Jue at all. When Lan Jue turned and walked away, the young man followed him without a word.

They walked through the streets in silence. Occasionally they would pass a flower-seller girl huddling in a corner, whimpering sadly as her flowers were washed away by the rain. A delirious old woman lay in an alley, while nearby, a handsome young man on the roadside tried to stop every passing carriage in an effort to promote himself.

They walked through the city, they walked through the rain.

When they passed the brothel, Chu Xiang suddenly said, “Thank you for standing up for my sister. You even paid for her with your own money and didn’t ask for repayment.”

“Your sister?” Lan Jue’s lips curled up with interest.

“Yes.”

By some unknown coincidence, they stopped at Qianli Lake, where Chu Xiang had once departed and later returned.

Qianli Lake, Chu Xiang thought, unable to stop his smile, it’s practically my personal launch pad.

Rainwater dripped from their brows as they stood in the open, causing their vision to become somewhat blurred. Yang Feng, who stood nearby with an umbrella, looked at his strange master and his strange guest, not knowing whether he should go hold up an umbrella for them. 

Chu Xiang still remembered this world’s etiquette and had tried to mobilise his best acting skills, but neither party seemed to care all that much about it.

“You do not seem surprised to see me,” he said.

“No, I’m a little surprised,” Lan Jue replied. “The Grand Princess’ Iron-Clad Guards want to kill you, but you could still escape. Why did you look for me?”

“The house leaks and it will rain all night, I need a roof to shelter me from the wind.”

“Then why should I take you in, what can you give me?”

Chu Xiang smiled. “What do you want?”

Lan Jue’s subordinates in the capital had already investigated Chu Xiang since it was impossible for them to allow an unknown person to approach their lord, but it was this investigation that made Lan Jue even more interested — this person’s identity was very simple and had nothing unusual in his past. He was once amazingly popular and attended many banquets, and the things he wrote in this time could, in Lan Jue’s eyes, be bound into a standard ‘anthology of obscene words and erotic songs’. The reason why the Grand Princess disliked him was also very simple: the man insisted on his status as a luminary and refused to be a guest of the Grand Princess.

His looks weren’t bad either, but that was all.

It wasn’t until the Spring Banquet and his unique poem, when he showed his edge, that Lan Jue’s attention was well and truly caught. At that moment, he had been even more eye-catching than when he was killing people.

He was someone unfit for irrelevance.¹非池中物: someone with great ambition is destined for great things, the opposite of being a frog in a well

Lan Jue knew that apart from the literati in the capital, there were also many who wanted to assist a nobleman as counsellors. He instinctively disliked these people — refugees were everywhere, but these people only thought of how to steal territory, rob power, and strengthen themselves in order to continue indulging in food and drink.

But he held a glimmer of hope, he thought that Chu Xiang might be more than that.

So he deliberately let people spread that poem around.

“I want a lot, but how are you going to help me?” he asked.

They went in a circle and returned to the original question, and the rain was starting to make him shiver, so he couldn’t be bothered to keep probing. “Don’t you want more power?” he asked directly.

Lan Jue: “Should I?”

“Then what you suffered at the Spring Banquet wasn’t enough?” Chu Xiang smiled.

At the Spring Banquet, even the attendants dared to sigh at Lan Jue’s background behind his back, and not a single noble family was willing to marry into Western Tang.

Lan Jue’s expression slowly turned cold and murderous as rain slid down his cheekbones.

Chu Xiang seemed unable to detect it.

“Power is a good thing,” he sneered. “You see, everyone wants this thing, because only when you have it is your life worth anything. If that young man on the road had power, why would he need to sell himself? It’s raining so heavily but that flower girl has to protect some flowers a noble would just throw away and might be sold to a brothel at any time. They’re just ants, so the city’s dignitaries can step on them as they please. The guards can openly kill people on the street without consequence because no one notices whether the child begging on the street corner would still be there the next morning… This is power. On a cold winter night, an infant and its mother turn into ice sculptures overnight, but nobles can sit in their greenhouses and listen to elegant music until dawn, and they might even order the windows be opened because it’s too hot inside. This is also power.”

“Yes, once you have power, you can prey on the people and treat the world as a plaything. Just like the consul and chief justice — in order to eat more new dishes, they would happily watch people starve to death in the wild and make themselves vomit,” Lan Jue agreed solemnly.

As they looked at each other, Lan Jue suddenly pulled a dagger from his waist and pressed its tip against Chu Xiang’s throat. Tiny beads of blood welled up which were instantly washed away by the pouring rain.

“And you, what do you want? I know that everyone thinks the Lord of Western Tang’s position is awkward, he’s obviously the lord of a principality but people despise him wherever he goes. Do you think you can persuade me, help me improve my standing, then enjoy the glory as well? What is power in your eyes?”

The dagger moved a bit deeper and more blood was washed away by the rain with some staining Chu Xiang’s collar. However, this white-clothed young man only stared at the dagger and didn’t move another inch.

“It’s a delicious yet poisonous wine that one would fight to swallow even when you know it would pierce your intestines and make your stomach rot. Those with absolute power could naturally dominate the world and treat everyone like grass, but before winter comes, lighting will strike on rotten trees and the wildfire it sparks will scorch heaven and earth,” he replied.

Lan Jue lightened his hold. Chu Xiang used two fingers to push the blade away and took half a step forward.

“My Lord, do you want to be a rich and powerful ruler, or a blazing wildfire?”

Yang Feng let out a startled sound, then hurriedly covered his mouth.

Turn into fire, then burn away all the rotten wood in the world? Then wouldn’t that be–

Lan Jue suddenly smiled, pinched Chu Xiang’s chin, and said slowly, word by word, “You want to instigate me to rebel?”

Chu Xiang still seemed as if he couldn’t feel pain. “I don’t dare, but My Lord, have you ever truly submitted?” he asked rhetorically with a smile.

Did he ever truly submit?

The year when Lan Jue’s father was banished by the previous emperor, he was also exiled to beyond the Great Wall at a young age. Outside the walls, there was a city that never slept, where fish and dragons mingled,²A messy power structure, somewhere both weak and strong people coexist and suffered occasional raids by foreigners. His father transformed that place into a paradise on earth.

He had felt inferior due to his status as a criminal, until one day he discovered that his father had never done anything wrong. The Lord of Tang had used gold intended for the emperor to purchase food, provide relief for victims, and rescue citizens displaced by locust plagues. As a result, the refugees survived, but their lord could never return.

“My Lord, there is no reason to accept it.”

“You’re right.” Lan Jue put away the dagger, but it was Yang Feng not too far away who was so scared that he almost fainted.

The heavy rain covered up all the surrounding sound, leaving only two men facing each other, both drenched, but they seemed to be holding swords in their hands which sparked as they collided.

“But why do you think that you can incite me? I’m already the lord of a principality, at most I’ll just think of a way to take back Eastern Tang, but you want me to… directly usurp the throne?” A strange light flashed in Lan Jue’s eyes. He seemed to find it very funny, but also found himself unable to laugh. “You think I desire greater power?”

“You must,” Chu Xiang replied.

“Aren’t you afraid that I’m loyal to the emperor?”

As if hearing a joke, Chu Xiang burst into laughter. “The emperor? What’s loyalty to him worth in a time like this?” he shouted sharply.

He advanced another step but Lan Jue did not back down.

“Today, even as we speak, King Qin’s forces have sprung up like mushrooms after rain, so many lords’ flags have appeared in his camp, but everyone knows that power is the real rallying banner. King Qin hasn’t even put forward his own name for the throne, all his government affairs are left to his sister; his sister does have the ambition, but she has no ability to lead; as for the emperor, he’s busy sleeping with a few more beauties in his harem before the world changes hands. My Lord, everyone knows that King Qin is raising an army to seize power. All anyone in the world wants is a jade seal and a dragon chair, but this is a meat grinder. Once you get involved, it’s either tearing others apart or being torn apart yourself. You want Eastern Tang, does the Lord of Eastern Tang not want Western Tang? Once this war begins, no one can escape.”

“So what do you want, to be able to say that you assisted the dragon to his throne?”

Chu Xiang paused for a moment, then sighed in frustration. “Why do you care what I do? It doesn’t matter what I want.”

Lan Jue cleverly avoided this topic to ask instead, “Aren’t you worried that our goals will differ on this long journey?”

“Will they?” he smiled again. “If one day you have absolute power, kings and nobles will prostrate at your feet, no one will dare call you a barbarian behind your back. All the rude attendants who laughed at you will be forced to become military prostitutes, the ministers who rejected your marriage proposals today will kneel in front of the palace steps and beg you to allow their daughters to be your personal maids, the scholars who laughed at your handwriting will have their hands cut off and their tongues pulled out, civil servants and military officials will all kneel before your throne. Everyone will worship you, your descendants will be true dragons who rule the world, destiny returns to its rightful path.”

“Ha,” Lan Jue sneered, “then what’s the difference between me and those powerful people now? I don’t know their books, I don’t care about their women, a woman who quarrels over the patterns on her clothing can never be my queen. As for descendants, I have an adopted son who’s ten this year and he already makes me angry enough, if I have any more I’ll lose at least a decade off my life.”

“But you are not without desires, otherwise you would not have put down your pride and wasted time on the extravagant spring banquets here.”

Lan Jue was silent.

“Everyone longs for power, but they forget where power comes from, and forget to think about why they want this sugar-coated poison,” Chu Xiang said. “You just walked through the city, didn’t you see the consequences of having no power in today’s world? You keep asking me what I want. What I want is very simple, you can give it to me, but the important thing is what you want.”

Lan Jue watched Chu Xiang, who was so agitated that he didn’t care about his wound even as more blood flowed down his neck to be washed away by rain, and as he did so he suddenly felt very stupid. There was nothing to probe here, this man could present his autumn and frost poem at the Spring Banquet, wield a blade without hesitation, and meet him alone on a rainy night. This was enough proof.

So Lan Jue spoke to him.

“I want the children as old as my son to not lose their parents, I want girls of sixteen to marry good men, I want every old woman the same age as my granny to be able to sit in bed with a warm bowl of congee. I don’t like fighting for power, but as you said, I have to have it in my hands for my words to be heard and obeyed. So, if anyone blocks my way, I will lead my cavalry to trample them into the mud.”

Hearing Lan Jue’s words, an unconcealable smile crept onto Chu Xiang’s lips, and he took two steps back.

Even if he lost his mothership, how could the captain of Longque drift with the tide and be lost among the quagmire of the world? Maybe travelling through time gave him amazing luck, Chu Xiang never thought that things would go so smoothly — the Lan Jue in front of him was a ready-made wise ruler.

On the day his mothership first launched, the captain once pointed to its power core and swore that as long as both ship and captain were present, he would use his body to defend his homeland, protect the river of stars, and never be afraid of death.

As the saying went, even if you left home for half your life, you would become a youth upon return.

Chu Xiang lifted the hem of his robe and knelt without hesitation.

“Your Majesty has the ambition of a dragon, it is only a matter of time until you soar; I am willing to pledge myself. On the day the true dragon ascends, clouds will spread and rain will fall, dry land will once again become fertile.” Chu Xiang looked at him, then suddenly knocked his head to the ground, splashing water everywhere.

Lan Jue stood quietly, receiving this bow.

“I entrust my body to you. I ask for nothing, save that you remember your vow today and never give it up.”

Author:
I’m telling you, Lan Jue’s heart moved first!!! And Captain Chu’s acting skills deserve a little gold man!³An Oscars/Academy Award, since the award statuette looks like a gold human figure. Basically all c-novels I’ve read use ‘little gold man’ to refer to the top acting award instead of its name, regardless of if it’s actually the Oscars in-universe. In fact this is why I set it as a round trip time travel, because I really don’t think a modern person can avoid self-destructing if they transmigrate, so if someone has already lived there a while they can do it, right? Hahahaha
……
Attention, look here, Lan Jue is only 24! You all know I like young ROs, he’s really not that old hahaha, his son is only ten years younger than him because he’s an adopted son!

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• 1
  非池中物: someone with great ambition is destined for great things, the opposite of being a frog in a well
• 2
  A messy power structure, somewhere both weak and strong people coexist
• 3
  An Oscars/Academy Award, since the award statuette looks like a gold human figure. Basically all c-novels I’ve read use ‘little gold man’ to refer to the top acting award instead of its name, regardless of if it’s actually the Oscars in-universe.