“To the East of our Beloved Country Lanhua there were once sixteen sovereign nations. These Eastern Nations lived by the sword, believing that strength gave one the power to rule. Of these countries, one was particularly ruthless. This country’s name, and the names of the people involved, have all been blotted out of history due to their great evil. But so as not to repeat the past, the story of their downfall will be taught to you.
The King of this particularly ruthless country was a timid fool who couldn’t control his court officials. They heaped upon him boundless opulence and luxury, but he was never allowed true power. Thus he was a King only in name. While the officials ruled the land he indulged himself in depravity and sin. Because of this, he was mockingly called “The Puppet King”.
The Puppet King’s fortunes changed when a great beauty was gifted to him from a neighboring country to the south. Not only was she extremely pleasing to his eyes, her words were very very sweet. She was intelligent, clever and sly. By following her advice, the Puppet King was able to overthrow his court suppressors and rule as he saw fit. After many years of plotting he succeeded in becoming the supreme ruler of his nation. He then sent away his legal wife to rot away in the Cold Palace and married the great beauty and made her Queen.
Though the King had finally freed himself of his overbearing officials, he could not free himself from his foolish and timid personality. He lacked confidence to rule and was used to being told what to do. Because his Queen had helped him so greatly, he continued seeking her advice without regard to wisdom or virtue.
Though he gave his everything to his Queen, the great beauty wasn’t grateful. Her heart was black as ink and she detested the King for being weak. She was brutal and vicious and not content to be Queen of a single nation. She wanted to be Queen of the World.
To do this, she used the Puppet King to the fullest of her abilities. She poisoned his mind against his allies and those who genuinely cared about him. Loyal subjects were falsely accused of crimes, them and their entire families executed. His sons, whether old or young, were all sent away. They died, whether in battle, by bandits, sickness, or simply… disappeared. His daughters were married off to evil and corrupt men, and he took no few for himself. This was for the King to gain more power and allies, or so he thought. But all of these maneuverings were to position the Queen’s loyal servants around the King, eventually cutting off all his support.
Under the evil influence of the Black Queen, the Puppet King became more and more cruel as his reign continued. To “help him” feel more secure in his power and strike fear into his enemies the Black Queen suggested he turn his eyes to the powers within Jianghu. She introduced him to the Evil Factions within Jianghu, where he made secret deals with demons and monsters.
She learned many terrible spells from Jianghu. To keep her beauty, she found the most beautiful women in the land and ate their hearts. To retain her youth, she found healthy babies and turned them into potions. To increase her life of luxury, she had the King enact heavier and heavier taxes on the population, driving the already struggling population into deeper poverty. Anything she desired, she took, regardless of who owned it or the cost of attaining it.
Then the Black Queen, tired of being the Puppet King’s companion, decided to be rid of him. If she disposed of him outright, it would cause great uproar among the people. The smartest of the Puppet King’s sons yet lived and some of his loyal followers had also escaped. The countries to the north were growing uneasy at her influence, and began to gather their forces in preparation for war.
She knew that when the King died her power would be unstable, making the country vulnerable to rebellion within and invasion without. Therefore she looked towards her allies for assistance.
Corruption attracts corruption, so even though they were her allies, they weren’t willing to help her for free. To get their support, they wanted her to use her connections get rid of a thorn in their side. This “thorn” was a reclusive Lord who lived in the mountains to the west.
Without anyone of importance realizing it, he’d gained a strangle hold over the eastern merchants. No matter how terrible his reputation, or perhaps because of how bad it was, the merchants didn’t dare offend him. It was to such a degree that many merchant families were more worried about gaining favor from the Mountain Lord than they were from their own Kings. His influence was becoming a serious threat to their financial power.
But more than any of this, and what they neglected to tell the Black Queen, the Lord of the Mountain was known for being extremely wealthy. Gold, silver, gems and jewels the size of a man’s fist, were said to be in his possession. The rulers lusted after his treasures but knew from their spies that he wouldn’t part with them easily, no matter how they flattered. And they couldn’t threaten him, for he was so confident in his own cultivation powers that it was said not even an army would scare him into obedience.
The Black Queen agreed to their request, not caring if they were being honest with her or not. She had her own spies to tell her what she needed to know and had an idea what they were really after. Even if they gained all the riches of that Mountain Lord, it wouldn’t matter. In the end, that would be hers too.
While the Mountain Lord had to die at the request of her allies, his sons could still be useful. The Black Queen knew there was hostility between the Lord and his sons, but the Lord’s wife was deeply favored and doted on to the extreme. To control the sons, their Mother was the key. So it was important that she survived.
Whether the Lord’s sons by chance sought revenge for their Father’s death or more likely some way to heal their Mother, the Black Queen would be there to offer them a solution and salvation. She would play herself the weak victim, bullied by her King and his allies. In her arrogance, she truly believed such petty scheming would work.
She thought that once she controlled the sons, she could not only get rid of the Puppet King and retain her authority, she could even conquer the nations that were her supposed allies. But there was a fatal flaw in the Black Queen’s plans: most of her information was wrong.
Not just the Black Queen, but most of what people in the east knew about the Mountain Lord was fundament--”
“What the 13,ooo hells!!!!!” Mei Hua interrupted Jin’s reading, unable to hold back her fury anymore. “This skanky woman! She came after us all over some stupid power play?! I suffered all that because she just wanted more money, land and babies to stew?! REALLY! Of all the stupid, idiotic reasons!”
“Hm.” Jin bobbed his head in agreement.
He already knew this information, so wasn’t shocked or angry. Any anger he’d felt had already been poured out on the countries and people involved. Mei Hua, however, was hearing most of this for the first time.
“She’s a terrible, awful, wicked person! What black heart? She has no heart! And that King she swindled wasn’t any better! What a moron!”
“Hm.”
“People like that don’t deserve to live!”
“Agreed.”
Mei Hua was feeling extremely vengeful. “They aren’t still alive are they?”
Jin paused, looking slightly amused. “Are you hoping they’re all dead?”
She harrumphed and folded her arms across her chest, “Of course I am! Those kinds of worthless rulers-- who needs them?! Bah, I hope they died awful deaths. Especially that Queen! Can’t believe that King let her eat women and children! Ugh! And those nations that actually allied with her… they had to have been just as bad!”
He reached out and stroked her head, as if trying to calm her down.
“...terrible people… even fishes won’t want to eat their corpses...” She muttered angrily and then frowned slightly, brow wrinkled, “I don’t understand why Shan Hui felt he had to swear everyone to secrecy over this?”
Jin shrugged. “What is common knowledge is rarely the whole story.”
“...ah.” She pursed her lips. “So something is left out, purposefully left out?”
He gave a slight nod. Mei Hua sighed, knowing that no amount of coaxing would get Jin to tell her what was “left out”. She knew because she’d already tried.
Later that night, long after everyone had gone to bed, Jin snuck away from the Palace.
He came to a barren mountain top, with only a sliver of a moon to give him light. There was a sole fairy guard standing a few feet from him, guarding what looked like a patch of dirt and rocks.
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Upon seeing Jin, the fairy guard came to attention, hands cupped respectfully. “Lord Jin, welcome!”
Jin waved his hand dismissively, “Tell the Fairy Keeper that rooms 5 to 18 need to be cleared out.”
The fairy guard noticeably brightened at the order. “Wonderful! The Fairy Keeper was just complaining about how difficult it’s been keeping trash from those rooms breathing lately. Does your Highness have specific instructions for where to dispose of the trash once the Keeper is finished?”
“The ocean to the south is fine.” A corner of Jin’s mouth lifted. “Though perhaps the fish won’t want them.”
“Ah?” The guard gave him a puzzled glance.
“Never mind, to the southern sea.”
“Very well then. And would your Highness like to be there while the Keeper clears out the trash or--?”
“Ah, no no. Especially for trash 3, me being there would be giving it the kind of attention it likes. Let the trash cease to exist quietly, unnoticed. Hn. That is its best punishment.”
The fairy guard chortled, “As you say, my Lord! You always know best!” He rubbed the side of his nose, looking a bit bashful. “I know it’s my job to keep the trash inside, but it’s so very satisfying to throw it away too. Especially this trash, would my Lord mind if I watch this time? I’ll make sure they won’t notice me.”
Jin thought for a moment and then gave a single nod. “Do as you like.”
The guard bowed again. “Many thanks!”
At a seaport far to the east, a young man was bent over the boat railing, vomiting profusely.
Even though the ship hadn’t met any bad weather, that hadn’t stopped the young man from getting extremely sea sick. What’s worse is he had a foul attitude the entire way, making an otherwise pleasant journey stressful for the other passengers. It got so bad that, near the end, the other passengers began to believe he was making them miserable on purpose.
Since he couldn’t feel well, everyone had to suffer.
If it weren’t for his bodyguard, at least two passengers would have chucked him overboard already. As it was, they never got the chance and were now disembarking, finally free of him. They cast the young man a spiteful glare and cursed him several times in their hearts as they left.
“Prince,” A large burly man was pleading while hovering over the ill young man. “Just let me carry you the last few steps. It’s only a few meters.”
“Don’t you— urk — dare!”
Shan Hui was in a strange place emotionally.
Obviously he wanted off this damn boat and to get away from the sea. He wanted desperately to see his Mother. At the same time, he couldn’t tolerate being carried around like an invalid. He despised having this kind of stupid weakness against what amounted to a big tub of salty water. Between the illness and his pride taking a severe blow, he ended up being deliriously stubborn.
After barfing one more time, he used the railing to drag his body to the plank leading off the ship. He stared at it blankly for several minutes. Even though it was a short walk, it felt infinitely long. If he wasn’t so angry at being ill, he’d have cried.
Taking a deep but shaky breath he told Huilang, “Just make sure I don’t fall off.”
Huilang nodded so hard his head looked like it’d fall off.
Shan Hui managed to take only two steps on the plank before falling to his knees. His eyes watered slightly at the impact, which just made him even more furious. Even though it was humiliating, he crawled inch by inch to land. In his delirious mind, anything was better than being carried by Huilang.
The passengers who hadn’t left yet were forced to wait while he very very slowly disembarked. They watched feeling bitter. They’d really had rotten luck to get stuck on the same boat with this young man.
When he was finally disembarked, the crowd behind him almost cheered. When a few started making the sound to do so, the glare from Huilang shut them up. Don’t they know that if they cheered the Prince would absolutely murder them? Since they’d come from a land of cultivators, they all more or less knew whom not to mess with, and Huilang was definitely not to be messed with.
Even though he’d gotten off the boat, Shan Hui was still technically not on land but on the wooden dock the ship was moored to. Even with the land so close he still didn’t feel any better, he’d found out the hard way that once his connection to the land is severed it requires him to physically touch the earth to reinitiate it. If he’d been feeling better, a string of curses would have been leaving his mouth at the stupidity of the flaw in his bloodline. As it was, raw fury gave him the push to crawl onto land.
When his hand reached out and touched land, his whole body slumped in relief. The agony he’d been suffering for weeks at sea ebbed away as the faint energy of his mountain home began to strengthen. It wasn’t as good as being on the mountains, but it was better than the slow ebb of power he’d received at sea.
Huilang was still hovering around him anxiously. “Prince, would you like—”
“F**K!” Shan Hui roared, making a few of the embarking passengers jump in fright and steer clear of him. All the frustration he’d been feeling traveling at sea poured out of him in a string of impressive expletives that made the surrounding sailors blush. He was so venomous that he actually left himself breathless at the end.
Huilang eyes rounded slightly, impressed at the variety and severity of vulgarity coming out of the First Prince’s mouth. Between warring in the East and then living so many years in Jianghu, it could be said the Prince’s vocabulary for cursing had expanded two hundred times over.
When the Prince finally quieted down, Huilang coughed lightly and commented dryly, “Er, Prince, this servant of yours wants to remind you that your Mother will definitely disapprove of such language.”
Shan Hui narrowed his eyes, “Plan on telling?”
“No, no, no,” Huilang hastily waved his hand in negative. “But you’ve been speaking… uh… freely these last few years. You might accidentally, in a moment of passion…”
If it had been someone else, Shan Hui wouldn’t have tolerated such correction. But Huilang had not only proved his loyalty, he’d saved Shan Hui’s life on numerous occasions. Even if he was arrogant and fickle, Shan Hui wasn’t so bad that he’d be ungrateful and cruel to someone who’d proved themselves to him over and over again.
“Ah… point taken. I’ll have to be more careful from now on.”
Shan Hui stood up and dusted himself off with a wave of wind, though it didn’t do much. He was a mess from crawling around on the ground. If Huilang hadn’t been there to intimidate spectators, he’d have had a crowd laughing at him already.
Shan Hui grimaced at himself. He then sighed and stealthily glanced around before straightening his back, pretending like nothing had happened.
Huilang’s face twitched. The Prince looked very much like a cat who’d startled itself by falling suddenly, only to instantly pretend like nothing had happened. In moments like these, Huilang had the irreverent thought that the First Prince sometimes, though entirely unintentionally, acted cute.
Now that Shan Hui was on proper land and didn’t feel like death, he turned to Huilang and said, “Let's find a place for me to change and clean up. I’ll rest a bit as well, then we’ll immediately set out.”
“Yes Prince. I will do my best to try to keep up.”
The corners of Shan Hui’s lips lifted a little and he gave a low laugh, “It’s good that you understand.”
“He’s coming!” Lu Shao burst into Yan Li’s dining hall in a panic, hair and clothes stuck to his body from being soaked from the heavy rainfall outside.
Yan Li had been in the middle of following the tradition his Mother had set: eating one meal with the family. In this case, because he was still invited to eat with his Mother and Father for dinner, he was eating lunch with his wife and children. Since this now included Jia Ying’s foster children, they’d had to convert a room used for hosting large groups of people into the main dining hall. Not only had he been enjoying eating with his wife, but he’d also enjoyed listening to the chatter and laughter of his children.
Even before Lu Shao had barged in like a crazy person, Yan Li had sensed the same thing. His chopsticks had frozen in the air and his head whipped around in the direction of where “he” was coming in from. His wife, who’d been cleaning up the mess their son was making, hadn’t noticed. The oldest foster son, who had been sitting nearby and talking directly to him, had seen this curious behavior and only just opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when Lu Shao suddenly appeared.
Yan Li’s wife and children had been silenced at Lu Shao’s shout and wild appearance. Even though they didn’t know who “he” was, Lu Shao’s reaction had caused them all to tense anxiously.
Setting his chopsticks down slowly, he looked at Lu Shao with a calm expression. “What’s the point of acting like a madman? Sit down and eat, I’ll have a fairy get you some dry clothes to change into.”
Yan Li’s eyes flickered to a nearby fairy who’d been standing by while they were all eating. The fairy bobbed his head without needing further instructions and left.
“You— you— aren’t you worried?!” Lu Shao asked in surprise, not caring about his appearance.
“Why would I be worried? In fact, why are you worried? Did he make this trip home for either of our sakes?” Yan Li sighed. “Little Bro’, he’s here for Mother, not us. At worst we’ll see him during dinner tonight.”
“And that isn’t enough to worry about?!”
“Aya, what’s he going to do to either of us when Mother’s watching?”
“Oh...” Lu Shao suddenly relaxed and then smiled cheerfully. “That’s true.”
“Of course it’s true.” Just then the fairy who’d left came back with a replacement outfit for Lu Shao. “Go change and then come sit with us. Being surrounded by so many cute nieces and nephews will help you relax.” Saying this, he winked at the children.
The children burst out into giggles and then began arguing over where Lu Shao would be sitting. The main table with Yan Li and Jia Ying was already packed tight, so only the peripheral tables had any space for an adult to sit. Children were rotated from the main table to the peripheral tables every meal to prevent them from feeling left out, but that didn't mean the children in the peripheral tables weren’t a little sulky. This opportunity, to have Fourth Uncle sit with them, they’d definitely grab with both hands!
Right after Lu Shao went to change, Shi Ji walked in. While the younger twin wasn’t soaked from the rain, nor had he technically barged in, he’d definitely come in without announcing himself and clearly had no intention of leaving.
“You too huh?” Yan Li commented at his twin.
“Safety in numbers. He won’t risk hurting children.”
Yan Li squinted at his Young Brother and tried not to laugh, “Really? Using my family as a shield?”
Shi Ji coughed lightly, avoiding looking directly in his twin brother’s eyes.
“Oh fine,” Yan Li looked at a nearby fairy, “Bring another seat.”
His Younger Brother looked at him, thankful. The children, originally saddened by their failure to entice their Fourth Uncle to their table perked up, Third Uncle might not be as entertaining but he always passed out interesting toys.
Yan Li picked his chopsticks and waved them around. “Don’t give me that look! What are you two even afraid of anyway? It’s not like Eldest Brother is going to do anything more than bully you a bit.”
“Is the First Prince returning?” Jia Ying asked in surprise, only then realizing who they were talking about.
Yan Li picked up a piece of finely seasoned chicken in front of him. “Technically, he’s already here.”
Her eyes widened slightly, “Should we go greet him? Say hello? He’s always been so particular—”
“Why? He doesn’t wanna see you anymore than he wants to see me.” Yan Li stuffed the chicken in his mouth. “He’s just here for Mother. If we go over there, he’ll just be annoyed with us for getting in the way.”