Chapter 992: Overbearing

In Zheng Fan’s view, Qian culture was somewhat like a new literary and artistic style that had grown out of inherited Great Xia traditions.

That “literary” layer did not merely include aesthetics.

It also encompassed concrete expressions in institutions and many other areas.

Chu, by contrast, had genuinely inherited Great Xia’s “orthodoxy.”

Whether in political institutions or social structure, it had preserved a great deal of the old Great Xia flavor.

More than eight hundred years ago, when the Three Marquises opened the frontiers—the Marquis of Yan, Marquis of Chu, and Marquis of Jin—it had been almost equivalent to the Emperor of Chu today ordering the Qu, Dugu, and Xie Clans to move their entire households elsewhere, bringing their clan retainers and private armies with them to open new territory.

So in a certain sense, Chu people, just like Qian people, truly looked down on Yan people.

They always felt that the Yan, who had stripped away so much complexity and reduced everything to what was practical, stood at the very bottom among the states of All Xia.

Some even thought the Yan had willingly degraded themselves.

Unfortunately... they could not beat them.

Not once.

Every time.

In the end, the Chu were like a child who had been bullied too many times.

A domineering older boy snatched the candied fruit from his hand.

Then licked it while staring at him.

*You submit or not?*

The child sniffled, shoulders trembling slightly from sobbing.

And answered:

*I submit...*

Then followed it in his heart with a long string of curses.

Exactly like now.

When Great Yan’s Regent Prince walked onto the sacrificial platform carrying the little Princess of his household, the Chu ministers, nobles, and common people below were probably cursing him in every possible way inside their hearts.

What most of them did not understand was that from the conqueror’s perspective, he would indeed dislike those who actually stepped out to assassinate him or launched some so-called uprising.

But he did not dislike those who only dared rage silently.

The latter were more like rewards for the conqueror.

A form of praise from the weak after force had already established who was strong.

Big Girl kept looking around from time to time.

Truthfully, she was a little afraid.

There were too many people.

And her natural spiritual perception was unusually sharp, so she could feel the “malice” coming from many of them.

Fortunately... her father gave her an enormous sense of safety.

Jing Renli walked to Zheng Fan.

He bowed first.

Then said quietly:

“Your Highness, there are several ceremonial steps that require your cooperation.”

“Skip them.”

“Ah?”

“This Prince said skip them.”

“But Your Highness, that would not conform to ritual...”

The Prince smiled.

“Say that again.”

Jing Renli silently backed away.

He did not dare say it again.

Behind them, Zheng Lin watched everything in silence.

The red mark on his forehead had been reinforced after A’Ming and the Blind Man worked together on it.

As for why he was obediently standing here now... that was because his biological mother, Siniang, had completed the first round of restoring production in Sansuo Commandery and returned to the command tent.

Zheng Lin feared neither Heaven nor Earth.

But he feared his own mother.

His mother had already declared that if he behaved badly today... she would saw off one of his legs.

So you’re tough and hard to beat?

Fine.

Then I’ll do something truly serious.

In an ordinary household, a mother threatening her child with *Watch me break your legs* was usually nothing more than angry talk.

Almost no one actually carried it out.

Here...

Zheng Lin believed without question that his mother could.

At this moment, Zheng Lin looked at his father holding his elder sister.

He did not feel much pride from sharing in the glory.

He only found the whole thing boring.

If his father was deliberately trampling parts of the ceremony to proclaim a status above Chu’s orthodoxy... then in Zheng Lin’s own aesthetic... he preferred something else entirely.

Let every difference be made real beneath iron hooves and nightmares.

That suited his taste much better.

He did not hate Fengxin City.

He had been born and raised there.

In fact, after leaving Fengxin City, he increasingly felt that the orderliness of that place was how the entire world ought to be.

Every place that differed from it... should be destroyed.

Pull down their fortresses.

Destroy their ancestral halls.

Burn their palaces.

Plow the whole of Chu over from one end to the other.

Then, using Fengxin City as the model... grow a completely new crop.

That was the young boy’s understanding of the world.

His view of how things ought to be.

Last night, he had said exactly that in front of his biological father and his many Demon King godfathers.

The Demon King godfathers had not objected at all.

Some even thought this was finally interesting.

Finally one of their own.

What surprised Zheng Lin was his father.

The man who had always suppressed and criticized him on exactly these matters... had actually smiled for once.

And approved.

For a moment, Zheng Lin almost wanted to grab his father by the collar of his python robe and demand:

*Aren’t you supposed to say I’m extreme?*

*Aren’t you supposed to say I’m arbitrary?*

*Aren’t you supposed to say my killing nature is too heavy?*

In the past, these had practically been his father’s favorite scriptures to chant at him.

Zheng Lin knew exactly what kind of children his father liked.

A daughter should be like Elder Sister.

A warm little padded jacket who knew how to care for her father.

As for sons... they should be like Brother Tian Tian.

The reason Zheng Lin had felt so angry last night was precisely because he had somehow spoken words that matched his father’s wishes.

How could that be tolerated?

After the evening gathering ended... the Blind Man summoned Zheng Lin.

At the same time, he called over a Savage serving at the front.

The man had already risen from auxiliary soldier to full soldier and had even earned qualification as a Standard Household.

His name was Mandun.

To be summoned by the Heir Prince...

Mandun was so excited he practically worshiped the boy.

The Blind Man told him to recount the story of his own rise.

Mandun described how, several years earlier, he had struggled across the snowfields, gathered a band of his own, then crossed the pass and joined as an auxiliary soldier.

Throughout the story, the Blind Man occasionally interrupted with questions.

He deliberately drew out more details about local customs and life on the snowfields.

Once Mandun finished... the Blind Man dismissed him.

Then he looked at Zheng Lin.

“What do you think?”

Zheng Lin said nothing.

The Blind Man smiled.

“You thought what you said was only youthful impulse. Irresponsible. Spoken purely because destroying everything would feel satisfying. So you expected your father to blame you. But now... do you see? On the snowfields, your father has done something even more thorough than what you described. You’re intelligent. You should have heard the other meaning inside Mandun’s story. Across the entire snowfield, there are tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of Savages desperate to become another Mandun. Most of them are even the elite among the Savages. At the very least, they are warriors. To mold them into the shape you like... the same cities, the same streets, the same rituals, the same customs and food... all of that is secondary. The truly interesting part is that even their souls... can be kneaded according to your will.”

As he said the word *kneaded*...

Zheng Lin saw his Blind Godfather extend his fingers and make a kneading motion.

Usually, a gesture like that would look somewhat obscene no matter how one made it.

But last night, combined with the Blind Man’s tone and expression... it had carried an almost irresistible magic.

It made one want to reach out and seize that power personally.

“You are the Heir Prince. Put differently, if we founded a state, you would be the Crown Prince. Your mother already warned you, so I won’t waste time warning you again. Tomorrow will be exhausting, but you will endure it. Do not think the ceremony troublesome. Do not think it unnecessary. Why do we treat Chu people differently from the Savages? Not because your father is deliberately going easy on them for your Second Mother’s sake. As conquerors, as plunderers, when we reveal a tender, affectionate face before our prey, it is not because our conscience suddenly awakened. It is not because truth, goodness, and beauty suddenly erupted from our hearts. It is purely because the thorns on the prey... have not all been pulled out yet.”

The thorns... had not all been pulled out?

Zheng Lin replayed the Blind Man’s words from last night inside his head.

At that moment, the Chu Emperor also received word of Zheng Fan’s attitude.

He did not mind Zheng Fan displaying some willfulness now.

But correspondingly... the ceremony that Zheng Fan and the Chu Emperor had originally been expected to perform together could only be suspended.

Or rather... skipped.

The elders could cut corners.

The younger generation had to make up for it.

Otherwise, with so many eyes watching, if the ceremony became too perfunctory, it would not be a slap to Yan’s face.

It would be a slap to Chu’s.

The Crown Prince of Chu stepped forward.

He resembled the Chu Emperor by about seventy percent.

But his temperament was much gentler.

Every movement carried the polished etiquette of Great Chu’s ancient aristocracy.

The Crown Prince held a tortoise shell and walked forward.

According to ritual, Zheng Lin, as the Heir Prince of the Residence, should now step forward as well.

The two of them would hold the tortoise shell together and roast it over charcoal.

Once the shell cracked... the Chief Shaman would interpret the cracks and pronounce fortune or disaster.

Naturally... there was no possibility of an inauspicious result.

The divination would only proclaim one thing: that the union between Chu and eastern Jin conformed to Heaven’s will and would surely bring great fortune to both sides.

Zheng Fan was still holding Big Girl.

Big Girl rubbed her eyes and looked toward her little brother.

She knew exactly how much he hated things like this.

Several years earlier, Little Brother’s dream had apparently been to escape Prince Pingxi Residence, run into the Tianduan Mountains, and become a wild man.

Then, after being beaten one after another by all the uncles—especially after receiving special “education” from Mr. Bei... the little boy had reluctantly abandoned that dream.

But when Big Girl looked farther away and saw First Mother standing below... she immediately relaxed.

Her own mother had originally wanted to drag First Mother up here too.

First Mother had refused.

Then Big Girl looked at her biological mother.

This was probably the happiest day she had ever seen her mother experience.

Xiong Liqing wore magnificent formal dress.

She looked like a proud little deer.

Big Girl could not help leaning close to her father’s ear.

She whispered:

“Dad, Mother’s mouth is almost smiling open.”

Zheng Fan smiled and stroked his daughter’s head.

“Let your mother be happy.”

Years ago, Xiong Liqing had personally chosen to kick Qu Peiluo aside and leave with Zheng Fan.

Only now... today... did that decision truly receive its final judgment.

The man she chose... had defeated her motherland.

Personal honor and national feeling could often conflict.

But Xiong Liqing had long since thrown away those knots in her heart.

She lived for herself.

So when Zheng Fan won at the front... she had been happy.

Genuinely happy.

The Crown Prince of Chu had already reached Zheng Lin.

Gentle.

Refined.

By contrast... the Heir Prince of Great Yan’s Regent Prince Residence standing before him created an extraordinarily obvious difference.

“Little Brother. Come. Let us do this together.”

The Crown Prince spoke first.

Xiong Liqing was one of the Regent Prince’s principal wives.

Under ritual law, the Crown Prince and the Heir Prince could indeed be considered maternal cousins.

Even though... they shared no actual blood.

But the instant that “Little Brother” came out... the corner of Zheng Lin’s mouth twitched.

He had been born Ninth Grade.

His pride was real.

More than half of that pride came from the strength he had possessed since birth.

Of course... thanks to his father’s tireless struggle, even setting aside his own personal achievements, he was still one of the most noble second-generation figures in all Xia.

Elder Sister could call him Little Brother.

He accepted that.

Brother Tian Tian could call him Little Brother.

He accepted that too.

Family relationship was one part of it.

More importantly, among the spirit children themselves, seniority had already been established.

Those titles made sense.

But this Crown Prince of Chu in front of him... what the hell are you?

And you dare call me *Little Brother*?

Zheng Lin walked forward.

Zheng Fan watched his son’s movement.

Fortunately... the boy did not throw a punch.

The Crown Prince of Chu was left standing there.

Awkward.

Zheng Lin did not allow the entire ceremony to freeze, though.

Instead, he walked toward the other Chu imperial princes.

Among them stood one prince roughly his own age.

The third son.

His face was cold.

Yet hatred remained clearly visible deep inside his eyes.

Obviously... everything happening today was an unbearable humiliation for him.

“You’re the Xiong family’s Third?”

Zheng Lin asked.

The Third Prince looked at him.

“Yes.”

“After this ceremony, you’ll be sent to my house as a hostage?”

The word *hostage* was brutally direct.

The Third Prince drew a deep breath.

Then answered:

“I am going to visit relatives.”

“Heh.”

Zheng Lin laughed.

He reached out and seized the Third Prince.

The Third Prince tried to resist with his shoulder.

Useless.

Even after being sealed again, Zheng Lin’s strength among children of the same age remained absolute suppression.

Just like that... he dragged the Third Prince over.

Then he looked at the Crown Prince.

“I’ll divine with him.”

“That does not conform to ritual,” the Crown Prince replied.

Zheng Lin glanced at him.

First, he released the Third Prince’s shoulder.

Then, almost perfunctorily, straightened the boy’s clothes a few times.

“Once he comes back from my house, he’ll be Crown Prince. You standing here is what doesn’t conform to the rules.”

The Crown Prince’s eyes turned red.

Hearing those words... the Third Prince’s emotions suddenly became complicated.

Zheng Lin reached out.

And snatched the tortoise shell directly from the Crown Prince’s hands.

The Crown Prince instinctively wanted to resist.

Zheng Lin took one sharp step forward.

The vicious aura of a little Demon King erupted completely from his eyes.

The Crown Prince immediately wilted.

At the end of the day, he had been chosen as Crown Prince for two reasons.

First, he was the legitimate eldest son.

His claim was orthodox.

Second, the Chu Emperor believed he himself would live for a very long time, so he had no need for a powerful Crown Prince constantly interfering with his authority.

Among the Chu Emperor’s many sons... this Crown Prince had always been one of the softer ones.

Before Zheng Lin... of course he was not enough.

Zheng Lin tossed the tortoise shell into the Third Prince’s hands.

Then pointed toward the brazier.

“Go. Throw it in.”

The Third Prince froze.

“Throw it in!”

His body trembled.

In the end... he still carried the tortoise shell to the charcoal brazier.

He did not dare look at his Crown Prince brother.

He did not dare look at his imperial father.

He closed his eyes.

And threw the shell into the coals.

A group of shamans knelt nearby.

They watched the tortoise shell carefully.

At last... the shell cracked.

The shamans shouted together:

“Heaven’s will is greatly auspicious! Heaven’s will is greatly auspicious!”

Below the sacrificial platform, Yan officers and soldiers erupted into cheers.

The Chu formation... remained much quieter.

The Blind Man was delighted.

He silently took out an orange and began peeling it.

Xie Yu’an wanted to leave.

But the Blind Man peeled too quickly.

The moment Xie Yu’an turned... an orange segment was already in front of him.

“Where are you going? Stay and be happy with me. Eat one.”

Zheng Lin turned around.

He did not look at his father.

Instead, he looked directly toward the Chu Emperor standing opposite Zheng Fan.

Provocation filled his eyes.

Deep within the Chu Emperor’s gaze... an invisible Fire Phoenix cry rang out.

Zheng Lin stood there without moving an inch.

The Chu Emperor smiled faintly.

Then said to Zheng Fan:

“Extraordinary. Truly extraordinary.”

Before Zheng Fan could answer...

Big Girl, still held in her father’s arms, spoke first.

“Eldest Uncle, Little Brother is terribly naughty. He’s hopeless. Hopeless.”

She said *hopeless*... but her whole face was already blooming with delight.

“Heh.”

The Chu Emperor laughed too.

At that moment, Jing Renli stepped forward and announced that His Majesty and the Prince could take their seats.

At the highest point of the sacrificial platform... stood two chairs.

Both were Dragon Thrones.

“Dad, put me down first,” Big Girl said.

Zheng Fan set her down.

The Chu Emperor spoke.

“Brother Zheng. Sit with Us.”

Zheng Fan truly had no taboo about such things.

He answered directly:

“I’ve sat on Great Yan’s Dragon Throne before. Hard as hell. Uncomfortable. I wonder what Chu’s Dragon Throne feels like.”

“How could this chair ever be comfortable?” the Chu Emperor asked.

“A chair is only a chair. Whether it’s comfortable is what matters most.”

Before sitting... the two true rulers continued crossing words over the same piece of furniture.

It was only a chair.

Zheng Fan did not believe that because he sat on it here, Ji Old Sixth all the way in Yanjing would somehow become jealous.

The most important thing now was to stabilize Chu first.

Then join forces to break Qian.

Only after the overall pattern of unification had been established would anything else matter.

In this respect...

Ji Old Sixth no.

Several generations of the Ji imperial clan... had always been more broad-minded than almost anyone else.

His elder brother-in-law wanted to use this method to force Zheng Fan into de facto independence.

Truthfully... he had chosen the wrong calculation.

Over the years, the Blind Man had tried similar moves no one knew how many times.

Every time...

Ji Old Sixth had simply “tolerated” them.

Not far away, Xie Yu’an, still eating his orange, murmured:

“Sitting on a Dragon Throne now.”

The Blind Man chuckled.

This?

This was nothing.

“Are you happy?” Xie Yu’an asked.

After all... if the Regent Prince of Great Yan truly founded his own state, this blind gentleman would unquestionably be the first choice for founding Chancellor.

“Happy,” the Blind Man answered. “Fine. Now there’s one more person who can help me keep applying the eye drops. Worth eating another orange.”

“...” Xie Yu’an.

But at that moment...

Zheng Lin walked over again.

He took his elder sister’s hand.

And began leading her upward.

“Little Brother, what are you doing?” Big Girl asked in confusion.

Under the gaze of everyone present... the Heir Prince of Great Yan’s Regent Prince Residence led the Princess of the Residence up the highest steps.

“Little Brother, isn’t this bad?”

“Elder Sister. Sit.”

Zheng Lin pushed Big Girl toward the Dragon Throne.

Big Girl sat down.

Immediately... she looked nervous and tried to stand.

Zheng Lin reached out and pressed her back down.

“Dad likes seeing you sit there. Don’t let that bird-brained uncle scheme against him.”

To outsiders... this might have looked like yet another display of the Heir Prince’s arrogant willfulness.

But the Blind Man, who was currently feeding orange slices to Xie Yu’an... had not eaten any orange himself.

Yet his mouth suddenly tasted sour.

He sighed.

“What a contrary little brat.”

The children had already gone up.

Naturally... the adults could not follow them.

At the same time, whether above or below the sacrificial platform... everything suddenly fell silent.

The next instant...

Great Yan’s Regent Prince placed both hands at his waist.

Looked upward.

And burst into laughter.

He laughed.

The Yan generals and civil officials standing on the platform laughed with him.

Then gradually... the laughter spread into the army formations below.

The Prince turned around.

Raised one hand.

And cursed:

“What are you standing there for? Pay your respects!”

Above and below the platform... the Yan people dropped to their knees.

That sight caused quite a few Chu people to kneel as well.

After all... the girl seated above also carried Xiong imperial blood.

Slowly... more and more Chu people knelt.

Even among the nobles... more than half lowered themselves.

For them... kneeling to Big Girl was psychologically far easier to accept than kneeling to Zheng Fan.

Soon... the sound of salutation thundered through the surrounding grounds:

“We pay our respects to Her Highness the Princess! May Her Highness live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!”

[End of Chapter 992]