Currying Favor with the Powerful

[Before the smile had faded from your lips, Dingbei Hou had already picked up the teapot again.

[This time, he had learned his lesson. He blew on it first, then cautiously took a sip.]

[As the warm tea settled in his stomach, Dingbei Hou said, "I came to see you today for two reasons. First, to congratulate you on finally emerging from seclusion. Second, there is the matter of the Five Nations Martial Arts Tournament."]

["We came last again this time." He sighed. "Among the other four nations, even the weakest had reached the Houtian Sixth Layer, while the strongest was already a half-step into Xiantian. Yet Great Xia's strongest contestant was only at the Houtian Seventh Layer. Though she did her best, she was no more than a mantis raising its arms against a chariot."]

[After saying this, Dingbei Hou raised the teapot and took another gulp. This time, he did not even blow on it. The heat made his brows knot together, but he stubbornly kept silent.]

[You watched him quietly, waiting for him to continue.]

["Ultimately, the Five Nations Martial Arts Tournament is a contest of national fortunes." Dingbei Hou set down the teapot, his voice sinking low. "Over the years, Great Xia has had fewer and fewer young people worth presenting."]

[You said nothing, merely pushing the teacup on the table toward him.]

[Dingbei Hou stared at the cup of tea for a moment, then raised his eyes to you. "To Great Xia's east lies the Great Wilderness, where demonic beasts attack year-round. Our elite troops are all stationed there. To the west is Western Liang, to the south is the Southern Frontier, and to the north is Northern Rong. Enemies lie on all four borders. Beset from front and rear, Great Xia ceased to be the flourishing dynasty it once was long ago."]

[He paused, a measure of self-mockery entering his voice. "Yet those people at court are still dreaming, thinking the Five Nations Martial Arts Tournament is merely a competition between youngsters, and winning or losing is of little consequence. They certainly know that the rankings directly determine the other four nations' attitudes toward Great Xia for the next four years. But they all pretend to be blind, pretend they cannot see."]

["Currying favor with the powerful," you said softly.]

[Dingbei Hou glanced at you and nodded. "Exactly. Every subject can see that it is the emperor who does not want a good ranking. How could his subjects defy an imperial command?"]

[He sneered. "Great Xia came last in the previous tournament. Over the following four years, Northern Yan reinforced its border troops three times! Northern Rong plundered more than a dozen villages, raiding them countless times! The Southern Frontier's poison cultivators even slipped into Yunzhou City!"]

["The great officials at court never mention these things. To them, what does it matter if a few mud-legged peasants on the border die?" Dingbei Hou's voice seemed to squeeze through his clenched teeth. "But those mud-legged peasants are Great Xia's people!

They are Great Xia's martial artists! They are the ones guarding Great Xia's gates for those people!"]

[His mouth had gone dry from speaking, and he lifted the teapot and poured tea into his mouth. Though the heat made him bare his teeth and grimace, he stubbornly refused to spit it out, as though he meant to swallow his anger along with the scalding tea.]

[You remained silent for a long while, unsure how to react.]

[However you looked at it, these were not things he should have told you. Yet Dingbei Hou had said them. What did that mean?]

[He wanted to recruit you, to have you risk your life for him-or rather, for Great Xia.]

[You wanted to refuse, but looking into Dingbei Hou's expectant eyes, you thought for a moment and decided to give him a chance after all. "My lord, do you want to change all this?"]

[Dingbei Hou set down the teapot, his eyes blazing. "I dream of it. But I cannot do it! Northern Rong keeps invading our borders, yet His Majesty insists on keeping me in the capital, ostensibly to discuss state affairs, but in reality under house arrest. His trusted men are eating away at my military authority on the border bit by bit. My title of Dingbei Hou has long since become an empty name."

"It is not that Great Xia lacks capable people. His Majesty simply does not want to employ them. He is afraid-afraid that his generals' achievements will overshadow their sovereign, afraid that civil officials will form factions for private gain, afraid that everyone covets the chair beneath his backside."]

[After hearing this, you fell silent again.]

[This was the cultivation world!]

[Overthrowing imperial power had been no easy task even in your previous world, let alone here.]

[Old Woman had told you that the Zuo Household monopolized half of Great Xia's spirit stone circulation. What about the other half? Naturally, the emperor held it firmly in his hands! Moreover, as far as you knew, the master of Haoji Palace, Great Xia's foremost immortal sect, shared the imperial family's lineage. Rather than an immortal sect, it was more like the imperial family's private army.]

[You knew all this. How could Dingbei Hou not know?]

With wealth and military might both firmly in the emperor's grasp, you simply could not understand what he had to fear, or what he had to be wary of.]

[In your view, the emperor had refused to let you participate in the Five Nations Martial Arts Tournament for no other reason than that your participation would bring him no benefit.]

[No one would go against their own interests, and the emperor was surely no exception.]

[But Dingbei Hou clearly had not thought of this. Looking at his face, which all but proclaimed, "A worthy sovereign is hard to find," you grew even more silent.

Fortunately, you were merely an observer and had no intention of following Dingbei Hou. Otherwise, you would truly have found yourself thinking, "A worthy sovereign is hard to find."]

[After finally seeing Dingbei Hou off, you had thought nothing else would happen that day. Yet at dusk, his wife arrived.]

[She carried a bundle in her hand, and upon seeing you, she pushed it into your arms.]

["Spirit stones, loose silver, banknotes, and a spirit treasure that can change your build-they are all inside," she listed them for you one by one. "There are also a few changes of clothes and some dry provisions. They should last you a while on the road."]

[You were a little bewildered. If they were seeing you off, should they not have come together? Besides, there was not a single maid behind her. She had even carried the bundle herself-]

[After hesitating for a moment, you spoke. "Madam, His Lordship-"]

["He does not know." Her answer was decisive and calm, as though keeping this from her husband was no great

matter. "He hopes you will stay in Great Xia and serve it. Do you want to?"]

[You shook your head without hesitation. You only wanted to cultivate, only wanted to grow stronger.]

[Besides, you had already tactfully refused him that morning.]

[You did not blame Dingbei Hou for taking you to see the emperor because he had given you those cultivation manuals. But those manuals only went that far. Neither of you owed the other anything. Why should you stay just because he wanted you to?]

[Seeing you shake your head, his wife was not disappointed. Instead, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.]

[She patted the bundle in your arms and lowered her voice. "I knew you would feel that way. That old man's head is muddled. He always thinks that going onto the battlefield and killing enemies is the only true measure of ability. But he has forgotten that someone like you should never be confined to this tiny patch of land, much less serve Great Xia."]

["His Lordship will be attending a banquet at the palace tonight. It is the perfect time for you to leave."]

[You looked down at the bundle in your arms and hefted it. After discovering that its contents were quite substantial, you looked up at her again. "If I come back, how should I arrange to see you?"]