Chapter 1: Epilogue · The Blooming Path, Part Two

Epilogue · The Blooming Path, Part Two

“Please, Master Xue.”

“Hahaha, Master Nan, after you, please!”

Within the Xue family compound, Nan Hanwen and Xue Daoyong treated each other with great courtesy; both were seasoned men who had survived the chaos of war, and both knew each other’s status and stance before the founding Emperor of Qin. There was no conflict between them.

Moreover, this visit was for a wedding.

A fine moment, a splendid scene, a matter of state.

They spoke only of joyous matters, avoiding sharp topics, all smiles and warmth—yet it was precisely in such moments that unusual events arose. As Xue Daoyong gripped Nan Hanwen’s arm and led him toward the inner courtyard, sudden commotion erupted.

Many of the Xue family’s direct descendants emerged, clustering together.

Among the crowd stood a strikingly handsome man, carrying a box, striding forward.

This man, too, was a direct descendant of the Xue family, blocking the path of Nan Hanwen’s party.

He bowed deeply and announced clearly: “Xue Yuheng of the Xue family, greetings to the elder patriarch and to Master Nan Hanwen.”

Nan Hanwen’s brow twitched faintly as he glanced at Xue Daoyong beside him:

“Master Xue, this is…”

Xue Daoyong remained expressionless: “Yuheng, you’ve just returned from the northwest, managing trade routes with notable success. Why aren’t you resting at home? What brings you here now?”

Xue Yuheng bowed respectfully: “I learned my niece is to marry His Majesty, so I brought treasures from the northwest, specifically to offer my congratulations.”

Nan Hanwen smiled gently: “Master Xue Yuheng, you are overly courteous.”

Xue Yuheng bowed again: “His Majesty has swept the land, remade heaven and earth, opened trade routes across the realm, enabling goods to flow freely and benefiting all under heaven—laying the foundation for ten thousand generations. We of this generation all revere him. This occasion demands our presence to offer our congratulations.”

Upon hearing these words, Nan Hanwen already understood the man’s true intent.

He smiled and said: “Master Xue Yuheng, your thoughtfulness is noted. I shall speak well of you before His Majesty.”

He turned again to Xue Daoyong: “Master Xue, please.”

But Xue Yuheng suddenly knelt in full obeisance: “Master Nan, you are too modest. My niece, Xue Shuangtao, if she becomes Empress, will make the Xue family the imperial in-law clan—bound as one family with His Majesty.”

“Now that the empire is founded, its territory dwarfs all past realms; the four seas are unified, the land is one nation, and after years of war, all is in ruin—yet we Xue clan have many talented youths ready to serve His Majesty.”

“Though I have labored tirelessly managing the northwest trade routes, I remain a commoner. I humbly beg His Majesty to follow the precedent of the Former Dynasty’s Red Emperor and grant my Xue clan sons official posts. We are His Majesty’s kin—should the imperial relatives remain mere commoners, will it not invite secret mockery?”

“It would also bring shame upon His Majesty’s face.”

Nan Hanwen’s brow furrowed.

This was an open demand for rewards.

It was a familiar practice, common in every dynasty: rewarding merit. The Red Emperor’s line, Chen Guo, Ying Guo—all followed this custom.

But our Great Qin…

Nan Hanwen’s gaze grew cold. The old man sensed an unnatural stillness around him. He looked up and saw that though the Xue clan youths did not support Xue Yuheng, neither did they rebuke him.

Some, embarrassed by such brazenness, stepped forward and whispered urgently: “Yuheng, today is a momentous day—why act like this? Don’t humiliate yourself! Rise quickly! What kind of man is His Majesty that he needs you to remind him?”

He reached to pull Xue Yuheng up.

He could not move him.

Xue Yuheng stood firm, not resisting, but casting sidelong, hesitant glances at Nan Hanwen. The other Xue clan members mirrored this: not opposing, but watching with silent longing.

Especially since Xue Daoyong made no move to stop it.

Like a fire slowly spreading, ambition, Jiaoxing hope, and the innate hunger for status spread through breath and gaze.

Nan Hanwen sighed.

Wealth and fame stir the heart. The Xue family already had wealth; now they craved power and position. It was human nature—but… he finally turned to Xue Daoyong.

The warlord of the chaos era stroked his long beard, silent—as if granting tacit approval.

To an ordinary man, this would mean Xue Daoyong wished the Xue family to rise to nobility. But Nan Hanwen was a disciple of the ruthless strategist Dan Tai Xianming, a man who had endured decades of upheaval, cunning and calculating.

He sensed something amiss.

Just as the Xue clan’s inner fire grew chaotic, footsteps sounded.

“Insolent!”

A calm voice fell like a blade, severing the invisible threads of desire, hope, and Jiaoxing that had risen among the Xue clan. Their thoughts halted.

Nan Hanwen blinked, looked up—and saw a woman in blue robes stride forward along the path to the inner courtyard. Her black hair was pinned with a wooden clip, a green bamboo flute hung at her waist, a sword in hand. Her gaze carried icy authority.

The Xue clan’s voices dropped:

“Miss…”

Xue Yuheng chuckled: “Ah, niece, you’re here. No matter, no matter. Nothing serious—just bringing you a gift.”

“A gift?”

The woman’s brows lifted. Her sword slid free.

With a clear chime, the box Xue Yuheng carried was split cleanly in two. Treasures gathered from the northwest scattered, their fragrance drifting.

Ching!!

The blade, like autumn water, pointed at Xue Yuheng’s brow.

Changfeng Lady spoke coolly: “You didn’t come to gift. You came to profit.”

“You see me as a stepping stone to climb higher.”

Silence crashed over the crowd. The Xue clan paled. Nan Hanwen froze, then said: “Lady, Lady, this is a day of joy—why draw weapons?”

Xue Yuheng raised a finger to block the blade, voice thick with anger:

“You’re not even Empress yet, Shuangtao.”

“Already so biased toward the Emperor? So eager to sever ties with the Xue family, to carve your name as a virtuous Empress in history?!”

“Is this ingratitude?!”

“Have you forgotten how the Xue family raised you?!”

Xue Yuheng, as head of a major trade route, still wielded a sharp tongue, striking the most painful point. Even if he meant no harm, his words stoked the crowd’s mood, turning their glances suspicious.

But the woman was no longer the naive girl of old. She lifted her gaze, surveying the faces around her, and said:

“If you think so, then think so.”

“If you all think so.”

“Then so be it.”

The atmosphere turned hollow, yet some still bristled.

Xue Shuangtao suddenly said: “If you’re dissatisfied, if you’re aggrieved—fine.”

She pulled out a jade pendant, her voice icy:

“From today, I, Xue Shuangtao, sever ties with the Xue family.”

“I am bound only to Grandfather and Changqing.”

Instantly, the Xue clan youths who had been resentful now looked terrified.

“Miss! How can you do this?!”

“No, no… Miss!”

They panicked in unison.

Xue Shuangtao shook her head in disappointment: “You know why you still exist, why the Xue family remains intact—only because His Majesty remembers old favors, remembers Grandfather’s aid. You’re not satisfied? You want more?!”

“I’ve spoken too harshly today. I beg your pardon.”

She stepped forward half a pace, voice cold:

“Do you even deserve it?!”

The words were brutally impolite. No one dared speak.

Changfeng Lady said: “My younger brother still hides his identity, sleeps with his spear at his side, risking life and death on the battlefield to earn promotion through merit. You? You’ve contributed not an inch of land, not a single blade of war. Yet you wear silk, eat well, live in comfort—that is already fortune. How dare you use the Xue family’s name to demand high office?”

“It’s pure fantasy!”

Xue Shuangtao sheathed her sword.

Changfeng Lady’s icy gaze swept over the Xue clan’s direct descendants. She knew that in every dynasty, the imperial in-law clan received lavish rewards—but she also knew that if this happened, the past decade of wandering and war would have been for nothing.

Her slender fingers tapped the sword.

The blade was cold as snow.

Xue Shuangtao said: “The rise of Great Qin follows two paths: civil and military. Rewards and punishments are strict. But there is no path that grants favor through the Xue family’s name. Whether direct or collateral, no Xue clan member will receive any title or gift from Great Qin because of me.”

“If you truly believe you deserve these rewards because of me—”

Xue Shuangtao paused. The past decade flashed before her eyes.

She said: “Then all the sacrifices of these past years were wasted.”

“Master Nan Hanwen.”

Nan Hanwen, still moved by her bearing, stepped forward and bowed: “Your servant is here.”

Xue Shuangtao flicked her wrist.

Her sword technique, now at the Fourth Heaven level, had absorbed three essences of Chen Qingyan’s style.

It sliced cleanly through Xue Yuheng’s temple.

His hair fell. The lethal implication made his pupils contract violently. The next instant, Xue Shuangtao’s sword returned to its scabbard, where it hummed softly.

Xue Shuangtao turned to Nan Hanwen and offered him the sword:

“This blade is the one I wield as head of Changfeng Tower. Now that the four seas are unified, this sword still holds special authority: it may be presented to His Majesty to execute any Xue clan member who betrays the throne, breaks the law, or defies order!”

“Execution without pardon!”

The words carried an icy chill.

Instantly, the Xue clan’s hopes of seizing rewards under the new empire were extinguished.

Such thoughts had merely lingered in the heart, not yet strong—now, they were utterly severed, not a single sprout daring to emerge again.

Xue Shuangtao looked at Xue Daoyong and bowed deeply: “Grandfather.”

She said nothing else.

Xue Daoyong sighed, as if weary, as if approving: “Good.”

He left Nan Hanwen behind, then turned to the others: “Why are you still lingering? Don’t you know you’re waiting for this sword to cut you down?!”

“Withdraw at once!”

After this, Xue Shuangtao wandered off in a daze, while Xue Daoyong took Nan Hanwen to the Listening Wind Pavilion, where his shadow guards—those who had followed him from the martial world to this day—brought two cups of tea.

Nan Hanwen gazed outside, where ripples danced on the water and the long wind swirled; he looked at the teacups on the table and smiled faintly: “Quietly listening as the wind rises, the long wind forever by your side—what a fine Listening Wind Pavilion.”

“When His Majesty was young, when he lay hidden in the depths of sea and abyss, was it not here that he received your aid, Xue Lao, and set forth on his path to conquer the realm?”

Xue Daoyong replied: “With His Majesty’s spirit and will, I merely happened to be there at the right moment. Had he entered the martial world or followed Yue Qianfeng, he would still have found wonders and achieved greatness.”

“The Xue family merely offered that bit of charcoal.”

“Master Nan, please drink your tea.”

Nan Hanwen slowly sipped his tea, still pondering the implications of what had just transpired, sighing inwardly, then said: “Xue Lao, you cared for His Majesty since his youth, repeatedly aiding him in peril—your contributions to the state are immense. Yet why stage such a play today?”

“Was Xue Yuheng your doing?”

“Even without this performance, the Xue family’s wealth and glory would not have diminished.”

Xue Daoyong sat cross-legged in the Listening Wind Pavilion, sipping tea slowly, smiling: “Though I staged the play, the faint hope lingering in the hearts of the Xue heirs was real. Master Nan, do you know what a [Physician] truly is?”

Nan Hanwen, well-versed in the classics, replied:

“The [Physician] has three levels: First, he treats illness before it takes form, so his name never leaves the home. Second, he treats illness at its earliest sign, so his name never leaves the neighborhood. Only the third level cuts the blood vessels, administers poison, and pierces the flesh, and only then does his name spread among the feudal lords.”

“Master’s meaning is…”

Xue Daoyong said: “The master of battle achieves no glorious victories.”

“To resolve matters before they spiral out of control, to nip evil in the bud—that is the correct path. I used one man to draw out the hidden desire in the hearts of the Xue heirs, then let Shuangtao sever it utterly.”

“Only then can the Xue family survive.”

“Only then can Shuangtao truly become the Empress beside His Majesty.”

“Only then will Guanyi not be forced, ten or twenty years from now, to confront the Xue family’s problems.”

Nan Hanwen said: “Master, your method is masterful.”

Xue Daoyong spoke gently: “Shuangtao and Guanyi are both loyal, sentimental children. This old man, in martial skill, can no longer withstand even one of Guanyi’s strikes—but I still wish to help them.”

“While I am alive, yes, as you say—but what of after I am gone, ten years from now?”

“I do not wish for them, after my death, to stand opposed to the Xue heirs, becoming a laughingstock for posterity, nor do I wish for these two good children to grow distant from each other.”

“After all these years of storms and trials, for some vile men to drive the Emperor and Empress apart—would that not be a terrible waste?”

Nan Hanwen said: “But this act will damage your reputation.”

Xue Daoyong laughed loudly, raised his teacup, and pointed at Nan Hanwen with a sly grin:

“But isn’t there Master Nan Hanwen here?”

Nan Hanwen suddenly understood why the old man had arranged this day’s events:

“Master means for me to vouch for you?”

Xue Daoyong replied calmly: “No—I hope that before your death, you will write down today’s events, publish them to the world, so all may know the heart of the Xue family, the heart of Xue Daoyong.”

Nan Hanwen grasped the full intent behind Xue Daoyong’s actions.

To protect his descendants, to resolve the troubles for Li Guanyi and Xue Shuangtao, to preserve Xue Shuangtao’s reputation as a virtuous Empress, and to secure his own legacy through Nan Hanwen, the observer.

Calculated with precision, carried out with calm grace.

Nan Hanwen raised his cup, sighing with admiration:

“In times of chaos, heroes truly are like this.”

Is this the ferocity of a tiger in chaotic times?

Yet even such a tiger of chaos, in the later years of the last age, could not bare its fangs—not because he had grown weak, but because the heroes of that era were truly as numerous as wind and clouds.

But now, the Peaceful Duke, the Divine Martial King, Chen Dingye, Lu Youxian, the Divine General, the Sword Madman, the Last Crimson Emperor, the Emperor Wanxiang—all those titans who stirred the storms of chaos in the last age—have all passed away.

This white-haired old man before us is surely the last hero of that age.

The stories between His Majesty and these heroes.

Do they begin with Xue Daoyong—and end with him?

But Xue Daoyong only laughed aloud: “Hero of chaos? I am unworthy. I am merely a gambler. As for the realm, I have nothing profound to say. Master Nan, do you know what a gambler truly values?”

Nan Hanwen bowed respectfully: “I beg to hear your wisdom.”

Xue Daoyong said: “Most believe the greatest gambler wins every bet—but I say that is shallow, thin. The true gambler does not seek victory, but knows when to withdraw.”

“Winning is ordinary.”

“The true feat is to walk away calmly after winning the entire realm.”

“To retreat swiftly from the torrent—that is true skill.”

Nan Hanwen said: “Today is your retreat, then?”

Xue Daoyong laughed: “If someday someone says I gambled for ten thousand years of peace, good—I placed a heavy bet. For over a decade, I saw peace descend, the young lovers united, the people living in peace and contentment. Xue Daoyong, a mere merchant, a gambler of chaos.”

“To have gambled thus—what more could I ask for?!”

“It has been glorious!”

“It is enough to console a lifetime.”

Outside, the wind rose, stirring the curtains of the Listening Wind Pavilion, rippling the water; the old man rose, teacup in hand, and behind him, the void rippled as the White Tiger paced slowly. Xue Daoyong opened his chest, his spirit grand and bold.

He saw the misty rain of Jiangnan, heard the camel bells of the desert.

He saw the realm, and felt his heart light, crying out loud:

“The heavens and earth vast—who are the heroes? All are gamblers.”

“A single bet of a thousand gold, bold spirit remains; I laugh at victory, defeat, birth, and death.”

“Sword qi like rainbow, grudges and kindness swiftly resolved, wine and meat burn through the gut.”

“The martial path stretches far, through countless storms and changes.”

“Return, return—to forest and mountain, clouds deep, mist wrapped, I stroll, watching the wind come.”

“The Fengyun of the realm have scattered; now I turn the pages of poetry and books.”

“My great ambition fulfilled, my bold heart still burns—why fear the passing years?”

He turned, and behind him, a wild wind surged; the White Tiger roared, shaking the Listening Wind Pavilion, its echo reverberating in all directions. The old man laughed:

“When the annals of a thousand autumns are written, my name shall resound across the four seas as peerless!”

Xue Daoyong, placed his stone, closed the game.

He withdrew, whole and unharmed.

He ended in glory.