Unification of the world
His question was quite significant. Gu Yi's calligraphy was known throughout the world as "Jade Tablet Script," chosen for its peaceful and upright style, its refined and polished quality, and its profound and gentle warmth. But no one had ever seen his running script, which was as graceful as a dragon swimming in water and as beautiful as spring flowers.
Wan Qiqing seemed to be in a good mood and smiled, "At this turning point, we can still glimpse its origin. It is indeed Gu Yi's calligraphy."
Mo Yimingyue's mouth gaped open wide enough to fit an egg, and he stammered, "But Junior Master... why did you write love poems for Master?"
He and Gongyi Xiu exchanged a glance, and simultaneously recalled the battle between their master and Gu Yi in front of the Jinshui Tower.
The two grandmasters fought a decisive battle, after which the master was wounded and retreated. It's not impossible that they developed a bond of mutual respect during the fight. However… it's just that those of them, as disciples, were perhaps too worldly to grasp the true spirit of the battle.
Wan Qiqing, lost in thought, did not notice the changes in his two disciples' expressions. He slowly said, "The unspoken meaning behind his poem lies in the last two lines."
The bright moon was there then, and it once shone on the returning colorful clouds.
In Wan Qiqing's mind, the moment when he and Gu Yi clashed weapons under the Mid-Autumn Moon in the empty and silent square in front of the palace reappeared.
The sudden flash of the "Hollow Moon" sword was extremely beautiful and sharp, like the beauty of the moon appearing when the clouds parted in the night sky.
But she was no match for A Qiu, who rushed up behind Gu Yi and landed between them as lightly as a colorful butterfly.
The bright moonlight shone down, illuminating the anxious expression on Aqiu's face, a face that could make even the most dazzling fireworks and the most glittering palace pale in comparison.
At roughly that moment, both he and Gu Yi lost their will to kill.
Gongyi Xiu and Moyi Mingyue, his two disciples, looked at each other, but dared not disturb his expression, and pulled him back to the reality before him.
Wan Qiqing took Gu Yi's "love letter" from Gongyi Xiu again and examined it carefully.
Wan Qiqing, a grandmaster of his generation, was extremely skilled at observing people. He had only met Gu Yi twice in his life, yet he could sense that this man was resolute and composed, as steadfast as a rock and as unyielding as the ocean.
But the tone conveyed between the lines of this letter is one of unrestrained freedom and unbridled spirit.
That was a state of mind that was completely different from his usual style.
It was as if he had finally figured something out, or as if he felt carefree after his inner knot was untied.
Wanqiqing suddenly raised his head and said to Gongyi Xiu decisively, "You don't need to hold back when Gu Yi proposed his conditions, just tell me."
Gongyi Xiu had been waiting anxiously for so long when he suddenly received a signal from Wanqi Qing, which was like hearing a divine decree.
Moreover, judging from the tone of his master's voice, it seemed that his master had already roughly guessed what kind of request Gu Yi was going to make.
Gongyi Xiu bowed and said, "Reporting to Master, the Young Master said that he wants to take A Qiu as his last disciple. He hopes that Master will grant his request."
His words were like a thunderclap in the sky. The air in the entire Songxue Hall seemed to freeze instantly.
The usually bold and meticulous Jiang Shang overlord, Mo Yimingyue, stared in disbelief at his mouth, as if she couldn't believe that such a groundbreaking and unprecedented idea had come from him.
A Qiu is no ordinary disciple of any sect. She is the only assassination leader of the Lanling Hall, the headquarters of assassins in the world, in the past hundred years. She is also the head of the Divine Weapon Hall, one of the three major halls of the Lanling Hall, and the number one assassin on the Immortal Ranking, "Jing Ke".
Putting aside their opposing stances, taking such a famous and powerful figure as a disciple is unprecedented in the entire martial arts world.
After Gongyi Xiu uttered those words, he secretly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his plain white sleeve.
He stole a glance at Wan Qiqing's expression and was surprised to find that his master showed no surprise or displeasure.
Wan Qiqing's handsome face remained calm and composed, as if he had already anticipated that Gu Yi would make this request.
He spoke calmly and patiently, enunciating each word clearly: "And the price? What is Gu Yi willing to pay for this?"
Gongyi Xiu hesitated for a long time, not because he lacked courage, but because the words he was about to say were earth-shattering and would affect the future situation between the North and the South. Although he was the head of the Yiyan Hall who controlled the current affairs and the chief strategist of Lanling, he had to carefully consider his words so as not to distort Gu Yi's original intention.
Wan Qiqing waited patiently for him, without the slightest impatience.
Gongyi Xiu cleared his throat, recalling Gu Yi's expression when he said those words, and then repeated them word for word: "The young master said that if the master agrees to this matter, and if the North and South are unified in the future, and the world is at one hand, he will give up his position as regent to the master, withdraw from the court and the martial world, and never get involved again."
Wan Qiqing, who was already sitting upright in his chair, suddenly stood up and walked into the hall after hearing Gongyi Xiu convey Gu Yi's words so clearly.
Meanwhile, Mo Yimingyue, standing to the side, was completely shaken, her face showing disbelief.
He didn't know Gu Yi well, only that during the turmoil between the North and South, Gu Yi used his "Three-Foot Carved Moon" sword to turn the tide, bringing peace to the world. Afterwards, he forged ahead, cracking down on powerful clans with an iron fist, and also implementing land reforms. The fact that such a sharp and insightful figure would propose a solution to the world's problems must have shocked him immensely.
Gongyi Xiu waited anxiously for his master's reply.
As a strategist who held absolute power, he had participated in no fewer than a hundred negotiations between the martial arts world and the imperial court, but this time was the most bizarre and unpredictable one in his career as a strategist.
Two grandmasters are playing a game of chess, and the one they bet on is none other than his junior sister, A Qiu.
He couldn't see Wan Qiqing's reaction. But honestly, if he were the master, he would definitely agree to Gu Yi's request.
Gu Yi didn't want A Qiu to defect from Lanling Hall; he simply wanted to make her his own.
This reward was so immense that it was equivalent to Gu Yi voluntarily giving up his future position as the number one person in the world.
The ability to force Master Gu Yi to withdraw from the martial world with a promise would be welcomed by any powerful force in the North or South.
The hall was so quiet that you could almost hear Gongyi Xiu and Moyi Mingyue breathing.
Wan Qiqing finally raised his head, but only stared at the portrait in the central hall.
Gongyi Xiu had seen that painting on his master's desk when he was young. The figure in the painting did not have a full face, but judging from the figure, it was a beautiful woman dancing with a light veil, her posture was graceful and elegant, as if she was about to soar. The brushwork had the beauty of ancient silk threads, and the figure had the charm of Cao Yi emerging from water and Wu Dai flowing in the wind.
But he never saw the painting again, and he didn't know if his master had completed it.
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, he returned to Songxue Hall several times, and the central scroll painting was not this one then. Therefore, this must have been changed after his master returned injured from the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.
When he was a child, he did not know who his master was painting. The Yiyantang lineage is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and they emphasize that every stroke must have a true meaning. Even when painting in the freehand style, there must be a true image in their mind first. Therefore, his master could not possibly have just painted randomly.
Either you have an image in your mind, or you have someone in front of you.
Now, he understood the painting at a glance. His master had painted a white silk dancer. The way the woman held the white silk and moved it up and down was exactly the dance posture in A-Qiu's play "White Silk".
And the leading white-robed dancer of this generation is A-Qiu. This is probably why Master found this painting and hung it up again.
Wan Qiqing suddenly turned around, her eyes lighting up: "Gu Yi's offer is one I cannot refuse."
Mo Yimingyue touched her head, completely bewildered, and said, "So, from now on we'll have to call Gu Yi 'Uncle-Master'?"
Gu Yi is A Qiu's master, and A Qiu is their junior sister. If the martial arts world could be based on kinship, they would have to call Gu Yi "Uncle-Master".
Gongyi Xiu's face immediately turned as bitter as a bitter gourd.
Wan Qiqing chuckled and said, "You can try calling him that and see if he responds."
The implication was that Gu Yi wasn't someone who would be satisfied with just anyone. And that was indeed the case.
Wan Qiqing looked at the painting again and sighed, "Gu Yi knows me as well as I know him. What we both want is a great nation that ends the division and unifies the world. The only difference is that he seeks the unification of the north and the south, while I seek the unification of the south and the north."
Gongyi Xiu and Moyi Mingyue's eyes also lit up. The struggle between North and South has lasted for nearly two hundred years. The root of the endless war and the people's unrest lies in this.
Those in the Central Plains with ambition, who wouldn't want to end this state of division and strife, and establish a powerful dynasty? That the imperial regalia would be intact, and the people would live in peace.
No nation in the world is immortal. When powerful, they conquer other nations; when weak, they are swallowed up by other nations. Gu Yi foresaw that the Southern Dynasty's peaceful existence in a corner of the country could not last forever, and thus he made plans for a northern expedition in advance.
However, Master Wanqiqing believed that the military strength of the northern nomadic tribes far surpassed that of the southern dynasty. He chose the north solely because the northern Qiang had a greater chance of winning.
Choice is more important than effort. Choosing the clearly stronger side is certainly better than patiently and painstakingly managing the weaker side.
This was the master's choice, and also the choice of Lanling Hall as the headquarters of all assassins in the world. Taking risks is only honored by the strong.
The master prefers direct plunder but lacks the patience for management.
This was also Gongyi Xiu's consistent impression of his master. He was a genius strategist, possessing both extraordinary talent and passion, but when the passion faded, he lacked the patience to place his bets one move at a time. Therefore, he trained three disciples to manage and cultivate his influence in both the martial arts world and the imperial court.
Wan Qiqing added, "But there are things he doesn't know about me, just as there are things I don't know about him."
Gongyi Xiu's eyes finally showed a look of astonishment.
Wan Qiqing said, "I have always known that Gu Yi's struggle for the world is not for his personal ambition. In fact, fame, fortune and power have always been like fleeting clouds to him."
He said deeply, "But I never expected that he could make such a clear decision for A-Qiu."
"And he probably doesn't know that I don't value this position of regent that much."
At this moment, Wan Qiqing's gaze upon the portrait of the white-robed dancer was filled with a heart-wrenching sorrow tinged with deep affection. It was an expression of pain that Gongyi Xiu had never witnessed before in his life.
Gongyi Xiu was greatly shocked and could not utter another word.
Since he was old enough to understand, he only knew that his master was the strongest of the strong, like a divine dragon descending to earth, transcending heaven and earth. His master had never shown the slightest weakness or heartache in front of them.
Did Master see in Gu Yi's choices something that had caused him pain and regret?
Wan Qiqing's eyes shone brightly like the sun, and he said decisively yet meaningfully, "Tell Gu Yi that I will return this disciple to him. But I don't need his promise. The future will be decided on the battlefield."
His words revealed the demeanor of a grandmaster. He made it clear that he would not gain even the slightest advantage in the struggle for power because of A Qiu.
Although Gongyi Xiu didn't understand why his master said "return" instead of "send," he was still in awe. But for the sake of practical benefits, he couldn't help but say, "Master, why don't you accept this favor? It will save us a lot of trouble in the future."
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