Words of an Old Acquaintance, the Tree Yearns for Stillness

[The altar towered, deep and solemn.]

[The grand rites resounded, dignified and reverent.]

[Amid the curling smoke, the emperor's devout face was reflected, ritual incense offered to heaven and earth.]

[They prayed for favorable winds and timely rain, for peace in the realm and safety among the people, for the Great Qing Kingdom's fortune to endure long.]

[All officials kowtowed!]

[You stood beneath the altar, gazing up as wisps of blue smoke rose straight into the clouds, drifting into the mist with no known destination, and your mind wandered slightly.]

[Only when a voice rang out did you come back to yourself.]

["Young Guardian, many years have passed since we last met. Have you been well?"]

[The voice was rough and wild, carrying quite a bit of emotion.]

[You turned to look, and among the delegations of the four kingdoms, you saw a man dressed in plain clothes. Though he stood silently behind the crowd, the latent majesty about him was hard to conceal.]

[It was a bearing that only someone of high position and great power could cultivate.]

[Yet he was also an old acquaintance.]

[This man was the envoy who had once come to sue for peace on behalf of North Wind, and even more, he was Tuoba Shuyi's legitimate eldest son—Tuoba Hongyan.]

[You narrowed your eyes slightly, scrutinizing this prince.]

[Though his expression was calm on the surface, he could not help thinking of the Lu Family Army's illustrious might from back then, and his heart chilled.]

[In four years, North Wind had indeed been beaten into terror by that long, unending blaze of war.]

[In several wars that had not originally been fought against the Lu Family Army, victory had clearly been within reach, but when the other side raised the Lu Family Army banner, their own soldiers' morale collapsed again and again, and in the end they were defeated.]

[North Wind had truly been beaten into fear by the Lu Family Army, fear driven into the very marrow of their bones.]

[From then on, Lu Family Army banners hung all across the northern lands.]

[Tuoba Hongyan had followed his father on campaigns north and south since childhood and was familiar with you. The more he looked at you, the more frightened his gaze became, and he hurriedly said, "I came with the North Wind Delegation, and I have already petitioned your emperor!"]

["Our two kingdoms are already allies. Young Guardian, you must not damage the harmonious relations between our nations!"]

[You narrowed your eyes and smiled, then said nothing.]

[Tuoba Hongyan felt some regret in his heart. He should not have provoked you, yet this was also his father's instruction for this trip.]

[His father, Tuoba Shuyi, had once been the man closest to North Wind's imperial throne, but because Lu Chen had appeared out of nowhere, his success had fallen short at the very last step.]

[In that battle, Lu Chen had shattered eight hundred thousand North Wind iron cavalry with thunderous momentum and pointed his troops toward Huanglong Prefecture.]

[The pro-war faction in court never recovered, and in the end, the third prince of the peace faction ascended the throne. Only an edict negotiating peace had made Lu Chen withdraw his troops.]

[That battle had beaten away his father's great ambitions even more. Afterward, he locked himself in his room all day, staring at the map of the northern lands from those years, trying to find the true winning move. He reviewed the battle again and again, deduced it again and again, but no matter how he shifted and maneuvered, there was only a road to death.]

[Because the man who had played against him in the northern lands back then used troops and commanded men like a ghost or a god!]

[How could man defeat a god?]

[In the past, when Lu Shenzhou retired to Mount Zhongnan, at that moment, the imperial clan and generals of the northern lands seemed to set down a thousand-jin burden.]

[They all said, "Great Qing's act is like releasing a tiger back into the mountains."]

[At this moment, Tuoba Hongyan's heart was uneasy, but he had no choice but to brace himself and say, "Young Guardian, my father entrusted me with a message for you."]

[You were rather curious what words Tuoba Shuyi had.]

["Father said that if you can come down alive from Mount Zhongnan, he will decide victory and defeat with you once more."]

["In this life, he swore he must defeat you once, or he will die with his eyes unable to close."]

[There was another sentence after that, but Tuoba Hongyan truly did not quite dare to say it!]

[But remembering his father's majestic face, he hardened his heart and spoke.]

["However, if you, Young Guardian, cannot walk down Mount Zhongnan alive, he will personally lead iron cavalry to flatten the nine clans of your Lu family, dig open the Lu family ancestral graves, and use that to comfort your spirit in heaven."]

[When you heard these words, not a ripple appeared on your face.]

[But your heart stirred.]

[As far as you knew, four years ago, North Wind's third prince had ascended to the supreme throne amid that contest.]

[The first thing he did after ascending the throne was place Tuoba Shuyi, this former opponent, under house arrest in the Imperial Clan Court.]

[The second thing was to marry off the hard-line pro-war northern eldest princess far away to Great Qing, making her a tool of alliance through marriage between the two kingdoms.]

[Under those sweeping cuts, North Wind had long since changed its entire lineup.]

[Logically speaking, with Tuoba Hongyan's current status, he should long since have been a prisoner beneath the stairs, impossible to appear in this place.]

[And even bring you a line about "deciding who was male and who was female."]

[There was only one possibility!]

[Unless something had changed in North Wind!]

[This sixth prince, Tuoba Shuyi, had seized power again.]

[Tuoba Shuyi was no ordinary man. Before you met him, he had already swept across the world.]

[If not for the crime of that war, he would long since have become North Wind's ruler.]

[As for the earlier words, unable to walk down Mount Zhongnan?]

[You were still pondering in your heart!]

[For the blessing ceremony at Mount Zhongnan, the twenty thousand imperial guards Great Qing had stationed here in force were all carefully chosen soldiers, martial and extraordinary.]

[And that inner-court expert Ma Bao, along with many military commanders, were even outstanding figures among martial experts, with no lack of grandmaster-level individuals among them.]

[With such tight defenses, who could do such a shocking deed on Mount Zhongnan?]

[Kill you, the Young Guardian of Great Qing.]

[Under such precautions now, who could kill you?]

[Moreover, the other party had spoken with such certainty.]

[There was no lack of warning in it.]

[Your heart suddenly thought, could it be that someone above a great grandmaster had come to Mount Zhongnan?]

[Lu Yu sneered. "If anyone wants to harm my brother, I'd like to see who under heaven dares!"]

[Tuoba Hongyan said no more and quietly withdrew, disappearing into the crowd.]

[Lu Yu looked at you, quietly waiting for your decision.]

[You naturally understood what Lu Yu meant. Capture this man and question him, and you would know.]

[You already had a calculation in your heart.]

[Though Tuoba Hongyan's warning had only been a few sparse words, you could glimpse a trace of clues within them.]

[However, you could see that this man might only know the tip of the iceberg and not the true reason. Capturing him would be futile, and it would also easily beat the grass and startle the snake.]

[Thus, you smiled calmly and said softly, "No matter. Let him go."]

[You looked blandly toward the altar. You had a premonition in your heart that today, something heaven-shaking and earth-shattering would happen.]

[Your heart could not help feeling a little vexed.]

[Tuoba Shuyi had specially sent his son to warn you!]

[Something might happen on Mount Zhongnan.]

[Apart from North Wind's delegation, you had had very few dealings with the other three kingdoms.]

[However, among them were a few people who were quite interested in you.]

[Especially the delegation from Qianyuan.]

[Among the various kingdoms, Qianyuan had the most robust strength, yet every time imperial power changed hands, the struggle was the fiercest.]

[Now, Qianyuan had been in internal chaos for ten years, yet still had not been able to decide victory or defeat. Several princes and princesses were fighting for the succession, and all under heaven was in great disorder.]

[Moreover, the most famous person in Qianyuan these past years was still a woman, Qianyuan's sixth princess, who, as a woman, personally led a hundred thousand troops and often wore a ghost mask when going into battle.]

[Though the various kingdoms harbored covetous thoughts, they all tacitly did not dare act rashly.]

[They knew full well that once outside forces intervened, Qianyuan's internal chaos would quickly subside, and such an outcome was not what they wanted.]

[Therefore, they instead hoped that the more chaotic Qianyuan became, the better. Only then could they seek more profit from it.]

[The people of Qianyuan's delegation had a great favorable impression of you and wished to strike up conversation, but to avoid suspicion, you took the initiative to avoid them.]

[Since you wanted to stay far from court, you had to avoid these unnecessary interactions and suspicions.]

[Time passed.]

[The second group entering the mountain arrived!]

[Imperial relatives, the consorts of the six palaces deep within the harem, and the families of the hundred officials came up the mountain one after another.]

[You raised your head and looked at the sky. The sky was high, the clouds vast.]

[The tree yearns for stillness, but the wind will not cease!]

[Lu Yu, on the other hand, smiled and said, "In a fierce wind beneath a high sky, it is precisely the hour for killing!"]

[You only smiled as well.]