Chapter 40: Initial Success in Flood Control Leads to a Marriage; Three Immortals Enter the City and Smell Jealousy Turns to Jealousy

The rear hall of the palace was deathly silent.

The Shadow Guard codenamed Ying Yi knelt on one knee on the cold floor, his head bowed deeply, his mask concealing his pallid face.

He did not report the process, but simply presented the wound on his arm, slashed by a withered branch, before King Wendin.

A trivial wound, yet it made King Wending of Shang's pupils constrict sharply.

"Mere withered branches and fallen leaves, a child's plaything of a stone, and yet it could injure Our Shadow Guard?"

King Wending of Shang's voice was very soft, yet more heart-trembling than thunder.

"This subordinate is incompetent."

Ying Yi's voice was hoarse, "That courtyard... has something strange. A small space, yet it felt like sinking into a quagmire; a short distance felt like the ends of the earth. This subordinate was unable to approach the bedroom by even half a step."

King Wending of Shang fell silent.

He did not get angry; instead, a strange smile emerged on his face.

To be able to use the most ordinary dead objects to set up a maze that even a Shadow Guard could not see through—this could no longer be described by the two words "expert."

This was a provocation!

It was a way of using near-humiliation to tell him, the ruler of Great Shang: Your claws and teeth do not even have the qualifications to enter the door!

"Interesting, truly interesting." King Wending of Shang paced slowly, his knuckles tapping against his palm.

"Someone who dares to hide so deeply right under Our nose... what exactly does he want?"

He waved his hand, "Withdraw. There is no need to investigate further."

"As you command."

Ying Yi felt as if granted amnesty, his figure merging once again into the shadows and disappearing.

King Wending of Shang walked to the window, gazing toward the direction of the Chen residence in the distance, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

Since the covert approach would not work, then he would come openly.

Since you are unwilling to come out of seclusion, then We will bind you firmly to Our chariot!

Just at this moment, an attendant hurried in, a look of wild joy on his face.

"Great joy! Your Majesty, great joy!"

"What is the reason for this clamor?"

"The Yellow River! The Yellow River's water level has receded!" The attendant was incoherent with excitement.

"General Chen Lie has submitted a report; the diversion and flood control have shown initial success, and the danger of the downstream levees breaking has been largely resolved! A million citizens along the banks have been saved!"

Boom!

As the news spread, the entire imperial court was shaken.

Fei Lian and the others, who had been wailing and crying just a few days ago, believing that Chen Lie was gambling with the nation's fate, were now dumbstruck, unable to utter a single word.

Facts are the best slap in the face.

On the Dragon Throne, King Wendin laughed loudly, his voice shaking the palace hall.

"Good! A good General Chen Lie! A good Governor of Flood Control!"

He issued an imperial decree on the spot, rewarding Chen Lie with ten thousand taels of gold, a thousand acres of fertile land, and bestowing upon him the title of General Protecting the State!

But this was not enough.

When everyone thought the rewards had ended, King Wending of Shang's gaze swept across the court, and he spoke again, his voice clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"General Chen Lie's son, Chen Yuan, although only five years old, bears the name of a prodigy. We have heard that his father's flood control strategy originated from this child's mouth. This is a future pillar of our Great Shang!"

"General Old General Huang Gun, who guards the Xiqi border, has rendered meritorious service. He has a daughter named Huang Yuerong, who is intelligent and virtuous."

King Wending of Shang paused, throwing out a decision that left all the civil and military officials speechless.

"Today, We shall bestow a marriage for these two pillars of our Great Shang!"

"We decree that Chen Yuan and Huang Yuerong shall be betrothed! Once both have reached adulthood, they shall be married immediately!"

"Respect this!"

A single imperial decree of marriage was like a giant boulder thrown into Zhaoge City, stirring up a thousand layers of waves.

A five-year-old prodigy, a future pillar of the nation, betrothed to the tiger daughter of a military family.

This was not just a reward, but the clearest signal from the King—the Chen family, from this moment on, was completely bound to the royal power and the military!

...

Zhaoge City, the rain had passed and the sky cleared.

On the bustling streets, there was a continuous stream of carriages and horses, and the noise of the crowd was deafening.

Three breathtakingly beautiful figures walked amidst the crowd, yet they seemed to be separated from this Mortal World by an invisible veil.

They were the Three Xiao, who had snuck out of Jinao Island.

They had concealed their immortal aura and changed into Mortal skirts, curiously observing this world full of the breath of life.

"Wow! Is this the Mortal realm? It's so lively!"

Qiong Xiao's bright eyes darted around, full of interest in the sugar figures and dough figurines sold on the roadside, her lively nature fully revealed.

Bixiao seemed a bit impatient; dressed in a fiery red long dress, she was already eye-catching, and at this moment, her willow-leaf brows were slightly furrowed.

"What is there to look at? Just a bunch of Mortals. It is more important that we quickly find Junior Brother Ziyuan!"

"Bixiao, calm down."

Yunxiao walked at the very front; her temperament was gentle and graceful, like an orchid in an empty valley. Just by walking quietly, she seemed to make the surrounding clamor quiet down a little.

Her Divine Thought had long since quietly spread out, yet she could not sense that familiar aura at all.

Revered Master's Seal was actually this thorough.

"Let us first find a place to rest our feet and gather some information," Yunxiao suggested.

The three entered a teahouse by the street and chose a window seat to sit down.

The teahouse was a mix of all sorts of people, exactly the place where news traveled fastest.

"Hey, have you heard? There was a huge joyous event in the imperial court today!"

A person who looked like a merchant at the next table was boasting to his companion, spittle flying.

"What joyous event?"

"General Chen Lie's son, that five-year-old prodigy Chen Yuan, was personally betrothed by the King!"

"Betrothed? To whom?"

"Who else could it be? The daughter of the Xiqi General Old General Huang Gun! That is a military family matching a military family, a union of strengths!"

"I heard General Chen was able to quell the flood this time all thanks to his five-year-old son's strategy! This child will surely be the second Grand Revered Master Wen in the future!"

"Tsk tsk, betrothed at five years old; this Chen family is about to soar to the skies!"

The discussions in the teahouse reached the ears of the Three Xiao, word for word.

Qiong Xiao was just picking up a piece of osmanthus cake to taste, but upon hearing this, her small hand stiffened.

The pastry plopped back onto the plate.

She blinked, not quite reacting: "Sister, the Chen Yuan they are talking about... is he... is he Senior Brother Gu?"

The impatience on Bixiao's face had long since vanished without a trace, replaced by a deathly astonishment.

Yunxiao's hand holding the teacup was as steady as a rock, but the blood was draining from her gentle and tranquil face at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Crack!" A crisp sound, exceptionally jarring in the noisy teahouse.

Everyone looked toward the sound, only to see that the woman in red had actually crushed the porcelain cup in her hand into powder!

Porcelain shards mixed with tea dripped from between her fair fingers, yet she seemed unaware.

"He..."

Bixiao's teeth gnashed, making a clattering sound, and in her beautiful almond eyes, two clusters of rage sufficient to burn the heavens ignited.

"How long has he been in Reincarnation? Five years?! And he already dares to find a woman outside?!"

"Little heartless thing!" Qiong Xiao was also so angry that her cheeks puffed up, and she hammered the table with her small fist.

"We are so worried about him that we cannot eat or sleep, and he, on the other hand, is here playing the little bridegroom! It makes me so mad!"

The temperature of the entire teahouse seemed to plummet in that instant.

Those few merchants at the next table who were still boasting felt a chill on the backs of their necks, and they all shivered in unison, not daring to say another word.

Only Yunxiao sat quietly.

She did not speak, nor did she make any movement, merely setting down the intact teacup in her hand.

But on the tabletop in front of her, a thin layer of white frost was rapidly congealing.

"Sister!" Bixiao stood up abruptly, full of Killing Intent.

"We are going to the Chen residence right now! I want to ask him what he takes us three sisters for!"

"Sit down."

Yunxiao finally spoke, her voice calm but carrying an unquestionable chill.

She raised her eyes, looking toward the direction of the Chen residence outside the window; in those gentle eyes, only a coldness that could freeze for a thousand miles remained.

"Go, we will naturally go."

"Tonight, we will go and pay a visit to this... future pillar of Great Shang."

The night was as deep as ink.

Three streams of light silently crossed the high walls of the Chen residence, like three weightless fallen leaves, drifting down into the courtyard.

Bixiao's face was filled with rage, Qiong Xiao was pouting, and Yunxiao's expression was icy; all three women held a nameless fire in their hearts.

They were prepared to properly teach that little nemesis who had forgotten them after Reincarnation a lesson.

However, when they clearly saw the scene in the courtyard, all three were stunned.

In the center of the courtyard, moonlight was like water.

A small figure was sitting alone on a stone stool.

He was wearing a faded, plain-colored short shirt, his spine held straight, facing an empty stone chessboard in front of him, motionless.

The cold moonlight shone on him, stretching his small shadow very, very long.

There was no high-spiritedness of a prodigy, no smugness of being bestowed a marriage.

What there was, was only a kind of profound, heartbreaking loneliness that was completely out of place for his age.

It was as if the moonlight filling the courtyard and the bustling Mortal World had nothing to do with him. In his world, there was only the silent chessboard before him.

In that instant, all the rage, grievance, and resentment in the hearts of the Three Xiao were like being doused with a basin of ice water, instantly extinguished.

Replacing it was a sharp, bone-piercing heartache that surged like a tide.

Bixiao's tightly clenched fists loosened powerlessly.

Qiong Xiao's eyes instantly turned red.

Yunxiao's delicate body trembled even more; she felt as if her heart had been fiercely gripped by an invisible hand, hurting so much that she could barely breathe.

That back that could talk and laugh freely even when facing the pressure of a Saint on Jinao Island—at this moment, it slowly merged with the lonely back of this five-year-old child before her.

He... was still him.

It was just that now, he had nothing.