“The elder has quite a temper and is burdened with worries. Whatever it is, he should speak more with his younger family members and avoid getting angry. It’s bad for his health.”
Mo Li didn’t prescribe medicine but gave Bao Guanyong a small bottle of calming pills from Ci Hui Hall.
Yuan Ting was skeptical, but when he saw the old man, for once, staying silent, he thought to himself, “As long as he doesn’t get angry, that’s good. I’ll ask more once we’re back at the rice shop.”
When they were being seen out by the people from Ci Hui Hall, Mo Li walked a few steps with them.
“Some things are like illnesses—they can’t be delayed.”
Bao Guanyong’s body shook, and he turned around abruptly, but Mo Li was already looking at another patient being helped up by an apprentice.
The voice that had just reached his ears was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz—it must have been that doctor speaking.
But in a daze, it seemed like Meng Qi’s voice.
The shopkeeper, Bao, was absent-mindedly helped out by his apprentice.
Yuan Ting, not being a fool, noticed the strange behavior of the shopkeeper and knew that his master was hiding something from him.
When that realization finally clicked, things he hadn’t considered before began surfacing in his mind, and Yuan Ting’s expression darkened.
—He couldn’t understand; King Ning was about to rise in rebellion, was his master having second thoughts?
The master and apprentice returned to the small building behind the rice shop. Around the wooden building were five alleyways, with no trouble coming in and out, but once the mechanism was triggered, a total of eighteen traps would activate.
Jiangnan was home to many skilled craftsmen, and Bao Guanyong was a founding elder of Fengxing Pavilion. Though it appeared they only had a rice shop in this small town, the entire street behind them was occupied by people from the Fengxing Pavilion.
Naturally, Yuan Ting wouldn’t bring up such matters outside, so he pretended everything was normal, looked over the accounts, and handled the daily affairs of the Fengxing Pavilion. It wasn’t until the first watch of the night that he blew out the lamp and lay down.
Half a quarter of an hour later, Yuan Ting silently climbed through the window and slipped into Bao Guanyong’s room next door.
As expected, Bao Guanyong hadn’t gone to sleep and was sitting in front of a stool, waiting for his apprentice.
The room was pitch black, and without being able to light a lamp, neither of them spoke. They just stared at each other for a long time.
The only light came from the distant Ci Hui Hall.
“Master, do you not trust King Ning?” Yuan Ting asked softly.
“King Ning is a useless lecher, what more is there to say?”
Bao Guanyong snorted. If any of the three kings of Jiangnan were of any use, would he be here now?
Yuan Ting held his temper and said, “Master, among the short ones, we must pick the tallest. Compared to the arrogance of King Jing and the greed of King Wu, King Ning is merely lustful and incompetent. And besides, we are not helping King Ning directly. Didn’t Mr. Qiu say that there are benefits to being lustful? He has twenty sons, and choosing one capable of managing the situation gives us better odds than the other two kings. Isn’t Mr. Qiu’s prediction coming true now? The seventeenth son of King Ning is talented and accomplished in both civil and martial arts. The restoration of the Chu dynasty is within sight.”
Bao Guanyong poured out a pill from the bottle and swallowed it.
Yuan Ting: “…”
Did he say something wrong?
Was it necessary to take medicine right in front of him?
Bao Guanyong let out a long breath. Anger harms the body, and Doctor Qin’s disciple had been thorough, even prescribing the right medicine for a feigned illness.
“You’ve been in the Fengxing Pavilion for many years. Haven’t you met or at least heard of the most talented young men in Jiangnan? Why don’t you tell me, which of them could the seventeenth son of King Ning compare to? Is his so-called talent genuine, or is it just flattery?”
Flattery, no doubt, but there must be some real talent; otherwise, the flattery wouldn’t stick.
People can twist the truth for fame and fortune, but if they stretch it too far, they’ll lose credibility, and the literary circles will reject them.
Yuan Ting asked in confusion, “But a ruler only needs to know how to use talented people; they don’t need to be better than everyone else.”
How many top scholars had there been in history? Did emperors have to write better essays than them?
“Hmph, knowing how to use talent is easier said than done.” Bao Guanyong waved his hand, sneering, “I was once a soldier and later roamed the martial world. I have little patience for poetry and essays. I don’t believe an emperor needs to have the skills of a top scholar. In my view, the imperial examination is just a way to pick out the smart ones. But if all they do is read dead books and can’t understand the strategies of governance, they might get to the rank of ‘Juren’ at best. Even if their ancestors blessed them enough to make them ‘Jinshi,’ they’d still be of no use in the bureaucracy. Now, let me ask you: if the court is full of people smarter than the emperor, what would happen? And if no one is smart, what would happen to the state and its people?”
Yuan Ting was dumbstruck. He reflexively retorted, “You mean to say, the young prince isn’t smart enough? Master, you haven’t even met him, how can you conclude that he’s not up to the task?”
Bao Guanyong stared at him for a long time, and after what seemed like an eternity, he muttered as if in a dream: “Because… that young prince was chosen by Mr. Qiu.”
***
Ci Hui Hall.
Due to the curfew, the number of patients at the entrance finally stopped growing. The last few patients who couldn’t make it home before curfew took their medicine, with the more severely ill being kept in the back of Ci Hui Hall and the lighter cases finding lodgings with their families in nearby inns.
The lights remained on, with servants busy cleaning and apprentices preparing more pills and checking the cabinets.
The two doctors, who usually left early, stayed behind today, reviewing their notes from the day under the light and consulting Mo Li.
Mo Li wouldn’t stay in the city long. In another day, the patients here would mostly be treated, or at least their immediate crises would have passed. Though they didn’t know Mo Li’s identity or background, in the medical field, a skilled physician with good prescriptions is like a famous poet with verses—respected, even by strangers.
And with such credentials, how could he not be treated as a guest of honor?
The best room on the second floor of Ci Hui Hall was prepared for him, with new mats and pillows, a pot of hot soup, and two plates of Su-style pastries.
Southern pastries are quite different from those in the north, featuring more nuts, fruits, and a preference for adding preserved flowers like osmanthus, peach blossoms, and orange peel, making them both fragrant and smooth. Even Mo Li couldn’t resist eating one, though he had originally planned to save them all for Meng Qi.
Mo Li even thought about the wine-fermented rice cake from earlier that day—it was delicious, but unfortunately, Meng Qi wasn’t there, and he couldn’t exactly hide a piece of cake in his sleeve in front of everyone.
“This sugar cake is very sweet. Doctor, have a piece?”
Meng Qi said, though his eyes were clearly reluctant to part with it.
Mo Li silently looked away—truly, a rat afraid of bitterness but addicted to sweets.
“Meng, I’m worried that the shopkeeper and his apprentice… might end up fighting.” Mo Li gazed at the dark alley across the street and sighed.
“They’ll fight eventually. Better to clear the air now than let things fester until it’s too late.”
Meng Qi casually said as he picked up a piece of cake with his chopsticks. “Yuan Ting understands military strategy and can lead troops. Once King Ning rises in rebellion, he’ll join the army. That’s the future he’s planned for himself. Bao Guanyong hasn’t been able to confront his apprentice because of this.”
The strategist of King Ning had been in hiding for years, and the forces he had cultivated were all waiting for the day of rebellion. Was Yuan Ting truly a man without ambition?
Without looking up, Meng Qi continued, “Ambition, ideals, personal plans… people like Yuan Ting are the backbone of support for Mr. Qiu, the head of Fengxing Pavilion. They won’t side with Qiu Jing because they believe what they’re doing is righteous—pacifying the Central Plains, restoring the nation—and even if it leads to war and suffering, they think it’s worth it.”
But now, the situation was different from the end of the Chen dynasty.
The lives of the common people were indeed difficult, and many couldn’t survive, but there were no rulers or ministers who could truly bring them a good life or restore the flourishing era of the Chu dynasty.
When war breaks out, it is the common people who die. Even if King Ning ascended the throne and united the world, the lives of the common people wouldn’t improve much.
“It’s not that I underestimate the governance abilities of King Ning’s strategist, but he has too little support, and his approach is too unconventional. He even used his own daughter to hide his people in the martial world.” Meng Qi paused for a moment and said calmly, “Governing a country is incredibly difficult. I tried it with an old friend. To ensure that the people can live in peace and work happily requires the efforts of several generations. King Ning doesn’t have that many talented people under his command, and someone like Yuan Ting, who has spent a long time in the martial world, may be good at fighting bandits or leading charges, but when it comes to governing a country, he’s completely clueless.”
The people Mr. Qiu recruited and trained don’t understand this. Their hearts are full of ambitions to make great achievements, to be conferred titles, and to become prime ministers, and they even believe they are working for the welfare of the common people.
But what kind of person is Bao Guanyong? He had seen the founding monarchs and ministers of the Chu dynasty and had experienced many of the Chu dynasty’s upheavals. Even if he was just a vanguard officer who only knew how to fight in his early years or a military trainer who only knew how to lead troops, by the time he reached this age, if he couldn’t see through things, he would be a fool.
Meng Qi did not think that his old subordinate was a fool.
“What’s worse is that Bao Guanyong has eight disciples…” Meng Qi thought of the nicknames of those eight men, which made him choke for a moment. Then he quickly continued, “Especially the eldest and the fourth. The two with the nicknames ‘Mountain Breaking Tiger’ and ‘Mountain Cleaving Tiger’ are still serving as martial officials under King Ning. If Bao Guanyong turns against Mr. Qiu, the lives of his disciples will be in jeopardy. And from what I’ve gathered from Bao Guanyong’s words, these disciples are all wholeheartedly devoted to ‘reviving Chu.'”
The revival of Chu is a good banner to raise.
People’s hearts long for Chu; everyone wants to return to the past.
Even Bao Guanyong, at first, was also deceived by the idea of ‘reviving Chu.’ He hated Li Yuanze, and he hated the Qi Emperor, Lu Zhang, even more.
Li Yuanze was despicable, no doubt, but many monarchs in history killed meritorious ministers. After Li Yuanze died, the only thing Bao Guanyong cared about was the ‘Chu dynasty.’ In his eyes, Lu Zhang was just an usurper, a villain who ruthlessly slaughtered court ministers who refused to surrender. Bao Guanyong wished he could chop him into pieces.
Without this hatred, even if Mr. Qiu had saved his life, Bao Guanyong might not have aligned himself with him.
“…As Bao gets older, his hatred has gradually been replaced by his worry for his disciples, and unknowingly, he has drifted apart from King Ning’s strategist.”
Mo Li listened to Meng Qi finish, thinking to himself that this was indeed the case.
“Do you think, Brother Meng, that if they open up and talk things out, they can become united from now on?”
“Difficult.” Meng Qi shook his head without hesitation. “His disciples are already in their forties, they’re not children. How could they not have their own ideas?”
Even if this second disciple, Yuan Ting, could be persuaded, the other two disciples far away in Luling County wouldn’t be convinced.
Meng Qi had snuck in secretly; he couldn’t sit in front of the light, or his shadow would be cast on the window. So he could only find a corner.
Mo Li simply moved the round stool to the corner, and the two sat side by side.
Meng Qi used his chopsticks to feed the last piece of sugar rice cake to Mo Li.
Mo Li took a bite and pushed it back.
“Don’t forget to use green salt after you finish.” Mo Li put the plate back into the food box and rinsed his mouth.
Meng Qi sat behind him, hugging him tightly, refusing to let go.
Mo Li twisted around and broke free, then carried the food box and soup pot downstairs.
When he came back, he had used the hot water, towel, and green salt, and someone was already lying in the bed, claiming to be helping warm the bed.
Mo Li: “…”
It’s August, and you’re warming the bed?
He hadn’t even complained about the sand rat making the mat too warm!
“The doctor must be tired today.” Meng Qi reached over to Mo Li’s shoulder and back.
Though he didn’t know how to give massages, martial arts experts were well-versed in acupoints. He kneaded and pressed, making Mo Li feel both comfortable and sore, almost to the point of making a sound.
“Don’t move, sleep.” Mo Li held down one of his hands, but the other one came up.
In the end, the mischievous hand touched his waist.
Ah, that spot indeed felt uncomfortable since the storm.
Meng Qi secretly used his inner energy, and Mo Li only felt the warmth from his palm at the spot, so comfortable that his eyelids started to droop.
“Ah Li?”
“Mm…”
“Today, you helped a woman give birth, and both the mother and child are safe. Why did I see that you weren’t the least bit happy when you came out?”
Mo Li turned his head to glance at Meng Qi. After thinking about it, he felt it wasn’t Meng Qi’s fault, so he half-closed his eyes and said, “That woman’s mother-in-law almost refused to let me help when she saw my appearance. She wanted the older doctor from Cihui Hall to come and take a look. Tomorrow, when we leave here, I’ll make myself look like a sixty-year-old to avoid such issues.”
Meng Qi stroked his chin, thinking to himself that since yesterday he and Doctor Mo were twenty, today they were forty, and tomorrow they would be sixty, would the Fengxing Pavilion think they were demons?
Probably not. Compared to rejuvenation techniques and immortality, people in the martial world were more likely to believe in disguise techniques.
Author’s note:
This is not an attempt to exonerate Li Yuanze. The main point is that someone asked why, if Li Yuanze was so terrible, anyone would still want to revive Chu.
This question is complex. From the perspective of the common people, life was quite good at the time. From the scholars’ perspective, the Chu dynasty was the legitimate regime.
As for Li Yuanze killing meritorious ministers, many monarchs in history have done so.
I once saw someone compare Li Yuanze to Zhu Yuanzhang. Actually… Li Yuanze really can’t be compared to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Although the storyline mirrors the ‘crown prince dying early and the old ministers becoming obstacles’ situation, Li Yuanze didn’t plan to pass the throne to his grandson but to another son. Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang killed even the most loyal Crown Prince supporters because he believed his grandson wouldn’t be able to handle them and they would bully him because of their old minister status.
Imagine being a minister, serving diligently and loyally, fully supporting the crown prince, only for the crown prince to suddenly die. While you’re still grieving, wanting to support the legitimate heir, the emperor starts killing you?
In this story, Chu Emperor Yuan kills his ministers by poisoning them all at once and then posthumously assigning them crimes. Zhu Yuanzhang, on the other hand, accused one person of treason, then another, and had them kill each other off. When one family was dead, he’d kill another family, regardless of whether it was the family of a concubine, a son-in-law, or the in-laws of his daughters. Once, after killing a meritorious minister, he even had the man’s skin stuffed with straw and sent to the frontier regions where his sons ruled. One of the minister’s daughters had married the Prince of Shu, and she saw her father’s skin.
After killing off most of the ministers, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that choosing consorts from common families was reliable because the families wouldn’t gain too much power, and he instructed his descendants to follow this practice.
Toward the end of his life, Zhu Yuanzhang even had the consorts and palace maids who had served the emperor buried with him, which led to the establishment of a special household registry in the early Ming dynasty, the ‘Chao Tian Nu Hu.’
These consorts who were buried with the emperor were called ‘Chao Tian Nu.’ After their deaths, their fathers and brothers would receive titles and hereditary positions.
