Chapter 129: On the Mountain
Beneath the plaque of the mansion, the young swordsman habitually rested his elbow on the hilt of his sword and the tip of its scabbard, yet still gave no impression of laziness. He said softly, "Madam Chu."
After that single call, he fell silent.
The Director of the Ministry of Rites, holding a lantern, and the Water God of Embroidered River, with a green snake coiled around his arm, both unconsciously slowed their breathing and stood solemnly.
The ghost woman in wedding robes sneered, "What, does this lord intend to settle accounts with me after the autumn harvest?"
The young swordsman looked up at the place where the sword cultivator from Snowstorm Temple had torn through the sky with his flying sword, and said slowly, "Madam Chu, there's no need for angry words. I have no such intention. But from now on, when those children leave here, and when the blind old Daoist and his two disciples continue their journey northward, I hope Madam Chu will cause no further trouble. Whether Madam Chu acted with intent or not back then, the Song clan of Great Li is always grateful to you—after all, it was an act that helped the Song clan prolong the dynasty's fate. Yet afterward, the Song clan of Great Li also felt guilty toward you. Even as an outsider, when I heard of that tragic incident, I was not so much filled with righteous indignation, but I certainly had sympathy."
Silence fell again.
The ghost woman in wedding robes raised her arm and smoothed the hair at her temple, displaying a woman's delicate tenderness. She narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Now, my lord, you can say 'but.'"
The young swordsman nodded, "But, Madam Chu's indiscriminate killing of scholars and literati—the longer it goes on, the harder it is to keep the lid on, just as it happened today. I dare not presume how His Majesty the Emperor would think. But if I hear again of a scholar disappearing here, I will come alone to visit, and personally bring Madam Chu back to the Great Li Water Prison. Rest assured, His Majesty values old ties, but he values rules even more. Besides, no matter how deep the bond, there comes a day when it runs out."
The young swordsman sighed, his eyes sincere. "Madam Chu, whether you believe it or not, I hope that day never comes."
The ghost woman in wedding robes looked into the distance, pinching the sleeve of her wedding dress between two fingers. For a rare moment, she was at peace. Softly, she said, "Just because you were willing to lower yourself and speak that humbly to a young boy, I believe what you say."
She paused for a long time, then her expression turned cold. "I can promise now that I won't harm passing scholars. But I want you to know: if I happen to catch sight of those wandering scholars who chant about mountains and rivers, I may not be able to control myself. I'm not pleading for mercy—I'm just speaking honestly. When the time comes, you can deal with me as you see fit. Whether you catch me and throw me into that water prison, or I break the mountain's root and the river's source here first—let each rely on their own skills, and bear the consequences!"
The young swordsman smiled. "Agreed."
The Water God of Embroidered River wanted to speak but held back.
Before leaving, the young swordsman said to this Water God, "No more hiding. Just tell Madam Chu the truth plainly. After so many years, she should have known the truth long ago. As for any blame in this matter, put it on my head. You needn't worry about the court blaming you."
The Water God clasped his fists and said gravely, "My thanks to you, my lord. From now on, even if it's a personal matter of yours, I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"
The young swordsman waved his hand, then took Director Han and left through the air.
Madam Chu stood in place, watching this orthodox Water God, who was deeply trusted by the Great Li court, with a hint of disdain. She neither invited him into the mansion nor drove him away on the spot.
The Water God of Embroidered River strode up the steps and sat down casually. "I know you've always looked down on me as a crude martial artist, so I'll make it brief. The young scholar you fell for never betrayed your true feelings. It's just that the Great Li court, for the sake of the greater situation, feared that if you left here, you could no longer suppress the remnant fortune of the Divine Water Kingdom, centered on Qidun Mountain. So they never told you the truth, deliberately letting you misunderstand that scholar."
Madam Chu's wide sleeves billowed, her eyes reddened, and blood continuously flowed from her eye sockets. But her expression remained calm. "And you still try to deceive me now? Do you take me for a three-year-old child? Although after he left, I never again went beyond the mountains and waters of this place, never again visited Wanping County Town or Red Candle Town to see the scenery of the mortal world—I am not deaf. So many scholars passed by, and some inadvertently mentioned things. So I know. I know a great deal! In the end, he fell in love with another woman."
Madam Chu murmured, "I know—if he loved someone, it must have been genuine."
The Water God of Embroidered River said flatly, "Then you should also know that as the first scholar who earned his own way into the academy under Great Li, he was framed terribly in Guanhu Academy. First, they deliberately praised him to puff him up. Someone secretly spent a fortune, hiring the most famous courtesans to pretend to admire his talent and spread his fame. Then, great Confucian scholars from neighboring dynasties pretended to be his close friends, treating him like a kindred spirit, and made his calligraphy pieces worth a fortune each. There were many other schemes, all interlocking, so that he was only half a step away from becoming the first gentleman recognized by the Confucian Academy under Great Li.
"But overnight, everything turned upside down. His reputation was ruined. Someone accused him of plagiarizing poetry. That renowned courtesan slandered him as impotent. Several literary giants and senior scholars jointly condemned his moral essays, branding him a hypocrite, calling him the turbid stream of Guanhu Academy. A brilliant scholar, once full of ambition, went mad from it all.
"He was mad for a long time—this scholar from a poor family became a laughingstock throughout Guanhu Academy. The saying that Great Li was a barbarian from the north was only then firmly established. But in the end, no one expected that he actually regained his sanity."
At this point, the Water God of Embroidered River turned his head to look at the dazed Madam Chu. "Do you know why he woke up?"
Madam Chu slowly sat down on the top step, her wedding dress spreading out like a fresh red peony. "Did one of your Great Li qi refiners intervene?"
The burly man gave a cold smile, his eyes sharp. He spoke bluntly, "If Great Li had intervened, it would have been to kill that scholar."
Madam Chu twitched the corner of her mouth and nodded. "That would have damaged the nation's prestige—indeed. In a conflict between two nations, no means are too extreme—that's only logical."
The man exhaled a long breath. "The reason that scholar could regain his sanity was that a woman familiar to him came to his side."
Madam Chu's body stiffened.
The Water God slowly stood up and descended the steps. "That woman wore a mask on her face, identical to Madam Chu's appearance. If nothing went wrong, she had learned Madam Chu's voice, habits, and preferences to seventy or eighty percent. If the earlier schemes against the scholar involved a conflict between nations, then what followed—pushing him to the brink of death and playing with him like a puppet—was likely nothing more than a petty grudge among scholars."
The Water God strode away. "All in all, that scholar knew—"