Chapter 256: Chapter 108: The Fairy’s Heart Yields, The Divine Warrior Enters the Capital
Fortunately, Prince Qing’s Mansion had specialized maidservants and wet nurses to watch over him, so when the time came, they would carry him to use the toilet and to eat.
The diplomat lightly sighed at the banquet and thought to himself, "I didn’t expect Prince Qing to be such an extraordinary figure, yet he has raised a foolish son; what a pity, what a lament."
When Tian Yuan returned again, the diplomat asked, "May I ask the princess, when can we meet Prince Qing?"
Tian Yuan sighed and said, "My husband is still in closed-door meditation, and since last winter, he suddenly became somewhat withdrawn."
The diplomat and his entourage fell silent.
Everyone had heard of this matter and understood it.
The diplomat suddenly said, "The Buddha no longer restricts Prince Qing; Prince Qing can leave Cyan Wood Province at any time and go wherever he wishes."
Tian Yuan asked, "Where should Prince Qing go?"
The diplomat replied, "The capital."
Tian Yuan was surprised and asked, "The capital?"
The diplomat reiterated, "The capital."
The air grew slightly silent but was soon broken by Tian Yuan’s bitter smile.
"I don’t know when my husband will emerge from the chamber.
These days, even when he comes out, he only plays with the children."
Luo E suddenly said, "How can a mortal prince compare to the Buddha?
Such high ambitions and pride aren’t a good thing."
Her tone was calm, merely offering a casual comment, for in her eyes, no matter how formidable a mortal is, it amounts to nothing.
Having finished speaking, she then called out, "Zong Zhijian."
Upon hearing her call his name, the diplomat hurriedly stood up and said, "Please instruct me, Immortal."
Luo E said indifferently, "Matters here are done; I will head back first."
"Yes, yes, yes, Immortal, have a safe journey," the diplomat quickly said.
Luo E did not say much else; behind her, the longsword transformed into a silver light, swirling down to her feet.
She stepped on it, her chest proudly forward, sword control rising into the sky, traveling afar.
The white garments floated gracefully, her demeanor uninhibited, untouchable by earthly pleasures, inciting a feeling of self-reproach in anyone who saw her.
Not long after, the silhouette of a speck the size of a bean could be seen beyond the clouds at the edge of the sky.
Upon looking again, it had completely disappeared.
At this moment, Xiongshan County still had quite a few travelers.
But whoever saw the immortal controlling the sword stopped and stared at the sky with mouths agape, as if petrified.
Even Tian Yuan looked at this scene in a daze.
Stories of immortals and gods have always been in tales of the bizarre, yet suddenly they intruded upon reality.
This could not help but shock her.
In the small courtyard next door, Xiaojing looked up at the sky, gazed for a long time, then withdrew her gaze.
In this life, she was determined to cultivate immortality.
Because only humans possess infinite potential.
...
...
As time went by, Prince Qing never showed his face.
The diplomat decided to first direct everyone to the tavern in Xiongshan County to rest; there was no inn here, so only the tavern would do.
However, Tian Yuan had already prepared an annex outside the mansion for everyone to settle.
After expressing their gratitude, everyone left, but the diplomat remained at the mansion, not sitting, just holding the decree and waiting outside the chamber.
It was not until nightfall that he saw Prince Qing.
Prince Qing, disheveled and barefoot, walked out from the chamber.
The bright moon hung in the sky, casting a solitary shadow, imparting a sense of inexpressible desolation.
The diplomat hurriedly stepped forward and shouted, "Prince Qing, receive the decree."
Li Xuan paused slightly, turned his head to look at him.
In that instant, the diplomat felt as if he had fallen into a den of snakes and tigers, his whole body turning cold, like plunging into an ice cave. He wanted to speak but his teeth trembled, his mind abruptly freezing with a multitude of thoughts, leaving his brain utterly blank.
Li Xuan averted his gaze and said, "Read it."
The diplomat felt as if relieved of a burden, then forced himself to suppress his fear and recited the decree.
The contents were essentially: Appoint Li Xuan as the Great Yin Divine Martial Monarch, granting him the power to command any troops in the land, conferring high status, along with nine bestowals, a ten-adorned crown, entering the court with sword and boots, unrestrained entry to the court, salutation without naming.
"Not interested," Li Xuan refused outright.
The diplomat was shocked by his decisiveness.
To the sovereign, this decree was not a decree at all, it was honoring an ancestor, to rule the country together.
But this ancestor also outright rejected it.
Li Xuan simply said, "There’s no such good thing in the world, and I’m not interested in these."
In fact, Zhao She, or the Zhao royal family, encountered some troublesome matter which he also knew.
To eliminate the Wang family, the Zhao family promised those Ministry of War generals quite a few things.
Among them was self-commanding troops, autonomous stationing.
Now things have gone wrong.
The generals who helped the Zhao family eliminate the Wang family no longer obey orders.
If the sovereign issued an order that pleased them, they might listen; if not pleasing, then they would disregard it.
Furthermore, they all seemed to know the sovereign was sending gold to immortals, thus they no longer paid attention to the sovereign, each directly sending gold north.
As a result, for immortals, the gold they received increased further, and naturally, they paid no mind.
But the Zhao royal family was anxious.
Yet what was the use of anxiety?
Once a ruler’s authority is lost, it is hard to regain.
These years, demons, the Buddha, coupled with immortals, thoroughly shattered people’s fear of royal authority.
Two generations of kings, successively abolished and killed; a baby still in swaddling clothes could even become sovereign.
Such casualness, who would take the sovereign seriously?
The Zhao royal family actually wanted to reclaim military authority.
Unfortunately, those generals, after experiencing the Wang family’s air-dropped command, became cagey, unwilling to give the royal family a chance.
This February, the royal family felt it couldn’t delay, needed to cut through the mess swiftly, thus directly dispatched their flying forest army commander to take over a military unit, but... ended up directly being driven back.
That flying forest army commander returned in defeat.
And it was only then the royal family discovered something even more terrifying.
As the secret martial arts commanders continued to change hands, many secret martial artists had already joined various generals, leaving those remaining in the capital as masters, needing to be pampered generously.
