Du Heng’s farce today actually began a few days earlier at Ruo Xian Pavilion.
At that time, in the Eastern Region, within the Lan Ke Mountain Range.
On the main peak of Lan Ke, a place that ordinary people could hardly glimpse.
An old man and a young man sat facing each other, engaged in a game of Chinese chess.
The handsome youth on the left held a stone and dropped it onto the board with a sharp, forceful crack.
“Check!”
On the board, the red side on the left had already sent its horse and chariot charging straight toward the enemy camp, while the black side’s commander had nowhere left to move.
The white-robed elder opposite him sighed in sorrow. In the next instant, his left hand quietly extended, and colorless spiritual power spread across the board.
The youth seemed to have anticipated this. He gently blocked the spiritual power with one hand, stopping the elder’s move.
“Sect Leader Uncle, are you tired from playing chess? If so, why not just let your nephew make the moves?”
“My nephew really is considerate.”
“Of course. That is only proper for a junior.”
The two of them were locked in a stalemate, yet their faces still showed the warmth of a loving uncle and a dutiful nephew, as though the ones wrestling on the board were someone else entirely.
Just then, a sword attendant boy flew down from the mountain and hurried to the old man in white, handing him a letter wrapped in yellow cloth embroidered with dragon patterns.
After reading the letter, the white-robed elder sank into thought. Then he turned to look at the youth, even withdrawing the hand that had been about to take back his move. His expression turned gentle and kind.
“Sect Leader Uncle, is there something urgent? In that case, I won’t disturb you further. Shall we continue another day?”
The youth rose to leave. He absolutely couldn’t stay here long. Whenever this old man smiled like that, it meant he was definitely up to no good.
“Nephew, how have I treated you over the years?”
“Sect Leader Uncle has always cared for me with complete devotion. This nephew remembers it well.”
The youth turned back and smiled, his eyes seemingly full of sincerity.
A faint glimmer flashed through the eyes of both men. Each had his own thoughts.
That youth was none other than Du Heng, the man who had once acted indecently toward the Eldest Princess. Ten years ago, he had entered Ruo Xian Pavilion and become the disciple of its then sect leader, Yun Tianyi. Now he was the sect’s chief senior brother.
In his previous life, Du Heng had been an ordinary university student on Blue Star. One ordinary night, he fell asleep as usual, only to wake up and discover that he had transmigrated to this world and become a newborn infant.
Later, when he was ten years old, the former sect leader of Ruo Xian Pavilion happened to encounter him while traveling the world, and Du Heng thus became a cultivator of the Daoist school.
What Du Heng had just said to Ye Mingshan was not false at all.
Ye Mingshan was indeed a childish old rascal who couldn’t stand losing at chess, but he still took very good care of this useless disciple left behind by his senior brother.
Du Heng had followed the former sect leader Yun Tianyi for many years. After Yun Tianyi passed away, the other people in Ruo Xian Pavilion finally realized that Du Heng’s cultivation was only at the second realm, the Qi Condensation stage; even some outer sect disciples were stronger than he was.
This fellow never did anything serious in his day-to-day life. He lazed around all the time.
He played chess, raised fish, pet cats, teased dogs, planted flowers, read storybooks, and whenever he had nothing better to do, he would torment the sect leader, the elders, and the other inner court disciples.
In short, apart from proper matters such as cultivation and alchemy, and improper things such as robbery and debauchery, Du Heng did everything. He embodied the word “slack” to the extreme.
If he had been in another immortal sect with a stronger temper, Du Heng might have been expelled long ago.
But because Ye Mingshan intentionally protected him, Du Heng still did as he pleased inside the sect.
“Nephew, the royal family of the Great Luo Dynasty just sent a message to me. Can you guess what it says?”
Ye Mingshan stared at Du Heng until his scalp prickled, and a bad premonition rose in his heart.
“Mm… this nephew is foolish, so I won’t disturb you, Sect Leader Uncle, while you handle the important affairs of the sect.”
Before Ye Mingshan could answer, Du Heng stood up and left. He took the steps two at a time, then soon broke into a run. Ye Mingshan could already tell that in the next moment, he would probably be too late even to pull out his flying sword and escape on it.
Heh. His guard really is pretty sharp.
Ye Mingshan gave a cold laugh. “Little Bamboo, hurry up and bring your Senior Brother Du back here!”
The word “bring” was heavily emphasized.
The sword attendant boy Mingzhu nodded, already understanding. He used a movement technique, and his slender body stepped on the wind. In just a few strides, he was already in front of Du Heng, blocking his path.
Ye Mingshan had already arrived in front of Du Heng and grabbed his wrist.
“Nephew, don’t rush. I still have something to discuss with you.”
“Uncle, I really do have urgent business. My little Mei’s distant aunt’s neighbor’s relative’s second great-uncle is about to give birth, and I need to hurry back and help.”
Little Mei was a small white cat Du Heng had picked up by chance, only a little over a month old.
As soon as Du Heng finished speaking, he flicked his sleeve and slipped free from Ye Mingshan’s hand. The latter only felt a breeze pass by, and in that instant Du Heng had actually escaped his grasp.
Ye Mingshan actually smiled faintly. Neither surprised nor annoyed, he sat down, took a sip of the spiritual tea beside him, and muttered a few words toward Du Heng’s back.
“I’m getting old. My memory doesn’t seem to be very good.”
“It seems… the few girls from neighboring Qiong Yun Peak wanted to come and see Disciple Nephew Du last time, but for some reason they were frightened half to death by a demonic wind that sprang out from nowhere. If they were to learn that the demonic wind was…”
“And there is also the matter of someone secretly taking your Uncle Li’s Sword Edge Pill and feeding it to the Azure Bamboo Tiger in the spirit beast garden, which ended up destroying Fourth Girl’s spiritual herb garden…”
“This old man’s memory is bad, and my tongue isn’t very nimble either. Who knows when I might accidentally let something slip?”
After hearing that, Du Heng froze in place, unable to move.
He twitched the corner of his mouth, a little irritated, but in the end he still turned back and respectfully cupped his fists.
“Helping to ease the Sect Leader Uncle’s worries is this subordinate’s duty. Please speak, Uncle.”
Ye Mingshan looked at him with a smug expression, cleared his throat, and said,
“Ahem, it’s actually nothing major.”
Tsk. Then don’t stop me with all these threats!
“It’s just that the Great Luo Emperor died five years ago, and now Her Highness the Eldest Princess, who is handling affairs in court, wants to fulfill the marriage pact our Ruo Xian Pavilion made with the royal family years ago.”
“…I see. So what does this have to do with me, your nephew?”
Du Heng vaguely guessed what Ye Mingshan meant, but still pretended not to understand.
A nostalgic look appeared on Ye Mingshan’s face. “This is a long story. Roughly a hundred years ago, the Great Luo royal family and our sect forged an indissoluble bond.”
“Back then, your master, as sect leader, represented Ruo Xian Pavilion and settled this marriage alliance with the Great Luo royal family. It was agreed that if any princess were willing, Ruo Xian Pavilion could let one of the sect’s young and talented cultivators of suitable age marry her.”
A marriage between secular imperial power and an immortal sect sounded a little strange, but in this world it was nothing unusual.
Cultivators were supreme in this world. Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and martial arts were the four mainstream systems for cultivators, though there were also various side paths and heretical methods.
Even in the imperial court, many powerful cultivators served as officials.
Although the Great Luo royal family held secular imperial power, it was also a lineage of cultivators, so a marriage alliance with the famous Ruo Xian Pavilion was nothing strange. It might even raise the prestige of the Great Luo royal family.
Ye Mingshan continued, “This was a promise your master made while he was still alive. What I am thinking is that we should naturally choose someone from your master’s Xuan You Peak.”
“As the chief senior brother of Ruo Xian Pavilion and also the chief inner court disciple of Xuan You Peak, tell me, who on Xuan You Peak would be a more suitable candidate for Her Highness the Eldest Princess?”
Ye Mingshan laughed heartily and warmly, even patting Du Heng on the shoulder, as though everything was easy to discuss.
Du Heng listened and, after a while of speechlessness, said softly,
“Sect Leader Uncle, there’s only me left on Xuan You Peak now… Why don’t you just choose someone elsewhere…”
Du Heng’s master, Yun Tianyi, was a very strange man. He was reclusive by nature and disliked taking disciples, so Du Heng had already become his only disciple.
Hearing Du Heng say that, Ye Mingshan smiled even more brightly and cut him off before he could finish.
“My nephew really does think that you and the Eldest Princess are quite well matched. This uncle is very gratified. It was not in vain for your master and me to have gone to so much trouble. I imagine you must also be impatient now that you’ve reached marriageable age.”
“It doesn’t matter. Even if your master is gone, since my nephew has spoken, this uncle will make the decision on this marriage for you.”
Du Heng was stunned. He had not expected this old bastard to be able to lie through his teeth like that.
He said helplessly, “Uncle, don’t forget that I’m only at the second realm, the Qi Condensation stage.”
“You are handsome, and your cultivation realm and talent still have plenty of room to grow. Truly, your future is bright.”
Du Heng felt dizzy listening to that. What did cultivation have to do with looks? How did that count as a bright future?
Just based on the cultivation level he showed in front of them every day.
If this were the script of some other place, the elders and fellow disciples of the sect would have jumped out the moment they heard the news and cursed him as a useless waste, saying he still dared to covet Her Highness the Eldest Princess.
That would have made sense.
How could this old man brag about himself like that?
Wasn’t he deliberately trying to get revenge for losing too many chess games by making Du Heng embarrass himself?
Ye Mingshan could praise Du Heng as someone with a bright future without even blushing or missing a beat.
Even Du Heng, the person involved, couldn’t stand to listen anymore.
Yet Ye Mingshan kept trying to talk him into it.
“I’ve heard that the Eldest Princess of the Great Luo Dynasty is exceptionally talented and beautiful, like a celestial fairy. I don’t know how many people want to become the Lord Consort.”
“You two are truly a match made in heaven, gifted man and beautiful woman, a perfect pairing of pearls and jade.”
“This marriage candidate is none other than you!”
…
『PS: To keep people from skipping the author’s note at the end of the chapter, I’ll put the realm classification here. The first through ninth realms are: Body Tempering, Qi Condensation, Illumination, No Confusion, Sitting in Reflection, Cave Profundity, Break Army, Know Fate, and No Distance.』