Translator: Henyee Translations
Editor: Henyee Translations
Qin Yi was still pondering the explanation of the divination on their way to the palace.
With Li Qingjun next to him, he couldn’t ask Liusu to explain it to him in detail. Once he started thinking about it, he couldn’t get his mind off the mention of “losing friends” no matter how auspicious the rest of the divination was.
He didn’t have any friends in this world!
What about Li Qinglin, who had just called him a “friend”? But it was anyone’s guess whether he actually meant it. Qin Yi also thought of him more as a partner, so the divination couldn’t have been talking about Li Qinglin.
As for Liusu, the two of them might seem to be sharing all their secrets, but they both knew that there was still a barrier in their relationship, and it was hard to say whether they were friends or not. Of course, that barrier was getting weaker, so if Qin Yi had to name one friend, it could only be Liusu, but he wasn’t sure if Liusu felt the same way.
He didn’t know Night Wing well enough yet.
What about Li Qingjun? Qin Yi was aware of his little crush on her, but he didn’t know if that counted as friendship. Maybe they were friends now.
“Lose a friend”… Qin Yi shuddered at the thought of losing Li Qingjun or Li Qingjun. He couldn’t accept either option.
“Hey, what’s with the long face?” Next to him, Li Qingjun couldn’t help but ask.
“Right. It’s nothing.” Qin Yi forced a smile. “This is a state banquet. Is it inappropriate for me to show up there?”
“Why? You’re a friend of me and my brother. Why shouldn’t you be there? Mang Zhan is the one who doesn’t deserve the honor.”
There went the “friend” again… Qin Yi pursed his lips, not really wanting to hear that word now.
On second thought, he still found Li Qinglin’s invitation rather odd, so he asked the servant from the palace, “Do you know why His Royal Highness wanted me there?”
The servant hesitated.
Li Qingjun finally realized that something was off, so she grabbed his arm and asked, “Quit stalling! Speak!”
After much hesitation, the servant whispered, “The crown prince of Xihuang suggested a marriage proposal, saying that it would make our kingdoms allies…”
Li Qingjun paled.
Qin Yi narrowed his eyes as well, and there was something cold about the expression on his face.
“Halt.” Two palace guards stopped them at the gate and pointed at Qin Yi’s spiked club. “Hand over your weapon.”
“Out of my way!” Li Qingjun still had her spear with her. She smacked the two men away with a swipe of her spear, and Qin Yi took the chance and followed her in.
This spiked club is my mojo! Leaving it here would deplete me of all my magic…Qin Yi thought.
They heard Li Qinglin’s angry voice as they approached the banquet hall. “Nanli is a kingdom thousands of years old. All the royal princes have been great men who practiced martial arts, and all princesses have had the freedom to choose their own husbands. That’s the spirit of the royal family. Even when they were married to foreigners, the husbands were always from major kingdoms in the main part of the continent, and they were respected by the people there. No princess of this kingdom has ever been married off to our enemies so that we could make peace! This is an utter humiliation! You’re the master teacher of this kingdom, but you’re deliberately obscuring facts and colluding with an enemy state! This is unacceptable!”
“Your Royal Highness, you’re mistaken,” an old voice said. “Nanli and Xihuang have been at war for hundreds of years, and countless lives have been lost in the process. You should think beyond the dignity of the royal family. Moreover, I’ve performed a divination which says our kingdom is of the Li trigram and Xihuang the Dui. Li and Dui together make a minor auspicious sign, which indicates a happy marriage. There’s no humiliation to worry about.”
The king nodded repeatedly, apparently very convinced by the explanation.
Despite the unperturbed look on his face, Li Qinglin was infuriated. It had always been like this. No matter how unreasonable the old man sounded, the king would believe any bullsh*t fed to him. However, there wasn’t any point in finding someone who knew bagua to argue with Donghuazi because they probably wouldn’t know any “immortal skills”, and the king would never believe them.
A voice came from outside, interrupting this altercation. “Your Royal Highness, which man gave that explanation of the divination? He didn’t make any sense at all! With Dui on top and Li on the bottom, you have a conflicted water-fire situation. The water will keep pouring on the burning fire, and the couple will never stop fighting. A conflict will lead to changes. An unhappy marriage will damage a family, and an unfriendly relationship between the king and his subjects will ruin a kingdom. That’s an ominous sign through and through. How could he call that auspicious? Has he taken a bribe or something?”
The people in the hall were astonished, and they all turned in the direction of the entrance.
Li Qinglin smiled. He had been pointing angrily at Donghuazi, but now, he slowly sat back down.
A man and a woman stood in the doorway. Everyone in the hall immediately recognized Li Qingjun, but they wondered who the teenager was. He was quite fair and had delicate features. His plain, linen clothes were neat and tidy. He was tall but on the thin side. His eyes were clear and bright but there was a smirk on his face, which only accentuated his good looks.
What seemed odd was the spiked club in his hand, which didn’t really suit his delicate look. Luckily, Li Qingjun had a spear in her hand as well, which didn’t make him stand out so much.
He was about 15cm taller than Li Qingjun, and standing there shoulder by shoulder, they made quite a cute couple.
Of course they did—Li Qingjun was a slender, fair-skinned girl. Compared to the barbarian-looking Mang Zhan, Qin Yi, the handsome, breezy teenager obviously suited Li Qingjun better…
Several people in the hall couldn’t help but exclaim inwardly, “What a perfect match.” When they saw the way Mang Zhan stared at Li Qingjun with shining eyes, they shook their heads and muttered, “Barbarian.”
Li Qingjun blurted out, “Father! I’m not going to marry him!”
“Zhaoyang.” Sitting on his throne, the king evaded his daughter’s protest. Instead, he asked in a surprised tone, “Who is this young man?”
Li Qingjun said, “This is Qin Yi, my friend.”
The officials whispered among themselves.
The kingdom’s so-called “thousands of years of history” was nothing but a bluff; the kingdom had been established for a few hundred years but the royal family hadn’t changed its tradition. All princesses had travelled the continent anonymously, and they had lost count of how many princesses had run off with random travellers. Some even ended up running back home in tears. Li Qinglin was exaggerating when he bragged about “the spirit of the royal family”, but it was true—princes and princesses were used to choosing their own partners. With that understanding, when this princess brought a teenager back home and called him “a friend” in front of the king and all the officials, she was practically announcing that they were getting married.
Since the royal family could tolerate runaway princesses, marrying a commoner usually wasn’t a big deal either. However, the timing was wrong… When the others stole glances at Mang Zhan, they saw that his face had turned purple, and he was holding his wine cup so tightly that blue veins bulged on the back on his hand.
Qin Yi sighed, as he knew why Li Qinglin had invited him—to sabotage Mang Zhan’s plan. He was the only one Li Qingjun would call a friend and who was confident enough to call Donghuazi a liar. Moreover, he would be easier to handle if they didn’t want him to marry the princess later, which wouldn’t be the case if he were the son of some high-ranking official.
Li Qingjun was probably the only person in this hall who had no idea what everyone else was thinking about. She thought she had only introduced a friend.
Qin Yi had no problem with Li Qinglin’s plan because he was glad to be used as a weapon here.
The only problem was… Qin Yi turned his head slightly and glanced at the person sitting right next to the king.
It was an old man in Taoist robes. He had white hair, a ruddy complexion, and looked very otherworldly. Right now, he was staring at Qin Yi as well. Despite the smile on his face, his eyes looked grim.
He was Donghuazi himself.
Qin Yi took a deep breath because he could sense his own restlessness.
It wasn’t caused by his obsession nor his agitation. He had just met the first target he had set as the boss of the “dungeon” since he transmigrated to this world. To be frank, this wasn’t how Qin Yi imagined he would be meeting Donghuazi for the first time, and he didn’t think he was fully prepared.
He knew this wasn’t Li Qinglin’s plan either. The crown prince had only improvised.
It might’ve seemed like a long time, but all that happened in only a split second. The king was still talking. “Well, if he’s Zhaoyang’s friend… Please, take a seat.”
Li Qingjun then led Qin Yi towards Li Qinglin, and the servants were already bringing over a new chair. They were still in the middle of the hall when Donghuazi said unhurriedly, “I see that our young friend here is also a fellow Taoist practitioner.”
Only then did the others realize what had happened. They had been so intrigued by the relationship between the two young people that they had forgotten about the more pressing matter here—the teenager had refuted the master teacher’s divination!
That was a terrible offence!
Qin Yi’s stomach lurched, but he stood his ground. Standing still, he said loudly, “That’s right. I have no idea who gave that explanation earlier, but it was preposterous. I’ve been told that the master teacher was a great Taoist practitioner, so he should’ve been the one carrying out the divination, not some ignorant beginner.”
The looks on the officials’ faces were indescribable. This teenager had just called the master teacher a beginner and a liar to his face!