Chapter 20: Two Heavens

Si Retreating is Liu Qi's courtesy name.

Most people of the time only received a courtesy name upon reaching the age of twenty, yet there were occasional exceptions; Liu Qi had his own courtesy name at the age of ten.

His elder brother Liu Gu, courtesy name Si Bian, was likewise bestowed by their Imperial Father, the Ren Emperor Liu Shu.

"Meeting Qi, think of retreat; long-standing Gu, think of change" — from this one can also glimpse the different expectations the Ren Emperor placed upon these two sons.

Liu Gu, as the heir apparent of the nation, needed to be resourceful and thoughtful, constantly considering the way of adaptation.

The young child Liu Qi bore no great burden; if he encountered a fork in the road where the choice was not easy, stepping back a little would do no harm.

Under the cherishing and even indulgence of Imperial Father, Imperial Mother, and his elder brother, Liu Qi grew up like this until the age of eleven.

From the age of six or seven, Liu Qi had a very clear life ambition — to practice martial arts under his maternal uncle, and one day become a man who could lead troops to war, to be the sword of Imperial Father, Elder Brother, and Great Qian, guarding the rivers and mountains, sweeping away the Xiongnu.

Liu Qi, at the start of his journey, at this moment followed his heavy-hearted maternal uncle Ling Ke to a tall house in the stockade.

Soldiers stood guard before the house; everything inside — except for Feng Zhu who had been taken away — still retained its original appearance.

In the outer room, a Hu shaman died miserably from an arrow, the corpse lay prone on the ground, the right hand seemingly stretched forward with great effort, the fingertips' blood already congealed, and right beside this bloody hand, eight large characters were conspicuously left, written in fresh blood; staring closely one could distinguish the eight characters as:

【Upon the time of returning to the capital, the calamity of exterminating the clan arrives】 —

Liu Qi silently recited these eight shocking characters in his heart; a moment later, he finished examining the Hu shaman's corpse, but stated with certainty: "Uncle, these blood characters were not left by the Hu shaman before his death."

Is someone feigning mystery by borrowing the Hu shaman's hand, or intentionally giving a warning?

Liu Qi subconsciously wanted to retort that it must be someone feigning mystery, but suddenly recalled Imperial Mother's past teaching; Imperial Mother told him, when matters are unclear, one should temporarily lean toward the most unfavorable possibility, the one one most wants to deny...

"If it is a warning given by borrowing the Hu shaman's hand —" Liu Qi looked at his uncle: "Then who exactly is being warned?"

So many people went up the mountain today, and they are all people about to return to the capital, yet this word 'warning' has no clear identity direction.

After Liu Qi finished asking, he saw his uncle slowly turn his head, looking outside the house.

The young Liu Qi followed his uncle's gaze, and in turn saw the confidants guarding outside, the generals commanding with torches, the soldiers carrying corpses... amid the wind and snow, where Liu Qi's gaze could not reach, the Ling Family Army had spread across almost the entire mountain stockade; additionally, soldiers responsible for collecting the stockade's belongings moved up and down the mountain in an orderly fashion, they held torches, winding along the mountain paths, from afar looking like the spine of this great mountain slightly heaving with its breath.

Even though Ling Ke spoke no explicit words, Liu Qi had already seen his uncle's answer.

These eight characters, the object of their warning, might be all of them.

This night, Liu Qi stayed by his uncle's side the whole time.

When the sky was about to brighten, Ling Ke came to the edge of the mountain peak, overlooking the scenery in all directions.

People of the current time mostly have beliefs; from the emperor sending envoys to sea to seek immortals, down to the common people worshipping various ghosts and gods, even the military before moving troops would have the Military Advisor perform divination; Ling Ke being among them, not to say he deeply believed the warning words of unknown origin, but he could not completely turn a blind eye either, he always had to give it some thought.

All sorts of thoughts were like an out-of-body self-observation; by the time he came back to his senses, he had already walked to this cliff edge.

The snow had stopped, morning light fully born, piercing through the ten thousand zhang of cold silence.

Looking up, between the opposite high mountains hung a water curtain; large chunks of accumulated snow on both sides loosened, from time to time falling and crashing down with the water flow.

Ling Ke said to the child beside him: "This waterfall within Taishan Commandery bears the name 'Two Heavens'."

Liu Qi looked, only to see the white silk hanging between the cliffs split into two below, flowing into different marshes; under the morning light, the great mountain's shadow fell, making the two rivers form one bright and one dark color.

One step two heavens, one divide yin and yang boundary.

The dark marsh runs west, the bright water flows south.

After resting for two days, the Ling Family Army continued on the road back to the capital.

At the same moment, the rider of the green ox went south, about to leave Taishan Commandery.

Sunlight shone on the accumulated snow, piercing so that people's eyes narrowed; the woman on the ox's back still wore a bamboo hat, under the wide outer cloak, in the crook of her arm she cradled a child in deep sleep.

Sensing the slight movement of the head in her arm, and signs of struggling to wake up again, the woman made a "tsk" sound, and said to the youth leading the ox: "Find a clean place ahead to rest, I need to give her another needle."

Looking at that pitch-black messy head in the crook of her arm nodding bit by bit, as if the next moment it would open its eyes and bite, the woman sighed: "This little devil not only has a heavy hand, but is also extremely draining and consumes needles; the needles used on her these two days would be enough for Zhao Qie'an to steal ten or so fat, strong pigs from a farmstead."

If this sentence were heard by a farmstead old man on the road, he would surely be terrified and rush home to count whether the pigpen was short a few, then turn around and beat the gong to warn villagers to watch their pigs and sheep; before long rumors would spread that the great thief Zhao Qie'an had changed careers to pig-stealing.

In the current world there are many wandering knights-errant, and among them Zhao Qie'an's fame is the most resounding; this person's martial arts are high and he fears nothing, often stealing treasures from powerful families, even daring to violate bans by force, entering and leaving the Imperial Palace as if entering an uninhabited place; the Son of Heaven repeatedly issued arrest orders, yet could not capture him.

Speaking of stealing pigs, the woman said: "Come to think of it, I want to eat roasted meat..."

Imagining streaky pork with alternating fat and lean roasting until it sizzles with oil, the meat slices faintly showing a glossy charred yellow, the ox-leading Mo Li couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

Amid the master and servant both swallowing saliva, the green ox slowly swayed its tail out of Taishan Commandery, still leisurely heading south.

The accumulated snow melted, the first of the twelfth month, the Ling Family Army was still on the road back to the capital.

The great army's winter march was slow; forced marching caused great attrition to soldiers, especially the infantry; a triumphant return differs from emergency response, so naturally there was no need to rush day and night.

Matters have their weight and urgency; Ling Ke commanded the army slowly in the rear, but had already sent confidants on light cavalry ahead to deliver a letter back to the capital; on this day, the news that Feng Zhu was still alive reached the Lu Hou Mansion.

The Lu Hou couple were shocked beyond measure; in a moment, within this shock arose boundless joy and wild delight.

The Lu Hou Madam tightly clutched her husband's sleeve, tears rolling from eyes that had been blind for many years, disbelievingly verifying again and again: "Marquis, Doudou is still alive... is this truly true or false?!"

The Lu Hou drew a long breath, calming his heaving chest, his eyes also full of tears: "If told by an outsider it would still be hard to believe... but Marquis Changping's own handwriting, it absolutely cannot be false!"

"This is a great fortune... it is Heaven pitying the Feng Family!" The usually steady Feng Xu barely recovered, his voice still trembling with excitement; he didn't bother to wipe his tears, immediately saying: "Father, Mother, the army's return is slow, please allow Xu to set out at once, to go receive Zhu'er and bring her home!"

Good morning everyone~ have you eaten breakfast?

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(Chapter End)