Liberi Reader

???

*cough* *cough* *cough*...

???

*cough* *cough*, *cough*... Phew...

Consumpted Old Man

And you had to take me up Mount T'ien.

Consumpted Old Man

I'll take this spot under the sunshine. You sit over there. You're in much better health than I am. The least you could do is offer me this spot.

Grand Tutor

Coming out here for a stroll, some sunlight, and the water from the springs of Mount T'ien will do your health much good.

Grand Commandant

Ridiculous. It's been decades since we've so much as run into one another outside the palace walls, and you still invited me on this trip.

Grand Commandant

You were the first to grow tired of sitting around.

Grand Tutor

It's not easy to sit still for so long.

Grand Tutor

Yumen, Dahuang. We need an explanation for this string of events.

Grand Commandant

Right, I am behind all of it.

Grand Commandant

I abetted the Yumen Shanhaizhong, and I let Ya in.

Grand Tutor

...

Grand Commandant

Is this enough to drag me down? If you want more, here. I let Wang escape the capital. I sent the girl to Victoria. I instigated the demonic calamity.

Grand Commandant

If you must open another vacancy in the court, you can pin all of this on me.

Grand Tutor

...

Grand Commandant

The Shanhaizhong are a bunch of thugs. How could they possibly amount to anything?

Grand Commandant

Ya was merely a sickly beast. It took only a few dozen to a hundred Tianshis to deal with. It was just perfect as the meal served to awaken the Sui.

Grand Commandant

But certainly nothing to write home about.

Grand Commandant

*cough*... *cough*... Phew... In the end, I'm a sickly old man, too. This is the only use my life has left.

Grand Tutor

You've never been troubled by things going out of hand. No, you're never troubled by anything.

Grand Commandant

There is much that troubles me... I'm afraid of the unpredictable, sinister human mind. I am troubled by the trends I've seen.

Grand Commandant

Going with the tide. One man pulling at each end. It's all for balance.

Grand Commandant

But now the convict has toppled the weiqi board. Is it still possible to sue for peace?

Grand Commandant

Yumen's repairs are complete, and it is on its way to the capital. Grand Tutor, please make up your mind.

🔍

Zuo Le

A letter of reinstatement...?

Lin Qingyan

I shouldn't have been the one to deliver this.

Lin Qingyan

The imperial court is already aware of the Dahuang affair and the acts of the two perpetrators.

Lin Qingyan

Right now, the Sui Regulator, the Tianshi Bureaus, the Six Ministries... All of them are in a frantic mess. I happened to be passing by Dahuang on business, so I lent them a hand.

Zuo Le

It was Mother who asked you to come, am I correct...?

Lin Qingyan

...

Zuo Le

...Duoxie.

Zuo Le

Seems the court has come to a conclusion regarding the crisis instigated by the proxies?

Lin Qingyan

Yes.

Lin Qingyan

Yumen's repairs are complete, and it has started sailing toward the capital once more.

Zuo Le

...

Zuo Le

In the end, it comes to this.

Lin Qingyan

You're rather calm. I thought you'd be yapping how much you want to head back to the front lines.

Zuo Le

Lately, I've been trying to comprehend a certain wisdom.

Zuo Le

It is because we fear that we are anxious... The more we are afraid of facing an unknown enemy, the stronger our urge to charge toward it. All for the sake of giving ourselves an explanation.

Zuo Le

But I'm not afraid anymore.

Zuo Le

The proxies may have the ability to bend Heaven and earth, but in the end, they, too, have human emotion. In that sense, they are not different at all.

Zuo Le

Our 'opponents' are not untouchable. And so, there is nothing to be afraid of.

🔍

Lord Zuo, I have no intention of becoming your enemy. However, I do hope you take what I said to heart.

The days ahead of us are long, and there shall come a time when we meet again.

🔍

Lin Qingyan

Not bad. Seems General Zuo didn't send you here for nothing.

Zuo Le

I am ready for deployment. Where should I go? Yumen? Baizao?

Lin Qingyan

Don't be so hasty. We'll have you get back to your old role.

Lin Qingyan

There is a place that comes into contact with the proxies quite frequently. The court isn't completely oblivious to them, but per protocol, the Sui Regulator should launch an investigation.

Zuo Le

...Rhodes Island?

🔍

Grain Buds

So you're leaving?

He Sheng

That's right.

He Sheng

These seeds. Some of them sprouted, and their Originium resistance is much higher than anticipated. It's time to take them to the fields outside for further cultivation.

Grain Buds

Wouldn't that be tough?

He Sheng

It's no different from what I do in Dahuang.

Grain Buds

Hm... When are you coming back, then?

He Sheng

First, I need to take the seeds to the grain cultivation bases all across the country and produce the first test crops. Then, based on how they adapt to different soils, develop a suitable cultivation method.

He Sheng

It might take more than ten generations to get accurate results. It might... be a while...

Grain Buds

Hm... One generation takes a year. Ten years... That's really long.

Grain Buds

That's long enough for Mianmian to get as big as his parents... Maybe it's not actually that long. After we switched to the new feed, the stockbeasts all started to grow really quickly. Like, it's like they double in size every day.

Grain Buds

But ten years. That means waiting for the wanghuaguo trees to grow those sour fruits ten times... When I think about it that way, that kind of feels like an eternity.

He Sheng

...

Grain Buds

*sigh*, let me see you off.

Enveloped by the sound of flute, the two are trailed by the setting sun. On the muddy road, there are two sets of footprints leading into the distance.

🔍

Jiangnan.

Dage once told me that he wanted to travel to Jiangnan after leaving his post.

It has been centuries since he last had a taste of Jiangnan's summertime water chestnuts. And since he has gotten so used to the sight of the yellow sands, perhaps he should enjoy some rest in a quaint, riverside town. Careful, though. Don't break this painting.

🔍

Ling was never able to forget that desert.

She doesn't actually like war. She simply likes how valiant warriors look on the battlefield... Who wouldn't?

The flames of war do not burn in the painting. There is only a column of smoke rising in the vast desert, as the sun sets on the endless river. Enjoy your drink in peace there, and be the poet you want to be.

🔍

Nian loves lively places, but a place like Shangshu is a better fit for her than Lungmen.

You stay there and don't bother me again.

🔍

Erge... I should've painted him a weiqi board, and nothing more.

Calculating emotions and terrible aesthetic sensibilities... This garden is yours. I don't want to ever have to see your face again.

In the end, you didn't give yourself a way out. Heh...

🔍

Jie...

If it wasn't for your constant nagging and you playing the older sister card the whole time, I really would've asked you to teach me calligraphy.

🔍

Dusk

This will do.

Dusk

Despite all the effort I put into it, who knows if these paintings will remain when everyone wakes from their dreams?

Dusk

Does it really matter either way?

Dusk

When you have visited a place and seen all its sights, everything is but a pipe dream. What more fun is there?

Dusk

With all of you here, I am not lonely.

The painter sets her brush down and withdraws.

The sky is as clear as a blank scroll. A flock of fowlbeasts flies past.

🔍

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How does it fit?

This is the only cloth I have. If you rip it, I couldn't get you another.

Wang

It fits perfectly.

Perhaps it's too late for me to ask. But...

How do you think your chances are?

Wang

A life and death struggle. This game will be decided by a mere half point.

From the sound of it, you could easily lose everything... and you are beyond the point of no return.

When will you make your move?

Wang

Everything is ready. All we need...

I will come see you soon.

When you open your eyes and see the pattern on this robe, will you remember how you felt back then?

A thousand years ago. That fear deep inside our souls. That disgrace etched into our bones.

You'd best remember.

I will come see you very soon.

🔍

Farmer

Shu, our fields have yielded nothing for a few years. Can we really still grow crops here? We can still plant food, if we use the right methods?

Shu

But of course.

Shu

Each field has a different plant suited to it. You need to use the most appropriate method to improve the soil.

Shu

Plant these seeds here. You'll see results by autumn.

Farmer

Where are you from, Shu?

Farmer

You look pretty young, but you know so much about the fields... Are you maybe a Tianshi from the Bureaus? What exactly is a Tianshi anyway?

Shu

They're people who study specialized knowledge and pass it on to others.

Farmer

That's something...

Farmer

Please keep working, by all means. I'll go get you a glass of water.

Young Voice

Mallow-lush the seventh month, the ninth bid weaving winter clothes. Here comes spring to bring the sun, and warbling of orioles...

Young Voice

Nine! was time to lay the garden out, and ten! to reap the joy of harvest gains. Plant your Millets lest Year end, with hemp and beans and all the grains...

Shu

...

🔍

'Mallow-lush the seventh month, the ninth bid weaving winter clothes.'

Winter comes early in Dahuang. We need to ready ourselves some proper clothes soon.

My dear sister, should I make you a set of new clothes?

Shu

I wouldn't need it...

I've developed a new weaving method, which yields satins that are light, durable, and colorful.

I have a new design thought out, and I'm certain it will look perfect on you.

Shu

Eh, whatever floats your boat...

Shu...

Is this how man lives?

It does seem... rather pleasant.

🔍

Shu

Yes.

You've truly lived now.

🔍

My good gentleman, I know by heart the wisdom of commerce that you've taught me, but there remains one thing that I do not understand.

All things under Heaven are fleeting and indistinct. How should I appraise them?

Elderly Merchant

Haha...

Elderly Merchant

Take a look. How much is the jade pendant I'm wearing worth?

I know this pendant. It is very common and worth at most two taels of silver.

Elderly Merchant

But this pendant was left to me by my mother. I have been carrying it around for as long as I can remember. To me, it is priceless.

Elderly Merchant

In the end, appraisal means appraising the human heart.

...I shall remember.

Elderly Merchant

It's almost summer... Just the season for Jiangnan lychees.

Elderly Merchant

The climate is dry up north. The lychees there are hardly sweet, and simply don't compare to the lychees back home.

Elderly Merchant

I thought I would go back home and open a trade route for selling the southern lychees up north, only for there to be a river standing in my way, stopping me from ever going back.

It's a shame that this rain came at a terrible time.

It will be summer in two days. Once your body warms up, we will hire a boat to cross the river.

Elderly Merchant

Forget it... I know in my heart that this is the end of the road.

Elderly Merchant

Why must man always go against Heaven...?

Elderly Merchant

How old are you this year?

Ages are not very meaningful to my kind.

But if we must, I will be exactly fifty, come Xiaoshu.

Elderly Merchant

I can tell you are not quite the same as mere mortals... I envy your long life. Still, now that I consider it, such a long life would be full of hardship.

Elderly Merchant

No matter what you are, I am eighty-three. You have followed me for so long. It certainly wouldn't be a bad deal for you, if I called you my adopted son.

Indeed, I was fortunate to have met you and seen the boundless sights these lands have to offer.

Elderly Merchant

Fate brought us together. I have nothing much to give you. Aside from that worthless business, this one mantra is all I have.

All under Heaven live for profit, and die for profit.

Elderly Merchant

I have been reciting this mantra from the day I began studying business, and it helped me triumph over many rivals.

Elderly Merchant

But if everything under Heaven could really be summed up with just the word 'profit', this might just be a rather boring place.

Elderly Merchant

I don't have much time left and can't walk much farther. If you truly have such a long life ahead of you, then go and see for me.

Elderly Merchant

Walk this great land. Go and see for me whether there is really some kind of 'great windfall' that profits all under Heaven.

Elderly Merchant

If you truly do find it...

I will remember...

I will go and see.

🔍

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