Chapter 869: Are You There

The swords that had emerged from the lake piled up into a mountain, resembling the Tianmu Mountain island in the middle of Spring God Lake.

The sword tips pointed towards the waterside pavilion, making one wonder if the young prince felt a prickle of unease.

The Empress of Western Chu, who had not once looked at him from beginning to end, gazed up, captivated and lost in thought by the famous swords, longswords, ancient swords, and new swords she had borrowed from various places.

Xu Fengnian bent at the waist, hands on his knees, gazing down at the pair of boots, and said softly, "I saw the vegetable garden on Wudang Mountain last time I went there. If no one takes care of it, it will truly go to waste. What a pity."

"Your house on Qingliang Mountain, I had someone put up a spring couplet on Lunar New Year's Eve last year. Everything inside is kept for you, and I haven't let anyone touch it; the door has remained locked. Just imagine how dirty it must be after so long without cleaning."

"When my father was on his deathbed, he told me that no matter what, no matter how chaotic the world became, I must bring you home. In his heart, you, Jiang Ni, were always the Xu family's first daughter-in-law. My father felt this way, and my mother felt it even more strongly."

Receiving no response, Xu Fengnian continued to speak to himself, appearing quite lonely.

Meanwhile, as if finding Song Wenfeng, who lay on the ground, too much of an eyesore, Xu Fengnian flicked his sleeve and sent him flying out of the pavilion. Deputy Commander He Taisheng of the Imperial Guards, who had just shown signs of regaining consciousness, was knocked unconscious again before he could even open his eyes.

"If you feel that abandoning the country during a national crisis, as the Emperor of Western Chu, would leave you uneasy, I can understand that. However, I don't know if Cao Changqing has been entirely forthright with you. The decline of Western Chu is unstoppable. Therefore, your Great Chu will leave behind four to five hundred scholars who will break through the Guazizhou front line, rendezvous with my Great Snow Dragon Riders, and then return to Beiliang together. Many people have died in Western Chu, but you shouldn't think that everyone died for you, Jiang Si. That's not the case. The reason for Western Chu's rapid rise and fall is largely because the true elders of Great Chu, after Cao Changqing's restoration attempt, either died in the mountains and forests or, even if they survived, did not enter officialdom. They were truly disheartened, which is why you have this group of clowns from the Song family."

"Furthermore, rest assured, the restoration of Western Chu was merely a strategic move by the Liyang imperial court, long planned by individuals like Zhang Julu, Yuan Benxi, and Huan Wen. Firstly, it was to completely eradicate the old foundations of the Spring and Autumn era—a centipede dies but never truly stiffens—and to ensure that the Jiangnan region, especially the Jiangzuo literati, harbored no further illusions. Secondly, the court sought to seize the opportunity to weaken the separatist forces of various princes and local military commanders. The imperial court doesn't really care about the common people of Western Chu. Ultimately, half of the empire's taxes come from Guangling. As long as the great enemy in the north, Beimang, remains, the court will not truly crack down on Guangling Dao; it will primarily focus on appeasement. Finally, both Qi Yanglong, the Grand Secretariat of Liyang, and Huan Wen of the Chancellery, harbor pity for the literati and common people of Guangling, never treating them as enemies. A crucial point that can attest to this is that Xu Gong of the Gumu Xu clan leading his army south was actually a gesture of goodwill from the court. This is like 'surrounding three sides and leaving one open' in battle, giving the besieged side a glimmer of hope. It's not that the court is particularly magnanimous; if they had completely pressed in, leaving no hope for Western Chu's civilian and military officials, a fight to the death would certainly be detrimental to Liyang's upcoming decisive battle with Beimang. You should know that Western Chu's successive victories last year, especially the great victories by Xie Xichui and Kou Jianghuai, had already exceeded the court's expectations. Therefore, whether Western Chu has you, Emperor Jiang Si, or not, is no longer important. In fact, without you and Cao Changqing, fewer people might die on the Guangling Dao battlefield."

"Even Cao Changqing has let go. He didn't use Gu Jiantang or Wang Sui, and he abandoned his potential pawns in Beimang's Southern Dynasty, not allowing the entire Central Plains to erupt in conflict. So why can't you let go?"

Jiang Ni suddenly stood up, barefoot save for her socks. She walked towards the waterside pavilion steps, her back to the garrulous young man who bore little resemblance to the Crown Prince he once was. In a cold, unmodulated voice, she pointed towards Taiji Hall. "I am the last legitimate descendant of the Jiang clan of Great Chu. The late emperor died there. Why should I leave?! Why should I?! If it were you, if the Beimang army broke through Liangzhou's borders and advanced all the way to Qingliang Mountain, would you, the King of Beiliang, leave?!"

Xu Fengnian did not stand up, but looked up at her back. "I wouldn't leave, but you, Jiang Ni, can. If you don't go, I'll tie you up and take you."

Jiang Ni sneered, "As expected of the King of Beiliang, who commands thirty legions of cavalry! Not only did you wreak havoc in the Liyang capital, but you're just as tyrannical and arrogant here in the Great Chu capital!"

She slowly turned around and suddenly said furiously, "But don't forget, Xu Fengnian, I am no longer the Qingliang Mountain maidservant who could be bullied by anyone! I, Jiang Si, am the Emperor of Great Chu, and I, Jiang Si, am also the co-sovereign of all longswords under heaven!"

In an instant, ten thousand swords flew forth, reducing the exquisite, delicate, and historic lakeside pavilion to a pile of ruins.

Dust flew, then settled.

Xu Fengnian sat motionless on the small remaining section of the long bench. Her pair of boots, at his feet, remained spotless.

The ground around Xu Fengnian was covered with over a hundred longswords, sticking out at odd angles. Streaks of sword energy swirled around them. Their auras were varied: some ancient like an old man nearing the end of his days, some lively like a young maiden, some mighty like a robust northwestern soldier, some sharp like a formidable battlefield general, some graceful like a refined lady, some grand like a towering mountain pass, and some profound like a boundless river or sea.

Xu Fengnian said softly, "I've explained the reasons, but you won't listen. Today, either you come with me, or I'll stay here and wait for you to come with me. I don't care if you're Jiang Si or Jiang Ni, or if you're the Emperor of Western Chu or a little maidservant from Qingliang Mountain."

Xu Fengnian forced a smile; it wasn't flippant, only forlorn. "Anyway, you're already used to my unreasonableness. Just get used to it one more time."

Jiang Ni, one of the four Beauties on the Rouge List, faced Xu Fengnian, one of the four Grandmasters of Martial Arts.

Between the two, who shared both national vendetta and personal enmity, lay the vastness of the imperial court and the distance of the martial world.

Xu Fengnian dusted off his clothes and slowly stood up.

The hundred thousand swords in the lake instantly hummed and vibrated. Although Jiang Ni's internal energy had been suppressed by the Song family's drugs, the three generations of scholars in the Song family could never have imagined the astonishing progress of Jiang Ni, a born sword-embryo favored even by Li Chungang, in her mastery of the sword. Where her thoughts arose and her will extended, so too did her flying swords and spiritual energy follow.

The murderous Jiang Ni seemed overcome with anger; her body trembled. The hundred thousand swords, like a peak fallen from the sky, also began to shake violently. She stared at the young man, gritting her teeth and saying, "You will really die!"

Xu Fengnian nodded, "I know. You've thought about stabbing me to death with a sword for many years."

Jiang Ni suddenly raised her hand. Five flying swords, as if receiving a divine decree, instantly detached from the sword mountain and streaked swiftly towards her, embedding themselves into the ground on either side of Jiang Ni.

Xu Fengnian, standing his ground, found both his shoulders and sleeves grazed and torn.

Jiang Ni still seemed unsatisfied, her fingers trembling. Hundreds and thousands of swords began to "fall from the mountain," streaking past dazingly between her and Xu Fengnian.

She said tremblingly, "Do you really want to die here in the Great Chu capital?!"

The scoundrel opposite her surprisingly grinned and said, "Guess?"

As if a lifetime of grievances exploded in that instant, her eyes turned red, and she stretched one arm to the side, grasping a flying sword that appeared by her hand with the force of thunder.

At the same time, the sword mountain slowly moved, a vast peak pressing down, eventually hovering high above their heads, casting a colossal shadow.

The light grew dim, and she could no longer see his face.

She only heard her furious shout, "Xu Fengnian, are you leaving or not?!"

She only heard a warm voice reply, "No."

A mountain of swords, a hundred thousand swords, fell like a heavy snowfall, grandly and desolate, descending upon the earth and into the martial world.

Xu Fengnian looked up at the sky. A longsword, which should have fallen on his head, hovered a few feet above him, refusing to descend.

He murmured to himself, inaudibly.

"I used to always bully you. I liked to pretend to be a ghost outside your room in the middle of the night, to suddenly crawl out when you were drawing water from the well, to throw snowballs at you when it snowed, and to hide in a tree to scare you when you passed by. I know you felt wronged and were very angry…"

"But if I hadn't bullied you all those years, you wouldn't have paid any attention to me."

Then he heard a weeping sound. At that moment, he closed his eyes, his face etched with pain.

"Xu Fengnian, you're forcing my hand!"

The longsword above Xu Fengnian's head turned to dust.

But between him and her, a flying sword streaked forward.

A sword pierced his chest.

The flying sword was not fast.

But he did not dodge.

Over the years, Han Shengxuan wanted him dead, Liu Haoshi wanted him dead, Wang Xianzhi wanted him dead, and the immortal from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau wanted him dead.

No matter how arrogant those opponents were, Xu Fengnian never passively awaited death; he only fought them with an unyielding spirit and emerged victorious!

The longsword ran him through.

This sword strike was not even comparable to Qi Jiajie's sword, nor to Huang Qing of Beimang's sword, nor to many others' swords.

Yet, half of that sword remained in his chest, while the other half protruded from his back.

This scene mirrored a similar tragedy: A pair of lovers, Li Chungang and Lv Pao'er, had once shared a similar tragic moment.

She stood frozen in place.

Xu Fengnian opened his eyes, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He raised his arm, as if reaching for something, but in the end, he only gently gripped the hilt of the longsword and looked at her deeply.

The young man, weary from his journey from Beiliang to Guangling, turned around, slowly pulled out the sword that had pierced his chest, and casually tossed it aside. He clutched his continuously bleeding chest and said nothing.

He had traveled thousands of miles, from the desolate border pass all the way to a place of beautiful mountains and clear waters.

His clothes were already wrinkled, and his boots were worn.

He carried a thousand words in his heart, but in the end, he did not know how to begin.

To this world, the young man was like a pawn that had crossed the river on a chessboard. He took out his "crossed-river pawn" blade, slowly ran his palm over its edge. The blade seemed to drink the blood as a person drinks water, not a single drop remaining as it all seeped into the blade.

He crouched down and placed this "crossed-river pawn" blade near the pair of boots. "If anyone bullies you in the future, just break this blade. Even if I'm ten million li away, I'll arrive instantly."

He paused, then said hoarsely, "Even if I'm dead by then, I'll come back from the underworld to the world of the living, just to see you one last time."

Then he stood up and declared loudly to the heavens and earth, "Anyone who dares to kill Jiang Ni, I, Xu Fengnian, will surely kill them!"

After saying this, he raised his arm to cover his eyes and did not lower it for a long time.

He took a step and vanished in a flash.

Her hand remained stretched out towards the distance, as if trying to grasp something.

Her face suddenly turned ashen, and her other hand covered her mouth, but scarlet blood still seeped through her fingers.

Yet, the hand that sought to grasp something refused to lower.

She desperately wanted to turn her head, desperately wanted to see a smiling face there—a person whose face she had been unable to detest for many years, smiling broadly at her.

She turned her head.

He was gone.