Green Mountain

It was late morning.

The intense sunlight made Yuan Xing open his eyes, and he instinctively wanted to call Chen Ji, but found his mouth was gagged again.

Yuan Xing wanted to raise his hand to remove the cloth from his mouth. Looking down, he found his body wrapped tightly in layers of hemp rope, binding him like a zongzi. Turning his head, he saw Chen Ji lounging in a chair, basking in the sun.

Yuan Xing: "Mmm, mmm, mmm!"

Chen Ji kept his eyes closed, completely ignoring him.

Sunlight bathed him, forming a thin layer of radiance. The sunlight transformed into streams to nourish the sword seeds, the six scar-covered sword seeds gradually fading under the sunlight’s nourishment.

Chen Ji roughly estimated, it would take seven days of sword cultivation to restore them to their original state.

At that moment, outside the courtyard, the sound of bells from ox carts and mule carts filled the air, accompanied occasionally by the laughter of children — it was lively.

Not only were the people of Shangjing celebrating the Lantern Festival, but envoys from vassal towns, literati from across the land, merchants and commoners all mingled in the streets.

Just because of the fiery trees and silvery flowers, the all-night spectacles, the literati singing, and the ladies wandering at night — a once-in-a-lifetime grand scene.

During this time, the inns in Shangjing tripled their prices, with many scholars, merchants, and commoners staying in nearby counties and villages, coming at night and leaving in the morning, returning again at night, and repeating this cycle for three days.

At dusk.

Yuan Xing no longer had the strength to make muffled sounds, and Chen Ji finally opened his eyes.

He dragged Yuan Xing to the table, back against it, and lit a candle on it: "This candle will burn for another ten minutes before reaching the ropes, and then your bindings will naturally be undone. You just need to tell the court what I’ve instructed, that you’ve seized the opportunity to kill me. By then, the humiliation of being bound will also be washed away. Don’t worry, I’ve taken the jade and I’ll leave Shangjing, boarding a ship to the Southern Ocean — I won’t return to the Ning and Jing Dynasties for the rest of my life."

Yuan Xing widened his eyes and began muffling again.

Chen Ji removed the cloth from his mouth: "What’s the matter?"

Yuan Xing hesitated: "You really won’t return to the Ning and Jing Dynasties?"

Chen Ji nodded: "The Mountain Master is looking for me, and to avoid death, I can only flee overseas."

Yuan Xing lamented: "Though we’ve only been together for ten days, I feel a bit reluctant about our parting. Where are you going in the Southern Ocean? If I ever go to sea, I might look for you to catch up."

Chen Ji thought for a moment: "Ayutthaya in Siam. It’s the confluence of three rivers and the wealthiest place in the Southern Ocean, with many children from the Han Family."

Yuan Xing silently noted it down and looked up sincerely: "Kid, I’ve never submitted to anyone in my life — you’re the first. If we ever meet again, let’s have a drink together! You know the locations of two private residences; there are really no masters hidden inside. You’re about to travel thousands of miles — don’t just take the jade, grab some gold from inside for travel expenses!"

"Thank you," Chen Ji glanced at him, re-gagged his mouth, and turned to leave the courtyard.

Yuan Xing’s eyes were lively, he tested a few muffled sounds towards the brown courtyard gate. Seeing Chen Ji not returning, he immediately struggled to get up, bringing the rope near the candle flame. Though it burned his clothes and skin, he grit his teeth, bearing it.

After some time, a hemp rope finally burned through.

Yuan Xing rolled on the ground to escape the ropes, then freed his feet, disregarding whether the tendons had healed and dashed out.

He merged into the festive crowd of Lantern Festival Night, sneaking towards Yuan Xiang’s residence in Pingkang Square. The road was lined with towering pines decorated with layers of crystal lamps, silk lamps, and horn lamps, but he had no mind to look — he only glanced at the tower’s Marquis before hurrying on.

An hour later, Yuan Xing finally arrived in front of Yuan Xiang’s residence, stepped up the stone stairs.

The gatekeeper servant saw him rushing in with disheveled hair and immediately blocked him: "Hey, where’s this beggar from? Get out..."

Yuan Xing darted forward, slapped the servant hard, spinning him like a top: "Have you gone blind, take a good look at who I am!"

The Yuan Family’s troops rushed forward, shocked as Yuan Xing swept aside his disheveled hair: "Great Commander? How did you..."

"How did I return?" Yuan Xing impatiently asked: "Where’s Uncle?"

The Yuan Family’s troops hurriedly replied: "Master has already gone to Huaye Xianghui Building, remember — Your Majesty is hosting officials there tonight."

Yuan Xing patted his head: "Look at my memory, forget it. Gather all the men and switch to civilian clothes and follow me to Qinglong Square... Where’s Yuan Bo? The situation is tricky, call him over... Also, send someone to Right Guard, call Yuan Xingzhi too!"

The Yuan Family’s troops urgently replied: "Great Commander, you can’t — Mr. Yuan Qi must guard Huaye Xianghui Building today."

Yuan Xing hesitated: "Never mind, without Uncle’s approval, he won’t budge. Hurry and change clothes and follow me, if we’re late all my years of savings will suffer a great disaster!"

The Yuan Family’s troops puzzledly asked: "What exactly happened, where’s the thief that kidnapped you?"

Yuan Xing growled: "That bastard is heading to my private residence in Qinglong Square! Hurry, stop dawdling!"

A moment later, Yuan Xing led a group of Yuan Family’s troops through the crowd, heading towards Qinglong Square south of the city.

Upon reaching the private residence, Yuan Xing waved his hand: "Search inside, that bastard should be moving the gold in the cellar. Be careful, he has six sword seeds — if you encounter him, don’t hesitate, kill him first!"

The Yuan Family’s troops drew their short knives from their sleeves, covering each other as they stormed inside. Pushing the door, they found the gatekeeper servant standing there in shock: "What are you doing here?"

Yuan Xing passed by him and swung a slap: "Don’t you know there are ghosts in the house?"

Dozens of people charged inside, causing the maids, servants, and concubines to step out of their rooms, curiously observing Yuan Xing and the others: "What’s wrong with Master?"

The further Yuan Xing walked in, the more something felt off: "Did someone just trespass into the residence?"

The concubines looked at each other: "No, there wasn’t."

Yuan Xing rushed to the cellar entrance, only to see that the iron gate’s copper locks and the seals were all intact.

He grabbed a short knife from a Yuan Family’s troop and struck down, breaking the copper lock with a snap.

"Wait outside!" Yuan Xing charged down the stone steps into the cellar, only to see the spacious and orderly cellar with wooden boxes neatly arranged on the ground. He opened a box, and the jade and gold bars were untouched inside.

Chen Ji had not been here.

Yuan Xing suddenly looked up and muttered to himself: "Where did that kid go? What could be so important that he doesn’t even want jade and gold?"

"Could it be he didn’t expect I’d escape so soon and went to enjoy the lanterns first?"

"Or maybe he hasn’t eaten all day and night and went to eat first?"

Just then, the Yuan Family’s troop rushed into the cellar: "Great Commander, I saw the Left Jinwu Guards heading towards Qinglong Square!"

"Damn, that kid tricked us!" Yuan Xing turned pale with fright: "Quick, let’s go, don’t let the Jinwu Guards surround the house!"

He followed the Yuan Family’s troop, rushing out of the cellar. Suddenly recalling something, he dashed back inside, gathering the jade into his robe before fleeing.

"Prepare the carriage, follow me to the Left Martial Guard Camp outside the capital for reinforcements," Yuan Xing shouted, but after just a couple of steps, he heard the rumbling of hooves outside the courtyard wall.

He immediately changed his mind: "You hold off the Jinwu Guards, I’ll go for reinforcements!"

The Yuan Family’s troops took the order and rushed towards the main gate.

After saying this, Yuan Xing didn’t take the main gate, rear gate, or side gate. Instead, he went straight to the courtyard wall, leaped, and tried to climb over it.

But just as he exerted his legs, searing pain shot up from his Achilles tendon: "Bastard! Clearly, you could heal me, yet you left it half-treated. If I catch you, I’ll have you executed by lingchi!"

He turned back, grabbing a concubine to squat by the wall, and used her shoulder to climb over the courtyard wall, falling into the crowd of passersby outside.

Ignoring the dust on him, Yuan Xing looked at the jade wrapped in his robe, limping his way into the crowd.

...

...

Duke Huang Mansion was not bustling at this moment, nor were lanterns hung up; under the eaves, there were only unlit black lanterns.

In front of the main hall, an old man was holding a piece of white porcelain with the characters "Gengchen, Wuyin, Renwu, Gengzi," waiting for the right time.

Until the distant sound of evening drums echoed, the old man violently smashed the white porcelain on the green bricks in front of the hall: "Duke Huang, passed away!"

Bai Xingzhen sat behind the desk, resting his chin and gazing at the white porcelain scattered outside the hall, pondering something unknown.

Mr. Feng leisurely walked into the room, hands clasped: "Duke, it’s time to head to Huaye Xianghui Building."

Bai Xingzhen lifted his head, stubbornly said: "I don’t want to go to Huaye Xianghui Building. It’s full of sycophants presenting good omens to His Majesty. A chicken laying an egg is an omen, lingzhi growing on the beams is an omen, raising a pig that can understand a few words is an omen, what’s the point? Besides, I didn’t go in previous years either, His Majesty won’t blame me."

Mr. Feng softly asked: "Where does the Duke want to go?"

Bai Xingzhen thought for a moment, looking at Mr. Feng expectantly: "I want to go to East Market. I heard they set up a grand stage over there, with lion dances, rolling lanterns, sword swallowing and fire spitting, wire walking, puppet theater..."

Mr. Feng shook his head: "Duke, I can’t make that decision. You need to ask the old madam first. After the assassination attempt on you in Pingkang Square, the old madam is already furious."

Bai Xingzhen instantly wilted: "Grandmother definitely won’t let me go. Alright, Chief Steward, prepare the carriage, we’re going to Huaye Xianghui Building."

Mr. Feng nodded, hands clasped: "Yes."

When Mr. Feng exited, Bai Xingzhen rested his chin again: "They say a promise is as weighty as gold, yet everyone is a liar. They clearly promised to take me to West Market and East Market, but ended up abducting Zhaolei. Without Zhaolei, it’s nearly impossible to venture deep into the prairie. Will the ancestors blame me... I wonder if he’s out of the Jing Dynasty?"

Just then, there was a noise at the window behind him.

Bai Xingzhen suddenly stood, walked to the sword rack, drew a gleaming sword, and said deeply: "Who’s there?"

The window was opened by someone, Chen Ji stood outside waving: "Come on, let’s go enjoy the lanterns on Lantern Festival Night."

Bai Xingzhen’s expression first froze, then brightened: "Isn’t the Jinwu Guard watching outside the Duke Mansion, how did you get in?"

Chen Ji grinned and said: "A kind-hearted person helped me divert the Jinwu Guards, hurry, it’s the most lively time outside!"

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