Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 230: Hearts in Accord

Over the next few days, peace reigned at Prince Kang’s estate. Across the Flame Capital, only a dozen or so busybodies donned Golden Boy or Jade Maiden masks to take advantage of the confusion. The Martial Prohibition Bureau caught some almost at once and gave them dozens of strokes with the paddle; wandering heroes spotted others, who narrowly escaped becoming targets of their chivalry.

With his day off approaching, Ding Songyan was planning to visit Commander Han Shun in a dream. But while he was guarding the corner gate, an official from the Martial Prohibition Bureau arrived.

”Might you be Young Hero Ding Songyan of the Brightnight Sect?” the official asked with great courtesy.

It doesn’t look as though I’ve been found out... Ding Songyan made no attempt to hide his surprise as he cupped his hands in greeting.

”I am.”

Fan Chunlin and the others volunteered to confirm his identity.

”Deputy Chief Zeng asked me to deliver a letter to you,” the Bureau official said.

What do I have to do with Deputy Chief Zeng? Ding Songyan accepted the letter in puzzlement and immediately recognized the handwriting on the envelope:

”For Junior Brother Ding’s eyes only.”

A letter from Senior Sister? Why did it come through the Bureau? Ding Songyan suppressed his questions and thanked the official sincerely for delivering it.

He did not open it yet, but tucked it inside his robe.

When he looked up, he found Li Baima, Wu Mo, and Fan Chunlin watching him with undisguised curiosity.

”Brother Ding, who sent you that letter? No need to answer if you’d rather not say,” Fan Chunlin asked.

”My senior sister,” Ding Songyan said with a chuckle.

Wu Mo and the others drew out an ”Oh,” but could hardly pry any further.

Li Baima asked instead, ”Has your senior sister joined the Martial Prohibition Bureau?”

How else had Deputy Chief Zeng come to deliver her letter?

”No.” Ding Songyan offered a casual guess. ”Perhaps Deputy Chief Zeng is an old friend of her father’s and brought the letter to the Flame Capital when he passed through Changhua Prefecture.”

Changhua... The name sounded vaguely familiar to Fan Chunlin and the others.

When their shift ended, Ding Songyan headed straight for Tiger Tail Alley instead of returning to the side courtyard.

”Changhua Prefecture... I remember now!” Li Baima exclaimed as he stepped into the side courtyard.

When Wu Mo and Fan Chunlin looked over, he lowered his voice.

”The Dowager Consort hails from the Zheng family of Changhua.”

He meant Prince Kang’s mother, Noble Consort Zheng of the late emperor.

”The Zheng family of Changhua...” Understanding dawned on Wu Mo. ”The senior sister Brother Ding mentioned—is she Miss Zheng of the Brightnight Sect?”

Zheng Zhuxi visited Prince Kang’s estate during the New Year holidays. Fan Chunlin and the others had never met her, but they had heard of her.

”The one whose father served as Senior Councillor?” Fan Chunlin remembered too.

As soon as he spoke, he stopped short.

”What is it?” Li Baima asked, puzzled.

Fan Chunlin said, his expression complicated, ”I’ve heard the other guards say Miss Zheng is a great beauty, hardly less lovely than the women in Peerless Beauties of the Jianghu.”

Brother Ding is a formidable fighter, and the way he carries himself commands respect. Does he have such extraordinary luck with women too?

His Senior Sister Zheng writes to him, Twelfth Madam Luo has him play her suitor, Miss Zhang asks after him, and even Unsullied Azure Lotus Ji Hanyi has met him...

Wu Mo grew envious as well.

There weren’t many good-looking people in their Ruyi House, men or women.

......

Cheap Wine Shop.

Twelfth Madam Luo was busy serving customers. At the sight of Ding Songyan entering, her expression promptly soured.

”What do you want to eat or drink?” the shopkeeper asked, giving him a sidelong glance.

Ding Songyan answered with a broad smile, ”I’ll order in a moment. First, I’d like to borrow a little space, Twelfth Madam.”

As he spoke, candlelight appeared in his eyes. He scanned the surroundings carefully, not overlooking even a passing dog.

”You and your shenanigans! What is it this time?” Twelfth Madam Luo asked, exasperated and amused.

She had a knack for using expressions from different provincial dialects. The shenanigans meant sly tricks.

”I’d like to use the east wing,” Ding Songyan said, leaving it at that.

Remembering the Golden Boy and Jade Maiden masks hidden there, Twelfth Madam Luo understood. She sighed.

”Go on, then.”

Ding Songyan was worried Demoness Ji might be watching him. That was why he had come to open the letter at the home of a reclusive powerhouse like Twelfth Madam Luo. Afterward, he would hide it with the masks.

He crossed the rear courtyard and entered the east wing. Sitting on the edge of the bed with his back against a chest, he began reading his senior sister’s letter.

”Junior Brother,

”Your two letters arrived one after the other. They were a wonderful surprise.

”I wanted to write back that very day, but whenever I picked up my brush, the words would not come. It was not that I had nothing to say. Everything I wrote felt either too much or not enough. I wrote many pages and discarded just as many.

”Only when I heard that someone in a Golden Boy mask had killed Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang did that strange state leave me. I wrote this letter in one sitting—or at least I have written it in one sitting up to this point.

”I was not strong enough to kill Sun Feiyang myself, but I feel little regret that the Golden Boy did it for me. In fact, it made me happy.

”I have not forgotten what we said in that dream. I do not think you have either.

”If we travel the jianghu together one day, I think we will leave behind many tales of chivalry.

”I am close to understanding the answer to that question. When I heard that the Golden Boy had killed Evil Beyond Measure Sun Feiyang, I was happy for you. I understood what was in your heart, and how hard this has been for you.

”Over this past year and more, I have often thought of you. Sometimes I even dream of you, of the things we experienced together and the future we once imagined.

”Sometimes every word you say conceals a dozen schemes and makes me angry. Sometimes you tease me on purpose until I am flustered and cross. Yet somehow, even that makes me feel close to you. What I remember most are the times you made me happy, made me feel safe, filled me with delight, or made me proud...

”Have you thought of me too, Junior Brother?

”It is a good thing if you can study Ditai’s arts, but gossip can do harm. I trust you, of course. I only worry that it may tarnish Twelfth Madam Luo’s reputation and cause her trouble. As a woman traveling alone, she already faces many difficulties. Please be considerate of her.

”I asked Father about Twelfth Madam Luo, but he has never heard of her.

”...

”I have written so much without realizing it. Deputy Chief Zeng of the Martial Prohibition Bureau happens to be passing through Changhua Prefecture and has come to visit Father. I shall ask him to take this letter to the Flame Capital. It will reach you much sooner than it would through the Hongxin Trading Company.

”After the New Year, Father should visit the Flame Capital even if he has not been recalled to office. I will certainly go with him. I hope to see you then.

”Zheng Zhuxi.”

As Ding Songyan read, a smile gradually suffused his face.

His senior sister had put more feeling into this letter than any before, though she still held back from saying everything on her mind.

Senior Sister made the right choice by chance, asking Deputy Chief Zeng to deliver this instead of sending it through the Hongxin Trading Company. Otherwise, I fear Demoness Ji might have read it before I did. Then I’d never have seen it at all...

I can’t send my reply through the Hongxin Trading Company either. Demoness Ji may not be quite that obsessive, but it pays to be careful.

How can I get it to Changhua?

Hmm. I could discreetly ask Fifth Xie for help and send it through the banks run by the Xie and Fang families...

Ding Songyan quickly settled on a plan.

......

Changhua Prefecture, Zheng family residence.

”Quite a few Golden Boys and Jade Maidens have appeared in the Flame Capital these past few days. Most are busybodies following a trend,” Zheng Ziming told his daughter with a smile, letters in hand. ”But some are formidable. One Jade Maiden killed Altar-Cleansing Dragon King Huo Minglou. Another, a man, attacked Hu Chaohui of the Sea-Treading Gang.”

The reports had traveled with the court gazette and had taken four to five days to reach Changhua from the Flame Capital. Only letters concerning important matters for the Zheng family or the Brightnight Sect came swiftly by carrier pigeon, mechanical bird, or similar means, so that Zheng Ziming could learn of them in time.

Zheng Zhuxi, her black hair simply pinned up, froze.

Busybodies copying the Golden Boy and Jade Maiden are no surprise. But a male Jade Maiden? And who is this Jade Maiden capable of killing Altar-Cleansing Dragon King Huo Minglou?

She took the letters from her father and read through them carefully.

So far, among all the Jade Maiden imitators, only the one who attacked Hu Chaohui was a man...

That... that sounds like something Junior Brother would do...

And the martial art resembles the Scripture of Returning to Stillness...

Why would he put on a Jade Maiden mask to attack Hu Chaohui?

Before that, there was only one imitator: the Jade Maiden who killed Altar-Cleansing Dragon King Huo Minglou...

Was Junior Brother afraid I would misunderstand? Did he appear as a male Jade Maiden to tell me the earlier one wasn’t the real Jade Maiden, but an impostor?

Someone strong enough to kill the Altar-Cleansing Dragon King, connected to Junior Brother, and willing to wear a Jade Maiden mask to make a pair with the Golden Boy...

A name flashed through Zheng Zhuxi’s mind: Ji Hanyi!

Zheng Zhuxi’s heart leaped into her throat. She was deeply worried for Ding Songyan.

Her first impulse was to tell her father what she suspected and ask him to seek help from colleagues he knew in the Flame Capital. On second thought, she abandoned the idea.

I don’t know exactly what situation Junior Brother is in, but he doesn’t seem to be in immediate danger of death. If I rashly call for help, I could harm him instead. Father, Cousin, and the others might even grow suspicious of him... Junior Brother, write back soon. I need to see what hints you leave in your letter before I can work out how to help. I should also gather every report about the Golden Boy to judge what is happening... Thank goodness I asked Deputy Chief Zeng to carry my letter. The demoness might have intercepted it otherwise. The Hongxin Trading Company’s deliveries follow a regular schedule, and it cannot guard against a powerhouse... Zheng Zhuxi’s thoughts raced in every direction.

She soon made up her mind and turned to Zheng Ziming.

”Father, I want to ask a favor of you, but it concerns a Brightnight Sect secret. I cannot explain everything, and I ask that you tell no one.”

”What is it?” Zheng Ziming was taken aback.

Xi’er was fine a moment ago. Why has she suddenly brought up a Brightnight Sect secret?

Those reports from the Flame Capital never mentioned the sect...

When his daughter pressed her lips together and said nothing, Zheng Ziming gave an amused laugh.

”Don’t you know what sort of man your father is? Or what kind of art the Scripture of Utmost Sincerity is?

”Very well. I promise.”

Only then did Zheng Zhuxi speak.

”This concerns my junior brother—Junior Brother Ding.

”He follows a martial path of bringing all arts into one, then giving rise to all arts from that one. He has been seeking out different martial arts and incorporating them into what he knows...”

Zheng Zhuxi briefly explained Ding Songyan’s approach to martial arts, laying the groundwork for a favor she intended to ask of her father on his behalf later.

Seeing Zheng Ziming’s surprise and doubt, she changed tack.

”He often feels guilty about what happened to Mother. He regrets not seeking out an art of divination sooner, one that might have let him realize something was wrong in time.

”Now he has entered the Flame Capital, a place fraught with danger. Father, I would like you to let him read the Scripture of Utmost Sincerity, excluding its methods for forging apertures and installing viscera.”

Zheng Ziming’s expression grew sober. After a moment’s silence, he suddenly asked, ”Was he the one who killed Sun Feiyang?”