EFB Chapter 534 Barbarian King's Stele
Chapter 534 Barbarian King's Stele
Chapter 534 Barbarian King's Stele
Yuman City is a city where barbarians from the southern frontier gather, and it is about the size of a typical county town.
Its city is quite different from the cities of other prefectures and counties in Shu. It has no moat and its construction style is relatively simple, like an ancient stone city.
The city's residents mostly wore barbarian clothing, and their customs were completely different from those of the Shu Kingdom.
Lu Zheng and his group soon arrived outside Yu Man City, disembarked from the spirit boat, and entered the city.
The city gate was guarded by soldiers who collected taxes upon entering the city. These soldiers were all barbarians, and they all gave Lu Zheng and his companions unfriendly looks when they saw their attire.
Lu Zheng couldn't help but say to Yun Xiao, "It seems that the relationship between the two clans here is not very harmonious."
Yun Xiao said leisurely, "Probably, it's because the education is inadequate."
Yun Xiao turned to Hua Ling and asked, "Who is the official in charge of this city?"
"Official?" Hua Ling thought for a moment and replied, "The highest official in our Jade Barbarian City is the City Lord, a member of the Jade family, who has marriage ties with the Shu people..."
The situation in southern Xinjiang is different from that in other prefectures and counties; there are no prefectures or county governments established there.
Each city has a city lord, who is an elected figure, and the position is usually held by a local.
In places like Jade Barbarian City, the most powerful family is the Jade Family, which is renowned and influential in the area because of its expertise in cultivating a type of Jade Gu worm.
Long before this area was incorporated into the Shu Kingdom, the Yu family had been the dominant family in this region.
After submitting to the Shu Kingdom, the Yu family was officially supported by the Shu Kingdom, which solidified their position and allowed them to prosper for hundreds of years to this day.
Hua Ling led the way, and soon they arrived at the Hua family's mansion.
When the gatekeeper saw Hua Ling return, he thought he was seeing things. His expression changed for a moment, and he hurriedly went to inform the head of the family.
Hua Ling, the third young lady of the Hua family, has always been pampered. She went missing while traveling a while ago.
The people in the manor all thought this was revenge from their enemies, and that Hua Ling had already died.
A short while later, a group of people came out to greet them.
The leader was a portly middle-aged man, none other than the head of the Hua family.
The father and daughter greeted each other with joy upon meeting.
Afterwards, when the head of the Hua family learned of his daughter's ordeal, he immediately invited Lu Zheng and the others to his residence as guests, not daring to neglect his benefactor.
Lu Zheng and his group originally wanted to learn more about the situation in southern Xinjiang, so they decided to enter the mansion to rest for a while.
The head of the Hua family spoke in somewhat broken Mandarin as he chatted with Lu Zheng and the others.
After having a cup of tea in the living room, Lu Zheng said frankly, "We came to the Southern Frontier for travel, to see the local customs and culture. We heard that an emperor of the Shu Kingdom once erected a stele here to establish laws with the locals. We wonder if that stele is still there?"
Upon hearing this, the head of the Hua family asked, "The stele you're talking about, is it the Barbarian King's Stele?"
In the past, there was a barbarian tribe in the southern border region who claimed to be king. They were later defeated and subdued by the Shu Kingdom. They erected a stone tablet with the Shu emperor, expressing their eternal submission to Shu.
Even now, there is still a barbarian king clan in the southern borderlands, but it is only in name, with little military power and no real official titles or protection from the local fortune.
After all, the Barbarian King's reputation in the Southern Frontier is too great. If a powerful local king were to be appointed, it would inevitably cause some trouble. In fact, Yun Xiao, with the title of a True Person, could share in some of the nation's fortune.
However, Yun Xiao was not a Qi cultivator, so the fortune he received from the imperial court was of little use to him. He donated most of it to Qingyang Palace so that this top-tier Daoist sect could prolong its prosperity, which could also be considered a way of giving back as a disciple.
The head of the Hua family said unhurriedly, "I saw that Barbarian King's Stele when I was a child..."
The head of the Hua family recalled, "When I was about five or six years old, my grandfather went to the capital on business and passed by the ruins of the old capital, where he saw that stele."
"The monument was carved in the royal palace of the old capital. The entire mountain was covered with the monument. I even went down to the foot of the mountain back then..."
"Twenty years ago, I happened to go there again, intending to revisit the place, but I found that there were many guards there, supposedly to prevent the Barbarian King's Stele from being vandalized..."
The head of the Hua family paused for a moment, then whispered, "I don't know if anyone is still guarding the place now. Anyway, back then, no outsiders were allowed to enter the entire old capital."
Yun Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly, a strange light flashing within them.
These words sound a bit strange. That monument has stood for hundreds of years, so why is someone guarding it recently?
It's said to be to prevent vandalism? What a load of rubbish! Such a stone tablet contains extraordinary power, who would be foolish enough to damage a tablet erected by the emperor?
Or is it that someone has already done such a thing, which is why it's being protected?
Yun Xiao couldn't help but ask, "Have you seen that stone tablet? What's written on it?"
Upon hearing this, the head of the Hua family smiled awkwardly and said, "How could a mere mortal like me possibly see such a stone tablet clearly? I was young at the time, and all I saw was the whole mountain shimmering with light; I couldn't see any words written on it at all..."
Yun Xiao asked a few more questions to confirm that the Hua family head had indeed seen the monument, but his strength was insufficient to see its true appearance.
Afterwards, Yun Xiao asked the Hua family for a map of the Southern Frontier.
The Hua family is a local powerful family that also has business dealings with some towns in southern Xinjiang. The maps they possess are more detailed than the ones Lu Zheng and his group bought from outside.
After a short rest, Lu Zheng and his companions left the Hua family and boarded a spirit boat to head towards the Barbarian King's Stele.
Yun Xiao held the map, looking at the location marked on the stone tablet, and clicked his tongue, saying, "This location...not bad, quite interesting..."
Qingwan, who was standing nearby, leaned closer to take a look and asked curiously, "What's wrong? Is it some kind of auspicious feng shui spot?"
Yun Xiao glanced at him and said with a smile, "You little rascal, you've even mastered this now?"
Qingwan snorted, "Feng shui, isn't it just about observing the earth and its phenomena? It's not that complicated, as long as you understand it..."
Qingwan spoke at length there, mostly quoting principles she had learned from books or from the teachings of her predecessors in the Yunmeng Sect, which she then explained in her own words.
Upon hearing this, Yun Xiao clicked his tongue and said, "Why do you always use your own way of explaining these things?"
Whenever he and Lu Zheng talked about something, he could always hear some new words from them.
At first glance, it's easy to understand, but it just makes him feel uncomfortable, as if there's an invisible distance between him and these two people.
Qingwan shook her head and said, "The point is to make sure most people can understand it! Using obscure and complicated language that people can't understand is really petty!"
Yun Xiao's lips twitched, and he couldn't help but say, "You've been spending too much time with Lu Zheng, you're practically a carbon copy of him..."
“Isn’t this good? We are all young people who are looking forward to new things.” Qingwan said earnestly, “Daoist, you must keep up with the times and accept more new things. Otherwise, the ship of the new era will not be able to accommodate an old-fashioned person like you.”
(End of this chapter)