Chapter 345 - 336: Why "Also"?, The Five Banners’ Plot

Chapter 345: Chapter 336: Why "Also"?, The Five Banners’ Plot

"Is there a problem?"

Fu Juemin glanced casually at Zhong Yin before looking away, continuing to speak with the girl in front of him.

"Can’t I call for you even if there’s nothing wrong? You ate my pastries at Panxiang Temple..." The girl paused, took a step forward, and looked up at him. "You could at least let me know your name."

"My apologies, I forgot." Fu Juemin nodded, his tone frank. "My name is Fu Juemin—"

"But they all call you Young Master Ling!"

"I wasn’t finished."

Fu Juemin smiled and continued unhurriedly, "My courtesy name is Lingjun."

"Fu Juemin... Fu Lingjun..." The girl rolled the two names on her tongue, repeating them over and over as if savoring a delicacy.

"Remembered it?" Fu Juemin asked.

The girl nodded subconsciously.

Fu Juemin turned and walked away.

"Wait!"

A delicate shout came from behind him again.

Fu Juemin stopped, turning back with a hint of surprise. "What is it now?"

The girl stared at him, her almond-shaped eyes narrowing slightly. Her voice held a hint of gnashed teeth. "Aren’t you going to ask my name?"

Fu Juemin froze for a moment, then it dawned on him. He chuckled. "I know your name. You’re Panxiang."

"That’s my title!" The girl’s cheeks puffed out slightly, as if he’d hit a nerve. "My name is—"

Her voice suddenly grew calm and she enunciated each word with solemn gravity:

"Su. Ling. Yi."

"You’re also named Su..." Fu Juemin’s eyes flickered. He gave her a thoughtful look, then nodded. This time, he didn’t linger, leaving with Ning Yu without a backward glance.

The girl stared at Fu Juemin’s back, watching him descend the stairs step by step. Just as his figure was about to disappear around the corner, she chased after him for two steps before finally stopping for good.

"Commandery Princess."

Zhong Yin had appeared by her side at some point and called out softly.

The girl paid him no mind. She stood rooted to the spot, still muttering to herself, mulling over those two names again and again.

Suddenly, she asked, "Zhong Yin, why did he use the word ’also’?"

The girl’s fine brows furrowed. It was as if she were talking to herself, yet also asking a serious question. "Why did he say—’You’re also named Su’?"

Zhong Yin thought for a moment before replying cautiously, "Perhaps... he once loved a woman who, like the Commandery Princess, was also named Su."

Zhong Yin’s tone was serious, as if stating a perfectly ordinary assumption.

Who would have thought that these words would make the girl fly into a rage?

"How do you know he was talking about a woman? And how do you know for sure it was a woman he loved?"

The girl was so angry she laughed. "You don’t know anything, yet you stand here spouting nonsense!" she said coldly.

"From now on, as punishment, you’re not allowed to eat for three days!"

Despite suffering this undeserved punishment, Zhong Yin showed no sign of grievance. He simply lowered his head slightly and calmly answered, "Yes."

Seeing his indifferent expression only made the girl angrier. She shot him a harsh glare, snorted coldly, and turned, stomping up the stairs.

Zhong Yin stood on the staircase, watching the girl’s back disappear around the corner. He suddenly let out a soft sigh.

He shook his head and started up after her.

....

Fu Juemin descended the stairs, floor by floor. As he reached the lower levels, the boisterous hall on each floor fell into an inexplicable silence upon his appearance.

Many people either leaned out the windows or ran outside to watch him—this Young Master Ling who had become "notorious" in the Lower Five Banners in recent months for not wearing a braid. They watched him get into an equally ostentatious white-gold Western automobile, which pushed its way past the various banner carriages blocking the road and drove off flamboyantly.

For at least the next half-hour, the topic of conversation among the nobles of the various banners and families in Moon Embracing Tower revolved around the five words "Young Master Profound Banner Ling."

On the fifth floor of Moon Embracing Tower, by a latticed window.

An old man in a sapphire-blue, water-patterned magua jacket stared after the white-gold automobile until it vanished around the street corner. Only then did he retract his gaze and ask the person beside him, "Did you get a clear look?"

"Of course I did. I’m not blind."

The one who replied was nearly half a head taller than the old man in the blue magua. He was bald, save for a small patch of hair at the back of his head, which was woven into a thin, long braid coiled around his neck like a snake.

He was dressed in jet-black martial attire with tightly bound cuffs and a Chi-red, python-patterned belt around his waist.

With broad shoulders and a powerful back, he was built like a bear. Standing there like an iron pagoda, even his shadow seemed to carry more weight than others’.

"Good that you got a clear look."

The old man in the blue magua turned and walked back to the center of the room. He casually picked up a box of tobacco paste from the table and, while sniffing it, said, "Then during the grand tournament, we’ll have to trouble you, General Tu."

"This person’s recent actions have been too outrageous. If we don’t teach him a lesson, he’ll really think our Lower Five Banners are easy to bully..."

The bald, burly man crossed his arms. On biceps as thick as an average person’s thigh, a tattoo of a one-legged, gray-bodied Kuiniu pulsed slightly with his muscles under the light, as if it were alive, exuding an immense sense of pressure.

His posture was arrogant as he said coldly, "If you ask me, why go to all this trouble? I could just find some excuse and beat him to death in the street, couldn’t I?"

"That would be against the rules."

At the round table, a middle-aged man in a dark cyan magua spoke up. "That brat holds Prince Lv’s Token. If you strike him, it’s the same as striking Prince Lv himself and showing disrespect to the Profound Banner... When Prince Lv comes looking to assign blame, no one will be able to protect you."

At this moment, all the ruling Banner Lords of the Lower Five Banners were present in the room, along with a few Patriarchs from branch families, seated to the side.

"In the end, it was Prince Lv who was in the wrong first,"

the White Banner Lord sighed. "For the position of a Royal Banner, how many years have the Profound and Yellow families fought?

This time, the Helers actually brought in an outsider to interfere, using our Lower Five Banners as the first target..."

"And how do you know he’s an outsider?"

someone added in a flippant drawl. "What if... he’s Prince Lv’s own illegitimate son, raised on the outside?"

A ripple of soft laughter spread through the room.

Someone tapped the table lightly with their hand, and the laughter gradually subsided.

The oldest and most respected among them, the Gray Banner Lord, set down his teacup and said slowly, "The point of this matter is to let people know the weight our Lower Five Banners carry within the Nine Banners.

"We can’t let people push us around as they please, but we also can’t completely disregard Prince Lv’s reputation..."

The Gray Banner Lord looked up at the old man in the blue magua and said indifferently, "Elder Shu, please walk everyone through the plan one more time."

The Blue Banner Lord nodded. He dipped his long fingernail in some tea and began to slowly draw on the table as he spoke methodically.

"Hasn’t that fellow named Ling gathered supporters from the Five Banners and Nine Families?

We must give Prince Lv his due respect, but these Nine Families—those spineless slaves and treacherous thorns in our side—must be taught a harsh lesson."

He paused, then continued.

"The first step of this lesson is the Tributors’ martial competition during the grand tournament.

"When you all return, give your orders. If you run into them, kill them directly on the stage if you can.

"I hear that fellow Ling also practices Martial Arts. He might not personally enter the ring, so we can use words to provoke him.

"If he comes down, all the better. Kill him too.

"If he doesn’t dare... then we’ll crush his reputation."

As the Blue Banner Lord spoke, he looked over at the bald, burly man with a smile. "Of course, this step will rely heavily on General Tu.

"General Tu’s Martial Arts are supreme, and he has successfully gone through organ refinement for Entering the Dao three times. You’ll find no opponent for him within the Lower Five Banners.

"Even among the Upper Three Banners, including the Top Royal Banner, he is an outstanding talent.

"When General Tu takes the stage, he can do whatever he pleases to vent his fury!"

"I know what to do. I don’t need you to teach me."

A savage grin spread across the burly man’s face, revealing a set of sharp, beast-like teeth. In the dim shadows of the private room, his face looked unspeakably cruel and ferocious.

"And the second step?"

Someone couldn’t help but urge him on.

The Blue Banner Lord chuckled, his voice dropping to a sinister whisper. "The second step, naturally, is to dig up the roots of these Nine Families!

"If we don’t crush them all at once, then in the future, if some other Young Master Ling or Young Master Niao pops up...

"they’ll just come crawling back, licking them like dogs."