Chapter 1534

Xia Zhangming had thought Hu Xiaotian would directly leave Xichuan and return to Dongliang Jun, but Hu Xiaotian instead wanted to go to Qingyun to have a look. There was indeed a sentimental attachment at work—Qingyun had been his first step when he first traveled the world, and also his first official post after arriving in this era, leaving him with many memories. Xia Zhangming and Hu Xiaotian agreed to meet him at Qingyun a day later, then return together.

The Flying Eagle sent Hu Xiaotian and Long Xi Yue to outside Qingyun City, and also went together with Xia Zhangming.

At dawn, Hu Xiaotian and Long Xi Yue walked side by side toward Qingyun Xian city. The Qingyun Qiao over Tongji He had been repaired; walking on this stone bridge made of blue stone, he suddenly recalled when he first arrived at Qingyun, back then the Qingyun Qiao was broken, and it was Zhang Ziqian who ferried them across in a small boat, but now they are separated by life and death. Hu Xiaotian leaned on the bridge's stone rail, gazing at the leisurely river, and softly said: "The two ferries at the south bridge head pass like shuttles, weaving brocade across the river."

Long Xi Yue looked at him in some surprise, not knowing why he suddenly became inspired and started composing couplets; just as she was about to think of a lower line, Hu Xiaotian again said: "On the west bank's end, a single tower resembles a brush, straightly writing the heavenly text." His voice was full of sorrow.

Long Xi Yue did not understand why he was so sorrowful; after asking, she then learned of this past between Hu Xiaotian and Zhang Ziqian, and she softly sighed: "Actually, people in this world each have their own fate and their own fortune; you need not force yourself. If Mr. Zhang has awareness in the afterlife and can know that you have come here to mourn him, he will certainly feel comforted in his heart."

Hu Xiaotian nodded. Zhang Ziqian was a great talent of Xichuan; it's a pity he wholeheartedly assisted Li Tianheng, exhausting himself for the Li family. The reason I assassinated him was not because we had a grudge, but because we stood on opposing sides. Zhang Ziqian was Li Tianheng's strategist, his right and left hand, and also one of the chief planners of the advance into Redwood River. Only by removing him could we thwart Xichuan's plot to invade Redwood River; Redwood River has just stabilized, and if it were now confronted by a sixty-thousand-strong army, it would likely have no power to resist, so assassination was Hu Xiaotian's only recourse.

Hu Xiaotian had not expected Xichuan's interior to be so full of internal contradictions. Feng Xianlin's assassination of Zhang Ziqian was clearly done at Yang Daoyuan's behest; what was Yang Daoyuan's purpose in killing Zhang Ziqian? After a little thought it's not hard to infer that Yang Daoyuan wanted to use this opportunity to shake off Zhang Ziqian's surveillance and seize command of the sixty-thousand-strong army; from this affair one can see Yang Daoyuan's ambition—even if they took Redwood River, Yang Daoyuan would seize the chance to declare independence and break free of Li Tianheng's control.

This affair made Hu Xiaotian feel unprecedented pressure; with Redwood River falling under his control, it was tantamount to choking Xichuan's southern passageway—no wonder Li Tianheng would stake everything.

Long Xi Yue took Hu Xiaotian's arm and gently comforted him: "Don't be sad!"

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said: "It's not sadness; it's just a pity that someone of Mr. Zhang's caliber should not have come to such an end." The two continued toward the gate of Qingyun Xian city; the garrison there was already small, and last night in Red Valley County the commander and the supervising officer were assassinated, and the supply depot was burned—news of this had spread far and wide. Yan Hucheng decided to temporarily halt the advance into Redwood River, the army temporarily withdrew to defend Xiezhou, while he hurried to Xizhou by night to report this to Grand Marshal Li Tianheng.

Hu Xiaotian had thought that after this night he would surely become famous throughout the world, for he had appeared before Yan Hucheng in his true appearance; but what he did not expect was that the rumor now circulating outside was that Yang Daoyuan had colluded with the horse bandits of Tianlang Mountain to assassinate Zhang Ziqian, leaving him with no connection to it at all. Although having someone else take the blame for a killing is normally a good thing, Hu Xiaotian unexpectedly felt a sense of loss, and the chance to become renowned once again slipped away in a confused muddle.

Long Xi Yue saw his disappointment, took his hand and smiled: "People fear fame, pigs fear getting fat; having someone help you bear this is certainly the best."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Yan Hu Cheng helped me conceal it; it seems he has some ideas." Recalling Zhang Ziqian's words before his death, if Yan Hu Cheng really heard that, it would be tremendous—given his filial piety, he might truly go to the death with me. Perhaps my last words convinced him, and he has genuinely developed ulterior motives; otherwise he wouldn't have concealed the assassination for me. Yet Yan Hu Cheng risks bungling. Since I dare to appear before him in my true form, I intend to blow this up, to let Li Tianheng know that my territory is absolutely not to be encroached upon, but the expected deterrent effect has not been achieved.

Although it's been many years since leaving Qingyun Xian, the situation here hasn't changed much; even the county office remains as it was. Hu Xiaotian, accompanied by Long Xi Yue, walked around the county town, finally arriving at the ruins of Huisheng Hall and Fulai Inn, which remain a pile of rubble. Recalling the kind faces and smiles of the former good folk, Hu Xiaotian felt a pang of pity.

At noon the two went to the city's most famous Wild Goose Pavilion; Hu Xiaotian ordered several specialty dishes, the fish here being the best, but Long Xi Yue doesn't eat meat or strong-smelling foods, so she picked out vegetarian dishes to eat. While they ate, they chatted about Hu Xiaotian's past amusing anecdotes, and Long Xi Yue occasionally let out cheerful laughter.

Just then a commotion arose outside: a beggar came to the door begging for food, and a waiter kicked him over, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Long Xi Yue flared up at once—she rarely gets angry, but as the leader of the Beggars' Sect, with most of the world's beggars belonging to it, how could she stand by while her followers are bullied? She shouted angrily: "Stop! How can you hit an old man?"

The white-haired old man lifted his head; Long Xi Yue had intended to help him up, but she didn't expect him to leer at her and say, "Beautiful lady… beautiful lady…" as he reached out to grab her.

Long Xi Yue's face drained of color in shock; Hu Xiaotian then came to her side and pulled her close. The old beggar crawled over like a dog, uttering, "Beautiful lady… beautiful lady…" Hu Xiaotian pressed his sword scabbard against the man's forehead, then lifted his chin with it, and recognized the old beggar as Qingyun's former richest man, Wan Boping. He felt strange, not knowing how this once-wealthy magnate had fallen to street begging, and he seemed mad.

Wan Boping laughed in a very strange way: "Heh heh… heh heh… beautiful lady… I like beautiful ladies…"

Long Xi Yue no longer felt sympathy; she hid behind Hu Xiaotian.

The shop assistant came over and shoved two buns at him, saying: "Get lost! Get far away! Damn it, you used to throw your weight around, bullying men and women, and now you've got your comeuppance."

Wan Boping took the buns but refused to leave, his eyes fixed on Long Xi Yue. The shop assistant finally couldn't hold back, kicked him in the stomach, sending Wan Boping sprawling to the ground and scattering the buns in his hand. This instead caught his attention; he hurried after the buns, but before he could grab them, a stray dog lunged out and snatched them away. Wan Boping cursed loudly as he chased after the dog.

Everyone burst into laughter; Hu Xiaotian, seeing Wan Boping reduced to this state, couldn't help but sigh. Only Long Xi Yue failed to understand the reason, thinking to herself, "This old beggar is so pitiful—why doesn't anyone sympathize with him?" Returning to the table and sitting down again, Hu Xiaotian then explained the whole story to her. After listening, Long Xi Yue nodded and said: "In that case, he's getting what he deserves, but now that he's like this, there's no need to give him a hard time."

The waiter came over to pour tea for the two, and Hu Xiaotian said: "Hey, waiter, when I just passed by the Wan mansion, I saw that it still seemed to have someone living there."

The waiter smiled and replied: "There's no Wan mansion anymore; it's now the Hu mansion, bought by the Hu family."

Hu Xiaotian and Long Xi Yue exchanged a glance, both feeling that this was quite a coincidence.

Hu Xiaotian asked: "I wonder who the master of the Hu mansion is?"

The waiter shook his head and said: "I've never seen the master, but I've seen the lady a few times; all I know is that this household has many women."

After finishing their meal, Hu Xiaotian settled the bill, and as he and Long Xi Yue passed by the Wan mansion's gate, he deliberately paused to look. He saw that the plaque above the door had indeed been changed to read 'Hu mansion', the gate was tightly shut, and there were no servants outside.

Long Xi Yue asked: "Do you want to go in and have a look?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "The Wan family's garden is nicely kept, but let's just go."

As they passed the corner of the street ahead, they saw Wan Boping sitting in a sunny spot, picking lice; each time he caught one he popped it into his mouth and chewed it with a crunching sound. Long Xi Yue felt nauseated, her brows furrowing, and she urged Hu Xiaotian to hurry on.

Hu Xiaotian had her wait aside, then approached Wan Boping, pulled out a gold ingot and threw it on the ground. Wan Boping hurriedly picked it up, bit it to test it, then lifted his head with a grateful look toward Hu Xiaotian—apparently he still recognized gold.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Wan Yuanwai, do you still recognize me?"

Wan Boping's gaze was unfocused; he shook his head hard and said: "I don't remember… could you be… that patron from the Lianxiang Pavilion?"

Hu Xiaotian almost laughed and cried; he pointed to the large mansion behind Wan Boping and said: "Do you still remember your own home?"

Wan Boping turned around, looked, then scratched his head: "Home? My home… is under the bridge."

Hu Xiaotian said: "You used to live inside, didn't you?"

Wan Boping turned his head again, then suddenly seemed to recall something: "Ghost… ghost… a female ghost wants to kill me… to take my life!" He panicked, snatched up a heap of rags from the ground, and turned and ran. Seeing his strong reaction, Hu Xiaotian felt even stranger—what exactly was Wan Boping afraid of? A female ghost? How could there be a female ghost inside the Wan mansion?

Recommendation Mo Wu's historical masterpiece 'Stealing Fragrance' historical big aunt completed/Book/3687132. aspx Everyone go to the comments section to leave a message of support, by the way cast a recommendation vote or something, thanks! (To be continued~^~)