A banquet was already prepared for Jinshui and his friends. Not only food but also musical performances, dances, and even acrobatics as were usually held in the imperial palace. Shuiyao introduced the Yumen descendants to Xianjing Wang, Liuxin occasionally added a sentence or two. Xianjing Wang listened and watched everything carefully, it seemed that he had known for a long time that his favorite concubine was a guardian of Yumen.
"The guardians of Yumen had already selected talented youths, it's really not an easy job," the old prince said to them as he raised his cup. "Benwang really admires young people like you, today being able to get acquainted is an honor. Hua Shaoxia, Huang Shaoxia, Qin Shaoxia, Li Shaoxia, Liao Shaoxia, Zhu Nuxia and Xu Guniang, benwang toast to all of you."
Jinshui and the others drank to greet him. Shuiyao and Liuxin emptied their cups too.
"Wangye invited us here, and also helped release Liuxin Meimei from Yuan Wancui, Yuan Zhangmen, we are very grateful," said Jinshui. "But we also had openly called ourselves the descendants of a heretic sect. Don't you worry the wulin people will call you a prince who associates with the enemy of the righteous sects?"
"What's the difference between the heretic or righteous sects? Only separated by a thin line. There's no need to worry about it," Xianjing Wang replied with a laugh. "In the past, benwang also wanted to make friends with the leader of Yumen Jiao, it's just that there hadn't been a chance to meet him in person."
"Then we will not hesitate," said Huang Yu. "Wangye, Liuxin Junzhu is one of us, Wangye has aware of it too. We want to know, what do you think about this."
"I've known for a long time, it's just that sometimes closing one eye will make it less hurtful," the old prince replied in a relaxed tone, but his eyes at a glance showed that he was very careful. Yumen was a problem for the imperial reign. "Liuxin has loved to learn martial arts since her childhood, benwang has also never forbade it. Even though she's a princess, it's okay to have friends from the martial world. Being able to make friends with a number of talented youths like you, is also a luck."
Jinshui, as well as Huang Yu and the others, could actually guess what Xinjing Wang's invitation meant this time. The old prince several times said words of praise, behind it was clearly a certain intention.
"My two bodyguards, Wang Chun and Sima Yisheng, Wang and Sima Shifu were also people of the martial world," continued the old prince. "Besides, there are still several other bodyguards in our wangfu residence whose origins are not much different. Moreover, those who have the opportunity to serve the noble emperor also don't always come from noble families or the military."
"Fuwang, do you want to offer a position to Hua Gege and the others?" Liuxin asked bluntly. She could also guess the direction of his father's conversation. Of course, Xianjing Wang would offer certain positions to the Yumen descendants who were considered talented. On the one side, it would benefit his position, placing more allies in the palace, on the other to prevent them from reviving a sect that was once a threat to the empire.
"Benwang just wanted to tell you, the palace always needs talented people," said Xianjing Wang. "The emperor is also a person who greatly values youths."
"We still have a long way to go, Wangye's good intentions can only be kept in mind," Jinshui said, polite but firm. "Hua Jinshui herself is just an uneducated person, obviously I will not be able to adjust to life in the palace, if I accept the position, I'm afraid that in the future it will embarrass Wangye, who has painstakingly recommended."
"Li Qian had experienced life in the capital before. It was glamorous, but after returning home village, it felt much more relaxed." continued Li Qian with a laugh. "Wangye, Li Qian is used to taking care of rabbits in Bai Tu Shanzhuang. If I have to leave them, I will feel a little lonely."
Xianjing Wang's expression didn't change much, still smiling and nodding his head. It seemed that he had already guessed, if he were to openly offer the official position, then these young Yumen descendants would definitely refuse outright.
"Benwang understand, really," he said. "Kewei Shaoxia prefer to live freely. No problem. Benwang really likes talented young people, you can think about my offer for a few days, or just forget about it."
He didn't say any further. The future is uncertain, he thought. The resurrecting of Yumen would not be completed in a day or two or a year or two. He had Shuiyao by his side, he had a reason to meet these Yumen descendants one by one at a later date. Of course, persuading them one by one would be easier than influencing seven at once.
The banquet ended as the evening wore on, but Xianjing Wang had already prepared all sorts of snacks and the finest wine to keep his guests longer. He left them with the excuse of changing clothes, but apparently just wanted to give his concubine a chance to convey something to Jinshui and his friends.
"Jinshui, I have something I want to tell you, I hope you will listen to the end, don't make any judgments until I finish telling it." Shuiyao suddenly said as the maids and bodyguards all left them.
"Shuiyao Shishu please tell," said Jinshui.
"About five years ago, Li Qian's father, Li Taiyi, brought someone who was seriously injured to our wangfu, asking me to lock him up in a safe place, and guard him until there was a cure for him," said Shuiyao. "This person had been in Li Taiyi's hands for several years, and Li Taiyi in the struggle to save him had spent a lot of effort, even failing to treat an emperor's concubine and having to give up his duties as an imperial physician."
Huang Yu reacted the most hearing Shuiyao mentioning the person Li Taiyi brought to wangfu. He had already begun to guess the identity of this person, but he was still very curious to hear more. Shuiyao asked Jinshui to listen to the end, he was nine parts sure his guess was right.
"Jinshui, do you know what happened when our late jiaozhu was killed?" Shuiyao tried to explain very carefully, not wanting to invite a tense reaction from Jinshui and the others. "Why did Liangtian Jian Shen and your father have to duel at that time?"
"Moying Shifu told me, it all started when the Liu Family from Hunan Province didn't want their eldest daughter to be taken as one of the descendants," said Jinshui, "they fought hard against Yumen, Liu Heduan invited several mercenaries and wanted to challenge my father. My father then gave the order to finish off the entire Liu Family."
"This massacre order reached the ears of Monk Shuangmu of Lanyun Temple, then asked Liangtian Jian Shen to meet our late jiaozhu in order to advise him," said Shuiyao. "Their arrival was warmly welcomed by the late jiaozhu, and really succeeded in reconciling the warring parties at that time. After that, Liangtian Jian Shen and stayed for some time in Yumen headquarters, discussing martial arts with our late jiaozhu."
Jinshui took out the white steel fan Xu Qiao gave him a month ago, handed it to Shuiyao. "My father gave this fan to Liangtian Jian Shen, it can be said to be their token of friendship."
"This fan actually still exists." Shuiyao accepted the fan and opened it for a while, then returned it to Jinshui. "The result of their discussion became the refinement of the manual of yin shou yang zhang, and rumored to be written on this fan."
"There's no writing on this fan," Xu Qiao said, "this fan has been in my possession for a long time, I've tried all means to find anything in it, but it's just a regular fan with no secret whatsoever."
"The rumor was never proved right," Shuiyao smilingly said, "some say that the secret on the fan is a map of the Yumen headquarters, which Liangtian Jian Shen secretly carved there to give to his disciples."
"Yumen's headquarters were elaborately designed and were said to have many traps," said Huang Yu, "If the map of Yumen's headquarters falls into enemy hands, it will be very dangerous. This Liangtian Jian Shen had really cheated."
"Did our late jiaozhu know this, and it was the reason for the duel?" asked Zhu Baique.
"It wasn't like that," said Shuiyao. "Not long after getting this fan, Liangtian Jian Shen had to go back to Jianyin Bang. It was all fine when he parted with our late jiaozhu. I just don't know what happened after, during the next year a lot of news circulated in the martial world about the cruelty by the Yumen people, and disputes with various parties. Until suddenly, fifty-nine members of the Liu Family from Hunan Province were killed overnight, and their daughter was missing. That was when everyone called our late jiaozhu responsible for the massacre."
"It was the rumors spread by Huan Jiaozheng of Yongjun Hui," said Qin Liangjie, "he hates Yumen only because he was embarrassed to have lost to one of our hall masters."
"The pressure from the whole martial world finally made Liangtian Jian Shen come to a decision to have a duel with our late jiaozhu," continued Shuiyao. "At that time, you could say there was a little misunderstanding between them. Our late jiaozhu did not want to give an explanation regarding what happened to Liu Family. While Liangtian Jian Shen was also affected by the rumors that mentioned Yumen's many cruelties. They forgot the friendship gained during the previous meeting."
She took a pause before continuing. "In a duel, weapons have no eyes, two men who both possess internal energy can't avoid injuries. You all know what happened next. Wu Jiaozhu was killed, while Liangtian Jian Shen was seriously injured. Two of Liangtian Jian Shen's disciples who came with him, Zhang Xianghui and Xie Tianhu, still managed to take him out of Yumen's headquarters."
"Soon after, the alliances of Yongjun Hui, Haitang Jian Pai, and Wuyuan Dian attacked Yumen headquarters," said Li Qian.
"They came too soon, while Yumen just lost our jiaozhu and didn't have time to transfer the leadership," continued Shuiyao. "Yumen's leadership was always handed over to the eldest son to avoid an internal struggle for the position. But our late jiaozhu at that time did not have a son, and some of the guardians were also not at the headquarters. The attack couldn't be stopped, the headquarters was destroyed. At that time, jiaozhu furen used jiaozhu's command plate and still managed to pass down orders through the main guardian Moying to gather new eight descendants."
"Us," said Huang Yu. "Jinshui was still outside the base at that time. Everything would depend on him, on us."
"Liangtian Jian Shen heard everything that happened to Yumen, and he realized he had made a big mistake, he shouldn't listen to rumors and had that duel with jiaozhu," continued Shuiyao. "However at that time he himself was seriously injured, unable to prevent a disaster from happening."
"And then he was murdered by Xie Tianhu and his fifth junior Xun Tianyi," said Xu Qiao.
"When Li Taiyi found him somewhere around Wansui Gu that day, Li Taiyi also thought that he had lost his breath, but because Liangtian Jian Shen possessed a high level of inner energy, he still held on."
Shuiyao's words immediately startled Jinshui and the others, except for Huang Yu and Liuxin. Li Taiyi once saved an old man and brought him to wangfu, apparently that old man was none other than Liangtian Jian Shen Zhang Zheliang, the main enemy of Yumen, the person who had paved the way for destruction for their sect thirteen years ago.
"The old man Li Taiyi brought to the wangfu, the one Liuxin Meimei almost carried away until she was injured by Xie Tianhu and Xun Tianyi, is my father's killer?" Jinshui asked. "He is still alive?"
"He's still alive, but worse than died many times," Shuiyao replied. "Li Taiyi in order to keep his life gave him a kind of pill called huanming yao (life-returning pill). This pill prevented him from dying, could retain most of his pure energy, just couldn't restore him to the famous Sword God known by the martial world."
"My father once mentioned this pill," Li Qian said. "This pill can indeed maintain the life of someone who is no longer breathing, but it is very strong. A normal human body would not be able to accept it. Although it can sustain life, it brings unbearable suffering."
"Liangtian Jian Shen was a high-skilled martial artist, he was able to take this medicine every twenty days," Shuiyao said. "After getting the pill, he will be fine, his pure energy would recover for eight parts. It's just that, after all, a human need to rest. At most he was only awake for five days and had to sleep. When he wakes up again, his memory is messed up, he can be like a child, or even a beast. He cannot use his martial abilities properly, and he has to wait until his body can receive the pill again before he can return to normal. This situation almost made our wangfu shattered. Wangye ended up locking him up in a special basement."
"It's been thirteen years, he's always been like that?" asked Zhu Baique.
"He can only take the pill every twenty days. If he's forced to take it early, he may immediately lose his life. During these ten years, more than half of Liangtian Jian Shen's life was spent in the basement of our wangfu, unable to meet other people as his illness could recur at any time. If that happens, if he only harmed himself, he could still endure it, but if he harmed others, he would feel guilty forever. Moreover, if anyone found out that the former Sword God was still alive, but his conditions were that severe, then his reputation for decades would be ruined."
Li Qian and the others looked at each other. A great swordsman and a hero ended up like this, no one could have guessed. No wonder those who knew this old man was still alive choose to let his fake death be the truth. Even Liuxin hid this matter from the rest of the descendants, now they did understand the reason.
Jinshui's emotions subsided, replaced by a slight regret. Liangtian Jian Shen had killed his father but seemed to have received more punishment than he should have. He really couldn't decide if he wanted to take revenge or not.
"Liuxin Meimei initially didn't know that the prisoner in the wangfu was Liangtian Jian Shen, tried to free him, provoking the arrival of the traitor disciple Xie Tianhu who wanted to finish everything that he started," Huang Yu said.
"I had no other choice, was forced to postpone giving my inner energy to her, then also asked Liuxin to leave the palace for a while, avoid the two tritors, go to the leader of Jianyin Bang and tell him everything," said Shuiyao.
"Also to give us a chance to find her, is that so?" Huang Yu asked.
"Yes," said Shuiyao. "It's time for the descendants to gather, I also consider that time as a good opportunity. Another day, wangye will not necessarily let his daughter out of the palace."
"I hadn't had time to tell Zhong Bangzhu about his master and the betrayal of his senior, Hua Gege has already come, then also kidnapped my subordinate," Liuxin said. "But then after our talk at Mangren Gong, Han Shaobangzhu already sent a letter to his master and explained him quite a lot."
"Zhong Bangzhu should also be here with his disciples," Huang Yu said, "I've asked my servants to tell them to go see wangye, at least for temporary protection."
"They might have returned to Wuzhang City," Li Qian replied, "they don't want to trouble wangye."
"Shishu had arranged and planned everything well," said Jinshui. "Ten years ago you gathered us all safely, then also gave us a chance to find Liuxin. Shuiyao Shishu, in the future Hua Jinshui will not forget your devotions."
"Hua Jinshui, you're a good person," Shuiyao said. "Shuiyao doesn't want any kind of recompense, just hoping that you're willing to grant my one wish."
"Jinshui will definitely try his best to help," said Jinshui.
"Shishu wants Jinshui not to take into account the past with Liangtian Jian Shen?" Huang Yu asked.
"That's right," said Shuiyao. "Jiaozhu's death was very honorable, and Liangtian Jian Shen has regret what happened every single day. The people of the martial world wiped out our Yumen members because of the leader of Yongjun Hui. It's not fair to make Liangtian Jian Shen responsible for everything."
"I want to meet him," Jinshui said. "I still can't decide what to do with him. Shuiyao Shishu, Jinshui asks for your help too, let me meet Liangtian Jian Shen."
"Benwang do want to invite all of you to meet Zhang Daxia in person."
Xianjing Wang had already returned to that place, it seemed that he had indeed returned a while ago, and was deliberately waiting for the right opportunity to convey his words to Jinshui and the others.
"Zhang Daxia has now been picked up from Benwang's residence in the capital and taken to Jianyin Bang's headquarters in Wuzhang City," Xianjing Wang said again, "When Liuxin went to Jianyin Bang's headquarters, wanting to inform Zhong Bangzhu that his master was still alive, Benwang thought that it was time to return Zhang Daxia to his disciples for better treatment. I already asked my trusted subordinates to take care of it."
"Wangye already asked your subordinates to take Liangtian Jian Shen to Jianyin Bang headquarters?" Huang Yu asked.
"Yes," Xianjing Wang replied in confidence.
"Then we can't go with Wangye and Wangfei. We have to rush there," Huang Yu said.
"Why?" asked Xianjing Wang, sensing the worries in Huang Yu's tone.
"The two traitorous disciples of Liangtian Jian Shen, are currently also on their way to Wuzhang City, they intend to visit Jianyin Bang's headquarters," Jinshui said, "we can't let them get there first and find their master."