Chapter 272 - 170: Sound of All Things

Chapter 272: Chapter 170: Sound of All Things

Zheng Xiu asked again, "What’s the point of being an official?"

Chu Chengfeng was at a loss again.

Zheng Xiu didn’t beat around the bush and answered directly, "To get rich."

Chu Chengfeng was stunned.

Zheng Xiu said, "Once you’re wealthy, you no longer have to worry about food and clothing. When you don’t have those worries, you become carefree and well-fed, and you might just live to be a hundred. When you get right down to it, in this life, all this talk of ambition is just scenery along the way. In the end, it’s all about... living."

The corner of Chu Chengfeng’s mouth twitched, and his great beard quivered.

He felt that Zheng Xiu was spouting sophistry, yet he found himself unable to refute it.

Because that was the state of the world. Daqian the Second was an incompetent and depraved ruler, and the court eunuchs were corrupt. To line their own pockets, local officials enacted numerous laws, and the exorbitant taxes and levies made the common people’s lives unbearable. This situation was the result of many long-standing historical issues. The Founding Emperor of Daqian had been born into poverty. Later, while the Dasheng Dynasty was overwhelmed by threats from without and turmoil from within, the future Monarch of Daqian seized the opportunity to rebel. As if protected by Destiny itself, he conquered the realm. However, many of the founding heroes were little more than local thugs. Thanks to their merits, they and their families now held positions of immense power and wealth. This resulted in the Court’s officials and Military Generals being a motley crew of wildly varying quality. After the Monarch of Daqian’s sudden death, his successor, Qian the Second, only magnified the weaknesses of a hasty dynastic change and an unstable power structure.

So, Zheng Xiu was right. Becoming an official meant getting rich, and getting rich meant you didn’t have to worry about food or clothing.

There was no arguing with that.

Chu Chengfeng was silent for a long time, then grit his teeth and said, "Younger Brother Gongsun, a true man sets his sights on the world. Don’t you want to make a name for yourself in the coming age of chaos, achieve greatness, and carve out a glorious path for the Gongsun Family?"

Zheng Xiu finally noticed that something was off about Chu Chengfeng’s words. He had, of course, been puzzled as to why Chu Chengfeng was content to be a mountain bandit.

It was just that Zheng Xiu had been preoccupied with his Asceticism on the Path, spending his days finding ways to profit from Xie Luohe and using every opportunity to test whether Feng Bei’s personality was gaining dominance within her. When would he have had time to worry about these things?

Now that Chu Chengfeng’s tone had changed and his expression had turned somewhat fierce, Zheng Xiu frowned. Unable to feign ignorance of the strangeness, he asked, "An age of chaos? Why do you believe such a time is upon us?"

"Heh!" Chu Chengfeng scoffed. "The Court is suppressing the news! Xie Yunliu is a capable man; he found out that the Northern Barbarians are stirring on the northern frontier! Just think about it—it’s obvious. The Daqian Dynasty hasn’t been around for long, yet it’s already riddled with parasites and rotten to the core. To maintain his army, Qian the Second blindly gives his soldiers exorbitant stipends! He even dangles titles of nobility to entice the younger generation to enlist! But has he ever considered what that means? With titles so easy to come by, how many wealthy merchant families do you think have pulled whatever strings they could to get one! Today’s Divine Martial Army has none of its former ferocity. It’s full of useless fools! If I were that Barbarian King, why would I ever pass up this chance to invade Daqian?"

"I’ve also heard that the current Barbarian King is cruel and extremely ambitious. He’s bound to make a comeback soon! When that happens, the world will be plunged into chaos. Isn’t that the perfect opportunity to build a legacy and vie for control of the realm? Conquering an empire is easy, but ruling it is hard. To put it bluntly, the Wei Clan are nothing but a gang of bandits and thieves. They are usurpers! They stole the empire that belonged to the Nie!"

Chu Chengfeng kept glancing inside as he spoke. Growing more agitated, his face turned beet red, his eyes became bloodshot, and his bones creaked as he trembled. Seeing Younger Brother Gongsun remain silent, he thought he had swayed him and pressed on, "I, Chu Chengfeng, am never wrong about people, Younger Brother Gongsun! You’ve used that silver tongue of yours to win the favor of Yunhe Village’s Big Leader and Second Leader. Your strategic mind is in no way inferior to my own! As for Xie Luohe, her martial skill is peerless! On a battlefield, taking an enemy general’s head is as easy for her as picking something from her own pocket—her might alone is comparable to that of an entire army! And to top it all off, you hold the secret to Nie Gong’s Treasure Vault!"

With a smack, Chu Chengfeng tightly gripped Gongsun Mo’s hand, overcome with excitement. A touch of madness crept into his eyes. "Younger Brother Gongsun, the right time, the right place, the right people! Don’t you think that our meeting here on this mountain, today, was preordained? That it is all the Will of Heaven? The Daqian Empire’s destiny is running out!!"

Zheng Xiu stared at Chu Chengfeng in astonishment.

’It was as if I was seeing this coarse man for the first time.’

Meeting Gongsun Mo’s gaze, Chu Chengfeng suddenly shuddered. He staggered and grabbed the doorframe for support, then suddenly dry-heaved. "Look at me... My tolerance for alcohol is getting worse the older I get!" He slapped himself across the mouth and mumbled indistinctly, "This damn mouth of mine never knows when to shut up. Good thing I’m a bandit, otherwise how could I dare spew such treasonous words! Younger Brother Gongsun, just pretend your old brother here was rambling in a drunken stupor. HIC~ If anything I said was unpleasant, just pay it no mind! It’s getting late, you should get some rest! After all, you have to paint for the Big Leader first thing tomorrow morning!"

After saying this, Chu Chengfeng gave Zheng Xiu a lewd wink, as if "painting for the Big Leader" was some extraordinary affair.

Chu Chengfeng staggered inside.

Watching Chu Chengfeng’s retreating back, Zheng Xiu suddenly asked, "Who are you, really?"

"My name is Chu Chengfeng, and I’ll not hide it. I am the Third Young Master of Meihua Manor! Though now, I’m just a humble bandit of Yunhe Village~ Just a little bandit!"

With his back to Zheng Xiu, Chu Chengfeng waved his hand dismissively.

Zheng Xiu didn’t know if the Chu Chengfeng of two hundred years ago had said these "drunken words" in front of Gongsun Mo.

Furthermore, he didn’t know if Gongsun Mo had even understood at the time.