Volume One, Chapter 16: Words Become Law, Life Hangs by a Thread
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Ye Chen had anticipated Zhao Dongcheng’s reaction and was fully prepared. He decisively stepped out of the carriage and met the descending blade head-on.
Zhao Dongcheng’s knife stopped beside Ye Chen’s neck. He did not bring it down.
Smack!
Ye Chen still received a slap from him.
“You bastard! My father and Second Uncle are dead, and Third Uncle has disappeared. Are you satisfied now?”
Any explanation at this moment would only be dismissed as an excuse, so Ye Chen said nothing.
“Speak!”
Zhao Dongcheng pressed the knife against Ye Chen’s neck and roared, his eyes bloodshot.
Ye Chen remained silent. Before coming, he had already made preparations. He had found Third Uncle’s official seal.
He raised his hand and grasped Zhao Dongcheng’s knife-holding wrist, quietly slipping the seal into his palm.
Almost at the same moment, Zhao Dongcheng noticed a strand of white hair visibly appearing on Ye Chen’s head.
His heart jolted.
The rumor that Ye Chen had become a First-Rank Confucian Semi-Saint was already common knowledge throughout the capital.
Zhao Dongcheng cultivated both Confucianism and martial arts, so he could tell that Ye Chen had just used the power of Words of Law.
Only then did Ye Chen speak.
“I only just received the news. I thought you didn’t know. Since Cousin already does, I’ll leave.”
“I know you’re heartbroken, Cousin. When you’re grieving, get some rest. Sleep will make you feel better. Farewell!”
With that, he turned and climbed into the carriage. Uncle Fu, still wearing a bewildered expression, drove away at once.
By then, Zhao Chunfeng had vanished from the carriage.
Just moments earlier, Ye Chen had attempted to activate Words of Law through thought alone.
He had intended for his Third Maternal Uncle, Zhao Chunfeng, to appear in his cousin Zhao Dongcheng’s bedroom. Unexpectedly, he had succeeded.
“You bastard Ye Chen! I’ll let you off this time, but the next time we meet, one of us will die!”
Zhao Dongcheng’s voice carried after them. Ye Chen let out a long breath, and the heart hanging in his chest finally settled.
He and his cousin Zhao Dongcheng had been the closest of childhood companions. Their understanding of each other was so deep that they often needed no words.
Just now, Ye Chen had merely formed a thought and attempted to draw upon the power of Words of Law. He had never expected it to work.
So Words of Law did not require one to speak aloud. This proved that the ability was far more complicated than Ye Chen had imagined.
This almost cheat-like power of Confucianism had to be thoroughly studied.
Ye Chen faintly sensed that Confucianism had endured for three thousand years in no small part because of Words of Law.
Yet at present, no one knew how Words of Law truly worked.
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The Falcon had not drawn too close. She watched Ye Chen and Zhao Dongcheng from a distance and heard their conversation.
She assumed that after learning of the three maternal uncles’ whereabouts, Ye Chen had deliberately come to the Prince Wu’s residence to deliver the news.
She had not expected that the Prince Wu’s residence already knew.
After watching Ye Chen’s carriage depart, Zhao Dongcheng turned back toward the estate and went straight to his bedroom.
Ye Chen had said, “Sleep will make you feel better.”
That was a secret phrase the two had agreed upon as children. It meant: return to the bedroom and look there.
Along the way, Zhao Dongcheng dismissed all the servants. Only then did he look at the object Ye Chen had slipped into his hand.
The moment he recognized Zhao Chunfeng’s official seal, he understood. Shocked, he quickened his pace.
When he pushed open the bedroom door, he saw his Third Uncle, Zhao Chunfeng, lying on his bed.
“That brat actually used Words of Law to send Third Uncle into my bedroom!”
Zhao Chunfeng froze for a moment, then immediately shut the door and cursed.
“So you really have reached the First Rank of Confucianism. What astonishing Words of Law…”
…
The instant the carriage left the Prince Wu’s residence, Ye Chen spat out a mouthful of black blood inside the carriage.
He had used Words of Law three times in succession. Each use had consumed only a small amount of his lifespan, but the cumulative effect had still inflicted internal injuries.
The power of his First-Rank Confucian cultivation and the sword-path energy he had previously obtained through Words of Law were rampaging chaotically inside him.
His chest felt like an overinflated balloon, as though it might burst at any moment.
His limbs were swollen with unbearable pressure. Ye Chen desperately wanted to use Words of Law once more so that his damaged meridians would instantly recover.
But he did not dare.
In the memories of the former owner of his body, Du Lingfu had once said that Words of Law possessed a taboo: it could not be used on oneself.
This was especially true of one’s physical condition, cultivation, talent, and similar matters. Words of Law must never be used to alter them.
Throughout history, many great Confucian scholars had reached the Third Rank. After acquiring the ability to make their words law, most had first used it on themselves.
The result was always the same: the moment they invoked Words of Law, they died on the spot.
In other words, the taboo surrounding Words of Law had been discovered over three thousand years by countless great Confucian scholars at the cost of their lives.
“Uncle Fu, don’t return to the estate. Go to the Directorate of Astronomy!”
“Understood!”
Uncle Fu answered and turned the carriage toward the Alchemists’ Ward.
When the Falcon saw where the carriage was headed, she stopped immediately.
As the secret-guard commander serving Emperor Qingli, she knew very well that there were certain places in the capital the secret guards were forbidden to approach.
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The Alchemists’ Ward was one such place. The secret guards had learned that lesson through the deaths of thirty men.
Inside the carriage, Ye Chen’s chest felt unbearably tight, and his face had turned the color of pig’s liver.
“Uncle Fu, faster!”
Ye Chen forced the words out with difficulty. Only then did Uncle Fu realize that something was wrong.
“Your Highness, hold on! We’ll reach the Directorate of Astronomy soon!”
Uncle Fu drove the carriage at full speed, sending it plunging into the Alchemists’ Ward.
Almost at the same moment, Ye Chen’s carriage and the carriage of Jun Moye, who had just returned from the Heavenly Physicians’ Sect, arrived at the entrance of the Directorate of Astronomy.
When Jun Moye saw the carriage bearing the emblem of the Prince of Yan’s estate, he immediately thought of Ye Chen and felt his anger flare.
He had intended to ignore it, but then Ye Chen leaned out of the carriage.
“Save… save me…”
Jun Moye was startled. He promptly maneuvered his own carriage across the road and stopped Ye Chen’s.
Then he slipped into Ye Chen’s carriage and placed his fingers against Ye Chen’s wrist to take his pulse.
“Your meridians are damaged, and your cultivation power has become congested inside your body. It’s now running wild, injuring your internal organs!”
The result of the examination left Jun Moye staring at Ye Chen in shock.
“You truly are insane. In this condition, you still dared to use the Confucian art of Words of Law!”
“Hahaha… I had no choice. There was a reason I absolutely had to use it… Save me… I don’t want to die yet!”
Hearing this, Jun Moye could not help asking, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll take advantage of this opportunity to kill you and seize your fortune?”
Ye Chen smiled confidently.
“I’m betting you can’t bear to kill me! In Ephedra Decoction, cinnamon twig is employed; almond and licorice complete the blend. Fever, chills, pain in the head and neck—take it for cold damage, and sweat will soon pour forth…”
Jun Moye was initially disdainful. But when he heard the prescription recited like a rustic verse, his spirits suddenly lifted.
“Is that an alchemical formula? Why have I never heard of it?”
Though suffering terribly, Ye Chen still forced an ugly smile.
“I have many more prescriptions like this—several hundred, at least. Save me, and I’ll tell you everything…”
What Ye Chen had just recited was actually a beginner’s medical mnemonic from ancient Chinese medicine, something every student was expected to memorize.
He had not expected the backlash from Words of Law to be so severe. With Chief Astronomer Ge Hong still in the imperial palace, he had no choice but to take a gamble if he wanted to survive.
He was betting that Jun Moye was a medical fanatic, and that medicinal formulas in this world were extraordinarily rare—so rare that they were practically nonexistent.
As it turned out, Ye Chen had bet correctly.
Jun Moye immediately ordered Uncle Fu to drive the carriage into the Directorate of Astronomy. At the same time, he slipped an elixir into Ye Chen’s mouth.