In the forbidden city¹ at midnight, the two princes were each in a bleak mood.

Prince Wu led his troops to confront his Father Emperor outside the imperial study. Despite his show of force, the old eunuch Li Sizhe, still holding the imperial edict, read out the decree that abdicated the throne to Prince Jin.

The subsequent development was not what the impatient Prince Wu had wished. Of the three armies he led, the commanders of Zhang Jian’s camp and the Northern Black Battallion immediately defected the moment the eunuch finished reading the decree. They loudly declared Prince Wu’s rebellion in front of their own soldiers, and surrounded the Southern Army at the center of their formation.

In the end, after another fierce battle, the commander of the Southern Army was killed. With the soldiers now aware that their actions were not “righteous and loyal to the emperor,” their morale collapsed, and they knelt in surrender. After the Imperial Court’s rebellious experts had been slain, the drained Prince Wu was captured alive.

At the same time, Prince Jin had fled into the Capital Prefecture’s government office, where he learned that Prince Wu had raised an army to force an abdication.

However, the information he received was equally asymmetrical. Prince Jin had assumed that when his father had killed Han Baishan, he had eliminated some of Prince Wu’s influence: however, he hadn’t anticipated the arrival of three more armies. Zhang Jian’s camp, Northern Black Battallion, and the Sountern Army were all acting on Prince Wu’s orders and marching towards the palace.

Under these circumstances, the palace’s defenses were likely to be no match for Prince Wu’s forces. Unsure of the outcome, Prince Jin could only place his hopes on his father.

Even more devastating was the news that his teacher, Li Mushu, who had accompanied him from childhood to adulthood and taught him countless lessons, had succumbed to the assassination attempt and died to an arrow.²

By the time he had escaped into the government offices of the Capital Prefecture, and various experts of the capital prefecture’s officials had emerged to counterattack, Li Mushu had already perished.

“Your Highness, have some water!”

A guard brought a bowl of steaming tea to the main hall of the government office. Prince Jin, seated beside Li Mushu’s body, just shook his head.

Men did not easily shed tears, but they still did when heartbroken. Since he had reached adulthood, Prince Jin had been able to keep his emotions under control, but Li Mushu’s death made it impossible for him to hold back his tears.

“Your Royal Highness, why don’t we find a way to hide first? If Prince Wu succeeds, he will not let us go.”

“Hide? Haah…”

Prince Jin shifted, irritating his wounds. He frowned in pain. He looked at the body of his teacher beside him, then at the loyal guards, and smiled.

“There is no need to hide. I still have my pride. I have no interest in exile. Those who fight to win the world must always be able to face losing! If the news from the palace is unfavorable, you should take me to see my elder brother. “

Prince Jin spoke self-deprecatingly and laughed to himself.

“I just didn’t expect that eldest brother would choose to act immediately, without waiting for me to return to my palace. I thought that those old officials could at least persuade him to hold off for a couple of days. The news truly spread fast, what a decisive heart!”

As Prince Jin spoke with a voice etched with grief, Li Mushu’s ghost actually stood beside his own corpse, looking at Prince Jin covered in arrow and knife wounds with reluctance.

He had called out to Prince Jin several times, but had received no response. Perhaps it was because Yin and Yang were separated.

“I didn’t expect ghosts to truly exist after death…”

As he was thinking, he suddenly heard a mysterious voice sounding from the side.

“Li Mushu, since you are dead, come with us.”

Li Mushu turned around and saw that there were several officials in black robes and tall hats standing nearby. Their shadowed faces clearly showed no signs of life from the very first glance.

Even though he was already dead, Li Mushu was still subconsciously afraid.

“Who are you?”

“We are underworld officials under the jurisdiction of the City God of the Capital Prefecture, and we have been ordered to bring you to the underworld! Li Mushu, there is no need for delay. Come with us. The affairs of the living world are no longer your concern.”

The ghost officials stepped forward as they spoke, approaching Li Mushu. They did not restrain him, but the Yin energy dragged him out, and he couldn’t help but follow them.

“Wait! Please wait!”

Li Mushu implored the ghost messengers to stop. The ghosts did not force him to leave immediately, and watched as Li Mushu’s ghost walked directly across from the bereaved Prince Jin and bowed deeply.

After Li Mushu had completed his bow, the ghost officials directly took him away.

They passed through the doorway, left the Capital Prefecture government office, and walked down the streets of the capital late at night.

As the saying went, ‘swift as a ghost’ — swift as a ghost indeed! Li Mushu could sense that their speed was much faster than an ordinary carriage.

“Excuse me, officers. Am I correct in stating that quite a few people died here in the Capital Prefecture tonight?”

“Yes, there were many here, and even more over in the Imperial Palace.”

“And what about the forbidden city? Might you know the outcome?”

Li Mushu asked with concern.

One of the soul-binding messengers tasked with escorting him to the underworld glanced at him with a faint smile.

“Oh, well. If it lets you rest in peace, as a clear-headed ghost… At the Imperial Palace, it is rumored that Prince Wu failed in his endeavors. The imperial edict passed the throne to your family’s man, Prince Jin.”

The ghost of Li Mushu paused for a moment, and finally burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha… hahahaha… I can now rest in peace, indeed, I can now rest in peace. Thank you very much, sir! Hahahahaha…”

Some of the ghost messengers to the side shook their heads. This ghost could still care about this after he had died…

The soul-binding team was still advancing rapidly. In the middle, Li Mushu could even see a group of ghosts surrounded by some other escorts. He was the only one in his contingent, which could be considered special treatment.

On the way from the government office to Temple Administration Lane, they had to pass by the largest inn in the Capital Prefecture. A they approached, Li Mushu discovered that the environment of the inn was different from other places. There was actually a bright light shining there, as if forming a small patch of dim daylight around the building.

When the group of ghost messengers reached this section of the road, they took a detour around it, instead of maintaining their straight line traversal.

“Excuse me, sirs, why is the area around the inn so bright?”

The same soul-binding messenger that had spoken before glanced at the inn, then back at Li Mushu.

“Because that’s where Lord Yin is!”

Of course, Li Mushu immediately realized who the Lord Yin they were referring to was, but he was rather surprised that the ghost messenger would actually use his honorific title.

“Then why, why…”

“Haha, everyone in the underworld of the Capital Prefecture knows that Lord Yin of the Yang world possesses a righteous spirit and carries the blessings of the people. Evil techniques cannot harm him, and ordinary demons will stay away from him. He is loved by humanity, and admired by ghosts and gods. He is a great scholar and a sage of this era!”³

The ghost official’s tone of respect was obvious as he spoke.

Hearing this, Li Mushu looked towards the post house with emotion, clasped his hands together, and bowed in that direction.

“Lord Yin, with you here, I can depart with peace of mind!”

After this bow, Li Mushu no longer had any lingering worries, and followed the ghost messenger to the temple and through the gates of the underworld.

. . .

At the same time, Ji Yuan and the Heavenly Master Du Changsheng sat atop the bell tower on Yongning Street. During the day, the bell tower would announce the time for the people of the capital. However, at night, this duty was reserved for the night watchmen, so naturally the tower was currently deserted.

Ever since night had fallen, the two had chatted extensively, mostly about the aftermath of the Water and Land Assembly, how the old emperor had consulted with the Heavenly Masters on cultivation, how he had them refine elixirs, and the dirty tricks the Heavenly Masters had used among themselves.

Du Changsheng, realizing that he had encountered a true master, shared his knowledge without any hesitation. He did not dare lie, feeling that he had earned a modicum of favor.

“Of the Heavenly Masters remaining in the capital, Heavenly Master Du is the only one with genuine ability.”

“I don’t dare claim, that, sir, I don’t dare. With my limited skills, I would never dare call them genuine abilities. At best, I am only slightly stronger than the others.”

Ji Yuan smiled. After two or three hours of interaction, he had gotten to know Du Changsheng quite well. He wasn’t a bad person, and was fairly intelligent.

“I was not lying when I claimed that you had genuine abilities. For example, take your paper man. It’s quite interesting. At the very least, I have never seen the like before.”

Du Changsheng felt proud and spoke happily.

“It’s just a small technique, I didn’t expect to catch Mr. Ji’s eye. This technique was developed by my master during his lifetime, and I have refined it a bit. While it’s still not quite up to par, it can sometimes be helpful, or be used as a show of strength. Don’t underestimate it, although it may be just paper, it is quite powerful, equivalent in strength to a grown man!”

“Interesting, but seeing how nervous Heavenly Master Du is about that yellow paper figurine, it seems that this technique is difficult to achieve?”

Du Changsheng nodded with emotion.

“Exactly. Over the past few decades, I have only managed to create six yellow paper figurines. Years of use have damaged two of them, and now I am running out of energy. Even if I lose one, I am afraid it would be difficult to replace.”

Ji Yuan looked at him, and finally gave voice to what was on his mind.

“Master Du, you probably don’t have any orthodox Qi guiding methods. I would like to offer you a Qi training method in exchange for your independently developed method. Would you be willing to exchange for this?”

Du Changsheng’s eyes widened subconsciously as he looked at Ji Yuan.

“A true… a true Qi training technique? One that transforms Yin and Yang, divides the five elements, and sets the path to immortality?”

“Immortality is not that easy. It is not something that you can achieve by simply mastering the Qi training technique, but it would definitely be better than what you have cultivated so far. Mater Du, your direct meditation and visualization of the heart fire to refine your spiritual energy is indeed too crude. Mastering the Qi training technique can at least let you achieve the Golden Bridge and Alchemy Furnace of your inner world…”

“Master!”

Du Changsheng exclaimed, standing up and kneeling down to Ji Yuan.

This shout startled Ji Yuan.

“Heavenly Master Du, why are you saying this? Please stand up quickly, I do not deserve this great deference.”

“If you wish to teach me an authentic immortal art, I, Du Changsheng, must naturally perform a bow to acknowledge the master and disciple relationship. Nothing less would be enough to show my respect. Master, please accept me as your disciple… mmphff– mmph–“

Du Changsheng suddenly found himself unable to speak his following words. He couldn’t open his mouth at all. His tongue darted left and right in his mouth, but he couldn’t open his lips.

Ji Yuan rubbed his forehead.

“Please stop, Master Du. I truly do not deserve this great deference. How about we just let things be as they were?”

Du Changsheng was anxious. He pulled out a book from his sleeve and placed it in front of him, repeatedly kowtowing on the ground, making the corners of Ji Yuan’s mouth twitch.

“I know in my heart that you are a great man, so how about this? If you feel that this trade was unequal this time, I will pass on my more refined techniques to you in the future. I will not mention the master-disciple bows to you again…”

Du Changsheng nodded quickly and agreed as he heard these words, and spoke quickly, but when he looked up, there was no one in front of him. The book he had placed in front of him had also disappeared, but was replaced by a different thread-bound volume in the same spot.

The title on the cover of the book only had two characters: “Small Techniques.” Opening the pages, he could see that the text was exquisitely detailed and beautiful, with a lingering sense of the Tao. Just a moment of reading capivated Du Changsheng. In a trance, he felt as though he could feel the divinity from the pages. However, it only lasted a moment, before mental exhaustion overwhelmed his concentraiton.

Excited, Du Changsheng took a rest to recover a little energy, then immediately tried again.

The sky gradually brightened during this period of time.

…

On the 23rd day of the ninth lunar month, in the autumn of the year of Dinghai,⁴ Prince Wu of Dazhen’s rebellion failed, and he was captured. His younger brother, Prince Jin, was granted the title of Crown Prince.

At the morning court session on the 24th day of the 9th lunar month, Prince Wu, clean and unscathed, knelt in shackles in the imperial court hall. Prince Jin, wounded and unable to even change out of his bloodstained clothes, stood in the same hall.

In front of the entire court of civil and military officials, the head eunuch, Li Sizhe, once again read the imperial edict of succession aloud.

After this incident, there was no longer anyone, both inside and outside the court, who refused to obey.

1. I believe this term came up before, but this refers to the whole imperial palace complex and related buildings
2. T/n: TT_TT rest in peace, Li Mushu
3. T/n: JY come quick your buddy is getting a fan club!
4. 丁亥 (Dīnghài) year of the Boar, in case you were curious

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read