THE NEXT MORNING, everyone was awakened by the sound of continuous trumpets and the bang of a gong; and the capital square was soon filled up with common people and nobles who were intrigued by the sudden noise.
Lily, who had been forcibly awakened, was also present. Her expression was ghastly, and she exuded a dangerous aura. People didn’t dare to approach her, hence, giving her a space of her own.
“This better be something important,” she muttered under her breath, her tone irritated, “or else I will set the palace on fire!” Waking her up in the middle of a sweet sleep was an unforgivable offence! Especially when she wasn’t getting enough sleep lately!
“How about you return to the estate and go back to sleep?” Ji Lei suggested. Her twin, like their mistress, was sleep deprived. So Ji Mei was still resting back in the estate.
“What’s the point?” tsked Lily. She spread out her silver metal fan and began to fan the heat. “Didn’t you notice that the noise stopped the moment I arrived?”
“It did?” Ji Lei tried to recall what had happened earlier and realized Lily might be right. For three hours, the imperial guards had been trumpeting and slapping the gong. But they came to a halt the moment they arrived. “Why so?”
“Who knows,” Lily sneered, “these people think that just because they have too much time, I am the same. Hah! My time is precious!”
Not long after, the imperial family arrived. The emperor and Elder Leo were in the lead, followed by Empress Yen, The Crown Prince, and Olivia, and the rest of the imperial children.
Lily rolled her eyes as she saw them. Disturbing the people’s peace with their grandiose appearance; that’s the imperial family, alright!
“When, exactly, did Miss Olivia become a member of the Imperial Family?”
“She isn’t,” Lily replied, fanning herself more, “she’s there as Elder Leo’s disciple; didn’t the old man express his desire to make that woman his disciple at the banquet?”
Ah, look at that smiling face of hers. Olivia, that Young Miss Carna, would give sweet and gentle gazes to the crowd while blushing every time she looked at the crown prince. The latter would then look at her lovingly.
Ugh!
Lily couldn’t wait for them to wed.
Seriously.
They should then begin their wedding night until they are sick of each other. The crown prince would then seek out other women to taste. That’s what it’s like to marry into the imperial family. You may obtain your most desired title, but you must defend it at all times. Eventually, there was no happiness, only constant scheming and emotional breakdowns.
Elder Leo and the rest of the Medicine Sect wouldn’t last, after all. They would be gone sooner or later. So ‘little’ Olivia wouldn’t be able to enjoy the imperial family’s ‘good’ treatment for long. That would happen, of course, assuming Elder Leo decided to offend her grandfather.
Lily wondered if her grandfather would exterminate the sect now that she wasn’t going to die, or if something else would happen. She was extremely curious.
“Thank you, everyone, for coming!” Elder Leo began.
Lily blew her chin out. They were awfully loud; who wouldn’t come out of their houses to see what was going on?
“We called you out here,” Elder Leo continued, looking at the crowd, “because we have a very important announcement to make—-”
It had better be because Lily wasn’t joking when she mentioned burning down the damn palace.
“—- Our Medicine Sect has high hopes for the Empire of the Immortal Dragon. So, we have chosen to establish ourselves here and make the empire a part of us.”
The crowd erupted. There were murmurs of surprise, wonder, doubt, and joy. Lily couldn’t help but roll her eyes internally. If she remembered correctly, the emperor had issued a decree naming the elder as his Imperial Preceptor.
Isn’t that sufficient proof or evidence that the Medicine Sect was absorbing this empire?
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She could understand the common people’s reaction; they were naive and had no idea about the feuds between the aristocratic families. All they wanted was for the empire to prosper. She was also certain that they only learned of the elder’s identity now, hence their surprise.
But for the nobles to act oblivious, Lily was disgusted. She had to hide her face using her metallic fan to conceal her expression.
Elder Leo cleared his throat before continuing, “As you all know, the gate to the Earth Realm is about to open, giving talented mortals another chance to enter such a magnificent land!”
The crowd fell silent as they heard his words. Lily, too, perked up her ears to listen, intrigued. Forget about setting fire to the palace. This was, indeed, a very important announcement. She had been anticipating this moment!
“We gathered you here not only to announce this matter but also to inform everyone that you are all welcome to enter the competition!”
The crowd erupted.
“We will not only accept talented people from aristocratic families; as long as you are a citizen of this empire and have potential, we will accept you!”
The crowd immediately began to cheer. Some nobles were frowning, while others remained silent. They had no say, whether they gave a damn about the new rule or not, the Medicine Sect made the decision, not the Emperor. They had no right to protest.
Lily raised an eyebrow at the smug-looking elder.
‘Oh?’
Very clever strategy.
This elder was not fooling around. He was dead serious about extracting the best from the best. Just because someone was born into an aristocratic family does not mean he was gifted or could perform magic.
Who knows?
Perhaps the one the elder was looking for was just someone from the common people. It was the same in the Earth Realm. You’ll never know who the most capable people are unless you widen your point of view.
Unfortunately...
Lily closed her metallic fan and slapped it on her left palm.
She already has the best there is. That poor little prince would be under her no matter what. Guess, she needed to carry out her plan as soon as possible.
Sadly for the imperial family, she still had to burn their beloved palace.
“Ji Lei,” she called out.
Ji Lei immediately turned to her mistress and asked, “Yes, Young Miss?”
“Let’s go back to the estate,” she said, stuffing the metallic fan into her sleeve, “I will have my rest now. I’m going to need a lot of energy for the future.”
She quickly turned her heels and walked away, Ji Lei close behind.
---
“The competition will be held here?” Duke Pei inquired, surprised. His hands came to a halt in the midst of preparing his next move. He then moved the chess piece to the target position seconds later.
“The Spirit Sword Sect agreed,” the purple-haired woman responded with a half-smile, but her amber eyes held no mirth. “They didn’t mind the change of location; who could guarantee that the Immortal Dragon Empire would win just because they held the competition here?” Her eyes squinted as she made her move.
Duke Pei harrumphed. He stroked his beard as he considered which chess piece to use. “Are the sects recruiting talents or simply competing to see which empire has the most powerful people?”
“The latter,” said the woman. She sipped her tea while waiting for the other to make a move. “The goal of recruiting talents for their sects had long passed, and as they began to adopt empires in the secular world, they also treated it as competition.”
“How about you?” Duke Pei asked, raising his head to look at the beautiful woman, “Your sect is also in the competition; are you there to recruit or simply compete?”
The woman’s expression remains unchanged. “The latter,” she replied, tucking her hair behind her ear. She raised a brow and added, “I told you, hobbies never change. The three major sects never see each other eye to eye. That,” she pointed a chess piece at Duke Pei, “will never change.”
Duke Pei gave a nod. “How about taking Lily into your sect?” he thought suddenly.
“I thought Lily refused to enter the Earth Realm?”
“Who knows,” Duke Pei sighed. “That girl is too moody; she even broke off her engagement to the crown prince.”
The woman snorted. “That’s good! The stupid ugly crown prince of your empire isn’t enough for her anyway.” She glared at the duke, “I told you multiple times in the past to break it but you’re always hesitant. Lily was too lazy in the past to do it, but now she learned her lesson. She finally listened to me.”
Duke Pei sneezed. “I realize that now; it was a mistake to engage Lily with someone like that, and I fully regret it.”
“Lily is already at the right age to decide her fate,” the woman said, moving her Queen piece. “If she wanted to enter the Earth Realm without help from her elders, then let her be. She wanted to explore, so you should support her. It’s already time for her to stand on her own, anyway.”
Duke Pei took a deep breath. He had raised that girl since she was born. It was too difficult for him to let her go just like that. But the woman was correct; he had to let that girl stand on her own. Otherwise, what would she do once he was gone?