Chaste as Jade

After Qin Zheng ascended the throne, he brought in men from the Longmen Escort Agency to settle accounts with the Liao nobility and corrupt officials, and divided their fields among the disbanded officers and soldiers and the common people who had no land. As for Duke Shun of Liao, Yelü Hongji, the day after Qin Zheng ascended the throne, he accidentally dissolved into the water while bathing in Xiahu. A few Khitan tribes still wandering at large wanted to resist. But Liao's military readiness had been slack for years, and any of them fighting alone had little chance of success, so they banded together, scraped together ten thousand cavalry, and came to launch a punitive campaign against Qin Zheng. As it turned out, the day after the great army set out, A'Zi poisoned their military rations, and Qin Zheng incorporated them without the slightest effort. A month later, the situation in Chu had thoroughly stabilized. Qin Zheng assigned affairs to the people of the Longmen Escort Agency and took A'Zi out into the jianghu to travel incognito. The people of the Longmen Escort Agency had never imagined it either. They had been right in the middle of being bandits and running escort jobs—how had they, overnight, become founding ministers of the realm? While they were both excited and worried that their abilities were not up to it, Qin Zheng had already brought A'Zi back to Little Mirror Lake. As he walked, Qin Zheng shouted at A'Zi at the top of his voice, "We are traveling incognito this time! You must not let anyone see that We are the emperor!!" A'Zi's ears rang from the blast. Her eyes went blank. "Your Majesty, how about you take off the dragon robe first?" Qin Zheng nodded. "You've got a point. From now on, when we're outside, just call me Great Hero Qin. It'll seem a bit more low-key." With that he stripped off the dragon robe, revealing an everyday robe underneath, embroidered all over with five-clawed golden dragons. A'Zi: "..." You can't keep a low profile like that at all! When they reached Mirror Lake Cottage and saw the bamboo grove in utter disorder, Qin Zheng frowned in surprise. "There are signs of a fight here. Could Duan Zhengchun have gone stealing someone's wife again, and they came to his door to beat him?" A'Zhu heard the commotion and came out with a sword, her face grave. Only when she saw it was Qin Zheng did she let out a long breath. She stepped forward. "Great Hero Qin, after you left, Duan Yanqing came back. To keep us from being harmed, Prince Duan drew him away all by himself." Qin Zheng was startled. Then he calmed himself and said, "No need to worry. Duan Zhengchun's martial arts may be poor, but he runs faster than Duan Yanqing. Duan Yanqing will have a hard time catching him. "Where's Xuzhu? Why don't I see Xuzhu?" A'Zhu gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Duan Yanqing thought Xuzhu was Prince Duan's son, and had his disciple seize him." Qin Zheng's expression turned a little strange. Duan Yanqing truly deserved to be foremost among the Four Great Evils. When he went mad, he would even seize the son of his own sworn younger sister! Still, Xuzhu had to be saved. Duan Yanqing did not know Xuzhu's identity. If he flew into a rage out of humiliation and vented his hatred on Xuzhu, that would be bad. Hearing their conversation, Ruan Xingzhu ran out in a panic and pleaded, "Great Hero Qin, I beg you, go save Duan-lang. I'll kowtow to you!" As she spoke, she bent her knees and knelt. Qin Zheng swept out a gentle stream of true qi with his right hand and lightly lifted her up. "Enough. For the sake of Duan Zhengchun's deep devotion, and of his having kept himself chaste as jade for you for a dozen days, I'll take you all to look for him." A'Zi was briefly dazed. "Deep devotion, chaste as jade, a dozen days... how do these phrases even go together?" A'Zhu and Ruan Xingzhu packed their things and took to the road with Qin Zheng. At dusk, they came to a Longmen Inn. Qin Zheng summoned the manager and issued orders to search for Duan Zhengchun and Xuzhu. Then they sat down to eat in the main hall. In the middle of the meal, a table of jianghu folk arrived beside them, sat down, and began talking loudly. "The jianghu has truly been in upheaval lately. Bandit King Qin Zheng actually became emperor. If even he can do it, I figure I could too if I stepped up!" "Hahaha, I think so too. Go to Chu right now and fight him to the death. Maybe the emperor's throne will come around to you." "Ahem, forget it. What's so good about being emperor? By day you have to busy yourself with official documents, and by night you still have to deal with the imperial harem. I'm not going to suffer that." A'Zi shot Qin Zheng a mischievous glance and said softly, "Where have you hidden the imperial harem? How come I haven't seen a single one?" Qin Zheng said irritably, "Just eat your food. Or would you like some heartbreak grass to help it down?" With that he fished out two dried stalks and slapped them onto the table. A'Zi jolted in fright, sat up straight, and lowered her head to eat. In the days she had followed Qin Zheng, whether anything was going on or not, he poisoned her for fun, until she hated him enough to gnash her teeth, yet could do nothing about it. Poison someone at the slightest disagreement—how could there be such a wicked person in the world! Watching the scene, A'Zhu nodded with a gratified look, feeling it would not be long before this younger sister of hers could be straightened out by Qin Zheng. As for whether Qin Zheng might bend her too far the other way... that was still better than her turning into another Ding Chunqiu! The neighboring table was still talking, and somehow the subject drifted to the Heroes' Assembly. "This time Divine Doctor Xue Muhua and the You Brothers are holding a Heroes' Assembly at Juxian Manor, inviting the heroes of the world to surround and suppress Xuanci and Murong Bo. Once you're there, Third Brother, don't go spouting that nonsense about being emperor again. The heroes of the world will scorn you." "I know, Eldest Brother. It's just that there aren't any outsiders here right now!" When Qin Zheng heard this, he sucked in a sharp breath. A Heroes' Assembly, to surround and suppress Xuanci and Murong Bo? Xue Muhua truly was a genius. How had he himself never thought of doing it this way? Leaving him in the Xiaoyao Sect was a real waste of his talent. The Eastern Depot was short of exactly this kind of person! The few of them finished eating, paid, and left. By then Qin Zheng's group had also nearly finished, and they were just about to go upstairs to rest when another group walked in. Qin Zheng looked up and saw Bao Butong coming in with A'Bi and Wang Yuyan, Duan Yu close behind, looking thoroughly unwelcome. "Great Hero Qin!" "Elder Sister A'Zhu!" The moment Duan Yu and A'Bi saw Qin Zheng and the others, they cried out. Duan Yu came forward, his face full of delighted surprise. "Great Hero Qin, what are you doing here?" Qin Zheng said, "Your father is being hunted by Duan Yanqing. We're on our way to save him." Duan Yu froze where he stood. "Ah?" Qin Zheng asked, "Why are you still following Wang Yuyan and the others? By rights your silver ought to have run out long ago." Duan Yu came back to himself and explained, "Not quite. I think Third Brother Bao is such a hero that I've had Third Brother Bao pay the bill the whole way." "Ha?" Qin Zheng glanced at Bao Butong off to the side, beard bristling and eyes glaring, and finally found the reason Duan Yu was unwelcome... On the other side, A'Zhu began talking quietly with A'Bi. "A'Bi, I received word that someone is holding a Heroes' Assembly at Juxian Manor to surround and suppress our master. Quickly send word to Master. Tell him to stay hidden and not show himself lightly!" "Elder Sister A'Zhu, hear me out first..." A'Bi's expression was complicated as she went through Murong Fu's conjecture with her. After hearing it, A'Zhu was deeply shaken and murmured, "This... then... then we just won't look after Master?" A'Bi nodded. "The young master says the greater cause comes first. Everything else is to be left to Abbot Xuanci and Master to resolve themselves." A'Zhu did not know whether to laugh or cry. After a moment she asked, "Where are you heading?" A'Bi said, "We're following Third Brother Bao to Juxian Manor, to publicly disavow any connection with Master before all the heroes under heaven, so it won't implicate the young master's great cause of restoring the kingdom." Qin Zheng was eavesdropping off to the side, his face full of shock. How had Murong Fu become like this? One extra fake imperial seal in his hands, and it had actually made him so resolute?