Chapter 32: Past Events, Told from the Beginning

Chapter 32: Old Stories, Told Anew

Ning Xishi, seeing that Xie Jingxing's expression was starting to show signs of anger, quickly stopped his joking and said seriously, "I couldn't ask for anything more than having the General here to help me."

When Xie Jingxing glanced his way, Ning Xishi quickly got down to business: "In seven days, it'll be time for the Martial Arts Alliance Leader selection. When that happens, I'm planning to pull off something big... and I'll need the General's full support. Come closer—"

It was only then that Xie Jingxing realized the earlier remark had been Ning Xishi teasing him.

His heart clenched, then loosened, and as he watched the spirited look on the man before him, he couldn't help but feel happy along with him. Xie Jingxing thought to himself that he was a lost cause.

His emotions were so easily stirred, without a shred of reason left.

In the past, while in the military, he'd often hear tales of certain generals who would fly into a rage over a pretty face—tales Xie Jingxing had always scoffed at.

He figured any general who ignored his emperor's orders and the people's wishes, acting only to vent his emotions for a lover, didn't deserve to be called a general.

But now... if Ning Xishi were to be harmed, or if Ning Xishi were to fall for someone else, he figured he'd be just as bad.

Xie Jingxing shoved down the dark thoughts churning inside him when Ning Xishi slung an arm around his shoulder. This guy never seemed to have any concept of personal space with other men, always ready to get buddy-buddy with anyone he was close to.

Xie Jingxing suddenly thought of the National Academy, of the two beds pushed together in Ning Xishi's room—his and Qi Huairui's—and his temples started pounding again.

When his subordinates had reported this to the General's residence back then, they hadn't even dared to look up.

But Xie Jingxing had suppressed all his displeasure at the time, since Qi Huairui was useless at both books and fighting—no threat at all.

General Xie didn't even bother to look twice at him.

After that whole thing with the senior brother, Xie Jingxing was reminded of those two beds pushed together, and of Ning Xishi's habit of getting all up in everyone's space, and figured he had a long, hard road ahead.

Xie Jingxing had his own calculations. After all, in Ning Xishi's eyes, he definitely ranked below Qi Huairui, who had studied alongside him for years, and Xiao Shaoqing, who had grown up with him. Bringing it up now would be digging his own grave.

He needed to think things through before making a move.

Keep it subtle. Don't show his hand.

Ning Xishi rattled off a bunch of stuff in Xie Jingxing's ear, and when he got no reaction, asked, "Does my plan not work?"

Xie Jingxing: "Huh?"

He'd been too busy plotting how to handle those two to really pay attention.

He'd only caught the last couple of sentences, so he asked back, "You want to kill Ming Hanche now?"

Not scared he'll use your identity to mess with you anymore?

Ning Xishi said, "Mm. Today, when Senior Brother came, the big news he brought was that hardly anyone in the Ming family probably knows who I really am. Ming Hanche probably hasn't even told his own two sons—just him and his most trusted adviser know."

Xie Jingxing pondered for a moment, then nodded: "This is risky, but instead of letting Ming Hanche hold your weakness over your head and putting your whole family's lives in his hands, it really is better to strike first. Even if others know, once Ming Hanche is dead and the Ming family has no leader, it'll be the perfect chance to wipe them out."

Ning Xishi felt like Xie Jingxing had read his mind.

He was pretty surprised, since Xie Jingxing was, after all, an imperial general, yet he kept taking Ning Xishi's side—which felt really weird.

So Ning Xishi offered, "Actually, killing Ming Hanche has many benefits. Judging by his arrangements in Ningzhou, he's obviously gearing up for a rebellion. Instead of sitting back and letting him get stronger, it's better to nip this in the bud. This is also a good thing for the court."

Xie Jingxing was pleased that Ning Xishi was thinking from his standpoint, and the frustration he'd been holding in melted away, his expression finally easing up.

"By the way," Ning Xishi looked at Xie Jingxing's leg, "the General's leg injury...?"

He didn't finish the question. Smart people know when to leave it at that—if Xie Jingxing was willing to share, he would naturally continue. But if it was Xie Jingxing's secret, he could easily just change the subject.

Ning Xishi just felt that his own biggest secret was laid bare before Xie Jingxing, while he still didn't know much about him. He wanted things to be a bit more even.

But Xie Jingxing was, after all, a great general—a power-holder at court. People in power have the right to stay quiet.

Besides, if he hadn't been able to dig up any information on Xie Jingxing, that was just the Beggar Gang being useless.

"My leg—five months ago, while fighting Wanyan Qi, the adopted son of the Xiongnu Chanyu, whom they honor as the Eagle of the Grasslands, I was thrown from my horse and injured." Not wanting to drag it out, Xie Jingxing stuck to the highlights. "I killed Wanyan Qi and the Chanyu's three biological sons, and gravely wounded the Chanyu himself. The grasslands are short on good generals now—they're in a rough patch."

Ning Xishi usually hated all this tangled political crap, but because Xie Jingxing's account was straightforward and clear, he actually listened.

"You... you killed Wanyan Qi?"

Ning Xishi thought to himself, wasn't this the second male lead who pursued the female protagonist in the original story? He had a ton of screen time later on, and he dies this early?

Xie Jingxing was puzzled by his surprise and said, "I cut his head off and stuck it in the ice cellar at the General's residence. You can go see it if you like."

Ning Xishi: "..." No, he did not want to see it.

Also, where was that ice cellar—it wasn't under his courtyard, was it???

Xie Jingxing continued, "Though there's talk out beyond the border that Wanyan Qi didn't actually die, that he swapped identities with a personal guard and got away. But I fought him multiple times—how could I mistake him?"

They say your enemy knows you best; even a lover probably doesn't watch your every move as closely as an enemy does.

Ning Xishi, of course, trusted the General unconditionally.

This man was, in the original story, a figure of breathtaking brilliance on par with his elder brother.

If only he hadn't been so self-destructive in the original story, being protected by these two—one civil, one martial—his life would have been so comfortable.

—Ning Xishi's ultimate goal right now was to gain the care and protection of those two, then begin his grand plan of lying flat and doing nothing.

He thought, could that person in the original story who was so desperately in love with the female lead be a fake?

After all, this novel's nature was that no matter how absurd the process, it would always fall into the predetermined ending—like how people can't change their fate.

If that fake, bearing the name of the Eagle of the Grasslands Wanyan Qi, made the female lead believe he was truly Wanyan Qi, then in a sense, wasn't he Wanyan Qi?

Xie Jingxing continued, "At the time, our forces were depleted and supplies couldn't keep up. If I hadn't killed their commander, the Xiongnu would have counterattacked within days, the border would have fallen, and they might have marched all the way to the capital."

Those few words made Ning Xishi's blood surge and his heart race.

He felt as if he were on the yellow-sand battlefield, hearing nothing but the soldiers' war cries and the howling of the wind through the desert.

"At that moment, I used a ruse to gather their commanders together, led three thousand personal guards in the attack, and in the end, fewer than ten of us survived." Xie Jingxing thought for a moment, then said honestly, "Wang Meng was one of them. The battlefield was covered in corpses, and I had fallen unconscious. Qiu Changyu spotted Wang Meng struggling to his feet, and found me ten meters away from him."

That was also why he had promoted Wang Meng to Vice Chiliarch.

As for how the Emperor later assigned him to the Imperial City Bureau and promoted him to full Fifth-Rank Chiliarch, and how he later crossed paths with Ning Xishi—that was a story for another time.

Mentioning Wang Meng reminded Ning Xishi of the skirt and the belly band. His face flushed with embarrassment, and he quickly changed the subject: "That's all in the past. Let's not dwell on it."

Wang Meng had knelt and apologized to him afterward. He had still harbored a grudge at the time, but later Wang Meng did prove to be a suitable spy.

Now he had eyes and ears in the palace.

When the Emperor had originally arranged for Wang Meng to humiliate him, he probably never imagined that the one Wang Meng would truly obey was his elder sister.

Xie Jingxing continued, "You already know what happened after that. As for why I can stand now, it's because the Master Healer has been treating me, along with some urgent, potent medicines. Yesterday at the theater, the medicine reacted badly with the cosmetics, causing the effects to spiral out of control, and I was discovered by the patrolling guards."

Ning Xishi hadn't expected Xie Jingxing to lay it all out for him from start to finish.

That made everything crystal clear.

"So how long can you stay on your feet with that leg?"

"I've got three doses of the medicine total. After the third dose, I'll need to rest in bed. As for how long each dose lets me stand, it's hard to say—the first pill should let me stand for seven days, and each one after that will last less time."

Ning Xishi drew in a sharp breath. He had originally assumed Xie Jingxing's leg was nearly healed, which was why he could stand.

He hadn't counted on it actually making the injury worse...

He quickly made Xie Jingxing sit and poured him some water.

Xie Jingxing watched the hint of worry that crept onto Ning Xishi's brow, torn between acting tough and playing up the weakness for sympathy, but in the end, he didn't want to win Ning Xishi over with pity.

"I had this planned before I even got to Ningzhou—don't worry, I've got a backup." Seeing that Ning Xishi was still looking at him, Xie Jingxing added, "Qiu Changyu and I parted ways in the mountains. Now that Chuzhou has the governor and several county magistrates holding things down, he slipped back quietly this morning to link up with me. Now the Gang Leader and I want the same thing: to take out Ming Hanche and his cronies. With the Gang Leader's help, it should be easier than I anticipated."

Xie Jingxing rarely complimented him, and it immediately made the young man's face flush with embarrassment. However, Ning Xishi merely pressed his lips together, not jumping on the chance like he usually would.

Xie Jingxing couldn't help laughing—he'd never seen Ning Xishi act shy before.

The seven days passed quickly. During that time, Ning Xishi visited the teahouse a few times to drink tea and listen to storytelling, though he always wore a silver mask engraved with intricate, ornate patterns—a signal to the Ming family and any martial artists keeping their distance:

The Beggar Clan Chief had re-emerged to contend for the Martial Arts Alliance Leader. If anyone else wanted to compete, they'd better take a hard look at their own skills first.

It was also meant to put Ming Hanche at ease, making him think he had Ning Xishi under control, so he'd let his guard down and stop spreading word about Ning Xishi's identity.

At a good window seat on the second floor of the teahouse, the young man sat in fitted martial attire, his belt cinching a fine silhouette. He leaned lazily against the window frame, idly twirling a cup between his fingers, seemingly listening to the storytelling while his eyes drifted over the passersby in the street below.

He looked totally relaxed and carefree.

At the nearby tables sat martial artists with less-than-pure intentions, all covertly sizing up this mysterious Beggar Clan Chief.

To their shock, they found they couldn't discern the depth of the young man's skill at all.

One thought rose in all their minds—the martial arts world was about to see a major upheaval.

==========Author's Note:==========

Solo update.