I've never felt happy to become an immortal.

Chapter 22: From now on, I embark on the journey of collecting the six roots
The cook simply asked about the Sword Immortal's remains and didn't say much.

He was not greedy for these things at all.

If he was interested, he would have been interested a long time ago. It has been more than ten years now, and he clearly knew about it but never asked about it. It is obvious that he no longer cares about it.

Bai Xuan also asked: "What are your plans next?"

The cook said, "I have my own place to go."

"Aren't you going to Jiankang with us?" Ning Jianshuang was puzzled. The cook had followed his father for more than ten years and was definitely someone who could be used.

And he is also a cook. You know, for any business power in this world, the cook in charge of the kitchen must be an absolutely trustworthy person.

Because people need to eat, it is very easy for a cook to kill the master of the house.

Even in modern times, it is extremely difficult to find an excellent and responsible chef.

The 'Juyi Pavilion' is very short of people nowadays, especially those who are completely on the side of the main family. Ning Jianshuang really hopes to take the cook to Jiankang with him. He didn't ask before because he thought the cook would definitely go with them, but he didn't expect that he didn't plan to go with them.

"We can't continue to operate this restaurant now. Why don't you pack up and come with us to Jiankang?"

The cook waved his hand. "I understand what the young lady is thinking, but the fight a few days ago also made me realize that although I can still lift a knife, I've been killing animals for so many years and am no longer the same person I used to be. I've long wanted to retire... No, in fact, I've been retired for more than ten years."

He sighed and said, "I'm from the Northern Dynasty. I was a butcher back then. I usually considered myself a good person, but one day I came home and saw my wife having an affair with her lover. I also heard that they were planning to poison me and kill me. I was so angry that I lost my mind and accidentally killed two people. From then on, I was wanted and had to leave my homeland and flee to the south. I got confused and became a robber, until one day I robbed the shopkeeper..."

The cook laughed and said, "When people get old, they always have to return home. It's time to go back now while you're still young."

This is somewhat surprising.

This was the first time Bai Xuan had heard of this, and he had no memory of it ever being mentioned before, that the cook was actually a bandit from the Northern Dynasty. "You want to go back to the Northern Dynasty?"

"Correct."

"But the north and the south are separated. If you are wanted in the Northern Dynasty, how can you go back?"

The cook's answer also related to Yumen. He gathered his sleeves and whispered, "Of course we have to go to Yumen... From Yumen Pass to the frontier, we have to cross the grasslands and return to Guanzhong without crossing the river. However, the journey is dangerous and long, and I'm afraid we won't be able to return."

"Are you sure you want to leave?"

"Yes, I have packed my luggage." The cook smiled and said, "I am just waiting for you to wake up. You can be the pallbearer of the shopkeeper's coffin. I don't have to go to the funeral to avoid sadness."

Ning Jianshuang wanted to persuade him again.

Bai Xuan said: "Then I won't try to keep you. I wish you a safe journey."

The cook raised his eyelids strangely, a little surprised, but also a little happy: "I was thinking that in case you couldn't accept it, if you really couldn't bear to leave, I could accompany you to Jiankang to live for two years... But I'm very happy to hear you say this."

He pursed his lips, then grinned: "Now that you have grown up, I have nothing to worry about. Now I can leave more peacefully without any regrets."

Bai Xuan had long been accustomed to parting, so he simply emphasized, "But you must tell me where your hometown is. I will definitely visit you in the Northern Dynasty in the future."

The cook said, "My home is in Los Angeles."

"City people?"

"No, country boy, I live outside the city. I grew up looking at the gates of Luo City every day. It used to be the princess's fiefdom."

"and after?"

"The princess rebelled."

"Hmm?" Bai Xuan raised an eyebrow: "Can a princess rebel?"

"That's how the Northern Dynasties were." Ning Jianshuang wasn't surprised by this. "Most of the Northern Dynasties' ancestors inherited foreign blood, and most of them were in chaos. The Southern Dynasties considered the Northern Dynasties a lost land. Different ethnic groups established one regime after another, fighting and slaughtering each other for over four hundred years. Rebellions, palace coups, and political divisions were commonplace. The emperors of the Northern Qi Dynasty, which fell only sixty years ago, were all truly amazing."

She paused, obviously not wanting to go into too much detail, but judging from her expression, she seemed to be disgusted.

"In short, the Northern Dynasties had a lower level of culture and were more barbaric and bloody; the Southern Dynasties, on the other hand, were the orthodox lineage of the Central Plains Qin Dynasty. Most people living in the Southern Dynasties were of the Qin ethnic group, and their cultural heritage was never interrupted."

"That's not true. Hundreds of years have passed, and the Northern Dynasty is still quite different now." The cook offered a half-hearted defense. "Let's not talk about the Southern Dynasty. Didn't the princesses of the Great Qin rebel just as well? Ever since a powerful official who called himself 'I'm not the Prime Minister, but the Regent' established the first empress, the frequency of rebellions by the Great Qin princesses has been quite high. At least seven or eight times, right?"

Hearing this, Bai Xuan squinted his eyes slightly.

Just talk, why are you suddenly talking to me?

In history, Bai Xuan did serve as a powerful official once.

What was my pseudonym at that time... I think it was Bai Guang, with the courtesy name Taiyue.

He was regent for only five years, and he personally promoted the first female emperor of the Qin Dynasty.

At that time, he only thought about becoming the prime minister. He would have a great time and then die, because the emperor was too young to handle state affairs. When the emperor came of age, he would have the emperor kill him and then he would naturally take back power, suppress one group, and divide another group... Tsk, perfect.

It was just that something went wrong at the beginning. Who would have thought that the older princes all died young, and the only ones left were a group of little babies.

Bai Xuan was not really interested in handling political affairs. Governing a country is so tiring.

If I choose a six-year-old, wouldn't that mean I'll have to work for him for twelve years?!

So after careful consideration, the eldest princess, who was only thirteen years old, was chosen...so she ascended the throne.

The first female emperor was born on the historical stage, in the history of the Qin Empire, which had been founded for 150 years.

Bai Xuan was only concerned about having fun at the time and didn't think about the impact this would have on history.

Looking back on history five hundred years after the fall of the Qin Dynasty, this impulsive decision, made on a whim, has far-reaching consequences. Its most direct consequence is that it provided historical reference and legitimacy for subsequent women to claim the throne. Wu Zetian's claim to the throne was due to her outliving Li Zhi, rising from empress dowager to emperor.

Whenever there were women in power in ancient feudal dynasties...without exception, they all followed this route: they became queens, and then outlasted the emperor, and then the new emperor ascended the throne. If the emperor was too young, the empress dowager would take charge of the government, and in this way they controlled the imperial power in disguise to gain power.

But the first empress was only thirteen years old when she ascended the throne with the assistance of Bai Taiyue.

And when she was eighteen years old, she completed a palace coup and killed Bai Taiyue when he was not paying attention. Then she quickly seized the imperial power and took control of the court. Before she was twenty years old, she was a complete empress!
This was truly the succession to the throne by the will of Heaven, directly clearing away the historical obstacle of "women not being able to ascend the throne".

Furthermore, this is still a world of true cultivation where one can practice, and whether or not one can fight does not directly depend on muscle density.

Therefore, princesses in later generations took this as a guiding principle and always thought about rebelling.

Bai Xuan must take the blame for this.

The problems that I didn’t realize in the past are now realized, but unfortunately it’s too late.

Bai Xuan could only forcefully change the subject: "Los Angeles... I've got it in mind. I'll definitely go there someday. When do you plan to leave?"

"I'll be leaving tomorrow, and won't stay long." The cook said, "This restaurant has been sold. I'll take 30% of the proceeds for travel expenses, and the remaining 70% will be given to you."

"sold?"

"Well, the shopkeeper's suicide note instructed that it should be kept for retirement. Now that he's gone, there's no point in keeping it."

"Yeah, what's the point of keeping a restaurant now that everyone has left?"

"Your words make me sad too." The cook took out a letter and handed it to Bai Xuan: "This is a letter left for you by the shopkeeper. It must have been written a long time ago."

After saying that, he stood up and left the room. Before leaving, he pointed at the porridge and said, "Remember to drink it while it's hot, or you won't be able to taste my cooking in the future."

Ning Jianshuang looked at the letter and asked, "Do you need me to step aside?"

Bai Xuan said indifferently: "Look if you want."

When I opened the envelope, I found the paper inside was slightly yellowed, and it looked like it had been stored for a long time.

"Erlang, my son, by the time you read this letter, I may no longer be alive..."

This letter contains a lot of family matters.

Most of the first half is about introducing Jiang Baichuan's own origins to Bai Xuan.

The names of "Jiankang" and "Juyi Pavilion" were clearly mentioned in the letter.

"If you have nowhere to go in the future and don't want to stay in the restaurant, go to the Juyi Pavilion in Jiankang and take this letter and Jiang Chengzi with you. The Jiangning and Ning families will treat you well. When you have a promising future, you may even win the favor of my daughter. Then you will make a fortune!"

In fact, this is the greatest legacy Jiang Baichuan left to Bai Erlang.

He knew that he would die sooner or later, and he also knew that Bai Erlang had a strong desire to explore the martial arts world and had no intention of trapping him for the rest of his life. As long as Bai Erlang had such a desire, he could go to Juyi Pavilion and rely on this relationship to transform himself from a waiter into the young master of the Jiang family. With such background and resources, plus the solid foundation he had honed for more than ten years, why would he worry about not being able to become a successful person?
Thinking of this, Bai Xuan subconsciously turned his gaze to the other side, and then met a pair of clear autumn eyes.

Their eyes met, their gazes met...

"Father and daughter are connected by heart. My father and I have the same idea." Ning Jianshuang said softly, "It seems that my father hopes that you will become the young master of the Jiang family and inherit the influence of the Jiang family in the future."

"My surname is Bai." Bai Xuan said, implying that one can become the young master of the Jiang family without the surname Jiang?

"Surnames are not important." Ning Jianshuang raised her eyes slightly. "I am a woman, inheriting the surname Ning, and am also a lineage of the Ningguo Mansion of the Southern Dynasty, which is related to the court. The Jiang family inherited the Juyi Pavilion, a martial arts power founded by my grandfather Jiang Shenlong. Therefore, the former emphasizes blood ties, and only descendants of the Ningguo Duke can inherit the title. The latter does not care about blood ties, and only those with strength and ability are appointed... Juyi Pavilion was never the Jiang family's one-man show."

"understood."

This is similar to how Zhang Wuji became the adopted son of the Golden Lion King and inherited the position of leader of the Ming Cult.

The power of the underworld emphasizes inheritance, but inheritance is by no means limited to blood ties.

Bai Xuan continued to look down and pinched lightly with his fingers.

It was discovered that there was another page of paper hidden behind the letter.

However, there were only three short lines of words on the paper.

"Fifteen years ago, I snatched two copies of the Sword Immortal's remains from the Forbidden City. The other one is buried under the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree in the Nanchu Palace."

"No one knows this secret except me! If you ever get the chance, please... remember to take it out!"

"This paper must be burned after reading. Do not keep it!"

His eyelids twitched.

Very good... I was worrying about where to get the next relic, and now the task prompt is here.

The shopkeeper's legacy is really extremely rich!

Bai Xuan handed the second piece of paper to Ning Jianshuang, who immediately threw it into the incense burner beside him after reading it and burned it to ashes.

Ning Jianshuang knew that this was a treasure of immense wealth, but also a hot potato, so she gently advised, "The current Juyi Pavilion and the Ningguo Mansion... cannot afford the risk of this treasure."

Bai Xuan nodded: "I know, I won't go to get it until I'm sure."

But, sooner or later, it will be taken back.

From then on, you will embark on a journey of no return to collect the six senses.

(End of this chapter)