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Crown Prince Residence, Garden Pavilion.
Li Qinglin and Qin Yi sat facing each other at a stone table. Night had already fallen, the moon hung high overhead, a gentle breeze brushed past, and the garden's fragrance drifted in waves.
With no attendants nearby, Li Qinglin warmed the wine himself. As he watched the flames flickering beneath the small stove beside the pavilion, he seemed lost in thought.
Qin Yi watched him for quite a while, truly feeling that this was an immensely contradictory man, leaving him with an indescribably complicated impression. He could tell that some of Li Qinglin's mannerisms were not an act. Take warming the wine himself right now—it was definitely not a display of humility to win over worthy men, because there was no need. What difference would it make to have a maid warm the wine instead? Ever since they had met, Li Qinglin had always been the sort to do everything himself, as though self-sufficient in every way. He did not seem like a prince at all. More often than not, Qin Yi thought he was more like a warrior—or rather, a pure martial artist.
Yet this very warrior had done many things that only a cold-blooded politician would do.
"Don't keep staring at me." Li Qinglin suddenly smiled. "Though Qing Jun and I look somewhat alike, I am not a woman disguised as a man."
Qin Yi could not help laughing. "You rarely make jokes."
"I told you, I do not have that much energy to spare. If I were still like Qing Jun, with my head full of dreams, I would enjoy making jokes too." Li Qinglin smiled. "Who would not want to beam with joy every day? Wearing a gloomy face, harboring a bellyful of worries and schemes—none of that is a pleasant taste."
"Then you..." Qin Yi considered his words before asking, "Why did you choose such a taste?"
"A person must always have an ideal and move forward for its sake. Otherwise, if one drifts through life with the current, living numbly, what use is there in being alive?"
Qin Yi froze, recalling what Liusu had said at the banquet about what use there was in living. Yet the two held utterly different views. One believed that if one could not live freely and let one's thoughts flow unhindered, what use was life? The other believed that if one lived an entire lifetime without an ideal, like a salted fish, what use was life?
He had thought Liusu would offer some commentary, but the stick was utterly silent.
Li Qinglin continued, "What are Brother Qin's aspirations? Roaming leisurely beneath the forest, taking pines and bamboo as companions, never touching the clamor of the mortal world, free and unrestrained?"
Qin Yi hesitated before replying, "I suppose so."
Li Qinglin smiled. "Though our aspirations differ, I do not think there is anything wrong with that. Such people are lofty and pure. What I fear most is someone who achieves nothing all his life, yet consoles himself by claiming that ordinariness is precious. That is the fool's way."
Qin Yi's face grew a little hot. He felt as though he might be the latter...
But he also understood why Liusu had not commented. There was no real conflict between what Liusu had said and what Li Qinglin believed. At their core, both were about possessing an ideal and a pursuit. Their essences were the same, so there was nothing to argue about if each person pursued something different.
Instead, Qin Yi, who fancied himself detached from the world and content with simplicity, was actually a salted fish... because he did not know what he truly sought. Even though he had once smugly told Li Qingjun that people had to know what they pursued, he himself did not know.
At last, he asked in return, "Then what exactly is Brother Li's ambition? Supreme authority over Southern Li?"
"Heh..." Li Qinglin laughed soundlessly. He did not answer at once, instead slowly extinguishing the stove's fire. He lifted the wine pot and refilled Qin Yi's cup, as though organizing his thoughts as well.
Qin Yi did not press him, merely watching quietly.
"Brother Qin is a man of Southern Li, and a medicine master as well." Li Qinglin turned his wine cup in his hand, staring blankly at the liquor within. "In your eyes, would Southern Li count as a patient?"
"Mm..." Qin Yi sighed. "It would."
"Father devotes himself single-mindedly to the Dao and has no heart for state affairs. Even news of an invasion from the Western Wasteland matters less to him than refining and consuming pills." Li Qinglin spoke slowly. "In matters of state, he would rather listen to the Demonic Daoist's wild nonsense than Loyal and Upright Officials—even more than his own son. When the southeast suffered an earthquake, his first response was not disaster relief, but mounting an altar to perform rites. When an enemy state invaded, his first response was not to sharpen weapons and feed horses, but to pray to Heaven for answers."
Qin Yi remained silent.
"When the king is like this, his officials and people are worse. At court, they curry favor with Dong Huazi and flatter him shamelessly. No one handles proper affairs; everyone studies Daoist Arts. Some even dare wear Daoist robes to court. Father not only takes no offense, he wears them himself. It is nothing but a joke." Li Qinglin sneered. "Beyond the court, Monstrous Fiends run rampant. No one reveres the king; they all worship at Daoist Temples. Every household neglects production. Husbands and wives cultivate in purity, their marital relations fall out of harmony, and even the population has declined. Brother Qin, this country is not merely sick. It is suffering from a terminal illness that can kill."
Qin Yi nodded slowly. He did not understand much about statecraft or the people's livelihood, but Li Qinglin was clearly not lying. If things truly were as he said, then this country had reached its end.
"When did all this begin? It began when Father listened to Dong Huazi and started Seeking Dao of Longevity. That is the crux of everything." Li Qinglin said, "I have remonstrated with him, gathered factions, framed others, and tried to drive Dong Huazi from power through political means. Yet none of it worked. I am only the Second Prince; my political capital is still insufficient."
Having said that, he finally drained the wine he had been turning in his hand for so long.
Qin Yi raised his head and looked straight into Li Qinglin's eyes.
"I had Ye Ling assassinate my elder brother." Li Qinglin said calmly, "He catered to Father's preferences and cultivated the Dao as well. That alone would have been tolerable. But of all things, he should not have brought this trend into the army. That was Southern Li's final bottom line. From that moment, a thought suddenly arose in me: remove him, and let me become the Crown Prince myself. Perhaps there would still be hope. Do you think I did it for power? Yes, I want that power. Without that position, I cannot save Southern Li."
Qin Yi let out a soft sigh and silently drank the wine in his cup.
Liusu suddenly spoke. "Ask him what he would think if a Longevity Method truly existed in this world."
So Qin Yi asked. Li Qinglin thought for a moment, then smiled. "Brother Qin is a Fangshi himself, so you must believe in such things. No wonder you ask... But I have said before: demons and ghosts have tangible proof, while immortality is only rumor. So many emperors have pursued that path, yet not one has attained immortality. I do not believe in it."
Qin Yi persisted. "I mean if. If it really existed."
Li Qinglin shook his head. "I am a prince. This is my realm. My duty is to let the people live in peace, make the country strong, ensure prosperity within, and resist foreign invaders without. If possible, to expand our borders and awe the world with our might—if I could achieve that, then even if I died immediately, I would not have lived in vain. Immortality? Even if one could live forever, what use would it be? If one lost one's responsibilities and forgot one's aspirations, spending ten thousand years scrambling like flies for profit and living like dogs for scraps, one would be nothing more than a walking corpse."
Liusu chuckled softly. "An interesting man." But she did not have Qin Yi ask anything further.
Instead, Li Qinglin asked Qin Yi, "Brother Qin, I have not gone to hear you tell stories lately, but I have heard Ye Ling recount bits and pieces of your Journey to the West. The ending must be that they obtained the true scriptures and all became Buddhas?"
Qin Yi nodded. "They each received their own posts, but Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong did become Buddhas."
"Then... I have a question. I wonder whether Brother Qin can answer it?"
"What question?"
"That story about the Six-Eared Macaque..." Li Qinglin said slowly. "The one who was killed—was it truly the Six-Eared Macaque, or was it Sun Wukong?"
Qin Yi's heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened in astonishment.
Someone had indeed brought up that theory before, but he had never expected Li Qinglin, who had only heard scattered fragments, to think the same way. You were not reincarnated back here too, were you?
"Why would you have such a question?"
"After the Six-Eared incident, Sun Wukong's behavior became like that of an entirely different person. He no longer possessed any wildness, hence my doubt. I have always wondered whether the real Sun Wukong was actually killed by Tathagata in that battle, and the Six-Eared Macaque took his place to obtain the scriptures."
Qin Yi could only explain, "That was not a story I made up. There really is an original work. The titles of those chapters explicitly mention the mind-ape, so the common interpretation is that the so-called Six-Eared Macaque was actually Sun Wukong's own mind-ape. Once it was removed, his wild nature was restrained."
Li Qinglin silently poured himself wine and drained it in one gulp.
"What is it?" Qin Yi asked curiously. "Is there something wrong with that plot?"
Li Qinglin said faintly, "I would rather believe the Great Sage died than accept that the Monkey King who once swept Heaven and Hell with his staff would sit cross-legged with palms pressed together, living forever as a Buddha."
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