Chapter 331: Whatever you say
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Fang Zhengzhi began to regret. He should have listened to Wu Yuer and not made the trip here.
And now...
He was just prey to them.
Were they going to roast or steam him?
The middle aged man complied with the lady’s orders and began to walk out of the tent, his head lowered the entire time.
Fang Zhengzhi knew he had to remain calm.
There was a saying, I will not move if my enemy doesn’t. If my enemy moves, I’ll do something unexpected! Basically, it was about taking initiative.
"We can always talk things out. Let’s use words before we fight. You can ask me anything. I will only tell you what I know, and I will tell you in detail. I am okay with saying anything." Fang Zhengzhi made his stand clear as he tried to buy time for himself.
Silence.
After Fang Zhengzhi said his piece, you could hear a pin drop in the tent.
Then, everyone inside began to laugh wildly.
"Oh sh*t! Hahaha... I heard that the people of the Great Xia Dynasty are strong, but I guess this one is a coward!" The lady chuckled, beaming as she did so.
"This fella is really shameless. Even before we say anything, he’s offered to betray his country."
"Such a person is of no value, we should just kill him."
"Mm, you are right. The people of the Southern Mountain Range are brave. The mountains are our partners, the trees our neighbours. We have weathered many storms as a race. Such a coward is a waste of our time."
All of the generals shook their heads in scorn and disdain when they heard what Fang Zhengzhi said.
Fang Zhengzhi did not care about what they thought.
The only person he cared about was the lady. She was the one in power. He had already accomplished what he had set out to do.
Make her laugh.
This was very important if he was going to get closer to her.
Of course, there are many kinds of laughter. There is laughter of excitement, sorrowful laughter, joyous laughter, emotional laughter...
And mocking.
Fang Zhengzhi used the simplest method to get the princess to laugh. It didn’t matter to him that the princess was mocking him.
"Your highness, don’t listen to these people. I am of great use. Firstly, I know everything in the Law of Dao. In fact, I have memorized it. Furthermore, I know the Eight Diagrams and Five Elements, Astrology, poetry, mm, of course, I am a good chef as well! Even the Emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty loved the food I made. He even rewarded me with silvers on the spot." Fang Zhengzhi rattled off his abilities.
First, establish a connection.
The next step was to market himself. He had to let them know that he was useful. That was the only way he could stay alive.
"Not only is this guy shameless, he is boastful as well."
"His ability to boast is not bad."
"I heard that the people of the Great Xia Dynasty are cunning. I guess it is true."
All of the generals scoffed when they heard Fang Zhengzhi. Their scorn became deeper. Who praises themselves that way?
"Hahaha... interesting. You say that you memorized the Law of Dao, so I will test you on it. If you really memorized it, I will let you live. However, if you get one word wrong, I will chop off one of your fingers. Every additional word wrongly memorized will result in an additional finger chopped off."
"What if I memorize 11 words wrongly?" Fang Zhengzhi thought about it before asking.
"Off with your head!"
"What about my toes?"
"Nonsense. My words are commands. If I say the 11th wrong word will result in your head being chopped off, then it is not negotiable!"
"Okay, you are the boss. What you say goes." Fang Zhengzhi nodded. One day, he will make sure she got a taste of her own medicine!
The lady did not think too much into what Fang Zhengzhi said. After a brief moment of thought, she chuckled icily.
"Mount Lei is 300 miles to the south. It has jade and gold. The water from it’s lake is potable, and the mountain is inhabited by lions... what comes after that?"
All of the generals were stunned when they heard this. Then, they turned to look at Fang Zhengzhi like they were watching a dead man walking.
Fang Zhengzhi was also slightly taken aback.
This lady was quite the cruel one. She picked one of the most complicated segments of the "Sea and Mountain Scripture".
More importantly, she did not even bother giving any hints. She simply expected Fang Zhengzhi to continue the sentence.
Any normal person would be hard pressed to complete this challenge.
But was Fang Zhengzhi an ordinary person? He was an archaeological talent in his previous world. In this world, he had spent eight years studying the Law of Dao.
His memory was unparalleled. Furthermore, he had put in much effort to memorize this. He could even memorize the Law of Dao backwards.
"Yet another 300 miles to the south is Xun Zhuang Mountain. It has jade and gold in abundance. There is also an abundance of limestone at its foot. It too is infested with beasts. There are six legged dogs, furry birds..."
Fang Zhengzhi began reciting without courtesy.
He did not stop at any time.
He finished reciting the entire "Sea and Mountains Scripture" in a single breath. Naturally, he did not get a single word wrong.
Silence.
Pin drop silence.
However, this time, the lady was clearly quite shocked by what she just saw. The generals around her stared at Fang Zhengzhi, their jaws dropped. This fella managed to do it?
He memorized the entire section? How is that possible?
Even though the Great Xia Dynasty had given the Southern Mountain Range copies of the Law of Dao, the content was too boring and complicated to them.
Initially, the Great Xia Dynasty had sent a few teachers here to teach the Law of Dao. However, as time passed, only the royal family and some in the major settlements knew how to interpret the Law of Dao.
"Should I continue?" Fang Zhengzhi asked after finishing the segment.
"Mm... of course, continue!" The lady suppressed her shock and turned to look at one of the generals.
The general nodded, understanding what she wanted immediately. He took his leave respectfully.
Before long, the flap to the tent was opened once again. Six men carried and exquisite wooden chest inside.
It was opened.
Revealing books bound in gold thread.
This was the Law of Dao. This was probably one of the original sets sent by the Great Xia Dynasty. That would explain why it was so intricately bound.
The golden thread bound Law of Dao was placed carefully in front of the lady.
Then, the lady flipped through one of the books casually.
"What comes after... Dao creates everything, morals nurture everything. Things take on a myriad of shapes, and the environment is key to whether living things can grow."
Even so, morals should be valued over Dao. Dao may create everything, and morals may nurture everything, but neither is the master of life. Everything is left to run its course." Fang Zhengzhi replied without hesitation.
The lady was visibly stunned.
All of the generals were all shocked by what they were seeing. Is this person even human? Did he really memorize the Law of Dao?
"How is it? Not a single word wrong huh? You can’t chop off my finger." Fang Zhengzhi said contentedly.
"Humph!" The lady snorted then picked up yet another book, "What comes after...?"
"We can see how tall a mountain is. We can guess how deep the ocean goes. If you understand all of these around you, you would understand the world and the intentions of the heavens..." Fang Zhengzhi rattled off without hesitation.
"I don’t believe this. I must chop off your fingers today!" The lady was furious. She threw the book aside and picked up yet another one.
"You can’t, you can’t, you can’t!" Fang Zhengzhi’s lips twitched. She could have tested him on anything. But she chose the Law of Dao, his strongest suit.
The next scene made all of the generals in the tent nervous.
The lady kept flipping through the books. She looked through each one and threw them to the side.
Fang Zhengzhi continued reciting the Law of Dao from memory. He didn’t get any word wrong. It was almost as if he was reading from the book.
"How does he do it?"
"Could it be that even one of the small troops from the Great Xia Dynasty can do this?"
"No way?"
All of the generals looked at Fang Zhengzhi, their confidence shrinking. This coward had exceeded all of their expectations.
At the very least...
He was almost like a god to them when it came to the Law of Dao.
"This is infuriating! All of you... think of something quickly! Find a question that will stump him! I want all 10 of his fingers cut off!" The lady was at her breaking point after almost an hour of questioning.
No matter how she picked and chose the passages, Fang Zhengzhi replied instantly. Furthermore, his speed was even faster than she could read.
How could she not be infuriated?!
"Princess, this..."
All of the generals looked on bitterly when they heard this. It was a tall task for them to even finish reading the Law of Dao.
How could they possibly ask a question on it?
More importantly, the princess was the one with the books. If she couldn’t stump him with the books in hand, what did she expect them to do?
Speechless.
They were all speechless.
"Your highness, why don’t you challenge him in combat?" One of the generals scratched his head and his eyes brightened. Fang Zhengzhi was a shameless coward.
What kind of power could such a person possess?
The general felt that someone like that might be academically talented. However, his actual combat prowess would be nothing to fear.
The lady’s eyes brightened when she heard the general’s suggestion. Her anger was briefly soothed.
"The Southern Mountain Range is different from the Great Xia Dynasty. You value intellect over combat ability. This is naturally your strength. However, we built our country through war and blood. Combat is our strength. Do you dare to battle our warriors?" The lady looked at Fang Zhengzhi, her haughty demeanor returning.
"I’m not very good at horse riding or shooting an arrow. I’m not good at wielding a sword either. This... is quite difficult!" Fang Zhengzhi looked at the lady, his expression pained.
"Hahaha... okay then, we shall compete in archery!" The lady laughed when she heard Fang Zhengzhi’s words.
"This is my weakness!" Fang Zhengzhi pleaded.
"I want to compete in archery, what can you do about it?" The lady said oppressively.
"That’s bullying?! Never!" Fang Zhengzhi shook his head.
"Okay then! Get people to drag him out and behead him!" The lady waved her hand.
Half a dozen soldiers marched into the tent and lowered their spears. They prepared to drag Fang Zhengzhi out for execution.
"Hang on!" Fang Zhengzhi shouted.
"Why? You want to compete all of a sudden?" The lady smirked. What a weakling. Is he so easily scared into submission?
"Not really..."
"Guard!"
"Okay, I want to compete, I really want to compete!"
"Hahaha..." The lady chuckled as she looked at Fang Zhengzhi in scorned. If not for the fact that she had nothing to do...
People like this coward would not even live for three seconds!
"But, I don’t have a horse? How am I supposed to compete?" Fang Zhengzhi squirmed. No matter how domineering these people were, there was no way they could be that unreasonable!
"Relax, I have plenty of horses!" The lady said generously.
"Who will I compete with? I can’t possibly be competing with you can I? The princess is so powerful. I doubt you need to ride a horse or shoot an arrow?" Fang Zhengzhi looked at the lady.
"I haven’t ridden a horse or shot an arrow?!" The lady fumed when she heard this. "I am not like the princesses of the Great Xia Dynasty. Is there anyone here who dares claim that they are better than me? Anyone?"
"No your highness!" All of the generals answered in unison.
"Did you hear that?" The lady looked at Fang Zhengzhi triumphantly.
"Words are empty, prove it!" Fang Zhengzhi glanced at her scornfully.
"Shameless person! How dare you doubt my skills? I will compete with you personally and make sure you are convinced!" The princess was angered.
However, when the generals heard this, all of their expressions changed. They knew that the princess was much more skilled than Fang Zhengzhi.
She was the best amongst all the youths.
But that was just the youths!
More importantly, the competition would be held in the woods and away from the camp. The risks were higher there.
"Princess, please don’t!"
"Your highness, this is a spy from the Great Xia Dynasty. He already knows where our camp is. He should be killed!"
"Yes your highness! Don’t compete with him!"
All of the generals advised fervently.
From the moment Fang Zhengzhi stepped into the camp, he was a dead man walking. He was just a toy for the princess to relief her boredom.
However, they could not let the princess risk her life whilst toying with this man.
The lady’s expression changed and she hesitated when she heard this.
"It’s better if you don’t compete. Release me then. You already lost just now. You can’t kill me!" Fang Zhengzhi said excitedly.
"Activate the silver horned wolf squad. I want them to surround a two square mile area in the woods. Then, send 20,000 troops to support them. Uncle Tai, Uncle Mu, follow this man. If he tries anything funny, kill him! I will compete with him!"
"Yes, your highness!"