Unsheathed

Chapter 392 (2): A Storm is Brewing, Myriad Talismans Fill the Building

As the mountain lord of the Lion Garden, the old woman didn't follow Chen Ping'an and the others into Liu Qingqing's residence. Her reasoning was that since Esteemed Immortal Chen was there to manage the situation, Liu Qingqing definitely wouldn't face any dangers in the short term. Thus, she needed to head over to protect Assistant Minister Liu and the many other descendants of the Liu Clan.

Inside the ancestral hall of the Liu Clan, the old woman was filled with spirit and energy after being freed from the restrictions of the fox demon's black ropes.

From past to present, all clan leaders of the Liu Clan recognized Lady Liu Shu, the mountain lord who was even older than the Lion Garden.[1] When it came time for the Liu Clan to burn incense and give offerings to their ancestors each year, Lady Liu Shu would definitely receive a huge portion thanks to her position as the guardian deity of the Liu Clan.

The ancestral hall of the Liu Clan was packed to the brim with people right now, and many servants who didn't actually have the right to enter the ancestral hall had been shooed inside by Old Steward Zhao at the behest of Assistant Minister Liu as well. If news of this traveled out, it was inevitable that Assistant Minister Liu would be accused of bringing disgrace to etiquette and desecrating his ancestors’ memory.

Assistant Minister Liu and twenty or so members of the Liu Clan were gathered in a relatively quiet area of the ancestral hall at this moment. This was the first time that many of them had seen Lady Liu Shu in person.

Apart from them, there were also two people who weren't descendants of the Liu Clan but had lived in the Lion Garden for many years. They stood on the fringes of the group, of course, and they wouldn't boss the Liu Clan higher-ups around and tell them how to run their own clan.

There was a private school in the Lion Garden, and after a highly respected Confucian scholar resigned thirty years ago, the Lion Garden had hired another teacher who was completely unknown in comparison.

This was an interesting matter, and at the time, both the imperial court and the scholarly world were curious about who would win the favor of Assistant Minister Liu and become the new teacher who educated the younger generations of the Liu Clan.

Afterward, however, Assistant Minister Liu's eldest son did well in the imperial examinations but not actually impressive. He was a so-called advanced graduate and made it to the highest imperial examination, yet his ranking in this exam was rather low. His essays and poems couldn't be regarded as outstanding, and they were a far cry from what his father, Assistant Minister Liu, could produce. It could be said that the son didn't live up to his father's name.

As a result, people lost interest in speculating about the identity of the Lion Garden's new teacher. The student whom he had spent so much time and effort teaching was mediocre, so as their teacher, just how impressive could he possibly be?

As for Liu Qingshan, he had also been a widely renowned child prodigy during his youth, much like his father. He had possessed outstanding literary talent. However, this was his own ability, and it had little to do with his teacher.

An argument suddenly broke out between Assistant Minister Liu Jingting and Lady Liu Shu.

In Lady Liu Shu's view, they should do everything in their ability to persuade the young man with the surname Chen to slay the demon, no matter what it took. In fact, they should even abandon their face and humiliate themselves if it were necessary. They definitely couldn't allow him to only save Liu Qingqing but not kill the fox demon or whatnot. No, it was imperative that they had him deal with the root of the problem and eliminate all lingering dangers.

Upon hearing this, Liu Jingting mentioned the Daoist nun's feat of destroying the fox demon's illusory body.

Lady Liu Shu responded with a cold sneer, saying that the Lion Garden definitely wouldn't enjoy a good outcome if they put all of their hope in her, a Daoist nun from a foreign land.

Liu Qingya, Assistant Minister Liu's eldest daughter, meekly said that Esteemed Immortal Chen was also an outsider from a foreign land.

Lady Liu Shu shot a sideways glance at the young woman with long hair but short wit, causing Liu Qingya to hurriedly shut up.

Afterward, the old woman said something that caused everyone to fall deep into thought. "At the very least, that young man with the surname Chen is a scholar!"

After weighing things up for a moment, Liu Jingting was still unwilling to stoop so low and act against his conscience. He didn't want to forcefully tie that young man together with the Lion Garden.

Learning of his decision, Lady Liu Shu pointed at the old assistant minister and scolded him loudly, not holding back as she exclaimed, "The Liu Clan has worked hard for seven generations to reach its current state, so will you, Liu Jingting, have the face to look at your ancestors if you die and have the flames of the Liu Clan extinguish under your watch? Can you live up to the expectations of those memorial tablets in the Lion Garden's ancestral hall? There’s the ancestor who was beaten to death for his continuous advice[2] to save the Tang Clan's legitimate rule, the one who died after being banished to someplace two thousand kilometers away after saving a loyal official, the one who died of exhaustion after doing everything in his ability as an official to bring prosperity to his region... Need I repeat all of their names for you?"

There was a look of anxiety and pain on Liu Jingting's face.

Lady Liu Shu continued to berate him, sneering, "If you're not bold enough, and if you continue to maintain your bullshit ego as an assistant minister, then the Liu Clan definitely won't make it through this calamity. So be it if you die, but you'll even cause the Lion Garden to change owners and change surnames. Your children will be displaced, and how many of the numerous single copies of the books in the scripture library will be left when those in Liu Qingshan's generation reach old age?"

Liu Jingting was rendered speechless.

The others didn't dare to speak either. The ancestral hall fell silent, and a heavy atmosphere hung in the air.

In the end, the crippled Liu Qingshan limped several steps forward and said to the old woman, "Lady Liu Shu, it seems like you've gotten one thing wrong."

The old woman narrowed her eyes and asked, "Oh? What did I get wrong, little child?"

"The reason our Liu Clan has managed to last for so many generations is precisely that our ancestors were upstanding and adhered to morals and etiquette, and all of our descendants strictly abided by the clan rules established by these ancestors," Liu Qingshan replied in a solemn voice. "It's because of this that so many people are willing to help now that the Lion Garden is facing grave danger. If we go against our conscience to act against etiquette today, then the traditions and values of the Liu Clan will be irredeemably tarnished from now onward even if we're lucky enough to save the Lion Garden."

The old woman roared with disdainful laughter, sniggering, "Little boy, don't be mistaken and think that you have the right to discuss these things with me after reading a mere few books. If everyone is killed, then apart from that Lion Garden Collection book, who will still remember the Liu Clan in one hundred years?!"

Not giving Liu Qingshan another opportunity to speak, the old woman scoffed, "You're nothing more than a cripple who has no hope of achieving any success, yet you actually have the face to stand in front of me and utter such bullshit? Haha, Liu Qingshan, can you even stand up straight to speak?"

For the sake of saving his younger sister, Liu Qingshan had previously snuck out of the Lion Garden with an immortal from the Daoist temple, traveling around to look for a genuine immortal who had attained the Dao. However, he had suffered a tragedy along the way, with the crippling of his leg being nothing more than a physical impairment.

This wasn't the most painful thing. Rather, it was the fact that Liu Qingshan could no longer embark on the path of an official, with all of his hard work going to waste. As a scholar, this outcome was unbearably painful.

It was because of this that the maidservant Zhao Ya hadn't dared to mention anything to her young mistress, especially not regarding this tragic accident. Otherwise, with Liu Qingqing having the best relationship with her second brother, Liu Qingshan, ever since a young age, she would definitely feel extremely guilty if she learned of it. At the same time, upon being carried back to the Lion Garden, the first thing that Liu Qingshan had requested of his father was to conceal this matter from his younger sister.

Lady Liu Shu was the local mountain lord who had protected the Lion Garden for over two hundred years, yet she was now openly pouring salt onto Liu Qingshan's raw wounds. Liu Qingshan hadn't ever lost his cool in front of other people even after becoming crippled. Now, however, he couldn't help but clench his hands into fists, with his expression becoming livid.

The old woman continued to berate the young scholar, sneering, "I still showed you some respect before you became a cripple, but now, you are destined to become a useless piece of trash who can only sit around and hide in the Lion Garden while you wait for death. I urge you to make haste and rip those couplets down from your study room as soon as possible. Have you no shame? Are you trying to make yourself an even bigger laughing stock?!"

"Lady Liu Shu, I respectfully urge you to stop. Enough is enough!" Liu Jingting interjected with a dark expression.

The old woman humphed coldly.

Liu Jingting patted his second son's shoulder.

There were tears brimming in Liu Qingshan's eyes as he nodded at his father, the person whom he respected the most, indicating that he was fine. He then lowered his head, with tears streaming down his face.

Living between heaven and earth, true scholars with fortitude and courage would only shed tears when their hearts were shattered.

There were two teachers in the Lion Garden's private school, one a solemn and dignified old man and the other a gentle and refined middle-aged scholar.

The latter furrowed his brow.

The old man shook his head softly, so the middle-aged scholar remained silent.

Steward Zhao had been sitting in front of Liu Qingqing's residence the entire time, yet he hurriedly ran into the ancestral hall at this moment, arriving before Assistant Minister Liu and Liu Shu. He wiped away the sweat on his forehead and said with a delighted smile, "Young Master Chen asked the Lion Garden to prepare some gold ink for him so he can draw some talismans. The ink needs to be made of powder from imperial gold ingots, and Young Master Chen said that the more, the better. He'll start drawing talismans in the young mistress's residence."

"Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and prepare it! What are these gold and silver items worth in the grand scheme of things?!" the mountain lord exclaimed with a stern expression.

The old steward looked toward Liu Jingting.

The old assistant minister nodded and replied, "Go ahead."

However, he suddenly called out to the old steward again, hurriedly walking over and saying, "I'll go with you, Old Zhao. We should also call some courageous and strong young men over to help us. However, they only need to help if they're willing to."

Unexpectedly, however, the old woman immediately grabbed the old assistant minister's shoulder and scolded, "Go with him? Have you gone insane, Liu Jingting? What if the fox demon goes all out upon seeing this and kills you, the backbone of the Liu Clan, before fleeing? Even if your daughter survives, the Lion Garden will undoubtedly become a pathetic mess at that time. Who will lead the Liu Clan then? Your cripple son? Or your mediocre eldest son who can barely hope to become a prefectural overseer?"

There was fury on Liu Jingting's face.

Did the mountain lord truly think that he had whiled away his time in the imperial court for so many years? In any case, why was the mountain lord so desperate? What was she after? At the end of the day, was she not simply worried about the incense offerings of the Lion Garden's Liu Clan? She was simply worried that the downfall of the Liu Clan would detrimentally affect her Great Dao!

The old woman hesitated briefly upon seeing the rare look of anger on Liu Jingting's face, and she relented slightly and tried to persuade him, "Don't the scholarly texts also teach scholars like you not to take undue risks? Just how many gold ingots can a frail scholar like you carry around? It will definitely be less than any one of the strong young men protecting and maintaining the Lion Garden. That being the case, what use will it be if you go? Are you not afraid of being captured by the fox demon and being used as a bargaining chip to threaten the Lion Garden?"

Liu Qingshan suddenly looked up, his expression steely as he announced, "I'll go. Even if I can't carry many gold ingots, I can at least watch over the situation and reduce the chance of any mishaps."

Liu Jingting helped his second son straighten his collar before saying, "Be careful. What does it matter if you can't become an official? Scholars with impure thoughts who unjustly occupy high positions can't be regarded as true scholars anymore. My son may be lame and have no chance of becoming an official, but he can be a proper scholar for the rest of his life. Since you're unable to manage the nation and bring prosperity to the world, then can you cultivate yourself and manage the clan?"

Liu Qingshan finally cracked a small smile, replying, "Father, I believe I can."

Liu Qingshan left with Old Steward Zhao, bringing with them a group of strong young servants. Almost all of them were filled with enthusiasm and fervent passion as they left the ancestral hall.

Liu Jingting didn't so much as glance at the old woman as he walked to the two teachers who were a generation younger than him and not descendants of the Liu Clan. He respectfully bowed and said in gratitude, "Thank you, Teacher Fu and Teacher Liu. Thank you for educating the descendants of the Liu Clan and giving us another scholar who can influence the clan with his upright nature."

The old scholar remained emotionless, and he didn't even nod softly in acknowledgment. Fortunately, the Lion Garden was already accustomed to this, and they were aware that the old scholar was equally emotionless in front of everyone.

The middle-aged scholar smiled and replied, "It is our duty as teachers to educate our students and answer their questions."

1. Liu Shu (柳树) literally means willow tree. ☜

2. Continuous advice refers to advice that the emperor doesn't want to hear, so the officials risk their lives to continually provide the same advice. ☜