Chapter 913: Longyuan Changes Hands!

Prince Pingxi Residence had originally invited the Sword Saint’s entire family to today’s banquet. Had they attended, they would naturally have been seated in the rear with the members of the household. Prince Pingxi certainly hoped the Sword Saint’s family would mingle more with his own.

After all, good relations between neighbors were important. How much fate from a previous life did two families need before they could end up living side by side?

But the Sword Saint declined.

If the Sword Saint was not going, then Liu Dahu naturally could not go either. He was one of the Prince’s personal guards, but not a single military officer below Guerrilla General rank had been invited to today’s banquet. If he could not enter under the identity of the “neighbor’s foolish son,” then he simply did not qualify for a seat.

Liu Dahu finished practicing his saber, walked over to the water vat, scooped up a ladleful, and began pouring water over himself.

After wiping himself down, he turned and saw his father standing in a corner, looking somehow indescribably desolate.

Liu Dahu walked over, first caught the equally desolate duck, stuffed it into the chicken coop, and shut the cage.

Then he went to his little brother and picked him up.

“Dad, something on your mind?” Liu Dahu asked.

The Sword Saint looked at his two sons, then sat down on a stool nearby.

He turned his head and glanced at Longyuan, which had been left beside the woodpile after he finished chopping firewood during the day.

“Take your little brother inside to sleep first. I just happen to be thinking through a sword technique tonight.”

As he spoke, the Sword Saint even raised one hand and made a couple of practice gestures.

“Mm.”

Liu Dahu obediently carried his little brother indoors.

The Sword Saint was left alone in the small courtyard beneath the starry sky.

...

In the rear residence of Prince Pingxi Residence, the Grasping of Fortune ceremony formally began.

Every civil and military official who had attended the banquet was present.

The large round table that had originally been set up indoors had been moved outside.

Xiong Liqing held Big Girl. Siniang held Zheng Lin. Liu Ruqing and the Princess Consort of Prince Fu stood behind them.

Tian Tian and Ji Chuanye brought over little stools and stood on top of them so they could see clearly.

Unlike usual, every one of the gentlemen of Prince Pingxi Residence was present today as well.

Incense and candles were lit.

The master and disciple from Gourd Temple had also been invited over and recited a passage of scripture for blessings.

Once every preparation was complete, Zheng Fan lifted the large “steamer lid” covering the round table.

The corner of his eye immediately twitched.

He had known there would be a few extra objects inside.

He truly had not expected there to be this many.

That sword looked somewhat familiar...

Oh.

Wasn’t that the Baili Sword?

Why the hell was it sitting here?

Zheng Fan understood almost immediately and found it rather funny.

Well, well. Sword Saint, even a thick-browed, big-eyed fellow like you knows how to play this game?

And then... this thing...

Zheng Fan reached out and picked up the jade-carved seal.

Strictly speaking, putting such an object here was not excessively beyond the rules.

Princes of Great Yan’s imperial clan were heavily restricted. By Yan tradition, once an Emperor’s son had been granted a princely title, the moment his imperial father died he would immediately memorialize the new sovereign requesting that his rank be reduced.

Even among members of the imperial clan, a princely title generally lasted only one generation. If a father died early and a brother ascended the throne early, one might remain a Prince for only ten-odd years before being downgraded.

Several centuries ago, there had been rare cases where an imperial clansman rendered such great merit that his princely title was specially allowed to continue for another generation.

But there had been no precedent for that in nearly a century.

After all, as the desert Barbarians were pressed lower and lower beneath Marquis Zhenbei Residence, the Ji imperial clan no longer had to march endlessly into the desert the way their ancestors had. Naturally, there were fewer opportunities to earn the kind of solid military merit that could preserve a princely title.

Great Yan’s Princes of a Different Surname, however, had only been created in the previous generation with Prince Zhenbei and Prince Jingnan.

They had not existed before that.

There was therefore no ancestral precedent to follow.

And each of the three Princes of a Different Surname Great Yan had granted—including Zheng Fan—had received an additional favor before the title:

Hereditary in perpetuity.

That was why after Li Liangting died, his son Li Fei inherited the princely title directly without any reduction in rank.

On Tian Tian’s side, Prince Jingnan had merely left rather than died in battle. But even if Old Tian never returned, Tian Tian would still be able to inherit the princely title once he came of age. The only likely compromise would be changing the princely designation to avoid using his father’s title.

The previous Yan Emperor, Ji Runhao, had been exceptionally generous, granting the Princes of North and South enormous honors.

Their princely seals, for example, looked almost identical to the Emperor’s imperial seal, differing only in a few minor details.

Zheng Fan had benefited from that precedent. Everything had been done according to the earlier standard, so his own princely seal followed the same specifications.

But Zheng Fan could tell immediately that the seal in his hand was not normal.

He lifted it, weighed it twice, then turned it over and looked at the characters carved underneath.

Inside, Zheng Fan went, Heh. As expected.

Then he looked at the corner repaired with gold.

Fuck.

Did you people really need this much “craftsman spirit”?

He turned and swept a glance over the Demon Kings standing around him.

Every last one wore a perfectly natural expression, as though none of this had anything to do with them.

There was no helping it.

Since the object had already been placed there, as long as it was not too outrageous, Zheng Fan could hardly remove it now.

He turned and first took Big Girl from Xiong Liqing’s arms.

“The auspicious hour has arrived! Her Highness the Princess begins the Grasping of Fortune!”

Chen Daole stood to one side acting as master of ceremonies.

At once, every civil and military official present dropped to their knees.

“May Her Highness the Princess enjoy health and fortune for a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!”

Zheng Fan took Big Girl’s small hand and gently waved it.

“Rise.”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

Everyone stood.

Everything proceeded with proper formality and perfect order.

Zheng Fan first placed Big Girl at the center of the round table.

In other households, a girl would not be given a Grasping of Fortune ceremony at all.

This era imposed many restrictions upon women.

There were very few paths open for them to choose.

Prince Pingxi could not have cared less about those rules.

His daughter could do whatever she wished when she grew up.

Once Big Girl was placed on the table, her gaze was immediately drawn toward the various objects arranged around her.

Then Zheng Fan took Zheng Lin from Siniang’s arms.

The Prince was a complete slave to his daughter.

A well-behaved little girl who loved smiling naturally won his heart.

But in the eyes of the outside world... this son was the true key.

The Prince held Zheng Lin facing the round table.

On one side, the civil officials collectively straightened their official robes.

Then, with tremendous solemnity, they all knelt in full formal salute.

“May His Highness the Heir Prince enjoy health and fortune for a thousand years!”

On the other side, the military officers dropped to their knees with far greater force.

In an instant, a killing aura like that of an army in formation swept over the courtyard.

They were serious.

Solemn.

And utterly sincere.

“We are willing to die for His Highness the Heir Prince! We are willing to die for His Highness the Heir Prince!”

The cry thundered out, stirring the blood.

Civil officials on one side.

Military officers on the other.

This was not a blessing.

This was recognition of a lord.

Recognition of their... young master.

The Prince was the object of their loyalty.

The Heir Prince was the one they intended to continue following after him.

In Great Yan today, Prince Zhenbei Residence had long since lost its former grandeur.

While Li Liangting was alive, his personal prestige, combined with the support of his adopted sons, had indeed allowed the entire military system to remain united around him.

But after the new Prince Zhenbei inherited the title, the cohesive structure had already begun loosening because of the old Prince’s death.

Beifeng Commandery was now the imperial court’s Beifeng Commandery.

The Zhenbei Army was now the imperial court’s Zhenbei Army.

Yet west and east had truly seen fortune turn in cycles.

The present Prince Pingxi Residence possessed the ability to pass this cohesion down to the next generation.

Unless, of course, Zheng Fan somehow took leave of his senses and copied Li Liangting by throwing his child into some mountain ravine for more than ten years without caring about him.

A military fief was already a separatist power.

Add a feudal Prince to the foundation of such a power, and it often became far more frightening.

Because now it possessed both a center... and a line of succession.

Immediately afterward... another scene appeared that made everyone—more precisely, the civil and military officials already kneeling there—even more excited.

Every gentleman of Prince Pingxi Residence dropped to his knees as well.

“Health and fortune to the Young Master!”

That meant everyone inside and outside Prince Pingxi Residence, from top to bottom, had unified around the same understanding.

So long as this Heir Prince grew up normally, he could be a little absurd, a little spoiled, even something of a wastrel.

None of that would prevent him, once he came of age—or when some future day arrived—from inheriting the foundation his father left behind.

Zheng Fan lowered his head and took his son’s little hand.

Then he noticed the smile at the corner of the boy’s mouth.

The little brat seemed to like this feeling.

He was still too young to possess much conscious thought, so most of his reactions toward the outside world came directly from instinct.

His likes and dislikes were therefore extremely obvious.

What did people mean when they said you could see the adult in a three-year-old?

They meant temperament.

Son... you like this feeling of being answered by a thousand voices?

Zheng Fan was not angry.

He had no reason to be.

As long as Ji Old Sixth did not deliberately disgust him, Zheng Fan himself was too lazy to rebel.

His present life was not particularly different from an Emperor’s anyway.

And beyond that, he still had the grand goal and promise of unifying All Xia—a promise he had made both to Old Tian and to all those soldiers who had died in battle.

But if one day his son wanted something different... why should Zheng Fan interfere?

What?

Do I owe your Ji family something?

“Everyone, rise,” Zheng Fan said on his son’s behalf.

“Thank you, Your Highness the Heir Prince!”

Everyone stood.

Nearly every face was flushed with excitement.

Zheng Fan then placed Zheng Lin at the center of the large round table as well.

The two children... would perform the Grasping of Fortune together.

Zheng Lin sat there.

His eyes were immediately attracted to the cocktail A’Ming had placed on the table.

A’Ming, standing to one side, smiled.

He was already imagining a future scene where a slightly older Zheng Lin sat with him in the wine cellar, tasting drinks together.

The Blind Man remained perfectly calm.

Soon...

Zheng Lin’s gaze shifted toward the “Heirloom Seal” he had already been playing with for many days.

Meanwhile, Big Girl, who had been placed on the table first, began crawling to one side and reached the Baili Sword.

She seemed to have been drawn by the sword itself.

A smile appeared on Xiong Liqing’s face.

She wanted her daughter to live in peace for the rest of her life.

And what guaranteed a lifetime of peace?

Look at her father.

Even with tens of thousands of troops beneath him, who was the one man he could least do without whenever he went outside?

Xiong Liqing could naturally guess who had placed that sword on the table.

If her daughter chose it, that would mean she gained the unconditional protection of that man.

The Princess understood clearly that her daughter was different from the Sword Maid.

If the Sword Saint accepted Big Girl from childhood as a disciple, then in his heart she might truly become even more important than his own biological daughter.

Fan Li raised his brows slightly.

He had promised the Sword Maid he would handle this.

Looks like it was about to succeed.

Everyone’s gaze was now focused upon the round table.

His Highness the Heir Prince was still looking here and there, so naturally everyone paid even more attention to Her Highness the Princess, who had already shown a clear preference.

But when Big Girl reached out and touched the Baili Sword... she quickly pulled her hand back.

On her face... appeared unmistakable disgust.

The sight left many people puzzled.

The Blind Man explained:

“Her Highness the Princess possesses a Fire Phoenix Spirit Body. The Fire Phoenix is a symbol of life, of unending renewal. The master of the Baili Sword has only recently departed, so the blade still carries the intent of death. Her Highness naturally dislikes it.”

Zheng Fan sighed.

What a pity.

The Princess was somewhat helpless too.

But then... a long rainbow, like a streak of rosy cloud across the night, suddenly roared upward from the eastern side of Prince Pingxi Residence.

Immediately afterward... it plunged down again.

And landed perfectly upon the round table.

For a moment, the surrounding civil and military officials panicked.

Their first instinct was that an assassin had struck.

But the members of the household remained calm.

They knew exactly who had acted.

The confusion quickly subsided.

Everyone understood what had happened.

Outsiders only heard rumors that the Sword Saint of Jin served Prince Pingxi.

Many of the people present, however, had personally seen the Sword Saint accompanying the Prince on campaign.

Big Girl had not been frightened.

She stared at Longyuan now resting before her.

Then she voluntarily crawled a little closer.

Excited, she began clapping and laughing.

Big Girl liked swords.

She simply disliked the grief still lingering around the Baili Sword.

Longyuan, by contrast, had been nurtured by the Sword Saint all these years.

As Yu Huaping advanced step by step toward completion, the sword itself might appear simple and ancient on the surface, but the sword intent within had become vast, majestic, and unending.

Then... a tremendous voice came from the east.

It carried the force of a proclamation.

“From this day forth, Longyuan has a new master!”

[End of Chapter 913]