34: The Qin family's banquet begins. My hands are numb after receiving the gift.

As time passed, invitations for Ninth Young Master Qin's tenth birthday banquet finally spread throughout the heavens.

Even those not of Imperial Family lineage now understood the significance of this banquet—

It was the Qin Family, one of the Heavenly Emperor's "Ten Heads and Three Heavens," and it marked the first formal appearance of the Qilin Child, who possessed the Eternal Life Immortal Body.

Undercurrents surged across all continents:

Imperial Family princesses bathed in incense for three months, solely to perfectly perform a "Rainbow Skirt Breaking Formation Dance";

A Grandmaster of alchemy exhausted half a lifetime's savings to refine a furnace of Nine Revolutions Profound Spirit Pill as a congratulatory gift;

And there was no shortage of first-rate aristocratic families whose genealogies were still wet with ink from being revised, forcibly fabricating connections to the Qin Family...

The reason was simple—

If one could catch the eye of that Young Master, it would be like a fish leaping over the Dragon Gate, ascending to heaven in a single step.

At the same time, the position of legal wife also represented an alliance between families.

Everyone wanted this opportunity.

As the morning light dawned, Wangchuan Pavilion's exterior was already adorned with star-patterned silk.

When Li Qingluan entered the inner room with an jade comb, she happened upon a chaotic scene involving Qin Wangchuan and his servant.

"Young Master! How do I wear this clothing?"

"I'll do it."

"How can that be! You are of noble status..."

"Let me do it."

She stepped forward softly, deftly unfolding the originally intricate clothing and gesturing for Qin Wangchuan to put it on. Her gaze inadvertently fell upon a half-eaten snack on a nearby table, and a hint of doting helplessness rippled in her glazed eyes:

"You're quite leisurely, while everyone outside is in a frenzy preparing for your banquet."

Qin Wangchuan shrugged at her words: "It only seems leisurely."

Before he finished speaking, his hair was suddenly pulled with a gentle but firm tug—

Li Qingluan had, at some unknown point, moved behind him, her cool jade comb now caught in his knotted hair.

"Don't move."

As her fingertips brushed the young man's delicate collarbone, Ye Jianwei instinctively took a step back.

She was just a servant, but Young Miss Li was a legitimate daughter of the Li Family, equally noble in status, and dared not harbor any dissatisfaction in her heart.

Amidst the faint rustle of the comb's teeth breaking through the morning mist, a very soft sigh suddenly mingled in: "...Your hair has grown longer than last year."

"Has it?" Qin Wangchuan's fingers touched his hair ends, "How come I didn't notice."

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon Li Qingluan.

The bronze mirror reflected their overlapping figures.

Her movements in tying his hair were as swift as wielding a sword, the dark golden hair tie weaving like a swimming Dragon, yet she softened her touch abruptly when tying the knot.

"You've been visiting quite frequently this year; are you perhaps coveting my body?" Qin Wangchuan asked with a playful raised eyebrow.

Since his return from the Lower Realm last time, Li Qingluan had been visiting him frequently.

Unexpectedly, the Family's Seniors not only didn't stop her but even granted her special access to Wangchuan Pavilion.

While he wasn't averse to matters of men and women, he only regarded the person before him as a good friend.

"How could that be?" Li Qingluan chuckled, covering her brows, her glazed eyes narrowing slightly, the upward curve of her eye corners resembling a new moon, carrying a hint of playfulness.

Her fingertips lightly touched her lips, feigning surprise: "You are still young; how could you have such thoughts?"

"Besides, I've long heard that the Qin Family Elders have arranged a fiancée for you. I wonder who is so fortunate."

Her voice was soft and gentle, carrying a touch of regret.

The trailing sound, however, was deliberately drawn out, like a feather tickling an ear.

After a year of constant companionship, even if it was an arrangement by the Family, she had accepted it.

The person before her was the husband she, Li Qingluan, had chosen.

"Did I overthink it?"

Qin Wangchuan initially didn't believe it, but her expression didn't seem feigned.

"Alright."

Li Qingluan took half a step back, then suddenly pulled out a white jade box from her sleeve, "A congratulatory gift."

Seeing the young man raise an eyebrow, about to open it, she immediately held his hand, her jaw tightening as she added:

"The inner banquet is about to begin; you should hurry over."

Qin Wangchuan looked up, catching a faint blush on the tip of her ear.

Opening the white jade box on the way, a concentric knot lay quietly inside.

Crimson rope and golden thread, with a crooked knot at the end, clearly hand-woven.

"You're thoughtful."

He chuckled softly, his fingertips tracing the pattern on the knot, and casually tied it to his waist.

Outside Wangchuan Pavilion, the carriage was already waiting.

—

The Qin Family's inner banquet was held at Starfall Pavilion, followed by the outer banquet.

When Qin Wangchuan entered at the chime of the early morning hour, several Family Elders simultaneously looked at him, their gazes filled with hope.

Old Ancestor and Ancestor Mu also made personal appearances, a rare sight within the Qin Family.

"Ninth Brother."

Eldest Brother Qin Wudao was the first to step forward. As his sleeve billowed, a completely black Flying Sword, wreathed in Chaos Qi, shot through the air and embedded itself at Qin Wangchuan's feet, "This item is for you."

The Elders' expressions changed—this sword actually carried the Qi of ancient Chaos creation?

But what surprised them wasn't just that.

"Eldest Brother, you really have..." Qin Zhaoer looked at the Flying Sword obliquely stuck in front of her with a displeased expression, but the next moment, Second Brother Qin Xuanji covered her mouth.

"Don't say anything bad today." At the same time, he looked at everyone with an apologetic expression, "Sorry, sorry, you know Eldest Brother's old habits."

"Old habits?" Qin Wudao looked at the several stick figures in front of him with a strange expression.

He blinked and looked closer; did he recognize the wrong person again?

And why are you apologizing? Who's the Elder brother here?

This time, Second Brother Qin Xuanji's face looked a bit more normal, though it was unclear if it was his true appearance.

He slowly stepped forward, tying a pendant to Qin Wangchuan's waist, and said, "I found this in an ancient ruin. It can conceal one's Qi, but remember, this item is useless against a Great Emperor."

"Thank you, Second Brother."

However, looking at the item, Qin Wangchuan was a bit suspicious, "Second Brother, shouldn't you be treasuring something like this, rather than giving it to me?"

It wasn't that Qin Xuanji was stingy, but such an item, fitting his style, shouldn't have been given away.

However, the next moment, he understood.

Qin Xuanji pulled open his collar, revealing several identical pendants hanging inside.

It has to be you, Second Brother.

"Wait!" Qin Zhaoer, sharp-eyed, suddenly caught sight of the concentric knot on Qin Wangchuan's waist just as Second Brother gave the pendant, and her voice abruptly rose: "Where did this broken rope come from?!"

"Which woman sent it?"

Seeing everyone look at her with strange expressions, she suddenly lost her nerve.

"Hmph!" Qin Zhaoer, her yellow skirt swirling like a whirlwind, threw a brocade box at Qin Wangchuan and tried to run, but he grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back.

He opened the brocade box with one hand, and a pair of merfolk pearl earrings lay inside.

She put her hands on her hips, her expression playful: "I searched for a long time to find these; put them on and let big sister see."

"They suit you so well ~"

It was clearly Qin Zhaoer's prank.

Qin Wangchuan chuckled softly, not getting angry with the child. Instead, he took out the earrings and put them on her ears.

He flicked the swaying earrings with a finger, then stepped back half a pace to observe, his smile light.

"Very beautiful."

Immediately, everyone burst into laughter.

The sharp-eyed Seniors, meanwhile, nodded in satisfaction.

(He resolved the situation with just a few words; this child not only possesses Heaven-Defying talent and strength but is also impeccable in other aspects.)

"You! You!!!" Qin Zhaoer pointed at Qin Wangchuan with one hand and touched her earlobe with the other, her cheeks flushed, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.

"Hahaha, you've all given your gifts, now take a punch from me as a congratulatory gift!"

A bare-chested strong man suddenly unleashed a punch, the force of which caused Starfall Pavilion's Formation to flicker erratically.

Qin Wangchuan was about to block, but then saw Fourth Brother suddenly slam on the brakes, opening his palm upward to reveal what was inside.

A token.