Not Melting Snow

The snow began to fall.

In the depths of the north, clouds and snow were always frequent visitors.

On a small road outside Shuangxue Country's capital city, a handsome horse neighed a few times, exhaling visible breaths, and a luxurious carriage had been waiting here for a long time.

Wearing a black and gold long robe, Bai Fang Lord had been waiting here for a long time, until Baijun Marquis's face gradually became clear as he approached from afar.

Compared to Baijun Marquis, Bai Fang Lord was much younger and more handsome. With high nose bridge and bright eyes and eyebrows, his biggest characteristic was that his complexion was whiter than some women's.

As Baijun Marquis returned, Bai Fang Lord, who had been waiting in the snow for a long time, respectfully handed over a mirror and said, "Congratulations, brother."

Bai Fang Lord didn't even bother asking if things had gone well.

In any case, brother would not fail.

Baijun Marquis looked in the mirror, tidied his clothes and grooming first, then slowly spoke after brushing away some of the snow dust he had picked up along the way: "It was much simpler than I imagined. A group of very uninteresting people, without the wisdom to see the situation clearly, nor the courage to die for their country. Shuangxue Royal Family is just that."

Except for one boy who was quite interesting.

However, Baijun Marquis did not say this last sentence.

Bai Fang Lord asked in puzzlement: "In that case, brother, why are we still keeping them? Wasting food and money, now that we already have the thing, we might as well just..."

"Why would a person break promises to ants?"

Baijun Marquis asked lightly, and Bai Fang Lord understood his meaning and did not dare to say more.

Now that the thing was obtained, as for Shuangxue Royal Family, after sending them out of the city, giving them a piece of land, just let them fend for themselves.

Baijun Marquis would not waste time on unimportant people.

"Let's go."

As he got into the carriage, a snowflake happened to fall, landing unexpectedly on the back of his hand.

The unusually cold feeling, although subtle, did not escape Baijun Marquis's perception.

Very strange snow.

"What's the matter, brother?"

Baijun Marquis pinched that flake of snow and rubbed it carefully several times before saying, "This snow won't melt."

Won't melt?

Bai Fang Lord was shocked. He went to the snow on the side, grabbed a handful of ice and snow, and rubbed it vigorously in his palm several times. He found that among the melted snow water, there were indeed some flakes of snow that did not dissolve.

"The legend is actually true!?" Bai Fang Lord exclaimed.

Baijun Marquis said meaningfully, "It seems that the legendary water source is also real, although they didn't dare lie to us in the first place."

Among Shuangxue Country's royal family, there was such a legend passed down.

When the source water worshipped by the royal city for thousands of years left the temple, it would snow heavily for a month, and that uncongealable strange snow would bury everything in the royal city.

At that time, the royal city would have to be relocated, otherwise it would become an eternal city of ice and snow.

Because of this unverified legend, although Shuangxue Royal Family had negotiated with Bai Clan for many years, and the rewards offered by Bai Clan were generous even for a country, unfortunately Shuangxue Royal Family had always hesitated.

Looking at the snow, Baijun Marquis said meaningfully: "Unmelting snow, even such a thing actually exists, so the so-called immortals are probably not truly unattainable."

Bai Fang Lord then walked to his brother's side and asked, "Then brother, what should we do now...?"

"Left Envoy has already taken the source water ahead of us, let's go back too. But since we’re here in the outskirts anyway, we’ll take a detour to Hanwu Commandery on our way back south. Right Envoy is already waiting for us there."

Bai Fang Lord asked doubtfully, "Hanwu Commandery, what are we going there for?"

Baijun Marquis looked towards Hanwu Commandery and said, "To find a man named Wu Qixue, he was Gao Xingwen's student."

Bai Fang Lord was puzzled, "Wu Qixue...the name sounds a little familiar...seems to be a prefect, not a big official. But Gao Xingwen? That great Confucian scholar! Wasn't he dead many years ago? There shouldn't be any student named Wu Qixue among his students."

But soon, Bai Fang Lord calmed down again.

Gao Xingwen was the left chancellor of Great Wu Country more than thirty years ago, and was once the man who could govern the country with a writing brush. Legend has it that he even had the art of physiognomy. More than thirty years ago, when Song YanShi first entered the court, Gao Xingwen had also commented on him, saying 'if he follows good, the country will be peaceful, if he follows evil, the country will be in turmoil.'

Although Gao Xingwen was a great scholar, in his later years he criticized Great Wu Country’s imperial family and was demoted to commoner status, disappearing from the public eye until the news of his death came out over ten years ago, and people only knew then that the old man had passed away quietly.

If Gao Xingwen still had students, it must have been after he was demoted to commoner status.

But Bai Fang Lord said doubtfully: "But brother, famous masters do not necessarily produce outstanding disciples, there are too many examples of mediocre masters producing brilliant students in Bai Xiao Hall's thousands of years of records."

"I didn't say I must cooperate with him, but according to the intelligence from Bai Xiao Hall, his performance during the famine crisis in Hanwu Commandery caught my attention. Besides, it's on the way, so I want to see him in person."

Baijun Marquis explained, "Now that we’re seeking immortality, I’m summoning masters from all over the world to aid me. Song YanShi’s side has no time to care, Lu Gaosheng is dead, the likes of Tang Liwang and Jue Zhi are ostensibly heroes of this age, but ultimately not a match for Song YanShi. So this Wu Qixue... what if he is a talent?"

Getting into the carriage, Baijun Marquis said to Bai Fang Lord who was still standing in the snow: "It is true that Bai Clan is the wealthiest in the world, but martial arts masters, capable ministers, talented generals, these are not things that can be bought with money. Bai Clan's world will ultimately be handed over to you, so you must remember..."

"A talent is harder to come by than thousands in gold."

Bai Fang Lord bowed respectfully and said, "I understand, brother."

Baijun Marquis nodded, "From now on, stay by my side, I’ll teach you more, you should know how to utilize institutions like Bai Xiao Hall now."

Having said that, Baijun Marquis slowly closed his eyes to rest.

Bai Fang Lord then sat in the front of the carriage to drive for his brother.

But in his heart, there was some inexplicable sadness, and some envy.

These two emotions seemed somewhat contradictory, but not to Bai Fang Lord.

The world was not actually small. Zhongyuan was large, the southern border was vast, the islands in the East Sea and the deserts in the west all had their own beauty.

But obviously, for brother...

He actually had little interest in this not so small world.

The carriage began to move forward.

As if recalling something, Baijun Marquis in the carriage suddenly spoke: "After Hanwu Commandery, let's go to Tian Ge Prefecture as well."

It was more or less on the way south, and Tian Ge Prefecture was originally a transportation hub between north and south, but Bai Fang Lord still asked: "Is there anything else there?"

Baijun Marquis in the carriage silently pulled back his sleeve, and along the white jade cloud-patterned ring on his finger, one could see a red dot, bright as blood, on his wrist pulse.

Save my mother.

Yan Xiaodao's words echoed in his ears somehow.

Save my child.

Bai ShiXuan's words from thirty years ago also rang out at the same time.

The thousand-year plan was finally about to begin, and there would probably be no more free time afterwards. Before that...

Baijun Marquis answered Bai Fang Lord outside the carriage: "Just a spur of the moment thought, it has been over thirty years, calculating the days, Bai Fang probably won't live past this year. If we can make it, let's go see her one last time. She is also your cousin, our clan's blood relative."

"Cousin? That's Bai ShiXuan's daughter right... Have I met her before?"

"Over thirty years ago, when you were just born, she came to Bai Shuang Island. Perhaps... apart from relatives, she could be considered my friend." Baijun Marquis said with some hesitation.

Both relative and friend.

"If I have a friend, she's probably the one."

Baijun Marquis said another sentence, but this sentence made Bai Fang Lord unable to remain calm in astonishment.

Friend?

Big brother's friend!?

Although big brother appreciates Lu Gaosheng very much, big brother also said that people like Lu Gaosheng, who are very capable and ambitious, will become more and more difficult to control the stronger their power grows, so they should be used carefully and guarded against. Therefore, big brother and Lu Gaosheng could not possibly be friends.

Speaking of which, does big brother really have any friends?

I heard that Bai ShiXuan's daughter is a peerless beauty. Moreover, counting back a few generations in the clan records, Bai ShiXuan's daughter is at most a distant relative of ours. In that case, could it be that big brother, who has never been vulgar, would feel something for a woman...

As Bai Fang Lord was thinking in a muddled way, Baijun Marquis slowly said, "I remember I told her back then that I would find her when she was about to die."

Find her when she was about to die?

Bai Fang Lord felt that it was such a bizarre agreement.

However, since this was the case, it seemed it could not be a romance between a man and woman. Besides, big brother said since he was little that love between men and women was the most boring emotion in the world.

Could it really be big brother's friend?

How strange.

However, despite his doubts, Bai Fang Lord was still somewhat hesitant: "But big brother... Many people in the clan believe that branch of the Bai clan are traitors. For us not to kill them is already merciful. We should not interact with them again."

Baijun Marquis asked back impassively: "Many people in the clan... And who are these people? Should I consider them when I act? Since when has the Bai clan had a second family head?"

Big brother's tone was still as calm as ever, but Bai Fang Lord very tactfully said no more.

The carriage departed.

Sitting in the swaying carriage, Baijun Marquis murmured softly: "I remember you were always laughing back then, looking very happy, Bai Fang. Now I really want to know, after so many years, can you still laugh like you did back then?"