novellaaa Chapter 80 The Book of the People
Chapter 80 The Book of the People
The next day, the moon was bright and the stars were few.
Duanmu Hong reserved the third floor of Heyuan Restaurant.
The two rows of large red lanterns under the eaves were lit early in the morning, their red light spilling onto the bluestone pavement.
Duanmu Hong sat in the main seat, dressed in a plain black robe, with a cup of untouched tea beside him as usual.
There was an empty seat on the right, with a slightly worn dark red velvet cloth draped over the back of the chair, clearly left there on purpose.
Seven or eight dishes and drinks had already been served.
The braised beef was sliced thinly and neatly, arranged on a white porcelain plate, and gleamed with a dark red luster.
The broth from the braised river carp was still bubbling away, its aroma mingling with the tarry smell of the candles burning in the lantern, all stirred up by the night wind blowing in through the window.
Tonight, he hosted a banquet for Wen Haoran and his party, as well as four martial arts scholars from Heyuan County.
When Wen Haoran entered, he was followed by three guards and a maid with her hair in double buns.
He was still wearing that moon-white scholar's robe, with a very faint and delicate ink bamboo embroidered on the lapel. The hem of the robe brushed gently against the threshold, carrying a very faint scent of ink.
Holding the bamboo slips in my left hand, the edges of the bamboo strips were polished to a shine, and the patina gleamed with a warm, dark brown luster under the lantern light.
He sat down in the empty seat to Duanmu Hong's right. The three guards silently retreated to the corner, while the maid sat beside him, her eyes scanning the people at the table.
She was still clutching a half-eaten candied hawthorn in her hand, the bright red hawthorns coated with a glistening sugar shell.
Duanmu Hong said a few polite words, the gist of which was to congratulate the four martial arts scholars on passing the imperial examination and to encourage them to prepare for the prefectural examination and bring glory to Heyuan.
As he spoke, steam rose from the rim of his teacup, drifting gently in the lantern light.
Everyone raised their glasses, and after a few drinks, Mu Hong put down his cup, turned to Wen Haoran, and spoke with a more serious tone than usual.
"Thanks to Young Master Wen's intervention yesterday, otherwise, although the lingering spirit of Zhulong would not have breached the city, casualties on the training ground would have been unavoidable."
"Young Master Wen is so young, yet he has already achieved such a high level of righteousness. The Wen family has a worthy successor."
Wen Haoran put down his wine glass, shook his head, and tapped the bamboo slip lightly on the table.
"Lord Duanmu, you flatter me."
"Yesterday's attack was not solely due to my efforts."
He pushed the bamboo slip forward half an inch, and the patina on the edge of the bamboo slip was as warm and smooth as old jade under the light.
"Before I left for my trip south, I obtained a rubbing of the Book of Ten Thousand People from the ancestral hall in my family."
"Without the support of the people's will and wishes gathered on the rubbing, it would have been impossible for me to force back the demon soul of Zhulong with my own righteous spirit."
Wen Haoran did not take credit for the task, and responded with neither arrogance nor servility.
Lin Mu curiously examined the scroll of the Book of Ten Thousand People.
From the moment Wen Haoran sat down, he noticed that this scholar was looking at him.
A very natural gaze, tinged with a hint of curiosity.
The frequency was neither too high nor too low; each time, his gaze would casually sweep over Lin Mu's face as he picked up his wine glass, lingering for a moment or two before nonchalantly looking away.
The maid standing behind Wen Haoran quickly noticed the direction her young master's gaze was directed.
She followed Wen Haoran's gaze and glanced at Lin Mu, still chewing on a candied hawthorn. Her brows furrowed slightly, and then she bent down and whispered in Wen Haoran's ear.
Her voice wasn't too low, and the bamboo skewer for the candied hawthorn was still dangling in her hand, just loud enough for Lin Mu, who was sitting nearby, to hear: "Brother Haoran, why are you staring at him? He's just a martial arts master at the Transformation Realm, what's so special about him?"
These words were blunt and offended everyone present who practiced martial arts.
Wen Haoran turned his head and said slowly, "Yue'er, if you talk nonsense again, I'll send someone to take you back to the capital tomorrow."
The maid pouted, hid the candied hawthorn behind her back, stared down at her toes, and mumbled something indistinctly.
She was clearly unconvinced. Her eyes secretly glanced up at Wen Haoran from under her bangs, and seeing his serious expression, she really didn't dare to say another word.
Her cheeks puffed out slightly, like a kitten that had been scolded but refused to admit its mistake. She glared at Lin Mu, as if transferring her emotions onto him.
Wen Haoran put down his wine glass and turned his gaze back to Lin Mu.
"The moon is right about one thing."
"I am very interested in Young Master Lin."
"I heard that Young Master Lin came from a humble background and had inferior physical constitution, yet he progressed from Ming Jin to Hua Jin in less than a year after he started learning the art."
"I saw that your punches on the stage yesterday had a faint golden hue."
"I'm a little curious."
He paused, his gaze meeting Lin Mu's. "Or to put it another way, is Young Master Lin a descendant of demons?"
The room suddenly fell silent.
Quan Feng's hand holding the glass stopped in mid-air, the wine inside swirling gently but unnoticed by anyone.
Zhao Sheng's chopsticks hovered above the braised beef, forgetting to drop them;
Sun Qi's chewing sounds suddenly stopped, with a piece of meat still stuck in his throat.
The three guards in the corner, who had mastered internal energy, slightly straightened their shoulders in the shadows, and one of them unconsciously pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Duanmu Hong gently placed the teacup on the table, making a very light and crisp sound, and then focused on his inner thoughts.
Lin Mu was taken aback, seemingly unable to adapt to the other party's directness.
"What's wrong with you? Haoran is asking you a question." Yue'er was clearly fed up with Lin Mu's "disrespectful" attitude.
He remained silent for a few moments, about to speak, when Wen Haoran laughed first.
A faint smile, tinged with apology and composure, seemed to be telling Lin Mu not to be nervous.
"Young Master Lin, there's no need to worry."
"I asked this out of sheer curiosity."
"Let me speak first."
"Actually, I am a descendant of demons, possessing a quarter of the phoenix bloodline."
He gently placed the wine glass on the table, and lightly tapped the bamboo slip containing the rubbing of the Wanmin Book with his finger, producing a very slight crisp sound.
"Actually, people have some misunderstandings about the demon race, thinking that this group are all people with ulterior motives."
"But I reflect on myself three times a day and never forget it. Even the Book of the People approves of me and uses it for my purposes."
Quan Feng placed his wine glass back on the table, the wine still swirling gently.
Zhao Sheng finally put down his chopsticks, picked up a piece of beef, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed absentmindedly.
The guard who had been holding the knife hilt in the corner released his grip.
Lin Mu paused for a moment, then said, "I used animal patterns."
He couldn't reveal the secrets of martial arts and the Chongquan technique, nor was he a demon descendant, so he could only attribute his power to beast patterns.
The lesser of two evils.
After that, both host and guests enjoyed themselves immensely.
......
At night, the secretary in front of the palace.
Yu Mubai sat to the left of Wen Haoran.
"Sir Wen," Yu Mubai said, bowing slightly, his tone carrying a hint of surprise and just the right amount of respect, "Why have you come to Heyuan in person?"
Wen Haoran placed the bamboo slips on the table. "The situation has changed."
"The appetites of Zhulong and his group are much larger than we anticipated."
"They want a third of the human cities."
The main hall was quiet for a few moments, as if waiting for Yu Mubai to process what was happening.
The flame of the oil lamp was blown low by the draft, then bounced back, making the shadows of the two people cast on the wall flicker.
"The higher-ups are furious." Wen Haoran picked up the bamboo slip again and tapped it lightly in his palm. "They've decided to defend the source of the river and not yield an inch of land."
"Therefore, the martial artists here are very important."
"The monsters are coming."