191.2 – Returning to Chang'an

The Hua Dynasty's imperial capital Chang'an is divided into three areas, namely the royal city, the inner city, and the outer city.

Needless to say, the royal city is the place where the imperial palace is located and the greater aristocrats reside. As for the inner city and the outer city, there is not much difference between the two. They both have a commercial district and a residential district. The only difference between the two lies in “value.”

The inner city, which is closer to the royal city, has a higher status and value and is the place where some individuals of a fairly high status reside. Therefore, the inner city has stricter rules than the outer city, and its public security is naturally better.

But there are two sides to every coin.

The inner city is far less lively than the outer city. The famous eastern and western markets, some brothels, and other entertainment venues are all located in the outer city.

“The inner city is the core of the imperial capital. As for the royal city, calling it the core of the Hua Dynasty's core is not an exaggeration.”

As Qi Qiqi walked forward, she turned her head to glance at Xue Qilin, who is walking with her side by side.

“In short, how could the check to enter this place, which is second only to the royal city, be possibly lax? We already had it pretty good since there was no body search.

“Big Sister Qi is right.” Shui Yun'er, who is following the two, agreed, saying, “This cannot be regarded as strict.”

What, there's still body search? At the thought of those soldiers groping her, Xue Qilin suddenly felt a chill and s.h.i.+vered involuntarily.

“But is it okay?”

“Is what okay?”

Seeing Qi Qiqi's puzzled expression, Xue Qilin raised the sword in her hand.

Qi Qiqi made a “hmm” sound and and looked for some reason at the scarlet sword — Sky Asunder — in her hand.

It seems that she still doesn't understand. Xue Qilin crinkled her nose.

“Why can weapons be brought in?”

Since the governance of the inner city is so strict, shouldn't the possession of private weapons be forbidden?

“This… it's a bit annoying to explain…”

Qi Qiqi showed a troubled expression. She pursed her lips and pondered for a while, and then explained in a low voice, “The Hua Dynasty is a state founded on wu [2] — ah, how do I put it…?

This 'wu' does not refer to military strength, but to 'martial pract.i.tioner'. The current royal family was originally just a martial clan, which could not compare to the Five Great Sects in terms of power and scale. When the previous dynasty declined, foreigner forces launched a large scale attack.”

When she spoke till here, Qi Qiqi looked into the horizon with admiration. She didn't look in the direction of the royal city.

“At that calamitous time, they contributed both money and effort and established a considerable degree of prestige. At the same time, they won the hearts of a lot of people. After the collapse of the previous dynasty, they spared no effort to carry out restoration work. And finally, after twenty years, they established the current Hua Dynasty and became the royal family.”

Qi Qiqi retracted her gaze and looked at Xue Qilin.

“Do you understand if I say it like that?”

“Ugh… roughly.”

Xue Qilin stared at her toes and sorted out the received information in her mind.

After a while, she asked probingly, “So, because of their origin, the royal family is fairly friendly to martial pract.i.tioners?”

“That's right!”

This is a bit different from what I experienced… Xue Qilin thought of the soldiers who pretended to be captors and the Northern Guard Fort's army that trespa.s.sed on the Merak Temple's grounds a few days earlier. Their att.i.tude towards the martial sects is anything but friendly.

“It's hard to imagine… As far as I know, the Martial World's sects and the Imperial Court are usually at odds, are they not?”

Upon hearing Xue Qilin's question, Qi Qiqi frowned unhappily.

Consequently, Shui Yun'er took over the explanation for her. She sighed first, and then said with discontent,

“Young Teacher, that's because of the thing from five years ago.”

“The attempt on the Emperor's life?”

Xue Qilin just turned her head, when she saw Shui Yun'er nod sadly.

“I see…”

Xue Qilin finally understood. To put it bluntly, the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt on the Emperor led to the deterioration of the relations.h.i.+p between the Imperial Court and the Martial World's sects and even an outright confrontation.

Anyone would get angry if there was an attempt on their life — the Emperor is no exception, not to mention that the a.s.sa.s.sins were people from the Martial World whom he has always treated well.

“Where are the a.s.sa.s.sins? Which sect are they from?”

Xue Qilin asked unhappily, wanting to know the name of the rotten apples.

As a result–

“We don't know.” Qi Qiqi shook her head, “We still don't know. The Imperial Court has not announced who did it, and no one has come forward to claim responsibility.”

“How is that possible?”

Qi Qiqi didn't answer, she just shook her head.

Really? Xue Qilin gazed at Shui Yun'er with this question expressed by the look in her eyes, and the latter answered with “I don't know either.”

“Hey, isn't that just a one sided claim made by the Imperial Court?”

After all, no evidence was made public! Xue Qilin looked back and forth between Qi Qiqi and Shui Yun'er in amazement.

“That's right…” Qi Qiqi sighed, “But no matter how we question it, it's to no avail.”

Xue Qilin asked reflexively, “Why?”

“The land under the Heaven is the Emperor's land and the people living on the land are the Emperor's people.”

Qi Qiqi met Xue Qilin's gaze.

In the bright red eyes–

“Qilin, do you understand?”

There is deep and endless gloom and sadness.

“–our entire world belongs to 'him'.”

The downcast voice was clearly low, yet it was inexplicably penetrating.

Qi Qiqi's words ran through Xue Qilin's heart without any effort.

A sweet and sour taste spread in her mouth and a cold feeling slowly extended along her tongue.

The tiredness acc.u.mulated during the long journey that took several days was alleviated to some extent, making Xue Qilin feel refreshed.

“Where shall we go next?”

After taking another lick of the tanghulu [3] bought from a stall by the road, she tilted her head and looked at Qi Qiqi, who is holding a bunch of snacks and has stuffed her mouth until her cheeks bulged.

In order to free her hands, Qi Qiqi handed her mount to Shui Yun'er and placed the sword that has never left her side throughout the journey who knows where.

“Are we going to Little Qing's clan?”

Upon hearing Xue Qilin's question, Qi Qiqi, who had just brought a piece of mung bean cake to her red lips, stopped mid action.

“The Gong Clan? Why?”

Xue Qilin faltered in her step and almost tumbled to the ground.

“What the deuce?” Xue Qilin stopped walking and gazed at Qi Qiqi, who is chewing food in her mouth, with a dumbfounded look in her eyes, “Didn't we come to look for Little Qing?”

Probably because she saw Qi Qiqi chewing something, Shui Yun'er answered on her behalf, “I think Big Sister Qi is planning to find an inn first, right?”

With that, Shui Yun'er cast Qi Qiqi a “right?” look.

After swallowing the cake, Qi Qiqi shoved everything in her hands to Xue Qilin, then fished out a handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped her mouth. Suddenly, Xue Qilin realized that Qi Qiqi failed to wipe away a sugar granule stuck to the corner of her mouth, so she flicked it away with her hand.

“Little Sister Shui, you're really smart!”

Shui Yun'er, who deliberately learned to imitate Xue Qilin's reaction, proudly stuck out her chest and humphed twice. Qi Qiqi chuckled and a.s.sessed, saying, “It's just like her.”

“Do you have the spare time…”

Seeing them echo one another, Xue Qilin rolled her eyes helplessly.

“Little Seven, weren't you in a hurry two days ago?”

“Annoying! Of course I am in a hurry!”

She's angry from embarra.s.sment — Xue Qilin originally thought this. But in the next second, she heard Qi Qiqi whisper, “I just wanted to laugh a little.”

Qi Qiqi's voice lost the usual vigor and became weak. The bright red eyes dimmed a lot and became overcast.

Was she putting on an air of cheerfulness? — no, she was trying to deceive herself!

[2] – wu (武), martial pract.i.tioner (武者), military strength (武力)

[3] – tanghulu