Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 256: Mother's Sacrifice
Upon hearing Xiao Yuanshan's words, Duan Yu looked sad and said in a low voice, "Since becoming sworn brothers with my elder brother, we haven't had a proper get-together, and now we're about to part ways."

Jiang Mingzhe patted him on the shoulder and said, "The most precious thing in life is true friendship. A moment can feel like eternity. Brothers, our loyalty will last forever. We'll be as close as neighbors, even if we're separated by vast distances. Besides—"

He smiled and said, "Dali and Liao are far apart, but it's only a two or three-month journey. If we take a sea voyage, taking advantage of the southwest winds in March and April, it will only take twenty or thirty days. Not only can we visit our elder brother, but we can also transport Dali's specialties to Liao to sell at a high price, and then transport Liao's specialties back to Dali to make a fortune. In this way, we can not only fulfill our loyalty, but also enrich the national treasury without increasing taxes or harming the people's strength. Isn't that wonderful?"

Duan Yu, who was about to burst into tears, immediately stopped crying upon hearing this. He sniffled and said with a smile, "Such a good thing? But my Dali Kingdom doesn't have a sea!"

Jiang Mingzhe chuckled and said, "Doesn't the Red River go straight to the sea?"

Duan Yu was taken aback and said, "Second Brother is not familiar with the geography of Dali. The Red River flows into Annam before it can flow into the sea."

Azi shouted, "Duan Xiaoyu is so stupid! Why don't you just ask my uncle the emperor for an army, and I'll lead the southern expedition to conquer the Nan'an Kingdom for you? Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

Duan Yu exclaimed in surprise, "No, no! Annam, like Dali, is a Buddhist country. How can we start a war without permission?"

At this time, Annam was ruled by Emperor Renzong Li Qiande, who was quite capable and had remarkable achievements in both civil and military affairs. In the early years of his reign, he fought against the Song Dynasty for many years. Later, in the tenth year of Xining (1077), the two countries made peace. In the second year of Yuanyou (1087), Emperor Zhezong of Song conferred upon Li Qiande the title of Prince of Nanping.

Although Jiang Mingzhe was unaware of these things, upon hearing the words "Buddhist Kingdom," he immediately laughed and said, "Since we are both Buddhist kingdoms, what's so hard to discuss? Just give him a letter of introduction, ask for passage to the sea, and say you want to make money to build a Buddhist temple, right? At worst, you'll have to pay some toll."

Duan Yu thought for a moment and said happily, "That's feasible. I'll explain it to my father in detail when I see him later."

Jiang Mingzhe then said, "In fact, the key to governing a country lies in the word 'wealth.' Only when the country is wealthy can we treat the people well and build a strong army. Treating the people well will stabilize their hearts, and building a strong army will deter neighboring countries from taking liberties. Third brother, you will also be an emperor in the future, so you must remember this word 'wealth.' The best way is to acquire wealth from abroad. If your Dali Kingdom can go to the sea along the Red River, you can connect with the Liao Kingdom to the north and there are countless island nations to the south, which are rich in spices that are more valuable than gold. Your Dali Kingdom has tea, horses, copper, and iron. If you do well in these trades, it will be enough to make the country strong and the people rich."

With just a few words, Duan Yu was captivated.

Xiao Yuanshan, however, was truly insightful and couldn't help but exclaim, "My dear nephew, you are truly a man of great talent. The Han books say that governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. Seeing your scheme today, I know that this saying is true. No wonder that kid Murong Fu regards you as a hidden dragon and a phoenix."

Jiang Mingzhe thought to himself, "The Crouching Dragon and the Phoenix Chick are different from the rest of the world. How dare I compare myself to them?" He humbly replied, "It's just theoretical talk. Please forgive my ignorance, Uncle."

Having said that, they continued on their way.

If we follow Xiao Feng's suggestion, we will inevitably be checked by soldiers when crossing the pass, so it would be better to find a place to store the horses and climb over the high mountains on the west side of Yanmen Pass.

Jiang Mingzhe shook his head: "Big brother, no need to trouble yourself. Third brother, did you bring the official documents?"

The so-called official document is roughly equivalent to a letter of introduction or a travel permit.

Duan Yu was dragged to Jiangnan by Kumārajīva, but Duan Zhengchun arrived shortly afterward and had already completed the relevant documents for him. The official document clearly stated that the heir of the Prince of Zhennan of Dali Kingdom had achieved academic success and traveled abroad to broaden his horizons.

Duan Yu searched through the package for a while and found it. Jiang Mingzhe took it personally and presented it to the gatekeeper for inspection.

The gatekeeper, seeing that it was a prince from a neighboring country, was filled with respect and personally went out of the pass. Seeing Duan Yu's noble air and the many beautiful women in the group, he became even more convinced and subconsciously assumed that Xiao Yuanshan and the others were his staff and guards. He quickly checked them and let them pass.

After leaving the pass, a mountain path snaked down. The group followed the path and saw Xiao Yuanshan's face gradually become serious. They also heard Xiao Feng's heavy breathing. The lively girls, A'Zhu and A'Zi, all obediently shut their mouths.

After walking for a while, we turned around a large rock and a mountain path stretched out in front of us, with the mountain to the south and a cliff to the north, the slope gently descending.

Xiao Yuanshan said in a trembling voice, "This is the place!"

Everyone reined in their horses. Xiao Yuanshan dismounted and walked to the edge of the deep valley. Looking down, he saw thick clouds and mist, making it impossible to see the bottom. Recalling the tragedy of that year, two tears slid down his cheeks. He said in a trembling voice, "Feng'er, back then, your father jumped down from here with your mother and me in his arms. When I heard you crying, I threw you back up."

With tears in his eyes, Xiao Feng leaped to the edge of the cliff, knelt down, peered over the edge for a long time, and cried out, "Mother, Mother, your son has come! Your son and Father have come to see you! Mother, it's me, Feng'er!"

Amidst the screams, large tears fell into the deep valley.

Xiao Yuanshan, who had been trying to suppress his emotions, couldn't help but burst into tears upon hearing his son's sorrowful cries. He howled like a lone wolf, "My wife, my wife! Yuanshan has returned! I have found our son. He has grown up and is now a hero admired by all. My wife, can you see? Our son has grown up!"

Its voice echoed through the mountains, like a wounded tiger, its sorrow beyond words.

Jiang Mingzhe felt a lump in his throat and quickly turned his face away, only to see that A'Zhu had already cried her eyes out, while Duan Yu was crying loudly, almost suffocating.

The others—the aloof Mu Wanqing, the cunning A Zi, the clever Zhong Ling, and even Wang Yuyan and A Bi—were all moved by the grief of the father and son, and all stood solemnly with tears in their eyes.

Jiang Mingzhe wiped away his tears and stepped forward, saying, "Uncle, elder brother, if you want to return to your hometown, how can you leave my aunt here alone? Let's go down, collect my aunt's remains, and take them back to our hometown for burial."

Xiao Yuanshan stood up, wiped away his tears, and nodded, saying, "Yes, yes, good boy, you're right! I... I'll look for it!"

His usual bold and steady demeanor was completely gone; he frantically looked around, occasionally reaching out to feel along the cliff face. Suddenly, he exclaimed with delight, "Here! This is it!"

As he spoke, he raised his hand, revealing four fingers covered in black mud and moss: "I recovered from my injuries at the bottom of the cliff. My wife had a dagger in her boot. Using this blade, I carved a ladder into the cliff and it took me seventeen days to climb up."

As he turned to climb off the cliff, Jiang Mingzhe stopped him, saying, "Uncle, I am quite confident in my lightness skills. You are in a state of agitation right now, and my brother's left arm is not strong enough. I will go down first!"

Xiao Yuanshan didn't stand on ceremony and nodded, saying, "Alright, it's only right for your nephew to help with your aunt's remains. Come on, let me help you!"

Jiang Mingzhe took the iron sword fan in his hand, stretched out his left hand and pulled with Xiao Yuanshan. Xiao Yuanshan exerted his strength and lifted him off the cliff, slowly lowering him down.

Jiang Mingzhe turned around and looked, and sure enough, there was a shallow groove on the cliff, about two or three centimeters deep. Over the years, dust had accumulated and turned into mud, covering it with moss, but Xiao Yuanshan had already scraped away most of it.

Jiang Mingzhe picked up his sword fan and cleaned away the moss with two quick strokes. Xiao Yuanshan lay down and lowered his hands. Jiang Mingzhe lowered himself down again, and sure enough, a few feet below, there was another patch of lush moss. He used his sword fan to dig it away, creating another groove.

Xiao Yuanshan flipped over and descended into the grooves, his left hand gripping the first groove, his toes on the second, his waist twisting to the side, his right hand tightly holding onto Jiang Mingzhe. Jiang Mingzhe descended again, clearing new grooves. They slowly descended more than twenty zhang in this way, clearing sixty or seventy grooves. Xiao Yuanshan's breathing became heavy. Jiang Mingzhe said, "Uncle, let's switch places."

So the two carefully switched positions, with Jiang Mingzhe clinging tightly to the cliff face, carrying Xiao Yuanshan with one hand, while Xiao Yuanshan held his iron sword fan, constantly clearing new grooves.

After descending another twenty feet, looking up at the people on the cliff, they were completely obscured by the mist and could not be seen at all.

Xiao Yuanshan was worried that Jiang Mingzhe was exhausted. He looked at him and saw that his complexion was normal and his breathing was steady. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Your skill is truly terrifying! Even when I was not injured, I would hardly be able to match you."

Jiang Mingzhe laughed and said, "Isn't that because my uncle taught me his divine skills?"

The two talked and worked, and after an unknown amount of time, they finally reached the bottom. Jiang Mingzhe looked up and saw that the cliff face disappeared into the clouds and went up crookedly, with a chisel mark every few feet, just like a ladder to heaven.

He couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "After being seriously injured, my uncle carved out this path to survival. He truly had great perseverance."

At that moment, people quickly climbed down from above, the first of whom was Xiao Feng.

Although he had broken his left hand and was carrying a heavy bundle, with his martial arts skills and the grooves for support, he remained steady and agile with both feet and one hand.

Then came A'Zhu, A'Zi, and then Duan Yu.

Duan Yu, who was still two or three zhang above the ground, leaped down and said, "Abi felt dizzy after falling a few zhang, and Miss Wang couldn't fall even a little bit. There might be scattered soldiers from Song and Liao raiding here, so Wanqing and Zhongling stayed behind to protect them."

Xiao Yuanshan didn't mind and led everyone to a small grave.

It's called a grave, but it's really just a mound of stones of various sizes.

Xiao Yuanshan sighed, "The soil at the bottom of this cliff is too shallow, so I can only use stones to make a grave. Feng'er, come and kowtow to your mother, then take her home."

Xiao Feng nodded with red eyes, knelt down, took off the package on his back, put it inside and opened it. Inside were incense burner, incense, candles, paper money and gold foil.

The incense burner was pre-filled with grains. Xiao Feng lit three sticks of incense, held them to his forehead, and whispered, "Mother, your unfilial son Xiao Feng has come to take you home. Also here is my father, and my two sworn brothers, my second brother Jiang Mingzhe and my third brother Duan Yu. Mother, my second brother is a prodigy who excels in both literature and martial arts..."

Jiang Mingzhe pulled Duan Yu to kneel on either side of Xiao Feng and said in unison, "Auntie, your nephew Jiang Mingzhe/Duan Yu has come with your elder brother to visit you."

Jiang Mingzhe added, "My elder brother has finally overcome his hardships and reunited with his father. In the future, he will have the support and assistance of us brothers. Auntie, if she is watching from heaven, you can rest assured."

After saying this, he and Duan Yu kowtowed together.

Xiao Feng immediately said, "Mother, my second and third brothers are right, they are truly very good to me..."

Once he started talking, he couldn't stop. He first talked about the good things about Jiang and Duan, then about how loyal they were to him, and kept going on and on until half of the incense stick in his hand had burned.

Seeing this god-like man speaking in front of his deceased mother's grave, like a child showing off his best friend to his parents, Azi couldn't help but smile. She quietly pulled Azhu aside and said, "I was worried that this brother-in-law was too old-fashioned, but now it seems he's quite talkative. You won't be lonely in the future."

Jiang Mingzhe leaned over and whispered a reminder: "Big brother, introduce A-Zhu to Auntie."

After saying that, he pulled Duan Yu up and made way for him.

Xiao Feng blushed and said, "Mother, another good friend has come too. She is a female friend of mine, a confidante. She is of the highest quality, both intelligent and gentle. You will definitely like her if you meet her. She doesn't mind that I am clumsy. I am a pampered daughter from Jiangnan, but I would rather go back to Liao to herd cattle and sheep. Ah, Ah Zhu, come and let my mother take a look at you."

When Xiao Feng praised A'Zhu, A'Zhu's face had already turned red, and then her eyes reddened, tears falling like strings of pearls, but she still had a smile on her face.

Upon hearing Xiao Feng call her, she immediately knelt down beside him, tears streaming down her face, and said softly with a smile, "This humble woman, Duan Zhu, has come with Brother Xiao to pay my respects to Mother. Mother, I will certainly serve Brother Xiao well in the future, and I will also be filial to Uncle Xiao. Please rest assured."

Xiao Yuanshan stood to the side, his eyes red, and said, "Silly child, you've already called me Mother, how can you call me Uncle? From now on, call me Father like Feng'er does."

He stepped forward and said softly, “My wife, do you see? Feng’er is now a great man, and he has a wife who loves and respects him. Thirty years ago, our family was separated here. Today, we are fortunate to be reunited. Let the children kowtow to you and offer some incense. Then come home with us.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Feng quickly inserted the short incense stick into the burner and kowtowed several times with A'Zhu.

After they got up, Azi knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Auntie, I am your son's sister-in-law and also your son's sister-in-law. We are very close. Auntie, Duan Zi is kowtowing to you."

After they finished kowtowing, they lit three incense sticks and then burned paper money and gold foil. While burning the paper money, A-Zhu quickly folded the gold foil into the shape of ingots and burned them all at once.

After burning the paper money, Xiao Feng spread out the bundle and said, "Father, let's get started."

Xiao Yuanshan nodded, and Jiang Mingzhe and the others silently stepped back, watching as the father and son pushed aside the stones, picked up the pieces of white, jade-like remains, packed them into bundles, and had Xiao Feng carry them on his back.

After a flurry of activity, Xiao Yuanshan sighed, "Go on up, you guys go first."

Xiao Feng led the way, and the group lined up and climbed back up the same path.

In a short while, the group emerged from the clouds and was about to climb the cliff when they suddenly heard weapons clashing on the cliff and many people making rough howls, a chaotic mess of strange sounds, saying something incomprehensible.

Xiao Yuanshan, who was at the bottom, growled, "This is bad! Feng'er, hurry up! It's Liao soldiers raiding the grazing land!"

Xiao Feng's expression tightened, and he immediately accelerated. But then he heard a whoosh of wind beside his ear. In his haste, Jiang Mingzhe behind him leaped up, his left hand holding an iron sword fan and his right hand holding the Seven Child Swords. He spread his arms and flapped them like wings, his feet touching the slippery cliff face. He flew over Xiao Feng like a wisp of smoke and soared straight up.

(End of this chapter)