A Solitary Box

A solitary person, a solitary box.

A quiet, ordinary person, carrying an old-fashioned, ordinary box. As the sun set, this person quietly entered the ancient city of Chang'an.

Part 1

The fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar.

Chang'an. [1]

Zhuo Donglai shut the door, closing out the wind and snow that for a thousand years had been a part of the ancient city of Chang'an. He took off his violet, sable-fur coat and hung it on the violet-red sandalwood coat hanger propped to his left. In his right hand he held a set of violet-red copper tongs, which he used to stoke the fire in the violet-red copper brazier in front of him, a brazier which was never extinguished. [2]

Next to the brazier was a violet-red sandalwood chair, over which was draped a fur of violet-red sable. Next to the chair was a violet-red sandalwood table, upon which was a violet crystal bottle, filled with Persian red wine.

It only took two steps to reach the table, upon which he could at leisure pour himself a cup of wine.

He liked the color violet.

He liked famous race horses, beautiful women, luxurious clothes, and good wine. He liked to enjoy himself.

He was extremely particular and picky, and always planned everything meticulously. He was never willing to waste even the slightest amount of energy, and was also never careless. He didn't even make exceptions for small everyday matters of life.

This was Zhuo Donglai.

Perhaps it was because he was this type of person that he had managed to stay alive to this day,

He sat down and took a sip of wine.

The warmth of the luxurious and beautiful room, the fragrant, sweet wine, had already driven the cold from his body. He suddenly felt very tired.

The past two days of preparation for tonight's grand ceremony had already thrown his normal routines into chaos.

He definitely could not allow any mistakes. Even the smallest mistake could lead to a larger blunder, a blunder which might never be remedied. And if that happened, not only would he feel guilty for the rest of his life; his master would also be implicated. In fact, it could even affect all Jianghu.

The most important thing was that he could not allow Sima Chaoqun's life or reputation to be harmed in any way, especially now, at the peak of his success. [3]

A person like him, who had worked so hard to become an idol to the heroes of Jianghu, must succeed in every undertaking, must never fail.

There were two things in life that Zhuo Donglai could not tolerate: mistakes and failure.

**

Sima Chaoqun was already undefeatable.

He rose to prominence in Jianghu at the age of eighteen. Throughout his thirty-three major battles, he had never once been defeated.

He was tall, strong and handsome, with a mighty and bold disposition. His rugged face always carried a bright smile. Even his enemies could not deny that he was a unique man, and there would never be a shortage of beautiful women willing to accompany him. And yet, he was completely faithful not only to his wife, but also to his children and his friends. Not once had he been involved in any sort of scandal.

He was extremely proud of this.

However, what was most worthy of pride in his life was what he had accomplished in the past two years. Using all of his martial arts ability, wisdom, good character and forthright work ethic, had traveled the roads between the regions north of the Yellow River, all the way to Northeast China, persuading 39 of the greatest heroes and bandits to join him, along with their respective organizations of martial artists. Rising from the depths of the underworld to the pinnacle of righteousness, he had organized a never-before seen Great Protection Agency. For reasonable rates, they protected any trader or traveler in the region.

No mishap had every befallen anyone who stood under the protection of their violet-bordered satin banner, emblazoned upon which was the character "Great."

This was an unprecedented, glorious achievement in the world of Jianghu. And it was something that could not be achieved using iron and blood alone.

**

Sima Chaoqun was currently thirty-six years of age, and he could already be considered an idol to the heroes of Jianghu – An invincible heroic idol.

Only he and Zhuo Donglai knew what it truly took to attain this position.