“An island in the sea will indeed allow them to stay far away from the earthly world without being cut off from it completely, but if it’s really an island that they want, how are we supposed to get them one? I have little acquaintance with the sea. The Eastern Heron Island and the Morning Star Island are the only two islands I know of. These two islands are close to the shore and relatively large. Apart from local islanders, there are also navies stationed on them. Further to the east is the Fangcun Kingdom. It’s an island country, and there are also some small islands sparsely located around it, all of which are very far from us. How are we going to hold up our end of the bargain?” said Ling Zhang.
“Since Ji Yanlai has chosen to cooperate with us, there’s no doubt he has also chosen us to be his long-term ally, which means he wouldn’t pick somewhere too far away, but he wouldn’t live too close either. His best choice would be an island that makes it convenient for him to contact the mainland as well as the Fangcun Kingdom.”
Ling Zhang looked at him. “Does an island like this exist? Even if it does exist, are we really going to give it to him just like that? Apart from everything else, the courtiers would by no means agree, and if word gets out, your reputation would be compromised.”
Yuwen Tong said, “There’s no need for you to worry about that. Ji Yanlai is a smart man. He won’t make any unreasonable demands if he wants to get an island without any trouble. Besides, if the island is too big, it would make the Millennium Pavilion conspicuous and his people wouldn’t be able to live in seclusion. Therefore, he would prefer a relatively obscure island that is not too big nor too small, one that can accommodate all people of the Millennium Pavilion and is fit to be their headquarters. This also means it’ll be better if the island is uninhabited. I’ve read the map and narrowed down the list to a couple of islands. Barring accidents, he’ll choose one of them.”
Ling Zhang said, “Let me take a look.”
Yuwen Tong led him into the side hall. On a wall of the hall hung a map which was large and also very detailed. In fact, it could be said this was currently the most detailed map in the world, and he could only imagine how precious it was. Yuwen Tong tapped at a couple of points on the map, indicating the islands he had just mentioned to Ling Zhang.
Ling Zhang looked at them, confused. “I don’t understand. This one here – it’s totally blank.”
“But in fact there IS an island. It’s just in that area appear curious whirlpools from time to time, so local fishermen living in coastal villages never venture there. That island mostly consists of woodlands, high hills and rocks, and it’s a relatively medium-sized one of the couple of islands. I tend to believe that they’ll pick this one,” explained Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang understood what Yuwen Tong meant. This island had a natural barrier around it, so if people of the Millennium Pavilion wanted to keep themselves away from prying eyes, this would be a perfect choice for them. However… “For them, this also means danger,” observed Ling Zhang.
“Given what the Millennium Pavilion is capable of and Ji Yanlai’s extraordinary discernment and intuition, I think they’ll figure something out to handle it by themselves,” said Yuwen Tong.
Ling Zhang looked at him. “If they really want this island, you’re really going to give it to them?”
“Give it to them? No. What I’ll give them is just the permission to live there. The geographical location of that island is a little special… The waters to the south-east of the Fangcun Kingdom are infested with pirates. A lot of merchant ships traveling between Fangcun and our country fell prey to their robberies, along with some trade vessels from the South Ocean. But most of those pirates are very cunning. They live on the sea and are very familiar with it, which is why they are all experts on making escape. The imperial court is always sending the navy to hunt them, but six times out of ten the navy end up losing eyes on them. This island is located right near the waters where trading ships frequently get robbed. If people of the Millennium Pavilion want a peaceful life on that island, they’ll have no choice but to rid their gateway of pirates first. With them living there, the imperial court will be saved some trouble. Besides, that island is not big, and the Millennium Pavilion doesn’t have many members, so we could just take it as a sect in Jianghu. We give them a place to live and tell them they must abide by the laws made by the imperial court. In essence, they’ll still be our subjects,” said Yuwen Tong.
It was at this moment that Ling Zhang caught on to Yuwen Tong’s plan. In the final analysis, when Ji Yanlai had chosen to cooperate with them, he had also in a sense chosen to strike up a certain relationship with the imperial court. Their request for authorization from the imperial court would count as a pledge of allegiance in disguised form. Considering their creed of standing aloof from earthly affairs, they were unlikely to cause any trouble.
Ling Zhang relaxed safe in the knowledge that Yuwen Tong had had it all planned out.
Previously he had had a grudge against the Millennium Pavilion because of his mother’s death, but then he had wiped the slate clean after being informed that the Millennium Pavilion had once rescued his father. Afterward, the Clan Leader had given him two precious pills which cured his father of his illness and also turned out to be a lifesaver for Yuwen Tong. Also, Ling Zhang himself had benefited a lot from the handbook on internal energy of the Millennium Pavilion, so as long as people of the Millennium Pavilion were indeed seeking to find a place to live in peace, he would fulfill his end of the deal that they had struck.
…
Two days later, Ji Yanlai’s carriage trundled into the capital city at a leisurely pace, followed by five guards on horseback. In the carriage was also a young boy – Cong, Ji Yanlai’s nephew.
It was Ling Zhang and Ji Yin who went to meet them and then led them to the Ling Mansion.
“It’s been quite some time since the last time I left the mountains. This city is pretty prosperous.” Ji Yanlai raised the curtain and looked out of the window without the slightest inclination to conceal the fact that he was a country bumpkin. Whenever he saw something unfamiliar to him, he discussed it with Cong, and every time their eyes alighted on food, the two of them stared fixedly in its direction until it was out of sight.
“What do you think that is, Uncle? It smells so good!” Cong, hanging out of the carriage window, was eyeing something hungrily, and so was his uncle.
Seeing Ji Yanlai was gazing covetously out of the window with Cong like a child, Ling Zhang and Ji Yin, who were sitting on the other side of the carriage, couldn’t help but pull wry faces.
“Those are Deep-fried Ears. If anything takes your fancy, just tell me and I’ll have someone buy it and bring it to your room,” said Ling Zhang.
Ji Yanlai’s looks were uncommonly attractive, and that scarlet mole in the middle of his forehead lent him an air of something further removed from the mortal world, so when he and Cong, hanging out of the window, made a fuss about the things they saw with amazed expressions on their faces, they were drawing a lot of pedestrians’ attention, almost all of whom were sneaking surreptitious glances in this direction. Ling Zhang, seeing their excited and curious faces, had originally intended to offer to take them out of the carriage and go back to the residence on foot to let them have some fun, but now he worried that if Ji Yanlai got out of the carriage, he would instantly be surrounded by lookers-on.
“Deep-fried Ears?” Cong clapped his hand to his ear in astonishment. “That’s horrible!”
“Not human ears. They’re made of flour. People shape the dough into ears and then put them into boiling oil to fry them. They’re quite delicious,” Ling Zhang explained to him. Cong reminded Ling Zhang of Ling Maomao at a younger age, and Ling Zhang always had a soft spot for adorable children.
Cong took his hand off his ear, giving a gasp of relief. “I see. I want some!”
“No problem.”
“And what are those? They smell great!”
“Those are snacks: pot-stewed fowl, duck necks, etc. I’ll buy you some.”
“And what’s that? That big flat cake over there.”
“Those are pies, with chive filling or meat filling. I’ll buy you some as well if you want.”
…
The horse-drawn carriage had slowed down considerably after entering the city, because Ji Yanlai and Cong were feasting their eyes and lost track of time. Ling Zhang, who didn’t want to rain on their parade, kept his promise and bought them all the things they were struck with. Although pedestrians on the street were all watching, and some of them even followed in the wake of their carriage staring at Ji Yanlai, they didn’t dare get too close – thanks to the guards – and no trouble was caused.
But Ling Zhang inquired of Ji Yanlai, “Clan Leader, is it okay that so many people out there have seen your face?”
Ji Yanlai appeared nonchalant. “What could they possibly know about if I don’t tell them anything about the origins of the Millennium Pavilion or my identity as the leader of it? They’re just curious about my appearance. It’s no big deal.”
Ling Zhang looked at Ji Yin, who raised no objection either, so he made no more comments on this matter.
He led Ji Yanlai and Ji Yin to the gateway of the Ling Mansion, where Ling Xingzhong, Ling Zhaowu and Ling Zhaowen, along with Ling Maomao, were waiting for them.
As they all knew who Ji Yanlai was, Ling Xingzhong and Ling Zhaowen were quite polite to Ji Yanlai. Ling Zhaowu, however, acted in a much more natural way.
Cong, who was being drawn forward by Ji Yanlai, curiously sized up Ling Maomao.
Ling Maomao was also looking at him, probably because Cong, who was a fair-skinned, round-faced little boy with beady big black eyes, struck him as quite cute. Ling Maomao couldn’t help gazing at him for a few moments.
Cong asked, “Who are you?”
“I’m Ling Maomao. What’s your name?” Ling Maomao replied.
“Cong.”
“Cong?” Ling Maomao was puzzled. “Just Cong? What’s your full name?”
“Well, it’s just Cong. Ji Xiaocong,” answered Cong in a silvery voice.
Ling Maomao was bemused. His parents had named him this? Didn’t people only put ‘Xiao’ in pet names?
“Is ‘Cong’ the one meaning smartness?” Ling Maomao asked him.
Cong was perplexed for a brief moment, clearly having difficulty finding in his memory a Chinese character that was pronounced ‘Cong’ and meant smartness. Having no knowledge of this character, he responded, “No, it’s the one meaning ‘chopped green onion’. My uncle told me that chopped green onion’s very fragrant, that it’s the most fragrant thing in the world, so I was named ‘Cong’, because I’m the best.”
Ling Maomao was also thrown into perplexity. Ah?
On hearing this, all adults standing on the side pulled wry faces. Ji Yanlai had named his nephew ‘Cong’ just because chopped green onion struck him as fragrant? What kind of uncle would do this kind of thing to his nephew?
Ling Zhang was torn between amusement and sympathy for Cong, but he didn’t really believe that ‘Ji Xiaocong’ was this boy’s full name.
Unsurprisingly, Ji Yanlai explained, “It’s a rule of our clan to wait until a child passes their seventh year to give them their full name, so ‘Cong’ is just his pet name.”
All the others felt relieved for Cong at this explanation. Ling Maomao also heaved a sigh of relief, feeling that it would be such a shame that an endearing white-skinned young boy like Cong had actually been named ‘Ji Xiaocong’. Fortunately that was not his full name, he thought.
Cong, whose attention had been distracted by his uncle’s words, asked, “What’s a full name, Uncle?”
“Well, it means a formal name,” answered Ji Yanlai.
Surprise was written all over Cong’s face. And then something occurred to the boy and he jerked his head up to look at his uncle and said in a voice tinged with panic, “I don’t want a full name. I want my name to be ‘Ji Xiaocong’!”
Ji Yanlai lowered his head to look back at him, his eyebrows lifted. “Why?” he asked.
“Because chopped green onion is very very fragrant, and the name ‘Cong’ makes me the best. I don’t want my name to change,” answered Cong, sounding somewhat anxious.
Ji Yanlai reached out a hand to give the boy a playful pinch on the cheek. “You’re quite discerning. Actually I think it’s a pretty good name as well, but your mother would probably kill me if I make it your formal name. Let’s wait until you’re seven years old to talk about this. There’s no hurry.”
But Cong was still a little anxious, a sulky expression on his face.
Ling Maomao, who was walking abreast of him, consoled him, “‘Cong’ is a good name, but it does no harm for you to get a full name that sounds even cooler.”
Cong looked at him. “A full name that sounds even cooler?” he asked.
Ling Maomao gave a bob of the head. “Yeah. One cooler than ‘Cong’,” he replied.
Cong’s eyes moved to him again. “What kind of name would sound even cooler than ‘Cong’?”
Ling Maomao started racking his brains. Ling Zhang walking on the side looked at them with a curious face, thinking, ‘Not bad. Maomao has learned how to coax people.’
