Dritte Ehe

Kapitel 44

The Mingzong swordsman shook his head and sighed softly.

"Why is the swordsman unhappy?"

"Your swordsmanship and skills are superb, but that's about it."

"Alas, everyone has their own strengths and talents. I am not talented enough and have disappointed the sword master."

"I am not talented!" The Mingzong swordsman looked at his disciple, who spoke self-deprecatingly but whose smile did not diminish. "If a situation arises, you will probably surpass Xuechu. In terms of martial arts aptitude, you possess not only talent but also extraordinary genius. It is a pity that your heart is not in this path."

“Master, the world is ever-changing. Just as the stars shine brightly tonight, the moon may be hidden and the stars may be obscured tomorrow. The changes of things and stars are just like the ever-changing world. There is always its alluring beauty. I can only say that the path of martial arts is not what I seek.”

What do you seek?

"Yes, disciple only wants to experience the vicissitudes of this world; a single focus can hardly add any interest to life."

"Chu'er, you have only a fraction of the gentleness of a woman in your life." The Mingzong swordsman Rui Jing sighed as if he had made a final judgment.

Su Shaochu paused, about to place his sword, and raised an eyebrow with interest. "Is the swordsman giving his disciple a fate chart annotation?"

"Your casual, unrestrained, and somewhat reckless chivalrous spirit forms a contradictory indifference in you. You are three parts gentle and seven parts indifferent. You are full of interest in the world, yet you never take it to heart. You play the world without a heart. It seems that my disciple is really not a lover."

Su Shaochu laughed. "People around me always describe Shaochu as gentle and affectionate, but I suppose the swordsman doesn't think that way about his disciple."

"Your amorousness is playful; you are full of interest in all kinds of emotions between people, and your warmth masks your indifference to emotions."

"Does the swordsman believe that his disciple has no feelings for him?"

"Has Chu'er ever considered that when affection comes from the heartless, will that affection still have warmth?"

"A love that has lost its warmth?" Su Shaochu toyed with the chess piece in his hand, deep in thought about the topic. "What is a heartfelt love? In my disciple's view, all things have feelings, and every interaction is a heart."

"Is someone who embraces all things as having feelings truly a person of feeling? The most sentimental people are the most heartless, carelessly and willfully bestowing their feelings, as if everything in their eyes is lovely and there is nothing to choose from. Does Chu'er think this is being sentimental or being promiscuous?"

"Is the swordsman telling his disciple that whether one is passionate or promiscuous, it is all in vain?" The swordsman's "Zen wisdom" tonight clearly had an underlying meaning. "Because the disciple has no heart for love?"

"You simply draw a line of distance with a heart that looks down on the world, and before this line, no one and nothing can enter your heart."

“An unintentional distance…” Su Shaochu rested his head on his hand, a playful smile spreading across his face. “So… does the swordsman consider you to be outside or inside the boundary? Am I speaking to you across the boundary?”

"Answering your question would be playing right into your trap." Facing his exceptionally clever disciple's attempt to distract him, the Mingzong swordsman placed another crucial piece on the chessboard. "The outcome of this game will be clear!"

"Alas! The swordsman's move was deliberate, showing no mercy to his disciple." Tonight, the swordsman clearly intended to lure her into a stalemate step by step, hoping to dampen her disciple's spirit.

"It's better to show you no mercy today than to regret not having warned you when things go wrong in the future." He reminded his disciple. "Don't forget, if you lose this round, you will not leave Meixiu Mountain or set foot in the Central Plains for three years."

Tonight's game of chess is a pre-arranged game between the Mingzong swordsman and his disciple.

"Is the swordsman afraid that his disciple will die because of her own 'lack of affection'?" The swordsman once predicted that if she returned to the Central Plains within three years, she would not be able to escape her predetermined fate.

"I was afraid that you would be indifferent to love, yet still play along, which would ultimately bring disaster upon yourself." Her personality dictated this fate.

"The sword master once said that my talent is the greatest in turning the tide and reversing the situation. The sword master should believe that if I really encounter such a situation, I will also have a way to get through it."

"The most unpredictable thing in the world is the human heart. No matter how much the world changes, how can you win against the changes in the human heart? Today you have the ability to control the situation, but that does not mean that the game will still be yours tomorrow."

"Swordsman, encountering a situation where the odds are heavily against you, whether today or tomorrow, is not what I want. Remaining inactive and waiting for an opportunity is the best course of action right now. The way out is to adapt to the adversity and change course, just like now."

Su Shaochu raised his hand and placed another piece. Several pieces were sacrificed on the chessboard, and he did not gain an advantage, but he cleverly restrained every move his opponent was about to make.

"You want to turn this game into a draw?" After examining the board, the Mingzong swordsman smiled as if he understood.

"Perhaps it delayed the time of defeat, but I know that the swordsman will not continue in this game."

"Is Chu'er so certain?"

Su Shaochu blinked, a rare mischievous smile appearing on her face, the kind she usually showed only to her elders. "Who taught my son to be so adept at playing the field? I'm certain the swordsman would never have the heart to force Chu'er to finish this 'agreed game'."

“Even if I were to trap you with a chess game today, Meixiu Mountain could not hold you for three years.” He knew his disciple’s abilities very well.

"To be honest, given my disciple's character, being confined to Mount Meixiu for three years, all that resentment fueled my scheme..." Su Shaochu cleared his throat. "Ahem, Sword Master, I never intended to disturb your peace!"

"Shouldn't your teacher be moved by your filial piety?"

"Not at all, to move the swordsman is enough for me to feel that all the mental and physical exertion tonight has been worthwhile." She accepted the sentiment as a matter of course. "I hope the swordsman will remember my filial piety. In the future, when I miss you in the Central Plains, please come out and visit me."

"You even want to scheme against your own master's abilities?" As a disciple, instead of visiting your master, you ask your master to take care of you.

"I only wish that the swordsman's brilliance should not remain on the mountain and rot away, but should be spread out so that more people can admire him." Brilliance, brilliance, it always needs to be displayed in the wind, only when Jin Cai displays his martial prowess can it be called brilliance.

"I can only appreciate your filial piety."

"Even if my disciple is to be destroyed, the swordsman can bear to watch him die!"

"I know very well how much of the martial arts I taught you you can achieve. Nothing can truly destroy your power; the only thing that can destroy you is the self you've hidden." The Mingzong Sword Master looked at this extremely intelligent disciple, who possessed a heart that was the most difficult to see through. "The best way to deal with a heartless disciple like you is to press forward step by step, never giving you a chance to turn the tables."

"Sword Master, you are definitely the one I dare not face in this world, you are truly ruthless!"

"In my opinion, the truly ruthless person is the one who embodies both the heartless and the compassionate, the one who takes both to the extreme."

"Could it be that my disciple is also a compassionate and thoughtful giver?"

"When your heart and feelings no longer deceive each other, you will be one."

Facing the raised eyebrows, which were filled with both doubt and curiosity, the Mingzong Sword Master sighed deeply and said, "You, who are indifferent to emotions, deceive even yourself when your heart is stirred by feelings."

Chapter 1

Unleash your boundless passion, roam freely across the land, yet the vast and boundless sky remains unseen.

By setting aside a bit of tenderness, one can roam the world and witness its vicissitudes.

The world is a turbulent sea, time flows by; the moon is silent, words cannot be fully expressed.

Where is the heroic spirit that accompanies me on this vast and boundless journey?

Amidst the misty rain and rolling hills, to whom can I pour out my tender feelings?

Do not say that life is full of joys and sorrows, separations and reunions, and the inevitable aging process.

Why not roam freely between heaven and earth, and drink a thousand cups of wine in the mortal world?

"Shaochu, is it fun drinking there?"

A stunningly beautiful young woman sat in a small pavilion, cupping her cheeks in her hands, gazing at a tree branch that stretched horizontally across the lake. The surrounding lush green leaves resembled a small platform. A young man in simple clothes, holding a pipa, lay sprawled on the platform with his legs crossed, playing the pipa and reciting poetry to amuse himself in the afternoon breeze.

"Drinking is for enjoyment." His handsome, refined face was unusually flushed. He picked up a wine jug that was wedged in a branch, opened his lips, tilted his head back, and drank. "The lake, the wine, the music, the joy—all of these make me feel good."

Wiping the wine stains from her lips, she swayed her body, which was crossed over her legs, as if she were completely at ease, but she noticed that the girl in the pavilion frowned.

The seemingly carefree and unrestrained young man is actually a girl. Accustomed to doing whatever she wants as a young man, she no longer cares about the etiquette of gender distinctions and simply follows her own free and unrestrained ways.

"Are you drunk?!" Even with her high alcohol tolerance, she had drunk enough today. Did she really think she was invincible?

"If I were drunk, I would have fallen into the lake long ago."

"Oh." Yan Shanshan cupped her cheeks, blinked her bright eyes, and what she didn't say was: If you weren't drunk, you wouldn't have sat there!

"Brother Tong, don't forget your promise: I'll drink all the fine wine of Tong Family Manor."

“If you really have a huge capacity for alcohol, I won’t be stingy,” said Tong Shou, the second young master of the Tong family, sitting opposite Yan Shanshan, with a smile.

Tong Shou, a man of refined and handsome appearance and composed demeanor, was always three-tenths drunk when he drank. At this moment, looking at the person hanging from the tree trunk and swaying in the middle of the lake, he was afraid that if this guy got drunk, he would really fall asleep in the tree.

"Sigh! I didn't plan on going all the way to the border to pick up a drunkard." Yan Shanshan was worried about what to do if she couldn't set off tomorrow morning. "Brother Tong, the Fenmo River near Tongjiazhuang eventually flows into the Longjiang River, right?"

"The Fenmo River does indeed eventually flow into the Longjiang River." The Longjiang River is the largest river in the suburbs of the capital.

"Shao Chu, if you dare to get drunk, I'll throw you into the Fenmo River and let you drift back to the capital on your own. I don't take drunkards with me." She shouted towards the center of the lake.

"I'm drunk!" The person on the tree trunk plucked the strings of a pipa and laughed leisurely. "What can make me drunk is not wine, but pleasure; happiness has always been intoxicating."

"So, may I ask if you are happy right now?"

Su Shaochu suddenly laughed loudly. A fleeting shadow, like a breeze, extended from the center of the lake, its branches brushing against the surface, creating endless ripples. The graceful figure in white had already stepped into the pavilion again.

"Where is my heroic spirit amidst the vast world? To whom can I pour out my tender feelings amidst the misty landscape? Why not roam the heavens and earth and drink a thousand cups of wine in the mortal world?"

A handsome face appeared before Yan Shanshan, accompanied by an elegant figure. He shook the wine bottle and raised his eyebrows at her, saying, "I haven't drunk a thousand cups yet, so I'm still a bit short of being happy, and even further from being intoxicated."

"You're the kind of person who wants to do everything to the fullest. Since you're still a bit short of true happiness, where are you going to find that kind of bliss?"

"As long as Shanshan promises to stay with me through thick and thin, I'll be able to sleep soundly tonight. Otherwise, without your beautiful and lovely companionship, I'll die of loneliness."

"Are you really going to get so drunk you won't stop?"

Zhu Kai's bright smile illuminated his intelligent yet mischievous eyes. He lifted a strand of hair from Yan Shanshan's shoulder, winked at her, and said with a smile, "You'll understand the answer when you see me again."

"If I see you again...where are you going?" Yan Shanshan, who had just frowned, saw Su Shaochu emerge from the pavilion.

"Find some fun that can make me completely drunk."

Yi Ya darted across the lake and landed in front of the maid who had just entered the courtyard.

"Young Master Su!"

The head maid exclaimed in surprise as the figure blinked and left, taking away the fine wines and spirits from the tray.

"Are there guests at Tongjia Village?"

The loud noise drew the attention of a group of people passing by the "Prism Lake Courtyard," and the leader, a man with an imposing and noble appearance, asked a question.

"Reporting to the Third Young Master, these are just some of my friends from the martial world who recently returned from beyond the Great Wall and came to Tong Family Manor for a gathering." The old master of Tong Family Manor, who was following behind, was clearly quite cautious towards this Third Young Master, and respectfully clasped his hands in response.

“Friends from the martial world…” Hearing the shouts coming from inside the wall, and the clear, loud voice that could be heard from afar, the man was quite interested. “The voice of the friend from the martial world who is reciting the poem sounds quite young, but he is full of heroic spirit. I am interested in meeting the friend from the martial world behind this wall.”

"I am grateful that you, the Third Young Master, have not abandoned me. I am just afraid that the casualness of a martial artist might offend you."

"Even though I am not a member of the martial arts world, I still know a bit about people in the martial arts world, so the old master need not worry."

The handsome man raised his lips slightly, his demeanor and the way he swept his hair over his shoulder exuding the elegance and arrogance of a nobleman. He smiled and said, "Today I have come to ask for the opinion of the old master of Tongzhuang because the court wants to set up a new government office at the border to manage the entry and exit of foreign tribes. I am concerned about official business and do not want to add any unnecessary troubles."

"I understand." The old master of Tong Manor clasped his hands and smiled, knowing that the third young master had made his point directly and that he had no intention of getting involved in unnecessary matters. "Please come this way, third young master. 'Tianqu Pavilion' is a secluded place where you will not be disturbed."

Ruoqie led this group of distinguished guests from the capital away from "Lingbi Lake Courtyard" and into the inner courtyard, which truly relieved the old master of the Tong Manor. If possible, he would not want this "noble third young master" from the capital to see the person behind the wall, otherwise, given the young master's reputation and usual character: hunting for beauties like food, regardless of gender, as long as he took a liking to them, they would definitely be his playthings.

Everything about Su Shaochu was exactly what he wanted. After all, he didn't want to betray his lifelong friend and sworn brother, the old patriarch of the Su family!

Located near the border between Nanyuan and the Central Plains, "Tong Family Manor" is a vast manor and a well-known ancient clan in the area. The old manor lord has extensive connections and is known for his affability and loyalty. Both the martial arts world of the Central Plains and other regions hold "Tong Family Manor" in high esteem. This is because no matter if someone from the Central Plains or other ethnic groups, or even a villain or gangster, seeks help from "Tong Family Manor" when their life is in danger, as long as it is for the sake of humanity and morality, the old manor lord is willing to save them from danger. Therefore, he is highly respected by all parties.