Fu Xi Yan hesitated, glanced around, and lowered his voice. “This place is open on all sides. Should we go somewhere else?”
Somewhere else too?
All this secrecy. It seemed he did not want Madam Fu to know.
As Fu Fu walked toward the study, he ran through every possibility he could think of.
Could Fu Xi Yan have found out about that time three years ago when he went to Yihong House with the heir of the Marquis of Guangxin? No, that could not be it. Madam Fu had found out the moment he returned. He had only drunk some wine and done nothing else, and she had forgiven him. That should not count as trouble in the inner household, right?
Then after ruling everything else out, there was only…
Fu Fu stopped walking and asked gravely, “Is this about Concubine Qian?”
Fu Xi Yan had been about to deny it, but then remembered that he needed to ease into the subject. “Why do you think it’s Concubine Qian?”
Fu Fu pulled him into the study. He was just about to shut the door when he thought better of it, poked his head back outside, and looked around. After confirming that the steward and other members of Madam Fu’s intelligence network were nowhere nearby, he carefully closed the door and said to Fu Xi Yan, “Concubine Qian’s maternal family hasn’t been doing well these past few years. I know she’s been quietly helping them out. It’s nothing to make a fuss over. Keep your mouth shut and don’t let your mother know.”
Fu Xi Yan thought, If even you know, how could Madam Fu possibly not know?
He said, “That isn’t what I wanted to talk about.”
Fu Fu guessed and guessed but still could not come up with the answer. Irritated, he said, “Then what exactly is it? Hurry up and say it.”
Fu Xi Yan smiled faintly, displaying patience to its absolute limit. He gently helped his father sit down, casually moved anything on the table that could conveniently be grabbed and smashed, then coaxed, “Dad, don’t get worked up. Come on. Sit down and we’ll talk slowly.”
His behavior was so abnormal that Fu Fu became a little frightened. “All right, all right. I’m not worked up. I’m not worked up. You stay calm too.”
Fu Xi Yan said, “When I was born, were you happy?”
Fu Fu frowned. “What kind of question is that? I was Count Yongfeng. Why wouldn’t I be happy to have another son? Was I supposed to worry I couldn’t afford to raise you? Why are you asking this?”
“Well, lately I’ve been reading some stories about real and fake heiresses, or a civet cat being swapped for the crown prince. There’s one little question I’ve been thinking about. If a child was switched and wasn’t actually yours by blood, but you’d raised him yourself from the time he was little…”
“What exactly are you trying to ask?” Fu Fu’s hand had already curled into a fist on his thigh, and his expression was growing increasingly serious.
Under that stare, Fu Xi Yan had no choice but to cautiously dip one toe into the water. “If you discovered that the son you’d raised for more than ten years… wasn’t actually your biological son, what would you think?”
Fu Fu was silent for a long time. “Concubine Bai told you?”
Fu Xi Yan’s heart tightened sharply. He carefully studied his father’s face. There was anger there, and disappointment, but surprisingly little shock. Dry-mouthed, he asked, “You knew? Or had you vaguely heard something?”
Fu Fu glared at him. “Bullshit! If this were the sort of thing people could vaguely hear about, the whole city would have been in an uproar long ago!”
Fu Xi Yan tucked his head down and stopped talking, quiet as a little quail waiting for the butcher.
Fu Fu took two rapid breaths, then suddenly sighed. “I just… had a vague feeling.”
Seeing Fu Xi Yan secretly peeking at him, Fu Fu kept a stern face. “Every time Concubine Bai and I slept together, afterward it felt as though I’d been unconscious. Not remembering the details clearly was one thing, but my body would still be perfectly dry… Cough. In short, something wasn’t quite right. Later, Concubine Bai became pregnant. I secretly counted the days and confirmed that the pregnancy lasted ten full months, so I let go of some of my doubts. But then you came out weighing twelve jin… and I started wondering again.”
Fu Xi Yan had no idea how Jin Yuan Xiu had managed to keep him in her womb for so long, but with the Earth Mirror and Taotie Gu involved, it probably had not been difficult.
“After that, Concubine Bai kept taking you everywhere to seek doctors, insisting there was something abnormal about how fat you were. I half believed her, half didn’t. Then she broke through the surveillance at the estate and ran off alone to Peijie Town.”
Fu Xi Yan blinked. “Surveillance at the estate?”
“You were little. So what if you were chubby? It wasn’t a big deal. Concubine Bai was the only one who spent all day making a fuss about doctors. Your mother and I thought she’d become overly anxious after giving birth, so we specially assigned people to monitor… cough, look after her. Two of them were even highly skilled martial artists…” Seeing Fu Xi Yan watching him curiously, Fu Fu added, “Well. Not that highly skilled. Just two people at the Bone Forging Stage.”
Fu Xi Yan knew Fu Fu himself was only at the Bone Forging Stage, so he hurried to comfort him. “The Bone Forging Stage is already amazing. I was stuck at the True Essence Stage for years.”
Fu Fu was satisfied by this show of respect and continued. “After Concubine Bai ran away, I remembered some of the things she’d said and guessed that she might have been hiding some kind of secret. Later, something happened to her in Peijie Town. The chain of events all seemed clear enough, but I still felt there was something strange about it. I thought maybe she no longer wanted to stay in the estate and had used a cicada-shedding ruse to fake her death and escape, so I didn’t pursue it too hard. Later, after I heard about Tang Gong, Fu Xuan investigated everything carefully again, which only confirmed my suspicions.”
Fu Fu tried to hide behind a casual tone, but what Concubine Bai had done had still badly wounded his masculine pride. His expression remained awkward. His eyes kept drifting toward Fu Xi Yan’s face, yet he refused to meet his gaze. Every time Fu Xi Yan looked over, Fu Fu immediately looked away.
After this happened three or five times, Fu Xi Yan simply stared straight at him. “If you suspected I wasn’t… then why did you raise me?”
Fu Fu was already in an extremely sensitive state. The moment he heard Fu Xi Yan saying “you” instead of calling him Dad, he exploded. “What’s wrong with me being the one who raised you? Does that mean I’m not your father? Does a father have to be related by blood?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“Just based on the copy of Soft-Gentle Fist Concubine Bai left behind, forget raising one of you. I could’ve raised ten and still come out ahead!”
Fu Xi Yan: “…” That was really unnecessary. He had never seen anyone pile a flattering high hat out of green cuckold hats before.
Elio’s Notes: In Chinese, “wearing a green hat” is a common euphemism for being cuckolded, while “putting a high hat on someone” means flattering them. Fu Xi Yan is joking that Fu Fu is somehow turning the humiliation of being deceived by Concubine Bai into something to brag about.
Seeing Fu Fu glaring at him in a huff, Fu Xi Yan said quietly, “Back when the Xu family □□ happened, you cared a lot that the other person didn’t have Xu-family blood.”
Elio’s Notes: The Chinese source itself contains the censorship/source gap □□ here. It is preserved rather than guessed.
Fu Fu shouted, “That was the Xu family! Is your surname Xu? Your surname is Fu! How is that the same thing?”
His double standards were practically flawless!
Fu Xi Yan hurriedly patted his chest to help him calm down. “All right, all right. It’s different, it’s different. I was wrong.”
Fu Fu sat there sulking for a while, then suddenly asked, “So what are you thinking now?”
Fu Xi Yan froze. “What do you mean, what am I thinking?”
Fu Fu sneered. “If your mother told you I’m not your biological father, then she must have told you who your biological father is too, right? What, are you planning to go acknowledge him?”
His neck was stiff, and the veins on his forehead stood out faintly.
Once he had escaped the influence of Concubine Bai’s breathtaking face, Fu Fu had already begun to suspect that she had deceived him. But he was not some coldhearted, ruthless man who would throw away a child over a suspicion. Since the boy’s mother was already gone, then the child was still his. All these years, it was not that Fu Fu had treated Fu Xi Yan as though he were his own son. He had simply treated him as his own son outright. After all, nobody could prove otherwise.
When Fu Xuan later discovered that Concubine Bai had not actually died, Fu Fu had secretly panicked. But when she made no move, he gradually set the matter aside again. He had never expected the issue to be waiting for him here!
What was this? Now that the son had become successful, she could no longer resist jumping out? She should think about who deserved the credit for the boy turning out so well!
The more Fu Fu thought about it, the angrier he became. Fu Xi Yan could only keep rubbing his chest for him. “Do you want to know who my biological father is?”
Fu Fu’s eyes nearly popped out when he saw that Fu Xi Yan actually dared to bring it up. “Hmph! Go on. I’d like to hear it.”
Fu Xi Yan said, “Mo Xiao Ran.”
“Heh. Mo Xiao… Hm? Mo Xiao… Ran?” Fu Fu’s anger had already climbed all the way to the top of his head, only to freeze solid in an instant.
Fu Xi Yan said, “My mother was Jin Yuan Xiu.” He slowly explained everything he knew, including the roles the Taotie Gu and the Earth Mirror had played in the entire affair. Fu Fu remained stunned for a long time afterward.
Fu Fu asked, “Then when your mother first came to our estate…” Halfway through, he stopped. The story about an orphan girl whose family had been wiped out by enemies had been false, but the part about seeking refuge was probably true.
Sure enough, Fu Xi Yan said, “She was hiding. Back when the Taotie Gu and the Earth Mirror hadn’t fully settled into coexistence, the pregnancy was unstable. My mother needed large quantities of rare medicinal herbs, but she didn’t dare buy them from pharmacies because she was afraid Mo Xiao Ran would trace her.”
He touched Fu Fu’s rigid arm, slowly bent both knees, and knelt on the ground. Then he kowtowed three times, each one striking the floor audibly.
“Dad, I’m sorry. Thank you.”
There was no question that what Jin Yuan Xiu had done went far beyond simple deception and concealment. If Mo Xiao Ran had come looking for her back then, everyone in Count Yongfeng’s Estate could have been dragged into danger.
After leaving the Fu family, Jin Yuan Xiu had tried every possible method to forge false trails and redirect Mo Xiao Ran’s attention. Yet sixteen years later, Tie Rong Rong had eventually killed according to the portrait, Mo Xiao Ran had still appeared at Fu Xi Yan’s side, and the Fu family had still been dragged into the whirlpool. If Fu Xi Yan had not yet openly broken with Mo Xiao Ran at the time, and if Mo Xiao Ran had already intended to act, the Fu family might have been implicated long ago.
Fu Fu slowly returned to his senses and could not help feeling a wave of belated fear.
Who was Mo Xiao Ran? The number-one great demon of the jianghu. He had nearly destroyed the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror itself. Beneath Heaven, only the Immortal Treasury Palace dared deliberately provoke him. Count Yongfeng’s Estate, whose strongest fighter was only at the Vajra Stage, was no more than an ant in Mo Xiao Ran’s eyes.
Fu Fu looked at Fu Xi Yan, then ultimately reached down and helped him up. “Then from now on, you…”
Fu Xi Yan said, “He and I are irreconcilable enemies!”
Mo Xiao Ran coveted his body, while Fu Xi Yan had no intention of becoming some blindly devoted, self-sacrificing filial son or grandson. The contradiction between them could not be reconciled. Other than standing on opposite sides to the bitter end, there was no second path.
Fu Fu said, “That isn’t what I’m asking. I mean…” His finger moved back and forth between the two of them.
Fu Xi Yan finally understood. Without hesitation, he said, “You’ll always be my dad. My real dad, my very-real dad, my one and only dad!”
Only then did Fu Fu show a gratified smile, but then Fu Xi Yan continued, “But…”
Fu Fu’s expression changed. “There’s still a but?”
Fu Xi Yan said helplessly, “Mo Xiao Ran is sinister, cunning, and unfathomable. Sooner or later, he and I will have to fight. He’s a master of Puppet Arts and has no scruples about what he does. I’m afraid I’ll drag the Fu family into it.”
Fu Fu desperately wanted to leap up and shout, Of course your old man is afraid of getting dragged into it! But he could not. Because the truth was, he really was afraid. Even more than ten years later, merely thinking that Mo Xiao Ran might once have come after him was enough to make his heart tremble. How could he possibly not fear what might still happen in the future?
But…
Fu Fu said, “Everyone beneath Heaven knows your name is Fu Xi Yan. Fu, as in Fu Fu. Do you really think that if you suddenly stop acknowledging me as your father, Mo Xiao Ran simply won’t come after me?”
Fu Xi Yan had barely managed to say “I” before Fu Fu cut him off aggressively. “You’re already the Master of the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror, and in the future you’re going to become another master of the Immortal Treasury Palace too. Are you telling me you still can’t protect your own parents? And you still dare call me Dad?”
Before coming here, Fu Xi Yan had originally thought that if Fu Fu learned the truth and refused to forgive either him or Jin Yuan Xiu, then he would use the “cesarean” operation as an opportunity to let the identity known as Fu Xi Yan “die.” That way, the Fu family could break free of the whirlpool entirely.
He had not dared mention this idea to Pei Yuan Jin. If “Fu Xi Yan” died, then naturally their marriage would be called off. Pei Yuan Jin would have no choice but to remain a bachelor for a while longer, at least until Jiang Xiu “developed” another Harmonized Yang Pill.
Seeing Fu Xi Yan remain silent, Fu Fu could not resist smacking him on the head. “Speak.”
Fu Xi Yan said speechlessly, “You could at least give me a chance!”
Fu Fu said, “Didn’t I give you a chance? You can speak now!”
Fu Xi Yan: “…”
Forget it, forget it. Tonight was special. He would let Dad keep some dignity!
He squeezed out a smile. “Before we came, Yuan Jin and I already discussed it. Lu Qing, Chief Manager of the Thunder Division in Jiangling, has broken through to Martial King. He can be transferred to Jiangcheng as Chief Manager of the Hubei Thunder Division. From now on, the Jiangcheng Thunder Division can be based right here at our estate.”
First, Lu Qing owed Fu Xi Yan a favor because his breakthrough to Martial King had depended on Fu Xi Yan’s guidance. Second, with the Hubei governor backing them, the Immortal Treasury Palace would gain an official connection as well. It was mutually beneficial.
Fu Fu frowned. “Aren’t you the Master of the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror? Why do you need to use people from the Immortal Treasury Palace?”
Because there was basically nobody left in the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror.
Fu Xi Yan said irritably, “What do you want me to do, call Song Qi Yun back out of his grave?”
Fu Fu said, “Master Song was at least the old Mirror Master’s chief disciple, which makes him your senior brother. Show him some respect!”
“He was the leader of Ghostshadow.” After saying this, Fu Xi Yan saw Fu Fu’s stunned expression and belatedly asked, “I didn’t mention that just now? Oh, right. Before he returned to Huaying Mountain, he also came through Jiangcheng once… He didn’t do anything to our family, did he?”
Fu Fu felt terrible all over.
He had never imagined the waters inside the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror ran this deep.
With aching teeth, he asked, “What could he possibly have done to us?”
Fu Xi Yan said, “Has anything strange happened at home recently? Or has anyone suddenly started acting strange?”
Fu Fu thought carefully. “Oh. The month before last, two old servants died unexpectedly. One drank himself to death. The other slipped and fell to his death.”
Fu Xi Yan’s heart tightened. “What did they do?”
“One guarded the gate. The other swept and cleaned.”
Father and son studied the matter for a long time, but neither could understand why two old servants who had worked for the family for more than twenty years had suddenly died, what exactly Master Song had done during his stay in Jiangcheng, or whether he had done something to those two servants at all.
But late at night was really not the proper time to wrestle endlessly with a question that had no answer.
After a moment of silence, Fu Xi Yan said, “Mother and Big Brother… will you tell them, or should I?”
Fu Fu said, “Why must we tell them?”
Fu Xi Yan froze.
Fu Fu snorted. “You’re the Master of the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror now and the future Young Madam of the Immortal Treasury Palace. There will be plenty of things we’ll need you to do in the future. If we expose your parentage, ordering you around won’t be nearly as convenient as it is now!”
Fu Xi Yan looked at his father’s transparent attempt to say the opposite of what he meant and could not help laughing.
Fu Fu asked darkly, “What are you laughing at?”
Fu Xi Yan raised a thumb. “As expected of my dad. Truly resourceful, far-sighted, deeply calculating, exceptionally visionary, outstanding among men…”
“Enough, enough.” Fu Fu waved away the flattery. “But I will tell your second uncle about this. He’s still in Jiangling, following Liu Tan Du.”
Fu Xi Yan nodded, then could not resist running his mouth. “As you should. He’s also my dad, after all.”
That provoked Fu Fu into trying to knock him on the head again.
Fu Xi Yan could only stretch out his neck and let him knock away.
Once Fu Fu had smacked him to his satisfaction, he finally waved a hand with imperial generosity. “That’s enough for today. You need to get the Taotie Gu out of your body as soon as possible.” He was now deeply wary of everything involving Mo Xiao Ran and naturally did not want something connected to that man hiding inside his son.
Fu Xi Yan nodded repeatedly.
Fu Fu gave him a sidelong glance. “Why are you still here?”
“Dad.” Fu Xi Yan called softly. Fu Fu was just about to impatiently ask what he wanted when both of his feet suddenly left the floor and he was lifted bodily into the air.
Overcome with excitement, Fu Xi Yan hugged him and spun him in a circle, trying to express all the joy and relief in his heart. Then came a loud bang as Fu Fu’s thigh slammed into the leg of the table, followed almost simultaneously by Fu Fu’s cry of pain.
…
Fu Xi Yan awkwardly put him down and obediently stood at attention.
A familiar knuckle-rapping blow came flying over!
“If I don’t beat you today, I’ll be damned!”
News that the new Master of the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror and the Young Master of the Immortal Treasury Palace had arrived spread through Jiangcheng as quickly as birds could carry it. For the second time since Fu Fu took office, the threshold of the Fu residence was nearly trampled flat.
This time, however, Madam Fu politely refused every visitor.
Because Fu Xi Yan was scheduled to undergo surgery that very morning.
The city’s most famous physician had already prepared the anesthetic powder, but Pei Yuan Jin would be the one wielding the knife. After all, the Taotie Gu was a strange treasure of the jianghu and might not be completely defenseless.
Before the surgery, Fu Fu led the family in to offer the patient their heartfelt condolences.
Fu Li An said that after the operation, he would give him several rare books.
Fu Xi Yan: “…” One look was enough. Definitely dirty books.
Fu Xia Qing said she would prepare plain congee for him.
Fu Xi Yan: “…” With the Earth Mirror’s terrifying healing ability, congee was probably unnecessary.
Fu Chen Xing said that once he recovered, he would keep him company by playing shuttlecock.
Fu Xi Yan: “…” Do you seriously not know which one of us is keeping the other company?
Madam Fu said that this year’s profit distribution had already been prepared, and she would give it to him once the surgery was finished.
Fu Xi Yan: “…” Actually, giving it to him now would also be fine. He wanted to undergo surgery with the banknotes tucked safely on his person.
When it was Fu Fu’s turn, before he could even speak, Fu Xi Yan beat him to it. “Dad, is your leg all right?” Then he received another knuckle rap.
Fu Xi Yan: “…” This complete lack of ceremony. Not his biological father, yet better than one!
Several concubines gave him protective talismans bought from roadside stalls, supposedly extremely effective at making a person impervious to blades and spears.
Fu Xi Yan: “…” He was about to have surgery. It would actually be better if the blade could get in.
By the time they finished making their rounds, Fu Xi Yan was already a little hungry. He looked at the sky outside and said, “How about we eat lunch before cutting me open?”
Fu Fu said, “Better a short pain than a long one! What are you dithering around for?”
Everyone else expressed their agreement.
“Fourth Brother, if you don’t have the operation until this afternoon, I’ll have to think up new things to say to comfort you.” Fu Chen Xing frowned his little face worriedly, as though saying, You’re already a grown adult. Don’t make trouble for a child.
Fu Xi Yan: “…Fine.”
Fu Xi Yan removed his outer robe and lay down on the bed. The Fu family filed out, leaving only Pei Yuan Jin standing beside the bed with the anesthetic powder and wine.
Anywhere else, Young Master Pei’s bearing could only be described as elegant and magnificent. But here in the delivery room… ptooey, the operating room, he gave off a crushing pressure that made Fu Xi Yan extremely uncomfortable.
He shifted uneasily. “Before you start, let’s hold a surgical conference first… Gulp, cough, glug glug…”
Anesthetic powder washed down with wine. Not a flavor combination one encountered every day.
Fu Xi Yan licked a drop of wine from the corner of his mouth. “I wonder how long the anesthetic takes to work.”
Pei Yuan Jin poked his belly. Fu Xi Yan curled up from the tickle. “Not yet. Way too early. Don’t rush. Tell me your surgical plan first.”
Holding Fu Xi Yan’s “Wind Chime,” Pei Yuan Jin measured it against his belly. “First cut open the abdomen, then cut into the true essence, then…”
“That’s enough, that’s enough.” Fu Xi Yan felt the wine going to his head and decided he no longer particularly wanted to face this real world. Better to go play shuttlecock with the Duke of Zhou in his dreams.
Pei Yuan Jin poked his belly again. Seeing Fu Xi Yan’s reactions becoming sluggish, he knew the medicine had nearly taken effect. He laid him flat, then lifted the dagger.
He had simulated the operation in his mind countless times, but when the moment came to actually do it, Pei Yuan Jin still discovered a hidden sliver of uncertainty inside the relentless forward momentum he had always taken pride in.
When discussing martial arts with his father, Pei Yuan Jin had always been completely confident in his own unwavering advance. His goal was the highest peak of martial arts, the mysterious realm beyond Martial God. To reach it, he cut through thorns, treated danger as level ground, and challenged stronger opponents alone without fear. Courage existed in countless forms. Some people could remain calm while Mount Tai collapsed before them yet fear heights. Some could face a venomous snake without changing expression yet be afraid of cats. A person encountered thousands upon thousands of situations in a lifetime. To truly move forward without hesitation meant having no weakness at all.
Pei Yuan Jin’s weakness was naturally very obvious.
The moment he closed his fingers around the dagger, he was not merely performing an operation. He was also tempering his own state of mind.
The blade finally cut through the skin. He was about to probe toward the true essence when he discovered that, under the Earth Mirror’s influence, the cut skin was already slowly healing.
Pei Yuan Jin withdrew the dagger. In only a few breaths, Fu Xi Yan’s abdomen had returned completely to normal.
The second time, Pei Yuan Jin was far more focused, and his strike was much faster. Almost at the exact instant he cut through the skin, he sliced into the true essence as well. As though sensing danger in advance, the Taotie Gu let out a piercing shriek.
Fu Xi Yan jolted awake from his hazy sleep. The Taotie Gu suddenly burrowed out of the true essence and fled through his meridians toward his heart.
This was where having a Martial King as the surgeon showed its value. An ordinary physician could probably do nothing but watch helplessly as the Taotie Gu escaped and the wound healed behind it. Pei Yuan Jin, however, determined its direction and destination the instant it fled. His hand flashed out, and the dagger stabbed into one of Fu Xi Yan’s meridians. The Taotie Gu screamed. The moment Pei Yuan Jin withdrew the blade, an enormous torrent of true qi, vast as the sea, erupted from the Taotie Gu and rampaged through the meridians.
The anesthetic was rapidly expelled from Fu Xi Yan’s body as the true qi circulated. Sensation returned almost immediately, and the raging true qi seemed ready to burst his meridians apart.
He sat up cross-legged and guided the true qi through the greater heavenly circuit.
At the critical moment, the blue T on his forehead lit up. A streak of red light traveled backward along his meridians and shot straight into his mind—
The Heaven Mirror and Earth Mirror became one.
Behind the blue T on Fu Xi Yan’s forehead appeared a red ⊥. The two symbols merged together, becoming a purple mark shaped like the Roman numeral II, two horizontal bars connected vertically.