After leaving the Song residence, Xiao Rong held his hand warmers. He looked back at the tall plaque of the Song Family’s residence, said nothing, and walked back the way he had come.

……

Although the weather was cold, there were still many people on the streets. Everyone walked in a hurry, though no one knew exactly what they were rushing to do. There were different kinds of haste. Last year, when Xiao Rong saw people in Southern Yong, they also looked like they were rushing home, but those people, besides being anxious, also gave off a tense feeling. They didn’t just look forward, they also had to watch their surroundings. If someone suddenly approached them, they could be startled into a sharp turn, and anyone who didn’t know better would think they were living in a place overrun with monsters and demons.

Chenliu no longer had that situation. No one looked around nervously, and no one stood in the street rolling their eyes around. Even someone like Xiao Rong could go out with only one attendant. If anyone blind enough dared to attack him, then he might even be able to recover a bit of his past enjoyment.

……

Since others had things to do, they walked quickly. Xiao Rong, having nothing in particular to do, strolled slowly. When he saw a notice board ahead, he suddenly remembered something he had instructed earlier, and quickened his pace to glance over its contents.

On snowy days with slippery roads, the government urged all citizens to not only clear the snow in front of their own doors.

Donghe Dock was recruiting laborers. Because of the cold weather, an extra charcoal subsidy was given, and strong workers were preferred.

Yunsha Pavilion, Hao Yi De. Address—Baibao Street, turn left at Luer Alley, second storefront.

Xiao Rong: “…”

Alright, advertisements are being posted now.

The notice board had originally been meant to serve the people. In truth, the government didn’t issue many official documents each month. In the past, Xiao Rong had filled it with small life tips. Now, shopkeepers had discovered the benefits of the notice board as well, indirectly increasing people’s interest in it.

However, not everyone could be allowed to post things. Otherwise, it would eventually become chaotic, and even official documents would no longer be visible. Fees would have to be charged.

Xiao Rong sighed inwardly. He wasn’t doing it for money—he was doing it for the order of the notice board.

……

On the right side were unimportant postings. The left side contained the official notices, such as the Northern Army’s great victory and the destruction of the Xianbei—things worthy of being placed in the most prominent positions.

However, Xiao Rong didn’t come to look at those. He came to look at the wanted notice.

According to his earlier instructions, Gao Xunzhi posted an official document announcing the eradication of the Qingfeng Cult. Later, overnight, he ordered woodblock carvings of a portrait, and Han Qing’s face had been posted on every piece of land belonging to the Northern King.

A month has passed now. The portrait’s edges have already curled from wind and sun. During that time, Xiao Rong was traveling and didn’t know how the people reacted, though he assumed it could not have been good, since the Qingfeng Cult had many followers.

Looking at it now, he thought he should have delayed the order by a few days. Not long after they discovered Han Qing’s trace, Yuan Baifu had rebelled. He originally planned to post the wanted notice first, then, after returning to Chenliu, immediately carry out a sweeping crackdown on the Qingfeng Cult. Who would have expected so many things to happen in between, delaying everything by a month?

Gao Xunzhi had already left and was no longer managing affairs here. Song Shuo had been focused entirely on defending Chenliu and likely hadn’t done much either. In the end, their actions had essentially alerted the Qingfeng Cult: “Run quickly—if you don’t, the Northern Army will come and arrest you.”

Xiao Rong: “…”

How annoying.

Forget it. A monk could run away, but the temple could not. Outside the Central Plains, who else would accept the Qingfeng Cult’s ideology? The lands beyond were almost surrounded by Buddhism, and the Qingfeng Cult would have no space to grow.

No matter how far they ran, they would still remain within the Central Plains, and as long as they stayed there, there would come a day when they would be completely wiped out.

Shaking his head, Xiao Rong walked on.

*

That night, Ah Shu really did serve a table full of dishes. Qu Yunmie and Gao Xunzhi were still outside receiving guests, so dinner was just the four members of the Xiao family eating together.

At dusk, Danran returned. The moment she saw Xiao Rong, she rushed at him like a cannonball. He had never seen her this clingy before. These two months of separation had indeed left many people with lingering trauma. Danran wasn’t especially young anymore, and she had truly believed she would never see Xiao Rong again.

At that moment, Song Shuo had shaken off his own family and came to speak with Xiao Rong. He folded his arms and watched Danran cling to Xiao Rong, and couldn’t help but let out a soft snort.

Little girl, not dignified at all.

……

Only when Sang Yan called her did Danran finally let go of Xiao Rong. Sang Yan carried her medicine bag and did not look at either Xiao Rong or Song Shuo in the eyes, but she no longer had the earlier discomfort of feeling suffocated after staying near them too long.

Xiao Rong watched this mother and daughter leave. After they were gone, he immediately turned to Song Shuo and asked, “Can Miss Sang now see people?!”

Song Shuo: “…”

Pouting slightly, Song Shuo replied, “Not long after you left, there weren’t enough doctors in the city. The Butewu tribe had no leader left, and Danran couldn’t sit still and wanted to go see how the other tribesmen were doing. I couldn’t possibly take her out myself, and I couldn’t let Lady Xiao take her either. Losing one trip would mean losing two people. Xiao Yi was also busy taking care of Lady Xiao. So only her biological mother could go.”

At this, Song Shuo became smug again. “Hmph, that stubborn Xiao Yi, even said he would handle it when he had time, but I forbade him from going out. That forced Danran to ask her mother. Now look—who can say she is not a miraculous healer? From now on, don’t call me Mr. Song. Call me Doctor Song.”

Xiao Rong: “…”

So what does this have to do with you?

Although he didn’t like Song Shuo’s smug expression, Xiao Rong knew he had indeed helped.

Sang Yan had suffered too much trauma, and neither Gao Xunzhi nor Agusheja could bear to push her, since she clearly looked like someone who would easily fall ill under pressure. Song Shuo, having no personal ties to her, was under more pressure than Sang Yan when Qu Yunmie’s life and death were uncertain. He couldn’t afford to be considerate, he just wanted no one to cause trouble for him.

So, intentionally or unintentionally, he had pushed Sang Yan out. The timing had also been good, and Sang Yan herself wanted to force herself forward.

Qu Yunmie’s situation had been a devastating blow to the entire Northern Army. In the past ten years, Sang Yan had hidden herself in a sealed mental “cave” she had built. Although the later events were difficult, she hadn’t suffered such a blow during those ten years.

Then this new blow arrived, and if it were real, no one would be able to protect her daughter anymore.

Indeed, sometimes destruction was necessary before rebuilding. This outcome had Qu Yunmie’s share, Song Shuo’s share, and of course, his own share.

Back then, he had vomited blood again and again, and that must have scared her as well.

Thinking of this, Xiao Rong couldn’t help but reveal an expression as smug as Song Shuo’s.

Song Shuo looked at him in confusion.

Noticing his gaze, Xiao Rong coughed and said, “Clan Leader Agusheja will not be back for some time. The severely wounded soldiers who cannot move are now staying in Shengle City, and she is taking care of them there. This is the right opportunity. With her absence, Miss Sang must take on corresponding responsibilities. Everything is difficult in the beginning. If she practices more, perhaps her mental knot will be untied.”

Song Shuo’s expression became even more confused.

Huh?

He had only gone along with things at the time. He never planned to “treat” Sang Yan’s illness. Now they were really going to resolve her inner trauma?

What did this have to do with him or Xiao Rong? Miss Sang was the Northern King’s relative, they shouldn’t be too involved. If the King found out and thought they were meddling, what then? Worse still, what if he thought they were scheming to pursue a widow?

Song Shuo was already nearly driven mad by his own family, and he sincerely felt this was a very real possibility. After all, if they couldn’t marry their daughters to the King, then marrying the King’s sister-in-law would also be a shortcut.

Alarmed, he grabbed Xiao Rong’s arm. “Men and women should not be too familiar—you must not interact with her!”

Xiao Rong: “…”

Who said I was going to interact with her?

He shook his arm free. “Why would I interact with her? I understand propriety. I mean giving her some work to do so she can gradually get used to interacting with people. Being able to say a few words is already good.”

Song Shuo said, “She does not speak to anyone in the infirmary. She does not even treat patients—she only grinds and boils medicine, then brings Danran back.”

Xiao Rong thought for a moment. “Maybe the infirmary is too crowded, and she is afraid.”

Song Shuo said disdainfully, “There is no place in Chenliu that is not crowded now.”

Everywhere was packed shoulder to shoulder. Public order was becoming harder to maintain, and there were several fights every day, each involving incoming noble families.

The incoming families’ statuses were high, so lower officials couldn’t control them. The cases were sent to the government office, where Song Shuo had to deal with them personally.

Xiao Rong has now heard complaints about these incoming aristocratic youths for a second time. He blinked and said, “In a few days, once the Northern Army stabilizes, I will issue an invitation in my name and host a banquet to see what they are really planning.”

Song Shuo said, “You still need to see? They want to flatter the King and take a share of Chenliu. I thought you disliked these aristocrats. Didn’t you always oppose them?”

Xiao Rong raised a finger. “First, I do not dislike aristocratic young masters. I dislike the aristocratic system. Noble classes exist everywhere. To put it bluntly, aren’t you and I now equivalent to high-ranking nobles in Chenliu?”

Then he raised a second finger. “Second, I never intended to shut out all noble families. There are so many of them, developed over hundreds of years. I cannot possibly kill them all—and even if I tried, I would not eliminate them completely.”

Song Shuo: “…”

He looked away, thinking about the possibility of killing all his relatives.

Hmm. It would be convenient, but they weren’t really guilty enough to die.

He stayed silent.

Xiao Rong raised a third finger. “Lastly, it is better to guide than to block. Aristocrats have many bad habits, but there are also true upright scholars among them. The top families look down on us and wait for us to curry favor, but some lower-ranking families want to rise with the wind. They do not seek long-term glory for their descendants, only a lifetime of prosperity. Why should I not support such people?”

Song Shuo frowned and looked at him for a long time. “You cannot defeat them alone.”

He didn’t think Xiao Rong was incapable, but even he felt incapable of it.

This was not one family—it was dozens of families, each with ten or so subordinate branches, and thousands or even tens of thousands of dependents. When united, they were already enough to overwhelm any ruler. If they realized Xiao Rong wanted to restructure their system, they would immediately unite, and it wouldn’t matter whether it was the Northern Army or the Southern Army—they would overthrow them all. Even if the Central Plains split into more than ten small states, they wouldn’t care, as long as their interests were protected.

Even someone as confident as Song Shuo could only say “impossible.”

Xiao Rong fell silent for a moment, then smiled. “I am not alone. I have the King, I have you, and I have many loyal ministers and generals. If you go back a few years, would you have believed someone like Qu Yunmie could one day contend for the Central Plains? Opportunities appear in an instant. If you seize them, nothing is impossible.”

Song Shuo looked at him and said nothing.

*

After dinner, and comfortably taking a hot bath, Xiao Rong changed into the soft undergarments produced by Madam Chen. He let his hair fall loose and sat by the bed, thinking over his next plans.

Mijing felt that waiting until spring began was too late, while Xiao Rong felt that waiting until spring began was too early. After war broke out, other matters would also erupt like a blowout, and the problem on their side was that they were prepared for war, but not prepared to solidify the fruits of victory.

Qu Yunmie was too strong. He was like a bulldozer, constantly pushing the changes of this world forward, but others couldn’t keep up with his pace. Therefore, the seemingly stable situation might be broken again at any time.

That system was also useless. It only required Qu Yunmie to become emperor. As for what happened after he became emperor, it didn’t matter at all.

Becoming emperor for even one day still counted as becoming emperor. However, if one became emperor for only a few years and was then overthrown and died as a wronged ghost, then what was the meaning of being an emperor at all? If it were Huang Yanjiong, perhaps he would have felt satisfied, since no matter what, he would have experienced what it was like to be the Son of Heaven. Qu Yunmie didn’t have such a desire. He also wanted to obtain the world, but his idea was based on the belief that obtaining the world meant peace under heaven. Also that in doing so, he would live up to all the soldiers and civilians who relied on him, and he would no longer have to worry about being unable to protect those around him.

He worked hard for these reasons. As for the position, Qu Yunmie truly didn’t care much.

Xiao Rong suddenly froze.

Speaking of Huang Yanjiong, he only just remembered that after Yuan Baifu’s rebellion, they had rushed straight to Ningzhou. They didn’t even know what happened to the reinforcements afterward. After the war ended, the Northern Army dispersed, no one wanted to go deeper. Some of the reinforcements returned on their own, while others returned together with the Northern Army. After the chaos in Ningzhou, he and Qu Yunmie had been unable to care about anything else.

Huang Yanjiong had always been very obedient. He hadn’t even harassed Huang Keji much. After experiencing a real battlefield and real life-and-death situations, Huang Keji no longer took his uncle seriously. At first he had been in Wang Xinyong’s army, and later he was transferred to Gongsun Yuan’s unit. Now he was single-mindedly striving for military merit, hoping to become a formal general as soon as possible. The entanglements of the Huang family could no longer affect him much.

Xiao Rong felt something subtly strange.

In history, Huang Yanjiong had been the one who killed Qu Yunmie, turning such a proud man into a homeless dog.

He had done it without any luck or shortcuts. Although Huang Yanjiong’s character was poor and he was vindictive, in defeating Qu Yunmie he had relied entirely on his own strength.

Xiao Rong had once regarded him as Qu Yunmie’s number one formidable enemy. Even when Huang Yanjiong had still been a small fry, he had never dared to relax his vigilance. Yet now, more than a year had passed, and Qu Yunmie was already planning to point his sword at Southern Yong, while Huang Yanjiong was still trudging his way back to Jianning.

Now Huang Yanjiong had neither enough troops nor the right opportunity to develop. In just a few months, the situation had changed so drastically that Xiao Rong no longer even needed to worry about him coming to claim his original reward. The Northern Army and Southern Yong had completely broken off relations, so Huang Yanjiong could only swallow his bitterness and accept his misfortune.

His misfortunes weren’t even over yet. He had taken so many troops to reinforce Qu Yunmie, and Sun Renluan had naturally seen that. At this moment, Sun Renluan was short on troops. He would definitely send a letter demanding that Huang Yanjiong immediately come to the capital to aid the emperor. No—with Sun Renluan’s character, he might not even write a letter this time. He would likely intercept Huang Yanjiong before he even returned home and force him to bring all his troops to Jinling.

A warlord without sufficient strength was always in such a passive position. Others could close their city gates and pretend to be ill, but Huang Yanjiong didn’t have that option.

In this life, he was truly out of luck. He hadn’t seen a trace of rising fortune as just a small wretch caught in the battles of giants.

What Xiao Rong wanted to know was whether such a person could still threaten Qu Yunmie.

While he was still deep in thought, someone suddenly knocked on his door. Before he even had time to look over, the door was already pushed open.

Xiao Rong said a little helplessly, “If you knock but do not wait for the owner to say ‘come in’ before entering, what difference is it from not knocking at all?”

Qu Yunmie saw that his hair was half-dry and half-wet, and immediately closed the door behind him. As he walked over, he said, “The difference is that after knocking, you know I have come.”

Xiao Rong closed the book in his hand, and Qu Yunmie sat down beside him. He touched the ends of Xiao Rong’s hair and felt it was still somewhat wet, so he stood up again to fetch a cloth towel.

Seeing this, Xiao Rong turned slightly on his own initiative. Only when Qu Yunmie began drying his hair did he tilt his head and ask, “You just came back?”

Qu Yunmie replied, “Mm. There are suddenly many unfamiliar faces in Chenliu.”

Xiao Rong chuckled lightly and looked forward again. “Many people told me the same thing today. This is only the beginning. It will become more and more lively in the future.”

Qu Yunmie wrapped Xiao Rong’s hair in the cloth towel and gently rubbed it. Even though his movements were very light, they still tugged at the roots of his hair slightly. It didn’t hurt—rather, it was a faint, tingling itch that felt somewhat comfortable.

Xiao Rong closed his eyes and began to feel drowsy. Behind him, he heard Qu Yunmie say, “In the future, I do not want to see so many people. It wastes time.”

Xiao Rong opened his eyes. He turned around, and his waterfall-like black hair slipped from Qu Yunmie’s hands. Qu Yunmie looked up and saw Xiao Rong staring at him with a scheming expression.

“Do you want me to help you with something?” he asked.

Qu Yunmie replied warily, “What help?”

Xiao Rong smiled and said, “Of course something that can get you out of this predicament. Being too good-tempered isn’t good either. Your reputation was not great before. Even if you have improved, people’s impressions will not change overnight. If you meet everyone, they won’t think you are recruiting the virtuous, they will think you are trying to make amends and lowering yourself.”

Qu Yunmie looked displeased, but he knew Xiao Rong was right.

However, the solution was simple–stop meeting them. It was only for one day anyway. At most, people would think he was acting erratically.

After he said this, Xiao Rong disagreed.

“They will think you are capricious, untrustworthy, and lacking resolve.”

Qu Yunmie: “…”

He lost patience. “Then let them all die! What does this King have to do with those common rabble?!”

Good—he had already called them “common rabble.”

Xiao Rong almost laughed, but held it back. He took the wet towel from Qu Yunmie and casually folded it aside.

“So let me help you,” he said. “I plan to host a banquet in the next few days specifically inviting these newly arrived noble youths in Chenliu. At the banquet, they will definitely compete to show off. When they are alone, they will be cautious and afraid to speak incorrectly, but when gathered together, competition will arise, and some reckless ones will appear. At that point, you can use it as an excuse to lose your temper and drive them all out. Then you will never have to see them again.”

Qu Yunmie: “…”

So this was making him play the villain.

Qu Yunmie laughed in anger. “Then you can step in to smooth things over for me, get along well with them, and if they do anything that displeases you, you can push all of it onto me and say that after that night I developed a strong prejudice against them.”

Xiao Rong pursed his lips. He realized he had been seen through, but he didn’t care. He has never really hidden his intentions anyway.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Rong looked up again and smiled ingratiatingly at him. “Is that not allowed?”

Qu Yunmie: “…”

It was allowed. Of course it was allowed.

Xiao Rong smiled happily. Qu Yunmie, on the other hand, sighed.

Soon after, Xiao Rong went to arrange everything, but he didn’t know that things wouldn’t go as smoothly as he imagined.

After all, no one could control Qu Yunmie—even Qu Yunmie himself could not.

 

Edited by: Antiope

 

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