Chapter 143

Wei Shen, far away on the deck, felt his teeth hurt from watching; although it was somewhat miraculous, there's no need to be so exaggerated, right?

Zhao Ba stood beside him, his expression also rather complicated; if this continues, His Highness will no longer need to worry about popular sentiment—his rule is already secure at age seven.

If this scene spreads… rulers, or those who aspire to be rulers, cannot tolerate others having such fame.

To receive divine favor.

Sigh! One should persuade the Great King to come up earlier.

He hadn't finished speaking when Wei Shen interjected: 'If this gets out, his father won't know what to think, and his brothers won't either.'

Ling Yin's expression was the calmest: 'Then let it not spread.'

Waiting for the treasure ship to dock at its exclusive berth, the sperm whale, curious and raising its huge head to observe the shore, also approached.

Ling Yin leapt directly from the bow to the trestle bridge extending into the water at the ferry crossing; the Great King also rose from the sperm whale's head, and Ling Yin bent over and pulled him up.

The officials of the You King's Manor and the Youzhou Guard again knelt to pay respects; the Great King steadied himself, lifted his chest, and gestured to the crowd kneeling at the ferry crossing: 'Rise, everyone.'

The minor officials and the Youzhou Guard rose; the commoners, dazed from the blow, instinctively lifted their heads to look at the Great King.

Ling Yin lowered his head and whispered two sentences to the Great King; the Great King nodded.

Ling Yin stepped forward with his usual deadpan face, sinking his qi to his dantian so that those nearby could hear.

"Did the You Prefecture populace present see the whale that just brought His Highness ashore?"

Everyone knelt on the ground, staring silently; no one spoke for a moment, only the sound of the sperm whale churning the water at the shore.

After a brief silence, someone bold replied: 'I—I saw it.'

Ling Yin turned to that person and calmly said: 'No, you didn't see it. The divine envoy's manifestation you witnessed is due to your past-life affinity, but in this life you must not speak of it. Leave this dock, keep it in your heart; do not spread it and provoke the divine envoy. Should you see the divine envoy again, do not disturb him, lest you be rude. These matters at the You Prefecture ferry crossing must not be told to outsiders, lest heavenly punishment befall you and bring disaster. Remember this: today His Highness did not come to the ferry crossing.'

Zhao Ba stepped forward to continue his words, conveying the Great King's decree: this year, as last year, the Great King awards each household a fish to celebrate the New Year; those with nothing else to do should disperse, fetch their household registers, and line up on Vermilion Bird Avenue.

Upon hearing this good news, everyone finally had leisure to inspect the treasure ship; upon inspection, they found that even its deck was piled high with a mountain of fish.

Having received the reward, the commoners cheered, then each kowtowed once to the Great King before dispersing, running madly home to spread the good news.

The Great King's noble, aloof beauty endured until the crowd dispersed; he then plopped down at the bridge's edge, waving at the sperm whale to come over for a few more words.

"There aren't many fish at the ferry crossing; do you want to return to the deep sea?"

The sperm whale flicked its tail, sending up a huge splash in reply, showing no intention to leave. The Great King said a couple more sentences; this creature opened its abyssal maw, sucked in water, and was about to spit it toward the trestle—so much that even Winnie's intelligence would flee.

The Great King had no recourse; he could only leave it be, wondering whether tomorrow it would depart without him.

The Great King meanwhile felt Ling Yin's method of sealing mouths was effective—using mysticism to make the populace revere and not provoke the sperm whale worked well—but wondered whether this doctrine was drifting further from science.

One day, telling them there are no gods in the world—would they be able to believe it?

Lingyin didn't mind, "How could there be none? Gods aren't incarnate; everyone's inner god differs. Your lord's myriad realms—aren't they divine artifacts? Qiao Yi's cultivation in the immortal realm has reached perfection; moving mountains and filling seas is what mortals call a god. That's not deceit either."

After speaking, he paused a moment, then said, "I'm not really human now; my words incur no karma."

The king: "... Lingyin, you've changed!"

Lingyin gave him a blank, expressionless face.

As the treasure ship returned, the whole of Youzhou bustled with activity, the liveliest part being Zhuque Street.

The king reluctantly bade farewell to the humpback whale and returned to Youzhou City, entering through the east gate, only to find the crowds already flowing toward the northern part of the city.

Wei Shen muttered, "Only after seeing this do I realize how truly crowded the city is."

The king shook his head. In Baiyang, the permanent population is twenty million, and its territory isn't even as large as this. Not to mention anything else, the northern part of Youzhou City is almost entirely empty, with only the northern barracks and Zhuque Street having any people, and even they are few. Even with another two million, Youzhou could accommodate them, but he doesn't have that many.

They didn't take Zhuque Street; instead, they rode across the nearby wasteland back to the manor.

From afar, they saw several people standing on the bridge over the moat, gazing toward Zhuque Street; the king's keen eyes instantly spotted the Grand Tutor.

Thinking of the books the Grand Tutor had urged him to read before leaving, the king felt a little guilty.

In his spare moments when he wasn't at sea, he'd at most skim through a hundred thousand "why" questions to broaden his horizons; he certainly wouldn't bother with dull, tedious classics and histories.

The Grand Tutor Xu also saw the king; the officials sent to meet him had already taken the king's mount to the seaside, so now the king was riding Xiao Zao, making it hard not to recognize him.

The person beside Xu Zhi introduced: "The boy who first rode the red date-colored horse is our Youwang Prince. The prince is intelligent, quick, loyal, sincere, open-minded, and of natural disposition; I hope Mr. Xie will, when he has time, offer him further guidance. Bo Jun is modest and shallow in learning, always fearing he'll fail to meet His Majesty's expectations and hinder the prince's studies." The Grand Tutor couldn't possibly say that the kid who rode the eagle was the king, so he simply elevated him to being a youth.

Lu Xin listened to Xu Zhi's long string of praises, dreading that he'd next add something like "the bearing of a sovereign"—that would be too embarrassing.

Fortunately, Xu Zhi isn't the type to spout empty flattery; he genuinely believes the king is an exceptionally talented child, not just ordinary smart. The king bears a heavy burden, and Xu Zhi fears any oversight might hinder the king's growth. Now that a big shot has been caught by him, he feels compelled to say a few kind words for the king, and leaving extra lessons for the king wouldn't hurt.

Anyway, the Grand Tutor's compliments pour out for free; when he mentioned "restraining oneself and returning to propriety," the king hurried forward, carrying his sculpture.

With his chubby, reddened little face lifted, he asked, "Grand Tutor, are you here to welcome me?"

The Grand Tutor had strong opinions about the king's appearance—didn't he see there were outsiders? Didn't he see the king's respectful attitude? At least put down the bird on your shoulder, my king! I've been praising you to the heavens, your majesty!

He gave the king a glance, then led a few people in paying respects, "... We pay our respects, Your Highness."

Unfortunately, the king didn't catch on.

Because he noticed two familiar faces among them—weren't they his gullible "greenhorns"? Even after nearly a month, the king remembered, since they had spent one or two taels to buy three thin red radishes.

Across from them, Lu Xin was also muttering to himself, "Sure enough, the one who chopped the master's two-thousand-tael jade pendant down to six hundred sixty is truly the lord of Youzhou."

The king waved his whip, telling them to rise; the Grand Tutor lifted his head and frantically signaled him to dismount and take the bird off his shoulder.

The king... didn't understand.

Behind them, Lingyin directly dismounted, stepped forward, took hold of Xiao Zao, and gave the king another hint; only then did the king realize the Grand Tutor wanted him to come down voluntarily to greet him.

No, these two "greenhorns" have quite a background?

"Make me dismount?"

The king reached out and pushed the sky‑covering creature aside, telling it to stand elsewhere; the creature reluctantly shifted, and who knew its claw would catch on the previous slit it had made, with a "rip" the king's shoulder exposed half of his inner robe…

Lu Xin: "... What 'restrain self, what return to propriety'?"

"Where is the propriety?"

Grand Tutor Xu: "..."

Great King: ……

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Heaven-Shrouding soared into the sky, charging straight into the mansion and vanishing in a blink.

The whole bridge was unusually quiet; Great King's current attire looked quite… exotic. His black‑gold‑trimmed robe revealed half his shoulder, and the yellow inner robe was fully visible.

The atmosphere was oddly awkward; only Xie Yuan kept smiling faintly.

Great King stared for a moment, then quickly realized—who is he? Baili, who's seen the big world, Jing! As long as he isn't embarrassed, whoever wants to be embarrassed can go ahead.

Great King pretended nothing happened, glanced at the Grand Tutor, and hurriedly said, "Speak up, stop staring at my shoulder, it looks dull."

Bai Ze stepped out from behind the owl riders, too lazy to watch further, calmly walked over the arched bridge, broke the silence on the bridge and saved Great King.

Xie Yuan and his disciple followed Bai Ze's gaze, finally stopped looking at Great King; Great King was truly grateful to Bai Ze, that's enough. Unlike his cousin, who just hides in the crowd stifling laughter.

The Grand Tutor reacted, cleared his throat, and introduced Great King: "Your Highness, over these few days at sea, a big shot has come to Youzhou. Let me introduce you—this is Lord Xie of Chen Commandery, the Libationer of the celebrated Yang Academy, famed throughout the world."

Great King was actually a bit surprised; this old fellow indeed has considerable background.

The Xie Clan of Chen Commandery is more renowned than the Wang Clan of Langya, the mother house of the eldest. Because the Xie family now focuses solely on study and stays out of the capital's officialdom, they are especially pure and noble.

Great King sympathized with a glance at the Grand Tutor, "Don't give me looks—whatever you're plotting is useless. I've met this old man before and even broke his jade pendant, how delightful!"

Great King dismounted, "So it's Lord Xie, long admired!"

Xie Yuan clasped his hands, "Your Highness, Prince of Youzhou."

Prince of Youzhou nodded, "I like your jade pendant, Lord Xie. Since you've reached my gate, let me treat you to a meal!" Great King truly inherited his elder brother's true teaching—he blurts out dinner invitations, believing that eating together seals bonds.

Xie Yuan gladly accepted the invitation, only leaving Grand Tutor Xu bewildered—what jade pendant?

"Then I'll first step away to change clothes, Grand Tutor, please take Lord Xie to the Rosy Cloud Pavilion."

Great King rode off, while Zhao Bo stayed behind to entertain Xie Yuan and his party with the Grand Tutor.

Great King rushed back to the Year Feather Hall, searched the few places where Heaven‑Shrouding often roamed, found nothing, and resignedly went to bathe with Tong Chen.

Soaking in the tub, he complained to Bai Ze outside about Heaven‑Shrouding; Bai Ze admired this fellow's reckless‑running mind.

"Aren't you curious why the Grand Tutor values that old man so much?"

Great King shrugged, "What he thinks doesn't matter; he probably won't get his wish. That old man's perpetual smile is beyond the Grand Tutor's scheming."

Bai Ze clicked his tongue, "You really aren't stupid anymore."

Great King angrily slapped the water surface; Bai Ze laughed and ran off.

Left alone in the tub, Great King didn't bother to wash properly; he planned to soak until time was up, then restless, he opened the Myriad Worlds Interface.

Refreshing the main task, he was shocked—the main quest was completed and a new quest appeared!

Thanks to sweet potatoes and potatoes this year, although surface drought reduced yields, the people still have something to eat. The hunger index rises slightly after autumn harvests; this time it's the happiness index that's lacking—can't still be because of fish distribution, right?

Great King's little hand twitched, wanting to point at the reward for the guests waiting outside, but he held back, deciding to wait until evening.

He rose, dried off, put on clean clothes, and just stepped out when he saw Heaven‑Shrouding peeking from outside his sleeping chamber.

"Maybe tonight I'll get a new bird—if you're disobedient, you'll lose favor! Hmph!"

Heaven‑Shrouding saw him change clothes, intending to dismiss this page on its own; it flew back innocently to its usual spot on Great King's desk, eyes innocent: "What's up? If nothing, go eat today's pill."

Great King: ……

Bai Ze: "……Do you find this bird's personality familiar?"

Great King shook his head wildly, regretting he couldn't shut Bai Ze's mouth, "Like you. Things resemble their master's form."

Great King: ……

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From the moment Grand Tutor Xu led Xie Yuan and his disciple into the Prince of Youzhou's mansion's gate, Lu Xin kept telling himself he must not disgrace his teacher, yet couldn't help staring.

Chen Commandery has no princely lord, but neighboring Changliu has a hereditary Changliu Prince passed down two generations.

Although seeing is believing, can a border prefect's feudal lord really have the power to remodel a prince's mansion like this? They went eastward to the rear garden, bypassing the main hall, but just catching a glimpse of the corner of the Bright Light Hall made him unable to stop wondering.

Prince of Youzhou, adopted son of the empress, whose maternal house is the Marquis of Wei Ting. Isn't it said he's not favored? In Chen Commandery he's only heard of the Prince of Yuyang and the Prince of Guangling; nobody mentions the Prince of Youzhou. With such a mansion, who could subsidize him? Don't tell me it's Youzhou's finances—impossible, even a renowned commandery like Chen Commandery couldn't afford it. This mansion simply isn't something a few hundred thousand taels of silver could fix.

Once leaving the former dynasty's territory, passing through several side paths and corridors into Great King's garden, he couldn't spare a thought for anything else.

If the former dynasty was grand and imposing, then this garden is the fatal flaw of all scholars and refined gentlemen.

Great King is also extreme—he didn't choose a spot in the Bright Light Hall, responsible for receiving guests, to entertain Xie Yuan, but instead picked the Rosy Cloud Pavilion, gathering the exquisite elegance of Jiangnan gardens and the supreme craftsmanship of Myriad Worlds architecture, striking the Xie teacher‑disciple pair instantly.

Grand Tutor Xu also doesn't come often, but he loves it too.

"……This garden's design is ingenious, every step a scene, exquisitely delicate. Turn left here, Lord Xie, please."

Although Xie Yuan has broad experience, he's never seen such a delicate garden; when they were led to the front of the Rosy Cloud Pavilion, he finally realized the pavilion's windows are all made of that kind of glass like aquatic‑world fish tanks!

Seeing so many layers of beautiful pavilions for the first time, not mentioning their exquisite craftsmanship, just saying these floors are his first sight, the Prince of Youzhou really has something.

Lu Xin stood at the base of the pavilion, awestruck by its towering height, his first thought was… safety?

But he felt embarrassed to ask.

Grand Tutor Xu took them to the top floor of the Rosy Cloud Pavilion, the viewing level with windows on all sides.

Xie Yuan was utterly amazed; looking out the four‑facing windows, each view differed, yet all were equally beautiful.

Lu Xin saw a huge lake inside the prince's mansion, completely losing any sense of the mansion's footprint.