Joy of Life

A carriage moved steadily on the road. Fan Xian, who had disappeared from this world for more than half a year, had finally returned to this world. Neither those who fervently hoped for his death nor those who hoped for his survival knew that he was already back.

After going through much hardship in traversing the snowy plains again, the four of them slipped into the world without a sound, not sending clear signs to any faction. Haitang and Thirteenth w.a.n.g knew about the weight in Fan Xian"s heart while Wu Zhu, who was still lacking in any sense of humanness, sat silently to the back of the carriage. Presumably, he did not understand any of the nonsense of the human world and would not care about such silly things.

In Northern Qi"s Langya County, the carriage stopped outside an inn. After a while, Fan Xian left the inn alone and headed to the most luxurious brothel in the city. Behind him, Wu Zhu, with the black blindfold, followed him at a discreet distance. Coming out with Uncle Wu Zhu was not what Fan Xian had intended. He was also a bit confused, clearly, Uncle Wu Zhu did not remember anything and didn"t know everything, so why was he constantly following him?

In a secret room in a branch of Baoyue Brothel, Fan Xian saw Shi Chanli, who had been waiting for a full four months, as well as w.a.n.g Qinian and Deng Zi Yue. Under the Qing Emperor and the Royal Palace"s immense pressure, there were very few loyal subordinates who still stood bravely by his side. Other than the three in the secret room, there was Xia Qifei, who was surviving with difficulty in Jiangnan.

Seeing Fan Xian alive, the faces of these three absolutely loyal subordinates all showed disbelieving surprise and joy. Everyone in the world knew that Fan Xian had gone to the Temple. But, regardless of whether they were Fan Xian"s friend or enemy, everyone thought Fan Xian would certainly die at the Temple. Who knew that he would be able to come back alive?

After a moment of excitement, Fan Xian smiled and had everyone sit down. He didn"t use any time to discuss the rather unhappy journey that even he couldn"t explain.

w.a.n.g Qinian crouched to one side and smoked a pipe while Deng Zi Yue put the most important intelligence reports of the past six months in front of Fan Xian. He glanced at them. The worry in his eyes grew stronger.

Shi Chanli glanced at the young blind man by the secret room. For some reason, he felt a chill in his heart. He didn"t know who he was exactly to be able to go with his teacher to such an important place. He swallowed and said, "The Qing Kingdom"s Northern Camp made camp on June 3. The first time the two sides came into contact was seven days later."

"Why is the Northern Qi side so utterly defeated?" Fan Xian"s expression became heavy as he looked at him. "Furthermore, I didn"t feel much fear from the Northern Qi people in Langya County."

"Northern Qi continuously retreated 300 li. What is strange is that, according to investigations, Shang Shanhu is not on the frontlines. Instead, he has chosen to defend a city of the Song Kingdom." Deng Zi Yue spread out a map on the table. Pointing at the battlefield, he said in a low voice, "This position is right on the spine. If the Qing border army headed straight north, Shang Shanhu would take advantage of the opportunity and head out, straight to the mid-section. Although this famous general has chosen to be on the defensive, his defense is unusually dangerous."

"This is a city that Shang Shanhu stole last year in that battle to the north. So, that"s where that piece finally landed." Fan Xian smiled tartly. He had not thought that during the few months he was in the mountain investigating the Temple, the situation in this land would have undergone such drastic change. Just as they were returning south from the snowy plains, the Iron Riders of the Qing Kingdom had finally headed north.

"Since His Majesty has made up his mind to raise the strength of the entire nation on a Northern expedition, the Northern Camp is nothing more than a vanguard. In front of such a murderous invasion, even someone as powerful as Shang Shanhu can only choose to be on the defensive. This is dictated by national strength. It has nothing to do with the talents of individual generals."

After all, Deng Zi Yue was an official of the Overwatch Council. Compared to Shi Chanli, he had a better grasp of the recent battle situation between the two great powers, Northern Qi and the Qing Kingdom. He looked worriedly at Fan Xian and said, "The Northern Camp has left Cangzhou. Northern Qi has retreated 300 li, but the blade direction means there will eventually be a great battle on the wasteland. Presently, the Northern Camp is temporarily resting its troops and gathering its strength, but there is frequent mobilization of troops inside Yanjing. It looks like the second attack is close at hand. Although Shang Shanhu has the taken the favorable location with that city, if Yanjing and the Northern Camp attacked from the west together, Shang Shanhu will probably have to be dragged into the battlefield.

"I don"t understand war, but I know that if the Emperor has truly made up his mind, no matter how talented Shang Shanhu is, in the end, he can only be worn down on the battlefield."

Fan Xian lowered his head and looked at the silent cities on the map. In a slow voice, he said, "It"s very clear that although Northern Qi has prepared for this battle for many years, they are still no match of the Qing Kingdom in military matters. They can only hope to stall until the Qing Kingdom is tired. Shang Shanhu can wait, but the Emperor does not want to keep him company. Even if he does wait, the Emperor will be the final victor."

Deng Zi Yue and Shi Chanli glanced at Fan Xian. The worry was abundant in their eyes. They were traitors of the Qing Kingdom, but they were Qing people, part of the third faction in the world. At this time, battle had been initiated between the two sides. Their position and ident.i.ty were truly awkward. Furthermore, they still didn"t know what Fan Xian thought of this matter. Thus, the faction belonging to Fan Xian still made no move.

Fan Xian furrowed his brows slightly and used his finger to gently strike the position of the unnamed city. Thinking of the fact that Shang Shanhu was probably making preparations right now in the city that nominally belonged to the Song Kingdom, a powerful unease suddenly surged in his heart. He said, "If I was the Emperor, if I was truly short on time and did not want to wait with Shang Shanhu, the simplest way would be two send in two powerful groups of soldiers and choose one to go around behind the Song Kingdom. No matter how much Shang Shanhu wants to keep his knife sheathed…"

"But, if we want to go around behind the Song Kingdom, that is essentially asking for pa.s.sage through Dongyi. Although Dongyi belongs to the Qing Kingdom in name, if the military were to enter into Dongyi territory…" Deng Zi Yue glanced at Fan Xian and said, "Presently, the Great Prince and the Black Knights are not in Dongyi. They"re on the border of the Liang and Song kingdoms. If the Qing military were to ask for pa.s.sage, they would probably be met with a sudden attack."

These words did not explain clearly because everyone in the secret room knew that Dongyi belonged to Fan Xian. As for what kind of att.i.tude Dongyi would demonstrate in this battle that implicated the world and whether the Emperor would forcefully send soldiers into Dongyi, it was, in the end, a matter between the Emperor and Fan Xian, father and son.

"If, in the beginning, the Emperor did not send soldiers to attack Dongyi, this means he knows I"m not dead. He won"t choose this path in the future." Fan Xian sighed and rubbed his worried brows. "Let"s not speak of this. it"s not something I can sort out. I only care about the situation in Jingdou and Jiangnan."

As for those situations, they were all in the files Deng Zi Yue had brought. However, there was too much content, and Fan Xian didn"t have time to read through everything carefully.

"Jiangnan is calm. The court pulled back the new rule for the bidding of the palace treasury. Just as you expected, the salt merchants also joined in the palace treasury bidding. Fortunately, the Ming family still took some of the shares but, of course, it is much more wretched when compared to previous years," Den Zi Yue said.

"Xia Qifei"s person is alright?" Fan Xian asked.

"After the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt last year, the court has not moved against Ming Garden again. Governor Xue Qing is just suppressing Xia Qifei, but it looks like he won"t carry out direct action," Den Zi Yue said.

Fan Xian sank into deep thought. It looked like the Emperor had upheld the promise he made in the Palace. After all, the life of the palace treasury was held in his hands. If the Emperor wanted to establish a dynasty of a thousand generations, he could only temporarily take a step back in the face of this threat.

"After Sun Jingxiu was stripped of his position, he was originally sentenced to exile. For some reason, the Palace suddenly issued an edict and absolved him of his crime. The young lady of the Sun family only entered the Education Workshop for one night and was then released. Life at Sun manor is very tough, but the people of the He faction have been murdered, so there isn"t anyone who is kicking the Sun family while they"re down."

As he spoke of this, a small smile rose to the corners of Deng Zi Yue"s lips. Although he was not involved in the Jingdou matter, the Overwatch Council"s ma.s.sacre across Jingdou and the almost wipeout of the officials of the He faction truly made this abandoned official of the Overwatch Council feel indescribably happy.

"However, the people of the Council followed your instructions and have all retreated out of Jingdou, so they couldn"t help."

Fan Xian nodded, but he found the situation more and more strange. When did the Emperor become such a lenient ruler? Was it just to adhere to the agreement between them?

"Everything alright at home?" Fan Xian looked at w.a.n.g Qinian and asked as he shook his head to temporarily let go of the things he couldn"t understand.

w.a.n.g Qinian coughed and replied quietly with a smile, "Couldn"t be better. Everyone is stunned. Princess Chen and the young lady go into the Palace every day to speak with the Emperor. The little master and mistress are both healthy."

The situation in Jingdou truly shocked everyone. Fan Xian was a traitor to the Qing Kingdom, but the Emperor did not seem to have the intention of calling the Fan family into account. The status of the women in Jingdou, who should have been implicated, was even higher than before the a.s.sa.s.sination in the Royal Palace.

After hearing this news, Fan Xian was involuntarily shocked.

Deng Zi Yue suddenly said, "The results from the investigating in Yingzhou show that the attack on Wenmao was committed by border soldiers from the South pretending to be bandits."

A cold light flashed through Fan Xian"s eyes. He quickly asked, "Where is he?"

"We found Wenmao"s body. It had been covered by the snow at the time." Deng Zi Yue slowly closed his eyes. "At the time, he was missing an arm. The old subordinates of the Council looked for a long time but didn"t find it."

"I need to go back to Jingdou." After a long silence, Fan Xian raised his head and looked at his closest three subordinates. He barely managed to force a smile. "You will all immediately retreat to Dongyi and never meet together again. Otherwise, if someone scoops all of you up at once, where would I go to cry?"

Hearing that Fan Xian was returning to Jingdou in the Qing Kingdom, all three of them were shocked. w.a.n.g Qinian had been with Fan Xian the longest. He knew Fan Xian"s thoughts the best, so he spoke with the least etiquette. In a pleading voice, he tried to sway him. "Although the Emperor has not carried out a purge, you know that if you appear in Jingdou, he will stop at nothing to kill you."

"I know," Fan Xian said.

"Your life right now involves that agreement. Most importantly, as long as you"re alive, the Emperor will be cautious. Your life and death will impact the lives and deaths of many people," w.a.n.g Qinian said.

"I know it all." Fan Xian shuttered his eyes slightly. "I"ll eventually have to return to Jingdou because matters will need to eventually be resolved. Even if I hide in Dongyi for a lifetime, it wouldn"t resolve anything."

There was another wave of death-like silence. A streak of light suddenly flashed through Fan Xian"s mind. He stared at w.a.n.g Qinian and asked, "Earlier we discussed that the Northern Camp and Yanjing could clearly wait with Shang Shanhu, but the Emperor clearly does not want to. Why is this?"

w.a.n.g Qinian was silent for a moment. He then said, "The news from the Palace is that there seems to be some problems with the Emperor"s health."

With these words, Deng Zi Yue and Shi Chanli"s expressions changed dramatically. They understood that the Emperor"s health was the most important thing in the world. The problem was, one of them was responsible for the intelligence work of the old subordinates of the Overwatch Council, and one was responsible for the Baoyue Brothel intelligence network that was spread across the world. Neither of them had heard anything about the Emperor"s health. Yet, w.a.n.g Qinian said it with such certainty, making them not quite able to believe it.

Fan Xian stared into w.a.n.g Qinian"s eyes and slowly nodded after a long time. He knew where w.a.n.g Qinian"s information came from. Even when Chen Pingping was alive, he didn"t know of Hong Zhu"s existence, but Fan Xian had handed him to w.a.n.g Qinian. Very clearly, this information came from Hong Zhu.

The secret room was silent for a long time. The three of them knew that no one in the world could stop Fan Xian. Shi Chanli smiled with great difficulty and said, "Will you not tell us about the journey? After Master Ku He, you are the first to be able to return alive from the Temple."

"It"s just a broken down temple, what"s there to talk about?" Fan Xian smiled. He knew that everyone was actually very curious about that illusory place. But, his mood was heavy, so he had no interest in talking. He just lightly slanted a glance toward Uncle Wu Zhu at the door of the secret room and wondered when his blind uncle would be able to wake up.

…

…

In Langya County, the three young warriors who had entered the snowy mountain and the Temple together split up. Thirteenth w.a.n.g had to return as quickly as possible to Dongyi. He had to bring news of Fan Xian"s survival and plans to the Great Prince guarding Dongyi alone, as well as the people of the Sword Hut. Haitang"s leaving was also within Fan Xian"s expectations. A great battle was imminent. Although Northern Qi had the strength for a battle, the situation was dangerous. As the Northern Qi saint girl, Haitang could not be detached from the situation. She had to rush back to Shangjing, back to the side of the Northern Qi Emperor, and help her country oppose external invaders in her position as the leader of Qing Mountain"s Tianyi Dao.

When it came time to part, the emotion in Haitang"s tired eyes made Fan Xian feel an unnamed tenderness. He didn"t know how long Northern Qi would be able to hold out against the Qing Emperor"s powerful determination and his war to conquer the world. He didn"t know if the beautiful Royal Palace would become a pile of ash if the Qing army actually broke through to Shangjing or whether in those flames there would be Haitang, Lili, and the figure of his woman Emperor.

Regardless of whether it was from an individual"s perspective of history, one"s nature, or any other way of looking at it, Fan Xian could only have one att.i.tude toward the curtain slowly pulling away from the fires of battle. He had to stop all of this. However, he didn"t make any promises to Haitang or demonstrate anything. He was just silence. Taking Uncle Wu Zhu, he traveled south alone.

Through the unknown autumn, the yellow or red leaves, under the clear skies, Fan Xian and Wu Zhu silently headed south. They traveled for an indeterminable amount of time, but Wu Zhu still didn"t say anything. Fan Xian"s mood was very heavy. He didn"t know what he could do after returning to Jingdou, but his instincts, as well as the news of the Emperor"s possible serious illness, hurried his footsteps for some reason, so they never stopped.

His most successful aide after w.a.n.g Qinian, Su Wenmao, had died. In that autumn, the old crippled had died long ago. Even earlier, Ye Qingmei also died. Having experienced image after image of humankind"s sorrows and joys, leavings and unions, in the Temple, Fan Xian should have seen life and death much more lightly. For some inexplicable reason, once he stepped into the world, his concerns for the secular world increased again. Remembering life and death, and repaying life and death, how could he pa.s.s it all with just a smile?

It was still a black carriage. Fan Xian sat in the carriage and looked at Uncle Wu Zhu, who was sitting by the driver. He was not surprised to see that Uncle Wu Zhu"s profile was still just as delicate. The strip of black cloth still fluttered rapturously in the autumn wind. Everything was actually very similar to the scene 20 odd years ago from Jingdou to Danzhou.

The thing that was different was Wu Zhu, this extraordinary warrior who seemed to have lost his soul. He said nothing and did nothing. It was impossible for that cold face to reveal if he felt curiosity toward everything in the world that felt both strange and familiar.

Fan Xian felt a faint sorrow and gently put down the curtain. Shortly afterward, he smiled self-mockingly. Back in the day, Uncle Wu Zhu was just blind. Now, he had also become mute. How had his mother done it back then? And, what should he do?

The carriage came to Nanling County and did not go further. Accurately speaking, it was the driver that would not go further. Although the Northern Qi court had tried to play down the battle in the South, war was not as easily hidden as the scandals of the royal family. Everyone under heaven knew what was happening in the heart of the land. Tens of millions of people waited nervously with indifferent and cautious eyes for the result. Naturally, the carriage driver did not want to enter the battlefield.

Digging out silver to buy the carriage, Fan Xian took over as the driver and continued south with Uncle Wu Zhu. During the return from the icy plains, the yuanqi in the air had successfully healed Fan Xian"s injuries. Although he knew that he still could not touch the realm between humankind and the dome of heaven, he believed that there was no one who could threaten him other than the Emperor.

They traveled for another dozen days, going through simple wooden huts on both side of the road and emotionally numb groups of refugees. The uncle and nephew in the carriage seemed to be walking in a wasteland that resembled the snowy plains in the extreme north.

People gradually became rare. There was the occasional fall of snow, but it could not hide the deathly stillness on either side of the road. Occasionally, they saw a few bodies that were just about to rot. In the distance, in the mountain valley, they could faintly see villages that had been burned to ruins.

This was originally a piece of fertile land. Even though the wind of the North Sea blew past, the fertile land could still feed many commoners. However, there was only emptiness at hand. Most of the people had already retreated to behind Northern Qi. Those who were not able to avoid the fires of battle became sacrificial items to the ideal of uniting the world.

As for the razed villages and the people who were slaughtered on the side of the road, Fan Xian did not investigate if this was the action of the invading Qing army or the action of the Northern Qi soldiers who had been scattered in battle. Warfare was humankind"s original sin. In this world, there were no such thing no good battles and bad peace.

On the silent road, the air was dry and carried with it the stench of blood as it surrounded the black carriage. Fan Xian"s expression was wooden as he drove the unease horses. He didn"t turn his head to look at the expression of Uncle Wu Zhu beside him.

He knew that the armies of the two countries were gathered to the southwest by the plains near Yanjing. After the Qing Kingdom"s Northern Camp won a victory, they temporarily retreated back to camp to regroup because of their fear of Shang Shanhu, who still had not moved his troops. The deathly stillness here was actually relatively safe. However, traces of the previous major battle were still shocking. He found it difficult to imagine what kind of killing field the world would become once the Qing Kingdom"s Iron Riders broke through the city in the Song Kingdom Shang Shanhu was in and could go north at full strength.

In the entire world, there seemed only to be the sound of the carriage pressing down on the road. Fan Xian narrowed his eyes, brought down the whip, and hid from a small group of Qing riders scouting across the river. He then entered into the territory of the Qing Kingdom.

Just at this moment, Wu Zhu, who had been silent since he left the Temple, suddenly said, "The world outside the Temple is not very good."

"The world outside has always been helpless. If we make an effort, perhaps it could become better." A complicated smile rose to corners of Fan Xian"s lips as he brought the whip down again gently.f