The Great Tang's King of Provisions

Chapter 6: Xingxuan?

Du Xingxuan Name: Du Xingxuan Gender: Female Age: 15 Relationship: Daughter of Du Fuwei Tier: Level 3 Status: Hungry Personality: Kind, Gracious, Filial [Base Attributes]: Strength: 36 Intelligence: 15 Leadership: 33 Political: 12 Upon seeing this little girl’s information—especially the words “daughter of Du Fuwei”—a flash of insight gleamed in Li Xuanba’s eyes, and he nodded in realization. No wonder this little girl looked disheveled and unkempt—it turns out she was doing so to conceal her true identity as a girl. Moreover, if his memory served him correctly, Du Fuwei had “suddenly died” in Chang’an in the seventh year of the Wude era—that is, in 624 AD. After his stepbrother Li Shimin ascended the throne, he realized that Du Fuwei had been wrongfully accused and granted him a pardon. But he had no idea what year it actually was at that moment. Judging by the way Du Xingxuan dared not show her face, Du Fuwei was likely already dead—and had not yet been pardoned. That meant they must be somewhere between the seventh year of the Wude era and the first year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty. Was that in A. D. 624 or 625? Or 626 and 627 AD? With these doubts in mind, Li Xuanba followed Du Xingxuan into a dilapidated temple. The word “dilapidated” alone sums up this temple perfectly. A dilapidated table, a dilapidated incense altar, a dilapidated plaque, dilapidated windows—even the Buddha statue inside the temple was in ruins. Inside the dilapidated temple, there were already two people: an old beggar and a young beggar. The old beggar lay with his eyes closed on what could barely be called a bed—a rickety structure made of old wooden planks—his face pale and looking very unwell. The young beggar stared longingly at the outside, occasionally swallowing hard, looking extremely hungry. When he saw Du Xingxuan and Li Xuanba return, the young beggar’s eyes lit up, and he called out in a clear, high-pitched voice, “Little… Xingxuan Brother, you’re back!” “Mm-hmm! I’m back, and I brought some food for you and Grandpa Zhuang. Go ahead and eat!” As he spoke, Du Xingxuan took the roasted rabbit from his arms, broke off a hind leg for the little beggar, and watched with a smile as the boy devoured the slightly cold roasted rabbit in big bites. Then, Du Xingxuan broke off the other rabbit’s front leg, walked over to the old beggar, and said softly, “Grandpa Zhuang, Xingxuan brought you some food. It’s just a little cold now, but please make do with it.” “Ahem… Xingxuan, Grandpa Zhuang’s body probably can’t hold out much longer. I’m leaving—I’ve had my share of good fortune—but I’m worried about you! You… who are you?” Hearing Du Xingxuan’s voice, the old beggar opened his somewhat cloudy eyes. He had just spoken a couple of sentences to her when he suddenly noticed Li Xuanba standing behind her. His cloudy eyes suddenly flashed with two sharp gleams as he looked warily at Li Xuanba, who was dressed in a costume made of leaves. Hearing the old beggar’s question, Li Xuanba didn’t answer him directly. A glint flashed in his eyes as he scanned the old beggar’s information. Name: Du Hongzhuang Gender: Male Age: 55 Status: Servant of Du Fuwei Rank: Level 1 Status: Critically ill [Basic Attributes]: Strength: 12 (-12) Intelligence: 10 Leadership: 1 Political: 1 After reviewing the old beggar’s information, Li Xuanba nodded in realization. So this old beggar was Du Fuwei’s servant—no wonder he’d been so wary of him. This old man must have been secretly protecting Du Xingxuan all along! “Who are you, exactly? Why are you following my little… following Xingxuan?” Seeing that Li Xuanba wasn’t answering him but was merely squinting as he studied him, Du Hongzhuang propped himself up on the wooden plank with both hands and sat up shakily, the look of wariness in his eyes even stronger than before. “Who am I?” Seeing Du Hongzhuang ask about his identity again, Li Xuanba curled his lip, pointed his thumb at the tip of his nose, and declared haughtily, “This young master doesn’t change his name when walking or sitting—I am Li Xuanba!” “Li Xuanba” At first, Du Hongzhuang didn’t quite process those three words, but ten seconds later, his eyes widened instantly, and he stared at Li Xuanba in sheer horror. “You’re Li Xuanba? How is that possible? How could you possibly be Li Xuanba? You—you—weren’t you struck dead by a bolt of lightning?” Li Xuanba curled his lip and began to spin the story he’d spent so long crafting: “Who said this young master was struck dead by a bolt of heavenly lightning? I simply found the people of this mortal realm too weak—there was no one left who could match me—so I flew off to the Immortal Realm for a bit. That bolt of lightning striking me was merely a phenomenon caused by my spiritual essence returning to the Immortal Realm.” Returning from the Immortal Realm—that was the best excuse Li Xuanba could come up with right now. The reasoning was quite simple: ever since the Tang Dynasty was founded by his stepfather, Li Yuan, He had long been troubled by his humble origins, as his family was not of noble lineage. So, under the pretense of being a descendant of the ancient sage Laozi (Li Er), he vigorously promoted Daoism, revered Laozi as the founding ancestor, posthumously conferred upon him the title “Supreme Mysterious Origin Emperor,” established Daoism as the state religion, and founded an academic discipline of Daoism known as “Xuanxue” (Mystical Learning). From then on, Daoism flourished throughout the land. During the Tang dynasty, as many as 21 of the 210 princesses took vows and entered the Daoist order, a clear indication of how prevalent the Daoist path was during that era. By putting it this way, he was more than 80 percent certain he could directly convince those who were skeptical about why he had come back to life. Moreover, even if others did not believe him, Li Xuanba was unafraid. His martial prowess was unmatched under heaven; a single man could hold off a million soldiers. His wisdom was as deep as the sea; one man could be as valuable as ten million. He simply couldn’t believe that, relying solely on himself—without anyone’s help—he wouldn’t be able to live a good life in this golden age of the Tang Dynasty. Besides, even if he were to live in seclusion all by himself, he still had the system to rely on—he wouldn’t starve to death eating white flour buns and fragrant steamed rice every day! Most importantly, he wanted to use this opportunity to test the ring on his finger. What he said might very well be the result of careful deliberation—and it might very well be the truth! Unfortunately, the ring showed no reaction to Li Xuanba’s words, as if it hadn’t heard a thing. “Xiao… Xingxuan, stand behind me,” Li Xuanba said. Upon hearing this, the look of horror in Du Hongzhuang’s eyes deepened. If this man were just an ordinary person, it wouldn’t be so bad, but he was actually a member of the imperial Li clan—and none other than Li Xuanba, known as the “Number One Hero Under Heaven.” That meant the young lady was in grave danger! Seeing Du Xingxuan stand behind Du Hongzhuang—who could barely even stand—Li Xuanba rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively. “Enough! Aren’t you two just Du Fuwei’s daughter and his servant? This young master couldn’t care less about your status. Let me ask you: what year is it?” “You, you… cough, cough…” Having just blurted out their identities, Du Hongzhuang stared at Li Xuanba with a look of horror. Just as he was about to speak, he burst into a loud, dry cough, as if he were about to cough up a lung. Du Hongzhuang didn’t answer, but Du Xingxuan replied in a crisp voice, “It’s the 10th day of the sixth month in the ninth year of the Wude era.” Though she answered Li Xuanba’s question, a flash of hatred crossed Du Xingxuan’s eyes! Her father had been innocent, yet the Li royal family had stripped him of everything; the Du family estate had also been completely confiscated by them. Although the kind-hearted Li Xuanba hadn’t played a direct role in this, he should still bear some of the blame. “The 10th day of the sixth month in the ninth year of the Wude era? Hmm? Has my second older brother already been Crown Prince for three years?” Hearing Du Xingxuan’s words, Li Xuanba blinked, did a quick calculation, and pieced together all the events of that period—truly living up to his reputation as the most brilliant man under heaven!