Under Li Banfeng's pressing questions, the actor dismissed all the departed souls in the room and recounted the past.
"To tell you the truth, the one I originally wanted to marry wasn't Hong Ying, but Zhao Xiaowan. I brought it up and even asked His Majesty to act as matchmaker, but Zhao Xiaowan refused."
Li Banfeng asked, "What was your status?"
The actor raised a hand and pointed around. "With this courtyard of mine, with the furnishings in my home, you can't tell my status?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Can't tell."
"I am an Imperial Prince! Prince Chun!" At this point, the actor raised his voice. "What kind of status an Imperial Prince holds, you ought to know."
Although he hadn't majored in history in college, Li Banfeng had some concept of an Imperial Prince. "You were an Imperial Prince, and Zhao Xiaowan was a general born an actor. You wanted to marry her, and she dared refuse?"
The actor smiled wryly. "That depends on the timing. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have dared refuse. Even if I had to tie her up, I could have hauled her into my princely manor and taken her without even granting her a proper title.
"But back then, it wouldn't do. The war was raging, Zhao Xiaowan was winning victory after victory, and His Majesty couldn't do without her. So this matter genuinely had to be discussed with her properly.
"In the end, nothing came of the discussions. His Majesty gave me a way out by betrothing Hong Ying to me instead.
"Hong Ying came from a proper military lineage. While of lower status than me, her background was vastly superior to Zhao Xiaowan's.
"Though I was disgruntled in my heart, Hong Ying was also an exquisite beauty, and the key was that she was willing to be with me. So I accepted the marriage."
Li Banfeng nodded. "Since she was willing and you were willing, that should have settled it."
"It didn't," Prince Chun said, shaking his head. "Back then, Zhao Xiaowan and Hong Ying had won many victories. For reasons unknown, His Majesty recalled them both, granting Zhao Xiaowan the title of Agile Cavalry General and Hong Ying the title of General of Select Troops.
"They no longer had to fight. He sent General Hengbo, Cong Shixiang, to the front lines to take over military command.
"One day, His Majesty held a banquet and summoned all the civil and military officials. Zhao Xiaowan and Hong Ying attended as well.
"At the banquet, His Majesty ordered Zhao Xiaowan to perform opera—to put on the headdress, don full stage makeup, and perform in all earnestness!"
Li Banfeng frowned. "She was already an Agile Cavalry General. Why should he make her perform opera?"
Prince Chun looked Li Banfeng up and down, smacking his lips. "Your line of thought is just like Zhao Xiaowan's. She also felt she was a general and shouldn't be performing opera before the assembled ministers.
"It was indeed a bit humiliating, but it was His Majesty's decree—words of gold and jade! Who would dare say half a word of dissent?
"Zhao Xiaowan really did say no. His Majesty was incandescent with rage. He had Zhao Xiaowan put in chains on the spot and thrown into prison.
"Hong Ying pleaded for Zhao Xiaowan, so His Majesty had her chained up as well and cast into prison. From that moment on, the marriage was off."
Li Banfeng didn't care about the marriage; what intrigued him was the Emperor's mindset. "Just over a matter of singing opera, he turned two generals into prisoners?"
Prince Chun fell silent for a moment, then shook his head. "If you ask me, it wasn't just over performing opera. At that time, the Ministry of War had received military despatches that the front line had suffered a defeat. As to how they lost, I don't know, but I heard the Minister of War cursing in private that Cong Shixiang was a fucking good-for-nothing idiot.
"His Majesty was probably in a foul mood, and Zhao Xiaowan happened to collide right with his temper, brushing against the dragon's scales and bringing disaster upon herself!"
"Nonsense!" Li Banfeng shook his head. "They couldn't win the war, yet he purged the ones who actually knew how to fight? Was this Emperor out of his mind?"
Prince Chun let out a long sigh. "I found it irrational too, but thinking it over afterwards, I figured out His Majesty's train of thought.
"Those who could fight wouldn't obey, while those who obeyed couldn't fight. His Majesty probably wanted to use this to keep the court officials in line, warning them not to rest on their laurels and grow arrogant.
"Those two generals suffered terribly in prison. It was said they never even had a single full meal, not to mention freezing, starving, and enduring many beatings.
"Later I heard from people in the Ministry of Justice that His Majesty intended to put them both to death—and not just kill them, but make them die painfully.
"One can torment one's own generals however one likes, but the enemy forces from the Demonic Land showed His Majesty no such deference. On the front line, defeat followed defeat, until they were nearly marching upon the imperial capital.
"For the sake of the Great Huan's domain and common folk, His Majesty could only put aside past grudges..."
Li Banfeng waved his hand. "Cut the crap about the realm and common folk; that had nothing to do with it."
Prince Chun pursed his lips. "In any case, His Majesty released Zhao Xiaowan and Hong Ying. Hong Ying was reinstated to her original post as General of Select Troops, while Zhao Xiaowan was demoted to a mere colonel.
"His Majesty had the two of them accompany Cong Shixiang back to the front lines.
"Though Zhao Xiaowan was only a colonel, Hong Ying deferred to her. When it came to military matters, Hong Ying listened to her in everything; the two were closer than blood sisters.
"Even though Zhao Xiaowan and Hong Ying had been reduced to skin and bones, once on the battlefield, they were still exceptional. Victory followed victory, thrilling the entire imperial court. The two sisters' story spread far and wide through the capital.
"Especially Zhao Xiaowan—her fame soared sky-high. Storytellers, actors, stall-keepers, street performers, and even roadside fortune-tellers would recount a few of Zhao Xiaowan's exploits before opening business just to draw a crowd."
Li Banfeng looked Prince Chun up and down. "You're an imperial prince with quite the common touch! You even know about roadside fortune-telling and street busking?"
Prince Chun laughed. "I liked that sort of thing. Whenever I had time, I'd put on plain clothes and wander the capital, just enjoying the common folk's..."
Li Banfeng pressed down a hand. "Leave yourself aside for now. What about Zhao Xiaowan? What happened after the victories?"
Prince Chun let out a long sigh. "There was no 'after.' The two sisters won victory after victory, and the tide of war looked glorious. Military despatches from the front reported that the enemy chieftain was even encircled.
"They were one step away from total victory, yet who could have imagined that the two sisters would turn on each other!
"To this day, I still don't know why they turned on each other, and I cannot fathom why they struck with such lethal force.
"Zhao Xiaowan died at Hong Ying's hands, and Hong Ying was gravely injured, passing away only a few days later."
Li Banfeng asked in surprise, "You don't know why they fought?"
"I don't," Prince Chun said, shaking his head. "I didn't go to war; how could I know?"
"And after that?"
"Afterward, the war was won. I don't know how it was won either. I heard His Majesty summoned reinforcements, though I don't know from where. After a few months of fighting, they won anyway.
"Following the victory, His Majesty assembled all civil and military officials and held a grand banquet in the palace for three whole days.
"I remember that during those three days, His Majesty was in exceptionally high spirits. He toasted cup after cup, and the ministers drank cup after cup. Even I lost track of how much wine I drank.
"I got drunk—drunk for who knows how long. When I woke up, I found that my residence was no longer where it had been, and the people under me were no longer what they used to be.
"They were no longer in the mortal realm. They told me that I was no longer among the living either. They said the territory outside was called Puluo Province, and this place was called Wuyouping. They told me that from this place one could go anywhere, but we couldn't go anywhere at all.
"I said the road is right under our feet, so let us walk out and take a look.
"They urged me not to, saying we must never step outside. They said that once we left Wuyouping, anyone who saw us would beat us to death.
"All these years passed, and I remained in this place. I had nothing else to do, so I sang opera every day, performing for my subordinates.
"They listened day after day, year after year. At first, they humored me, pretending to enjoy it to their hearts' content.
"Later on, they grew utterly sick of it and refused to listen; even threatening them with a whip wouldn't make them listen.
"When they wouldn't listen, I looked for others. Originally, travelers would pass by and stop here to rest, and come nightfall, I would sing opera for them.
"Then later, not a single traveler came by all year round. My subordinates told me that this territory had turned into oldland, and finding a living person in the future would be nearly impossible.
"For ten whole years, you were the only group of living people to come here. That young girl taking a leak in my courtyard really wasn't a big deal.
"I made things difficult for you on purpose just because I wanted to keep you here to hear me sing.
"I love singing opera, but if no one listens when I sing, how miserable is that?"
"Just wanted to keep us to listen to your singing?" Li Banfeng laughed. "Did you want to keep us for a day, a year, or a lifetime?"
Prince Chun was quite candid: "I genuinely wanted to keep you for a lifetime. But you're too ruthless, not an easy man to keep. If I fought you for a couple more days, I'm afraid few of my subordinates would be left alive.
"Now that everything is out in the open, and I've given you what you wanted, this record..."
Li Banfeng pulled the record out from behind him and handed it to Prince Chun.
Holding the record, Prince Chun stroked it for a long while. "General Zhao, I truly admired you. As for how handsome you looked, I didn't care all that much; what truly won my admiration was that magnificent voice of yours.
"Every time I heard you sing even a single line, I felt that the cultivation of my half-lifetime had all been wasted."
Li Banfeng asked, "There's one thing—if you don't want to say, I won't press you. What pathway are you in?"
Stowing the record away, Prince Chun said, "By right, I shouldn't tell you this, but I haven't spoken this much in many years, and letting it out feels refreshing.
"I am an Opera Cultivator. It's not just a matter of liking to listen to and sing opera; I possess genuine cultivation. When I disguised myself as that mother and daughter earlier, I used real techniques born of my cultivation.
"Still, today was the first time I had ever laid eyes on that mother and daughter, so with minor details, a few oversights were inevitable.
"Let me put it this way: if I were to disguise myself as an acquaintance, I guarantee even his own wife wouldn't be able to tell him apart."
Li Banfeng scoffed, "Keep bragging!"
Prince Chun slapped the table. "How can you call this bragging? When you first saw through me, you must have noticed that I wasn't a creature of the living realm.
"The second time we met, when I took the form of that girl's mother, cross your heart and tell me: at first glance, did you see any flaw at all?"
Li Banfeng nodded. He had to admit that, judging strictly by appearance, he had indeed spotted no flaws at the time.
Prince Chun said with considerable pride, "Let me tell you, not only is the outside indistinguishable, but the inside is undetectable as well."
"What do you mean by the inside?" Li Banfeng asked curiously.
"As long as our pathway's cultivation is high enough, no matter what illness the person suffers, what injuries they sustain, what poison they're afflicted with, or what medicine they've taken, we can replicate it down to the last detail!"
Li Banfeng squinted his eyes. "Isn't that a bit too bizarre?"
"Why would I lie to you? You haven't seen the true experts of our pathway—they can even mimic seed blood down to the identical detail! Even a top-tier Scrying Cultivator together with a Medicine Cultivator were fooled by him!"
Mimic seed blood down to the identical detail?
Li Banfeng was skeptical. Could such an uncanny technique truly exist in this world?
...
At Yuezhou Third Hospital, Xiao Zhenggong was inquiring about He Jiaqing's condition.
The attending physician's reply remained the same as before: the patient's vital signs were stable, but he could not move about heedlessly.
Xiao Zhenggong dismissed the care worker and sat by He Jiaqing's bedside, letting out a cold sneer. "How the fuck are you faking it? Even in a hospital this big, they can't tell you're feigning illness?
"What on earth are you staying in the Outer States for? Did you really come after me?
"Things are tight these couple of days, so it's not easy for me to move against you. But remember this well: as long as you spend a single day in the Outer States, your little life is gripped right in the palm of my hand!"
Chapter 254