Chapter 89: Two Heads

A petite woman, yet with a voluptuous figure, pulled out a string of exquisitely crafted, brand-new keys. As she opened the courtyard gate and stepped inside, she chuckled, "Finally, they have a use."

She glanced at the chicken coop by the foot of the wall, where a flurry of wings beat wildly. She paused, "Still haven't starved to death?"

"You still have to thank me for finding you such a good neighbor. Harmony between neighbors, spring under heaven," she mused, quickly understanding the situation. Turning her head towards the neighboring yard, her diminutive stature prevented her from seeing over the wall. She had to walk to the yellow mud wall and stand on her tiptoes. Finding only an empty courtyard, she quickly lost interest. She turned towards the main house, pulled out another key, and crossed the threshold. She ran her finger across the table, finding it spotless. The woman frowned, as if someone had taken the liberty of applying rouge to her own daughter's face. It might look good, but the parents certainly wouldn't be pleased.

Of the three retainers who followed the woman to Mud Bottle Lane, the burly man remained outside in the lane, eyes closed in meditation.

The pale, beardless, squinting old man walked into the courtyard.

Only the sword-bearing woman followed the woman into the main house.

The woman entered Song Jixin's residence alone, surveying the surroundings. There was a bed, a desk, and even some expensive antique trinkets on the desk, likely abandoned by the owner because he didn't wish to carry them. She walked to the desk and found three books stacked in the center. Casually flipping through them, she found nothing remarkable, just ordinary primers for schoolboys: *Elementary Learning*, *Rites and Music*, and *Guan Zhi*. These were common classics used throughout the Great Li Dynasty, from noble families to commoners. The woman noticed that although the books were old, they were free of dirt and grime. An image flashed in her mind. She shook her head and casually asked, "Yanghua, what's the market price of *Elementary Learning* in the Great Li capital?"

The sword-bearing woman, standing with her back to the door, replied in a naturally cold voice, "Replying to Your Highness, sixty copper coins at most, forty at least."

The woman chuckled. "It seems the greater the Confucian sages' teachings, the less they're worth."

The woman returned the three primers to their original positions, gently patting the top book, *Guan Zhi*. She revealed a hint of sarcasm, sneering, "If not for the novelists' relentless promotion, tirelessly traversing the great cities, towns, and alleys, singing their praises while willingly remaining as insignificant unofficial historians, Confucianism would never have secured, or maintained, its hold on this realm."

The old man in the courtyard coughed lightly, whispering, "Your Highness, you must be careful. This is not a place for free speech."

The woman laughed. "Don't worry. After Qi Jingchun's death, an agreement was reached with those above. No one will be watching here anymore. Do you think that without Qi Jingchun, the stagnant Lishizhu Celestial Grotto, a place that hasn't had a major problem in millennia, warrants the attention of those great figures?"

The old man still insisted, "Your Highness, it's best to be cautious."

The woman smiled sweetly, speaking softly, "Alright, alright, I won't grumble about these things. Xu Hunran, you really need to learn from Liang Song. He's much better at reading the room. That's why the Great Li court says that although Liang Song was your disciple, he surpassed his master. It's not an exaggeration. As for my uncle deliberately taunting you, saying that the disciple doesn't necessarily have to be inferior to the master, Xu Hunran, you don't need to mind him. He's just like that, likes to show off his limited knowledge after hearing a few scholars' words."

The man named Xu Hunran didn't know whether to laugh or cry, sighing to himself, thinking that the woman's comfort was hardly comforting at all.

But the encounter with that feudal lord on the way south weighed heavily on his mind. Although Song Changjing looked tired, as if he was recovering from serious injuries after a life-and-death battle, he dared to lift the carriage curtain in front of him, which meant that Song Changjing was likely to have taken his martial arts to a new level. Although reaching the tenth realm was extremely unlikely, every step Song Changjing took after reaching the peak of the ninth realm, even if only half a step, could be equivalent to a realm difference for seventh and eighth realm martial arts grandmasters.

This pale, beardless old man was renowned throughout the Great Li Dynasty, hailed as the Great Li's number one swordsman. The suffix "master" after his title, like the term "expert" after a surname among the various schools of thought, carried great weight. Liang Song, the genius swordsman who died at Song Changjing's hands, was Xu Hunran's most prized disciple, whom he regarded as his own son. The hatred was immense.

Xu Hunran favored keeping a sword hidden in his sleeve. The sword was named White Sparrow, only an inch long, yet extremely deadly. Legend had it that it could fly back and forth hundreds of miles in an instant. The sword would return to the sleeve before the target even realized they'd been struck, making the attack swift and unpredictable.

The woman sat down on the bed, patting the mattress. "Not exactly the life of a wealthy family, but quite comfortable."

The young woman holding the sword whispered, "Your Highness is acting with painstaking care for the Prince, making him suffer hardships to temper his will."

The woman stood up, laughing. "That's hypocritical. The truly suffering child is that orphan next door. My Mu'er can hardly be called suffering."

She walked to the wall, pondered for a moment, and murmured, "The few pages of ancient books given to us by the Lu family of Fulu Street record spells and divine powers from a distant, unverifiable past, vastly different from the current major Taoist talisman sects. I remember one page recorded an interesting little spell. What was the incantation again? Oh, I remember. Let's give it a try."

The woman, with her back to the young woman at the door, laughed. "Go wait for me to open the door in the neighboring courtyard."

"Heaven and earth connect, mountains and walls link, soft as apricot blossoms, thin as paper pages. I point a sword, open the door with speed, following the decree of the Three Mountains and Nine Lords!"

The woman held no talisman paper, simply chanted the incantation, pointed her finger forward, and then leisurely walked through the wall, leaving behind a faint ripple.The woman arrived at a dilapidated house, its four walls bare, and sighed, "Some are born with a silver spoon, able to squander their lives in luxury. Others are cursed from the start, destined only for hardship. Wrongly reincarnated, who can you even complain to? And even if you found the culprit, would you dare speak? Little one, by the time you uncover the truth and seek revenge against me, you'll first have to deal with Cloudveil Mountain, Righteous Sun Mountain, and the Scroll Lake. And by the time you find me, it will be an eternity. That is if you even manage to leave the borders of Great Li alive."

She turned her head to look at the wall. "Three Mountains, Nine Marquis… Who is this Mister? We in the Eastern Treasure Continent have never heard of such a figure. Could it be an ancient deity, stripped of incense and his golden body? If so, why does this minor spell still work?"

She couldn't decipher the answer for the moment and decided to investigate it in the Great Li capital or perhaps ask Cui Chan. After all, he was close by, and it wouldn't hurt to ask. She went to open the door, but after removing the bolt, it wouldn't budge. She remembered that it must be locked from the outside, so she used a bit of force to break the copper lock and pull the door open. She saw the courtyard gate was already wide open. She looked at the sword-bearing maid and the swordsman Xu Hunran and asked, "Did you just break in like this? Is there no sense of decorum? Remember to find someone to fix the gate later, don't forget."

She walked toward the courtyard gate, adding, "And replace the door lock with an identical one."

The old swordsman and the maid seemed accustomed to this.

The burly man standing in Mud Bottle Lane frowned slightly.

As the woman stepped out of the courtyard, she suddenly stopped. "Yanghua, take sixty-three steps to your right, using the stride length my Mu'er had when he was seven."

The sword-bearing maid obeyed, walking sixty-three steps before stopping.

The woman behind her turned to face the high wall. "It should be here."

The woman stared at the unremarkable mud wall, her voice filled with resentment, "Song Yuzhang deserves to die."

She quickly regained her usual elegant composure, smiling as she asked, "You heard me speak of this secret matter back then. Where do you think the problem lies, and what can I do for Mu'er?"

The young woman shook her head. "This servant does not know and dare not speculate."

The woman sighed, sounding somewhat melancholic. "My Mu'er has two unresolved issues. The first, of course, is being chased through the streets in that heavy rain by a poor, common boy, who grabbed him by the neck, pinned him against this wall, and wouldn't let him move. With his personality, he must be filled with indignation. Mu'er was young back then, and besides being humiliated, he must have been terrified by the murderous aura of that boy."

The woman's eyes suddenly turned sharp as she reached out a hand, lightly pressing her palm against the rough, uneven mud wall. "The second issue is more interesting. So interesting that it made my Mu'er experience perhaps the first taste of guilt in his life. That's why, after meeting with Fu Nanhua of Old Dragon City, he couldn't bring himself to make the final decision to replace Liu Xianyang with that boy in their deal."

The young woman finally showed some curiosity, but serving this woman was like treading on thin ice, so she wouldn't be foolish enough to ask.

The woman withdrew her hand, wiping it on the sleeve of the sword-bearing maid's arm, and turned to walk toward the lane entrance, suddenly revealing a hint of girlish charm. Despite being a wife and mother, she possessed a unique allure. She huffed, "Mu'er merely said that you, Chen Pingan, were born on the fifth day of the fifth month, which caused the death of your parents, and that because you live in the ancestral home, you are preventing your parents from reincarnating, so it's best if you don't live there and move out quickly."

The woman grew more agitated as she spoke. "What's wrong with a few jokes? You, Chen Pingan, believed it and foolishly broke your pathetic vow to not go to the Dragon Kiln to fire porcelain. How can you blame my Mu'er for that? Besides, how much is a lowly wretch's vow worth? My Mu'er is precious and flawless, as the common people say. If cultivators believe in such things, they are simply courting death. Even fifth-realm Qi refiners who can live as long as the country are striving for a truly immortal, immaculate body. How could a street urchin compensate? Can you even afford to?!"

The woman gritted her teeth and said, "That little wretch, what a curse!"

The sword-bearing maid, with a strand of golden sword tassel resting lightly on her chest, remained expressionless.

The swordsman Xu Hunran was even more oblivious, not taking it to heart.

Only the burly man walking at the rear frowned once again.

As the woman was about to leave Mud Bottle Lane, she suddenly turned around.

Almost simultaneously, the young woman and the old swordsman stepped aside to the left and right, respectively, to give the woman a clear view.

The woman was now beaming, both enchanting and innocent, with a captivating blend of contradictions. She asked softly, "What is it, Wang Yifu? Do you disagree?"

The man said in a deep voice, "Although I don't know all the details, I do believe that this is wrong."

The woman wasn't surprised at all, and instead laughed loudly. "Worthy of being the number one general of the Lu Dynasty, Wang Yifu!"

The old swordsman, who habitually squinted when looking at people and things, could barely see anything, his sword aura filling the narrow alley.

Bits of mud from the walls continued to fall to the ground.

The sword-bearing maid quietly took a step back, as if to give the sword master Xu Hunran more room to fight.

She looked at the burly man not far away, a sneer appearing at the corner of her mouth.

A broken, homeless dog dares to bark?

This man named Wang Yifu was once one of the great generals of the Lu Dynasty, born into a top-tier military family, all his ancestors were generals. Before Wang Yifu surrendered, his status was equivalent to the Great Li Dynasty's Pillar of the State. The Great Li's military god, Song Changjing, had long wanted to have a good fight with Wang Yifu. His ability to lead troops into battle wasn't exceptional, but his personal martial strength was extremely high. Although he was a Qi refiner, he possessed the robust physique of an eighth-realm martial artist and was proficient in swordsmanship. He could control the powerful Yin spirit of that famous jade to fight alongside him, making him one of the few truly strong experts in the Lu Dynasty.

The woman held out her small hand, as delicate as mutton fat jade, and waved it. "Xu Hunran, no need to be nervous. General Wang is a reasonable man, just a bit too upright. Now that we are on the same side, let's not resort to fighting at the slightest disagreement. I don't like that."

Xu Hunran silently retracted the vast sword aura within his sleeve.But the woman added a moment later, "I will only send the person that Wang Yifu would risk his life and dignity to protect, not to the place we agreed upon, but into the imperial palace, or the brothel?"

Wang Yifu, facing her, clenched his fists, his veins bulging, his eyes bloodshot.

The woman said calmly, "We only agreed to preserve her life. Don't take my compassion for granted, Wang Yifu."

Wang Yifu suddenly laughed, "Your Majesty is right, I was wrong."

The woman smiled, "It's good that you know you were wrong. After you leave this Mud Bottle Alley, you don't need to follow us anymore. Go and take the head of the previous Supervisor, put it in a wooden box, I might need it later."

Wang Yifu was taken aback, "Song Yuzhang is an official appointed by the emperor to come here. You said before that he has backing in the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Observatory. Why kill him?"

The woman smiled and asked, "Do I need a reason to kill someone? What am I, as a Your Majesty, for?"

Wang Yifu sighed, cupped his fist and bowed his head, "Your subordinate obeys."

The four of them left Mud Bottle Alley one after another. Wang Yifu parted ways with the other three.

After the burly man who had surrendered to Great Li and pledged allegiance to the woman was completely out of sight, Xu Hunran couldn't help but mock, "What a righteous Wang Yifu, ha, now he's lost both his bones and his integrity."

The woman did not walk towards the crowded streets, but chose a secluded alley, and mocked herself, "Did you really think that I don't know the difference between good and bad in what I did?"

The old swordsman didn't know how to answer, so he simply kept silent.

The woman looked up at the blue sky and said without warning, "Only when you are in the situation yourself, do you realize how formidable this scholar Qi Jingchun really was."

"It is our Great Li who has failed him."

"Such a man of unparalleled talent, I only regret that he cannot be used by my Great Li. No wonder His Majesty has been feeling depressed these days, often sighing."

"It's a pity that Qi Jingchun, no matter how powerful, is still dead."

The woman sighed all the way, and all her words were sincere.

When the woman was silent for a long time and no longer spoke, Xu Hunran remembered something. He first waved his sleeves, and sword energy spread around, then whispered, "Your Majesty, are we making too much of a fuss by killing a suddenly rich alleyway teenager?"

The woman seemed too lazy to answer such a question, and said casually, "Yanghua, you answer."

The sword-holding woman said coldly, "A lion hunting a rabbit strikes with deadly force."

The old swordsman was speechless.

The woman twitched the corner of her mouth, "Although my uncle is a warrior, he has a wonderful saying: when dealing with any enemy, never, ever give him a chance."

Unlike his colleagues in the Ministry of Rites who were staying at Peach Leaf Alley, Song Yuzhang lived alone in Dragon Riding Alley, in a mansion whose owner had just moved out.

Song Yuzhang opened the door and sat at the table. There was a wine pot, a plate of salted peanuts, and a large bowl of white wine. This former Supervisor had been rooted in this small town for fifteen years, and everything he ate and drank was very familiar to him.

When he saw a burly man appearing out of nowhere in the courtyard, Master Song, who had just picked up the wine bowl, smiled, "Finally here."

He raised the white bowl high and asked, "Can you wait for me to finish this bowl of wine?"

The uninvited guest hesitated for a moment and nodded.

Song Yuzhang seemed afraid of keeping his guest waiting. He drank half a bowl of liquor in one gulp, his face flushed, and asked, "Can you pass a message to the boy named Song Jixin? Well, he should be called Song Mu from now on."

The middle-aged man's eyes held a hint of entreaty, "Can you tell him that the guy named Song Yuzhang has always wanted a couplet from him for all these years?"

The burly man shook his head decisively this time, "No, I cannot!"

Song Yuzhang took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, his face full of relief, and whispered, "When I was young, I loved to read travel notes. I saw the Old Dragon City at the southernmost tip of the Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent, where there are huge tides lapping against the shore all year round, a magnificent sight. Then let this bowl of Great Li wine be the water of the South Sea tide."

Wang Yifu stepped forward and twisted the neck of the Great Li official.

After killing him, Wang Yifu felt no joy in his heart. He gently let him lie on the table as if he were drunk.

As a man of a fallen country, a defeated general, Wang Yifu poured himself a bowl of wine and drank it silently. Finally, he said a word to the dead man on the table, "So, scholars also have heads of great worth."