Martial Cultivator

The street markets of the Divine Capital had always been the most prosperous, but unlike the honest buying and selling of goods in previous years, in recent years, the street markets of the Divine Capital had gradually developed their own ways of learning about the many major events that had happened recently.

How the imperial court’s war in the north was going, what those cultivators of the foreign lands had been doing, the common people no longer had to wait for imperial court notices. They, too, had their own channels for finding out.

Ningyuan Street could be considered an old street. The merchants here had stayed in the Divine Capital for long enough, and if one came to ask them about many of the things that had happened in the Divine Capital, one could always get an answer.

Apricot Blossom Tavern was located on this street, right in the middle of it.

The tavern’s proprietress was a middle-aged woman. To say that she was still charming despite having passed her youth would have been quite fair.

The proprietress’s surname was Zheng. She seemed never to have married, so the customers and neighbors who came and went all called her Madam Zheng.

Business at the tavern had been very good these past few years. It was not because the tavern’s wine was especially delicious, nor because Madam Zheng had become increasingly alluring, but because the tavern’s information had always been the most reliable. One could come here, buy a jug of wine, sit for a while, and learn quite a bit of news.

That was why people loved coming here.

Butcher Zhang, who sold pork, had not set up his stall today, so he came here to drink instead. But after only a few sips, Butcher Zhang remembered that his younger brother-in-law, who worked as a minor clerk, had casually mentioned something before about soldiers running around everywhere. Taking advantage of the wine, Butcher Zhang asked, “Madam Zheng, do you know what important matter has happened with the imperial court recently?!”

Madam Zheng had originally been dozing behind the counter. No one knew what she had been dreaming about, but a trace of a smile had appeared on her face. After being jolted awake by Butcher Zhang’s shout, she frowned and asked sarcastically, “You pig butcher, which matter isn’t an important matter when it comes to you?”

Hearing Madam Zheng speak, the drinkers all laughed, but no one paid much attention. After all, everyone knew Madam Zheng’s temper, and they were all accustomed to it.

Butcher Zhang was not angry either. After taking a sip of wine, he rubbed his greasy hair and said, “I’m talking about the soldiers. You really don’t know?”

Madam Zheng gave a cold laugh. “Is there anything I don’t know?”

After saying that, Madam Zheng immediately told them all about the frontier army marching south, which instantly aroused the curiosity of the drinkers.

“Serves them right! Those damn cultivators, at a time like this they’re still stabbing us in the back. Killing them ten thousand times wouldn’t be too many!”

“But this is the first time the frontier army has marched south, right? What about the north? The demon race hasn’t withdrawn yet, has it?”

Madam Zheng gave a derisive laugh. “Do you really think the imperial court has no brains? There aren’t many frontier soldiers marching south this time, just three thousand cavalrymen. If there were a hundred thousand or eighty thousand troops marching south, the commotion would be far too great. Besides, if it really came to that, I’d say it would still make sense. By then, who knows how many bastards would have done how many things that aroused the wrath of Heaven and the resentment of the people!”

“Now that you put it that way, it actually makes sense. Those bastards colluded with the demon race and stabbed us in the back, but in reality, they were stabbing the soldiers in the back. They should be allowed to come south and vent their anger!”

“Exactly. You can’t just take a beating without fighting back!”

“Right! My childhood friend is in the frontier army. When I was bullied as a kid, he was always the one who stood up for me!”

For a time, the drinkers in the tavern all began speaking one after another.

Madam Zheng sighed. “It doesn’t matter what we say. I hear those high-ranking officials in the imperial court don’t think the same way. They’ve argued about it several times in court and want to punish the frontier army.”

“Damn them! They eat the imperial court’s food, and they can’t even do one decent thing?”

“Damn it, if His Majesty were still here, every single one of those bastards would be locked up!”

The drinkers in the tavern grew agitated, and the clamoring grew louder and louder.

At this moment, a figure suddenly rushed in from outside the tavern and shouted, “New updates! Those people from the Censorate are going to the palace gates to remonstrate unto death, all because of the frontier army marching south!”

“Remonstrate unto death?”

“What does that mean?”

Some of the drinkers looked completely bewildered. How could ordinary commoners like them know about such things?

Madam Zheng sneered. “Remonstrating unto death means a bunch of old bastards with one foot already in the grave bring up some matter and insist that His Highness the Crown Prince do things their way. If His Highness refuses to listen, they’ll smash their heads against a pillar and kill themselves!”

“And they’ve always thought that whatever they say must be right, and everyone else should listen to them.”

The drinkers were startled at first, then someone said, “Isn’t that just acting like a thug?”

Butcher Zhang frowned and cursed, “Those bastards should use all that energy on women instead. What are they getting involved in this for?”

“They’re censors. That’s what they’re supposed to do.”

“If you ask me, just let them smash their heads against that pillar. Why bother with them?”

“Wasn’t that exactly what His Majesty did back then?”

“Too bad. It’s only because His Highness the Crown Prince has a good heart that people are bullying him!”

The drinkers all began slapping the tables, indignant over the matter.

Yet there was also a sense of helplessness.

After all, when it came to major matters of the imperial court, what could ordinary commoners like them do?

“I think if they can go to the palace gates and smash their heads to death, then we can also block the Censorate and stop them from going!”

A drinker suddenly spoke up. Then he took a sip of wine, threw down his bowl, and cursed, “We can’t let the soldiers over there lose heart. We can’t do anything about the matter in the first place, so we shouldn’t make things worse!”

“I’m going to the Censorate. Who’s coming with me?!”

The drinker looked around, but no one responded. He gave a contemptuous laugh, turned around, and walked out of the tavern.

“I’ll go!”

A voice rang out in the tavern. One of the drinkers stood up and said with a smile, “I figure I won’t die, right?”

After saying this, he also walked out of the tavern.

A drinker burst out laughing. “Even if I die, so what? Damn it, doing nothing at all still makes me feel stifled!”

“My nephew is still serving in the army over there. Maybe he’s one of those marching south this time. That brat has looked up to me, his uncle, since he was little. If I do nothing now, he’ll probably think he was wrong to look up to me when he was a kid!”

After a middle-aged drinker stood up, he drained his wine in one gulp, smashed the bowl onto the ground, and shattered it into pieces. Madam Zheng said nothing more and merely rolled her eyes.

But one drinker after another soon left the tavern and headed toward the Censorate.

Along the way, more and more commoners learned of the matter and began joining the crowd.

By the time they were still two streets away from the Censorate, the crowd had already grown to several hundred people, surging forward in a mighty procession.

The commotion soon alarmed the Prefect of Jingzhao. The parent official of the Divine Capital’s common people thought for a moment, then stopped his constables.

An official asked in confusion, “Your Excellency, this matter is supposed to be under our jurisdiction. If we don’t do anything, and our superiors blame us later, I’m afraid it will cause some trouble.”

The Prefect of Jingzhao smiled at him. “This matter indeed falls under our jurisdiction. But with the common people causing such a commotion, the Jingzhao Office alone cannot suppress it. That means it will have to go to the Warden’s Office. I dare say that even if you go to the Warden’s Office right now, no one there will do anything.”

“Do you know why?”

The Prefect of Jingzhao looked at his trusted aide with a beaming smile.

The latter was completely baffled.

The Prefect of Jingzhao smiled to himself and said, “Those censors think their opinions are very important, but in reality, they have never been important. A bunch of scholars who only know how to read, looking down on everyone in their daily lives, when in reality no one looks up to them. The sages’ books are excellent for reading, but when it comes to governing the country, they are completely useless.”

“The frontier army in the north is risking their lives. They have just won a battle, and another war is already coming. The imperial court still has to rely on them to fight the next major battle. At a time like this, no matter what the matter is, it should be suppressed. If it affects the army’s morale, that is a major matter!”

“But how to suppress it is troublesome, because those censors are famous for recognizing neither relatives nor friends.”

The official was still confused and asked, “Then if we don’t do anything about this matter, aren’t we just watching things get out of hand? Wouldn’t that be even more troublesome?”

The Prefect of Jingzhao shook his head and sighed. “Have you never wondered why the common people went to the Censorate before those censors had even left the Censorate? When has the Censorate ever informed the common people in advance about what it was going to do?”