“Ye Ling?!”
The person before him shared a nine-tenths facial resemblance with Ye Tang, yet while Ye Tang possessed the ethereal, sacred, and untainted radiance of divine light, Ye Ling’s brow carried an innate, overbearing majesty, resembling an unparalled evil emperor descending upon the world, unbridled in his tyranny and impossible to meet with a direct gaze.
Though the two brothers were nearly identical in appearance, their temperaments were entirely different.
If Ye Tang was a pristine lotus reflecting the moonlight, then Ye Ling was a scorching black sun of obsidian!
Silver Moon vs. Black Sun
Ruan Weibai had once shared a period of “political marriage” with Ye Ling, but not long after their wedding, this fellow had inexplicably vanished. Calculating by the timeline, he had been missing for several hundred years, so how did he happen to run into him right here?
Ye Ling raised an eyebrow, looking at the person who was still gripping his hand: “You know me?”
Only then did I remember I concealed my appearance, Ye Ling shouldn’t be able to recognize me!
Run away quickly!
“My apologies, brother, I recognized the wrong person.” Ruan Weibai released his hand with an awkward chuckle, turning around to make his escape.
Yet before he could take a single step, his shoulder was pressed down firmly by Ye Ling.
[System: Holy cow, you don’t think your ex-husband recognized you, do you?]
“W-what is it, brother?” Ruan Weibai turned back with a guilty conscience.
Ye Ling looked at the person before him with some uncertainty: “Your aura feels somewhat familiar.”
Sweat… I’m breaking out in a cold sweat!
“But you shouldn’t be him.” Ye Ling released his hand, “That fellow could never bear to hide his own looks.”
You hit the nail on the head, brother. This appearance was caused by your younger brother, and right now I have no spiritual power so I can’t mess with him!
Ruan Weibai flashed a grin, then darted away like a monkey making its escape.
Ye Ling kept his eyes locked on Ruan Weibai’s fleeing back.
His expression solemn, deep in thought.
Holy cow, that was truly running into a ghost. How did I end up running into Ye Ling here!
[System: That’s right, host, isn’t your ex-husband an ordinary human? Over two hundred years have passed, yet he’s still kicking? And he’s handsome as hell, just like the Heavenly Lord?]
After running for a long time, Ruan Weibai was exhausted. He glanced back to confirm Ye Ling wasn’t giving chase before leaning against a nearby wall, gasping for breath.
“Do you take me for a fool, did you forget the setting of this world?”
[System: Huh?]
“In this world, human emperors who attain the Mandate of Heaven enjoy heavenly lifespans. Unless they meet an accidental death, living for hundreds or thousands of years is completely unproblematic, or rather, as long as the Mandate of Heaven remains with them, they simply won’t die!”
“Did you forget what identity Ye Ling held? The Fierce Emperor of Xuanwu! Back then he merely vanished, nobody ever said he kicked the bucket!”
[System: Oh right, but isn’t the Mandate of Heaven for every nation unique? If Ye Ling isn’t dead yet, doesn’t that mean the current Emperor of Xuanwu lacks the Mandate? Can you still become an emperor without the Mandate?]
“You can, but an emperor without the Mandate is at best a regent, lacking that extended lifespan, and can be replaced at any time by a true monarch possessing the Mandate.” Ruan Weibai thought for a moment, “If a regent doesn’t want to die so soon, cultivating immortality is also an option, though members of the imperial family cultivating immortality are quite rare.”
[System: So that’s how it is, the setting of this world isn’t a hereditary system! Meaning as long as your ex-husband wants to, he can return at any time and become the human emperor again?!]
Ruan Weibai: “That is the logic, but possessing the Mandate of Heaven doesn’t mean you’re immortal! As long as you kill the current holder of the Mandate, the Mandate will choose a new emperor! After all, the Mandate never dies, and new emperors are always standing. Historically, plenty of true Mandate holders have been slain by rebel armies!”
[System: Holy cow, according to your logic, getting the Mandate of Heaven isn’t necessarily a good thing either.]
Ruan Weibai: “Duh, is there any free lunch in this world that you don’t have to work for?!”
[System: Then what if, and I’m saying if, you get the Mandate of Heaven and refuse to be the human emperor?]
Ruan Weibai: “Then you’d better prepare yourself to be hunted down for the rest of your life.”
“Even if you swear to high heaven that you have no intention of being the human emperor or seizing the throne, nobody is willing to keep a ticking time bomb lying around next to them, especially people who are emperors.”
[System (choking): Put that way, your ex-husband is actually quite dangerous.]
Ruan Weibai looked around anxiously: “Where is Ye Tang? Where on earth did this fellow run off to! He needs to know about this, since it involves his own biological brother!”
[System: Look and see if that person looks like him.]
Following the direction pointed out by the system, Ruan Weibai looked over and indeed spotted Ye Tang, whose appearance had been altered, walking toward him. He hurriedly dashed into the crowd to head toward Ye Tang, but the pedestrian traffic was simply too dense, and after being jostled back and forth, he lost sight of his target again. Just as he was preparing to search once more, someone reached out and pulled him out of the crowd.
“Why is Ah-Ruan jumping up and down like a monkey just watching lanterns?”
Seeing Ye Tang right at this moment, Ruan Weibai felt the familiarity of finding his organization after eight hundred years. Gripping Ye Tang’s hand, he recounted with serious gossip-loving intensity: “Guess who I ran into just now?”
“Who?”
“Your brother, Ye Ling!”
Ye Tang frowned: “Did you perhaps recognize the wrong person?”
Or was this another attempt to invent some new uncle-in-law roleplay game?
“How could I possibly recognize the wrong person, it really was your brother Ye Ling!”
Ye Tang seemed rather disinclined to entertain the matter: “You haven’t seen him in centuries, so making a mistake wouldn’t be strange.”
Ruan Weibai said with dissatisfaction: “He looks almost identical to you, how could I possibly mistake him?”
This remark seemed to put Ye Tang in a slightly better mood, prompting him to stroke Ruan Weibai’s head: “Alright, and then?”
“Then I ran away, of course. He didn’t recognize me anyway, did you expect me to shout ‘Hi, ex-husband, long time no see’ right in the middle of the street?” Ruan Weibai wore an expression that said how could you even ask such a question.
Thinking it over, Ye Tang asked: “Are you truly certain that person was my brother?”
“Absolutely certain, I could swear to heaven right now!”
Ye Tang pulled down the hand Ruan Weibai had raised to swear to heaven: “Yet he hasn’t shown his face for over a hundred years, even I haven’t seen him since.”
Ruan Weibai countered: “Then let me ask you, does the current Emperor of Xuanwu hold the Mandate of Heaven?”
The current Emperor of Xuanwu?
“Indeed he does not.” Ye Tang recalled, “Ever since my brother vanished, Xuanwu has not produced a new Mandate of Heaven in a century.”
Ruan Weibai clapped his hands together: “There you go, the Mandate of Heaven is still with your brother! If the Xuanwu Emperor finds out your brother is still alive, I don’t need to explain the implications, you understand!”
Ye Tang’s brow furrowed slightly: “Very well, I will have someone look into this. If you cross paths with him again, avoid making contact with him alone, understood?”
“What, scared I’ll elope with your brother?” Ruan Weibai chuckled with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. “Rest assured, Husband, I would never abandon you behind. We’re grasshoppers tied to the same red string, and you even tied a dead knot in it yourself.”
Until I’ve farmed enough points, I’m definitely not leaving you!
“A dead knot? That description is really… bizarre beyond words.”
Ye Tang shook his head helplessly.
Ruan Weibai continued: “Speaking of which, it’s your fault. If you hadn’t gone wandering off, why would I have mistaken your brother for you!”
[System: … Though it’s true, weren’t you the one wandering around the whole time, host?]
Ye Tang didn’t dwell on the phrasing. He reached out to produce an exquisitely carved jade sword pendant, placing it directly into Ruan Weibai’s hand: “Apologies, I caught sight of this earlier and felt you would like it, so I went to buy it. I didn’t mean to leave you by yourself.”
Ruan Weibai examined the jade sword pendant in his hand. This jade pendant was actually a decorative fitting attached to the base of a sword hilt, also known as a sword pendant (jian bi). The entire piece exhibited a crystalline glass-like luster, carved in relief with auspicious cloud patterns, carrying an air of archaic serenity combined with understated luxury.
It was precisely the style he favored.
A century ago, he had been intensely passionate about dressing up his wives. Whenever the Three Realms released any novel or attractive sword accessories, no matter how exorbitant the price, he would immediately scour the market to purchase them as gifts for his precious wives. However, his wives hadn’t been terribly fond of overly flashy decorations, since divine artifacts possessed their own innate pride, so they basically tossed whatever he bought straight into the Hall of Ultimate Bliss to gather dust. Still, the glittering gemstones had managed to make the Hall of Ultimate Bliss shine brilliantly.
Regardless, when it came to sword accessories, Ruan Weibai was absolute royalty as an expert!
He began turning the sword pendant over in his hand: “This wasn’t cheap, right?”
Ye Tang nodded: “Mm, five hundred taels.”
Ruan Weibai’s pupils experienced an earthquake: “How mu, what?!”
“Five hu-”
“My dear young master, just how broken in the head are you? This trinket is worth a hundred taels at most, yet you gave them five hundred?! Are you socially anxious and too chicken to haggle with people?!” Ruan Weibai pulled Ye Tang’s hand: “Come on, come on, where did you buy it, take me there right now! Scoundrel, daring to fleece my man! I’m going to wring his neck!”
Ye Tang said: “Money is of no consequence, as long as Ah-Ruan likes it.”
“Even if I like it, principles cannot be compromised. Take me there immediately while the seller hasn’t run off yet!”
As it turned out, when the two arrived at the stall where the sword pendant had been purchased, the vendor had indeed packed up and vanished. Ruan Weibai stamped his feet in frustration, and just as Ye Tang was preparing to console him, he heard a familiar voice ringing out not far away.
“Honored patrons, I’m truly not lying to you! Just look at the fine craftsmanship of this sword pendant! A discerning buyer literally just took it off my hands at a flat price of five hundred taels without even trying to haggle with me! If you gentlemen are genuinely looking to buy, I’ll calculate a cheaper price for you and offer a five-percent discount, how’s that?”
“Master, this one really is quite nice, shouldn’t we buy it?”
The white-haired man was toying with a sword pendant, looking as though he genuinely admired it: “However, will we be able to bring it back with us?”
Hearing this, the black-haired man beside him began to fret: “Master, you’ve hit the nail right on the head! Though, perhaps junior brother has a way. Let me buy it first!”
“Boss, can we get an extra discount if we buy two?”
The sword pendant vendor beamed with joy: “Since you two young gentlemen have such great taste, I’ll treat it as making new friends! How about this—if you buy a pair, I’ll shave off a zero for you two as well, how’s that?”
“Shave off a zero, right?” Ruan Weibai walked up beside the group and began calculating professionally: “500 taels for one, two would be 1000 taels. After the five-percent discount it’s 950 taels, and shaving off a zero equals 95 taels. A pair of sword pendants for 95, what are you waiting for, gentlemen? Fork over the silver.”
950 – 0 = 95
[System (counting on its fingers): Host, your arithmetic is absolute genius!]
The vendor’s smile stiffened before he hurriedly panicked: “Who taught you to shave off a zero like that?”
Ruan Weibai held the sword pendant bought by Ye Tang between two fingers and smiled: “Think about it yourself, is this piece genuinely worth five hundred taels?”
“H-how is it not worth it? A thousand gold cannot buy what the heart desires!” Glancing at the sword pendant in Ruan Weibai’s hand, the vendor kept up a brave front, though his confidence had clearly plummeted. Yet the thought that someone else appreciated his sword pendant prompted him to rush toward the other two gentlemen, saying, “Two young gentlemen, tell me, isn’t it worth it?!”
The black-haired man looked at the vendor, then turned to look at the smiling Ruan Weibai: “Then how about I renegotiate the price?”
“Go right ahead, name your number, young gentleman!”
The black-haired man stated: “Shave off a zero from 500, make it 50.”
The vendor was dumbfounded: “Wait, is there anyone who negotiates prices like you? Are you here to rob the place?”
Ruan Weibai burst into laughter. Interesting, interesting, I like this guy!
He looked at the black-haired man and said: “Brother, you know your stuff! Actually, this trinket is worth a hundred taels at most.”
“How about this—you swindled my man out of five hundred taels earlier, and I don’t plan on making you refund the price difference. Just hand over four more sword pendants, and we’ll call it even, deal?”
The vendor wiped his sweat: “This… isn’t this running me at a massive loss?”
“Then return the sword pendant and hand back the five hundred taels.”
The vendor sighed: “Fine, I surrender to you people. Take them, take them, here are four more for you!”
Accepting the sword pendants, Ruan Weibai smiled and handed two of them over to the black-haired man: “You two must be buying sword pendants for your own swords. I take the greatest delight in befriending sword lovers in this life, so consider these trinkets a small gift from me… Though I wonder if it might be convenient to let me take a look at your sheathed swords?”
[System: Holy cow.]
Ruan Weibai: What? I admit I have an ulterior motive in giving gifts, but you don’t have to be that shocked, do you?
[System: No, host, the moment you placed that sword pendant into his hand just now, I felt a tingling sensation like a direct electric current passing through!]
Ruan Weibai: Huh?
[System: Would you mind having physical contact with him again?]
Ruan Weibai said speechlessly: Definitely mind! I just finished giving a gift, and now I’d go cozying up to touch the man? Do you want me to be labeled as a weirdo?!
[System: Tsk.]
Ruan Weibai: Seriously, what on earth are you trying to do?
[System: I suspect another system is right on him.]