Dayong

Ten years hurried by.

Meng Yuan now had nearly twenty women in his rear courtyard, who had borne him some forty sons and daughters.

Over these ten years, the realm had more or less settled into peace, and even the imperial court had been remarkably harmonious.

Meng Yuan had expected Lü Yinglong and his wife to cross swords, but Empress Chen had kept yielding. A few years earlier, she had even had many members of the Chen clan resign their posts.

Empress Chen's late elder brother had two sons, named Huaixian and Huaiyuan, both accomplished in civil and martial pursuits. They were only around thirty now, yet both had resigned and returned to their hometown.

This had actually left Lü Yinglong feeling somewhat embarrassed, and he had bestowed many rewards on Chen Huaixian.

Over these ten years, Meng Yuan had yet to finish compiling the history, but he had already untangled the entire course of the past two thousand years or so.

In ancient times, immortals had descended upon this land and enfeoffed eighty-one kingdoms. After expanding their territories for over a thousand years, those kingdoms had then endured six hundred years of chaotic warfare, until only twelve remained.

After that, the Yu Kingdom had unified the realm and held the throne for four hundred years. Now the Lü Clan had risen to power.

When the immortals had first enfeoffed the eighty-one kingdoms, three clans had actually stood at their head: the Pei Clan, the Bai Clan, and a third close at hand-the Chen clan to which Empress Chen belonged.

But none of those three clans had fared particularly well. Within a few hundred years of the immortals' enfeoffment, their kingdoms had been destroyed.

Before the uprising, the Chen clan had actually had no one serving at court. They had only wielded some influence in their hometown, passing down medicine and martial arts as their family livelihood.

The Pei Clan and the Bai Clan had been even more obscure, with very few of their members entering official service over the generations.

Yet Meng Yuan had learned that the Pei Clan and the Bai Clan also had martial inheritances. A great martial artist had emerged a few hundred years earlier, but he had neither roamed the martial world nor entered official service, seemingly burying himself in pastoral life.

The Pei and Bai clans were now so fallen that no one at court paid them any attention, and few in the martial world even knew of them.

Meng Yuan had sent people to inquire, but the elders of those two clans knew only some rudimentary martial arts. Their old inheritances had long since been lost entirely.

With that, Meng Yuan had made a special visit to Empress Chen. As a descendant of the Chen clan, she knew quite a bit, but she knew little about the Pei and Bai clans either.

"My Chen clan was indeed one of the three great clans of High Antiquity, but I truly know nothing of the immortals."

Empress Chen was filled with sorrow too. "If my late father were still alive, he might know something. I remember that when I was little, Father would tell ghost stories to lull my elder brother and me to sleep. I was young then, and I don't remember much. Sadly, my brother also..."

Her true feelings showed, and as she spoke, she began to choke up.

Ten years had hurried by, and Meng Yuan's search for immortals had reached a dead end.

Moreover, Meng Yuan could not leave the capital for long. It was as though he had entered a cage, with no room to maneuver, and could only amuse himself with women at home.

But old or young, gentle or fiery, plump or slender, wanton or innocent, they all amounted to much the same thing.

Once the lamps were blown out, there was little difference.

Meng Yuan had taken quite a few beautiful concubines over these ten years, but he had not lost himself in feminine charms. He had kept watch on the court while also collecting tales from the martial world.

The court remained fairly stable. Because the Chen clan had yielded, Lü Yinglong had instead refrained from pressing them hard.

There were plenty of strange tales in the martial world, but most were mist and shadows, impossible to pin down.

After turning it over in his mind, Meng Yuan still thought the matter of the Giant Serpent Purple Fruit that Lü Yinglong had once mentioned was the most credible.

Over the years, Meng Yuan had already investigated the course of Lü Yinglong's early life, both openly and in secret.

He had been born in Pear Blossom Province. His father died when he was ten, and his mother remarried. He then survived by begging, before beginning to make a living hauling sacks at the docks at thirteen.

When he was sixteen, a severe drought struck Pear Blossom Province, and Lü Yinglong joined others in robbing wealthy households.

It was that year that he learned some staff fighting and revealed extraordinary talent.

At eighteen, Lü Yinglong was arrested by the authorities, but Empress Chen's father cherished his talent and got him released. He funded his martial training and taught him letters as well, like a father of his own.

At twenty-six, he married into the Chen family. Empress Chen was already twenty-one at the time. Meng Yuan reckoned that Lü Yinglong had only learned the Chen clan's hereditary Pure Yang Dragon-Controlling Art after the marriage.

Two years after their marriage, Empress Chen's father died of illness, and her elder brother also died away from home under mysterious circumstances.

Lü Yinglong was twenty-eight that year. For some unknown reason, he had gone out alone into the mountains and, through a twist of fate, obtained the tremendous opportunity of the Giant Serpent Purple Fruit.

Northwest of Spring Radiance Prefecture in Pear Blossom Province, Empress Chen's hometown, there happened to be mountains stretching for hundreds of li, inhabited by fierce beasts and seldom visited by people.

Meng Yuan reckoned that the place where Lü Yinglong had found his opportunity was probably somewhere in those mountains.

But his position made it inconvenient for Meng Yuan to go exploring himself. He could only send someone he trusted absolutely to take a look and feel things out.

That was why the marquis's household steward had run away.

But Yang Dayong was, after all, the chief steward of the marquis's household, someone accustomed to appearing in public. His sudden disappearance would easily arouse suspicion, so Meng Yuan had staged a little play.

Meng Yuan and Yang Dayong agreed on a three-year limit. If he still found no clues after three years, he was to return home.

A year passed in the blink of an eye, and Yang Dayong had not returned.

Lü Yinglong, however, suddenly made his move, promoting newcomers on a grand scale and suppressing meritorious veterans. Empress Chen earnestly urged him against it. Meng Yuan took two beautiful concubines.

In the second year, Yang Dayong still had not returned.

Lü Yinglong repeatedly summoned the two sons of Empress Chen's late elder brother to take office, but neither accepted, as though they truly intended to live a pastoral idyll. Meng Yuan took one beautiful concubine.

In the third year, the agreed three-year period ended, but Yang Dayong had not returned.

The court, however, descended into chaos. For some unknown reason, Lü Yinglong actually began killing meritorious veterans, executing civil officials and military officers alike. He launched more than a dozen cases, implicating tens of thousands and sending heads rolling. Meng Yuan no longer dared take concubines.

In the fourth year, Lü Yinglong continued killing. As though he had gone mad, he even dragged out many Chen clan members who had already resigned and had them executed! Of the two sons of Empress Chen's late elder brother, Chen Huaixian was imprisoned and Chen Huaiyuan was killed. Meng Yuan kept his household in check, shut his doors, and feigned illness.

In the fifth year, Lü Yinglong suddenly fell gravely ill. For three months, he neither attended court nor appeared in public, merely summoning court officials for successive audiences and keeping the crown prince at his side.

When autumn arrived, Yang Dayong finally returned, his hair disheveled and his face filthy, scarcely looking human anymore.

"I found it!" Yang Dayong untied the bundle he carried. Inside were five fist-sized snake scales, a sharp fang as long as a palm, and three broken sections of backbone.

"Good man, Dayong. Thank you for all your hard work these past years." Meng Yuan patted Yang Dayong's shoulder. "Go and see your wife. She's always cursing me behind my back. I don't even dare face her anymore."

A few more months passed in the blink of an eye, and winter arrived.

Snow began drifting down outside. Meng Yuan was warming wine and admiring the snow when Lü Yinglong sent someone to summon him to the palace for an imperial audience.

"My lord, something isn't right. His Majesty has hardly summoned you at all these past years. Why has he come looking for you now?" Yang Dayong said.

"Yes, something isn't right." Meng Yuan sensed something.

"Then are we going or not?" Yang Dayong asked.

"We're going! Since he fell ill, I've submitted memorials asking after his health many times, but never received a summons. Today, it's time I saw him and said farewell to an old friend." Meng Yuan smiled.

"My lord, then I'm going too," Yang Dayong said.

"We might die," Meng Yuan said.

"I've followed you for so many years. If you die, I'll only live a few days longer at most." Yang Dayong saw it clearly.

"Good lad." Meng Yuan's wish had been fulfilled. Whether this trip would bring fortune or disaster was uncertain, but it no longer mattered.