"In other words, I went to great trouble to learn of this matter, and spent my own resources to have Shen Nanqi bring you along, so that you might take part in the action alongside Ye Qingyu. And from start to finish, you did not speak a single word to her?"
Fang Zesheng leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable.
Fang Lin stood stiffly upright: "Ye Qingyu is of noble birth and looks down on everyone alike, setting herself wholly apart from the rest of us. Your son thought it better to stay silent than to earn her dislike. It may leave no impression, but at least it preserves the bond of having fought side by side."
"Your word and hers — one word from Ye Qingyu could multiply our business in the State of Yun a hundredfold," Fang Zesheng said.
"And one word from her could sever the trade route you struggled so hard to open there."
Fang Zesheng gave no answer in kind: "Master Li has made his preparations. Go and cultivate with him."
Fang Lin turned and left. Only when his son's distinctly thinner figure had receded into the distance did a smile creep over his face.
"My son... has grown up!"
...
The Three-Scent Pavilion.
Zhu Weiwo had rented out an entire floor and drank here alone. He was in a brothel, yet no courtesan sat in his arms. Draped in thin gauze, dancers sang and twirled upon the high platform, while the Candle-Burning Spear, famed throughout the State of Zhuang, leaned against the table beside him. Pouring for himself, drinking for himself, amusing himself.
It was at such a moment that Jiang Chen walked up the stairs, and quite clearly froze for an instant. He had assumed a man as flamboyant as Zhu Weiwo, once up in the Three-Scent Pavilion, would without doubt hold one beauty in each arm. He had not expected mere drinking, merely watching the dance.
Seeing Jiang Chen arrive uninvited, Zhu Weiwo arched one sword-browed brow. He said nothing, but his presence already bore down on the room.
"Senior Brother Zhu." Jiang Chen came straight to the point: "I have come unbidden because I have a matter on which to ask your help."
Zhu Weiwo drained a cup, his expression mocking: "What makes you think I would help you?" He asked neither what the matter was, nor why Jiang Chen had sought him. Because he truly did not care. There were few things in this Clear River County worth his attention.
Jiang Chen said: "Because you are the senior brother of the Maple City Academy, and I... am Jiang Chen of the Maple City Academy."
He did not mention the bond forged when they slew Xiong Wen together, for they both knew it well. In that fight the advantage had been Jiang Chen's, and Zhu Weiwo owed him nothing.
Zhu Weiwo laughed: "Are you saying you are worth wagering on? Do you think I need to place a bet on a disciple newly admitted to the Inner Academy like you?"
Jiang Chen felt no shame at being looked down upon, for the Zhu Weiwo of this day truly had such standing.
He merely said: "My second reason: Lin Zhengren is a tiresome fellow. You are a busy man and can scarcely be bothered to spare him a thought. But it would do no harm to let this junior brother ruin his day."
Zhu Weiwo gave no answer, but reached out and patted the long spear: "Do you recognize this spear?"
"The light of the Candle-Burning Spear, this junior brother will never forget."
"For its first thirty years it was but a nameless, rotten length of wood, fallen in the mountain wilds. A woodcutter carried it home for firewood, yet though it burned for thirty years, it would not be consumed. Later a master craftsman heard of the matter, bought it with ten thousand gold, and forged it with iron fallen from beyond the heavens into a long spear. That is the origin of the Candle-Burning Spear." Zhu Weiwo asked: "What thoughts does this story stir in you?"
"I am thinking of that woodcutter who came into ten thousand gold. His end cannot have been fortunate." Jiang Chen sighed: "He suddenly possessed the wealth, but not the strength to keep it."
Zhu Weiwo smiled: "Come, have a drink."
...
The third day of the winter month.
A light skiff came down the Green Willow River, entered the Clear River, and passed through the water gate into Riverview City. Ever since Zhu Weiwo had pressed the city with a single spear, the garrison had been especially wary of any vessel from the direction of Maple City.
Upon this skiff were three men. Jiang Chen, Ling Chuan, and Zhao Yan.
This outing was a real fight in the making, so it was natural his two sworn brothers should follow. Had not Du Hu been far away in Nine River City, beyond all reach of news, he too could not have been left out of it. The care of An'an had been entrusted to Huang Azhan, so there were no worries left behind.
Of the three, Jiang Chen had already laid his foundation, and was now, with the aid of the Star River Dao Vortex, forging his second Dao vortex at a pace almost terrifying — though that terror was measured only against the time his first vortex had taken. He could complete up to four meridian thrusts a day, while the Star River Dao Vortex formed nine grains of Dao essence daily. At that rate, his second Dao vortex would not take more than a month.
Besides — apart from Zhao Yan, still in the meridian-opening stage — Ling Chuan too had laid his foundation, on the very day before they set out. For a common-grade cultivator using the Primordial Array, the fastest possible foundation was forty-one days; Ling Chuan had matched that outer limit of ordinary talent, meaning not a day's slack in his cultivation, not a single failed dao-essence displacement. Translated into combat strength, a foundation so solid was already no weaker than an average foundation-laying cultivator.
The three brothers entered the city and went straight toward the little courtyard where Lin Zhenglun and Song Ruyi had dwelt. The information about this place was not hard to find, though, as Jiang Chen had expected, the courtyard stood empty. In the records of the Riverview City government, Song Ruyi's death had been ruled a suicide, but about the dowry she had brought and the reason for her suicide, nothing at all had been recorded. All such information Jiang Chen, as a disciple of the Dao Academy, could consult at will.
Ling Chuan and Jiang Chen separately questioned the neighbors about the relations between Song Ruyi and Lin Zhenglun. But every one of them clamped their mouths shut — which itself said a great deal.
Though the matter was full of strangeness, the Lin clan was the first family of Riverview City. If no one pressed for answers, by and by the matter would simply be shelved. But no wall on earth is thick enough to keep out the wind.
Zhao Yan went out for a turn and returned with news on everything. How Lin Zhenglun had risen to become the manager of the Lin clan's herbal trade, and how he had come down to nothing, moving into this little two-courtyard house. On the very day of Song Ruyi's suicide, the two had fought a violent quarrel...
The matter was already plain enough. As to Song Ruyi's death, Lin Zhenglun could in no way escape the blame.
Lin Zhenglun being away from home, he could only be at the Lin clan estate.
...
East of Riverview City, a sprawling swath of land was all set aside for the Lin clan, its gate guarded by a towering memorial archway — a veritable city within the city. And at this moment, the trio of Jiang Chen stood before it.
"Halt!" Two Lin family guards stood before the archway, glaring with fury.
"I am looking for Lin Zhenglun." Jiang Chen said.
"He is not here!"
"Is that so? Then I shall go in and take a look."
The guards flew into a rage: "The Lin clan estate — do you think it is a place you can enter at will?"
Zhao Yan sneered coldly: "The legs grow on your grandfather here. Do you think a road is something you can block at will?"
The two sides stood at daggers drawn, ready to spring at any moment.
"Jiang Chen, think this over carefully!" A familiar figure walked out from within the estate, a reckless smirk fixed on his face: "Forcing your way in is tantamount to declaring war on the Lin family — a fight to the death! Even the Dao Academy will not protect you!" If it was not Lin Zhengli, who else could it be?
"So the Lin clan estate is a place one may not force one's way into? In that case..." Jiang Chen laughed twice, inexplicably. "Then all of you..."
He raised his brows, and drew his sword! A stunning sword-light burst out and carved an extremely fine, extremely deep crevice into the ground.
"...had best let no one step out!"
The first family of Riverview City, the Lin clan. Had its gate barred by a single sword.