Sometimes when meeting someone, there would be no need to discuss any philosophical questions about where one came from or where they were going. Just by having a pleasant chat, Ji Yuan and the old beggar could feel each others’ character and attitude towards life.

Dazhen was not Ji Yuan’s, and he never wanted to be the only one who had the final say. Besides, he had a very positive state of mind, and optimistic Taoist foundation. Since he felt that the old beggar did not want to talk too much about his own background, he wouldn’t ask. The other party didn’t ask much about Ji Yuan, either.

‘That’s fine too. ’

With these thoughts in mind, Ji Yuan and the old beggar chatted casually. In any case, neither of them had anything they wanted from the other, so it was quite rare to meet someone who they could just talk to.

They didn’t hurry to drink the tea, and the tea never got cold. By the time all the tea in the large teapot had been emptied, the old storyteller in the teahouse had just finished telling the story “The Legend of General Huang.”

The attention stick sounded with a crack. The story ended with the Huang family, loyal and fierce to the end as they sacrificed themselves for their country, meeting the fate described in the idiom, “with the birds gone, the bow is stowed away.”¹ The tea drinkers and guests at the teahouse all sighed.

As it approached noon, the weather grew hotter; storytelling was a highly technical job that required both physical and mental effort, so the old storyteller’s face was invariably covered in sweat. He wiped his face with a wet towel, listening to the cheers from those around him, and collected some copper coins on the table as tips.

“Well, the timing is perfect.”

After he had finished listening to the story, Ji Yuan drank the last bit of tea in hs iteacup and stood up.

The old beggar didn’t move, but the young beggar consciously got up. He felt that the stool must be returned. As for the plate on it, it should be returned empty.

One stool was reserved for the old beggar and the young beggar to sit on. Ji Yuan carried the other stool and returned to the teahouse with the plate and teapot atop it. He also retrieved the change from the nuggets of silver that he had left. Then, he went out, nodded to the old beggar, and turned to leave.

Both the old and the young beggar were quite interesting individuals. However, Ji Yuan could tell that the young beggar was obviously very cautious; he had spoken about everything that needed to be discussed, so he had no plans of getting entangled with them.

After Ji Yuan left, the tea specialist walked to the counter of the teahouse, hesitated for a moment, and said to the shopkeeper.

“Boss, do you want me to get that stool back?”

The shopkeeper stretched out his hand and patted him lightly on the head.

“Are you stupid?”

Outside the teahouse, the two beggars sat together on the bench. The number of people turning their heads to look at them dropped sharply.

The young beggar looked in the direction of the teahouse and then in the direction that Ji Yuan had left in, then used his elbow to nudge the old beggar, who was deep in thought, as if he were offering a treasure.

“Grandpa Lu, look!”

When the old beggar turned his head, he saw a large pocket on the side of the young beggar’s clothes, which was filled with snacks, dried fruits, and melon seeds.

“Oh, I guess you didn’t eat it all just now.”

“How can I not leave some for Grandpa Lu? I hid most of it!”

This was half of what he had eaten, and the portions of the plates were not small.

“Then why were you in such a hurry to clean it up just now? Why didn’t you leave some for Mr. Ji?”

The little beggar muttered with a little guilty conscience, “I don’t think he wanted to eat, and he’s not short on money…”

The old beggar smiled and said nothing.

Before sitting on the stool for a long time, the two beggars, old and young, felt that it was a bit strange for beggars to sit on a stool and watch people passing by, so they both sat back on the ground and put the broken bowl on the stool.

About a quarter of an hour later, the aroma of food in the surrounding restaurants grew stronger. Even though the little beggar’s stomach was already full of cakes and pastries, he still drooled at the smell. The old beggar lay in the corner with his eyes closed.

“You’er, something good is coming!”

The old beggar said inexplicably. The young beggar was confused for a moment, before finally understanding what he meant: the tea specialist from the Qingye Building was walking towards them with a tray.

On the tray were two large celadon² bowls that were bigger than the young beggar’s head. The bowls were filled with fragrant noodles, drizzled with sauce and diced meat, with two pairs of chopsticks.

“Uh, hello you two. This is the braised pork noodles in soy sauce soup that our shopkeeper at Qingyelou specially asked me to order from the shop next door. He said it’s a lunch treat for the two of you. Please enjoy!”

The tea specialist placed the two large celadon bowls on the bench, then bowed and returned to the teahouse. The old beggar glanced over to see the teahouse owner also bowing to him from afar.

One must not repay kindness with ingratitude:³ the old beggar also bowed in return.

“Grandpa Lu… this… shall we eat?”

“Eat! Anyone who doesn’t eat this is a fool! Why do you look so sad?”

The old beggar looked at the little beggar angrily. They probably hadn’t been able to get such a good meal for over half a year.

“Oh… I shouldn’t have eaten so many pastries…”

The old beggar was stunned for a moment, and couldn’t help but laugh out loud, attracting the attention of the passers-by around him. “Hahahahaha…”

Afterwards, the two beggars grabbed their chopsticks, used the stool as a table, and began to wolf down the noodles from the large celadon bowls. Even though the young beggar was full, he would rather die than waste the noodles.

The two of them ate with such relish that some passers-by couldn’t help but change their original directions and go to the noodle shop next door, upon seeing how delicious the meal was.⁴

. . .

As the time grew closer to the Mid-Autumn Festival, more and more “experts” from all over the country gathered in the Capital Prefecture. At the same time, wealthy and idle individuals from all over Dazhen also rushed to the capital in large numbers.

Therefore, the Capital Prefecture, which had already been lively in the past, was now as lively every day as it would be on New Year’s Day, and all kinds of interesting things could be seen on the streets from time to time.

If anyone spotted someone dressed oddly or with a strange overall appearance, they wouldn’t doubt it at all, merely concluding that they had seen a “master.”

The people of the capital and many people in general were all very curious about this whole Water and Land Assembly, and treated it as a major festival.

However, the officials in the imperial court who were in charge of this matter had quite a few grievances. The platforms were built and the exhibition sites were constructed one after another, and with the addition of rush work, money was being spent like running water.

This was especially true for those experts who gathered here. After the decree had been sent out and people reported to the capital, the imperial court would be responsible for their food and lodging, as well as some miscellaneous matters. Not only was it annoying, but the expenses were also high. It was said that there were even beggars. The guards posted at the palace gates tried to drive them away several times but failed. Finally, for fear of things getting out of hand, they had to let the beggars stay in the hall.

On the sixth day of the eighth lunar month, outside the Chu Family Residence on Yongning Street.

Today, the head of the Chu family wished to invite someone who was said to be a great expert to visit his house, and the entire household had been busy preparing for their arrival a day in advance.

In the evening, the patriarch of the Chu family and the two young masters of the Chu family rode out on horses, led by a group of servants, bringing with them an eight-man sedan chair⁵ all along Yongning Street to the Chu Family Residence. It was quite the grand spectacle.

When they arrived outside the splendid mansion gate, the steward, Old Servant Xu,⁶ had already come forward to lead away Master Chu’s horse.

“Uncle Xu, how are the banquet preparations going?”

Master Chu glanced at the sedan chair, and asked Old Servant Xu again for insurance.

“Don’t worry, sir, everything is ready.”

“Hm!”

Master Chu nodded, then walked to the sedan chair with his two sons, who had already dismounted, and bowed with cupped hands before speaking.

“The two masters have arrived at my humble residence.”

“Hmm!”

There was a calm hum from inside the sedan chair, and a man and a woman walked out. The two were elderly individuals in their sixties or seventies dressed in long robes. The man was stern, and the woman had kind eyes; they had the demeanor of immortals.

Old Servant Xu off to the side narrowed his eyes at the two of them and observed them carefully. The movements of their hands and feet did not seem like those of martial artists at all. However, even if they were liars, they might not be swindlers. His impression was all just based on a martial artist’s intuition, and the rush of his Qi and vital energy. He inexplicably felt unhappy when looking at them.

The two masters called upon by Patriarch Chu got out of the sedan chair and looked at the front lintel of the Chu mansion. Just by looking at the lintel, they could tell that the Chu Residence was definitely wealthy and extraordinary.

Patriarch Chu bowed with cupped hands again, then extended a hand.

“Masters, please follow me!”

“Well, Patriarch Chu, let’s lead the way.”

On the side, Old Servant Xu immediately frowned, and the strong Qi in his body swelled slightly. They actually dared let his master lead the way, treating him as a servant?

Patriarch Chu laughed alongside them, then actually led the two into the mansion, and the other servants followed.

“Okay, Masters, please come in!”

After the two experts entered the house, Old Servant Xu couldn’t help but ask the two young masters, who were walking slowly behind.

“Sirs, what abilities do those two experts have, that they can order the Patriarch around like this?”

The eldest son looked at the group of people who walking away, then approached the old servant and whispered.

“Uncle Xu, those two really are experts. We saw with our own eyes how they could make little people out of the mud on the ground and make them dance; they could catch a candle flame in their hands and swallow it whole; they could even collect spilled water back into their basin.”

“That’s right, I saw it too. As the saying goes, spilled water cannot be recovered, but they did so. They said it’s called the technique of Water Control. The experts also said that this is the only way they can demonstrate their skills in front of ordinary people like us. If they truly use their abilities, we will be overwhelmed.”

“Oh……”

Old Servant Xu was a little bit skeptical at their words, but the patriarch and his sons were not the kind of people who could be fooled so easily.

Two quarters of an hour later, in a hall somewhere in the mansion, the two experts tried to suppress their emotions and remain calm, but they couldn’t hide the joy on their faces. In addition to a large amount of gold and silver ingots placed on the tables to the left and right sides of the hall, five cooked animals, five raw animals, and five live animals had been prepared as they had requested. The collection of animals included cooked, raw, and live cattle, dogs, sheep, pigs, and chickens.

Even with the lights on, the hall still appeared a little dim, making the two experts’ expressions seem strange.

“Moo…”

“Baaa…”

“Cluck cluck…”

Each of the five species of live animals seemed extremely uneasy.

“Hehehehe… We are very satisfied with the Chu Residence’s preparations. Patriarch Chu, please leave us be, we must practice!”

Patriarch Chu and all the servants nodded and carefully exited the hall.

Old Servant Xu in the corridor outside continued frowning the whole time. These two masters were too weird.

“Master…”

Patriarch Chu immediately raised his hand to stop him, and pointed to the other side of the garden.

“Go there and we can talk.”

The group temporarily left the hall corridor and moved to the garden.

“Uncle Xu, the current emperor has convened a Water and Land Assembly, so naturally he wished to meet people who have true skill. These two masters are clearly among that number. They are very different from those idlers and martial artists pretending to be experts. As long as…”

Patriarch Chu was only halfway through speaking when suddenly…

Swish…

A beam of white light lit up from the backyard of the mansion, sweeping rapidly in an arc-shaped wave, and in almost an instant, it had swept over where they were standing.

“Aaaah…”

“Aaaaah…”

“Bang!”

“Bang bang!”

The door of the hall burst open from the inside, and the two exquisitely carved wooden doors were directly knocked out of the door frame.

“Mercy! Mercy…”

“We’ll leave now, right now!”

The two masters who had been so arrogant just now stumbled and crawled out of the hall, as if a vicious tiger were chasing them.

“Hey… Masters…”

“We’re leaving now…”

“We didn’t do anything, we didn’t do anything!”

The two were obviously greatly frightened. They rushed around so fast that even the pearl hairpins on their heads fell off.

Patriarch Chu only had time to wave his hand and shout blankly before watching them escape from his sight. He hurriedly took his men to chase after them.

They were unable to catch up to the two masters until they had reached the Chu Mansion gate. They, they could only watch as they tripped over the threshold and tumbled down the stairs. After getting up, they didn’t even try to pat themselves down, they just kept running away. One of the masters even forgot how to stand up and run, instead crawled on the ground, kicking with his legs and feet as he ran.

The Chu family stared at the door in amazement for a long time. They only returned to their senses when Old Servant Xu laughed.

“Tsk… Experts!?”

Patriarch Chu looked at him and suddenly remembered something.

“What was the white light?”

“Um, I don’t know. It seems to have appeared from the backyard of the mansion.”

“Let’s go and have a look!”

Seeing the appearance of the two experts, no one wanted to chase them back now. They all returned to the mansion and rushed to the inner hall. They asked the servants along the way, and learned from them that the white light came from the direction of the library.

The Chu family entered the library. The aura inside seemed to have not completely dissipated yet. There was still a faint glow from the corner of one of the large bookshelves.

Old Servant Xu directly stepped forward without the help of a ladder. He jumped up lightly, and brought down the set of books from the top. This was where the glow seemed to be coming from.

“Reflections on the Governance of the Hundred Prefectures?”

Patriarch Chu glanced around, then pulled out the books one by one. When he cam eto the second book, he pulled out a piece of rice paper, the same size as the pages of the book. The glow came from the words written on it. When everyone saw the paper, the glow suddenly disappeared without a trace, as if it had become an ordinary piece of calligraphy.

“Beautiful handwriting…”

Patriarch Chu couldn’t help but read out the contents on the paper.

“Overnight in the library, beholding the spirit of the hundred prefectures of the land; in temporary residence, leisurely sweeping the taint of evil from the hall.”⁷

The handwriting is clear and dignified, and it contained a unique aura. This was the edict that Ji Yuan had left here before leaving the library.⁸

As it turned out, the words left by Ji Yuan were not seen by the Chu family; instead, when the servants were cleaning the library, they thought that someone in the mansion had forgotten to put the books back after they had finished reading. This piece of paper was obviously related to the “Hundred Prefectures” book, so it was sandwiched between the pages and placed back on the bookshelf, and didn’t see the light of day until today.

At this moment, Ji Yuan, who was cultivating in his sleep in a rented house, had a feeling in his dream. A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t know whether he was laughing at the Chu family or at the “experts.”

T/n: I don’t know why, but once again, translating this chapter was like pulling teeth 😦 Anyhow, who would like a nice hot serving of karma?

1. Literal meaning: “once a war is over, wartime powers are revoked or diminished.” Has since taken on the meaning of “a task has been achieved, those who had worked toward its success are abandoned”
2. A special type of pottery with pale green, translucent glaze.
3. Lit. “don’t hit someone who smiles at you”
4. T/n: a textbook example of how a good deed comes back around.
5. This type of vehicle is called a litter or a palanquin. The simplest design is a single seat borne by 2 men, one to the the front and one to the back. Eight-man palanquins are ridiculously extravagant. If you’ve seen Avatar the Last Airbender, the fire nation royal family often ride on a 4-man palanquin
6. His title is 老 (lǎo): old/indicating experience, 倌 (guān): herdsman/hired hand in trade. The title indicates a long term of service to the family. “Old Retainer” or “Veteran Manservant” might also be accurate translations
7. 宿书阁观百府地灵，寄闲身扫庭前邪尘 Couplet of 8 character lines. It seems to be a kind of “thank you for letting me break into your house and stay overnight” letter mixed with a reflection poem, but it’s an Edict by JY, so if you take the words literally it functions as an evil-repellant for the Chu household
8. See ch. 154

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read