And yet the plan was extremely simple. Many cities and towns had been told to scale down their military forces. Some of them were even thrown in jail right after they scaled down, for their military might was still too fearsome. Many of the generals were extremely fearful for their lives after the war had ended. At this point, these generals are scared to even stretch their hands out to slap a scarecrow. They hate the Emperor for being so restrictive, thus they will hate the Crown Prince as well.

Eunuch Liao wanted to speak further, but saw another eunuch by the door who gestured to him. He then stood up, "King Lu, I was too engrossed in the conversation topic, that I forgot about some matters. I came here to inform you that the preparations for the Lantern Festival have been completed. It’s time for you to go to the palace and visit the Emperor."

King Lu nodded his head and laughed, "Young Master Xie, although you’re not the Sect Leader of Dark Altar Sect, you already have the Daoist’s Dao Master t.i.tle. I really like you. When I enter the palace later on, I shall help you fight for the Imperial Court’s Dao Master t.i.tle."

"You should continue to plan and plot for me. When I ascend the throne, I shall reward you handsomely with a True Sovereign t.i.tle."

When Xie Cheng Dong heard this, he kept his smile and bowed deeply, "King Lu is magnanimous, I shall serve you to the best of my ability."

King Lu then stood up and waved his hand, "Stand up, I shall leave for the palace to meet the Emperor. You should write in detail all the information on a piece of paper over the afternoon. When I return, I shall read it."

"The Emperor has been in poor health as of late. If we wish to cause the Crown Prince to fall, we should do it quickly."

"If we’re not quick and the Emperor dies, the Crown Prince would automatically be given the throne. When that happens, even if we were to raise an army, it might not work in our favor."

"As for Pei Zi Yun of Free Cloud Sect, he only has the Paradise. When the Crown Prince falls, just an edict would be enough to crush him into powder."

"Yes!" The pair shouted out loudly.

Xie Cheng Dong’s heart trembled. He was a very perceptive person. Just by this conversation alone, he realized that King Lu knew a lot more than he expected. He also noticed while he was being frank towards King Lu, he had accidentally overstepped his trusted eunuch.

After they had sent King Lu off, Xie Cheng Dong’s eyes glistened, "King Lu didn’t actually confer any t.i.tle on me and he doesn’t have the authority to as well. But just the mention of it, I could feel the distance from where I am to the Earth Immortal stage is very close. The immovable barrier that had always been there finally shook."

"Even after being conferred the t.i.tle of Dao Master, I might not be able to break through this barrier. But maybe a True Sovereign t.i.tle would be able to help."

"d.a.m.n it, the Imperial Qi is really that strong?"

"I’ve been cultivating for so many years, and that can’t even compare to a piece of paper?"

"Even the Daoist Sects hide under the shadows of the Imperial Court, and to be a true sect, there must be a Paradise. Regardless of what the circ.u.mstances are, the Daoist Sects are always easily manipulated by external influence."

"Only with the evolved Paradise would another miniature realm be created. The power within this new evolved Paradise would also increase exponentially. A person’s flesh has to transform to become that of an Earth Immortal and not just his soul, would he be able to use the Imperial Qi in his favor? Even when that happens, it would still be hard to fight against thousands of soldiers and horses, and decimate them all."

"Or maybe this only existed in stories. When the flesh truly acquires the Dao, it also means that the body, spirit, and mind have truly ascended to the realms of True Sovereign. That’s when they can ignore the Imperial QI, and even rebel against it."

"The Three Yes’ and Two Guos will then appear."

"This outcome, shall be my future!" At this point, Xie Cheng Dong’s eyes were blazing as he turned around and walked across the snow.

Pier

A pair of oxcarts cruised down the road. The oxcart that lead the way looked extremely elegant and expensive. The entire cart was lined with golden silk fabric and had intricate embroideries. The gold cloth glittered as it radiated light, while the oxcart behind followed closely.

At once glance, it was apparent that this was a rich family. Everyone around jumped out of its way and avoided it.

The first oxcart was built out of fine wood and even the floorboard was polished spotless. The windows were made of gla.s.s, silk draped around them, acting as curtains. Soft cus.h.i.+ons lined the seats and it was rather s.p.a.cious within. It even had a table, where an incense burner was placed upon it. At this point the incense burner was emitting sweet scented smoke.

The best part about this oxcart was what lay below the floorboards. Firewood was burned beneath, thus warmed the entire carriage. Wisps of steam rose up into the air. There were two people seated across the table. Indeed, it was Pei Zi Yun and the Canton Princess. From time to time, laughter would ring out from within. An old granny maid sat together with the oxcart driver, as the granny would cast occasional glances behind her.

"Please write me a poem!" The little Canton Princess begged endearingly. Even without waiting for him to refuse, she had already prepared ink, a quill, and paper to write on.

"Ai, writing poems is about the inspiration, which only comes occasionally. Now that you’re asking me to write one, it would be hard."

"Even if you can’t write a good poem, it’s fine, you just have to write something."

"Let me think." Pei Zi Yun nodded his head as he looked at the streets which were pa.s.sing them by. There were a pair of men who watched as the oxcart drove on. He concentrated for several seconds, and didn’t even feel the cart pulling to a halt. He shut his eyes and started to write.

"The heavens speak through the winter snow, as thick clouds cover the entire city.

The sounds of horses fill the streets, as they gallop across the undulating terrains."

"Your poems are always so good." The little Canton Princess spoke as she carefully lifted the sheet of paper up and started to blow it dry. She then laughed, "Can I call you Brother Pei?"

"HA, the little Canton Princess is overly praising me." Pei Zi Yun said as he sighed.

The old granny whispered through the screen, "Young Master Pei, Little Miss, we’ve arrived at the pier."

"Come, let me take you to my boat." Pei Zi Yun said.

"Alright." The pair then disembarked happily from the oxcart. The little Canton Princess was exceptionally excited to see his boat.

A group of people alighted from the other oxcart, they felt the pain caused by the cold upon their skin and in their bones. There was a boat which had just docked. Several men disembarked from it. This was Pei Zi Yun’s boat.

This looked to be a very normal merchant boat, men arduously moved goods off of it. Since today was the Lantern Festival, there weren’t many people around and thus it wasn’t very crowded.

Ren Wei supervised these men, as he recorded the items which were transported off the boat.

When Ren Wei saw Pei Zi Yun, he stepped forward, "Young Master."

"Carry on with your work, I shall just show this this Little Princess around."

When Ren Wei heard this, he took a step back in shock and bowed. He was in full admiration of what Pei Zi Yun had managed to accomplish. He knew that the only reason sea trade was possible was because of the Grand Princess. Only with her support and permission were sea trade routes opened. It was thus rather unexpected that even the Grand Princess’s precious daughter was brought out by Pei Zi Yun.

At this moment, Ren Wei’s heart was indeed filled with deep admiration.

Pei Zi Yun was oblivious to what Ren Wei thought as he led the Canton Princess towards the boat, "Look, this is my new boat. It’s eight zhang long and three zhang wide. I spent about 7,000 taels of silver just on this."

"There are three stories. The first story is here on the deck. There’s a kitchen and a dining room. Right across from here is the tea room."

"The second floor is for guests. There are six rooms. We can also place our goods and merchandise on the lower decks."

They finally arrived at the study room, after touring the rest of the boat. The granny maid was following close behind. When the Canton Princess saw the number of books within the study room, she exclaimed, "Brother Pei, there are so many books here!"

As she said that, she picked up a book to browse.

The pair of them were deep in conversation when the Canton Princess reached the west most shelves as she asked in surprise, "You’re a fan of this book as well? I really enjoy it!"

"Wa, there are really countless books here. But I’ve never seen this one before. Pirates Annihilation Journal. Is this a comic book as well?"

"That’s Young Master Pei’s achievement in Ying Prefecture. Someone wrote a book about his harrowing details. I’ve read it before. It’s somewhat exaggerated, but the tales in this book aren’t fake!" Ren Wei said.

"Ah? It’s a book on Brother Pei’s deeds?" The Canton Princess asked in surprise. She then took the book off the shelf and started to flip through it. As soon as she read several sentences, she was so immersed that she turned quiet.

Seeing her this way, Pei Zi Yun sighed. Ren Wei then turned around and said, "Young Master, all the goods have already been transported to land."

As he finished speaking, he handed Pei Zi Yun some doc.u.ments.

After he took a look at them, he gained a clearer understanding of the business conducted on his behalf by Ren Wei. Everything had been done well and was in order. From this voyage alone, he had earned 2,700 taels of silver.

Pei Zi Yun was rather satisfied with everything he had seen thus far. He took out 100 taels note and pushed it towards Ren Wei. "It’s been hard on you. You can take this boat back and rest while on the way. At the same time, you can take your examination. This is your reward."

Hearing this, Ren Wei was elated and didn’t refuse the money. "Many thanks, Young Master."

"If you pa.s.s the examination, you don’t have to return to my service. But in the event that you fail, there will be three boats docked in rotation by the capital city’s pier. You can make the necessary arrangements."

"Yes, Young Master." Ren Wei sounded rather happy, but as soon as business matters were discussed, he reverted to a tone of severity.

The Canton Princess didn’t speak much as she continued to flip through the book about the annihilation of the pirates. After the business matters concluded, the sound of firecrackers could be heard from outside as the night turned dark.

"Whew." The Canton Princess exhaled deeply as she closed the book.

"This book is very good to read and speaks of such heroic deeds." The Canton Princess held her face as she spoke, looking at Pei Zi Yun with a strange and complicated expression. Apart from being extremely good looking, Pei ZI Yun was gifted with exceptional literary talents, and now could even lead troops into battle.

All these traits fit the bill for her ideal partner.

"Canton Princess, the night market of the Lantern Festival has begun." The granny maid reminded her.

"Let’s go then. We can set off from this pier and make our way towards the city." Pei Zi Yun was rather satisfied as he read a note written by He Qing Qing.

The note indicated that the gold had already been properly hidden within Golden Island. All his instructions had been carried out without flaws. He had received this note with the arrival of another one of his boats.

The Pei Zi Yun and the Canton Princess started to walk along the streets together. The granny didn’t follow them, but Cheng Xiang tailed them from a distance away.

Today was the day of the Lantern Festival and the streets were filled with lively activities. There were colorful lanterns that hung all over the streets. People were walking back and forth, young men and young women, or even families roamed around in joyful exuberance.

Beside Pei Zi Yun, the Canton Princess felt rather shy. She recalled the Lantern Festival a few years ago, and realized that the atmosphere was similar. People were all over and fireworks filled the skies.

That particular year, Pei Zi Yun was given a hard time by her mother. Yet he managed to compose a poem within seven steps.

Since then, Pei Zi Yun’s exquisite talents had been imprinted deeply within her mind. After reading the journal accounts of him wiping out the pirates, she started to feel like, there was no other person in this world as talented as Pei Zi Yun was.

Thinking this way, the Canton Princes snuck a glance at Pei Zi Yun.

Pei Zi Yun seemed to be deep in thought as he turned his head and laughed, "I haven’t thought of a name for this boat. What do you think we should call it?"

"What about The Ending?" The Canton Princess thought about the poem which Pei Zi Yun had recited all those years ago, and recalled the particular phrase he had recited which included the words "The Ending". Pei Zi Yun laughed and replied, "Great. That’s a good name. That’s what it shall be named then."

As he spoke, he led the Canton Princess down the streets. The pair saw several stalls as they retired for the night. As they kept their wares, they replaced them with bright lanterns. As Pei Zi Yun and the Canton Princess continued to walk, they saw the skies filled with bright white and red lanterns that hung high above them. On these lanterns, there were several riddles.

A person who could guess the riddle or complete the couplets would be able to take down the lantern and keep it. The lanterns were placed on a pinwheel, which revolved. The winner can then pick a lantern of his choice.

Pei Zi Yun took a few more steps closer as the owner of the stall laughed, "As long as someone managed to guess correctly, he would be able to keep the lantern!"

Seeing that n.o.body else was paying them close attention, a low voice whispered, "Dao Master, I’ve already seen a great general, General Chen Hu approaching with a large army."

"Are you certain?"

"I’m certain. I recognize General Chen Hu. Although his army were dressed in plain clothes, there was easily a hundred men, and was very easy to tell."

Pei Zi Yun relaxed. As long as a single person showed up, his plan worked.