[Chapter 1 – Murder in the royal capital] Yes, the guestrooms in the palace of the XI Nan King are just like this.

Notes: Xi Nan literally means South West.  I will use Xi Nan when referring to the place or the king and South West when referring to the direction etc.

In Xi Nan, there is a mountain named Luo Xian.

The name ‘Luo Xian Mountain’ sounds pleasing, and the scenery is also beautiful. During March and April, the plains of the mountain are entirely covered in vibrant green shoots and when the mist-like rain falls, flowers will take just a night to bloom. With the plants swaying when the wind blows, it leads to a carefree and relaxed feeling; this is certainly an excellent place to take a trip.

It is unfortunate that once this place is mentioned among the locals living at the bottom of the mountain, 9 in 10 will shake their heads, and even advise travelers to never go there, and when asked for the reason, no one is willing to say. Only upon encountering hotheaded fellows who insisted on going in, is the truth revealed; a few years ago, Luo Xian Mountain was occupied by someone who declared they are the ruler of the mountain. This leader of the mountain stronghold is called w.a.n.g Da Bao, and he has a group of people under him. Each of his subordinates are brutal and unreasonable, killing and beating up people at every turn and are armed with swords. The locals have been bullied by them a few times, and thus do not dare to go into the mountain to discuss a solution, and only treat them like the plague, hiding from them as much as possible and only requesting to have a peaceful daily life.

It is lucky that there are lots of mountains in Xi Nan, and the lack of this one does not matter much.

Yet only the locals want to have a peaceful life, and not w.a.n.g Da Bao.

He is a tyrant originally from the country of Chu; his family has land, houses and a martial arts hall; he had a comfortable everyday life. Used to showing off in the martial art hall, he carelessly caused a murder on the streets; this even alerted the emperor who was touring at that time, and in order to protect his own life, he absconded in the night, and arrived in this territory of Xi Nan and became a bandit. Suddenly arriving in this backwater town after a life of abundance, he laid low for a while. After some time, however, he began to think of ways to restore his former life.

At this moment, he is currently sitting in a sedan, and being carried by people towards the Xi Nan residence -- everybody knows, for the country of Chu, the King of Xi Nan, Duan Bai Yue is a minor and insignificant presence. 

When Chu Yuan ascended the throne, he was barely just eighteen. At that time, the old guards in the royal court formed factions; in the South West, bandits began to appear everywhere. Only the Xi Nan barely managed to stop them in their tracks, and even helped to maintain peace and order; the royal court naturally rewarded them with fiefdom and gold to placate and commend them. A few years have pa.s.sed, and all the troublesome va.s.sals have been eliminated. Only the King of Xi Nan, Duan Bai Yue, who not only did not suffer any losses, but was also rewarded with 16 states near the border, expanding his jurisdiction into the territory of Chu.

The ministers in the royal court discussed this matter with barely hidden criticism and dissatisfaction; they felt that Duan Bai Yue has been given more than he should be ent.i.tled; he has heavily armed troops under his command, so they cannot not protect against him. Common people were also spreading rumors in private, saying that the King of Xi Nan is violent and evil, and no one can’ say for sure that he won"t lead his troops to the north, and cause a headache for the emperor.

w.a.n.g Da Bao has also heard of this rumour.

Since he is in the South West, the biggest supporter to have will naturally be the King of Xi Nan. In order to seek a connection with him, the first thing to find out, and do what he likes. His trip happens to coincide with the completion of the King of Xi Nan’s new residence, and thus w.a.n.g Da Bao spent a half a month fully to prepare a gift and also buried it in the mountain for a month. He dug out the treasure in antic.i.p.ation, and carried the gift all the way with him to Xi Nan.

After getting out of the sedan, w.a.n.g Da Bao followed the housekeeper inside. The residence of the king of Xi Nan’s architecture is unlike an ordinary official’s residence, and is more like a palace in the royal capital. If it is said that the King of Xi Nan does not have intentions of rebellion, it is afraid that even an idiot will not believe this.

Heading into the garden, he can see that there is a young lady in pink and white currently sitting at the stone table, seemingly engrossed in something; the housekeeper whispered to him a reminder, “There is the owner, do not look around freely”.

After hearing this, w.a.n.g Da Bao lowered his head, but the lady has already seen the two of them, stood up and curtly asked, “He’s a guest?”

“Yes.” The housekeeper replied. “He is here to see the lord.”

The lady sized him up; w.a.n.g Da Bao sees that she did not speak for a long time, and took the initiative to praise, “It is as if Young Miss is a flower, similar to jade; your looks are like that of a goodness.”

The moment he ended his sentence, the housekeeper’s face immediately paled; the lady furiously said “Try saying it one more time and see what happens!”

w.a.n.g Da Bao was startled, and thought to himself, it’s possible that she found those verses too vulgar, and she wanted more elegant verses of praise? Heavens take pity on him, he is only a crude leader of the bandits, and thus not very cultured.

“Young master, please forgive him, this guest comes from inside the mountains, and is unfamiliar with the world.” The housekeeper urgently smoothed things over.

“…” Young master? w.a.n.g Da Bao is shocked.

“Humph!” the lady, or should he say, a boy, angrily turned away and went back to the house.

“Nonsense!” The housekeeper glared at him. “You’re fortunate that young master is unwilling to argue with you, when meeting the lord later, if you’re still unware of your surroundings, be careful that your head will fall!”

w.a.n.g Da Bao is unhappy but yet cannot express it. Rumours among the common folk all say that in the residence of the King of Xi Nan there is a younger lord whose temperament and instinct is the same as the King of Xi Nan; who knew that he will appear in this way, isn"t there a chance that the King of Xi Nan also has such hobbies – a liking to wearing feminine clothes and showing off in the courtyard.

Carrying with him a sense of unease, w.a.n.g Da Bao was led straight to the antechamber, and temporarily sat down to drink some tea.

Thirty mins later(1), he finally heard footsteps approaching from the outside.

“Lord!” The guards in the courtyard saluted in unison.

w.a.n.g Da Bao quickly stood up and bowed: “Lowly me pays respect to the lord.”

“You are the one who found and dug up the treasure?” Duan Bai Yue sat down at the first seat, and asked him.

“That is me, that is me.” w.a.n.g Da Bao is unable to contain his pleasure, and offered up the courtesy gift, and stole a glance at the legendary King of Xi Nan. His five features are handsome and he is of tall height; the purple outfit he wears is made of expensive, soft fabric; his aura is different from that of ordinary people; one look and one can see that he will be a good supporter to have.

Duan Bai Yue open the box, then frowned, “a stone?”

“Yes, it’s a stone, but it’s not a normal stone.” w.a.n.g Da Bao said with an air of mystique, and pointed it out to him.

Within the vague lines on the rock, there is a fierce Xi Nan tiger, and being stepped under its paw is a golden dragon; the meaning does not need to be said.

The King of Xi Nan raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

w.a.n.g Da Bao is full of antic.i.p.ation.

“Very good.” After a long pause, Duan Bai Yue finally said a sentence.

w.a.n.g Da Bao’s heart finally falls back from his throat to its rightful place, seems like he can already forsee a beautiful future of riches.

“What are your thoughts on this?” Duan Bai Yue asked him another question.

“Destiny should be followed.” w.a.n.g Da Bao approached him, “if this stone is also seen by the commoners, it will be of great benefit to the lord.”

Duan Bai Yue listen to his words quietly, and allowed his head to come nearer, to the point that their heads touching each other.

“What about the lord’s intention?” Luckily w.a.n.g Da Bao stopped in time, and avoided getting chased away with a slap.

“Not bad, it’s certainly worthy of the guest from Great Chu.” Udan Bai Yue nodded, “you can stay in this XI Nan residence after this.”

“Really?” He did not expect to become a member of the Xi Nan residence so easily, w.a.n.g Da Bao could barely contain his happiness, and even almost fainted.

“Of course it’s real” Duan Bai Yue nodded, and shouted to the outside, “Yao-er!”

“What’s the matter?” The youth, encountered in the garden previously, walked over.

“Bring this guest to the guestroom to rest.” Duan Bai Yue said, “If there’s no permission from me, he is not allowed to go out. “

“Let’s go.” The youth did not spare him one glance, “Quickly, I still have other things to do. “

“Yes yes yes, thank you very much King of Xi Nan, thank you very much young master. “ w.a.n.g Da Bao couldn’t care less what “no permission then he is not to go out” means, and quickly followed the youth outside.

The youth looks thin, and yet his steps are quick; w.a.n.g Da Bao was initially jogging, and in the end he was running quickly; he was dizzy and breathless, and even almost fell down.

“We have arrived.” The youth stopped walking, and impatiently said, “Go in already.”

w.a.n.g Da Bao stared at the prison cell in front of him, stunned.

If he didn’t remember wrongly, what the King of Xi Nan said just now, is….a guestroom?

“Is there a misunderstanding here?” w.a.n.g Da Bao asked mockingly.

“There’s no misunderstanding, believe it or not, the guestrooms of the King of XI Nan’s residence all look like this.” The youth clapped his hands together, and turned to go outside, “Rest easy, you won’t be starved.”

“Young master ----“ w.a.n.g Da Bao wanted to ask him to explain some more, but some guards have already went up to him, and dragged and locked him into the dungeon.

“Lord.” In the antechamber, the housekeeper came in and reported, “there’s a letter from the royal capital again. “

“Oh?” The King of Xi Nan seemed very interested in it, and carelessly threw the stone away, and went to the study.

At the same time, a few thousand miles away, the mood of emperor Chu Yuan is not good.

“Emperor,” Eunuch Si Xi, his personal caretaker, said, “it’s time to take your meal.”

“No appet.i.te, ask the imperial kitchen to disperse. “ A bit irritated, Chu Yuan placed the tea cup in hihs hand to one side.

Eunuch Si XI sighed internally, and after bowing and leaving, closed the door quietly.

Two years after ascending the throne, the life of the emperor is still stressful…

After half an hour, Chu Yuan threw down the official report, and angrily found a few guards, and got them to dig up a plum tree from the palace courtyard, and dispose of it as far as possible.

After receiving the order, everyone methodically spread out the work; you take the shovel while I excavate; not only must they work fast, they must ensure the soil is brought along, and even more importantly the roots of the plum tree must not be harmed --- because in three days or less, the emperor will send down an order to retrieve the tree and plant it back in its original place --- and even demand it to bloom in the winter. These seven, eight years of digging and replanting, being unrelentingly tossed to and fro; if it is an ordinary tree it would have withered a long time ago; and yet this plum tree bloomed even more extravagantly year after year; it’s a rare sight to see.

Although the season is not winter now, the nights in the royal palace are similarly cold. Every household has closed their doors tightly, and have long went to sleep. With the spring rain falling, this is initially a good time to sleep, and yet a shout sounded in the capital, breaking the silence: “This is disastrous, there has been a murder!”

A moment later, the patrolling guards have rushed to the scene. The alley is full of blood splatter, leading people to panic; a man is lying face down on the ground, a sharp knife stabbed into his back; it seems like he has been long dead.

The guards flipped the corpse over; and startled upon seeing his face; after verifying it one more time, replied, “Report to leader; the deceased seems to be the prince of the country of Ah Nu. “

(1): thirty minutes later here is written as ‘time taken to burn one incense stick’ as it is referred to in the past. 

Corection: it should be SOUTH West and not North West.