Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 68: Zhao Changhe the Manslayer

Even if it was a dog that did it, being able to appear on the Tome of Troubled Times three times within five months was enough to shake the world. Before this, just who had managed to cause the tome to appear with such frequency? Not even Xia Longyuan could do this when he first began his rise.

Was this Zhao Changhe the son of heaven?

By involving himself with the daughter of a powerful family, going up against criminals from the underworld, traveling a thousand li, breaking an encirclement with his clothes bloodied, Zhao Changhe was now inundated in legends and rumors. What little notoriety he had gained from taking Fang Buping’s head could not compare to this!

And to the vast majority of people in the world, Zhao Changhe had also struck gold!

He was the grand benefactor of the Cui Clan! From now on, no one would dare lightly touch him. Was the arrest order from the imperial court really more important than the Cui Clan’s face? If the Cui Clan said directly that they were protecting this criminal, First Seat Tang and her colleagues would have to pull back and lose face.

What’s more, this did not simply concern matters of face. Zhao Changhe had a good chance of becoming Cui Wenjing’s son-in-law...

Initially, when he decided to endure all sorts of hardships to bring the young lady home, it was out of a sense of virtue. However, throughout the journey, they braved through winds and rains hand-in-hand alone together. One was a girl in her teenage years; the other was a young and vigorous man. How could sparks not have ignited between them? Only an absolute idiot would believe that.

If they vowed to get married without consent from their parents, then they might have been separated by the Cui Clan. However, now the whole world knew of their “relationship.” At the very least, Yangyang could no longer discuss marriage with other clans. Anyone who did so would be seen by the whole world as a cuck before they ever got their reply.

The man involved this time could also be said to be supremely honorable and righteous. Ordinary people would shower him in praise if they met him, so how could the Cui Clan treat him with hostility? If they wanted to save face, there was no way they could do that.

It was very likely that Zhao Changhe was about to become a son-in-law. It was hard to come by any other alternative.

And to the few clever people, how things would play out after this was worthy of their consideration...

*

Far away, at the capital, Tang Wanzhuang was high up on a tower, leaning against a banister. She peacefully watched the moon in the night sky and after a long while, she sighed softly. “I never thought...”

The image of that youth who had never trained in any martial art pointing a saber at her and loudly claiming himself to be “Zhao Changhe the Manslayer!” surfaced in her mind. Nobody could have predicted that today, not even half a year later, he would leave Beimang with his saber and make his name known everywhere under heaven!

“The Cui Clan—” Tang Wanzhuang muttered to herself before suddenly coughing.

From behind, a maid rushed over to drape some robes over her. “Young lady, it’s already late. Why don’t you go to rest earlier...”

Tang Wanzhuang replied quietly, “Pass down my orders. Withdraw the arrest order for Zhao Changhe.”

“...yes.”

*

Cui Yuanyong, who had headed back to search for his sister, had arrived not too long ago at the city where Zhao Changhe and Cui Yuanyang stayed at an inn together and stole clothes. He was anxiously asking the officials here for all sorts of information.

“Zhao Changhe? He indeed came here and left. He even stole some clothes. Who was with him? Ah, there was a girl who looked pretty cute but turned out to be a who—” Before the man could finish speaking, the sky shone with gold.

The official stared in disbelief for a long while. His mouth twitched and he said no more.

Cui Yuanyong also looked up. His heart sank as he asked, “What the fuck did you say just now?”

“When Lord Zhao left the city, he looked magnificent! I thought, for that girl by his side to be so cute, she was definitely the honored daughter of a powerful family. So it turns out that she was Young Lady Cui. It makes sense now! I just knew from the start that only the Cui Clan could raise such a pure and gorgeous young woman!”

*

As she was about to leave, Xia Chichi took a wrong step and almost tripped.

“What’s wrong, saintess?”

“I suddenly regret not having killed that traitor just now. Will we make it if we head back now...”

“The Tome of Troubled Times has appeared. That means that Zhao Changhe and Cui Yuanyang have already escaped to safety. Cui Wenjing must have arrived. Saintess, I think you should forget about it.”

“I know the Tome of Troubled Times appeared! What I’m angry at is precisely because it appeared! Just who’s writing this shitty book? Does he even know how to write!?”

No one knew why she felt this way. Saintess, are you angry because you didn’t get such a great description when you entered the ranking? You’re already amazing enough, what’s the problem with that? And you’re ranked 13, you’re two-fucking-hundred ranks above that girl!

*

Ten thousand li away, Jiangnan.

Yue Hongling sat alone on the eaves of a building, leisurely drinking from a wineskin. As the words flashed in the sky, Yue Hongling raised her head to look, then directly downed her drink.

Once the words were gone, so too was her wine.

Yue Hongling threw the wineskin away. “With things like this, how could one not be joyous!?”

Shortly after, she stood up and stretched. “Yes... But all the women you come into contact with seem to have their reputations...”

*

Wei County, at the inner courtyard of the county magistrate’s mansion residence.

“Lord Zhao, do you really not want us to wash you?”

“I said I don’t. That means I don’t!”

“Lord Cui told us you might get the wrong idea, but this really isn’t a test...”

“I don’t give a shit if he wants to test me. I’m my own person! If I do it, I’ll be done in a minute. If I let you wash me, I have no idea how long you’ll take. Isn’t that troublesome? Go away. Just get me some clothes, actually. I’ll wash myself!”

The maid covered her mouth as she smiled and walked away. This Lord Zhao is really boorish.

Not only is he boorish, he’s so unromantic. No matter how you look at it, Young Lady Cui doesn’t belong together with him...

Whatever the case, even maids knew that it was highly likely that Zhao Changhe was about to become the son-in-law of the Cui family. For the clan to arrange maids to tend to him was really not a test. This was just how powerful families were. If it was up to Cui Yuanyang, she would do the same and Zhao Changhe could toy with any of those maids if he really wanted to.

Zhao Changhe was aware of this.

However, he was not in the mood to deal with any of it. He was too exhausted and was afraid he might just suddenly die if he could not wash himself or sleep. I don’t care if you’re a servant or not. Don’t interrupt my sleep.

After driving away the maids, Zhao Changhe finally soaked himself comfortably in his bathtub to ease away his exhaustion.

He fully understood the problem the Cui Clan was dealing with right now. He himself also did not want the Tome of Troubled Times to have such a big mouth. What’ll Xia Chichi think when she finds out? I don’t want to get myself this deep in with the Cui family.

To be honest, he also did not know if Yangyang had any interest in him. Zhao Changhe had really never had such crooked thoughts.

The reason for this was simple. Throughout the whole journey, when that young girl was cute, they were not familiar with each other, and Zhao Changhe even saw her as a hassle. After they got to know each other and he realized she was not that bad, she was as filthy as a beggar. What kind of generous god would show interest to a beggar!

This was why Zhao Changhe had really acted with noble and benevolent intentions and done a good deed. Looking back, this should have been a deeply moving experience, so how did things end up like this...

He did not write the Tome of Troubled Times. No one could stop the tome from talking. It was a real pain in the ass.

Still, in any case, the tome had rather good things to say about him this time. His hideous rank had also been lifted away by Yangyang; he was no longer 250 or 91 Mr Zhao. 88 was a number people would pay money for[1]! Now Yangyang was a 213[2]...

Zhao Changhe was also surprised he had managed to rank up. This time, he had not really defeated any people with a higher cultivation. Most of the people he had slain had the same cultivation as him or were small fry at an even lower level.

Qi Bubi did not count. If it hadn’t been for Yangyang’s ambush, Qi Bubi would have definitely been able to escape. Afterward, if he had started to play dirty and strike from the shadows, the one dead would have been Zhao Changhe. Thus, if he had been by himself, he would have definitely lost. The Tome of Troubled Times recognized this battle as a shared effort. Yangyang did not steal the kill from Zhao Changhe. There was a logic to this.

But it was precisely because of this that made Zhao Changhe wonder why he had moved up the ranks. Was it because I was still able to push back our enemies while being in that sorry ass state? Did the Tome of Troubled Times think that this was more impressive than killing Fang Buping?

As for the assassin from the Snow-Listening Pavilion at the end.... They had been running for their lives. Zhao Changhe had only shot those arrows to stall for time and wait for reinforcements to arrive, and he had never actually fought the assassin.

Moreover, Yangyang’s achievements in battle were miniscule, so just how had she entered the ranking? And with a rank higher than Zhao Changhe’s initial rank of 250...

Zhao Changhe actually felt unwilling to concede... From this, he finally understood why other people wanted to challenge him for his place on the ranking.

Ultimately he could only conclude that the Tome of Troubled Times did not just look at duels to decide the weight of one’s achievements. Zhao Changhe managed to make it out of various schemes, encirclements, and being pursued while bringing along a little girl—this in itself was an outstanding achievement. Yangyang also entered the ranking because, throughout the whole journey, she had never once been a burden. On the contrary, she had excellent cooperation. For a spoiled little girl who had no real combat experience to be able to pull this off, anyone that looked into it would commend her. For example, if one picked ten thousand schoolgirls, how many of them could perform as well as Cui Yuanyang?

The Tome of Troubled Times recognized this as her potential. If she could work on her skills, it would definitely be clear to everyone that she was just an unpolished piece of jade. After all, the Ranking of Hidden Dragons looked at one’s potential, not how great their might in battle was.

As he ruminated on all this, he had no idea if anything he thought was correct.

Zhao Changhe’s consciousness got more muddled as he soaked in his bath, and after a while, he fell asleep.

He dreamt again, and in his dream, he met a familiar face—a woman floating amidst the serene darkness of the night sky, her eyes shut.

1. 88 is a lucky number in Chinese culture. ☜

2. 213 is another term that means stupid/idiot. 13 looks like B, so it’s read 2B or 二逼, which means stupid. ☜