As the large ship with a building went further and further away from the shore, even the Maplewood Ferry became a dark beam of light in Li Muyang’s eyes. Without him knowing it, tears had blurred his eyes.
Li Muyang didn’t like crying.
He would never allow himself to cry, especially at the time when he was weak, or when others were bullying him.
If others chose you to bully, it could only prove that you were weak.
But if you cried when you were bullied, you were by nature a coward.
Therefore, Li Muyang endured the past hard years, always clenching his teeth to keep himself from crying.
But now, his mother, Luo Qi, who was in tears, struggled to smile when she waved at him. His father, Li Yan, who was a reserved, hard-headed man, felt too sad to make any sounds, and he was on the verge of tears. As for Li Sinian, she tried hard to jump as high as she could, hoping that Li Muyang could see her in the crowd.
When Li Muyang saw them, he couldn’t stand it anymore.
Men do not shed tears easily until being separated from the people that he loves.
“Brother Muyang, ‘a real man should go far away from his home and aspire to a great career.’ This trip to Capital Heaven is an excellent opportunity for talents like us to realize our aspirations. Why are you so upset? You’re crying like a little girl…” A young student in a blue academic dress looked at Li Muyang and said, cupping his hands to greet him.
Li Muyang wiped the tears away from the corner of his eyes with his sleeves. He turned to look at the man and asked, “Do we know each other?”
“I’m Zhang Linpu from Jia County. I think you should have heard about my name.” Jia County was a rich county under Jiangnan City’s jurisdiction. Although Zhang Linpu took the exam in the county, he got great grades. Jiangnan Province was a large province that had a great many candidates for the exam. It was quite a magnificent feat that Zhang Linpu could come out on top of thousands of candidates and enter Xifeng University for further study. Zhang Linpu’s status in Jia County was as high as Cui Xiaoxin’s status in Jiangnan City.
Therefore, he was quite confident that Li Muyang must have heard about who he was.
“No,” replied Li Muyang, briskly.
In the past, Li Muyang didn’t study hard for most of the time, so he didn’t know the gifted scholars and beautiful ladies in the cities and counties. But when he made up his mind to study earnestly, he no longer bothered about what was happening in the outside world and studied with undivided attention.
“…”
Li Muyang returned a salute and said, “I’m still a little sad, so I need to go back and cry for a while. Please yourself.”
After that, he turned around and walked toward the cabin.
“This guy is wildly arrogant.” Pointing at Li Muyang’s back, Zhang Linpu exploded with anger. He turned red to the tip of his ears and argued, “What an extremely conceited guy! Just look at the airs he’s giving himself! Because he got the first place in the Liberal-arts Exam and the support of Jiangnan City’s City Lord, he looks down his nose at everybody…”
“That’s right. He won the first place in the Liberal-arts Exam, but so what? Every year, there would be a No. 1 in the Liberal-arts Exam. But how many of them got a bright future in the end? Instead, those people ranked at the bottom of the list were more valued…”
“How many people who have been appointed prime ministers took the first place in the Liberal-arts Exam? What’s more, he didn’t even enter the Xifeng University but some unknown Starry-Sky Academy…”
…
As Zhang Linpu took the lead to attack, the others echoed and began to blast Li Muyang, the No. 1 in the Liberal-arts Exam.
After all, the journey was tedious, and it was good for them to get something to do. Anyway, they had nothing else to pass the time.
Besides, they bitterly resented Li Muyang. Why could he take the first place in the empire’s Liberal-arts Exam? Even the City Lord was willing to see him off in person. How could he get such special treatment?
He was the No. 1 in the Liberal-arts Exam, but so what?
If they all united together to exclude Li Muyang, he would have no classmates to make a name for him and have no relatives or friends to help him when he arrived in the Capital Heaven. By then, he would become a loner without any followers who couldn’t gain a promising future even if he had done a good job in the exam.
“How can a frog living at the bottom of a well know the vastness of the Starry Sky?” someone said in a bantering tone.
Everyone turned around and saw a short and fat man in a brocade robe standing at the corner of the deck.
He made no attempt to conceal his disdain of these students who were taunting Li Muyang, looking at them with a scornful expression.
“Who are you? What right do you have to say something like that to us?”
“We’re all university students whose names have been put on the published list of successful candidates. What makes you out of the ordinary?”
“I’m Zhang Linpu from Jia County. In the Liberal-arts Exam, I ranked the No. 179. What’s your ranking?”
…
“I am not a university student,” the fat man said, laughing. “I feel dizzy and sleepy whenever I begin to study, so I really can’t do that. However, different people have different aspirations.”
“Then, what are your aspirations? Say it out loud so that we can open our minds.”
“No. I can’t say it.” The fat man in splendid clothes shook his head and said, “However, I don’t think it is a glorious thing to attack the person named Li Muyang. Coldblooded slaughters can, at most, make a person a famous general in charge of someplace. In contrast, every one of those big shots who took an important part in the Starry Sky History had a compassionate feeling for all mankind. When you meet someone of great kindness, you are not happy about it. Also, you feel no sorrow when you have just parted from your native shore. Have dogs eaten your hearts? Don’t you know the importance of living with your true heart?”
“That’s outrageous! Who are you? What right do you have to comment on us?”
“A good-for-nothing has the cheek to talk about the famous figures in the Starry Sky History with us!”
“Make a show of yourself before us only after you become stronger than us…”
…
The fat man smiled and said, “No wonder Li Muyang doesn’t want to talk to you guys. You’re people from different worlds. I feel upset whenever I think about the fact that I’m on the same ship with you. As the saying goes, a hundred years’ efforts lead to cross by the same ferryboat. How can I come across you bunch of good-for-nothings after a hundred years of diligent cultivation? I was initially expecting to meet a few heavenly beauties!”
After the fat guy finished speaking, he no longer paid attention to these university students and turned to walk toward the cabin.
“Stop. Let’s make everything clear.”
“You’ve gone too far. Today, I’ll definitely give you a Bewitching Punch from my family.”
“Take my sword!”
…
All the rooms on the third floor were VIP cabins. Before these students got on the ship, a mysterious man had reserved all the cabins on the whole third floor. Luo Qi wanted to book the best room for his son so that he could live more comfortably on the way. However, no matter how much money she said she was willing to pay, people in the ship company said they couldn’t give her a VIP cabin. In the end, she could only get a single room on the second floor.
The whole third floor was heavily guarded. There were two well-built men in black guarding at the head of the stairs. In addition to them, each cabin was guarded by masters.
There were sentries posted every three or five steps, the alert level of which was comparable to that in the imperial palace or the general’s mansion.
“Why is it so noisy downstairs?” A young man in a black robe standing on the deck of the third floor asked.
“Young Master, these students have come into conflicts.”
“Useless scholars.” The young man sneered and said, “Since ancient times, these scholars can only do some paperwork and write a few superficially clever articles. How can we expect these people to achieve greatness?”
“Young master, be careful with your words.” The middle-aged military counselor who was experienced and reserved quickly reminded him. The Song Family was a family of scholars, who had been the teachers of seven emperors and prime ministers for six generations of emperors. The family was also known as the “Empire Library.”
The most important thing was that the Song Family had united the imperial family by marriage. Three emperors had married women from the Song Family. That was to say, three generations of the empresses, who were in charge of the imperial harem, were from the Song Family.
If these words said by the young master were spread out, he would greatly offend the Song Family.
“Humph.” The black-robed youth also knew that his words might sound offensive to a great many people. He grinned coldly but did not seem to have any intention of explaining. “Have you arranged everything properly?”
“Everything has been arranged.” Su Rong, the military counselor, bowed and replied. “Others couldn’t know that we would abandon our ship in Wuxi and take the criminal general to Jiangnan City by swift horses. Today, after this passenger ship left, the military ship that is supposed to escort the criminal general will only stop at Jiangnan City two days later. Even if they know what has happened at that time and want to fight back, it will be too late for them to do anything. Besides, there’s a fake prisoner on the military ship to cover us. I think they won’t discover the facts in a period.”
“Very good.” The black-robed man put down the teacup in his hands and said, “Let’s go to meet that famous General Iron-Wall whose fame has spread all over the empire.”
In the middle of a tightly sealed cabin was a cage made of black iron.
There was a big man with long hair locked in the cage. The big man was gagged, and his eyes covered. Thus, he couldn’t speak nor see.
His body was covered with blood. It seemed that he had been severely tortured before he got on the ship.
It was hard to see his face because of the disheveled hair all over his head. Others could only hear his heavy breathing, which sounded like that of a wild beast.
“Clank!”
Someone pushed the thick cabin door open, and the pitch-black cabin finally was lit up.
The man in the black robe stood in front of the prison wagon, looking it up and down. He then said, “General Xu, I have to remind you that you are in a soundproofed cabin. Even if you shout loudly, people outside can’t hear you at all. If you don’t believe it, you can have a try.”
The man in prison clothes remained unmoved as if he had heard nothing.
The man in black waved his hand and ordered, “Remove the eyeshade and gag for General Xu.”
A guard came forward. He ripped off the man’s eyeshade and undid the chain that wrapped around his mouth.
“General Xu has been fighting the battles on land for a long time, like a fierce tiger down the mountain. But you will not suffer from seasickness on this ship, will you?” the young man asked with a smile.
“Cui Zhaoren…” The man in prison clothes suddenly raised his head and stared at the black-robed teenager with fierce eyes. He continued with an angry voice, “I’m a great general who is always loyal to the empire! Don’t imagine you can accuse me of any crimes that I have never committed. You’ll not die in peace.”
“General Xu, I treat you with courtesy, but it seems that you don’t know how to appreciate what is good.” The teenager in black laughed and said, “Besides, what makes you think that I have accused you of the crimes that you didn’t do? I have irrefutable human testimony and material evidence, plus the arrest warrant that the king personally issued. Do you want to act against the king’s order?”
“The so-called witness and material evidence are all deliberately made up by your Department of Supervision. With your enormous human and material resources, what can’t you do?”
“General Iron-Wall, since you’ve seen everything through, then I have to…” A vicious look emerged on Cui Zhaoren’s face, and he continued with a smile, “I have to ask you to cooperate well with us. All you need to do is sign your name and put your thumbprint on this confession. Then I can guarantee that your whole family will…”
“Bah.” General Iron-Wall spat out a mouthful of phlegm and let loose a torrent of abuse, “You despicable people! You are capable of doing any evil things only to attack your political opponents. I will never frame Governor Lu! I’d rather die!”
“You are indeed Lu Xingkong’s trusted subordinate, whom he promoted in person. General Xu, the famous General Iron-Wall, had guarded the Fallen Dragon Abyss for ten years. Because of you, the Dawu couldn’t invade the frontiers of our empire even a little bit. You are a loyal and brilliant general whom I truly admire! Also, I know that you’re not afraid of death, but don’t you fear the death of your families? If you help me bring down Lu Xingkong, I’ll guarantee the lives of the entire Xu Family. What do you think of this deal?”