Chapter 451: This Life, My Name Is Xie Guan

The great tripod trembled again, as if resonating through all ages.

The greatest sound is silent!

Utterly without sound!

Yu Ke stared intently as the characters on the tripod flowed.

【Please select your identity?】

1. Scion of a noble family.

2. Commoner.

3. Son of a military general.

4. Son of a merchant.

5. Descendant of a great demon.

Time to choose your role!

Yu Ke studied the five options above.

The first thing he noticed was option 5: Descendant of a great demon.

"Hmm?"

This option stood out starkly from the others; if this were a match-three puzzle, it could be eliminated outright.

Why was there "Descendant of a great demon"? That term only appeared in the cultivation world.

Could it be that cultivation had emerged within the Kunxu Ding?

Yu Ke weighed it repeatedly, and ultimately decided to eliminate it. After all, as a human, even if he somehow gained demonic rewards, he could never control such power.

He'd be seen as an aberration!

Moreover, judging from the first four options, this one seemed to be in a disadvantaged position—likely ostracized and suppressed, perhaps even labeled as demonic.

Eliminate it outright!

Now examine the first four options.

Whether in chaotic war-torn times, peaceful eras, or flourishing ages, the commoner is always swept along by the tide of history; the power to choose has never been theirs.

Even if one strives with all one's might, what difference does it make?

Individual effort can never match the accumulated networks and resources built over generations.

Eliminate it outright!

4. Son of a merchant: wealth without power is unstable.

An ancient saying goes: "A poor man with a beautiful wife invites the lust of lechers; a man rich but powerless invites the greed of petty villains."

Compared to the others, eliminate this option.

Only two options remain.

1. Scion of a noble family.

3. Son of a military general.

He hesitated between these two—both carried power.

Yet the risks faced by a military general far outweighed those faced by a noble scion.

Military generals constantly walked beside weapons and battle; without extraordinary ability, they inevitably suffered injury.

In contrast, noble families, having accumulated influence over generations, possessed intricate networks and deep roots—undoubtedly the best starting point, as if standing on the shoulders of ancestors.

Yu Ke made no further hesitation and selected

1. Scion of a noble family.

The light screen on the tripod flowed, then stabilized.

【Destiny and fortune are ordained by heaven, unchangeable and unselectable—acquiring now.】

【Acquisition complete…】

Destiny: 【Born with innate wisdom】

Talent: 【Spirit in the brush】

Yu Ke stared at these two terms, lost in thought.

This destiny seemed far stronger than his first life's 【Late Bloomer】.

His first life's talent was 【Discerning People】; this life's was 【Spirit in the brush】.

Yu Ke merely pondered briefly, and the sentient tripod offered an explanation.

【Spirit in the brush: Extraordinary insight into painting and calligraphy, skill approaching divinity—paint a dragon and it gains eyes; every stroke summons wind and thunder.】

"Skill approaching divinity!"

Yu Ke was startled—this talent seemed terrifying, Kexi it wasn't martial.

【Can the previous life's talent, "Calm within the chest," be added? Confirm?】

Yu Ke directly selected 【Confirm】

【Character generated. Proceed with Celestial Rebirth?】

Yu Ke took a deep breath.

"Celestial Rebirth—initiate!"

The tripod trembled again, slowly rotating, as a single violet star quietly descended into its depths.

【Celestial Rebirth has begun. Each choice you make represents a fork in your life's path—choose wisely.】

【One day in the mortal world equals ten years within the ding】

【Location refreshed…】

【Kunxu Realm, Central Lands, Qi State.】

【Emperor Chen Chi of Qi ascended the throne—intelligent and decisive, yet during his reign, imperial in-laws seized power, eunuchs corrupted the court, regional magnates carved out autonomous domains, treating the emperor as a puppet.】

【At this time, war raged, famine struck, demons and plagues ravaged the land; half the population perished, the state was utterly drained, affairs grew dire.】

【Three years after ascending, Emperor Chi died in gloom.】

【Chen Yan, styled Shisheng, eldest son of Emperor Chi, was named Crown Prince. Upon the emperor's death, the crown prince ascended the throne. He proclaimed a general amnesty, elevated civil and military ranks by two grades, granted silk to widows, orphans, and the elderly—two bolts per person—and honored Empress Zhuge as Empress Dowager. In autumn, on the day Guimao of the ninth month, the Empress Dowager assumed regency.】

【Grand Tutor Zhu Ge Cheng oversaw the Ministry of State Affairs, alongside Minister of the Central Secretariat Su Jing, jointly guiding court affairs. Generalissimo Su Zong of Nandun was appointed Grand General; Commander-in-Chief Su You of Ruyang became General of the Guard.】

【Emperor Chi was buried in Shuangwei Mausoleum.】

【On the first day of the eleventh month, a solar eclipse occurred; the emperor issued a self-blame edict.】

【In the second year of Xianhe, Su Jing promoted Confucian scholarship, elevating the Four Books and Five Classics as canonical, the Six Arts of the Gentleman as prominent studies, and exclusively honored Confucianism while burning the teachings of all other schools.】

【After Xianhe three, Emperor Chen Yan devoted himself entirely to Daoist cultivation, neglecting state affairs.】

【With prolonged peace, corruption festered; twelve provincial governors faced constant disturbances by great demons and heretical sects, rebellions flared endlessly.】

Yu Ke stared at the information before him—just as he suspected, this era truly bore the sight of demons and monsters ravaging the world.

Imperial authority had been usurped; imperial in-laws and powerful ministers controlled the court—even the emperor himself could only waste away in melancholy.

In thought, the golden age of the Hundred Schools had vanished; exclusive Confucianism had become the dominant trend.

Yet beneath this seemingly prosperous era, turbulent currents lurked.

Demons ran rampant, heretical sects flourished, rebellions rose one after another—as if waiting only for a spark to plunge the world into endless chaos.

The text on the tripod continued to flow.

【In the eighth month of Xianhe seven, torrential rain fell upon the capital—you were born.】

【Birthplace refreshed…】

【Bianjing, Xie Fu.】

【You were born into a prestigious family—one of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans of Qi State, a true aristocratic house.】

【Your uncle Xie Yuan, grandson of Grand Light Master Xie Lan, was brilliant; at fourteen, he was recognized by Minister of the Palace Secretariat Su Jing and appointed Eastern Pavilion Sacrificial Officer, later promoted to Secretary of the Imperial Library and Attendant to the Crown Prince.】

【When Emperor Xianhe was still Crown Prince, he was close to Xie Yuan, often studying with him and discussing the shifting tides of the world.】

【At that time, the realm was in turmoil, the court unstable, imperial power dimmed.】

【As Crown Prince, Emperor Xianhe cherished the grand vision of his ancestor, determined to extend benevolence across the land and benefit all under heaven.】

【Yet his authority was constrained by powerful ministers; his edicts could not reach the commanderies and counties.】

【Xie Yuan wholeheartedly supported him, discussing late into the night; Emperor Xianhe secretly nurtured ambitions of revival, and the Xie family became his trusted allies.】

【But fortune turned short-lived—too hasty, Emperor Xianhe, only three years on the throne, attempted to ally with the Zhu family—one of the Five Surnames—and the powerful Wang family in the military, plotting a palace coup to reverse fate.】

【The plot was betrayed by a secret report and exposed.】

【The Empress Dowager, with Minister of the Central Secretariat Su Jing, General of the Guard Su You, Commander of the Divine Strategy Corps Su Gao, and powerful clans—the Qinghe Li, Linzhong Zhao, and Weiqun Yuan—launched a bloody purge within the palace, targeting the Wang and Xie families; that day, blood flowed like rivers in the capital, cries of mourning filled the streets.】

【Yet the people of the capital heard only whispers, utterly unaware of the brutal struggle within the palace.】

【They did not know that the Great Qi had already changed hands.】

【After Xianhe three, Emperor Chen Yan became obsessed with Daoist cultivation, court affairs deteriorated, state matters gradually fell into neglect.】

【In this catastrophe, the main line of the Xie family was nearly annihilated.】

【But you were untouched.】

【For the one who betrayed the rebellion was your father, Xie Ling.】

【In Xianhe three, your father Xie Ling was appointed to office for his tip-off; your eldest sister, barely sixteen, married into the Su family.】

【Your father also had a younger brother, a renowned Confucian scholar and close friend of the Su family's power brokers.】

【In this storm of court intrigue, he remained unscathed—not only escaping punishment, but gaining imperial favor.】

【Disillusioned by the court's deepening corruption, he withdrew from the world, spending years in seclusion at Qingliang Temple, returning to Xie Fu only once a year at year's end to reunite with family.】

【In your branch, your brothers and sisters gradually became core members of the family, controlling the status and power of the main line.】

Your father, Xie Ling, personally led troops and repeatedly quelled uprisings, exterminating numerous heretical sects.

In the fifth year of Xianhe, Su Yuan shone brilliantly on the battlefield, crushing the Qin army, slaying two hundred thousand enemies, erecting a heap of skulls at the former Mount Chongshan, casting his whip into the Yellow River, and breaking through to the "Xuandan Realm," becoming the sixth Martial God in Qi's history.

Xie Ling was enfeoffed as a marquis, titled Marquis of Dingyuan.

The Xie family's power grew ever more prominent; your brothers, sisters, younger brothers, and cousins frequently led hundreds of servants, roaming the streets unchecked and spending thousands of taels in brothels and pleasure houses, indulging in utmost luxury.

The Xie family's power surpassed even its former heights.

In the streets and alleys of Bianjing, a children's rhyme circulated, depicting the illustrious status and boundless splendor of the nine great surnames:

"Silken curtains roll, sending fragrant carriages; jeweled fans held close, welcoming splendid canopies."

"Jade chariots crisscross through palace gates; golden whips gallop toward the Su household."

"Purple camel humps are roasted in emerald cauldrons; crystal plates hold delicacies with silvery fish."

These nine surnames are: Su, Zhuge, Li, Zhao, Yuan, Xie, Sima, Xue, and Zhang.

The nine surnames intermarried and maintained generations of close ties, controlling the imperial court.

The Xie family rose like oil poured onto fire.

Yet none of this had anything to do with you.

You were merely a bastard of the Xie family.

In the family, children born to the lawful wife were called legitimate sons or daughters, cherished by the household and formally recognized by the clan.

Children born to concubines were called illegitimate sons or daughters, ranking slightly lower.

As for someone like you, born of an extramarital affair, you were called a bastard, a mongrel, even degraded as an adulterine child.

Your mother had once been a servant of the Xie household; you were conceived when Xie Ling, drunk, lost control.

Your birth brought no joy to this family—it became an unspeakable shame.

Especially in the great Qi, where Confucianism and filial piety governed the realm, you were despised by all.

When you were born, the eldest legitimate son of the Xie family's primary branch had already reached adulthood and, according to ritual law, was the undisputed heir to the Marquis of Dingyuan title.

At that time, the mistress of the Xie household was a daughter of the Li clan of the Nine Surnames; you and your mother had no support and posed no threat to her.

Though she disliked you both, she did not persecute you, fearing the slander of being a jealous wife and tarnishing the Li family's reputation.

You were already one year old, still nameless, and had never seen your father.

When your mother gave birth, the Xie household did not regard her as a "heroine"; though she was not treated as a servant, she received no formal status, and was merely assigned an old nurse to care for her postpartum and a young, inexperienced maid newly arrived at the mansion.

Time flew, and the next year arrived.

The mistress of the Xie household gave birth to another son—coincidentally, on the same day and month as you.

At the hundred-day banquet, your father hurried back from the frontier, exhausted from travel; every major family in Bianjing attended, turning it into a grand, unprecedented event in the capital.

The Xie family's prodigy stirred all of Bianjing.

Your father named him Xie Yu, symbolizing gentleness and nobility like jade.

On that day, your mother—a frail woman—carried you through the mansion's festive atmosphere, walking all the way to the back courtyard, kneeling on the icy corridor.

She begged your father to grant you a name.

A true identity of your own.

But your father acted as if he heard nothing; his gaze never wavered from the newborn infant, leaving you and your mother only coldness and neglect.

A lone woman and a one-year-old child just learning to walk faced a noble household built of jade halls and golden horses.

This scene drew the attention of many family members.

The Xie family's sons and daughters stared with curiosity, disdain, or anger on their faces.

At the banquet, guests whispered among themselves, their eyes filled with contempt and curiosity; others sneered, delighted by this sudden scandal.

Mockery and ridicule echoed endlessly.

Tomorrow, the streets and alleys of the capital would spread rumors of the Xie family's bastard, and Xie Ling's romantic escapades would become dinner-table gossip.

Seeing this, the mistress of the Xie household flew into a rage, shattering her jade cup.

The Li family members present rushed forward to calm the situation; servants had already begun driving you away.

Your mother remained kneeling, refusing to rise.

You were just one year old that year; you made no cry or fuss, only clung tightly to your mother's hand.

The Su, Zhao, and Zhuge families were all renowned Confucian clans, famed for governing their households through filial piety and ritual.

Several of their elders, witnessing this scene, could not remain silent and spoke up on your mother's behalf.

But your father pretended not to hear, cast a cold glance, then turned and walked into the inner chamber.

At this moment, the Xie family's matriarch, the eldest elder, seeing this matter concerned her son's household and the Xie family's honor, stepped forward to name you herself.

In the name of the family, she bestowed upon you a name.

Thus, you received a name.

You were named Xie Guan.

Your mother bowed her head without rising, tears streaming down her face.

From then on, your name was inscribed in the Xie family genealogy.

That same year, you and your mother were ostracized by the household, deprived of food, clothing, and necessities.

You were forced to move to a remote courtyard of the Xie estate, once used by servants for washing clothes.

The nurse who had served you and your mother abandoned you; only the maid remained.

That year, you were two years old.

(End of Chapter)