# 439. Number One's Initiative
Zhong Li lifted her head, tilted it to the side, thought for a few seconds, then said, “Ley lines are like the ridians in a person’s body. The lay of the mountains, rivers, and valleys is all influenced by them.”
After a short pause, she went on, “Ley line is a general term. There are twelve types in total, corresponding to the twelve principal ridians of the human body. They are extrely important in feng shui. Only land with ley lines can be called auspicious. Choosing a site for a residence or burial place particularly depends on them…”
Xu Qi’an felt his scalp go numb listening to all this. He condensed it into a simpler form and replied in the Earth Book chat group: 【Ley lines are akin to the human body’s ridians, corresponding to the twelve principal channels.】
That was it.
The mbers of the Heaven and Earth Society waited a while for more, but when nothing followed, they all fell silent. This amounted to saying nothing at all.
But Xu Qi’an was reminded of a minor incident. Back when he bought the new house and brought Chu Caiwei to check the feng shui, there had been a female ghost in the well at the Xu residence. And as everyone knew, ghosts couldn’t exist in the mortal world independently for long.
Chu Caiwei had gone down into the well and discovered a yin ley line at the bottom.
Yin ley lines would be a kind of ley line too.
Thinking of this, Xu Qi’an asked, “Senior Sister Zhong, are there ley lines in the Imperial City?”
Zhong Li replied in a soft voice, “Of course. It’s called the dragon ley.”
Before Xu Qi’an could press further, she explained considerately:
“The dragon ley is an extension of a nation’s fortune. Six hundred years ago, when the Great Feng established its capital here, the ley lines beneath the city were nourished by the purple qi and bolstered by the nation’s fortune and the collective will of the people. Over ti, it evolved into a dragon ley.”
*A dragon ley was a kind of ley line, but also an extension of fortune…* Xu Qi’an pondered and asked, “What does the dragon ley actually do?”
Zhong Li said slowly:
“It’s like how damaging an ancestral grave’s feng shui can affect the descendants. The dragon ley functions similarly to the Sovereign Sword — it suppresses a nation’s fortune. In the late years of the Great Zhou, Great Scholar Qian Zhong from Cloud Deer Academy, entered the Great Zhou capital carrying the wrath of the people. At the cost of his own life, he shattered the last vestiges of the dynasty’s fortune. What he struck was the dragon ley.
“There’s a saying among us Arcanists: ‘He who claims the dragon ley claims the realm.’”
*Not sure what you’re saying, but it sounds very impressive…* Xu Qi’an sent a ssage: 【There is a dragon ley in the Imperial City.】
Then he asked Zhong Li, “Can you control the dragon ley?”
Zhong Li was confused for a while before replying timidly, “The dragon ley suppresses a nation’s fortune. Even the Jianzheng wouldn’t dare to tamper with it lightly.”
Xu Qi’an promptly passed this information along to the Heaven and Earth Society.
Chu Yuanzhen analysed: 【If even the Jianzheng wouldn’t dare touch the dragon ley, then it’s impossible King Huai’s spies could be using it for earth-travelling. Was my assumption wrong?】
The discussion ca to a deadlock. Even Xu Qi’an was montarily at a loss.
Just then, Number One suddenly said: 【I’ll look into Hengyuan’s matter. Leave it to . None of you need to worry about it.】
*Huh? Number One’s being so proactive? That’s unlike them…* Xu Qi’an was startled.
Among the Earth Book fragnt holders, Number One was the most low-key and secretive. Number Seven and Eight had their reasons for staying silent, but Number One rarely surfaced at all, and even when they joined in discussions, they only said a few words and promptly withdrew.
They had never t any other fragnt holders in person.
It wasn’t just Xu Qi’an—everyone in the Heaven and Earth Society was surprised. Such initiative was uncharacteristic of Number One.
【ONE: In the Heaven and Earth Society, I’m the only one who can move in and out of the Imperial City freely. I can even find ways to enter the palace. Whether it’s about Hengyuan or the ley lines, I have the greatest advantage, and I’m the safest.
【Of course, if I need help, I’ll ask. I hope none of you will refuse then.】
It was a perfectly reasonable explanation, which easily convinced the group and brought a wave of relief to Xu Qi’an and the others.
Indeed, the Imperial City and the palace were now off-limits to them. Even if Xu Qi’an managed to sneak in, he’d have to stick close to Huaiqing or Lin’an and wouldn’t be able to act on his own.
*This is also a good chance to test Number One’s capability, and perhaps deduce their identity…* thought Chu Yuanzhen.
*If Number One can enter and leave the Imperial City freely, even gaining access to the palace, their identity must be very high, one of the elder statesn? A mber of the royal family? A noble?* Li Miaozhen pondered silently.
*Phew, soone’s finally handling Master Hengyuan’s matter. I can rest easy now. Ti for bed…* thought Lina happily.
…
In the following two days, the court and the delegation of Yao and Barbarians negotiated several tis, but no agreent was reached.
Xu Qi’an, having distanced himself from the political stage, didn’t care. He spent the days hiding out in the little courtyard of the widow. Ever since the literary gathering, scholars from all over had been constantly sending invitations the Xu Manor.
So wanted to visit him, so to invite him out for a drink, and others even wanted to marry off their daughters or younger sisters—complete with their birth dates and eight character horoscopes.
After the Buddhist contets, his fa had spread far and wide, but the scholars had still viewed him as sowhat of an outsider.
Only after the massacre of Chuzhou and Zhao Shou’s public declaration in court that Xu Qi’an was his disciple did the scholars finally consider him one of their own. However, the emperor was in a rage at the ti, and no one dared to approach Xu Qi’an.
But now, after the incident at the literary gathering, Xu Qi’an had beco the star of the hour.
Those were minor annoyances. The real reason he couldn’t stay at ho was the group of great scholars from the Cloud Deer Academy.
Two days ago, the wind was blustering, and Xu Qi’an’s eyelids were twitching.
Dean Zhao Shou had arrived, wearing a scholar’s robe that had faded from repeated washings, his hair dishevelled, looking like a jaded cynic.
Xu Qi’an respectfully welcod his nominal teacher into the hall, served him good tea, and after so small talk, Zhao Shou asked, “So, Ningyan knows military strategy? Is there another handwritten copy of that military treatise?”
Zhao Shou had co to read the book and hoped to add it to the Academy’s collection.
*Not a handwritten copy, but recently I’ve really be wanting to use my hand for…* Xu Qi’an, who hadn’t touched a woman in four months, politely refused Zhao Shou.
At that very mont, Great Scholars Zhang Shen, Li Mubai, and Chen Tai arrived together.
When they saw Dean Zhao Shou, all three gave him looks of disdain.
Zhang Shen: “Poetry thief!”
Chen Tai: “Disciple thief!”
Li Mubai: “Shaless old thief!”
Together, they chorused, “Bah!”
Zhao Shou flew into a rage and invoked magic with his words. With a wave of his sleeve: “Withdraw a hundred li!”
The three great scholars waved their sleeves in unison: “Will not!”
“Withdraw a hundred li.”
“Will not.”
“Withdraw a hundred li.”
“Will not.”
As this bizarre magical skirmish unfolded, Xu Qi’an slipped out of the Xu residence. Glancing back before he left, he saw one of Auntie’s potted plants shattered on the ground.
He also saw Xu Lingyin joining the fray, standing to the side: “Tui tui tui…”
Li Miaozhen had to use all her strength to save the silly little girl, otherwise, she’d have been flung a hundred li away.
The princess consort was living rather well, not physically, but spiritually.
She had her freedom, and lacked nothing in food, clothing, or comfort. Xu Qi’an often took her out for strolls, snacks, and opera shows.
The nine-coloured lotus was growing splendidly, it had already sprouted, and even grew another segnt. Xu Qi’an hoped it would grow larger than Daoist Jinlian’s.
That evening at dusk, after disguising himself at the brothels, Xu Qi’an rode his beloved little mare back to Xu Manor.
At dinner, Auntie said, “I’ve asked Lingyue to invite Miss Wang over the day after tomorrow. All the n in the house should rember to be discrete. Also, rember to be proper and courteous.
“I’m talking about you—yes, you, Xu Lingyin. You’re the most uncivil of the lot.”
Xu Lingyin, eating with absolutely no decorum, looked up and asked curiously, “But when Master and Sister Miaozhen ca over, I acted the sa way. Why didn’t Mum say I was being rude then?”
“That’s different. She’s your second brother’s fiancée,” Auntie replied.
“What’s a fiancée?” Xu Lingyin asked.
Second Uncle said, “Your mum is Dad’s fiancée. Understand now?”
Xu Lingyin looked shocked. “She’s going to be my mum?”
Everyone bowed their heads and focused on eating, giving up on explaining what a “fiancée” was to Little Pea. It really was a complicated concept. Although “fiancée” was technically a noun, when a man took a wife, the desire was always to turn it into a verb.[^1]
The implications were far too profound for a six-year-old to grasp.
“Anyway, just behave yourself and don’t cause trouble. If you’re good, Mum will take you to eat monkey brain at Fumanlou,” said Auntie.
Monkey brain was Fumanlou’s signature dish.
“I want monkey baim,” Xu Lingyin said, clearly distracted.
“Brain.”
“Baim.”
“……”
Auntie pressed her lips together and said nothing more.
“Ahem!” Xu Erlang coughed, breaking the awkward tension. He looked at Xu Qi’an. “Big Brother, I’ve rembered another section. Co to my study after dinner.”
Xu Qi’an’s heart lifted and he nodded slowly. “Alright.”
*I hope the late Emperor’s imperial diary will offer so clue. Otherwise, I really don’t know how to keep investigating. I might have to give up...*
After dinner, the two brothers went into the study, lit a candle, and sat by the desk. Xu Erlang recited while Xu Qi’an listened.
The late Emperor had been a thoroughly ordinary ruler, with no notable achievents or failures. His temperant was mild, sowhat indulgent in won, sowhat negligent in governance. It was precisely because of this that two successive Pri Ministers had held great power.
Thinking back now, Emperor Yuanjing’s mastery of political manipulation and talent for balancing power must have co from learning from his predecessor’s failings.
The dull listening continued. Ti ticked on. Then, a certain exchange suddenly jolted Xu Qi’an awake.
The Late Emperor: “Daoist, your cultivation is profound. You are like an immortal. Do you know the technique of One Qi Transforming into Three Purities?”
Human Sect Daoist Leader: “Among the three sects, Earth Sect is the best at that technique.”
The Late Emperor: “I have heard Earth Sect cultivates virtue while walking among mortals, appearing and vanishing like a dragon. Could you introduce ?”
Human Sect Daoist Leader: “Of course.”
*The late Emperor was deeply curious about One Qi Transforming into Three Purities… hmm, the Earth Sect Daoist Leader at that ti should be the one who later went mad…*
As he pondered, Xu Qi’an suddenly trembled and his expression froze.
*During the Chuzhou massacre, the Earth Sect Daoist Leader’s incarnation had taken part. Emperor Yuanjing and that Daoist were in collusion. I’d never understood how that connection ca about. So the Earth Sect Daoist Leader had visited the capital before… he must have had dealings with the late Emperor, and with Yuanjing back when he was still a prince…*
*So it was right to investigate the late Emperor’s records. These minor details, though seemingly trivial, reveal the threads of cause and effect.*
Xu Qi’an beca more focused. But to his disappointnt, there was no record of a eting between the late Emperor and the Earth Sect Daoist Leader.
Either it had been erased, or it happened outside the palace, beyond the reach of the court diarist.
The candle burned low. Xu Erlang let out a breath. “I haven’t gone through the rest yet.”
Xu Qi’an left the study and returned to his own room.
…
Morning.
Wang Simu sat at her dressing table, allowing the maid to finish her hair in the most fashionable style of the day. Her brows were painted, her lips touched with rouge, her cheeks dusted with a light layer of pearl powder and a hint of blush.
The look fell sowhere between light and heavy makeup. Refined, but not garish.
She slipped into a lotus-coloured palace dress. It conveyed dignity and elegance, with its luxurious fabric and complex tailoring lending it an air of nobility.
This outfit had been chosen after much deliberation.
Everyone knew the mistress of the Xu household was a woman of unfathomable depth, highly skilled and shrewd. She was Wang Simu’s greatest future rival.
So if she arrived flaunting the status of a Pri Minister’s primary daughter, making a show of her power, she would only give the other side a chance to exploit a weakness; she might be accused of lacking proper upbringing.
Hence, she must act with restraint and poise. Take the middle road.
“I can’t wait…”
As the daughter of Pri Minister Wang’s proper wife, Wang Simu had witnessed her mother and the favoured concubines sche against one another. She’d seen foolish concubine-born girls try to challenge her position.
By her teenage years, all those people were like smoke on the wind—nothing more than the past.
In the Wang household, she stood unchallenged, like a swordmaster with no worthy opponent. Alone at the peak, left to play the lute in solitude.
With no rivals at ho, she turned to the noble daughters of other households. She had bested girls from noble families and suppressed royal princesses. Among the ladies of the capital’s powerful families, only one person truly gave Wang Simu pause: Crown Princess Huaiqing.
But later, she discovered that the seemingly ordinary Xu family hid a woman not to be underestimated. This woman might very well be her future mother-in-law.
Two days ago, when she received the invitation from the Xu family’s eldest daughter, she knew that the mistress of the Xu family had decided to et her properly.
This was both a good and bad sign.
Good, because it ant the Xu matriarch had acknowledged her, considered her a satisfactory match.
Bad, because this visit might be filled with danger. A single misstep, and she could be outmatched, and that might haunt her forever.
But precisely because of that, it was exciting.
Wang Simu was a competitive woman, full of wit and strategy with nowhere to use them. If her future mother-in-law were soone dull, how dull that would be.
The seemingly delicate but deeply calculating eldest Xu daughter.
The brilliant, silver-tongued Xu Erlang.
And the formidable Xu Dalang, feared by nobles and officials alike, hated to the bone by the Emperor himself.
To raise such children, the Xu matriarch must be a terrifying opponent indeed.
*But that’s what makes it worth looking forward to.*
With her maidservants and guards in tow, Wang Simu marched into the carriage like a general leading her troops to battle.
…
Xu Qi’an sat in the main hall, chewing on braised pork knuckle. Lina and Xu Lingyin ca over to steal a few bites.
Auntie was busy ordering the household servants to sweep the courtyard, brush away cobwebs...
“Clean everything properly. She’s the Pri Minister’s daughter, of noble status. Don’t let us look rude. Don’t let her think we’re beneath her. Xu Ningyan! Xu Lingyin!!”
Turning around, Auntie saw her nephew and daughter sneaking food from the restaurant dishes. She blew up at once.
“Are you two trying to drive mad? And you, Xu Ningyan! You spend all day loafing about, and not one girl’s taken a fancy to you. Are you jealous your second brother got in first?”
*Auntie, you’ve got it all wrong. One day I’ll take you boating in my pond, where I’ve stocked it full of vicious sharks and crocodiles…*
Auntie drove her nephew and daughter out of the main hall, then turned back to her chores.
She had put her heart into making a good impression on the Wang family daughter, hoping to establish a peaceful relationship.
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[^1]: There’s a pun here which is impossible to explain.
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