Firmament Sword

Xu Luo smiled and shook his head. ”It’s all just some old grudges. Nothing to worry about.”

Wang Chao glanced at Xu Luo and scoffed internally. ’Old grudges… How old are you, anyway?’

He didn’t know that Xu Luo wasn’t lying. His relationship with the Fengyue Building could indeed be described as an old grudge.

Seeing that Xu Luo didn’t want to elaborate, Wang Chao didn’t press the issue and immediately ordered his men to prepare a banquet to welcome Xu Luo and his party.

In fact, Wang Chao was deeply resentful and uncomfortable with this new Lord of the Sealed Land who had suddenly appeared. Administratively speaking, Snow City was part of the Cangqiong Empire, and he, the City Lord, was naturally under the jurisdiction of the Cangqiong Kingdom’s court. But from another perspective, the Emperor had granted this vast territory, including Snow City, to Xu Luo. That meant... on this turf, Xu Luo... was the real king!

In other words, if Xu Luo took a dislike to him, replacing him as City Lord wouldn’t be difficult at all.

This filled Wang Chao with a sense of injustice. He had studied hard for years, mastering literature, military strategy, and civil administration. Step by step, he had climbed from a Junior Official to the position of City Lord. He was still young, with a bright future ahead of him.

As long as he performed well, while becoming a Marquis or a high minister was unlikely, advancing further in his career was certainly not a problem.

But with a single casual edict from the Emperor, this land, hundreds of square miles in area, now belonged to someone else! He, Wang Chao, had been a legitimate official of the Empire. Now... he was merely the City Lord on another man’s fiefdom.

Most importantly, Wang Chao felt that Xu Luo’s merits had been too easily won, and his reward... was far too great!

’It really is easy for the children of powerful families. If a commoner like me achieved such merits, I’d be lucky to get a Barony at best, and I’d be too ecstatic to sleep for days. But him? Effortlessly, he went from Marquis to General, then to a Senior Third Grade court official... It was as easy for him as eating and drinking!’

’And on top of that, he couldn’t even sit still. He had to make a fuss and return his Senior Third Grade rank and his Marquis title to the court... It’s enough to make you both envious and resentful!’

However, Wang Chao didn’t let any of these emotions show on his face. During the banquet, he chatted enthusiastically with everyone, telling all sorts of strange tales from the north, and managed to create a very lively atmosphere.

After the banquet, both hosts and guests were pleased, and Xu Luo’s group was shown to the rear quarters to rest.

Wang Chao sat in the living room, sipping tea with his eyes narrowed. Beside him was the same Advisor from earlier in the day.

”My Lord, what do you think... of these people? Will they affect your future promotions?” the Advisor asked in a low voice from the side.

Wang Chao’s eyes flickered. After a moment of contemplation, he said, ”Among them, the one who’s hardest to read isn’t Xu Luo, but that Little Fatty.”

”Oh? The one named Liu Feng?” the Advisor asked, somewhat surprised.

”That’s right. That Little Fatty suddenly asked me today if there were any bandit problems around here... Heh, I was caught completely off guard. I almost let it slip,” Wang Chao said.

”Oh, right, I remember now. I even added a couple of remarks at the time. But then again, Little Fatty probably just asked that by chance, don’t you think?” said the Advisor. ”I, for one, think the Eldest Prince is the most unfathomable of the group.”

”The Eldest Prince... He’s certainly not a simple person. Back when I was studying in the Imperial Capital, he was still young. He was ostracized by a group of Royal Family members, never spoke, and was often bullied, left to huddle alone in a corner.” A faint smile appeared on Wang Chao’s face as he recalled his days at the Royal Academy. He then continued, ”Later, among the Royal Family Descendants, I only ever heard about the Crown Prince and the Sixth Prince. I never heard any talk about the Eldest Prince... Oh, but that’s not entirely true.”

”You mean how he’s obsessed with medicine and refining elixirs?” the Advisor interjected with a smile. ”And then there’s that Xu Jie. I hear he’s been obsessed with smithing and sword-forging since he was a child, a true genius in the field. The swords he forges... I hear even the Emperor is very fond of them, and they’re nearly impossible to find on the market.”

”Exactly. As for Xu Luo... he’s been frail since childhood. For someone like him to be born into the National Guardian General’s Mansion is truly an anomaly.” Wang Chao said, then continued, ”And that Little Fatty... my prior impression of him was that of an unreliable, decadent young master, harassing proper ladies on the streets of the Imperial Capital every day, fond of sniffing people’s scents... And the taciturn Sui Yan, who barely says a word, is supposedly obsessed with Mechanical Skill and isn’t good at dealing with people... It’s quite interesting that these five have ended up together.”

”Actually, My Lord, you needn’t overthink it. We are beloved by the people here, and our conscience is clear. So what if Snow City has become a noble’s fiefdom? You, My Lord, are still an official of the Empire, still the Emperor’s man!” the Advisor persuaded him. ”Besides, as long as that one matter is handled well, your future will be boundless. What is there to worry about?”

When the Advisor mentioned ”that matter,” Wang Chao’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, showing a hint of distaste. He waved his hand and said, ”It’s getting late. You should get some rest too, Advisor.”

”Yes, My Lord.” The Advisor took his leave.

Wang Chao was left alone, sitting silently in the living room. He murmured, ”Must I... really choose... to do this?”

...

At that moment, Xu Luo and his friends were also gathered together, talking and laughing softly.

”Third Brother, this City Lord seems to be trying hard to curry favor with you. First, he came ten li out of the city to greet you, then he threw a lavish banquet. He seems like a sensible person,” the Little Fatty said with a laugh.

Xu Jie said from the side, ”As a City Lord, he has no need to offend a noble who has become the Lord of this land. However, now that Third Brother is here, a lot of power that originally belonged to him will be divided. I wonder if our young City Lord has any thoughts about that.”

”’Thoughts,’ maybe not, but he’s certainly taken some ’actions’,” Xu Luo chuckled and said casually.

”Huh? What do you mean?” The others all turned their gazes to Xu Luo.

Xu Luo smiled. ”Did you see the Advisor next to the City Lord today?”

They all nodded. Liu Feng asked, ”Didn’t that Advisor seem perfectly normal? What’s wrong with him?”

”Yeah, I didn’t notice anything wrong with the Advisor either,” Xu Jie said.

”If you could spot the problem at a glance, now *that* would be a real problem!” Xu Luo took a sip of tea and said with a smile, ”That Advisor is from the Wei Family!”

”What? That’s... impossible!” the Little Fatty exclaimed in surprise. ”I’m telling you, Third Brother... can you not be so incredible? I mean, you’re already incredible enough, but there’s no reason you should know something like this!”

Huangfu Chongzhi sat there thinking quietly for a moment. He suddenly looked up at Xu Luo, his eyes filled with admiration, and said, ”I understand now. You’ve had plans laid out for the north for a long time. I just can’t figure out where you got the manpower.”

”Heh heh...” Xu Luo chuckled. ”You’ll know when you see them. We’re only staying here for one night. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning. On our own sealed land, we must build a city that is truly ours. I’ve already chosen the location for it!”

”Then this City Lord...” Xu Jie glanced at Xu Luo hesitantly. ”Since he’s with the Wei Family...”

”Who said *he* was with the Wei Family?” Xu Luo waved his hand dismissively. ”I said his Advisor, his strategist... *he’s* the one from the Wei Family!”

”Isn’t that the same thing?” the Little Fatty asked.

”It’s not,” Huangfu Chongzhi replied from the side.

...

”You’ve figured out their identities?” Mo Yun raised an eyebrow, looking at the scout before her with great interest. She said in praise, ”I’ll record a great merit for you for this!”

”Thank you, General!” The scout’s face was also beaming with joy. He said, ”Your subordinate saw them enter Snow City, and the Snow City’s City Lord personally came ten li out of the city to greet them. So, I had a bit of a plan. I went back and found a random Snow City guard, gave him a few taels of silver, and after a few questions, I found everything out.”

”So these people are the children of a group of top nobles from the Cangqiong Kingdom. What a flock of fat sheep!” the scout exclaimed.

”Get to the point!” Mo Yun glared. ”Have you been picking up bad habits from those bandits? It’s only been a few days! Remember... we are a regular army, not a band of robbers! If I hear you say those two words ’fat sheep’ again, I’ll cut you down!”

The scout shrank back in fear and chuckled a few times before saying, ”The one leading them is named Xu Luo. Snow City, and the surrounding land for hundreds of li, has become Xu Luo’s sealed land! Right, this Xu Luo is the second son of the Cangqiong Kingdom’s Grand General of National Guardian, Xu Ji! The others are the Eldest Prince Huangfu Chongzhi; Xu Jie, son of Xu Zhongtian; Sui Yan, son of Sui Wanli; and one other, also a young master from a powerful family in the Cangqiong Kingdom’s Imperial Capital. These people all have extremely noble statuses. They’re here to develop Xu Luo’s sealed land.”

The scout continued, ”Oh, and the person Hawkeye saw that day must be Xu Jie, the son of the Cangqiong Empire’s General Xu Zhongtian!”

”Hawkeye,” as the scout called him, was the nickname of the scout with excellent eyesight and a photographic memory.

These men were all Mo Yun’s true confidants and core subordinates, so they would always speak their minds directly.

”Alright. You’ve worked hard this time. Go and rest.” Mo Yun rubbed her forehead and dismissed the scout. A weary expression appeared on her face. After a long moment, she gave a bitter laugh. ”Mo Yun, oh, Mo Yun... so you’ve always been an arrogant fool, so confident you became conceited, underestimating all the heroes in the world. This time... you have no one to blame for your fall! A group of young masters from the Cangqiong Kingdom’s top noble families used just a few simple tricks to knock you from the heavens down to the dust... The funny thing is, you spent so long thinking about that wounded soldier who stood up for you and died in the chaos, grieving for him for so long... How ridiculous!”

Tears slowly streamed down Mo Yun’s cheeks. She still wore a smile on her face, but the tears flowed faster and faster. ”Damn you... you liar! I hate you! You tricked me, left me homeless, turned me into a fugitive... SOB...”