Martial Cultivator

A pair of siblings, who had traveled north with a merchant convoy, finally arrived at the Divine Capital with some threatening but not dangerous experiences along the way. As the merchant convoy approached the city gate and gradually came to a halt, the leading woman glanced at someone in the group. Understanding the signal, he dismounted to register at the city gates. There were always rules for merchant convoys entering and leaving the city, it was never as simple as coming and going as one pleased.

Seizing the moment of downtime, the woman approached a carriage and lightly knocked on its side. A young girl peeked out from inside, smiling as she asked, ”Big Sister Chen, what’s the matter?”

The woman, who had traveled far and wide, had a face that looked more weathered than other women her age. Though calling her ”big sister” was not quite accurate - ”auntie” might have been more appropriate - no woman liked to be called old. Hence, the woman still had a smile on her face as she looked at the girl and said, ”We’re about to enter the city. I imagine you and your brother don’t have a place to stay in the Divine Capital yet. Why not come with me and rest at my house for a while?”

The girl named Chunyue was about to speak when another head popped out from inside the carriage. It was her brother, Erhu. He smiled at the woman and said, ”Big Sister Chen, you’ve already been such a help along the way. How can we trouble you further?”

The woman glanced at him and shook her head, ”Since you two were entrusted to me by Commander Chen, it’s my duty to take good care of you. Besides, you’re not familiar with the Divine Capital. Even finding a place to stay won’t be easy for outsiders. When Commander Chen returns to the Divine Capital and asks about this, what am I supposed to tell him?”

Erhu was taken aback, then quickly smiled and said, ”In that case, we will trouble you, Big Sister. But we will cover all the expenses ourselves.”

The woman did not insist further. She nodded and then looked at Chunyue, smiling, ”Chunyue, once we’re in the city, I’ll take you to buy some clothes and makeup. These things are necessary for a young lady.”

Chunyue instinctively turned to look at her brother, but before Erhu could speak, the woman frowned and said, ”Why are you looking at him? It won’t cost much. You call me big sister, so why can’t I give you a few things?”

This left Erhu with nothing more to say.

Seeing that her brother remained silent, Chunyue quickly expressed her gratitude, ”Thank you very much, Big Sister Chen.”

The woman smiled and nodded, ”After entering the city, I need to deliver some goods first. You both can follow me, it won’t take much time. After that’s done, Chunyue, you can come with me to buy some things, and Erhu, you can stay at home by yourself.”

The reason for showing kindness to this pair of siblings, aside from genuinely liking Chunyue, also involved a little ulterior motive. But there was no need to explain that to outsiders. It was simply a habit formed over years of traveling and doing business. Whether it would come in handy or not later was of no concern.

Soon after, the registration for the merchant convoy was complete, and the carriages began to slowly enter the city.

The siblings lifted the curtain inside the carriage to look outside. Seeing the tall city walls, Chunyue exclaimed, her mouth agape, ”Brother, this is the Divine Capital. It’s so big!”

Erhu was also in awe of the magnificent city before them. After a moment, he regained his composure and said softly, ”Yes, this is the Divine Capital.”

Chunyue smiled and said, ”Then there surely won’t be any demons eating people here.”

Erhu nodded but immediately cautioned, ”Chunyue, it’s not just demons that devour people in this world.”

Chunyue replied with an ”Oh,” and then asked excitedly, ”So when will we get to see Sir Chen again?”

Erhu frowned and said somewhat uncertainly, ”I don’t know. Even though Sir Chen works in the Divine Capital, we don’t know when he’ll return. And even if he does come back, he’ll surely be very busy. We can’t just go and disturb him.”

Chunyue curiously asked, ”Brother, don’t you want to take Sir Chen as your master anymore?”

”I do, but during this journey, I’ve thought it over and realized it’s probably not possible. If something’s impossible, there’s no point in dwelling on it. I’ll just live an honest life. If I’m lucky, maybe I can land a job, watch you grow up, and see you get married. That would be enough for me,” Erhu sighed. With time, some things become clearer.

Chunyue did not concern herself with these thoughts and instead said, ”No matter what, once we find a place to stay, we must invite Sir Chen over for a meal. We’ll buy some good ingredients and prepare a nice spread.”

Euhu nodded and said, ”Yes we should.”

Chunyue imagined that soon she would be following Big Sister Chen to buy cosmetics and beautiful clothes. Once she dolled up nicely, perhaps Sir Chen would change his mind upon seeing how she looked?

The carriage moved slowly through the Divine Capital, while Chunyue and Erhu observed this Great Liang’s capital with great curiosity. Many things were entirely new to them.

Not long after, Chunyue suddenly whispered, ”Brother, that big sister is so pretty!”

Erhu followed Chunyue’s gaze and sure enough, he saw two young women by the street, appearing to be a mistress and her servant. The girl wearing plain clothes had a stunningly beautiful face and was unbelievably striking.

For a moment, Erhu was entranced, murmuring, ”She’s much prettier than you.”

Hearing this, Chunyue did not argue but agreed, ”Yeah, she is.”

The pair by the street were none other than Xie Nandu and her maid, Liu Ye.

After spending several days in the academy, Xie Nandu felt a bit restless, so she left the academy and brought Liu Ye along to explore the Divine Capital.

”Miss, so many people have been staring at you along the way. You really are beautiful.”

Actually, while the siblings were observing Xie Nandu, Liu Ye was also looking at them. Along this journey, countless people had already cast more than a few glances at Xie Nandu after seeing her. They say a woman changed greatly when she turned eighteen, and at this age, Xie Nandu was right at the age where she was slowly blossoming. Compared to when Chen Chao last saw her, she had actually become quite a bit more attractive. The word ”budding” from the phrase ”budding beauty” could be entirely removed now.

She was a true beauty.

Xie Nandu nodded lightly and paused in front of a shop selling writing materials, sizing up a piece of ancient inkstone displayed before her. Based on her insight, she could tell at a glance that this inkstone was probably over three hundred years old; a fine piece of Huangzhou inkstone. Although Huangzhou was a name from a previous dynasty that no longer existed, the term still persisted for these inkstones, though it was of little importance.

After all, the Great Liang Dynasty was relatively open-minded; commoners could even privately criticize the current ministers without much consequence.

In fact, the Xie Family had quite a few items like these. If Xie Nandu liked them, they could easily be transported to the academy in cartloads. However, she had always avoided stepping into the ancestral manor of the Xie Family without reason, let alone asking for these items.

”Liu Ye, go buy that inkstone, remember to bargain.”

Xie Nandu said softly before deciding not to enter the shop herself.

Liu Ye nodded and quickly went inside. Before long, she returned with the Huangzhou inkstone and placed it beside Xie Nandu. Xie Nandu nodded in satisfaction and was about to return to the academy.

Liu Ye asked softly, ”Miss, there are a few new rouge shops in the Divine Capital. Would you like to take a look?”

”No need.”

Xie Nandu never used rouge or powder, but truth be told, her face did not require it.

As the saying goes, beauty in its natural state needs no embellishment, and that was exactly talking about Xie Nandu.

Liu Ye sighed softly with a bit of disappointment. She knew her mistress was not interested in those things, she just wanted to shop.

”You can go take a look if you want. Just remember to come back early. Don’t ask me to open the door if it’s too late.”

With those words, Xie Nandu walked towards the academy.

Liu Ye giggled. She could not resist the allure of rouge in the end and hurried off in the opposite direction.

Xie Nandu took a few leisurely steps. Estimating the time, it seemed like autumn was approaching again.

”Autumn is coming, and you’re still not back?”

Xie Nandu muttered softly, ”Stinking man.”

……

……

At the Left Guard’s office, Song Lian was off duty today. He decided to bring his nephew home for a meal.

Weng Quan was naturally delighted. But as they stepped out of the Left Guard’s office, Song Lian stopped in his tracks and looked at Weng Quan.

Weng Quan looked puzzled. ”Second Uncle, is there something on my face?”

”I just think your face is quite large,” Song Lian replied flatly.

Weng Quan still wore a puzzled expression. ”Second Uncle, I’ve actually lost weight these days. I’ve been eating several bowls less, my face is still large?”

Song Lian said with a fake smile. ”If your face isn’t large, why do you have the face to go empty-handed?”

”Huh? Isn’t it just a meal? Do I need to bring my saber?”

After thinking for a moment, Weng Quan slapped his forehead. ”You’re right. We’re stationed in the Divine Capital, we should always be cautious. Bringing a saber is reasonable. Wait a moment, Second Uncle, I’ll go back and get it.”

”Take your mother’s saber!”

Song Lian’s had an ugly look.

”Second Uncle, my mother doesn’t work as a constable, why would she have a saber?” Weng Quan felt his head buzzing, finding it hard to keep up.

”Go buy something, are you going to someone’s house for a meal empty-handed?” Song Lian had already decided that his nephew was beyond help. If he had known this back when, he would not have bothered to rescue him when he fell into the water when he was young.

Weng Quan finally realized what was going on and looked at Song Lian with some grievance. ”Second Uncle, I feel like we’re drifting apart.”

Song Lian remained expressionless. ”You don’t have any emotional intelligence. That Chen kid is younger than you, but he’s god knows how much stronger than you.”

Weng Quan lamented, ”Deputy Commander Chen is naturally much stronger than me.”

”Stop with the deputy commander, can you remove the deputy word next time?!”

Song Lian rubbed his forehead. He only had this one junior relative, he could not be too indulgent at the office. After all, he still had to care about people gossiping. However, in private, he needed to teach where necessary. But thinking about this kid’s blockheadedness, Song Lian was annoyed at what he had to deal with.

Luckily, he was not his son, or he might have throttled him long ago.

Thinking of this, Song Lian thought of Chen Chao again, sighed, and murmured, ”I wonder how that kid’s saber forging is coming along.”