[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces":3,"chapter-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-203":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon of a Thousand Faces",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269849,4431,"Chapter 203: The Vengeful Bird","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-203",203,"\u003Cp>\"Indeed, there was never a second princess—never at all.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En put down the book on heraldry and sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The worst-case scenario had been confirmed: tracing royal records back seven or eight generations, under certain conditions, revealed strange anomalies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For several generations, there were seventh princes, yet still only one princess.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lion Clan reproduces relatively quickly and is famously fond of bearing daughters—this record is clearly problematic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The biggest issue isn’t the scarcity of daughters, but the scarcity of children altogether!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The royal Lion Clan has never had more than a dozen members—utterly disgraceful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Male lions are famously promiscuous, yet most of the kingdom’s kings and princes were unusually “chaste,” producing almost no illegitimate offspring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most astonishingly, those “princes”’ descendants would unhesitatingly abandon their royal identity and surname, becoming true cadet branches—and suddenly, they’d have many children and grandchildren.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A curse.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no need for further speculation: unless the clan’s genetics were flawed, the rumor of a royal curse was almost certainly true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The trigger for the curse was also obvious: the so-called “Second Princess.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\".Genetics seem unimpaired—then where did the extra daughters go?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the births of the fifth or seventh princes, there must have been several daughters (legend says the Lion Clan’s gender ratio is 1:3).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If illegitimate daughters could trigger the curse, Li En dared not even imagine where the extra daughters had vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This explanation also clarified why royal members were always few in number and short-lived, yet when they left the palace, they suddenly had many children and grandchildren—forcing them to kill their own offspring would be unbearable for anyone with even a shred of humanity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This outcome also eased Li En’s breath—it seemed to confirm the problem lay with Dainya’s aunt, not her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Did you find what you wanted?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, thank you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the lower floor of a mage tower on Mage Street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this world, normal books were absurdly expensive, especially those on religion, theology, and history—while crude textbooks on mathematics, chemistry, and other practical sciences were relatively cheap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En guessed this was due to differing demand: those studying these “sciences” were mostly craftsmen and lower-class workers in this world, while religion and other “humanities” disciplines were monopolized by the high nobility and the Church.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For them, this knowledge wasn’t just information—it was the foundation of their status and authority; only they had the need and resources to study it, and every major family maintained its own heraldry chamber and archivist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Directly investigating the royal family was nearly impossible—the royal archives weren’t accessible to commoners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But “noble heraldry” involved the genealogical shifts of every noble and royal house, their blood ties and alliances, and the rise and fall of countless cadet branches—naturally requiring mention of the evolution of each illustrious family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The kingdom’s heraldry was centered on the royal family; cross-referencing several books clarified the royal lineage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Incidentally, Li En hadn’t gone to the official library or noble collections—he’d sought out mages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For mages, only magical knowledge and related technical data held value; noble heraldry was meaningless garbage, casually shelved as filler—this cluttered archive was accessible to Li En with just a meal paid for by Luo Yisi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Luo Yisi hadn’t taken it seriously, assuming the newly knighted Li En was frantically designing his own noble coat of arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a friend, he subtly advised Li En, as a new mage, not to waste energy on such matters—better to take his time—and left Li En torn between laughter and frustration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Luo Yisi’s advice had reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A noble coat of arms typically represents a family’s greatest achievement; if you design yours too young, future accomplishments become harder to incorporate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Modifying a noble coat of arms requires notifying countless heraldic archives to update their records, and often demands personal funding to print new armorial books and charts—a nightmare of both finances and connections.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet among these heraldry texts, Li En was astonished to discover the royal family had changed its emblem!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So the original royal emblem wasn’t the white lion—but the white griffin? Was it changed later?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was rare: every animal and symbol in heraldry carried specific meaning, understandable only to heraldic experts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cadet branches and allied houses typically only added or modified elements to the original emblem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, changing a color, adding a sword and shield, or incorporating another creature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ruling family of Huicheng was a classic case: their crest was a brown griffin guarding the royal crown—clearly demonstrating loyalty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To outsiders, changing a white griffin to a lion might seem like a simple design tweak—but to those studying noble genealogies and heraldry, it signaled a major upheaval, even the abandonment of ancestral glory, with profound political consequences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, if your sovereign changed his emblem, would his vassals and cadet branches follow suit?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To nobles, this was an affair capable of shaking the very foundation of the realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tsk tsk tsk—no wonder he’s the ultimate miser, the ultimate grudge-holder.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The snake slithered out again, as if hinting at something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En didn’t ask—he knew if he did, the creature would vanish again; and this silence itself was a hint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It hinted: I cannot speak of this—but you can uncover it yourself!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, the creature had been guiding Li En all along, nudging him to notice this issue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The snake’s frequent appearances heightened Li En’s urgency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew the snake wasn’t one to meddle unnecessarily—danger must be imminent, or there’d be no reason for such persistent guidance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A beast? A beast that hates griffins?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The snake’s sudden disappearance confirmed Li En was on the right path—if he’d guessed wrong, the snake could have mocked him openly!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This abrupt vanishing seemed to declare, “I have no connection to this\u002FI wasn’t present.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet atop the book he’d taken, there was an image of a white griffin wearing a crown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En picked up the book, brushed off its thick dust, and realized it was a children’s fairy tale mistakenly delivered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Was it misdelivered because of the cover?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En opened it—a picture book fairy tale, likely intended to enlighten noble children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The story was simple, yet involved the legendary founding monarch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The white hero-lion king, wielding a magic sword, split mountains, cleaved clouds, slew the demon king, and founded this glorious kingdom—nothing unusual; most such legends followed this pattern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li En noticed subtle details.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Drove out the monstrous bird that occupied the ancient city, and built it into the capital... Wait, isn’t that the ruined old capital?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old capital destroyed by the Dragon Disaster—was it once the nest of this so-called “monstrous bird”?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Beast—monstrous bird—Long Yi—vengeful monstrous bird...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En had received the snake’s hint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Damn—the founding monarch was a beast of a man, driving out a beast?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That beast appeared to be a flying predatory bird.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li En noticed: in the earliest white griffin emblem, the griffin’s claws trod upon black feathers!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But beneath the white lion’s paws were only coins and wheat—was this a retreat?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No wonder the snake urged me to quickly enhance Long Yi and Long Yan—he warned me of a flying beast threat? I must counter with aerial combat?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now Li En’s scalp prickled—this was likely the hardest domain to confront.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a melee unit, flying up would make me a perfect target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not just that—the griffin became a lion. If this too was due to the beast’s curse, then it must deeply hate griffins—and be one of the snake’s natural enemies.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Founding the kingdom was undoubtedly the royal family’s greatest achievement—so the white griffin must have symbolized that glory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The griffin representing the royal house drove out this monstrous bird... If it truly was a beast, driving it out wasn’t enough—it must have slain or sealed it utterly, and then the beast cursed the royal house, preventing them from bearing a second daughter and indirectly suppressing their prosperity.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Population has always been the foundation of any family or kingdom’s flourishing—this vile curse left the royal house with barely any members—how could they rise?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A black evil bird that hates griffins, deeply vengeful, and somewhat a natural enemy of snakes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The answer was nearly clear—Li En stood up abruptly; he could no longer afford to waste time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The snake’s hint was correct—this was a battlefield he was utterly unprepared for; he must find a way to confront it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The kingdom faces a crisis from two beasts at once—does the royal family know?... They must know—but they dare not speak of it, cannot speak of it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Partial truth obtained—current understanding exceeds 30%; exceeding 50% will forcibly activate the Spirit Card.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1433,"2026-06-19T21:45:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","0e55a3fc18f89e1aa02ff3d92091dbe96bf8d7d8463b2083f581c20eb3feb2e5","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-204","the-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-chapter-202",362,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-of-a-thousand-faces-cover.jpg"]