Le Premier ministre stupéfiant

Chapitre 79

Mo Xibei felt incredibly tired, her eyelids already pressed tightly together. "Sleep," a voice inside her told her. "Why not sleep when you're so tired?" But her consciousness refused to drift off to sleep, because it seemed as if someone was constantly calling her name, over and over again: "Xibei, you can't sleep here, get up, get up..."

When Mo Xibei was finally able to open her eyes, it wasn't dark around her. The white jade gate of Chen Youliang's treasure trove emitted a faint light. She tried to move her hands, and her fingers dug into the hard stone, feeling it. She also moved her legs, and her feet moved back and forth on the ground, feeling it as well.

She took a deep breath, turned over and sat up. Her back felt like it was being torn apart. She bit her lip and reached behind her. Her clothes were stiff. After a while, she touched the spot that had hurt the most and felt a warm liquid. Her lips were chapped, so she knew that the warmth was not sweat.

Huang Jin was still lying in a corner of the cave, in the same position as before. Mo Xibei finally managed to move to his side, but he couldn't bend down, so he kicked him with his foot. He then discovered that Huang Jin's limbs were already stiff. It seemed that he had already died from exhaustion.

Death would solve everything. But I wonder if he ever thought he would end up like this when he was so domineering. Mo Xibei thought that Huang Jin certainly couldn't have imagined it, because he himself never thought that such a day would come.

The cave wasn't actually very deep, but Mo Xibei felt like he had walked for a long time, until the passage ahead was completely blocked by rocks.

Volume Three: Hand in Hand Through the Mortal World, Chapter One: Loneliness

5

Historical records state that in the autumn of the fourth year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial Seal of the State, passed down from the Qin and Han dynasties and lost for hundreds of years until the Jingkang Incident when the Song Dynasty was in chaos, suddenly reappeared. People said that the reappearance of this priceless treasure was a gift from heaven, foreshadowing the rise of a wise and sagacious ruler to restore the Ming Dynasty, which had been declining since the Tumu Crisis.

Almost simultaneously, in the capital city, inside the Huguo Temple, amidst the swirling smoke of incense, a stunningly beautiful young woman, heavily pregnant, slowly rose to her feet, supported by two maids.

"Do you think she's really dead?" A young novice monk was already waiting nearby. Seeing the young woman get up, he quickly lowered his head and led the way. Behind the main hall, there was a row of quiet meditation rooms.

Many maids had already decorated the meditation room anew. The young woman waved away the maids who followed her and sat in a chair covered with a thick Persian wool cushion, seemingly asking herself a question.

"Probably, unless she has nine lives." The air behind them shifted slightly, and someone floated lightly down from the roof beam, a muffled voice replying.

"Nine lives? Doesn't that make her a cat?" The young woman chuckled, but after a long pause, she said, "She might actually be a cat with nine lives. Did you see her die with your own eyes?"

“If I had seen her blown to pieces, I would be dead too.” The man behind him snorted. “But the explosion was too powerful. When it calmed down, half of the cliff had collapsed. The cave where they were staying was gone. It’s a pity about all the gold and silver jewelry. Only one box was brought up.”

"No matter how much is brought up, it won't be yours. Now nobody has it. It's not so bad to blow it all to smithereens," the young woman said coldly. "I heard that Chu Junfeng has disappeared. Where did he go?"

"Chu Junfeng?" The man behind him sneered repeatedly. "I didn't even know. He's such a lovesick fool. When Mo Xibei died, he had just climbed the cliff, and he actually regretted it so much because of a woman's death. He insisted on having people hang from the cliff with ropes, going up and down the cliff looking for that cave entrance. And what happened? They couldn't find it anywhere. Even so, he wouldn't give up. Everyone else went back to the capital to report, but he insisted on staying. How stupid."

"Did he stay to find her remains?" The young woman seemed taken aback, but ultimately remained silent until the man behind her disappeared silently, just as he had come. Only then did she murmur softly, "Mo Xibei, why do you always have to live a happier life than others? You're like this when you're alive, and you can't let anyone have peace of mind even in death. Whether in life or in death, you make people envious."

She sat quietly for a while longer. Then, the young woman used her hands to support herself on the table and struggled to stand up. A small oil paper packet had appeared on the table sometime during this movement. With this effort, it quietly slipped into her sleeve.

In the autumn of Zilang Mountain, the sky is high and the forest is lush and green. Chu Junfeng has lost count of how many times he has walked through the dense forest, searching for some secret mechanism that may exist here.

He had only recently come to fully understand the truth that being too attached to something in life often leads to regret.

Murong Songtao's old knife hides the secret of his past. Chu Junfeng once thought that knowing his past would bring him relief and let him know why he existed. However, in the end, it only made him feel more confused.

His ancestor was Chen Youliang's most trusted strategist. When Chen Youliang held sway over Hanzhong, his ancestor foresaw Chen's character flaws and predicted his inevitable collapse. Therefore, he advised Chen to make preparations early. The location of the stone cave was chosen by his ancestor, and from the secret excavation to the arrangement of the traps and the proper burial of the treasure after its secret transport, almost everything was completed by his ancestor. To further protect the secret of the treasure, his ancestor even used a trap to poison all the craftsmen and soldiers involved.

"Too much killing will surely bring divine retribution." These words were left by his ancestor in Murong Songtao's old sword. It is clear that his ancestor knew that he would be punished for killing too many people in order to keep the secret of the treasure. So he secretly sent his wife and children away early on. However, no matter how clever he was, he did not expect that the retribution would come so quickly.

His lord, whom he regarded as a brother and sworn brother, whom he was willing to risk divine punishment for, prepared a feast for him after he secretly returned to Hanzhong and explained everything about the treasure. The wine was poisoned, and the food was also poisoned. "When the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die." Such blood and tears have flowed through the old blade.

It was blind loyalty, wasn't it? His ancestor didn't leave behind the solution to the treasure's mechanism until he was poisoned, but Chen Youliang didn't trust him enough to keep the secret from his wife and children. For many years, the trusted assassins he left behind have been hunting down his descendants, determined to eliminate them completely.

"Your ancestors were always cautious and always left room for maneuver." The master told Chu Junfeng something that sounded unclear, something his parents wanted to tell him before they died. He never understood what it meant until Mo Xibei accidentally triggered the secret left by his ancestors to open the treasure and easily opened it.

Perhaps we should still be grateful. If it weren't for our ancestors' habit of leaving room for maneuver, they might have all perished the moment the white jade gate opened, even if they had followed the proper methods to open it. It was precisely this habit of leaving room for maneuver that made him believe that besides the entrance on the cliff, somewhere deep within these mountains, there must be another passage leading to the treasure.

He had to go in, even if it meant certain despair.

For days, Chu Junfeng couldn't understand how Murong Songtao had detonated the already wet Thunderfire Bombs. He could only guess that, given Mu Feinan's ruthlessness and Mo Xibei's shrewdness, such a mistake was due to their inherent kindness; they often unconsciously put others' feelings into their own.

But what's the point of pursuing these questions any further?

The explosion still happened. The power of that instant blast shattered a large section of the cliff, and the cave was sealed off by rubble.

As countless treasures of gold and silver vanished into thin air, Mu Feinan, Mo Xibei, and all the men in black also disappeared without a trace.

He tried to lead his men to find the entrance to the cave, but after digging in roughly the same spot for many days, they still couldn't find the narrow passage. Later, everyone lost heart. The Embroidered Uniform Guard was under the command of Huang Jin, and Huang Jin's whereabouts were unknown, so they naturally refused to search any further and only wanted to return to the capital.

As they parted, he took out the Imperial Seal and asked a trusted member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to take it back to the capital. At that moment, he himself was unsure of his own thoughts, only feeling that everything he had pursued for the past half of his life was nothing but a mirage. The Imperial Seal might truly win the hearts of the people, and the Ming Dynasty might truly have become so corrupt that someone needed to rise up and take its place, but none of that mattered to him anymore.

Whether you are the number one martial arts master or the number one person in the world, what is the point of gaining this glory if there is no one to share it with?

Tian Xin was so angry she almost went mad. She pointed her sword at him and asked why he would give up everything he had worked so hard to build over the years for a woman who didn't love him. But at that moment, he realized that the Tian Xin in front of him was a complete stranger. When did that obedient, quiet, and even somewhat mischievous boy who always stood behind him start to have such a fierce look in his eyes and brows? And when did that boy start to care more about fame and fortune than he did?

“You don’t understand what I do because you’ve never truly loved,” he said then. “If you truly loved, you would know that even if the person you love doesn’t love you back, seeing her safe and happy is a joy; even if she doesn’t love you, you would still want to know that she is still living somewhere in this world. Because as long as she is alive, she can see all your achievements, but if she dies, she can’t see or hear anything you do, so what’s the point?”

"Women are nothing but tools, for procreation. They should be used when they can be used. If every man loves a woman like you, then I would rather spend my whole life without loving any woman!" At that moment, Tian Xin turned and left in a rage, never looking back. Only then did Chu Junfeng remember Hong Lü, whom Mo Xibei had entrusted with such preciousness. Perhaps they were all wrong, terribly wrong.

Volume 3, Chapter 2: The Most Delicious Food Under Heaven

In the early part of the fifth year of the Jiajing reign, the streets of the capital were still covered in winter snow. A small shop, but with a great reputation, quietly opened in the bustling city. Pedestrians could see it from afar. The shop had a plaque with five large gold-painted characters that read "The Freshest Food Under Heaven".

There are so many delicious foods in the world, but what exactly can be called the most delicious food in the world? Many people pass by every day, but they only glance at the small shop with suspicion.

The shop is decorated in a very old-fashioned style, with no flashy or eye-catching decorations, only a few wooden tables and chairs. Perhaps because many people have sat there, the tables and chairs have a dark, translucent quality, as if they have been soaked in time. There are no shop assistants in the shop, only an old man with white hair and beard, who sits at the counter by the door every day, flipping through a thick book with yellowed pages, the contents of which are unknown.

Days might just pass by like this, with many people coming and going on the street, only glancing at the small shop that never had any customers before walking away, until one day, when passing by at noon, a strange and mellow aroma that I had never smelled before wafted towards me.

Inside the shop, the white-haired and bearded owner was eating lunch: a bowl of white rice, a pot of old wine, and a small dish of side dishes. The side dishes looked very ordinary, but no one could tell what they were.

Finally, someone couldn't resist coming into the shop to ask. The old shopkeeper didn't hide anything and said that he ate the freshest food in the world. He even invited the person who came into the shop to taste it on the spot.

In less than ten days, the dish became famous as the "Number One Delicious Dish Under Heaven," and many people in the capital talked about it with great relish. The story goes that when Emperor Taizu of Song was campaigning in the south and north, he fell ill and lost his appetite. His cook racked his brains to prepare a simple dish, its rich aroma filling the air. Upon smelling it, Emperor Taizu's appetite was instantly stimulated. After ascending the throne, he personally named this dish "Number One Delicious Dish Under Heaven."

Of course, scholars quickly stepped forward to say that this story was purely far-fetched and never recorded in historical texts. It was definitely fabricated. However, no one could deny that this "most delicious food under heaven" was indeed a delicacy they had never tasted before.

Thus, the shop selling the "Number One Freshness Under Heaven" quickly became extremely popular. This was because the "Number One Freshness Under Heaven" was in limited supply and was always in short supply. The price of a small bottle, which had been five taels of silver, was inflated to ten taels of silver and could no longer be bought.

It wasn't until several months later that a seasoned merchant, accustomed to traveling the country, tasted the ingredients used to prepare this "world's most delicious" delicacy and discovered that it tasted quite similar to the clams from Tongxian County in the south.