Chapter 43: The Butcher

The Prince had always been the one to tease others; it was unheard of for him to be the one teased. What's more, the foxy-faced man beside him was, well, a man! Xu Fengnian felt a surge of sadness. Even with the Spring Thunder Saber, he was no match for the foxy-faced man. He immediately felt an urge to seclude himself and practice his saber skills for a few centuries, believing that after all that time, he could become invincible. The Prince had fallen so low that all he had left was this kind of self-hypnosis. The foxy-faced man leisurely drank his wine, his phoenix eyes glancing sideways at Xu Wulai's discomfited expression. He felt immense satisfaction. Two pots of wine warmed his stomach, but his words warmed his heart. No wonder Xu the Beggar, despite his destitution during his travels back then, remained sharp-tongued. Sometimes, words could be more infuriating and seem sharper than even the Embroidered Winter or Spring Thunder sabers.

After finishing his wine, the foxy-faced man placed the two empty flasks at his feet and looked at the calm surface of the lake. He smiled faintly. "I listened to 'The Grand Northern Liang Soul-Soothing Song' that night," he said. "The lyrics are well-written, but the composition is a bit lacking, wasting one thousand and eight characters."

Xu Fengnian pointed at himself and let out a dry laugh. "Forgive me," he said, "but that composition was by yours truly."

The foxy-faced man playfully jabbed him, then offered a compliment. "When I said it wasn't good, it was because the lyrics were so exceptional," he explained. "If your composition were judged on its own, it would still exceed my expectations. It seems I can no longer call you a blockhead."

Xu Fengnian leaned straight back, lying on the ground, and said indifferently, "Go ahead and curse me. It's rare to find someone whose insults I don't get angry at. Can't let that go to waste."

The foxy-faced man asked, "What if someone else curses you?"

Xu Fengnian stated as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "First, I curse them back, then I beat them to a pulp."

The foxy-faced man suddenly understood. "No wonder everyone in Northern Liang says you're arrogant and overbearing."

Xu Fengnian pretended to be profound. "I suppose you've figured it out," he said. "It's all an act. Actually, I'm just biding my time, enduring hardships to achieve a grand goal. One day, I will shock the world and let everyone know about my civil and military accomplishments!"

The foxy-faced man said lazily, "You're not acting; you're just going with the flow. Your true nature is that of a lazy rascal."

Xu Fengnian burst into hearty laughter. "Foxy-faced man, you really understand me," he said cheerfully. "What was it you just said? Oh, I remember now! If only you were a woman, I would marry you!"

The foxy-faced man ignored this comment and quietly asked, "Someone as lazy as you, learning the saber? Is it truly for Old Huang?"

Xu Fengnian shook his head. "Not entirely. Most likely, I'll never be able to defeat that old monster Wang Xianzhi in this lifetime, and naturally, I won't be able to retrieve Old Huang's sword case. I'm very clear on this. But I secretly think, even if I can't defeat Wang Xianzhi, I can at least wait until the day he dies of old age. If this second-ranked master can live another sixty or seventy years, he's truly formidable, and I'd be utterly convinced. If he doesn't live that long, then I'll just go and tear down the entire Wudi City!"

The foxy-faced man asked with a smile, "So, before Wang Xianzhi dies of illness or old age, you won't go to the East Sea?"

Xu Fengnian replied seriously, "I will. I might leave Northern Liang right after the New Year. Some debts need to be repaid, some people need to be cursed, and some people need to be killed. Of course, I'll also visit Wudi City."

The foxy-faced man turned his head to look at the lying Prince, asking doubtfully, "Since you can't defeat him or retrieve the sword case, why go?"

Xu Fengnian said calmly, "Just to see it. If I don't go, I'm afraid that as the years slowly pass—one year, two years, three years—Old Huang and the sword case will fade from my memory, and I'll forget them."

The foxy-faced man thought for a moment, then also lay down straight, stretching his legs. He said softly, "It seems I'm similar; I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on, and then I'll forget everything. Giving you Embroidered Winter back then was the right thing to do. Now, exchanging it for Spring Thunder, it probably won't be a bad trade."

Xu Fengnian chuckled slyly, "Foxy-faced man, it's a pity you're a man."

The foxy-faced man retaliated, narrowing his eyes with a smile, "It's a pity you're not a woman."

Xu Fengnian closed his eyes.

The foxy-faced man said softly, "If you leave Northern Liang, I won't follow. The armory has five floors of secret manuals, and I won't leave this floor until I've ascended to the very top. So, can your condition be changed?"

Without waiting for Xu Fengnian to answer, the foxy-faced man continued, "Even if you don't agree and still want me to travel the Jianghu with you, I will fulfill my promise."

Xu Fengnian, still resting with his eyes closed, tugged at the corner of his mouth and said, "One Embroidered Winter for one Spring Thunder is enough. Old Huang said that people must be content to feel truly fulfilled. Listen to that wisdom; no wonder he could perform those nine swords. I think *that's* what makes a true master. To hell with Wang Xianzhi, Deng Ta'a, and Cao Guanzi!"

The foxy-faced man also closed his eyes and actually dozed off.

Waking up in the early morning, the foxy-faced man abruptly sat up, his face ashen, and the Embroidered Winter saber beside him vibrated with a startling hum. It was only when he noticed a familiar mink fur coat draped over him that he quickly calmed down, letting out a self-deprecating laugh.

When Xu Fengnian found Jiang Ni, she was carrying water and washing clothes. Her few thin, faded garments were the kind she wouldn't even dare to scrub hard. Upon seeing Xu Fengnian, the maidservant, who had with great difficulty grown from a "Flat-chested Princess" to a "Slightly-less-flat Princess" over the years, maintained a stony expression and ignored the Prince. Xu Fengnian had heard that his second sister, upon returning to the manor, had, despite ignoring him, secretly given this silly girl, who had foolishly written 'The Great Geng Horn Oath of Assassination,' a terrible dressing-down. Xu Fengnian felt no pity, only schadenfreude, thinking, "Let you cause trouble, let you refuse to neatly tidy that small vegetable patch." Jiang Ni seemed to catch a glimpse of Xu Fengnian's mischievous smile out of the corner of her eye, and her face grew colder. Accidentally, she scrubbed the clothes with too much force, her eyes filled with annoyance, and her movements immediately became gentler. She no longer bothered to quarrel with Xu Fengnian.

This Prince was a dissolute scion of a noble house who, when bored, could casually compose a 'Northern Liang Soul-Soothing Song' that would be heard throughout the city. And she was merely a maidservant who didn't even dare to scrub a few garments hard. What was the point of holding a grudge against him?

Xu Fengnian glanced at Jiang Ni's red, frozen cheeks. Her dimples were shallower when she wasn't smiling. Looking at her eyes, they seemed lifeless. Had she become disheartened after being lectured by his second sister? Had she given up on wanting to kill him? This wasn't like the mad girl's usual style. Could it be that his second sister had given her too strong a dose of 'medicine' this time?

Xu Fengnian thought for a moment, then smiled. "For the next few days, come to the Wutong Courtyard and read to me," he said. "One character for one coin. How about that deal?"

Without a moment's thought, Jiang Ni said decisively, "No!"

Xu Fengnian said unhurriedly, "You know, what I'm asking you to read are the secret manuals and ancient texts in the armory. You won't read them? You won't earn this money?"

Jiang Ni's brows furrowed, and her movements while washing clothes became even more meticulous and slow.

Xu Fengnian turned and walked away.

Jiang Ni scoffed coldly and continued to wash clothes, head bowed.

She wasn't going to take the bait!

Xu Fengnian's voice, accompanied by clicking sounds of disapproval, drifted from afar: "One character, one coin. A thousand characters, one string of coins. One hundred thousand characters a day would be one hundred strings. Even accounting for rest days, that's at least thirty-six thousand strings a year. Imagine having thirty thousand strings of coins tied around your waist at year-end! Just thinking about it feels grand. What a pity, though."

Jiang Ni pursed her lips.

Xu Fengnian seemed to walk further and further away, yet his voice remained clear: "Read ten thousand volumes, and writing will be like a god's inspiration. And there's another old saying, 'Read three hundred poems, and even if you can't compose, you can at least recite.' Well, I'll just have Sweet Potato and Green Ant, those close maidservants, read to me. Their voices are more pleasant anyway."

Jiang Ni turned her head and spat fiercely towards Xu Fengnian.

Xu Fengnian always treated Jiang Ni this way, merely teasing and provoking her until she bristled like a furious kitten, but he never actually hurt her. Perhaps his actions contained many small, insignificant acts of kindness, but Jiang Ni either ignored them or took them as provocations.

After the Prince disappeared from her peripheral vision, Jiang Ni fell into a daze. Although she was born into a peak of nobility, a child of only a few years old could hardly grasp the concept of money. Later, she was captured and brought into the Northern Liang Prince's Manor, where she lived a life of extreme hardship and poverty. Her current monthly allowance was less than two taels of silver. To be "rich beyond measure" meant possessing ten thousand taels of silver—truly an unimaginable sum. Jiang Ni actually had little interest in the money-making venture. What truly attracted her were the secret manuals in the armory, which had been out of her reach for many years. She knew, of course, that Xu Fengnian, that cruel villain, was desperately practicing his saber at Wudang, without a moment's rest or slack. This made Jiang Ni wonder, what could the talisman she kept wrapped around her arm possibly do?

She couldn't kill the Prince with it years ago. A few years from now, even with a hundred or a thousand talismans, would she be able to kill him?

But if she agreed to read for him, given how manipulative and cunning Xu Fengnian was, wouldn't there be a trap waiting for her?

Jiang Ni, her eyes vacant, walked aimlessly and crouched in front of the small snowman.

There is no greater sorrow than a heart that has died.

Xu Fengnian stood in the shadows, squinting as he watched the little mud figure and the small snowman.

Grand Pillar Xu Xiao appeared out of nowhere, standing behind him and chuckling, "Watched her for over a decade and still haven't had enough?"

Xu Fengnian rolled his eyes.

Xu Xiao noticed that Spring Thunder had replaced Embroidered Winter, and let out a surprised "Hmm?" He asked curiously, "How did you trick him into giving it to you?"

Xu Fengnian scoffed coldly, "Don't pretend to be ignorant with me. Is there anything in the Prince's Manor that you don't know?"

Xu Xiao smiled slightly and said, "Since you and the foxy-faced man have discovered the hidden path below, how about accompanying your father to the memorial hall again?"

Xu Fengnian assented with a grunt.

Silently, Xu Fengnian followed the hunchbacked Xu Xiao into the Listening Tide Pavilion. Xu Fengnian threw out Spring Thunder, opening the door.

Seeing Xu Xiao enter empty-handed, Xu Fengnian whispered, "Aren't you going to offer a toast?"

Xu Xiao didn't turn his head, saying blandly, "No need. I'm the only one left alive. What's the point of toasting? It's something no one else can drink anyway."

Upon reaching the memorial hall, which Xu Fengnian regarded as the underworld, Xu Xiao sat on a cushion and waved to Xu Fengnian, gesturing for him to sit down as well.

After his son sat down, Xu Xiao pointed to a memorial tablet directly in front of them. "Chen Qiong, Chen Zhibao's father. During the Battle of Jinliao, he traded his life for mine. Otherwise, this position today would be his.

"During the great defeat at Yique Pass, Wang Jian, known as the 'Foe of Ten Thousand,' single-handedly propped open the city gates, allowing me to escape with my life. His corpse was hacked into minced meat.

"Campaigning in Western Chu, I endured a bitter two-year standoff with the enemy at Xileibi. Everyone in the world believed I would join forces with the Western Chu emperor and then divide the realm north and south along the river. Ma Ling, who had finally become an official in the capital to live out his retirement, brought fourteen old Northern Liang generals with him and all sacrificed their lives to vouch for my loyalty.

"In Xingqiu of Eastern Yue, Fan Li, who loved to belt out songs with his raspy voice whenever he drank, also passed away.

"In Western Shu, only ten li from the imperial palace, Strategist Zhao Changling died of illness. Just ten li away, he could have personally slain the foolish ruler of Western Shu who annihilated his entire family.

"Han Li, who was not deserving of death, I personally beheaded him to enforce military discipline."

Xu Xiao pointed to each memorial tablet, his voice hoarse, his tone flat, yet every word struck like thunder.

Xu Fengnian trembled all over.

Xu Xiao, limping, stood up straight, gazing at the layers upon layers of memorial tablets. He sneered, "Fengnian, once you leave Western Liang, I'm heading to the capital. I'd like to see who dares to take my life! Their meager strength couldn't even lift the head of Xu Xiao, the Butcher!"