Half of the country
When Gu Yi heard her say "I come here every night," his heart skipped a beat for no reason. He then became serious and reminded her, "Watch where you're going."
A Qiu was so engrossed in talking that she accidentally stepped into the air while going up the steps. Luckily, Gu Yi reacted quickly and caught her.
The man leading the way chuckled, “Miss, you probably don’t come to brothels often. The special private rooms reserved by Master Moyi usually have several floors of the staircase deliberately left empty to prevent outsiders from sneaking up and eavesdropping. This young master is an expert.”
A Qiu stared at Gu Yi with her mouth agape in disbelief.
She just said it casually back then, and it turns out Gu Yi really is... quite knowledgeable about brothels!
Even though it was dark, Gu Yi could sense the rapid change in her expression. He tapped her on the head lightly: "Walk."
A Qiu then continued climbing the steps with her head down, and heard Gu Yi's deep voice in her ear: "If your senior brother can come, why can't I?"
He kept his voice down so that the person in front of him wouldn't hear.
It was like... an explanation, and also like a test to see if she cared.
A-Qiu immediately retorted, "My Master Wanqi is not coming."
Gu Yi almost laughed out loud, and said, "How do you know he won't come?"
Lanling Hall Master Wan Qiqing is carefree and unrestrained, entering the flowers without looking back. This is his reputation in the Northern martial arts world. He is indeed a "gentleman" who can pass through a thousand flowers without a single petal sticking to him.
But the prerequisite for such a reputation is that he must have first been involved in a harem of women.
Her senior brother, Gongyi Xiu, was just like Wan Qiqing in this respect.
In the darkness, A Qiu felt a burning sensation on her face. She realized she had fallen into a huge trap. It turned out all the men had conspired to deceive her; not a single one of them was good.
However, she also knew that her master couldn't really be considered to be lying to her, because—would her master lead her to a brothel?
She bit her lip, puffed out her cheeks, and decided not to say another word.
Gu Yi let out a low chuckle in front of her.
Ah Qiu never suffered a loss in her life. Hearing him laugh, she immediately retorted, "If you all come, then I can come too."
The master is a role model for the disciples. If they can do it, then she can too.
Sure enough, Gu Yi immediately stopped laughing.
Mo Yimingyue, with her hand on the crescent blade, was sitting by the window when she saw A Qiu who had just entered, and her eyes immediately lit up.
When his gaze fell upon Gu Yi, who followed closely behind A Qiu, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Gu Yi did indeed take good care of A Qiu. However, the disagreement between Lanling Hall and Gu Yi was inevitable; it was just a matter of when it would escalate.
When A Qiu saw the sudden glint in Mo Yimingyue's eyes, he knew that Mo Yimingyue had noticed that his internal energy was recovering. He thought to himself that his second senior brother's eyes were truly sharp; no detail could escape his discerning gaze.
Mo Yimingyue sighed, "I once told Master about A Qiu's condition. Master was silent for a moment, and finally replied that the Divine Weapon Hall's martial arts have this inherent weakness, and no one in history has ever been able to solve this problem."
The rigid are easily broken, the flexible are easily preserved. The training method for assassins, which Master summarized from the Divine Weapon Hall's classic texts, is like forging an indestructible blade. Wan Qiqing has minimized human factors as much as possible, but he still cannot change its cruel and indifferent nature.
The assassin's mental techniques are inherently against human nature. And once the trainees begin to doubt themselves, the outcome is utter collapse.
He turned his gaze to Gu Yi again, revealing undisguised admiration, and said, "I, Mo Yimingyue, rarely admire anyone, but Young Master Gu is one of them."
This is because Gu Yi solved A Qiu's problem in the blink of an eye.
Gu Yi said calmly, "It's not that difficult, but her subsequent martial arts techniques can no longer be considered as the inheritance of Lanling Hall."
Gu Yi used Gongye's incense and hot spring water drawn from underground to completely cleanse A Qiu's marrow and bones, and then used his own internal energy to guide her qi circulation again. From then on, heaven and earth were reborn, and yang returned. This was completely different from the Lanling Hall's Qimen mental method, and followed the path of authentic Xuanmen Daoist practice, just like Gu Yi's.
This solution is not difficult for Gu Yi, but no one else in the world can do it except for Gu Yi.
No more grandmasters of the orthodox Xuanmen sects, like Gu Yi, would expend their energy to rebuild the Qi and meridians of a mere Lanling assassin. And not everyone can easily enter A Qiu's heart and ask her questions she herself has long forgotten.
Mo Yimingyue smiled and looked at A Qiu, saying, "That's excellent."
For a moment, A-Qiu was stunned. Could it be that Mo Yimingyue actually thought that her junior sister's martial arts, which deviated from the sect's path, were excellent?
Mo Yimingyue said, "Although you have been in the martial world for many years, you have only heard of white-haired knights and old Taoists, but you have never heard of white-haired assassins."
Assassins rarely grow old, for two reasons. First, renowned assassins, like sharp weapons, often perish at the height of their power. Second, the methods assassins use for training are not for physical fitness or longevity, but rather to maximize human potential to develop superhuman speed and strength.
Of the three siblings, only A Qiu inherited the skills of the Divine Weapon Hall's assassins. And only today did A Qiu learn Mo Yimingyue's opinion on her martial arts, which ranked first on the "Immortal Ranking."
So that's how it is; it's better to not have it.
Gu Yi asked directly, "Why did your hall master let her inherit the martial arts of the Divine Weapon Hall?"
A bitter smile appeared on Mo Yimingyue's lips as she said, "That's because neither Senior Brother nor I are qualified."
Although they possessed excellent natural talent, they weren't the kind of assassins their master envisioned who could reach the level of a king. But A-Qiu was.
The Lanling Hall has survived for a thousand years amidst chaos, its core strength lying in its Divine Weapon Hall, a gathering place for top assassins. While the Yiyan Hall's strategists manage the world, and the Xingfeng Hall's network of gangs and intelligence establishes its power, both require time to materialize and lack the immediate and powerful deterrent effect of assassins.
My master is practical and will not do anything sentimental.
Mo Yimingyue withdrew her gaze from A Qiu's face and said, "A Qiu, since you've come here, you must have come to ask me about the Han bricks."
A-Qiu said, "That's right. Why did Master give me that half of a Han Dynasty brick?"
Mo Yimingyue said, "It was no coincidence that you met me in the West Market that night. I had received news from the hall that someone was going to test the waters by throwing stones in the West Market, so I went there to check it out myself. And the thing they used to test the waters was the half of the Han brick that you took away."
However, she later heard that A Qiu had lost her martial arts skills and that Gu Yi was traveling with her. Either of these events stirred up a greater storm in Mo Yimingyue's heart than any news from the underworld. Moreover, since the brick was now in A Qiu's hands, it was as if it were already in Mo Yimingyue's own pocket, so Mo Yimingyue paid even less attention to it and simply didn't mention it.
The matter escalated the next day when someone spread a rumor that the Han brick was a state gift from General Li, the Marquis of Guannei, to the Southern Dynasty, but was abandoned outside the palace because it was not valued by the Empress at the time.
Some people even claimed with certainty that the bricks were simply thrown away and no one cared about them for many years, but it was Master Gu who brought up the matter again.
Upon hearing this, A Qiu said resentfully, "This must have been said by that wicked woman, Wan Sui. There were hundreds or even thousands of people present at the time. She didn't recognize Master but she recognized me. With just a little inquiry, she would have known that the person traveling with me was Master, which is how she managed to pin this matter on Master."
Hearing her address Gu Yi as "Master" so naturally, Mo Yimingyue felt a sense of relief for some reason, and said, "I immediately reported this matter to Master. It was all because..." He didn't finish his sentence, but A Qiu understood what he meant.
He must be worried that Wan Qiqing might be involved in this matter. Therefore, he needs to consult Wan Qiqing first before deciding how to handle it.
With Li Chongyu's imminent arrival in the capital, those with the motive to exploit this event and undermine the relationship between the Southern Dynasty and Li Chongyu were none other than the Northern Qiang, Western Jie, and Southern Qin tribes. The Lanling Hall, however, has always been pro-Northern Qiang. Just by looking at its current location in Jianzhang Palace, yet using the northern place name "Lanling" as its hall name, one can discern its true allegiance.
Of course, Pei Yuanli, the top military leader of the Southern Dynasty, also had sufficient motives.
Mo Yimingyue continued, "When Master heard about this, he pondered for a long time, then took half a broken brick from the bookshelf and gave it to me, saying, 'Since Aqiu likes this item, you should also bring this half to her.'"
Ah Qiu was stunned by what he heard.
When the master heard about such a big matter, he only thought that his youngest disciple liked the portrait stone, so he gave it to her as if it were a toy.
Gu Yi listened, but for some reason felt somewhat uncomfortable.
He interrupted Mo Yimingyue and asked, "Has your master always been like this, caring about every little thing concerning his disciples?"
Even Mo Yimingyue could sense the emotion in his tone. She exchanged a glance with A Qiu, and they both smiled wryly, "Of course not!"
Whether Wan Qiqing was sentimental or not, his disciples could not know, but in any case, he would never have the leisure to care about his disciples' preferences, to such an extent.
Ah Qiu, however, immediately thought further ahead and asked, "When Master asked you to bring this to me, did he say anything else to me?"
Mo Yimingyue suddenly perked up, her tiger-like eyes meeting A Qiu's gaze directly as she said, "Yes!"
A-Qiu listened attentively.
Mo Yimingyue said, "My master said that the half brick he gave you is called 'Half of the Country'."
For a moment, the private room was completely silent.
The half-piece given by Wan Qiqing was called "Qianqiu" (meaning "a thousand autumns"), which, together with the half-piece "Wansui" (meaning "ten thousand years") that A Qiu received, made up a complete piece.
If this half is called "Half of the Country", then the other half must be the other half of the country.
Wan Qiqing wanted to watch them combine into one in A Qiu's hands.
Wan Qiqing must know something about the origin and history of this brick, but he will not reveal it.
But he has already expressed his position.
He would gladly give away half of the country if it were given to A Qiu.
A jumble of complex thoughts swept through Gu Yi's mind. The moment of his decisive battle with Wan Qiqing on the square in front of Jinshui Tower that night vividly reappeared in his mind.
"Looking north towards home and country" contrasts with "not seeing Chang'an".
Mo Yimingyue's words still echoed.
“My master said that he obtained this half of the Han Dynasty brick purely by chance. At that time, the capital was in turmoil, and someone was selling calligraphy, paintings and antiques on the streets of the capital. He saw this half of the brick at a glance, recognized it as an old item from the palace, and bought it on a whim. He also asked the man if there were any other half of the brick, but the man said that he only had this half and had never even seen any others.”
Ah Qiu whispered, "What year was that?"
Mo Yimingyue said with certainty, "The seventh year of Xiyuan."
The Han Dynasty bricks were presented to the palace as a state gift in the fifth year of the Xiyuan era. Wan Qiqing purchased the Han Dynasty bricks two years later on Jianzhang Street.
A-Qiu murmured, "What happened in the past two years?"
Mo Yimingyue said blankly, "According to the years, I was only a few years old at that time, and I would not know what major events happened in the court and the country."
Gu Yi said, word by word, "At the end of the fifth year of Xiyuan, Empress Shangguan passed away in Qiwu Palace. In August of the following year, Li Mingyuan suffered a defeat in battle, and a great general fell in Huguan."
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