From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 368 Accident
Inside the library tower.

Having witnessed the current state of Xiangji Kingdom in the past few days, everyone started chattering and discussing it.

Especially Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang, they were both bright-minded and talkative, always eager to give their opinions.

The nuns, who were usually reserved, began to speak freely. Some suggested turning Xiangji Kingdom into a Buddhist kingdom, others suggested promoting Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, and still others advised Meng Yuan to befriend virtuous people and distance himself from petty people.

These young nuns can discuss Buddhist scriptures and meditate, and they can also help others and do good deeds, but ultimately they don't have much worldly experience.

Seeing that these people were talking more and more outrageous, Meng Yuan did not interrupt them and let them make a fuss.

“Master,” Meng Yuan looked at Master Liaocun beside him and said, “There are still many things to do outside. The massacre of Songhe Prefecture, the death of my master, and various grudges have not been settled. I cannot stay here any longer.”

"Amitabha." Abbess Liaocun didn't say anything about the endless cycle of revenge, but simply nodded slightly. "Please speak your mind, benefactor."

Meng Yuan bowed respectfully to Abbess Cun, saying, “The affairs of Xiangji Kingdom are numerous. I will stay for at most two or three months. I would appreciate it if Abbess Cun could stay here and oversee things for a while.”

“A person who has left home can practice Zen and seek the Way anywhere. Besides, if we can do some good deeds here, that is our duty as monks.” This was only right and proper, so Abbess Liaocun did not refuse.

Moreover, we owe this trip to their rescue, and now that they've come to ask for a favor, Abbess Liaocun naturally has to agree.

Besides, Xiangji Kingdom is a foreign land, and Suwen will have to stay there. Master Liaocun is also worried about Suwen being alone here. Therefore, if she can help her for a few years, it's not a big deal.

Master Liaocun looked at the group of juniors and saw that although these young nuns, who were going on a long journey for the first time, did not say it, they were all very expectant and clearly wanted to stay here a little longer.

"Thank you very much, Master." Meng Yuan bowed again to express his gratitude, and then looked at Daoist Yun Huanian of Qingyang Palace.

“Kang’er is safe and sound. I am very grateful to you for rescuing him from Qing Guangzi.” Yun Huanian also made a promise. “I am a free spirit. The scenery here is very beautiful and there are many books. I will stay here for three years and take on a few disciples.”

"Thank you, Daoist Master." Meng Yuan thanked Yun Huanian again, and finally looked at the two bald monks.

Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang were like-minded fellow disciples who felt they had known each other for a long time. They had already discussed their plans on the way.

“Whenever Brother Meng leaves, we will leave.” Jie Kaiping’s eyes were filled with longing. “Our cultivation is insufficient, and we would never dare to take on disciples, lest we mislead them. We only wish to travel more, see more, and achieve enlightenment as soon as possible.”

"Explain it more clearly," Meng Yuan said.

"What my senior brother means is that after you leave Xiangji Kingdom, you're going to do something big, and he wants to come along and watch the excitement," Dugu Kang explained Jie Kaiping's words.

"I hope Brother Jie can lend me a hand in the future." Meng Yuan smiled and then looked at Su Wen.

Suwen kept her head down, fiddling with the hem of her clothes, seemingly lost in thought.

Su Xin nudged Su Wen and lifted Su Wen's chin, gesturing for Su Wen to look at Meng Yuan.

"Junior sister, you should grow your hair out from now on," Meng Yuanchao asked.

“Of course I’ll keep my hair, but you also have to give my junior sister a proper title!” Su Xin always felt she was the senior sister and was single-mindedly thinking about Su Wen.

Upon hearing this, all the bald men, and two men who weren't bald, looked at Meng Yuan.

"If the name is not correct, the words will not be proper." Dugu Kang's urging was quite reasonable.

"How about the princess?" Jie Kaiping stroked her chin. "I know you had your eye on that princess a long time ago when you were in the foreign lands."

Meng Yuan found the two bald monks increasingly annoying, but their words were still passable.

Without offering a rebuttal, Meng Yuan looked at Abbess Cun and asked, "What does Abbess Cun think?"

Master Liaocun had thought a lot on the way here and couldn't make up her mind. She simply said, "When we came here, the abbess said that I have always been concerned about cause and effect. If I stay here in the future, I will naturally be a person who has returned to secular life and will no longer be bound by the precepts of my Buddhist sect."

She shook her head slightly, looked at Suwen, and asked, "Suwen, what do you think?"

Everyone could see clearly that Suwen was being given the reins to make.

"I'll listen to my senior brother," Su asked.

"Back in that cave, Junior Sister was quite assertive when she debated Shui Xiangsheng." Jie Kaiping immediately clapped her hands. "How could she be so indecisive now? It's clear she's embarrassed."

Meng Yuan thought so too, and immediately said, "No need to rush, let's sort out the matter of Xiangji Kingdom first."

"Yes," Suwen replied immediately. The group discussed for a while what laws should be promulgated the next day, and even tasted the tea that the noblemen drank. As it was getting late, they found their own lodgings to rest.

There was no one else around. This library tower was where Meng Yuan and Mingyue first sought pleasure. Now that the lights were on, only the two of them remained.

“I’ve thought it over. You and I can’t stay in Xiangji Kingdom for long. At most, Abbess Liaocun and the others will stay here for three to five years.” Mingyue finally spoke up. “At that time, Suwen will be here alone. Although she has a medical lineage, she is taciturn by nature and easy to bully. As the ruler of Xiangji Kingdom, you really need to give her a suitable identity in order to keep the people below her in check.”

"Let's talk on the rooftop." Meng Yuan pulled Mingyue along, heading towards the top floor of the library tower.

"I'm not going." Mingyue remembered how long the two of them had fooled around here, and she tried to shake off Meng Yuan, but she was no match for his strength, so she reluctantly went upstairs.

After a night of fooling around, at noon the next day, Meng Yuan arrived at the largest library tower in the Kingdom of Xiangji.

A high platform was erected here, with Meng Yuan standing atop it, and Mingyue and Suwen standing on either side.

Standing below the high platform was Suwen's disciple, Shi Huaiyu, dressed in plain white robes, who was extremely respectful.

Slaves and former nobles from the Kingdom of Xiangji gathered here, crowding several streets, all kneeling in the direction of the high platform.

Soon it was noon, and people came out of the library tower. It was Old Stone Shi Qingshan leading a dozen or so young men, escorting seven nobles and more than fifty slaves.

Yesterday, the feathered robes of the thirteen noble families were burned to ashes. Among these nobles, there were a few with spirit who secretly ran out of the library tower and colluded with dozens of ignorant slaves to rebel.

Meng Yuan didn't even need to lift a finger; Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang, the two gatekeepers, had already subdued all of them.

After the young girl Shi Huaiyu announced the crimes of these people, she asked Meng Yuan to give orders for their punishment.

"Execute!" Meng Yuan showed no mercy.

Shi Qingshan, along with his fellow young men, immediately took out the knife from his back and beheaded the traitors from the previous night beneath the high platform.

In an instant, the stench of blood filled the air. The remaining nobles were so terrified that they lay prostrate on the ground, begging for their lives, their backs clearly broken.

Taking advantage of this momentum, Meng Yuan immediately issued an edict that the Xiangji Kingdom would no longer have the thirteen surnames, and that the Xiangji Kingdom would not distinguish between noble and lowly based on the length of their hair. All the fields and houses of the thirteen surnames would be confiscated, and their wealth and stored grain would be inventoried.

Then, the slave population in the city was counted, the fields outside the city were measured, and land was rented to each household according to the number of people in the household.

Meng Yuan didn't issue any special decrees, but he lowered the taxes and prohibited the consumption of incense in the Kingdom of Xiangji.

A series of orders were issued, and notices were written on the screen and posted throughout the Xiangji Kingdom. Unfortunately, apart from the thirteen surnames, the people here were illiterate.

Things should be done one at a time, so Meng Yuan wasn't in a hurry. He spent half a month measuring the Taotian and medicinal fields outside the city, with Su Wen always by his side during that time.

Suwen's hair was gradually growing back, and she was still a little unaccustomed to it, so she always kept her head down and her face was always flushed.

The others didn't have time to bother Meng Yuan. Abbess Liaocun, Yun Huanian, Dugu Kang, and Jie Kaiping all went into the library tower to look through old books. Meanwhile, the young nuns followed Meng Yuan and toured Xiangji several times.

Another month has passed in the blink of an eye. The old customs of Xiangji Kingdom have not been completely eliminated, but some differences have already emerged.

Suwen took Shi Huaiyu to practice medicine in the Kingdom of Xiangji. No matter what kind of illness it was, a few doses of medicine would cure it. As more and more patients were cured, Suwen earned the reputation of a medical immortal, and his fame was even higher than that of the bright moon.

Another month passed, and Dugu Kang came looking for him, carrying a few dried herbs in his hand. "I haven't been back for a long time, and I've been missing the president quite a bit. I was thinking of bringing back some specialties from the Kingdom of Fragrance. I'm sure the president will be very happy."

This was a urging. Meng Yuan had been staying in Xiangji Kingdom for three months since he entered it. If the time spent finding his way was also taken into account, more than half a year had passed since the Lanruo Temple incident.

Meng Yuan then issued another decree, claiming that he was going out to seek immortals, and ordered all the people of Xiangji Kingdom to obey Su Wen's orders, and that anyone who disrespected him could be killed.

Leaving behind Abbess Cun, Daoist Yun Huanian, and the other nuns, Meng Yuan took advantage of the night and left the Kingdom of Xiangji hand in hand with Mingyue.

Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang followed behind, chattering away, talking about everything they saw that was unusual. Jie Kaiping even wrote a travelogue about the Kingdom of Xiangji.

Following the route they had taken, they traversed an endless forest. In less than half a month, they arrived at Yongshui City.

However, after only a few months of not seeing him, Meng Yuan felt that something was not right. There were carriages and horses pulling Buddha statues into the city on the roads outside the city.

"Now that the king has become a devout Buddhist, everyone in the land must worship him," the coachman pulling the Buddha statue explained upon being asked.

(End of this chapter)