He was truly looking forward to seeing what it would become once fully forged.
Catching the strange grin spreading across Li Fubo's face, He Lingchuan quietly turned his gaze away.
After draining another jin of blood, just when He Lingchuan began to suspect the broken saber intended to suck him dry, the tiny apertures along the hilt were finally filled to the brim.
It was sated; it could swallow no more.
"Enough, enough." Li Fubo let out a long breath of relief. If a client died on the very first step of saber planting, it would leave an indelible stain on his reputation as a Master Craftsman and on Songyang Mansion's prestige. "Hurry, stop the bleeding!"
The medicine ape slipped into the room and deftly tended to He Lingchuan's wound to stem the flow.
Once coated with its specially prepared elixir, the cut on He Lingchuan's arm stopped aching within a dozen breaths.
He shook his head, feeling somewhat weak, and hastily swallowed a restorative pill.
An ordinary person carried only nine to ten jin of blood in total; losing a full twenty percent all at once inevitably left him dizzy and light-headed.
The last trace of blood on the hilt was eventually absorbed by the broken saber.
Yet anyone could see it was completely full, unable to stomach another drop.
"What now?"
"Very simple: thrust the saber into the golden mud," Li Fubo said. "At this temperature, the precious blade can withstand the heat without scorching the saber heart."
Gripping the hilt, He Lingchuan thrust the broken saber straight into the golden mud.
The crimson glow within the golden mud vanished instantly, and the tiny molten bubbles ceased rising.
Instead, wisps of pale blue smoke curled up from the seam where the broken blade met the golden mud, bearing no foul burning stench.
"Good, very good!" Li Fubo nodded with satisfaction. "The fracture has completely melded with the golden mud. From now on, this furnace will remain temporarily in Master's quarters. And as of today, this mound of golden mud can be called the Saber Mountain."
The rock wolf Lu Xin, lounging in the corner watching the spectacle, chimed in, "Then can that furnace be called the Sea of Fire?"
"Precisely!" Li Fubo laughed. "Your treasure will have scaled mountains of sabers and plunged into seas of fire—when it emerges, its brilliance will be unmatched."
"Is there anything else to do?"
"Nothing. The temperature is already set. So long as the blade rests here undisturbed, the saber will be complete in ten days!"
He Lingchuan blinked in surprise. "That simple?"
He had assumed opening a furnace to plant and forge a divine weapon would involve a terribly convoluted process. "I thought it would take at least several months to finish forging."
"The Great Dao is simple." Li Fubo wiped the sweat from his forehead; he had been forming hand seals to suppress the furnace's heat the entire time, which had taken a heavy toll on his energy. "The Marquis and I conferred no fewer than ten times, concluding that drastically shortening the duration would actually benefit the blade. Besides, the two hardest steps—smelting the wujin and blending the materials—were accomplished beforehand." Though these final touches were crucial, they were procedural steps where little could go wrong.
He Lingchuan brought out gold and silver, expressing his deep gratitude.
Starting today, Li Fubo would have to return once every day to inspect the furnace temperature and the progress of the saber planting.
After Li Fubo took his leave, He Lingchuan popped a jade ginseng slice offered by the medicine ape into his mouth, flopped onto the bed, and promptly fell fast asleep.
After severe blood loss, rest was what he needed most.
He slept soundly, without dreams.
By the time he woke, night had already fallen.
The rock wolf was nowhere to be seen, but the medicine ape was keeping vigil beside him. Seeing him open his eyes, it immediately asked, "Does your head ache? Are you feeling flustered or short of breath?"
He Lingchuan shook his head.
Instead of taking the front door, the medicine ape leapt out the window.
A moment later, He Yue walked in, carrying a food hamper in hand.
"Red date and pork liver congee. Eat it while it's hot."
"Father's back too?"
"He is. You slept right through dinner. Lingguang said you needed rest, so we didn't wake you."
He Lingchuan lifted out the pork liver congee. Sure enough, it was a giant bowl. A blend of regular rice and millet had been simmered until the grains burst open, while the pork liver, red dates, and ginger were shredded so finely that picking them apart was impossible.
Blowing on it to cool it down, He Lingchuan asked, "How did Father's first time holding court at the yamun go? Smoothly?"
"The Li clan requested that the public trial be canceled and held behind closed doors. Father flatly refused."
Closing the court would bar onlookers. What a joke—how could He Chunhua pass up such a golden opportunity?
"Sure enough, the two clans brawled verbally in court, showing not a shred of dignity befitting prominent families." He Yue had found it quite an eye-opener himself. "The Li family's second son, Li Rong, probably figured out which way the wind was blowing on the way there and kept quiet, but the eldest, Li Zhi, was impassioned and belligerent. Father demanded they present evidence, but in the end, they only claimed the evil-warding artifact kept in the old man's bedroom had been shattered, proving that dark sorcery had invaded. And since the Zhan clan was the only family embroiled in a bitter dispute with them lately, they blamed them. The Zhans refused to take that lying down, rolling up their sleeves to shout back until the uproar nearly blew the roof off. In all my time in Blackwater City, I've never seen such a lively courtroom."
He had assisted with official business in Blackwater City, where observing court sessions was routine, but none had ever descended into such chaos.
"The case was originally presided over by the Dunyu County Magistrate, but no matter how many times he slammed his gavel, he couldn't rein in the Lis and the Zhans. Once Father took over, he simply had two basins of cold water fetched and hurled over them. Silence fell in an instant."
"Classic Father." Splashing cold water on people didn't count as bodily harm, but getting soaked in snowy weather chilled a man right to the bone.
"Even if they still wanted to curse each other, their lips were trembling too hard to speak clearly. Only after their retainers brought cloaks to drape over them could the trial resume, but they were vastly calmer."
He Lingchuan took a sip of congee. "Did Father sentence the Li clan?"
"Of course. Without a shred of evidence, they stormed the Zhan estate and assaulted people. Caught red-handed by the entire city's populace and the newly appointed Chief Administrator, they couldn't wriggle out of it. Beyond compensating the Zhan clan for all damages suffered during the brawl, Father also ordered the instigators detained. Under imperial law, ringleaders who pursue private vendettas and gather mobs to brawl can face up to five years of hard imprisonment. If lives had been lost, the penalty could have been even harsher."
Knowing his elder brother disliked stuffy bureaucratic jargon, He Yue simply put everything in plain language.
This was getting more and more interesting. He Lingchuan smiled. "Was it Li Zhi or Li Rong?"
Whoever had first called to assemble the private army was the ringleader.
"Neither would admit it, and the other Li family members certainly weren't going to finger either on the spot." He Yue shrugged. "So Father ruled that both be taken into custody and interrogated separately. That made the Li clan explode on the spot.
"What surprised me was that Li Zhi was stupid enough to demand to know by what right, even dropping Minister Li's name with insolent words. Father berated him for his impudent demeanor and for disrespecting an imperial official, warning that if he continued to make a scene, he would be slapped across the face. Seeing the bailiffs at the side bring out their wooden mouth-slapping boards, Li Zhi finally sullenly shut his mouth."
Commoners did not fight officials—especially not in a court of law.
"Are those two the only sons the old man has in Dunyu?" He Lingchuan chuckled. "What pig-headed opponents. That dropped the difficulty down several notches all at once."
"Old Man Li had a third son, but he left for distant lands over twenty years ago."
"Oh right, the grudge over the stolen wife!" He Lingchuan snapped his fingers. "If both of them are locked up together, the Li clan will be left like dragons—well, snakes without a head. That'll make things convenient for us."
He Yue shook his head. "Father made a grand threat only to pull his punches. I imagine he had his own reasons. He claimed that out of consideration for the Li clan's recent bereavement, he was willing to release either Li Zhi or Li Rong to handle their father's funeral arrangements. However, they must post a bond of a hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver. If the suspect does not flee Dunyu and commits no further crimes within two months, the money will be refunded; otherwise, it will be forfeited as a fine into the prefectural treasury."
He Lingchuan slurped down the last few mouthfuls of congee and gave a thumbs-up. "Brilliant. Did the Li clan look dumbfounded?"
"Yes, they were completely at a loss. Father was even 'thoughtful' enough to let them go home to discuss it and turn themselves in within three days." He Yue smiled. "As for the three hundred Li family private soldiers who took part, because they were merely following orders and no one in the Zhan clan was killed, Father sentenced each to ten strokes of the court staff. A few who fought especially viciously or looted during the chaos received an additional ten strokes.
"Also, if the Zhan estate uncovers further collateral damage later, the authorities will impose additional penalties!
"Ten men were laid out on the yamun flagstones at a time to take their punishment, meaning three hundred men had to take turns across thirty batches. It went on until dark before it finally wrapped up. The onlookers watching were utterly transfixed, saying they had never witnessed such a magnificent spectacle as three hundred men having their buttocks caned."
"Is that just caning the soldiers' behinds?" He Lingchuan clapped his hands. "It's clearly slapping the Li clan's face!"
He Chunhua needed to establish his authority the moment he arrived; knocking down the Li clan's face was inevitable.
"Their household won't see peace for the next three days. Li Zhi and Li Rong will bicker endlessly over who gets the spot on bail, so they won't have time to trip us up for now. And once it's settled who stays with the family and who goes behind bars, whoever remains will definitely seize the opportunity to consolidate his own turf, leaving him with no spare energy to oppose us."
Li Zhao died abruptly without leaving a final testament, so the sons were bound to fight over the position of family patriarch anyway. When the rival was sent to cool his heels in the yamun cell in three days, wouldn't the entire Li family fall into the other's lap?
Under such circumstances, how could external conflicts ever compare to internal strife?
"How did the Zhan clan react?"
"They were quite satisfied and very grateful to Father. They rushed back to assess their damages." He Yue's smile faded. "The other two of the Four Great Clans—the Shu and Xie families—sent representatives to observe the trial, though they offered no public stance yet. I expect they will both be holding closed-door discussions tonight."
The new Chief Administrator of Xiazhou had barely arrived in Dunyu, before his seat had even grown warm, and he had already made an open spectacle of the Li clan's case.
On the surface, he was upholding justice for the Zhan clan, but in reality, he was delivering two fierce slaps across the Li clan's cheeks. More importantly, he was laying his cards on the table and declaring his stance:
I have arrived!
Get out of my way, every last one of you!
From this day forward, know who is in charge.
"We've all seen Father's methods," He Lingchuan remarked casually. "Even a savage wasteland like Qiansong Commandery, where human life is treated like grass, was whipped into shipshape order under Father's rule, wasn't it?"
"There were no deeply entrenched, venerable clans there like in Dunyu." He Yue was always one to overestimate the enemy rather than take them lightly. "The wealth, grain, and manpower of Dunyu—and nearly half of Xiazhou—are firmly held in their grip. Prying them loose will be no easy task.
"The Li clan was merely caught off guard and dazed by Father's swift blows. Once they come to their senses, they will fight back, and they'll band together with the other families to resist. That is how they have always operated, after all. We have tough battles ahead of us, even if they won't necessarily be fought with open blades and spears.
"Besides Minister Li, the Four Great Clans have seven other officials serving in the royal court. If letters are sent from their hometown to the capital, lodging complaint after complaint, I worry the court above might reprimand Father."
He Lingchuan thought about it, then frowned. "Wait, that doesn't sound right. Didn't Father say that before leaving the capital, he had an in-depth audience with the monarch, and the King ordered him to hold the line in Xiazhou and act with a free hand, without worrying about anything else?"
Chapter 218