Xiao Jingchuan: “There’s a Taoist priest in Nan Qian…”
Xiao Jingchuan widened his eyes, staring incredulously at his reflection in the bronze mirror, as if doing so could dismiss the recent memory as an illusion.
Good news: it was still the Qian Dynasty. Honestly, he hadn’t expected the Qian Dynasty to last over a hundred years. He had already prepared himself for a dynastic change, given the short-lived regimes in history were still vivid in his mind. The previous dynasty’s Emperor Yan, who rose from humble origins as a fisherwoman to end the era of chaos, reigned for a mere twenty-four years…
Bad news: it was Nan Qian.
Xiao Jingchuan stood frozen in place, almost afraid to ponder what “Nan Qian” truly meant.
“Little Mirror, can you pull up a map of the current world?”
Xiao Jingchuan’s voice trembled as he spoke.
【Your Majesty, are you sure you want to see it? Would you like a partial view or…】
The Bone-Reflecting Mirror asked with concern, its tone cautious, as if addressing a terminally ill patient.
“See it? Of course I’ll see it,” Xiao Jingchuan slapped his thigh. “Whether I stick my neck out or shrink back, the blade falls either way. Better to get it over with! Show me the entire map.”
His face was darkly clouded, the youthful handsomeness twisted into a sinister and dangerous expression.
It was as if Diting, the sage of the underworld, had revealed a wrath as deadly as death itself.
“I want to see what this Nan Qian ruler has done to my Da Qian!”
Thus, as Qian Taizu had wished, the Qin Emperor’s Bone-Reflecting Mirror compiled the map of the world one hundred and one years later and presented it to Xiao Jingchuan.
…
Silence was followed by an outburst.
“Outrageous! Truly heinous! The collapse of rites and morals! Uh… the Prime Minister isn’t here. Little Mirror, I need a word more severe than ‘the collapse of rites and morals.’ See if you can search your library for one…”
The moment he saw the map of a hundred years later, Xiao Jingchuan leaped up in fury, pointing at the prison door and cursing. However, not being a scholar who had endured ten years of rigorous study, he quickly ran out of insults and could only glare at the map in silent rage.
The once-vast Da Qian, which had encompassed the Central Plains of Chu, Qi, and Qin, as well as Nan Yue, Ba Shu, and the northern deserts, was now divided by the Yangtze River into Nan Qian and Northern Qian. Nan Qian still held extensive territories, covering all the lands south of the Yangtze that once belonged to Da Qian. However, Northern Qian was teetering on the brink of collapse under pressure from nomadic tribes that had established regimes in the north. Its territory had been significantly eroded and pushed back, nearly forced beyond the natural barrier of the Yellow River. Only the land between the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers remained, with the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun still struggling to hold on.
Looking at the map, Xiao Jingchuan couldn’t immediately determine whether the northern nomadic tribes were still the Northern Barbarians. His gaze shifted westward, where the vast region labeled “Western Territories” was filled in with a different color by the Bone-Reflecting Mirror, causing another wave of anguish.
Not a single inch of the territory he had fought to establish alongside his great general Gu Yue during the founding of the dynasty remained!
“My heart aches! It feels as if it’s about to shatter!”
Xiao Jingchuan clutched the bronze mirror, muttering curses under his breath, not daring to raise his voice. Besides fearing another wave of prison guards who might threaten his current body’s life, he was also wary of the Black-Clothed Guards under Emperor Yunqi’s command possibly surveilling his surroundings.
Since its establishment early in the Da Qian era, when Xiao Jingchuan reformed the previous dynasty’s factory guard system, the Black-Clothed Guards had evolved over a century into Emperor Yunqi’s ubiquitous spies. Knowing their elusive nature all too well, Xiao Jingchuan quietly lowered his voice.
A founding emperor enduring such humiliation within his own dynasty is truly unparalleled throughout the annals of history.
[Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Take care of your sacred health, your sacred health…]
The Bone-Reflecting Mirror spoke hesitantly. Xiao Jingchuan let out a mournful sigh, clutching the bronze mirror sorrowfully. “When have I ever been this humiliated before! Heaven have mercy, I thought this white mourning robe was for myself, but it turns out it’s for my Da Qian…”
[Your Majesty, things haven’t deteriorated to that extent yet…]
Seeing the emperor’s words grow increasingly outrageous, the Bone-Reflecting Mirror could hardly bear to listen. It considered itself somewhat traditional and disliked inauspicious talk, yet never expected its bound host to be even more indifferent. It could only offer comfort while interrupting.
Xiao Jingchuan changed the subject: “Little mirror, what information can you tell me now?”
[The same as before. You may continue to regard me as something akin to the Imperial Academy’s library—omniscient and striving to be omnipotent.]
“No, I mean what the Beimang Immortal said: ‘Someone is waiting for me.'”
Xiao Jingchuan stroked his chin with a half-smile and concluded, “Have my beloved ministers also arrived in this era? And you, who had vanished, suddenly reappear—have you received new tasks from the immortals?”
Xiao Jingchuan hadn’t forgotten that amidst the chaos and flames of war a century ago, this very bronze mirror had suddenly emerged from the ruins, struck him, bound itself to him on its own accord, and tasked him with completing so-called “imperial missions.”
Thus, he found the resolve to journey through the lantern-lit nights of Chang’an and the twilight hues of Jinling. With the aid of three first-class meritorious officials, he rose from a wandering vagrant doing odd jobs and performing arts to become the founding emperor of a dynasty.
That was the turning point of his life—he no longer had to worry about his next meal. But with gain came loss; after traversing countless imperial avenues, the path beneath his feet was already soaked in blood.
The reappearance of the divine Bone-Reflecting Mirror, which had vanished after completing its tasks in his previous life, could only mean one thing: the immortal or other higher beings who had dispatched the mirror to find him had issued new directives.
“No need to answer in haste. Let me thoroughly examine this descendant of later generations first, to see if he is truly beyond salvation.”
Xiao Jingchuan’s expression turned cold. No longer resembling a soft-furred puppy, he now evoked the aura of the underworld’s Diting, his gaze filled with chilling coldness and oppressive force.
Then Xiao Jingchuan resolutely continued reading, only to nearly bring himself to tears.
“Nan Qian has a Taoist priest, and Northern Qian has a drunken monk!”
Xiao Jingchuan slapped the ground and stood up, summarizing.
The Emperor Yunqi of Nan Qian secluded himself in a corner, collecting all manner of strange and peculiar objects from across the land, so engrossed in alchemy that he lost touch with the world. The late emperor of Northern Qian was even more of a marvel—drinking at banquets, drinking during court sessions, and even after being captured by the Northern Barbarians, his first question was whether they had any wine!
And now, after the late emperor’s capture, the emperor of Northern Qian was a mere ten-year-old child!
Xiao Jingchuan felt a pang in his heart.
It must have been during the Three Kings’ conflict that something went wrong with the Xiao family’s ancestral graves. He knew that bowl of wine the mad King Chu Wu from the south poured before their ancestral graves had been cursed! Who would have thought that even after a hundred years, this madman still hadn’t let him off!
[Your Majesty’s insight is profound.]
The Bone-Reflecting Mirror quickly flattered: [“Now that we understand the situation, what does Your Majesty plan to do next?”]
Xiao Jingchuan leaned against the wall with the bronze mirror in his arms, instantly calming down as if he hadn’t been anxious just moments ago: “Of course, I’ll play the fool while waiting for people. As the Prime Minister said, how can we start a venture when the team isn’t even assembled?”
The Bone-Reflecting Mirror hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back: [“But…”]
Xiao Jingchuan laughed. He set down the bronze mirror and smoothed his hair, as if what lay on his knees was merely an ordinary mirror, not hiding the greatest secret of Da Qian in over a hundred years.
He laughed with unusual delight.
“Just wait, little mirror.”
“I will wait, just like in my previous life.”
The Bone-Reflecting Mirror fell silent for a moment.
His Majesty has truly gone mad, resorting to idealism now.
**
“Hurry! Faster… Damn these ancient eaves! Those damned ancients—when the Minister of Personnel wasn’t under investigation, they fawned over him faster than anyone. Now that he’s fallen from grace, they’re all too quick to kick him while he’s down… ‘Rescue the young master,’ they say so lightly. If I fail, it’s a crime punishable by death, yet they toss it to me as if it were some great favor. Pah! Shameless! And to think the Minister was their benefactor!”
The cursing young man’s entire face was covered by a terrifyingly pale white mask, with only a single tear of blood vividly visible at the corner of his eye. Clearly, he was one of the White-Faced Black Dragon Guards directly under the current Emperor Yunqi, Xiao Quan.
It was said that the Black Dragon Guards acted solely on the Emperor’s verbal orders, with the authority to execute officials without prior reporting. They specialized in beheading high-ranking officials within the court, and whenever they were dispatched, the entire court and populace would tremble in fear.
But Xiao Si, the Black Dragon Guard himself, did not feel glorious.
Because he was not originally a Black Dragon Guard of this world—his soul hailed from the 21st century, hundreds of years in the future.
Trouble has come. If only I’d known that delving into historical fiction would lead to time travel…
Xiao Si thought to himself that three months ago, he would never have gone downstairs to take out the trash. Even if he had, he would never have felt pity and tried to play with that stray kitten sleeping on the road. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been suddenly struck by a mud-spattered truck darting out from a street corner and sent hurtling a thousand years back into Da Qian. When he opened his eyes, he found himself transformed into a member of a secret service organization similar to the Imperial Guards, toiling day and night, risking life and limb for the Emperor.
This was no longer the modern era. Without the protection of criminal law, refusing to work overtime for the Emperor-boss truly meant execution.
Thus, trembling with fear, Xiao Si mustered every ounce of effort to work for three months. Just as he was adapting to ancient life, he stumbled upon the case of Jun He, the Minister of Personnel, being implicated in embezzling military funds, with his entire family seized and their property confiscated.
Before his time travel, Xiao Si was a history major in university. His only skill was staring with clear yet foolish eyes, hoping the cafeteria lady would serve him an extra scoop of rice. Now, as he fretted and fumed, he cursed himself for not studying history more diligently. He had tossed all his knowledge into a corner after finishing his final exams, and the historical fiction he engaged with only covered the Early Qian Period, leaving him utterly ignorant of the mid-Qian era—after all, there was the glorious Qianwu Emperor of the Restoration!
The Qianwu Emperor’s brilliance was so dazzling that Xiao Si didn’t even know what this Minister of Personnel from Emperor Yunqi’s time had done, why he was seized, or how he could save the people in the Minister’s residence.
After all, that old man was none other than the Minister of Personnel who had casually spoken up for him when he first arrived, disoriented and committing a breach of etiquette before the Emperor, failing to notice the Emperor’s displeased glance.
Though it was just a lightly spoken sentence, it saved the life of Xiao Si, who was kneeling on the ground, drenched in cold sweat from fear. This favor was something he could not forget, so when Jun He’s protégé came to ask for his help, he agreed without much hesitation.
Although the crime of the Minister of Personnel embezzling military funds was a grave offense, and the lives of his entire family and three clans could not be spared, his young son, Jun Youcheng—who shared his name with the three first-rank founding heroes of the Da Qian Dynasty—had not yet reached the age of majority, the minimum age for political execution. There was still room for maneuvering. If he could be saved, it would at least preserve a trace of the Jun family’s bloodline.
Xiao Si’s responsibility was to rush to the Black-Clothed Guards colleagues who were currently confiscating the property at the Minister’s residence and do his utmost to prevent anyone from killing the child named Jun Youcheng on the spot during the confiscation, whether under orders from other officials or from the palace.
“I must have been out of my mind. Why did I agree to save someone out of gratitude? Who knows what this Minister was really involved in or whether he truly embezzled military funds…”
Xiao Si’s expression grew increasingly grim. Cursing under his breath, he quickened his pace, darting across the rooftops and eaves of Jinling’s streets without leaving the slightest tremor or trace. Even his muttered complaints vanished like skylarks into the bustling clamor of Jinling’s thoroughfares.
Yet, despite his words, his steps did not slow in the slightest.
After all…
Xiao Si glanced down at the bustling crowd below—the marketplace of Jinling City. The red curtains there involuntarily reminded him of his brush with death when he first crossed over into this world.
Emperor Yunqi’s palace was also filled with such red curtains. It was before these very red curtains that the seemingly diligent old Minister stepped forward and diverted the Emperor’s attention with a single sentence, offering Xiao Si a glimmer of hope.
How could someone willing to speak up for a dying Black-Clothed Guard disregard the army and the lives of countless commoners by embezzling military funds?
Xiao Si quickened his pace even further.
He moved like a shadow, disappearing into the crowds and among the buildings, leaving no trace behind.
The journey from his starting point to the Jun residence was not far, but by the time Xiao Si arrived, the Black-Clothed Guards in their black brocade uniforms had already taken most of the belongings from the Jun residence. Jun He’s family and relatives had all been loaded onto the prison carts bound for the Imperial Prison.
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Si approached a Black-Clothed Guard who was laboring as a porter near the side gate of the Jun residence. With a flattering smile, he said, “Brother, senior, times have been tough lately, and I’m short on funds. Could you let me help you with this last, most exhausting bit of cleanup work?”
As he spoke, he rubbed his fingers together subtly—a gesture hinting at his intention to secretly pocket some items during the confiscation. “To be honest, brother, my family is really struggling to make ends meet. It just so happens…”
He lowered his voice, whispering into the ear of the Black-Clothed Guard, who wore a slightly hesitant expression, “The Minister of Personnel’s family has a pair of red agate twin-fish jade pendants that caught my eye. I have some connections, and once I find them, I’ll make sure to send them your way.”
The Black-Clothed Guard’s feigned hesitation vanished instantly, replaced by a look of reluctant sympathy. With a sigh, he handed the heavy wooden chest to Xiao Si and said, “Then I’ll leave this to you, brother.”
“You’re too kind. We’re all serving the Emperor. Helping each other out is only right, only right.”
Xiao Si clasped his fists with an apologetic smile, repeatedly expressing his gratitude. Seeing the Black-Clothed Guard leaning against the wall with closed eyes, pretending to have seen nothing, he quickly stood up and rushed toward the side gate of the Jun residence.
Jun Youcheng… Jun Youcheng, the youngest son of the Minister of Personnel, my ancestor—wait, he might actually be my ancestor. Stop overthinking it. Jun Youcheng, where on earth are you…
While pretending to be an ordinary Black-Clothed Guard searching the Jun residence, Xiao Si anxiously and discreetly darted through its various rooms at the fastest possible speed. Emperor Yunqi’s decree had ordered the execution of three generations on the spot, and he had arrived too late. The residence was already littered with fallen bodies, blood mingling with blood, making it impossible to distinguish servants from masters.
Xiao Si quickly covered the entire Jun residence. Compared to the high-ranking officials in Jinling City who owned vast estates spanning thousands of acres, everything about the Jun residence could even be described as desolate and impoverished, which made him feel even more uneasy.
Such an official was even less likely to embezzle military funds. Damn Emperor Yunqi, damn feudal monarchy!
Gritting his teeth and stamping his feet, he risked being discovered and turned to rush into the garden of the Jun residence, where the Black-Clothed Guards were most concentrated.
Fortunately, although the garden was crowded, it was also spacious. As a high-ranking guard in the Black-Clothed Guards who had been granted the imperial surname, Xiao Si’s abilities differed from those of ordinary guards, and his movements were light. For a moment, no one noticed anything amiss. He stealthily slipped into a secluded path and, sure enough, at the end of the road, deep within the garden’s landscape, he spotted his target.
Xiao Si’s heart sank. Damn it, he still hadn’t managed to prevent those underhanded attacks.
A young man in a red scholar’s robe stood tall and graceful, his calm and handsome face pale from blood loss. Jun Youcheng, the youngest son of the Minister of Personnel, turned his face, blood streaming down, as he struggled to pull out a long sword that had pierced through his chest.
“Hiss… I should have been checking household registers. Where is this place…”
As Jun Youcheng moved, blood splattered everywhere, dripping onto the ground and staining the grass red. He noticed Xiao Si approaching and, with a furrowed brow and blood-covered face, looked at him:
“Come here.”
Like a demon freshly crawled out of hell, he beckoned with a finger.
“Help me pull this sword out. It seems to have gotten stuck in my spine after piercing my heart. It’s not easy to remove.”
The hilt of the long sword bore the engraved name of a Black-Clothed Guard. Given the style of his colleagues, Jun Youcheng had clearly been cleanly and efficiently killed.
But why could a dead person still speak?
Xiao Si’s vision went dark, his footing faltered, and he was so terrified he nearly fainted on the spot.
Author’s Note:
Xiao Si: Is this the price of delving into historical fanfiction…
The pacing in the previous chapters is a bit slower…