Chapter 55 - 54: The Annoying Little Rascal

Chapter 55: Chapter 54: The Annoying Little Rascal

Gu Xiangzhu was keeping a very close eye on Zhao Ci.

Zhao Huan had noticed this during the day.

Zhao Ci’s recent transformation had impressed Zhao Huan. But the boy had never weathered any real storms, and he still betrayed a slight reaction upon hearing the Transmission.

In truth, his reaction was subtle.

Yet Gu Xiangzhu still spotted it, which just went to show how closely she was watching him.

After the Gongdan Conference, she didn’t even return to Wangshu Palace. She immediately took Zhao Ci to discuss the merger of two Pill Workshops, never once giving him a moment alone with the boy.

’Perhaps she thinks she can secure the Alchemy of Wine just like that?’

’Still too naive!’

Zhao Huan lifted his gaze. "Has the man been notified?"

Eunuch Li beamed. "I’ve already sent someone to notify him, Your Majesty. He should be here shortly!"

The words had barely left his mouth

when a young eunuch hurried to the entrance of the Imperial Study and knelt.

"Your Majesty, Xiang Yunzhan requests an audience!"

"Show him in at once!"

Zhao Huan stood with a smile, motioning for Eunuch Li to support him. The two of them actually went to stand at the doorway, ready to greet their guest from afar.

「A moment later.」

The young eunuch returned, followed by an immensely burly figure.

Xiang Yunzhan was stunned to see them waiting at the door to greet him. Overwhelmed by the honor, he jogged up to meet them.

Zhao Huan’s face was all smiles. "Yunzhan, I trust you’ve been well!"

"Ah! Your Majesty! Y-you... why are you waiting for me out here? An honor like this will shorten my life!"

Xiang Yunzhan was the very picture of a flustered, rough-hewn man. He scrambled to help Zhao Huan back into the Imperial Study. "Please, sit!"

After helping Zhao Huan sit down,

he plopped down opposite him.

The moment he sat, he felt it was improper and sheepishly stood back up.

Zhao Huan stroked his beard and laughed heartily. "I invited you here today to drink and reminisce, not to stand on ceremony! Sit, sit! Today, we’re just two elders of the younger generation. If you keep fussing over the formalities between a ruler and his subject, I’ll have to punish you with a drink!"

"Right! Of course! Haha..."

Only then did Xiang Yunzhan sit down with a hearty laugh.

Zhao Huan looked to Eunuch Li. "Da Ban, bring out the fine vintage I’ve been saving. You’ll be drinking with us tonight!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

A look of delight on his face, Eunuch Li fetched a jar of fine wine. After filling three cups, he too took a seat informally.

Zhao Huan raised his cup, his expression complex as he looked at Xiang Yunzhan. "Yunzhan! You were once such a high-spirited young general, yet you’ve spent more than a decade as a blacksmith in Lingge. Have you ever felt it was unfair?"

"What’s there to feel unfair about?"

Xiang Yunzhan let out a booming laugh. "I was a muddle-headed fool back then. If Your Majesty hadn’t reminded me, I might have forgotten that Lao Ba left behind a sister and a nephew in Lingge. If that mother and son were bullied, now *that* would be something I’d regret!"

Zhao Huan nodded, deeply moved. He raised his cup. "Bottoms up!"

"Bottoms up!"

The three cups clinked together, and the three men drained them in one gulp.

Xiang Yunzhan and Eunuch Li exchanged a look, their expressions filled with nostalgia.

"Sigh..."

Zhao Huan dabbed at the corners of his reddening eyes. "The boy’s all grown up now!"

"He is!"

Xiang Yunzhan wiped the wine from his beard with a flourish and couldn’t help but grin. "At first, I was worried the lad was going to ruin his future, but I never expected him to turn things around like this! Your Majesty, tell me honestly, was it you who secretly gave him that medicinal wine?"

Zhao Huan didn’t answer right away, instead studying Xiang Yunzhan’s eyes for a long moment.

Finally, he waved his hand. "It’s true I dote on the boy, but not to the point of spoiling him rotten. In the end, he earned this himself. Sigh... When Celestial Song passed, he left no heirs of his own, only a sister and a nephew he never had the chance to meet. If he could see how Ci has turned out, he could finally rest in peace."

Those words

nearly brought tears to Xiang Yunzhan’s large, round eyes. He said nothing, simply throwing back another mouthful of wine.

Zhao Huan sighed. "The world calls me the Martial Emperor, the greatest military leader of all time. But who truly remembers who won me that fame? Celestial Song led our finest soldiers, carving a bloody path for hundreds of miles. He struck such fear into the hearts of the four Longyuan nations that he reached the Old Capital of Great Yu itself. What a magnificent sight that must have been!

But what about me? I not only failed to protect his supply lines, I couldn’t even bring him home.

How could I ever be worthy of such an empty title?

Now, all the officials seem to have forgotten that history. When they speak of it, all they offer is praise. But every one of their thoughtless compliments stabs at my heart like a dagger.

It’s agony, but I can’t speak of it!

Sometimes, I don’t even have the courage to visit Celestial Song’s tomb alone.

I failed to raise his nephew properly.

If Ci hadn’t found the right path today, I wouldn’t have dared invite you for this drink at all."

Overcome with emotion,

the old Emperor couldn’t stop himself from wiping away tears.

"Your Majesty, you mustn’t say such things!"

Tears welled in Xiang Yunzhan’s fierce eyes, and he dropped to his knees with a THUD. "If Your Majesty hadn’t personally led the army then, not only would we have lost Lao Ba, but the entire Huailing Mountain Range defense would have likely collapsed.

Who could have predicted it was a plot by the four Longyuan nations to lure our army into a trap?

Lao Ba died a worthy death.

If he knew from the great beyond that his sacrifice brought Great Yu eighteen years of peace, he would never hold the slightest grudge against Your Majesty!

My only regret is that I was seriously injured at that very moment!

If I had gone with him, perhaps I could have brought Lao Ba back, even if it cost me my own life!"

「For a time.」

Grief filled the Imperial Study.

Eunuch Li, too, seemed lost in painful memories.

Once their emotions settled, they resumed drinking. Though they reminisced about many things from the past, the atmosphere remained somber.

"Sigh..."

Zhao Huan wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and clapped Xiang Yunzhan on the shoulder. "I’ve had to rely on you all these years. The women of the palace are a jealous lot. If you hadn’t been watching over things in Lingge, I’m afraid Xiao Ling and her son would have suffered a great deal of bullying."

Xiang Yunzhan looked a little embarrassed. "We men of the Xiang Family aren’t good for much, but we’ve got brawn and muscle. We’re good at being watchdogs, at least."

"It’s just..."

"It’s just," Zhao Huan sighed, "although Xiao Ling visits her family often, she and..."

Xiang Yunzhan looked helpless. "Your Majesty, please don’t put me on the spot. Lady Jing went to Yingzhou Immortal Island to pursue the Dao when she was just a child; I’ve barely seen her a handful of times. After she returned, all she could see was Royal Family business. We really have nothing in common to talk about. Young Ci, on the other hand, loves to hang around the smithy. You just can’t force that kind of connection!"

"True enough!"

Zhao Huan could only nod. He then asked, as if it were an afterthought, "Ci has been to your place quite a few times recently. I imagine he’s been a lot of trouble?"

Xiang Yunzhan slapped his thigh and cursed with a laugh, "That kid’s a pain in the neck! Makes me want to give him a good thrashing!"

A glint appeared in Zhao Huan’s eyes. "Oh? How so?"

Xiang Yunzhan grumbled, "He asked me to forge him a longspear from tungsten steel, and he wants the shaft filled with lead! With his skinny arms and legs? A woman would have trouble wielding that thing, and he wants to play with a spear? What a load of nonsense!"

"Ah, to be young and want to play the hero."

Zhao Huan shook his head with a smile. "Besides the spear, did he ask you to forge anything else?"

Xiang Yunzhan thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Nope..."

"I see..."

Zhao Huan looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled. "The boy has been engrossed in the Alchemy of Wine lately. He’ll be starting mass production in a few days and will probably come to you for help. I’ll have to trouble you then!"

"The Alchemy of Wine? What’s he need me for?"

Xiang Yunzhan asked, puzzled. "What help can a blacksmith be?"

Zhao Huan smiled. "I just mean, help him if you can. But you’re right, you’re a blacksmith, after all. How about this? I happen to have an Imperial Brewmaster on hand. If Ci really does come to you, you must let me know. With an Imperial Brewmaster to advise him, it would certainly lighten his load."

"Alright!"

Xiang Yunzhan nodded seriously. "Then I’ll be discreet when I come, so the Imperial Clan Court doesn’t see me and deduct merit points from the boy."

Zhao Huan nodded with satisfaction. "Precisely!"

They drank several more rounds. Xiang Yunzhan’s spirits rose, and he began to drink like a man possessed, just tilting his head back and pouring it down.

He didn’t just pour for himself; he poured for Zhao Huan, too.

But it seemed he hadn’t had a drink in a long time. Before long, he was passed out on the table and had to be helped to a side hall by Eunuch Li to rest.

A moment later, Eunuch Li returned.

His eyes were perfectly clear. The hazy, drunken look from moments before had vanished without a trace.

Zhao Huan asked, "Da Ban, what is your assessment of Xiang Yunzhan?"

Eunuch Li smiled. "General Xiang is as frank and straightforward as he was in his youth. He holds Your Majesty in the highest esteem. He can be trusted!"

Zhao Huan nodded.

It was the exact same conclusion he had reached.

’Xiang Yunzhan is still the same man he was back then. He still trusts me completely.’

’Just like seventeen years ago, when a single word from me was enough to convince him to stay in Lingge.’

’Likewise.’

’He’s also the person Zhao Ci trusts most, aside from myself. Otherwise, the boy wouldn’t run to the Xiang Family’s shop every time he got bullied.’

’Gu Xiangzhu may be clever, but she can’t change her arrogant nature. She made a fatal mistake: she only saw the Xiang Family as a business asset and never bothered to cultivate a genuine relationship with them.’

And Zhao Huan was certain Zhao Ci would go to Xiang Yunzhan.

’Because no matter how perfect the Alcohol Refining Technique was,’

’one person could never supply such a large volume alone.’

’I can’t afford to clash with Gu Xiangzhu directly.’

’But that doesn’t mean I can’t seize the Alcohol Refining Technique for myself.’