Chapter Sixteen A Busy Autumn
writer:
无罪 update:2022-07-21 15:26
Zhangsun Qianxue, who watched Ding Ning throwing the bowl casually into the water basin and was pouring the new wine into small jars, frowned. She said, displeased, “You are troubled by gang conflicts like this?”
Ding Ning knew, of course, that Zhangsun Qianxue with her senses would have heard the conversation between him and that person. He frowned as well and said, “This is not an ordinary gangster matter. Two Level Tower only possesses a small part of the rental business in the south of the city, but I heard they have many of the secret alleys, pleasure houses and casinos. They have been in business for a dozen years, and their foundation is strong. I have not paid any attention to Jinlintang before. On the surface, they only seem to do a few horse gang and transport businesses. They have suddenly come out to steal Two Level Tower’s business. I don’t know what has happened in secret.”
“So what?” Zhangsun Qianxue looked coldly at him and said, “Regardless of whether it is Two Level Tower or Jinlintang, they are all dogs of the important people from court. It is just some parties in the court who are re-dividing the profits.”
“That may be true in other places, but the capitals of dynasties are not so simple.” Ding Ning knew what she thought.
He shook his head gently and explained patiently, “The scale of the capitals of each dynasty is much larger than other major cities. Take Changling for example. Even back in the previous dynasty, it has a population of several hundred thousand. After destroying the Han, Zhao, and Wei, many children and women were forced into Changling as slaves. Migration is also unrestricted. Up to today, the population has most likely doubled, while not even including the travellers and merchant caravans from different countries. This is just in the span of a few decades. The forces of the rich and powerful families of the previous dynasties have collapsed yet. Even the marquessate establishments of present will chose to ally with those influential families, taking their daughters as wives and concubines in order to get more power. Changling is truly too complicated, the network is so interwoven no one can control it all, not even Minister Yan and Minister Li. Otherwise, based on their abilities and ways of thinking, Changling will not have so many sects left. At most, some sects will be left in order to work for them.
“It hasn’t been long enough, and the court has too many matters to take care off. They also had to care for their own reputations. Changling’s rivers and wells contain many serpents. If they want to fight with other dynasties, these serpents will make the effort. But if one really wants to make these serpents bow, they may end up cutting off their own arms and end up unable to keep their place in court.”
Pausing, Ding Ning then said, “The capitals of other dynasties are about the same. The dynasties have been established for a long time, the emperors have too many sons. They cannot take back the titled lands from the nobles. The influential families and the marquesses even have the power to sway the decisions inside the imperial palace. Which imperial son able to succeed the throne, which woman can become the empress, this all depends on which family has the upper hand at that time.”
Zhangsun Qianxue understood what Ding Ning meant. Also, these words made her think about her own matters. Her face slowly turned cold.
At this time, Ding Ning did not notice her expression. He thought of the hunchback old person with the black bamboo staff in Fish Market. He thought of the price that had been paid many years ago in order for the influential and noble families to make concessions so the Qin Dynasty would become different from every other dynasty. His mood became more solemn and he unconsciously lowered his head.
“Just like you say, if the city gangs are just dogs of certain people, there will be less fatalities. However, most of the sects in Changling are only giving benefits to the important people, they are using each other. I fear some important person having ambition and trying to manipulate things from the shadows in order to reorganize the state of some places. This would become bloody. I do not know how many will die.
“I am not afraid of killing, but of extra trouble. If it is too chaotic, I will need to spend great effort to understand. Right now, we cannot even expose our status as cultivators. I have not even reached realm three. If I am dragged in, I do not know what the consequences will be.” As Ding Ning said this with a lowered head, he was worrying whether the hunched-back old man with the black bamboo staff and the person behind him would be dragged into this storm.
Zhangsun Qianxue’s eyes were cold. She had no interest in what Ding Ning said, because to her, this was all Ding Ning’s business; whether his plan was disrupted, his cultivation too weak, or if he was unable to reach his aims.
She only had one matter to do in Changling: surpass all the cultivators ahead of her.
She only needed to consider her sword, and her cultivation. She could even not leave this wine shop at all. She was the simplest.
She had always been the simplest.
That yellow-robed advisor, Xu Nian, spoke correctly. While they were not interested in making wine, Zhangsun Qianxue and Ding Ning’s wine shop was the shop with the best business in Falling Parasol.
Near noon, the chairs and tables in the wine shop were almost completely filled. Most of the people came with food and dishes to match the wine.
Ding Ning dozed off against the counter as his ears perceptively caught every word in the air.
A light carriage drove into Falling Parasol Alley and stopped under the blue wine banner. The passenger in the carriage nimbly jumped off and walked into the doors of the wine shop.
This was a youth dressed in a purple satin coat. His clean and bright black hair was tied up in a bun at the top of his head using two blue ribbons.
Only foreigners to Changling would do this.
The Qin people in Changling would keep their hair loose or pull their hair together behind their heads. Even the nobility would just use a jade hoop to hold the loose hair or use jade hairpins to coil their hair up.
This foreigner picked a table with an empty spot to sit, and shouted at Ding Ning whose chin was on the counter, “Busboy, wine.”
All the guests in the shop glanced at him and smiled maliciously.
Ding Ning raised his head and lazily shouted, “If you want wine, come get it yourself. Shop rules.”
So arrogant?
So arrogant but business was so good. The wine of this little wine shop was this good?
This youth dressed in purple satin robes stilled. Then he realized why all the surrounding customers looked at him as though they were looking at a block of wood.
He stood up with slight anger and walked in front of Ding Ning.
“A pot for twenty copper coins. Salted peanuts for five copper coins for a plate.” Before he spoke, Ding Ning pointed at the wine pots and plates of peanuts on the counter and motioned for him to serve himself.
The youth’s brow furrowed slightly. He could not say anything. He threw down twenty copper coins and only took a pot of wine.
When he returned to his own table, this youth looked very spirited as he went to drink the wine. He did not sip slowly like the ordinary guests. He took off the lid, and poured directly into his mouth.
In the next moment, this youth’s expression became extremely ugly. His throat seemed to be gripped by someone. Phaugh. He threw up the wine which had reached his throat.
“So sour, like you just mixed water with rotting glutinous rice, can this be considered wine!”
He looked towards the cups of the surrounding guests and then into his own pot. He was so angered even his fingers started to tremble. He couldn’t help but shout, “You did not even filter away the spent grains, can this even be called wine! And so famous?”
Looking at his indignation, the surrounding guests looked at each other. They knew this person must truly love wine. In unison, disdainful looks appeared on their faces.
So you actually came to this wine shop to taste the wine?
Are you stupid?
As this foreigner shouted, Ding Ning’s expression remained calm. He nodded seriously and answered, “This shop’s wine is always this taste.”
Snap.
The youth smashed the wine pot on the ground. He clearly was extremely angry and shouted again, “Can this be considered wine!”
“If not wine, then what?”
“The wine of the Qin is all like this. If you can drink it, drink, if you cannot, it is your problem.”
“You are Chu and you dare to rampage through Changling?”
The people of Changling had no good feelings towards foreigners, and this foreigner clearly had a Chu accent. He should not be a Qin person. Accompanied by the sound of heavy fits hitting the table, more than half of the people in the shop stood up.
“So what if I am Chu?”
This youth looked at the surrounding figures, a disdainful yet proud expression appearing at his face. “Hasn’t your Yang Mountain Commandery been given to my dynasty?”
As he said this, the shop quieted. The eyes of all the customers turned red.
This was not just a verbal fight.
In the third year of Yuanwu, the Qin Dynasty, which had destroyed the Zhao, Wei and Han dynasties had a great war against the Chu Dynasty. In that war, two hundred thousand of the Qin army had been killed. They lost countless chariots, and suffered great losses to the point they had to give up land for peace.
Up until now, they were still unable to recover the Yang Mountain Commandery.
The Chu Dynasty only sent an unfavored prince to be left at Changling as hostage, according to the agreement of the time.
A unfavored son with only six hundred square miles of land in exchange for six hundred square miles of fertile land and tens of thousands of Qin people. This matter was a humiliation for all of Qin.
As the drunkenness started to turn into murderousness, and blood would possibly start falling onto the floor, a cold voice suddenly burst into the wine ship. “Fighting and war is the matter of the soldiers and the cultivators. If you do not drink wine and want to discuss matters with people, then go out, and do not make a fuss in my place.”
The curtain towards the inner courtyard opened and Zhangsun Qianxue walked out, her expression hostile and icy.
All of the fire and murderousness in the eyes of the customers turned into heat.
The first people who stood up sat down with guilty smiles.
The youth also turned into stone.
He had never expected meeting such a beautiful person in a wine shop like this.
Looking at Zhangsun Qianxue’s enchanting features, his breathing turned irregular. He finally understood why so many customers would come to this wine shop to drink.
Wine had to warm people’s hearts.
Wine which could warm people’s heart was good wine.
While the wine of this wine shop was so sour and displeasing, when one looked at her, the heart was not the only thing warmed. These ordinary common men would feel heated all over for a long time.
“This is a beauty that rivals a commandery …… ……”
In this moment, this foreign youth was in a daze. Filled with heat, he wanted to ask the name of this woman.
“Hey, you have to pay for the broken pot.”
However, at this moment, Ding Ning raised his head and said lazily at him, “Also, before you leave, clean up the pieces on the ground so other people will not injure themselves.”
Historical note: The Qin had 34 commanderies in total. So giving up one commandery was akin to the a country giving up a state or province.
Translator Ramblings: Salted peanuts in this case are the boiled kind. Ding Ning’s explanation of Changling politics is long but the basics are 1) Changling has a lot of people and power, 2) Changling is new compared to other capitals with already entrenched factions, 3) the old powerful families and the new ennobled families all want to use this opportunity to get more power here and 4) gangs are a way of gaining control locally but some gangs do not want to work for others.
Volume 6 16 - Advisors
“In other words, so many of us from the Zhao Sword Furnace blamed him needlessly.” Zhao Ce sighed softly. “However, he did not end up well. Worse than my master. My master did not trust people, but he trusted the wrong person.”
Shi Changluo looked noncommittally at him and did not say anything. The battle with Wang Jingmeng changed the trajectory of his life. If there was no such person as Wang Jingmeng in this world, perhaps he would be the first person in the world, the sword idiot of the Ba Mountain Sword Field, and the most powerful genius.
Even though he had failed to assassinate Wang Jingmeng, he had suffered too much damage and slowed down his progress, which had a great impact on his cultivation throughout his life, but it was his own choice. He did not have much hatred towards the man.
Zhao Ce thought for a moment and then asked seriously, “Then, fairly speaking, who did you feel would have won between my master and him?”
Shi Changluo shook his head. “In truth, I think your master. Wang Jingmeng could defeat any attack, could skillfully use any attack, and any move would turn from rubbish to magic in his hands. His sword moves were seemingly made by the heavens, and all the flows of energy in their correct path. But even the most perfect sword moves will be able to be tracked. Your master sometimes used his intuition of the body when attacking, the natural reaction of a swordsman and his energies. But no one can conclude about something like this, one’s thoughts does not mean the result. One swordsman will experience many battles in life. The Wang Jingmeng who fought the three dynasties was different from the Wang Jingmeng who fought to the death in Changling. Think of how old your master was then, and how long Wang Jingmeng had cultivated. If there were ten more years, who would win?”
“You are right, us Zhao Sword Furnace people are too obsessed with this.” Zhao Ce nodded. He lifted his sword across his chest and said to Shi Changluo, “Please.”
When he said this, it meant the true battle had started. A vast and terrifying heat that had been surging in the air disappeared back into his body and sword.
The fire on his sword that had been shining with dazzling light disappeared. The sword turned back to ordinary metal. But he seemed to have consumed all the flames, and his skin gave off a red jade-like sheen. His eyes were the most terrifying, they had turned completely red, crystal clear like rubies, filled with an obsessive and vicious air……
There was no humanity, just a demon nature. In the world of cultivators, if a cultivator fell into a world made from their sword essence, and their mind was trapped, they would go mad. This was a terrifying thing for the cultivator.
But Zhao Ce’s first move was to go berserk. Before his sword essence actually attacked, the world around him and Shi Changluo was filled with his demonic killing intent.
Ordinary cultivators saw in the empty air, large blooms of gray dust started to fall, like gray snow.
A black ripple spread from Shi Changluo’s sword, and then turned to a wave, slamming on the surrounding space. He started to draw his sword. There was nothing in his hand, but his right hand moved deep from his chest height. A black hilt appeared in his right hand, and a ghostly and dense flame appeared at his chest.
The sound of the siege quieted. From a certain point of view, this was another battle between the Zhao Sword Furnace, and the Ba Mountain Sword Field. All the cultivators in and out of the city knew that the battle between these two people had started in the space.
A strange lifebond presence expanded as Shi Changluo drew his sword. Lifebond energy kept on surging out of his chest, and then turned to a sword in his hand. He seemed to be pulling a pitch black out of his body. His movement was very slow.
The scene right now was very odd. It looked like one person was focused on drawing the sword, and the other was quietly going mad. But more and more gray dust fell down in the air.
Finally, the pinch black sword in Shi Changluo’s hand showed its tip. He had finished drawing his sword. The moment the sword tip left his body, it pulled out hundreds of black lines, and then the shadow of a person was drawn out of his body by these black lines. With this sword, he seemed to have drawn out his soul.
All of the gray dust falling through the air and the gray dust on the ground danced madly, surging at Zhao Ce. The gray dust gathered up like a shell, covering him, and turning him to a gray statue. But in the next moment, the eyes of the statue started to burn, showing a pair of blood red eyes.
This statue seemed to be mad.
A cracking sound started from the sword that Zhao Ce held. Dust flew away from the cracks of the sword’s gray shell, and cut off the cultivators’ perception.
Everyone could clearly see that Zhao Ce was standing there, and the shell was cracking and burning, but no one could sense him. First was going mad, and then was to cut off consciousness. This was like the ultimate sword essence of the Spirit Void Sword Sect.
Shi Changluo could not feel Zhao Ce in his consciousness, but he was not affected at all. He knew that his previous attack could not have defeated Zhao Ce completely, and right now, what Zhao Ce was showing was not his strongest.
The black sword in his hand made a soft sound. Many black human-shaped energies surged out. A black dot of light suddenly appeared in front of Zhao Ce and then formed a black bamboo stalk.
A strange power grew with the bamboo, attacking relentlessly at the space where Zhao Ce was in. Crystal light sprayed out like many mirrors were cracking at the same time.
Zhao Ce’s figure completely disappeared.
In the next moment, when he appeared back in everybody’s sight, he was less than seventy feet away from Shi Changluo.
The mad light in his eyes had disappeared, but his body and sword burned like never before, exploding out. Then he savagely slashed down, the flames shooting up and forming a true furnace around his body. Then the fire furnace seemed to flow off his sword like a drop of water, the space shaking and enveloping Shi Changluo!
The pitch black sword in Shi Changluo’s hands disappeared. He held up his palm, a fine wisp of smoke dancing where the black lifebond sword had disappeared. He was split in half into black and white. On his left side, he was so black his features could not be seen. But on his right, he was dazzling, shining with light. A terrifying power formed into a line, about to cut this furnace apart!
Zhao Ce frowned deeply. He did not know where Shi Changluo had gotten this ghostly and Yin method that had merged with the Ba Mountain Sword Field’s sword manual. The power was so strange he could not measure it at all.
The moment before the furnace was broken, he just felt an invisible whirlpool appear in front of him. This invisible whirlpool contained two different powers, the extreme Yang and the extreme Yin. Of them, some of the power even came from his sword. He could not defeat Shi Changluo’s attack. He was even sure, at any moment before today, facing Shi Changluo like this, he could not win at all.
But today, he did not think so.
Because just after he had slashed his sword, he seemed to have been on the scene, and caught some of the verve that his master had back then. He had no stray thoughts in his mind, just simply slashed his sword again.
The fire red sword swept the air in front of him and a red sword mark emerged.
Volume 2 16 - Sword Fire
This chapter has been brought to you by me, and larkspur.
Of the two figures, one was old, with white hair and beard that dangled like roots. This was the teacher Huang Zhenwei, the chief of the Clan Law Bureau, together with Emperor Yuanwu.
Little was known about this old person. Almost no one even knew his name. The only certain thing was that his cultivation was strong, knew much about cultivation, and was extremely old. He had once been the teacher of the previous emperor.
A person like this, naturally, had extraordinary wisdom.
Sitting respectfully next to him was not Huang Zhenwei who had followed him in Changling to study, but that dignified palace attendant who frequently entered the empress’ study.
In her hand was a bead, the size of a pigeon’s egg with multiple facets. While they were extremely far from Forefather Zhou, Ding Ning, Fu Su and the others, yet she seemed to be able to clearly see everything happening through the bead.
"Official, this person is so vicious. Should he be killed?"
The sight of Fu Su and Ding Ning being controlled by Forefather Zhou, turned this dignified palace attendant’s expression cold, thus she queried gravely.
Her words were not "Official, should you kill him", but "Should he be killed." This meant that even without this old man acting, she had the ability to kill Forefather Zhou at this moment.
"If he was to be killed, we could have done it when he left Changling. An old worm like Forefather Zhou will not have good intentions. But despite everything, he is a grandmaster of the Qin Dynasty. There may be some use in keeping him on this trip to Deer Mountain."
Hearing the palace attendant’s murderous words, the old man smiled slightly and said, "Also, I want to see what he is going to do."
The palace attendant reined in her anger and said slowly, "That wine shop youth is pretty good."
The old man nodded gently and said, "But we have to see if he can overcome this obstacle and the Min Mountain Sword Trials."
The palace attendant turned silent. A long while later, she asked respectfully, "Even you do not have absolute confidence in the conference this time?"
"Our dynasty once killed four hundred thousand of the Zhao Dynasty. Everybody felt that within the next month, the Zhao Dynasty would be destroyed." The old man looked down and said slowly, "But the sudden appearance of a Zhao Sword Furnace stopped our army from advancing. A major reason behind the loss of our dynasty in fighting the Chu Dynasty was because our dynasty lost too many good cultivators to the war with the Zhao."
"That was just the Zhao. There are too many capable and skilled people in the world." The old man looked at the wrinkles on his hands and continued. "The rise and fall of a dynasty is never something that one cultivator could decide. No one can guarantee what kind of grandmasters will appear at the Deer Mountain Conference this time. The grandmaster of the Zhao Sword Furnace of the past is the best example. So, I say that the Min Mountain Sword Trials is an obstacle he has to overcome because, according to my knowledge, only some of Min Mountain Sword Sect’s methods will allow him to continue living. As to saying Deer Mountain Conference is also an obstacle he has to overcome, it is because the Deer Mountain Conference is closely related to all Qin cultivators. In times of chaos, cultivators like him cannot cultivate in peace."
The palace attendant took a deep breath, and did not continue the conversation.She felt that she was just worrying on her own. She hadn’t expected that even the teacher of the Holy One was deeply worried.
But unbeknownst to her, what the old man was truly worried about was the sudden appearance of the Nine Death Silkworm.
"The emperor is at Deer Mountain. It could be said that more than half of the Qin Dynasty’s power has left Changling. If it really is your heir, what would they do at this time?"
The old man was undoubtedly one of the people who knew that person’s abilities the best. So in his view, if there was one person who could fatally influence the Qin Dynasty, it would be the heir to that person.
Even so, never had this wise old man thought that the Nine Death Silkworm he was worried about, would appear right before his eyes……
The water between the Wu Mountains was turbulent. The water raged through the mountains with hardly any merchant and fishing boats. The shores had not many inhabitants either.
Yet, at this time, there were more than a dozen armored ships passing through one of the rivers.
A man dressed in light yellow dragon robes was standing on the first ship. While he just looked calmly at the floating clouds in the sky and the waves in the water, his presence seemingly suppressed this raging river, even the current slowed.
Behind him stood several generals in black combat robes and important people of Changling.
He was naturally the most important person of the Deer Mountain Conference this time, Emperor Yuanwu of the Qin.
While even his teacher lacked absolute confidence that the Qin Dynasty could regain face in the Deer Mountain Conference this time, everybody knew that the reason for this was that he was the common enemy of the other three dynasties.
Cries of monkeys seemingly rang throughout the two sides of the mountains, and then disappeared as if the monkeys had fled. But this cry caused Emperor Yuanwu’s eyebrows to move slightly and brought him out of his musings.
He beckoned behind him and said, "Bureau Chief Huang, come up."
Huang Zhenwei, who had been standing respectfully on the deck and observing the mountains on the two shores, immediately walked behind Emperor Yuanwu, stopping two body-widths away.
"Stand next to me." Emperor Yuanwu put his hand behind his back and said without looking back.
Huang Zhenwei took a deep breath. He was shocked, but he did not say anything. He walked forward and stood together with the emperor on his right to watch the waves splash on the rocks ahead.
"You are the person I chose. I had my teacher teach you. Strictly speaking, you are my junior sect brother," Emperor Yuanwu said slowly. "The reason I chose you is because you are a true nationalist. You know and understand that everything I do is to make the dynasty stronger and more prosperous, so the people of the world can live better in the future. You are the most purely loyal person to me in Changling."
Huang Zhenwei nodded slightly in gratitude to Emperor Yuanwu for his praise, but he couldn’t help but think,
"You must be wondering why I called up to stand with me."
Emperor Yuanwu looked at the nearing Deer Mountain and said to Huang Zhenwei, "Because even the strongest emperor is first a person and has their own emotions."
Huang Zhenwei couldn’t help but glance at the other and say softly, "This subject doesn’t understand."
"In the three years before my ascension, no one in the Qin Dynasty dared to stand side by side with me," Emperor Yuanwu said slowly. "In a situation like this, at a conference like this, I should have many people standing with me. But because they were too stubborn, I am the only one left to stand on the ship and lead the Qin Dynasty forward. Since three years before my ascension, I have become a lonely being."
Huang Zhenwei’s breathing paused slightly. His gentle and scholarly expression did not change, but his heart contracted slightly.
He knew the emperor’s emotions at this time were due to nostalgia of past events, but he didn’t know what true emotions were contained within this nostalgia.
"This lonely one has you come forward in order to fight side by side with me at Deer Mountain Conference."
Emperor Yuanwu did not look at him. He seemed to sigh softly. "After this conference, this lonely one will become a true lonely one."
Huang Zhenwei’s eyes were filled with unprecedented shock.
The phrase was awkward, but when he heard the words, and how Emperor Yuanwu had changed how he referred to himself as ’the lonely one’, he clearly sensed the true meaning.
The Holy One had such strong confidence towards the Deer Mountain Conference.
A black shadow came down from the sky. It neared, it was a black goshawk.
This goshawk landed on the arm of a black-armored general. The general took out a secret missive from the small metal tube tied to its claw and handed it to an unusually fat man next to him.
This unusually fat man gave off a dominant presence. He was another important existence of Changling, Marquis Xu of Mountain Heng.
Marquis Xu took a few steps forward, his footsteps sent tremors down the entire ship to trembl.
"The first one to ascend Deer Mountain is the Chu King. He held a ceremony to the heavens at Deer Mountain and has established Li Lingjun as the crown prince," Marquis Xu said softly, as he stood behind Emperor Yuanwu after reading the missive.
"The first to ascend the mountain is Chu, the first to die must be Chu."
Emperor Yuanwu smiled proudly, not surprised. He said slowly, "This has nothing to do with the old age of the Chu King and who will take over the throne. When a dynasty over-relies on material items, their cultivators will naturally lose their spirits. The Chu can produce true craftsmen at making weapons, but not true cultivation grandmasters."
Marquis Xu smiled arrogantly.
Among the dynasties at present, the Chu Dynasty was still the strongest, but in their eyes, the Chu Dynasty was their weakest opponent.
Translator Ramblings: I’m not sure how common water travel was in the Qin for long distances. I know that southern China has "water-towns" but the Qin is more in the North. River travel probably is best if the roads aren’t good and I guess cultivators can easily make canals …… just have a realm seven walk around dragging his sword ……
寡人 (guaren) meaning the lonely person was one of the ways monarchs used to refer to themselves, equivalent to the royal We. This showed how the monarch was unrivaled in status (but humble).
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