Daoist

At the hour of Shen, at River-Viewing Tower.

Chen Wu had thin willow-leaf mustaches glued to his lips and a goat-beard on his chin. Dressed in a Taoist robe with a precious sword strapped to his back, he looked every bit the part of a sage-like priest.

"This Daoist priest, are you here for tea?"

As soon as Chen Wu entered, a waiter hurried over to attend to him.

"Take me to a private room in the A-tier," Chen Wu said.

The waiter's eyes lit up with recognition: "The General has been waiting. Please, this way!"

With that, he led Chen Wu up to the second floor.

The private room was located on the second floor of River-Viewing Tower, directly facing the performance stage. The table was set with four salty snacks, four sweet ones, and four types of nuts—a full twelve varieties of tea refreshments.

General Shui Ziyi, the Wave-Subduing General, was sitting at the table. Seeing the waiter lead a priest over, he stood up, handed the waiter a silver coin, and dismissed him.

Chen Wu smiled and gestured to the General, while secretly observing this naval commander who had long enjoyed a prestigious reputation in Jincheng Prefecture.

He saw that the General had thick brows and large eyes, a prominent nose, and a broad face. His frame was upright, and though his hair was completely white, his spirit remained undiminished. His eyes, sharp as lightning, gazed directly at Chen Wu.

"Priest, please, have some tea!" General Shui invited Chen Wu to sit.

Chen Wu had remained vigilant throughout his journey, his internal energy circulating without pause. Detecting no ambush, he realized the General harbored no malice and finally relaxed.

Chen Wu sat down, picked up the celadon lidded bowl from the table, used the lid to brush aside the tea leaves, and took a gentle sip.

"Good tea."

Although Chen Wu couldn't tell the difference, it was the only thing he could say at the moment.

"Hahaha—" General Shui laughed. "Jincheng Prefecture doesn't produce tea. The leaves are transported from thousands of miles away and are mostly mediocre; they are only improved by the addition of dried fruits and rock sugar."

"I had assumed the Yongjiu School was full of people who despised human sentiment and social etiquette. I didn't expect a master like you to be capable of such polite pleasantries."

"That is merely a case of three men making a tiger—rumors spread by hearsay." Thinking of Old Ma's mercenary nature and Old Jin's greed, Chen Wu replied with a smile, "One grain of rice feeds a hundred kinds of people. How could the Yongjiu School be uniform?"

"Indeed, I was generalizing." General Shui nodded and looked toward the stage below.

Five people sat on the stage—one singing while four others provided instrumental accompaniment—performing a melody. The phrasing was drawn out and the rhythm slow; Chen Wu couldn't quite make out the lyrics, catching only faint references to "Zhuge" and "Zijing."

"This drum song is set to the 'Golden Coin' tune and is called Little Borrowing Arrows. It tells the story of Zhuge Liang asking Lu Zijing for help to arrange the borrowing of arrows with straw boats." Before Chen Wu could ask, the General took the initiative to explain.

Chen Wu nodded, and the General laughed: "That was the Three Kingdoms era, where one could borrow arrows from the Cao army. If it were today, you'd only be able to borrow large-caliber shells. Under a barrage of chain shot, canister shot, and incendiary shells, Zhuge Kongming would surely be smashed to pieces!"

The joke was amusing, and Chen Wu laughed along, finding the General to be a fascinating character.

However, Shui Ziyi seemed a bit too relaxed.

"General Shui, the arrest warrant for this humble one is still posted in the newspapers. I don't have much heart for listening to music," Chen Wu said.

"No matter, no matter. The magistrate's office is just an office; how could they be so omnipotent? There is still time to listen to a song," General Shui laughed. "The drum songs of Jincheng Prefecture may not be as graceful as the Kunqu opera of the south, but they have a unique flavor of their own."

The General isn't in the least bit anxious, so why should I be? Chen Wu mused to himself.

Seeing that Chen Wu didn't respond and simply picked up a pastry to taste, Shui Ziyi continued: "Yesterday, I heard a 'Blind String' ballad that was quite novel."

"It tells of a pastry led by a mooncake that established a 'Steamed Bun Crumb' dynasty, only to be defeated by another faction of dry rations, which then elected a 'Hard-Headed Flatbread' as emperor. Although the new dynasty rose through rebellion, it lived in fear of others rebelling against it, so it tied cold noodles and fried cakes to the streets, and threw jujube cakes and rice dumplings into prison."

"I listened to it over and over; this song seems to border on slandering the imperial court!"

Chen Wu, a graduate of a top-tier university, was well-versed in history and immediately understood the allegorical meaning of the song.

The Great Ming's Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang, had expelled the Mongols and restored China, a legitimacy of rule rarely seen. Having lasted nearly three hundred years, it was not a dynasty that perished in two generations like the Qin or Sui; it was deeply rooted.

The Great Shun had risen by rebelling against the Great Ming, but now that they were in power, they demanded loyalty and suppressed grassroots uprisings, exactly as the song described. It was no wonder Shui Ziyi thought it slandered the court.

"Emperors take turns; this year it's my house." Chen Wu was unimpressed and immediately uttered these treasonous words. "It's common enough in folk songs these days. Does the General intend to report this to the court, start a literary inquisition, and ban the song?"

"Hahaha, you are truly blunt—worthy of the Yongjiu School!" Shui Ziyi laughed. "Just as you said, 'Emperors take turns.' It was even written clearly in the Journey to the West: Exorcism Record from the previous Ming dynasty. How could I ban the song while also banning Journey to the West: Exorcism Record?"

Oh, this world has a "Journey to the West" too?

"Furthermore..." Shui Ziyi changed his tone. "The Great Shun Dynasty forbids literary inquisitions; that was the dying instruction of Taizong himself."

Taizong of Shun, Li Guo again. This predecessor, the transmigrator, certainly had a strong presence.

"Then why did the General bring up this song?"

"Since I joined the Sea-Pacifying Palace, for decades, I have campaigned against Japan, struck the Southern Ocean, attacked India, and broken through Gibraltar. I was always the first in every battle." General Shui suddenly turned serious and asked in return, "Those with seniority comparable to mine have at least attained the rank of Viscount. Do you know why I retired only as a Wave-Subduing General without any noble title?"

"I do not." Chen Wu shook his head.

Chen Wu had only been in Great Shun for a few days; how could he possibly know?

"It is because I have traveled the world and seen clearly: a title is a good thing now, but it may not be in the future. So, I voluntarily resigned the title to secure a future for my son."

Chen Wu was surprised: "Why?"

"Sigh, it is precisely because of this song." Shui Ziyi sighed. "Back in the Ming dynasty, it was already 'Emperors take turns.' Now, even the blind street performers don't claim the emperor is born divine or a star descended from heaven."

"The Academy of Sciences has even built observatories to calculate lunar orbits and observe deep-space nebulae. Now, everyone knows there is no such thing as 'heaven-human resonance' or 'receiving the mandate from heaven.'"

"If the emperor is like this, the titles he bestows are even less worth mentioning. If there ever comes a day when 'the dragons are without a head,' these titles will become death warrants. If I don't accept a title, based on the merit of the Shui family's service to the country, I can always land safely."

Chen Wu was even more astonished. Before coming, he had already overestimated General Shui in his heart, but he hadn't expected to have underestimated him by such a wide margin.

Shui Ziyi had actually begun to doubt the significance of the emperor, even vaguely sensing that a great upheaval where crowns might fall could be on the horizon.

The Great Shun Dynasty currently appeared incomparably strong, and even Chen Wu dared not say whether a revolution to overthrow imperial power would occur. Yet Shui Ziyi, a man of the Great Shun, was actually more radical than he, a transmigrator.

So, the conservatives think the radicals are too conservative, is that it?

"General, aren't you afraid of being labeled as part of the Yongjiu School by speaking like that?"

"Hmph!" Shui Ziyi's words carried a hint of sarcasm. "Do you truly believe the Yongjiu School has survived until now without anyone in the imperial court agreeing with them? It is merely that, being in the service of the court, they find it inconvenient to speak their minds."

So that was it; he had underestimated the influence of the Yongjiu School.

Although the Yongjiu School did not possess the massive power of the School of Heavenly Principle or the Investigation of Things School to engage in open political strife, its philosophy was widely circulated and deeply influential.

Even Wang Zhenyi had once said that the concept of "no leader among the dragons" was correct, only the methods were flawed.

"Bravo—"

As the performance of Little Borrowing Arrows reached its finale on the stage, the drum-ballad performers stood up to bow, and the audience erupted in cheers, interrupting Chen Wu's train of thought.

As the applause subsided, a new drum-ballad began. The rhythm of the piece changed drastically, becoming sonorous and powerful, every word filled with rage as if it were a scolding; the performer's neck veins bulged as he sang.

Unlike the drawn-out, melodic style of Little Borrowing Arrows, this piece featured crisp enunciation and a brisk tempo, and Chen Wu understood most of it.

"The hero listens, his anger rising, Wishing he could swallow him whole, The waiter's staff strikes with ferocity, Yet the hero pays it no mind..."

After listening to a few lines, Chen Wu realized with a start that this was "Wu Song Drunkenly Beats the Jiangmen God."

Does this world have Water Margin in addition to Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms?

"Is this singing about the drunken brawl in Happy Forest?" Chen Wu asked tentatively.

General Shui was clearly more interested in this piece, listening with his head swaying to the rhythm as he replied, "Indeed! This is the final act of Happy Forest, performed in the 'Hard Stacking' style, which is extremely difficult to sing."

"Is it from a novel of the former Ming Dynasty, about one hundred and eight heroes gathering at Liang Mountain? I seem to recall such a book." Chen Wu inquired further.

"That is called Tale of Loyalty and Righteousness: Water Margin, telling of one hundred and eight martial arts masters led by Song Jiang who gathered at Liang Mountain to act on behalf of Heaven. The Wu Song in this song has mastered external hard-body techniques and is among the strongest fighters in the book."

Damn, so Water Margin has changed like this in this world.

It seems that because of the element of martial arts, many folk legends have been altered.

As this rapid and violent rendition of Happy Forest concluded and the performers prepared to leave the stage, General Shui took out five silver coins and flicked his fingers lightly.

"Swish—"

The five silver coins flew like swallows, landing precisely into the robes of the five performers.

The five on stage were startled; two of them failed to catch them properly, and the coins rolled from their robes onto the ground, forcing them to hurriedly lower their heads to retrieve them.

The others recovered, realizing a master had bestowed a reward, and quickly piled on smiles, offering endless thanks to their anonymous benefactor and wishing the donor a long and prosperous life.

Damn it, a Circulation Realm master really is something else! Chen Wu thought as he looked at Shui Ziyi.

"This humble skill of mine is nothing but showing off before an expert like you." Seeing Chen Wu looking over, Shui Ziyi seemed a bit embarrassed and explained, "I usually have my attendants handle the tipping, but since it was inconvenient to have outsiders present today, I had to resort to such crude hidden-weapon techniques."

"Ahem—" Chen Wu maintained his expert demeanor even more firmly. "Now that the song has been heard, shouldn't we discuss the real business? What exactly does General Shui want to know?"

"I won't beat around the bush then: why did Qiao Weisheng die?"

"That's a strange question—Qiao Weisheng was killed, so of course he died!"

"So, it truly wasn't your doing." Shui Ziyi's tone was extremely certain.