Chapter 312: Prelude

The morning court concluded, and Prince Jin returned to the Imperial Study. Several others followed him inside, and after performing their salutations, they took their seats.

"You have all seen Xiang Weiyuan today. What are your impressions?"

To the left of Prince Jin sat a refined man of indeterminate age, who possessed an air of being at ease wherever he went. It was as if being in the imperial court or sleeping in the wilderness could not affect his state of mind. This man was Prince Cheng, who had ascended to the rank of Fenhai Zhenjun over a century ago.

Opposite Prince Cheng was a man who appeared somewhat younger, his eyes like lightning. He was like a sword unsheathed, his aura extremely sharp. Yet, this sword seemed to have merged with heaven and earth; though it was right before one's eyes, one could not feel its threat at all until the very moment it struck.

This man was Prince Ying, also of the Western Jin royal clan. He had likewise cultivated to the Imperial Scenery Realm and was the key figure who had recently turned the tide.

Below the two of them sat the Left and Right Prime Ministers, while Liu Quangong stood in attendance beside Prince Jin.

Upon Prince Jin's inquiry, Prince Cheng said, "There is an untamable arrogance in his bones; he refuses to be humiliated. But he is a young man, so that is quite normal. Only with this kind of spirit can one achieve such battle results."

Prince Ying also said, "With him guarding the national gate in the Western Regions, our pressure will be much reduced. I believe we can transfer Yue Jinshan back to the northern frontier. The north currently has no troops to use and is in urgent need of reinforcements."

The Right Prime Minister, however, said, "This boy has a rebellious nature; one cannot fail to be on guard! If he grows too powerful in the future, I fear he will be difficult to restrain."

Prince Ying's expression sank immediately, but the Right Prime Minister acted as if he had seen nothing.

Prince Jin remained calm and continued, "Several people have memorialized that Xiang Weiyuan has close dealings with Zhao Guo and harbors disloyal intentions. How do you all view this?"

The Left Prime Minister said, "The Azure Void was newly established and possesses nothing. The Xu family has blocked the trade routes to the east, so his exchanging for necessities with Zhao Guo to the south is a matter of being forced by circumstances. The memorials submitted by the several censors are biased."

Prince Jin was somewhat surprised and said, "I did not expect you to speak for Xiang Weiyuan. Then tell me, what kind of policy should we adopt toward him?"

The Left Prime Minister said, "There is much criticism of Xiang Weiyuan in the court, but in truth, it is because he is not from a noble family and comes from a humble background; secondly, he is truly young—many in the palace are old enough to be his grandfather, so naturally, they find him an eyesore. Furthermore, there has always been the saying that a commoner cannot rise above the seventh rank, yet Xiang Weiyuan was appointed to the second rank upon entering office, which inevitably invites jealousy."

Prince Jin nodded slightly.

The Left Prime Minister continued, "I believe we should restrain Xiang Weiyuan around Ningxi, but this restraint is for the court to see, to appease public opinion, not to truly limit him. If you employ a person, do not suspect them; if you suspect them, do not employ them. Our Great Jin's current focus is in the north, so we might as well leave the west to Xiang Weiyuan. I do not know why the Shaman tribe suddenly slowed their offensive, but sooner or later, they will strike again. If the Xu family could not hold the Western Regions back then, can Xiang Weiyuan do it?"

Prince Jin gave a low laugh and said, "Let it be done as you say."

Inside the Crown Prince's residence, the current Crown Prince sat behind his desk, with rows of civil and military officials seated on both sides, resembling a small court.

The Crown Prince's residence was not far from the royal palace and was a circle larger than an ordinary prince's residence, not much smaller than the palace itself. According to Jin regulations, the Crown Prince should have lived in the Chengqian Palace within the palace. But in recent years, the Crown Prince began to share state affairs and was permitted to establish his own residence. With the civil and military officials in his residence increasing day by day, entering and exiting the palace became extremely inconvenient, so the Crown Prince moved out.

At this moment, a scholar who looked only in his thirties said, "That Xiang Weiyuan is wild and untamable, naturally unwilling to be under others. I believe there is no need to recruit him. He is a sword without a hilt; grasping it will surely cause injury!"

A scholar opposite him sneered, "Secretary Zhang, you wouldn't be saying this just because you couldn't suppress him, would you?"

Secretary Zhang was immediately enraged: "Academician Liu! If you can suppress him, I will immediately set out wine and apologize!"

An old official mediated and then said, "Xiang Weiyuan is neither from a prominent background nor a disciple of a sage. To be suddenly elevated to such a high position, does this not chill the hearts of the scholars of the world? Secondly, he is still young, and his own cultivation is mediocre; it is clear he still lacks tempering. That he has today is entirely due to the support of the Primordial Palace behind him; how is it his own ability? That this wet-behind-the-ears brat can hold a second-rank official position is truly absurd! His Majesty's consideration this time is truly inappropriate."

Another old official also said, "Whoever recruits Xiang Weiyuan is an enemy of the scholars of the world, an enemy of the literati of the world!"

The Crown Prince pondered in silence.

At this moment, the room was packed, and there was almost no room for a new seat.

When Xiang Weiyuan returned to the relay station, the sky was just bright, and the attendants served breakfast.

The morning court started early and ended early, so breakfast at the relay station was divided into two parts: one before going to the morning court, and the other after returning from court. Lunch was another meal.

On the large table in front of Xiang Weiyuan, there were twelve dishes, eight small plates, six staples, and four soups, totaling thirty items.

This was the breakfast of a first-rank official.

Xiang Weiyuan looked at the table full of dishes and was somewhat dazed. Afterward, he called over Cui Yu, Xu Yi, and a group of noble disciples, and together they cleared the table.

For those from major clans, such a breakfast was commonplace. But for the past few months in the realm, everyone had been craving good food for a long time and had basically eaten nothing good, so the group of noble disciples all turned into hungry wolves, and their origins could not be seen at all. Before noon, the reputation of Xiang Weiyuan being crude, uncultured, and ignorant of etiquette had spread again.

After breakfast, Xiang Weiyuan came to the study in the relay station and spread a map on the table. This was the newly delineated map of the Western Regions commandery system. The four commanderies remained, but the borders had changed; the three southeastern commanderies had all retreated, and Ningxi Commandery had even turned into a crescent moon. Ten miles outside Quliu Town was the jurisdiction of the Dingxi Regional Commander.

Although Ningxi Commandery was only a narrow strip, with the narrowest point being no more than ten miles, it was like a thin skin that still wrapped around the realm. Theoretically, the Ningxi Governor could set up checkpoints to completely seal off the realm; in fact, Yuan Qingyan had done exactly that before, but the checkpoints he set up were all pulled out by people Xiang Weiyuan sent disguised as horse bandits.

At this moment, Prince Jin wanted to win over Xiang Weiyuan and would turn a blind eye. But the day he no longer needed Xiang Weiyuan, these matters would all be dug up and re-sentenced.

Xiang Weiyuan's gaze fell on Anzhao Commandery, where Western Jin had set up a boundary stone. He just didn't know what the scope of the realm was, nor what it would be like when two realms met.

A moment later, Xiang Weiyuan put away the map and continued to observe the sword.

Encountering a hidden hand in the court today, Xiang Weiyuan relied entirely on his physical strength to endure it. Since cultivating the Dao Foundation, he had rarely used his physical strength and had almost forgotten that he still possessed a supreme-rank physical body.

After advancing, Xiang Weiyuan's Dao power was as vast as the sea; for example, the Rapid Flow Blade Art was purely a spell that relied on pouring out massive amounts of Dao power to suppress others with momentum. For some time, Xiang Weiyuan had deeply believed that one force could overcome ten techniques, using clumsiness to break cleverness, and was almost forgetting that besides Dao power, he still had countless means.

For example, the Three Immortal Plants; only the sword Qi of the Laurel Immortal Tree could be considered utilized, and apart from that, the wonderful uses were basically undeveloped.

Dharma Form warriors have infinite wonderful uses when used well. Although the Dao Foundation Yin-Yang could not be moved yet, her wisp of aura could serve as the core of many arrays and could also elevate the artistic conception, making ordinary Daoist moves become profound.

Take the Myriad Generations Sword, for instance; this is a true method pointing directly to the Dao. Relying on the true meaning of the three moves alone is enough to achieve Return to Oneness, and Xiang Weiyuan hadn't even touched the surface yet.

!.

Even with the little remaining Dao power, there were countless ways to play. For example, although Xiang Weiyuan's Dao power was less than one-tenth of what it was, it was still thicker than an ordinary heaven-rank Dao Foundation. But he intentionally suppressed his Dao power, suppressing it in one breath to the level of an ordinary earth-rank. If anyone truly treated Xiang Weiyuan as an earth-rank cultivator, that would be interesting.

In addition, he spoke heart-to-heart with Zhao Tong, saying that only two or three-tenths of his Dao power remained. If Zhao Tong believed it, he would naturally seriously underestimate Xiang Weiyuan's normal Dao power limit.

The Myriad Miles of Rivers and Mountains could not be manifested, which was an unprecedented experience. Before Xiang Weiyuan's eyes, it seemed that a new world had been opened, and he glimpsed infinite mysteries.

Xiang Weiyuan was not in a hurry, calmly observing the sword, and his control over Dao power and himself gradually improved with the observation of the sword.

At noon, Xiang Weiyuan finished observing the sword, and the attendant sent two visiting cards.

One was from Prince Wei, who was the fifth son of the current Prince Jin. The other was from Prince Ying.

These two visiting cards were both major events.

Although Prince Wei was the fifth son, his age differed from the Crown Prince by more than twenty years. It was said that in his early years, Prince Jin focused on the immortal path and rarely entered the harem, so he had few offspring. It was not until he had been on the throne for decades and his first queen passed away that he changed his mind, and his offspring gradually increased.

Prince Wei's mother was conferred the title of Empress Xi and was Prince Jin's second queen, but her fate was full of twists and turns; she passed away from illness in the second year after being conferred empress, leaving only Prince Wei as her son.

Prince Wei had been intelligent since he was young, learning everything in one go, and was born with good fortune, which was said to be no less than the Crown Prince's. With both innate talent and good fortune, Prince Wei's cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds; now, not yet thirty, he had just touched the threshold of the Dharma Form. It was just that he was determined to emulate the sages, strongly suppressing his realm, wanting to polish his Dharma Form well to achieve a single step to the sky.

Prince Jin clearly liked Prince Wei more, and with Prince Wei's Dharma Form about to be completed, there were already rumors of abolishing the Crown Prince.

Prince Ying was one of the two True Lords of the royal clan, the current Grand General, in charge of northern military affairs, and controlled the various frontier armies. The Snow-Treading Army that Prince Ying brought out in his early years was the elite of the world and was once listed among the Nine Armies of Great Tang.

It was just that later, Prince Ying was convicted and imprisoned, and many generals in the Snow-Treading Army were implicated; the army of one hundred thousand was also scattered and distributed to other armies, and the Snow-Treading Army was removed from the Nine Armies from then on.

Prince Ying was released only after being imprisoned for ten full years, but he was also under house arrest in his residence. It was not until the recent war situation deteriorated that Prince Jin re-employed Prince Ying to take charge of northern military affairs; after nearly a month of bitter fighting, the collapse was finally stopped.

Prince Wei had always had a reputation for being polite to the virtuous and condescending to the scholars. After he faced the Emperor, his appointment as Regional Commander was a foregone conclusion, so Prince Wei's banquet was actually within Xiang Weiyuan's expectations. No matter what Prince Wei thought in his heart, he had to take action for the sake of his reputation.

But Prince Ying's invitation made Xiang Weiyuan unable to understand. This person was a truly great figure who, back then, could bring out one of the Nine Armies of Great Tang from nothing; he was simply peerless!

Later, his conviction and imprisonment were also full of doubts. When Xiang Weiyuan checked the important figures of the imperial court, he could not find any information about this period of history.

Prince Wei's banquet was tonight, while Prince Ying's dinner was tomorrow; the two did not conflict.

So Xiang Weiyuan remained calm, and for the whole afternoon, Xiang Weiyuan observed the sword. If there were no accidents, tonight would be a night of turmoil, and the great drama of the royal capital was only just beginning to unfold.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 313 =====