Great Jin, Bingzhou.
Before the crack of dawn, several opulent carriages had already stopped beside the Lin'an Governor's Mansion. Their frames were bright and lavish. Further away, a group of unaffiliated cultivators and common folk, seeing such a display, stood frozen in their tracks.
"Good heavens! The Qinghe Zhao Clan, the Qiushan Wang Clan... these are all first-rate magnates of Bingzhou!"
"Why have they all gathered here? Could they be seeking an audience with Lord Liu?"
"Absolutely not! Though Lord Liu's fame resounds through the states of Lingbei, he doesn't command enough prestige for the heads of so many great clans to wait for him like this!"
"Hmph! It seems that rumor is true, then..."
"Come on, brother, tell us! What rumor?"
"I hear that the Heir of the Northern Marquis from the Imperial Capital has already entered Bingzhou and will be visiting Lin'an County!"
As he finished, the whispering crowd fell silent, their hearts pounded by shocking waves, their souls nearly leaving their bodies.
The Northern Marquis... Heir?
That Heir from the Central State's Imperial Capital?!
That was a person of supreme nobility, even when looking across the entire world—a great figure who could chat freely with the Empress and kick the heads of provincial governors around like balls.
Although not of royal blood, in the eyes of many, his prestige was no different from that of the true imperial scions in the Forbidden Palace.
The young man in the sable fur coat, seeing the dead silence, couldn't help but look three parts more smug.
"Our Bingzhou Governor, Liu Daren, was once one of the great generals under the North Guard Marquis. The Heir's visit is most likely to pay respects on his father's behalf."
So that was it!
The crowd understood, but their hearts still wouldn't stop racing.
Legends of the Heir constantly surfaced in their minds.
The Heir of the Northern Marquis, Pei Su, courtesy name Jiumu. Rumor had it he was born with an Immortal Mark, a reincarnation of a true monarch, possessing the bearing of an immortal.
His talent was also unparalleled in all of Jiuzhou. At only nineteen, he had already reached the Xuanyuan realm. The Great Jin's National Preceptor, Qingai Tongxuan Jun, once said that with Jiumu's aptitude, he was poised to break his father's record for becoming the youngest to reach the Dharma Form realm!
******
Lin'an Avenue.
Thundering hooves startled the air as seven grim, black-armored knights on crimson-blooded horses pulled a vermilion carriage behind them.
The carriage's frame was made of red sandalwood from Liangzhou, carved with cloud-and-dragon patterns. The white silk harnesses at the front were inlaid with exotic jade from the Western Desert.
Inside the carriage, a young man rested with his eyes closed.
His features were as if exquisitely carved by the heavens, flawless and perfect. His face was handsome to the extreme, and his bearing was one of extraordinary nobility. Anyone who laid eyes on him for the first time would be momentarily stunned, sighing that this was the pinnacle of male beauty in the world.
Standing beside him was a stunningly beautiful young maiden in a delicate blue and white dress.
Her skin was as white as fine porcelain, her eyes like morning stars. Her features were small and exquisite, her beauty a rarity in the world. Her hair was styled in a high bun, held by a single jade hairpin.
She gazed at the resting young man, hiding her adoration as she spoke softly—
"Your Highness, we are about to arrive at Lin'an State Prefecture."
Her posture, her tone, her expression—they were all clearly those of a handmaiden. Yet her bearing and appearance surpassed even the noble ladies of dukes and kings.
Pei Su slowly opened his eyes. He lifted the vermilion curtain and looked outside, his gaze inexplicably deep and distant.
He had... dreamed of his past life again. By his count, it had been nineteen years since he had transmigrated...
In his past life, he was just an ordinary university student from the nation of Huaguo on Earth. An accident had caused him to be reborn into the world of a Xuanhuan dynasty.
The Great Jin Dynasty he was in was a confluence of the nine dragon qi, its fortune prosperous and its reign long. A myriad of nations paid tribute to it, and its strength was terrifying.
However, behind this prosperous nation was a tangled web of powerful clans, where military and political power were passed down through generations. The foundations of these clans were so deep they threatened to shake the very roots of the dynasty.
Coupled with the existence of cultivators, it was even harder for those from humble backgrounds to climb the social ladder, while the scions of clans could inherit high positions. It seemed even a Xuanhuan dynasty in another world couldn't escape this reality.
But Pei Su didn't care, because in this life, his birthright was that of the most powerful and noble clan in the entire world—
The Ancient Pei Clan!
Ranked first among the Seven Clans of the Imperial Capital, they stood high above, looking down upon the changing tides of the mortal world and the rise and fall of dynasties.
Their roots ran deep, their partisans numerous. In recent years, they had even been given the sarcastic moniker "Half-Court Pei" by certain people in the Martial World, mocking how their disciples and former officials filled the imperial court.
Not only that, his father was the most renowned National Guard General of the current dynasty. Twenty years ago, he was ennobled as the North Guard King Marquis, tasked with guarding Tianque Pass in Shuozhou.
His grandfather was the current Chancellor and State Pillar Duke, a first-rank official. Adorned with the golden seal and purple ribbon of the highest office, he was appointed as the Left Vice Minister of the Shangshu Department, at the zenith of his career, his power overshadowing the entire court.
As the eldest son of the direct line of the top aristocratic family in the Great Jin Dynasty, the Pei Clan, few in the mortal world could match his noble status.
Not to mention his own cultivation talent and comprehension, which had been praised by countless people as the greatest prodigy in the world...
"Your Highness, we will arrive at the Lin'an Governor's Mansion in about six hours."
Pei Su withdrew his gaze and nodded.
Three days ago, the carriage had entered Bingzhou through Tou Mountain. A carrier pigeon had been sent to the Bingzhou Governor, Liu Gongyun. He imagined that by now, Liu Gongyun should have everything prepared.
The maiden's expression suddenly turned serious, and she said softly:
"Liu Gongyun was one of Your Highness's father's generals. With the Liu Clan's assistance this time, we will surely be able to drag that deputy commander out..."
Hearing this, Pei Su glanced into the distance and murmured.
"The thief who stole the blade, Xiao Zhongyong..."
The Heir of the Northern Marquis's sudden visit to Bingzhou was seen by the world as a gesture to visit his father's old subordinates. But only he knew that he had diverted his course from Qingzhou to Bingzhou at his grandfather's behest.
His true purpose was to hunt a fugitive who had been on the run for twenty years, a man named Xiao Lin.
Xiao Lin, courtesy name Zhong Yong, hailed from the Xiao Clan of Ganzhou and was a former member of the Imperial Guard in the Imperial Palace.
Twenty years ago, King Chen of the Northland plotted a southern invasion and rebellion, shocking the court. Pei Jun was ennobled as the North Guard Marquis and engaged King Chen's army at Tianque Pass. That battle was a river of blood, with corpses strewn for a thousand li, and the mountain spirits wailed.
The court ordered the Left Squadron of the Imperial Guard to escort the divine blade, Dragon Sparrow, to Tianque Pass and deliver it into the hands of the North Guard Marquis to aid in beheading the rebel Chen Mang.
But no one could have predicted that the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard, Xiao Lin, would collude with evil spirits before Tianque Pass, slaughter his comrades, and flee with the blade, remaining at large for over twenty years.
The theft of the Dragon Sparrow enraged the court. At the time, it was Chancellor Pei Zhao who thoroughly investigated the matter, executing the nine relations of the Xiao Clan in Ganzhou and putting a bounty on Xiao Lin's head for the entire world to see.
Many in the Martial World coveted the divine blade and searched for it in secret, but for twenty years, there was still no news.
"The Pei Mansion's astrologer divined his location from the celestial phenomena of the night. The Deputy Commander Xiao that the court couldn't find for twenty years..."
Pei Su sneered.
"Was hiding in the unremarkable province of Bingzhou all along."
A cold wind suddenly rose. The carriage sped onward, dragging a trail of deepening autumn chill along the avenues of Bingzhou...
******
The world was divided into seventy-two states.
Bingzhou was located in the north of Great Jin. It bordered Tianque Pass to the north, the Taihang Mountains to the west, the He-Luo region to the south, and the Fen River basin to the east.
Ever since Liu Gongyun of the Liu Clan was appointed as the Governor of Bingzhou eighteen years ago, the province had flourished. He opened up the north-south trade routes, leading to commercial prosperity, and gradually turned the province into a vital fortress for the court to reinforce the northern frontier.
It was said that three years ago at a court assembly in the Imperial Capital, the Empress herself offered a few words of praise, which made the people of Bingzhou as jubilant as if it were a festival for several days.
When the lives of the common people improved, the first one they thanked was naturally Lord Liu.
In recent years, the incense in the bronze censer beside the Governor's Mansion in Lin'an County, the capital of Bingzhou, had never once gone out. Every day, people gathered to place offerings under the hundred-year-old camphor tree in front of the mansion.
Most of the time, however, the gray-blue mansion gates remained tightly shut, with only two bronze lions standing guard on either side.
Their luster was a dark, ancient green, and they were exceptionally fierce, symbolizing the boundless authority of the governor of a state.
******
As the pass to Lin'an County drew nearer, a corner of it becoming visible in the far distance.
Pei Su smiled faintly.
"Liu Gongyun was a battlefield general back in the day. I didn't expect him to govern so well after entering officialdom as a governor."
The maiden also nodded in praise.
"A hundred-li surprise, a thousand-li cloud-piercer. Back then, there wasn't a soul in King Chen's army who didn't fear the archery captain of the North Guard Marquis Mansion. It's a pity that after losing his arm, his spirit waned. He later retired from the battlefield. Becoming the head of a territory is a good end for him."
Pei Su didn't respond. He quietly observed the distant scenery, contemplating the purpose of his trip.
Twenty years ago, Xiao Lin's rebellion and theft of the blade shocked the world, but Pei Su had a faint inkling that the theft was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.
It seemed that Xiao Lin, in the process of escorting the Dragon Sparrow to the north, had discovered a monumental secret that their Pei family had been desperately trying to hide...
He had come to Bingzhou not to apprehend a fugitive for the court, but to silence a man for his family.
PS:
① [Realms]: Pulse Opening - Spirit Platform - Dao Entry - Xuanyuan - Unity - Earthly Fiend - Heavenly Palace - Dharma Form - ???
② [Dragon Sparrow]: A divine blade said to be forged from a meteorite. It contains the spirit of a Dragon Sparrow. It was formerly the treasured weapon of Duan Yue Valley before being acquired by the imperial court. It became famous throughout the world in the 314th year of the Yongjin era when it was stolen by Xiao Zhongyong.
③ [Tianque Pass]: A famous pass in the north of Great Jin, one of the "Seventeen Gorge Passes." The fortress is majestic, built of stone and brick. It separated the Hu from the Han, the very lock and key to the Northland. Due to the tragic battle twenty years ago, it was also given the name "Gate of Hell" by the people of the Martial World.
Proofreader: Peter Pan