Chen Ping's Sword

"The dish is served. This braised eel is mine. Xiaoyu, eat a little less; you’ve been living too well lately and look at you, you’ve gained weight."

Fang Qingzhu casually picked up a piece of cylindrical eel, slipped it into her mouth, gently tasted it, only to feel it melt instantaneously, delightfully fragrant and irresistible, she couldn’t help but exhale a breath of warm air, nodding her head in satisfaction as she elegantly took a sip of rice wine.

Life is truly wonderful.

"And also, you haven’t touched this crispy yellow fish. Being a fish yourself, it’s not appropriate to eat fish again. Haven’t you heard Young Master Chen say that cannibalism among the same kind can easily lead to sickness, having bugs bite your head, and making you really really dumb?"

"Then what should I eat?"

"Lotus root slices! This vinegar-sautéed lotus root is aromatic, sour yet crisp with a delightful crunch."

Fang Qingzhu said matter-of-factly.

Xiaoyu was left somewhat dumbfounded.

Her eyes were full of grievance.

Xingqing Prefecture, situated within Jiangnan Territory, boasts chefs with extraordinary skills, albeit most of the dishes are Jiangnan specialties. Particularly this season, with the Qingjiang River swelling, fish is the easiest to acquire.

So, on the table, there are ten dishes, eight of them are fish, varied in preparation for them.

This can’t be eaten, nor can that...

She suspected her lady might be using Young Master Chen’s words as an excuse to eat selfishly.

Chen Ping sometimes would engage them in idle chat, talking about peculiar and strange principles. Though a master and servant often dismiss it as nonsense, their hearts thought otherwise.

Especially Miss Fang the First, Xiaoyu once noticed her lady jotting down things after their chats, showing more dedication than when learning calligraphy with the master.

’Could it be that the principles Young Master Chen spoke of contained profound truths, otherwise, how could my lady have broken through her bottleneck within a short few months, achieving what Lady Island Master said would take at least three to five years?’

Xiaoyu’s round face was full of confusion, lamenting silently that her understanding might be somewhat lacking.

Why could the lady gain advantages from casual conversations?

While she only found Young Master Chen’s words pleasing without any other insight?

Comparing oneself to others leads to despair, comparing goods leads to discard.

"No, I only heard of big fish eating small fish, small fish eating shrimp. If fish can’t eat fish, wouldn’t they starve?"

Watching dishes slowly disappear from the table, Xiaoyu anxiously thought for a long time, finally coming up with theoretical support, throwing down her chopsticks, scrambling to stuff a piece of fish into her mouth.

She finally realized she wasn’t a monk fish, and didn’t need to be vegetarian.

At this point, Fang Qingzhu was already satisfied, gently stroking her belly, let out a contented sigh, somewhat forlornly glancing at the dishes on the table, "Why hasn’t he come back yet? A month ago I heard he had already defeated the Hu People army. Why is he still at Wenyuan Prefecture? Xiaoyu, should we go find him? Without him in Xingqing, it’s not really safe."

"Is it really unsafe? Why do I feel, Miss, you’re actually missing Young Master Chen’s newly crafted dishes? Now Chen... no, we should address him as King Ping now. King Ping manages many people, commanding numerous troops, how would he have the time to concern himself with our meals?"

"It’s really unsafe now." Fang Qingzhu raised an eyebrow, feeling she had no authority in front of this maid, decided not to bother lecturing, pinched Xiaoyu’s round cheeks lightly, "Remember, Yu Duoduo, when we left the island, what exactly are we doing here in the Central Plains?"

"Uh, weren’t we sneaking out for fun?"

Xiaoyu responded, confused.

She didn’t feel any pain; her lady wouldn’t pinch hard.

"Alright, can’t explain it to you." Fang Qingzhu fell a bit, waved her hand and looked up at the sky, "Master softly muttered some things now and then, probably intending for me to hear them. She knows I would sneak out, certainly calculated we’d complete some tasks.

Didn’t we complete the task Master was worried about by smoothly giving that item to Chen Ping? But I truly didn’t expect him to be so powerful now.

Even the Celestial List’s renowned Divine Master Duran couldn’t defeat him; it seems unreasonable, why haven’t I gained any fortune, why hasn’t my cultivation progressed quickly?

Moreover, there’s a time master told the senior sister, as long as Xingqing casually throws out the Azure Dragon Seal, opportunities would immediately arrive, where exactly is this opportunity?

Could it be necessary to seek out someone from Primordial Sect for clarification? That doesn’t make sense, I used Three Lights Divine Spell to lead into dreams and asked clearly. The fifth-generation ancestor of Primordial Sect didn’t leave any specific clues, nor the specific routes of the relics.

The only possibility is the token, but the token seems only a kind of symbol, without any specific paths."

When the front line brought news, Fang Qingzhu was utterly puzzled, for she distinctly remembered her master talking about the Azure Dragon Seal, the world’s developments, clarifying clearly.

The Beizhou powers have formed, celestial changes, Nanli is already a grasshopper after autumn, not going to flourish for long.

Also said, first the north loses substantial territories, then the south collapses entirely, within just ten years Beizhou would unify the land, Qi will be united.

The words are still echoing, but how long has it been?

Observing, the world’s situation doesn’t seem to develop as master described.

"Variables, it must be the variables Master spoke of."

"Whether celestial phenomena or divination, nothing remains unchanged, and whenever variables occur, massive opportunities emerge for the world."