Chapter 56: The Small Shoe

In the pouring rain, Fu Qiwen, having left the imperial palace, hurried back to the headquarters of the Tianjin Guard.

The moment he stepped into the main hall, the Chief Commander Yu Jin immediately rose to welcome him; however, Fu Qiwen merely waved a hand, walked straight to Li Musheng, and bowed deeply:

"This subject greets Your Highness."

Seeing this scene, Yu Jin knew exactly what had happened; recovering his senses, he hurriedly walked to Fu Qiwen's side and bowed to Li Musheng.

"Your Majesty has confirmed the Eighth Imperial Prince's identity, but due to his seclusion for martial arts cultivation, he is temporarily unable to summon Your Highness; he has specially ordered this subject to handle the matters ahead."

Fu Qiwen spoke slowly, holding that bright yellow scroll in his hand.

On the way back, he had already roughly read the scroll's contents; regarding Emperor Yuanwu's entire arrangement for the Eighth Imperial Prince before him, he was already clear in his mind.

"The Eighth Imperial Prince?"

Li Musheng, however, detected the ambiguity in Fu Qiwen's words.

Why had his rank suddenly dropped by one position?

To this, Fu Qiwen's expression remained normal; he then roughly recounted Emperor Yuanwu's explanation to Li Musheng.

"So that's how it is; Eighth Imperial Prince it is, then."

Li Musheng waved a hand; he did not actually care much about this matter, and his question just now was merely instinctive.

Fu Qiwen glanced at Li Musheng, seeing no dissatisfaction or other emotion on his face; he still wore that same calm and casual demeanor.

Even upon learning that his identity as an imperial prince had been acknowledged by Emperor Yuanwu, the other party maintained the same attitude, neither surprised nor particularly pleased.

Fu Qiwen narrowed his eyes slightly, then continued:

"Your Majesty has selected a residence for Your Highness on Zhu Que Street; however, as it has not yet been renovated and requires the selection of maids, servants, and guards, Your Highness cannot move in temporarily; for the coming period, please reside within the Tianjin Guard headquarters."

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng glanced around, found the environment here quite satisfactory, and nodded:

"No problem."

However, after thinking for a moment, he looked at Fu Qiwen and asked:

"Besides this, are there any other benefits?"

Fu Qiwen's eyelids twitched slightly; he clasped his hands and said:

"Your Majesty, out of compassion for Your Highness's past hardships, has bestowed extremely abundant gold, silver, and treasures, which will be given to Your Highness together with the new residence in the future."

Then, he paused slightly and said:

"Additionally, Your Majesty has selected three excellent teachers for Your Highness."

"One is a Grand Academician of the Wenyuan Pavilion, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Zhang Song; one is a military general, the General of Martial Peace, Guo Zhenang; and the last is the Deputy Master of the Tianwu Tower, Master Xuan Yi."

"These three individuals: one possesses profound knowledge, one has outstanding military merit, and one has deep martial arts; they will surely be of great benefit to Your Highness."

However, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow and said with a look of disdain:

"Then I truly thank you all."

He glanced at Fu Qiwen, waved a hand, and said:

"The gold, silver, and residence are acceptable, but as for those so-called excellent teachers, I need none of them."

"Besides, isn't General of Martial Peace one of the Second Imperial Prince's men? Are you sure he will teach properly?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Qiwen's forehead, already deeply wrinkled, furrowed further; he looked at Li Musheng with considerable surprise, seemingly not expecting that he would know the underlying relationship behind General of Martial Peace.

But very quickly, he shook his head and said:

"This matter is not within this subject's authority to decide; if Your Highness dislikes it, we may discuss it again after Your Majesty emerges from seclusion."

However, just at this moment, Li Musheng stroked his chin and suddenly said:

"Forget it; whenever I have time, I will meet these three."

The reason Li Musheng changed his mind was certainly not that he truly wanted the three to teach him.

Rather, he felt that since these three had been personally appointed by Emperor Yuanwu as excellent teachers, they should possess some extraordinary abilities and insights, and he wanted to ask them about the matter of transcending martial arts.

If he gained something, it would naturally be an unexpected joy; if not... of course, he would dismiss all three by saying, "You don't even know this."

Additionally, the Tianwu Tower is an institution where the court recruits people from the Jianghu; it gathers quite a few Jianghu figures and also counts as a good channel for obtaining information; making contact with them is not a bad thing.

Hearing that Li Musheng agreed, Fu Qiwen seemed somewhat surprised.

After all, the other party did not even take him seriously; he truly did not believe this Eighth Highness would look favorably upon those three.

However, he did not say much more; his eyes shifted slightly, and he clasped his hands toward Li Musheng, saying:

"Nowadays, the five kingdoms of the world are divided, and the Jianghu is in chaos; the court is precisely in need of talent. If Your Highness has thoughts of establishing merit for Great Li, you might first try handling some affairs, allowing Your Majesty to see Your Highness's capabilities; afterward, important responsibilities may be entrusted to you."

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Fu Qiwen.

Speaking so seriously, with such an abrupt transition; one might think an NPC was assigning a quest.

However, Li Musheng did not directly refuse; instead, with a thoughtful expression, he asked:

"What do you want me to do?"

By rights, even though Fu Qiwen commanded the Tianjin Guard and held immense power within the entire Great Li court, he could not possibly issue a quest to an imperial prince like him.

This matter very likely came from Emperor Yuanwu's subtle hint; if the task to be done was relatively easy, he truly had little reason to refuse.

After all, since he had already accepted the money and the house, helping out with some work was only reasonable.

At this moment, Fu Qiwen lowered his brows and eyes, remained silent for a while, then slowly said:

"Your Highness must have heard of the Falling God Peak, one of the four great sects of the Jianghu."

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow and said:

"What do you mean? Does the task you want me to do relate to that Falling God Peak?"

Fu Qiwen nodded, clasped his hands, and said:

"This subject requests Your Highness to destroy the Falling God Peak."

Li Musheng:...

At this moment, Fu Qiwen was thinking that Emperor Yuanwu had instructed him to find difficult tasks for Li Musheng, but had not specified any particular matter.

And for him, eliminating the Falling Divine Peak at this moment was the most thorny matter at hand; naturally, having made this request to the Imperial Prince before him, it should fall within that scope.

"Since we must temper one's nature, then let us simply do it in one step."

Fu Qiwen narrowed his eyes, looking at Li Musheng; the other party clearly displayed an unusual expression on his face at this moment.

Fu Qiwen possessed supreme martial arts talent and extraordinary ability, and had always been strict with himself, conscientious in his duties, never forming factions or seeking private gain, and utterly loyal to the Great Li court; this was also a major reason why Emperor Yuanwu trusted him greatly and entrusted him with command of the Tianjin Guard.

But this did not mean Fu Qiwen was a man without temper; for the commander of the Tianjin Guard to be looked down upon was a first in history, and upon careful reflection, this feeling was actually not pleasant, so one should not blame him for putting on a pair of small shoes for someone for the first time.

Of course, he assumed Li Musheng would certainly refuse.

After all, he himself could not accomplish this matter; it was only because Emperor Yuanwu had this requirement that he had forced himself to include it in the future plans of the Tianjin Guard.

But he still had no clue regarding this, nor dared he have any thought of taking action.

(End of this chapter)