In the same autumn, Fu Jian fell ill in Ganzhou and never recovered. During his illness, he submitted a memorial to the imperial court recommending Duan Guihong as the general of the Western Expedition Army to quell the rebellion in the southwest.
Only Duan Guihong knew that on his deathbed, Fu Jian had called him over, mentioned his impending death, and made him swear to bring the Autumn Night White back to the southwest and guard it carefully, ensuring not a single plant would flow into the central plains.
He listened in a daze as Fu Jian said: “The peace of the world, the century of prosperity, will be created and destroyed by your hands. Though you do not bear the Fu surname, you are a Fu family member at your core.”
“I have fought in all directions, spent half my life on horseback, with only one unfulfilled wish: to see peace in the human world. Now… I entrust this to you.”
The old general gave his final command. Duan Guihong kowtowed three times with tears, and after sending off Fu Jian and settling all matters, he followed the imperial army to the southwest.
From the sixth year of Yuantai, when the southwest was pacified, until now, he had been guarding for twenty years.
In those twenty years, Fu Ting’zhong was assassinated by Tatars, Fu Ting’xin died on the battlefield, and Fu Shen was sent to the northern frontier. Though he was in the southwest, he never forgot the withered grass and yellow sand of the north.
In the first few years after Fu Shen went to the northern frontier, Duan Guihong saw the war gradually subsiding and the north returning to stability. He thought that after these ten-plus years of turbulence, the “peace in the human world” was finally about to be realized.
But later, he realized he was mistaken.
The North Yan cavalry had been passed down through three generations of the Fu family, and the Yuantai Emperor could no longer sit still. The Fu family members were all short-lived, but the Yuantai Emperor was a long-lived monarch. He watched generation after generation of Fu family members take up the military seal and go to the battlefield, with the North Yan army growing stronger and the commanders becoming younger, while he grew older.
If this continued, ten or twenty years later, would this world still belong to their family?
When the Yuantai Emperor ordered Fu Ting’yi to inherit the title and made Fu Shen the Jingning Marquis, Duan Guihong had already sensed the emperor’s wariness and vigilance towards this new commander of the North Yan cavalry.
The Yuantai Emperor had been on good terms with Fu Jian when the court was in turmoil and still needed his support; he had favored Fu Ting’zhong and Fu Ting’xin because the brothers supported each other, with the Shu King also involved; but now he dared to act against Fu Shen purely because he was young and easy to manipulate, and the current Ying Guogong was a useless waste who was about to ascend to immortality and would be of no help if something happened.
To be prepared, Duan Guihong sent Du Leng to Fu Shen’s side. As the emperor’s intentions became increasingly clear, Duan Guihong finally lost hope in the so-called “peace in the human world.” He finally understood that as long as someone sat on that dragon throne, the Fu family members, and he himself, would never escape “heaven’s mandate.”
The Western Ping Prefecture Prince finished his confession, slowly exhaling the accumulated stagnant air in his chest, and said: “I have betrayed my trust, deeply disappointing my mission. When I meet Fu Gong in the underworld, I will have no face to see him.”
As the first prince of a different surname to be granted a county, he guarded the western frontier for twenty years for a fleeting, mirage-like entrusted mission. Fu Shen knew full well that he had done many wrong things, yet could not stand at a higher position to condemn him.
Just like when Fu Tingxin once said to Duan Guihong “What sin have the common people committed,” now it was Fu Shen’s turn, and he could only say the same words. Because he knew he was not innocent.
The most frustrating charges in the world are “fabricated,” “punished for possessing treasure,” and “I did not kill Boren, yet Boren died because of me.”
Fu Shen said dejectedly: “I also have no face to see him, so why don’t we go hang ourselves at his grave together?”
Duan Guihong ignored his sarcasm: “Since we’ve come to this point, I’ll tell you something. You know I’m in the southwest, far from reach, unable to establish a significant force in the capital. Pure Yang Taoist could only stand firm in the capital thanks to someone repeatedly offering help.”
Fu Shen’s heart sank: “Who?”
Duan Guihong didn’t beat around the bush and said directly: “It was Fu Tingyi.”
“
Like a heavy hammer falling from the sky, it smashed the Jing Ning Marquis into the ground. Fu Shen was completely stunned, raising his voice in disbelief: “Who?”
“Ying Guo Gong. Your third uncle.” Duan Guihong finally shocked Fu Shen and for some reason seemed a bit pleased, “Didn’t expect that, did you?”
“He… all these years, his pursuit of immortality was just a cover, and he was actually in contact with you privately?”
Though shocked, Fu Shen’s mind was still sharp. With Duan Guihong’s hint, he could roughly piece together the whole story. His frequent visits would not raise suspicion. The white dew powder and smoking tools needed could first be sent to Fu Tingyi and then passed on. As a Taoist priest, frequent contact with the southwest would easily expose him, but for the Ying Guo Gong mansion, this was nothing…
No wonder Yan Xiaohan and the others could never trace the source of Pure Yang Taoist’s drugs.
“Your third uncle has been laying low for years,” Duan Guihong said. “I contacted Uncle Ran after you went to the Northern Frontier.”
Fu Shen, unusually angry, said with a gloomy face: “If he wants to lay low, he should just cultivate his immortality! Why get involved in these messy affairs? What thick-headed foolishness, or is the Ying Guo Gong mansion not collapsing fast enough?”
“Jing Yuan,” Duan Guihong said calmly, “You think like everyone in the capital, believing he is where he is just by being born into a good family, right?”
“What do you mean!” Fu Shen said angrily. “No one’s stopping him from cultivating immortality! I finally got the Ying Guo Gong mansion out of trouble, and he’s rushing to jump into the fire. Is he addicted?”
“Once an epidemic spreads, it cannot be controlled by human power,” Duan Guihong said with a bitter smile. “The same goes for Qiu Ye Bai. Even if I stop it from spreading further from now on, what has already been released will continue to reproduce. It’s too late to try to cut off the source now.”
Fu Shen said, “After the Jing Chu case, the imperial court will pay more attention to Qiu Ye Bai. I estimate that a decree will soon be issued to prohibit private cultivation of Qiu Ye Bai.”
While the already dispersed cannot be controlled, the technique of making Bai Lu San should still be in the hands of the prince, right?”
Duan Guihong nodded. Fu Shen continued, “If you stop now, I cannot guarantee peace in the world, but if you do not stop, the world will definitely not be at peace. Please consider the weight of your actions, Your Highness.”
Although Bai Lu San had not yet become the most important source of income in the southwest, its potential was promising. Fu Shen did not rush him, merely touching on the subject. They drank all night, with the tipsy West Ping Junwang rambling about the old North Yan army affairs, causing Fu Shen to collapse dizzyingly onto the guest room bed, feeling he had overestimated Duan Guihong’s composure.
