Each Harboring Their Own Desires

At Cold Mountain County's yamen, Fang Xun, having finished teasing his son, sat before his desk with his eyes closed in deep thought.

Delighted by the birth of a precious son, with a promotion imminent.

By all rights, he should have been content and waited patiently until spring next year to return to the Sacred Capital.

Yet lately, perhaps due to the scorching weather.

As he grew ever more restless and irritable, other thoughts had begun to take root within him.

"Registry Clerk of the Left Chancellor's Household Ministry—this office is neither small nor particularly great."

"Once I return to the capital, things will no longer be like the local districts below. Earning merit and rising further in rank within a short time will likely not be so simple."

"If I were alone, it would be one thing. At worst, I could struggle in officialdom for a few more decades. But now that I have Huan'er..."

"I cannot let him suffer alongside me any longer."

Thinking of that adorable infant who laughed one moment and cried the next, a trace of paternal tenderness flickered in Fang Xun's eyes.

"Huan'er" was the childhood name he had given his son. As for his formal name and courtesy name, he planned to ask his master to decide them after returning to the capital.

"With a name bestowed by Master, his life certainly will not be as full of twists and turns as mine."

"As for Yu Niang, that foolish woman..."

Fang Xun's expression immediately darkened, though faint helplessness soon surfaced beneath it.

After all, he had spent so many years with Yu Niang, especially during the lowest point of his life, after he had been demoted. To say he felt nothing for her at all would have been impossible.

"But that woman is like someone with lard smeared over her heart, insisting on indulging in impractical fantasies."

"Yet it would not be easy to make a move against her. First, the Changle Marquis warned me before. Second, I cannot have Huan'er lose his mother from such a young age..."

The more Fang Xun thought about it, the more agitated he became.

It was as though Cold Mountain County's blazing heat had pierced through the protective formation and scorched his heart.

Unable to restrain himself, Fang Xun rose from his chair and paced back and forth through the study.

Only after a long while did he draw a deep breath and temporarily calm down.

"No need to bother with her for now. A foolish woman cannot stir up much of a storm."

Fang Xun sat down again, returning his thoughts to the matter at hand.

"On the night Xiong Jin was captured, I personally interrogated him."

"His reason for attacking the county yamen and seizing the Cold Mountain Venerable was exactly as I had guessed. It was not for himself, but to help his younger relative break through a realm."

"According to Xiong Jin, that nephew of his possesses extraordinary talent, rarely seen in a thousand ages, and is the true hope for the Xiang Kingdom's revival. That was why he did not hesitate to mobilize such forces and take such an enormous risk to assault Cold Mountain County's yamen."

"He also bears the Xiang Kingdom royal bloodline, and better still, he is still young, with only Mortal Embryo Realm cultivation."

"If I can capture him..."

The moment this thought arose, Fang Xun's heart gave a violent thump. Then it beat like drums pounding one after another, impossible to stop.

"It seems the court has also extracted this information. Black-Robed Envoys have indeed been secretly searching these days, though there has been no word yet that the boy has been caught."

"If I can win another merit, my standing among my fellow disciples will be completely different in the future. Huan'er and I will enjoy wealth and honor without worry for the rest of our lives!"

At first, this thought had merely been a faint spark flickering without end. But as Fang Xun continued pondering it, it swelled with the wind.

In only a moment, it blazed into a roaring fire.

It completely occupied Fang Xun's mind.

As for Xiong Jin's claim that his nephew possessed exceptional talent, Fang Xu did not particularly care.

"In this Great Qian, the one thing never lacking is geniuses!"

"Back then, I, Fang Xun, was also called a prodigy unmatched in a hundred years. Yet later, was I not still..."

"Hmph!"

Certain unbearable memories seemed to stab at his nerves, and Fang Xun could not help letting out a cold snort.

He was considering whether to order Wu Kuang to lead men in a preliminary search around Cold Mountain County.

But then Wu Kuang entered on his own.

"Your Honor, a laborer outside the county yamen requests an audience," Wu Kuang said with a strange expression.

"A laborer? He wants to see me?"

Fang Xun was about to wave his hand and order the man sent away.

But he seemed to think of something. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Bring him in."

Wu Kuang was somewhat surprised, but he still accepted the order and left.

Before long, a figure with graying hair and a limp followed him inside.

"This cripple..."

At the sight of him, Fang Xun immediately found the man somewhat familiar.

A moment later, he remembered. The man seemed to be one of the two hard laborers who had first reported the Xiang Kingdom's treasonous plot.

And not long ago, deep within Cold Mountain County's underground mine tunnels, he seemed to have seen this face as well.

As for the man's exact name, he could not remember it.

"You sought an audience with this official. What is the matter?" Fang Xun's gaze was sharp as torches as it fell upon Li Shun.

Li Shun immediately dropped to his knees. He seemed terrified as he said in a trembling voice, "This commoner is guilty, this commoner is guilty..."

As Li Shun explained in fits and starts, Fang Xun finally understood the whole story.

During the previous exploration of the mine tunnels, this man had happened upon a Cold Mountain Lord and secretly hidden it away afterward.

Originally, apart from the maidservant traveling with him at the time, no one else knew of the matter.

But this laborer was truly too timid. After concealing such a treasure for himself, he had been unable to sleep day or night, tormented without respite.

After so much time had passed, he finally could no longer endure the agony and had come to turn himself in.

No wonder he looks so haggard. Fang Xun found it secretly amusing.

"Take out that Cold Mountain Lord and let this official have a look."

Trembling, Li Shun circulated the Spirit-Splitting Life-Forming Art and removed the Cold Mountain Lord from his dantian.

Wu Kuang swiftly caught it and handed it to Fang Xun.

"The quality is indeed not bad. Unfortunately, compared with the Cold Mountain Venerable, it is still far inferior." A thread of chill seeped into him, and Fang Xun felt as though his mind had grown clearer as well.

Looking at the laborer below, who had his head lowered and was trembling with fear, Fang Xun had initially intended to dismiss him according to custom.

But then he suddenly recalled the recent changes in Cold Mountain County.

"This laborer is remarkably skilled in the Spirit-Splitting Life-Forming Art. Cold Mountain Grass is about to vanish..."

Fang Xun's eyes shifted, and he barked, "You could have hidden this Cold Mountain Lord directly. Why have you offered it up today instead?"

"Do not try to fool this official with that excuse about being too frightened. If you were truly afraid, why would you have delayed until today?"

Li Shun's body jolted violently, as though his innermost thoughts had been exposed. He no longer dared conceal anything.

He immediately poured out everything he had been thinking.

"This commoner previously heard that Great Qian's merits can be accumulated. From my earlier report, this commoner gained some merit. But it was not enough to rise in rank and escape the lowly register. Therefore..."

"This commoner had been wavering before, but the weather has grown hotter and hotter. This commoner truly cannot endure it any longer!" Li Shun said, his voice carrying a sob as he laid out every detail.

"So that is how it is." Fang Xun nodded slightly.

"Rise in rank..." He casually stroked the Cold Mountain Lord in his hand.

Feeling that coolness seep into his heart and lungs, he considered the matter for a moment.

"For such a trivial matter, whether he rises in rank or not depends only on a single thought of mine. But this laborer..."

"He has mastered the techniques for cultivating Cold Mountain Grass. Cold Mountain is undergoing drastic changes, and Cold Mountain Grass is about to become extinct. Its value will surely rise like water lifting a boat. I can bring him along and have him tend to this Cold Mountain Lord for me."

"After a few years, I can sell it off."

That was how Fang Xun calculated it.