The layout of Tianjing is quite peculiar.
The main city is built against Yujing Mountain, with the Golden Throne Hall concealed halfway up the slopes, its towering, multi-eaved structures overlooking the entire Heluo Plain. Surrounding Yujing Mountain are four auxiliary cities named after the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Xuanwu. Each serves a specific purpose; White Tiger City, built along the Luo Water, has long been the residence of military nobility. It is where fierce generals station their troops to guard the borders, and their immediate families reside within its walls.
Though called an "auxiliary city," to Zhou Tieyi, with his modern perspective, it feels more like an exclusive, high-end gated community. However, the military nobles who founded the city sought to discipline their descendants, so while White Tiger City lacks for no material goods, it doesn't contain a single place for revelry or entertainment.
The entire city has a population of no more than three hundred thousand, yet it occupies a vast expanse. Take the Tiger-Awe General’s manor of the Zhou family, for example: despite belonging to only a second-rank general, it spans three thousand acres. It is filled with pavilions and terraces, and even houses its own barracks to accommodate the General’s personal guard whenever he returns home.
In this fantasy world, the Emperor truly has no fear of his subordinates rebelling. Zhou Tieyi sat inside the Spider Tower, passing through one corner tower after another within the Tiger-Awe General’s manor, the structures linked by carved corridors and bridges.
As they reached the Shouyi Courtyard where Mother Zhou resided, the Spider Tower descended silently, and the hatch opened. The courtyard was brightly lit, a sign that Mother Zhou was waiting for her son’s return.
Zhou Tieyi straightened his clothes, recalling his memories of her. As the past and present fused, they felt as one. Mother Zhou’s own story is legendary: she was born of a chance encounter between a fisherman and a wild woman, and lacked even a surname. At six, she gutted a fish and found a Daoist scripture inside, which she mastered without a teacher. From then on, she cultivated the Dao, eventually becoming a priestess at Taiyi Temple with the Daoist name Yulong, reaching the Fourth Grade. Yet, just as the martial world expected her to take over the temple and glimpse the marvelous realm of the Upper Three Ranks, she returned to secular life. She married the Tiger-Awe General, Zhou Qinlong, and gave birth to two sons, exhausting her vitality and stalling her cultivation at the Fourth Grade.
"I have been unfilial, Mother, causing you to worry late into the night," Zhou Tieyi said, kneeling before her as he entered. His predecessor may have been a wastrel, but he was unfailingly filial.
Mother Zhou, dressed in a dark green Daoist robe embroidered with mystic patterns, sat on a sandalwood and gold-thread couch. Whenever the Tiger-Awe General was away, her attire at home remained identical to what she wore at the temple. She looked at her younger son and gave a cold snort. "If you were truly filial, you would be burning the midnight oil studying to win fame, rather than causing trouble and making enemies in the pleasure districts."
Zhou Tieyi smiled sheepishly, rose, walked to her side, and began kneading her legs. "You are right, Mother. But Second Uncle says this incident was not my fault."
Mother Zhou was incredibly well-preserved, looking as though she were still in her prime. Her willow-leaf brows knit slightly as she glanced at Gongshu Sheng, who was hiding in the shadows by the door. "What did Steward Gongshu tell you?"
Zhou Tieyi relayed Gongshu Sheng’s analysis faithfully. As he did, he wondered why Gongshu Sheng had chosen to enlighten him today, and why his mother seemed unaware of the situation. After listening, Mother Zhou looked at her son’s face and asked earnestly, "And what are your thoughts?"
Zhou Tieyi hesitated, then answered in accordance with the original owner’s character: "I wish to practice martial arts. I am already seventeen; it will be too late if I don’t start now."
For a military family, transitioning into the Military School is a broad, open path. Before the age of twelve, a child’s development is incomplete and their vital energy unstable, making them unsuited for martial arts. Between twelve and eighteen, however, the bones are growing, making it the perfect time to forge a foundation.
"The dynasty is at its peak; the Confucianists are the true path," Mother Zhou insisted, still trying to dissuade him.
Zhou Tieyi pondered this seriously. If he went along with her, he could indeed resume the study of Confucianism. Having merged his memories, he lacked his predecessor’s stubbornness. But was he truly suited for the Confucian path? Zhou Tieyi asked himself. In this world, Confucian practice wasn't about reciting a few Tang poems to gain rapid promotion. "The highest is the establishment of virtue, the next is the establishment of merit, and the last is the establishment of words." The Confucian path required not only an alignment of ideology but also service to the common people. Countless men grew old poring over texts, but those who achieved unity of knowledge and action were as rare as morning stars.
His academic performance in his past life had been mediocre. Three years as a student, three years as a licentiate, three years to pass the exams—even with a perfect progression, it would take nine years to achieve a qualitative change. He couldn't afford that time to deal with the immediate crisis!
After a moment, Zhou Tieyi looked up. He did not hide his inner ambition and said earnestly, "I desire longevity and Authority." He added, "Besides, even if I practice the Military path, there will still be opportunities to shift to Confucianism later."
Since the Confucianists had produced a Sage, if he reached the end of the Military path and could not become a Sage, Zhou Tieyi, as a transmigrator, naturally wanted to catch a glimpse of that realm which hung like a sun and moon in the sky.
Mother Zhou let out a dry laugh. "You think quite highly of yourself. It is true that one can shift from the Military to the Confucian path, but for such practitioners, the Fourth Grade is the limit. It is difficult to climb any higher."
"Why?"
"Because the Confucian scholars will not recognize you."
Zhou Tieyi weighed these words. Under the imperial examination system of his past life, it was understandable that civil officials would not recognize a military officer who wanted to handle internal affairs. But why was sectarian bias so severe in this transcendent world? And could mere non-recognition really prevent a practitioner from making further progress? What exactly did the Confucianists cultivate?
As Zhou Tieyi mused, Mother Zhou suddenly remarked, "Time waits for no one. It is already too late for you to enter the Confucian fold. Very well, it seems you lack the fortune for it."
She stood up and walked toward the door. Zhou Tieyi hurried to follow, linking his arm with hers. "Does that mean you agree, Mother?"
Mother Zhou did not answer. Gongshu Sheng, who had been waiting in the shadows, took a lantern from a maid and asked respectfully, "Shall we head to the ancestral shrine?"
"Lead the way," Mother Zhou replied coldly.
She turned to Zhou Tieyi and said, "I have agreed, but there is one thing we must settle between us. You must swear before me that you will not contend with your brother for the Zhou family’s military power."
"Is there a taboo involved?" Zhou Tieyi did not agree immediately, but asked for details.
The original owner had been very close to his elder brother, but it was clear that Mother Zhou intended to hand all of the family’s power to the eldest son, leaving none for the younger.
Mother Zhou replied, "When one enters the Third Grade in the Military School, it is inextricably linked to military power. Our Zhou family has the potential to support one Third Grade practitioner; if the power is divided, we won't be able to support anyone at all."
So that was it. Connecting this to what she said about the Confucian scholars not recognizing him, it seemed that reaching the Upper Three Ranks in this world required common people to act as the foundation. Thinking of this, Zhou Tieyi probed, "If the worst comes to the worst, I can shift from the Military to the Daoist path."
Mother Zhou paused, then nodded. "That is indeed an option."
With that, she fixed her gaze on him. Zhou Tieyi quickly took an oath that he would not contend with his brother for the Zhou family’s military power.
After walking for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, they arrived at the Zhou family ancestral shrine. It was a simple, three-story black pavilion hidden amidst a grove of bamboo, its door frame adorned only with a gourd motif.
Seeing the bamboo forest, Gongshu Sheng, who was carrying the lantern, stopped in his tracks. Beyond this point, only true members of the Zhou family could enter, even if he was as close to General Zhou Qinlong as a brother.