Mythical Three Kingdoms

The day after Yuan Shu was released, people kept coming by to congratulate him and, with a hint of envy and reverence, offered him gifts.

At this point, the only ones who still didn’t understand why Yuan Shu was able to get out so cleanly and effortlessly were Sunx Bofu and Yuan Gonglu themselves.

”Yuan Gonglu, you sure are lucky,” Grand Tutor Ma Ridi personally came to see Yuan Shu, the two having been quite close in the past. In fact, in history, it was this relationship that caused Yuan Shu to anger Ma Ridi to death.

However, this time there wasn’t any of that conflict. Although both sides were unhappy with each other due to past events in Luoyang, after so many ups and downs, both parties clearly held a more relaxed view. Even after Yuan Shu was imprisoned, Ma Ridi did not stop trying to find connections to get him out.

”Haha, Uncle Weng, you’re here to take advantage of me again,” Yuan Shu laughed and cursed, ”Though I heard you ran around trying to help me when I was imprisoned. Despite it being of no use, I intend to let it go. Hulai, bring him a chair to sit across from me.”

”Sunx Bofu is indeed a talented young man; you should thank him.” Ma Ridi looked at Sunx Ce with admiration, thinking this young man truly stands out, saving Yuan Shu with the Imperial Seal, and not showing a single hint of regret, apparently without even informing Yuan Shu.

”Haha, he’s my son,” Yuan Shu said with delight, ”Is there any need for gratitude?”

Sunx Ce rolled his eyes but graciously held his tongue, whether he called the other person father or not; he decided to grant respect and not argue.

”But Sunx Bofu is indeed generous. Looking at you now, you seem not to have suffered much. I had even considered giving you a lingzhi as a nourishing soup ingredient, but seeing you in perfect health, maybe I should take it back and use it myself,” Ma Ridi said as he attempted to retract the gift box he’d pulled out.

”How could you!” Yuan Shu directly snatched the gift from Ma Ridi’s hand and gave it to Jii Ling behind him, ”Boil the soup tonight with this plant first.”

”You’re incorrigible,” Ma Ridi laughed and cursed, ”Seeing you’re fine eases my mind. Remember to inform me when my family settles in the north; don’t treat us Fufeng people like we’re insignificant.”

”I will, I will~” Yuan Shu said cheerfully, ”Anyway, I’m sure there’s no messy business with your family. I’ve come to realize that if the head of the family is a Great Confucian Scholar or military officer, with not many main branch family members, then there are certainly no troubles. Does your family bully men and oppress women?”

Ma Ridi shook his head, ”When my grandfather was alive, such cases would result in broken legs and being thrown into the ancestral hall for repentance.”

When Ma Rong was alive, who dared to act recklessly? Lu Zhi and Zheng Xuan, these upright Great Confucian Scholars, were all his students, do you think with such people leading a family, the family atmosphere could degrade?

Though Ma Rong passed away thirty years ago, his fifty-year reign over the family couldn’t be undone in just one or two generations.

At that moment, a woeful cry rang out from outside Sunx Ce’s residence, ”Big brother, big brother, the gift hasn’t been delivered yet, has it?”

”Uh, that’s Zhongmou’s voice. What’s he doing here?” Sunx Ce said puzzled, his younger brother being particularly rule-abiding, but today was an exception.

”I’ll go have a look.” Sunx Ce turned to Yuan Shu. But before he could finish, he heard hurried clattering, and Sunx Quan rushed in, almost stumbling as he entered.

Yuan Shu smiled inexplicably at the scene, for it had been quite a while since he’d seen Sunx Quan.

Ma Ridi, a descendant of Great Confucian Scholars and an exegete himself, held high standards regarding rituals, and thus frowned involuntarily at Sunx Quan’s performance.

”Big brother, you haven’t sent the gift box yet, have you?” Sunx Quan asked as he hurriedly got up, not even noticing Yuan Shu and Ma Ridi.

Inexplicably, Sunx Ce saw hope in Sunx Quan’s eyes but still answered casually, ”Of course, it’s been sent. Yuan Gong’s already out; I knew you were concerned about Yuan Gong ha!”

”Sent?” Sunx Quan abruptly raised his voice by eight degrees, then with anger added, ”How could you have sent it?”

Sunx Ce’s expression cooled as he gave a light cough, a sound that in Sunx Quan’s ears was like thunder.

Though Sunx Ce wasn’t overly concerned about etiquette, he too had to maintain decorum and manners in front of others, ensuring outsiders wouldn’t look down on the Sunx Family, yet Sunx Quan behaved so agitatedly this time, what was going on?

”It’s all finished, all finished, how could you have sent it?” Sunx Quan said with boundless annoyance, smiling bitterly.

”Uh, sent is sent. It was just some stuff lying around in the storeroom unused. Except for giving it to Shangxiang to play with, I wouldn’t know what else to do with it.” Sunx Ce said dismissively, ”What, did it contain something you liked?”

Sunx Quan was so infuriated by Sunx Ce’s casual words that he felt his lungs were going to explode.

”The Jade Seal was inside, did you know that? Did you know that to save him, you sent the Jade Seal away!” Sunx Quan roared angrily at Sunx Ce, ”Didn’t you bother to check?”

In an instant, Ma Ridi understood that the incident with the Jade Seal was completely accidental and inexplicably wanted to leave, while Yuan Shu, with a calm expression, held onto Ma Ridi. Ma Ridi’s face twitched and he cursed Yuan Shu inwardly for being unscrupulous, thinking, ”Don’t you know people might die because of this today.”

Zhou Yu was expressionless, realizing that it wasn’t actually Sunx Ce who sent the item away. Although it didn’t make much difference, Sunx Ce truly might not value the item.

”Oh, I was wondering why Yuan Gong was released so quickly, why my father was posthumously awarded the title of Marquis Wu Lie, and why you inherited the title of Marquis of Wucheng. So that’s what it was about.” Sunx Ce said, stroking his chin.

Upon hearing this, Sunx Quan turned red with anger, ”Brother, do you know that was the Jade Seal, and you sent it away just for such a small thing...”

Sunx Ce slapped Sunx Quan across the face, ”It’s just a piece of broken stone. Does my identity and ability as Sunx Bofu need a piece of broken stone for proof? And Zhongmou, it’s not a small thing!”

When Sunx Quan blurted out earlier, Yuan Shu’s face looked extremely unpleasant. But when Sunx Ce slapped Sunx Quan across the face, Sunx Quan, with a calm expression, spoke those words, causing Yuan Shu’s lips to curve upward involuntarily, realizing that in Sunx Ce’s heart, he was worth more than the Jade Seal.

”Zhou Gongjin, say something!” shouted Sunx Quan, who was almost knocked to the ground by Sunx Ce’s slap, his hair disheveled, looking at Zhou Yu standing to the side. In his view, his brother had become utterly unreasonable, and the only one who could help him now was Zhou Yu.

Instantly, everyone present looked at Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu calmly said, ”The Jade Seal was merely an instrument used by Li Ru back then to divide the Guandong Lords. Since it’s been sent, it’s impossible to retrieve it. That’s that.”

Upon hearing this, Sunx Ce fell silent. Zhou Yu had told him about this matter, so he knew well that the Jade Seal was just a more valuable item to truly high-level figures, while only those below that level would treasure it greatly.

”Chen Zichuan once said, ’If someone possesses the cultural and martial achievements of the First Emperor, even a stone-carved seal would symbolize the emperor,’ The Jade Seal’s value comes from people, not because it is inherently precious.” Zhou Yu shrugged and said, having known about it since yesterday, thus viewing it lightly now.

”Hahaha, Chen Zichuan is indeed interesting. If I accomplish something in the future, I will surely carve one from stone.” Sunx Ce laughed heartily upon hearing this.

Yuan Shu, Zhou Yu, and Ma Ridi merely smiled when they heard this and didn’t take it to heart. However, they didn’t expect that when Sunx Ce eventually established his own realm and became king, he would directly take a brick from the city wall of Chang’an City and have it carved into a seal.

More importantly, this seal later became a national symbol, also declared to be the embodiment of the Mandate of Heaven.

Later generations concocted many myths, straining to associate them with this stone seal, but few mentioned that it was Sunx Ce who took a brick from the Chang’an City wall to make it, just to prove that his achievements as Sunx Bofu needed no other things to show.

”The mind of Chen Zichuan is truly beyond our imagination,” Ma Ridi said with a smile.

”Hahaha, who would have thought that I, Yuan Shu, would be worth a Jade Seal. Just for this point alone, I must make the value of the Jade Seal come true!” Yuan Shu laughed wildly.

At this moment, Sunx Quan, disheveled, looked at everyone in front of him, suddenly feeling like he had been a clown earlier, yet the occasional heartache reminded him of the Jade Seal’s place in his heart.

”Brother, I’ll take my leave for now.” Having reached this point, Sunx Quan knew he couldn’t say anything more. He couldn’t compete with these people’s way of thinking, and staying here any longer would only invite contempt, especially after making such an effort to come all this way, only to end up like this.

After Sunx Quan left, Ma Ridi, who had also planned to leave, quickly followed, leaving only Yuan Shu, Jii Ling, Sunx Ce, and Zhou Yu in the main hall.

”Bofu, you lost the Jade Seal this time because of me, and I don’t know how to make it up to you. How about I tell you something? This sentence might be worth a Jade Seal.” Once the others left, Yuan Shu no longer appeared as carefree as before, as the Jade Seal was also a very important treasure to him; otherwise, he wouldn’t have said he wanted to make the value of the Jade Seal come true.

”It’s fine, it’s fine. Zhongmou was just tired from traveling. Don’t take it to heart.” Sunx Ce said indifferently.

”I’m actually very interested in what Yuan Gong has to say.” Zhou Yu said with a smile.

”The Central Plains is not the entire world.” After a moment of silence, Yuan Shu spoke.

Chen Xi hadn’t concealed much from Yuan Shu, so Yuan Shu knew what he needed to know, but he was someone who meant what he said. Despite wanting to tell Zhou Yu and Sunx Ce, he had kept silent until this time, when Sunx Ce even brought out the Jade Seal to save him, Yuan Shu decided to give them some advice.

”The Central Plains is not the entire world?” Zhou Yu and Sunx Ce both looked puzzled. What kind of statement was that?

”I can only say this much.” Yuan Shu looked loftily at the ceiling, refusing to elaborate further.