As dawn approached, a carriage stopped outside the old Yuan residence. The tall youth Yu Lu and the dark-skinned girl Xie Xie stood beside the carriage, each carrying a bundle. The young Cui Chan emerged from the house yawning, clad in an ivory-white robe of exquisite material and craftsmanship. Behind him followed a boy whose delicate features resembled porcelain, filled with reluctance.

Yu Lu couldn’t help but ask, “Gongzi, where are we going?”

Cui Chan said languidly, “Taking you on a faraway journey for studies, to stroll around Da Sui. You two were originally students of the Cliff Academy (Shan Ya Shu Yuan) anyway.”

Yu Lu and Xie Xie, two remnants of the Lu Clan Dynasty and former convicts, exchanged bewildered glances.

The coachman, a Da Li spy stationed in the Longquan County town, sat motionless on the driver’s seat, eyes and nose aligned in contemplation. After Cui Chan entered the carriage, bending to lift the curtain, he suddenly turned back and said, “Go fetch Wang Yifu to serve as the coachman. You continue to remain in the county town and keep a close watch on the movements in Riding Dragon Lane (Qi Long Xiang) and Apricot Blossom Lane (Xing Hua Xiang).”

The spy nodded and silently dismounted, departing.

After about the time it takes to steep a cup of tea, a tall man strode over. The tall youth (Yu Lu) did not look sideways, his expression calm, while the girl (Xie Xie) had a cold look in her eyes, seemingly disliking the man named Wang Yifu.

Wang Yifu was none other than the man who, upon orders, had personally twisted off Song Yuzhang’s head. A fierce general on the battlefields of the former Lu Clan Dynasty, he had neither become a Da Li prisoner nor a welcomed guest of the new dynasty, and even less regain his military power. Instead, he had become the hound of that Niangniang (Imperial Concubine), following her as she was “banished” to Changchun Palace to live as a hermit. Wang Yifu’s master had changed from the Da Li Niangniang to the young national preceptor before him.

Because they were traveling along the official post road, the carriage was quite large, enough to accommodate three people. However, Cui Chan still made the young boy and girl sit outside, occupying the spacious carriage alone. Before long, the sound of reading aloud emanated from inside. It was truly amusing that the dignified Da Li national preceptor, a renowned Go (Weiqi) master of a continent, had to recite elementary school texts every day.

The carriage left the small town through the east gate. Cui Chan lifted the curtain and glanced at the newly built county office near the east gate, which was not yet fully completed, merely a rudimentary framework. Under the supervision of the yamen clerks, the young men of the town had already begun working busily, causing dust to fly throughout the entire east gate. Cui Chan lowered the curtain with a somber expression.

After leaving the town and traveling along the post road for about an hour, Cui Chan had Wang Yifu stop the carriage. He walked alone towards a small hillside. Cui Minghuang, the “gentleman” of the Guanhai Academy (Guanhai Shu Yuan), had been waiting for a long time. Upon seeing this ancestor who had been expelled from the family, he respectfully bowed and paid his respects.

Cui Chan stood on the hilltop, looking back at the small town. Unfortunately, his realm had fallen drastically, and his cultivation was weak. Even if he strained his eyes, he could not see the scenery there. “The matter of honoring Piyun Mountain (Pi Yun Shan) as the Northern Mountain (Bei Yue) of Da Li still needs to be cultivated; it will be difficult to succeed in the short term. However, building a new academy on Piyun Mountain is imperative, and there will be results in at most half a year. Rest assured, you took such a big risk this time, almost losing your life, I certainly won’t cross the river and demolish the bridge. You won’t be able to escape the position of deputy mountain master of the academy. Afterwards, Da Li will definitely spare no effort to build this brand new academy to be even more like one of the seventy-two Confucian academies than Cliff Academy.”

Cui Minghuang breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes firm as he promised, “I will never let you down, Old Ancestor!”

Cui Chan did not comment on this, continuing to say his own words, “I’m leaving that porcelain doll boy to you. When the time comes, you can arrange for him to enter the new academy. If there are no accidents, his cultivation will go very smoothly, possibly reaching the middle five realms (zhong wu jing) at a frightening speed. You need to be mentally prepared, but you’d better hide him away and not let him surface too early. I painstakingly selected those broken porcelain pieces from Porcelain Mountain (Ci Shan) and finally pieced together this porcelain figure with a soul. This boy, being able to go from a pile of broken porcelain shards to being so lifelike and indistinguishable from a human being, is both the culmination of my life’s work, Cui Chan, and also a matter of great luck. Therefore, you must pay more attention. To say something unlucky, this is almost equivalent to entrusting my orphan to you.”

Cui Minghuang’s heart was filled with excitement as he bowed and clasped his fist, “Old Ancestor, rest assured, I, Cui Minghuang, will definitely treat him as my own!”

Cui Chan looked somewhat weary, “In the small town, besides the Prince Song Changjing, you can freely command the other two groups of spies and assassins; I’ve already said hello for you. Furthermore, when you have time, talk to the old man Yang in the Yang family shop. That old, undying thing is the fairest in his dealings, never talking about good or bad, right or wrong, friend or foe. Try to get the old man to agree to do business with you.”

“As for Ruan Qiong, I advise you not to bother with him. The four major families and ten great clans of Fulou Street (Fu Lou Jie) and Peach Leaf Lane (Tao Ye Xiang) are now scattered and their hearts are in disarray. Pay more attention to the Li family, um, the Li family where Li Xisheng is located. As for that second gongzi Li Baozhen, whose ambitions are higher than the sky, now that his backer has fallen, although he can’t be said to have been returned to his original form overnight, he has learned about the fickle nature of the Da Li capital. Between these brothers, you can choose either one, but you can only choose one.”

“As for Wu Yuan, do as you see fit, just deal with matters as they are, and don’t be too heartfelt.”

As Cui Chan spoke to the end, despite his handsome appearance of a young man, he gave Cui Minghuang the illusion of a decrepit old man, with everything having come to an end.

Cui Minghuang tentatively asked, “That student Wu Yuan, could it be that…”

Cui Chan drooped his shoulders and walked down the hill, nodding weakly, “He’s the Niangniang’s person. She likes to choose these types of people. Their background isn’t too good, but they’re smart, ambitious, and able to endure. However, they each have their own fatal flaws, making them easy for her to control.”

Cui Minghuang suddenly understood, “No wonder. That time you leaked secrets at the Yuan family ancestral residence, Old Ancestor, I always felt something was wrong. Later, I realized it was because Wu Yuan was present.”

Cui Chan sighed and did not conceal the truth, speaking frankly, “At the Yuan family old residence at that time, I gave him a chance. He transmitted all the trivial matters before then, and I was too lazy to care. But if he chooses to leak information about that matter to that Niangniang after leaving the house, then he will die. When a disciple deceives his master and destroys his ancestors, then it’s only natural for the teacher to beat the student to death.”

Cui Minghuang was silent.

Cui Chan patted the shoulder of this younger family member, “I have great expectations for you, otherwise I wouldn’t tell you these things.”

Cui Minghuang said with a bitter smile, “I am terrified and uneasy.”

“Alright, you don’t need to see me off.”
Cui Chan quickened his pace down the mountain, and after walking a dozen steps, turned his head and laughed, “You and I are both smart people. You must be thinking that if I can dig a pit for Wu Yuan like this, I certainly won’t let you off the hook. The truth is… you guessed right, that’s exactly how it is. But where the trap is, and on what day you’ll have to make a life-or-death decision, that’s for you to figure out.”

Cui Minghuang showed no panic, nor any hint of grievance or innocence, but instead was full of fighting spirit. “The books that needed to be read have pretty much been finished. The joy of life from now on lies in this.”

Cui Chan turned around, looking at the carriage at the foot of the mountain, with his hands tucked into his sleeves. He tutted and said, “Sure enough, you need all three types of disciples. You, Cui Minghuang, Wu Yuan, and the Porcelain Man are all here. From now on, it depends on the individual fortunes of us four, master and disciples.”

As he walked, Cui Chan shivered and murmured, “If he ever finds out the truth, with that kid from Mud Bottle Alley’s temperament, he’ll definitely beat me to death! He might not even blink.”

The boy with the cinnabar dot between his eyebrows was full of anxiety and sorrow. “The key is, a master beating his disciple is absolutely justifiable! No, no, Cui Chan can’t end up so miserably. I have to think of a way…”

The boy suddenly narrowed his eyes and smiled, swaggering as he walked, laughing loudly, “I can just dump all the dirty water on the Da Li Grand Tutor! I’m Cui Dongshan, not Cui Chan!”

The skin and flesh he currently inhabited could be regarded as an extremely rare and precious treasure, naturally immaculate, but congenitally idiotic. Before the age of six, his soul had wandered and dissipated. Cui Chan, after years of secret refining, had made it into an inn, a lodge, easy for souls to dwell in. At first, because the Li Zhu Grotto-Heaven was too important, relating to his Great Dao opportunity, he had to be there in person, so he moved out this body, separated a portion of his soul into it. In this way, there were two Cui Chans in the world, one old and one young. The old Cui Chan stayed in the Da Li capital as his Grand Tutor, strategizing from thousands of miles away, while the young Cui Chan came to the small town, hiding in the Yuan family’s old residence, in case of accidents. Of course, deep down, Cui Chan may have wanted to personally see Qi Jingchun complete his final journey.

He wanted to defeat Qi Jingchun fairly and squarely, just once.

Unfortunately, Cui Chan never imagined that he would first lose to Qi Jingchun, losing utterly, and then it would get even worse. The old man, who had clearly died in the Academy’s Merit Forest, came knocking, casually cutting off his connection with his main body, Cui Chan, and then punishing him to read those few tattered books every day. The ridiculous thing was, not one of them was a sage classic written by the old man. Finally, he made an absurd decision, asking Cui Chan to become a student of that Chen kid!

What could I, Cui Chan, learn from Chen Ping’an? Learn to fire porcelain or burn charcoal?

As for what the old man was thinking?

Heaven knows!

In the literal sense, heaven knows.

The old man, although his highest worldly title in his life was only a Xiucai (a type of scholar).

But back in the Confucian Temple, he had once ranked fourth in position. At that time, the old Xiucai could be said to be at the height of his power. Otherwise, how could a statue be forcibly moved in and erected while the old man was still alive? Even the old Xiucai couldn’t stop it.

However, Cui Chan always felt that the old man was secretly enjoying himself at the time and didn’t really want to stop it.

In short, this case is destined to disappear from both orthodox history and unofficial history, and as time goes by, even the remaining clues will gradually disappear.

On the road leading to Da Li’s southern border pass, Yefu Pass.

A carriage stopped by the roadside outside a post station. A white-clothed boy with cinnabar between his eyebrows stood on the roof of the carriage, facing north, looking expectantly.

Wang Yifu sat in the driver’s seat, as usual, not saying a word.

The tall youth, Yu Lu, was checking the items in his luggage. The graceful but ugly-faced girl was the most relaxed and content, sitting next to Wang Yifu, back to back with the youth. She was dangling her legs, cracking sunflower seeds one by one.

The young Cui Chan stomped his foot. “Finally here!”

Wang Yifu did not turn around, and said softly, “Your Highness, take care in the future.”

The tall youth, who had now changed his name to Yu Lu, nodded and smiled, “General Wang as well.”

Wang Yifu hummed, about to speak.

The girl, having finished a handful of sunflower seeds, clapped her hands and said casually, “General Wang doesn’t need to be polite with a criminal slave like me.”

Wang Yifu smiled bitterly. “We are sorry for your master’s sect.”

The girl folded her hands on her knees and looked up at the blue sky, laughing, “Then go tell those dead people whose souls have been scattered. I didn’t participate in that war, and I didn’t commit suicide afterwards. On the contrary, I’m living quite well and will soon be a student at the New Cliff Academy. So, General Wang, it’s pointless for you to say this to me.”

Yu Lu suddenly said, “Wang Yifu, ignore her. She’s just an immature child who’s angry but doesn’t know who to vent it on. She’ll lash out at whoever’s easiest to talk to.”

The girl laughed. “Oh, still thinking you’re the priceless Lu Clan heir, still qualified to teach me how to be a person?”

Yu Lu smiled silently and continued to pack his luggage.

Wang Yifu had a headache.

If he wasn’t worried about the safety of these two children, how could Wang Yifu have agreed to the Da Li Empress’s request to serve her?

Chen Ping’an and his party traveled south along the edge of the post road.

Then they saw a familiar white-clothed boy rushing over, with an enthusiasm that was even more exaggerated than a girl in love facing her beloved.

The white-clothed boy with cinnabar between his eyebrows smiled brightly and said, “Chen Ping’an, although it sounds like a joke, I’m actually telling you very seriously that from today onwards, I am your student! If you don’t recognize me as your student, I’ll kill myself in front of you! After I die, remember to erect a stele for me, and write ‘Tomb of Chen Ping’an’s Disciple’!”

Chen Ping’an was stunned for a long time before he recovered, and asked, “What’s your real name?”

The boy laughed heartily, “Cui Dongshan!”

Chen Ping’an nodded. “Then I’ll add three more words to your tombstone.”

(End of this chapter)