Chapter 27 The People from Dazhou

This conversation almost bound to be recorded in the history of Dazhou started naturally. The ambitious emperor showed enough respect to Li Fuyao who was just a swordsman at the Intent Stage. At last, the emperor got happy and even dismissed all the guards who insisted on following him. So in this white fungus porridge shop which was arranged temporarily on the street, only Li Fuyao and the emperor were left.

The emperor continued the subject, “Dazhou is not large, so I know everything in the country, but I don’t feel happy. The country I want to see is not like this.”

Li Fuyao finally took a bite of porridge and asked calmly, “Your Majesty, have you found out my family background?”

The emperor shook his head, “Dazhou is still a small country, so it naturally means that we have many aspects falling behind. For example, no matter how I checked the information of Baiyu Town and investigated openly or secretly, I can’t find where you came from before you reached the town, but in my opinion, perhaps you are not one of my people.”

Li Fuyao kept silent and waited for the emperor to continue.

The emperor smiled peacefully, “But there is no evidence proving that you are not from Dazhou.”

Li Fuyao didn’t look serious and just smiled, “Your Majesty, since you are worried if I am from Dazhou, why don’t you consider if I will stay? Dazhou is remote and there is no cultivator in the country in the past hundreds of years. Even if there were some, nobody stayed to work for the country. So why are you sure that I will stay and protect the country or even expand the territory for you?”

The emperor ruled Dazhou, and nobody spoke to him in this way at ordinary times. Logically, he should not be used to it, but now as he looked at the teenager saying that casually who didn’t seem to care about his identity as the emperor, he didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. This ambitious emperor just frowned slightly after he heard Li Fuyao say that he should consider if the teenager would stay. He refuted, “In my eyes, whether you are a civilian in Dazhou matters much more than whether you will stay.”

Li Fuyao asked in astonishment, “Why?”

As soon as he asked, he found that the emperor’s expression changed, like a sleeping tiger suddenly opening its eyes. The emperor expressed seriously, “Dazhou can only be protected by my people. Others don’t qualify to as long as they are not from the country, no matter how powerful they are and which high stage they are at. I won’t entrust the safety of Dazhou to an outsider or ask an outsider to protect my country.”

His statement was forceful.

In fact, there was a saying in society that the sense of pride of all people in Dazhou was derived from the royal family’s full publicity from generation to generation.

And the one who had the strongest sense of pride was naturally the emperor.

When Li Fuyao was a storyteller in Baiyu Town, he was surprised every time he talked about the emperors in the history of Dazhou. This remote country with a history of only more than two hundred years had never rendered tribute to Yanling or had any marriage alliances with a neighboring country. It had lost in the war, but it had never ceded its territory. The small countries in the neighborhood sent people to work for Yanling every year, but only Dazhou had never let any civilian suffer that.

Maybe that was the reason why the people in Dazhou had the sense of pride?

The emperor sighed with emotion, “Dazhou is in battle every year most because Yanling intends to destroy my country since long ago, except that I want to expand the territory. But they don’t take my country seriously and want to urge the neighboring countries to conquer Dazhou. Why would I fear?”

Li Fuyao discouraged him without hesitation, “Your Majesty, even if you can conquer all the neighboring countries, Dazhou would be destroyed as long as Yanling starts a war.”

Before the emperor responded, Li Fuyao continued, “It’s not enough even if I work for you, unless I can reach the seventh stage, but even if I can, Yanling can afford to employ the Confucian cultivators at the eighth stage as they are determined to destroy Dazhou at any price.”

In the human world where the sages wouldn’t take actions easily, the Confucian cultivators at the eighth stage, the Ascending Stage, were the most powerful.

Looking at the emperor’s gloomy expression, Li Fuyao felt guilty for no reason and then comforted him softly, “Yanling would pay such a huge price to defeat Dazhou, and they’d better turn a blind eye.”

The teenager Li Fuyao didn’t know that his last words were more hurtful than the former.

Maybe the emperor had considered such things in the past. He came to see Li Fuyao today and didn’t want badly to make him stay. He wanted more to see if this teenager was a cultivator from Dazhou.

The emperor had dreamt for more than twenty years that there was a cultivator in his country.

When he met Li Fuyao this time, he certainly couldn’t control his emotions.

After talking, the emperor understood why the talent of the Xie Family, the arrogant Xie Ying wanted to make friends with this teenager.

Li Fuyao pondered for a while and then added indifferently, “I am not from Dazhou. At least I can’t say that I am.”

The emperor was frustrated and then asked, “How so?”

Li Fuyao laughed and didn’t speak. He just lowered his head to finish the white fungus porridge.

Li Fuyao asked with a smile after he finished eating, “By the way, will Princess Anyang marry somebody in a lower position?”

The emperor smiled bitterly, “I don’t want to trap Xie Ying in the imperial palace.”

Li Fuyao shook his head and judged, “You are stubborn.”

The emperor had used this word to criticize the prime minister. Now Li Fuyao said that, but it was not abrupt. Instead, the emperor took it for granted.

“I am Xie Ying’s half friend and a civilian from Dazhou partly, but in fact, I can’t stay for now. Even if I stay, it’s useless. If there is nothing, you won’t need me. If there is something wrong, I can do nothing. However, I like this place and this city. After I make some achievements while practicing swordsmanship, I will come back to take care of your property, okay?”

Li Fuyao said that after standing up.

The emperor was still confused, “I want to know what it means as you said you are a civilian from Dazhou partly.”

Li Fuyao pondered for a minute and then stated in a low voice, “Maybe I am from Dazhou, but I don’t want to admit it for now.”

The emperor waved his hand helplessly.

Li Fuyao smiled, “But before that, you have to keep Princess Anyang unmarried for somebody. Otherwise, aren’t you afraid that he will rebel with his army? As for the ancestral rule of Dazhou, so what if you change it?”

The emperor was stunned, “Now I believe that you are not like a cultivator but like a rascal.”

Li Fuyao turned his head subconsciously and didn’t see the machete on his back. Then he didn’t mind and responded, “I am self-taught, not an orthodox cultivator from the three religious sects, and of course, I don’t have that imposing manner. But my master is unrestrained. If you see him, you will think that he is a cultivator as you imagined, Your Majesty.”

The emperor couldn’t help but laugh. Then he looked at Li Fuyao and expressed seriously all of a sudden, “I will change it.”

Nobody knew that the ancestral rule was abolished that the emperor’s son-in-law couldn’t be in the army since Dazhou was established because Li Fuyao said that casually. But Li Fuyao was clear that from the beginning, this emperor wanted to change it, and it had nothing to do with others.

When Li Fuyao walked out of this shop, it was almost dusk. The sunset glow shone the street, which seemed to be covered with a gold gauze. He looked up at the cloud far away and thought of Chen Sheng leaving with his sword, sighing, “It’s a long journey.”