Chapter 655 - The So-Called Betrothal Gift
Edited by: NZRose
“You just don’t like my Dage!” Yan Tianhen concluded.
“You’re actually poking me with your elbow!” You Ming suddenly stood up. His pair of bright eyes were extremely cold as he glared at Lin Xuanzhi. “I don’t know what kind of bewitching drug you gave Ah Hen to make him so dead set on you, but I’ll put these words down right now — just based on the fact that you didn’t tell us, his parents, and took it upon yourself to take Ah Hen to the Tomb of Youshan, I will never allow you and Ah Hen to be together easily!”
With that, You Ming left with a fling of his sleeves.
Yan Tianhen was dumbfounded.
Although You Ming had a bad temper, it was a really rare occasion when he truly became angry.
Yan Tianhen was suddenly at a loss. He looked up at Yan Zhonghua in panic. “Father, Dad is really angry. I… I didn’t mean to make him angry.”
Yan Zhonghua knew that You Ming wasn’t happy. In the past two years, he had been thinking and worrying about his son every day and looking forward to seeing him. He even contacted lots of people to enter the Tomb of Youshan to save his son, but he still couldn’t make any progress, so he was already harboring a ball of fire inside his heart. Now that his precious baby had finally returned safely, he also worried that they didn’t even have time for a deep family chat, yet there was now a new mess about getting a sweetheart. Thus, it was also human nature that You Ming couldn’t accept this for the time being.
Yan Zhonghua gave Yan Tianhen a pacifying look. “Don’t you understand your dad’s temper? He’s simply afraid that you’ll throw your dad to the back of your mind once you get a sweetheart. If you go and coax him, he’ll be happy.”
Yan Tianhen glanced at Lin Xuanzhi and then Yan Zhonghua again. He stood up. “I’m going to find Dad, but don’t bully Dage.”
Yan Zhonghua smiled. “I’m not that childish.”
This was indirectly suggesting that You Ming was childish.
Yan Tianhen also smiled. He entered the field of frost flowers and went to look for the childish You Ming.
Returning to the Frost-Returning Snow Terrace, only Yan Zhonghua and Lin Xuanzhi were left. Yan Zhonghua raised his hand and waved his wide sleeves. These frost flowers dancing with their swords instantly shattered and formed a neat formation of frost flower soldiers at a speed that was hard for the naked eye to catch up with. For a moment, the war drums thundered, and the voice of iron horses and armor poured into their eardrums, just like a platoon of soldiers.
Many years ago, Yan Zhonghua, the former first heir, promised to give up his right to succession and never wield any troops in exchange for giving You Ming a legitimate status. Besides serious or critical circumstances, he couldn’t even casually leave the Royal Heavenly Capital. Thus, the acting crown prince had actually been trapped on this small piece of land.
However, at this moment, Yan Zhonghua didn’t seem to be as laissez-faire, gentle, and harmless as he appeared. Xuanzhi had naturally seen such a powerful array before.
It seemed to be merely illusory, but in reality, there were real troops being trained by Yan Zhonghua’s instructions from thousands of miles away, but their movements were hidden and no one knew about them.
The frost flowers were another manifestation of his will.
Yan Zhonghua asked, “Do you understand?”
Lin Xuanzhi nodded. “Of course I understand.”
“I think you already know a thing or two about my intentions. With Ah Hen’s status, he doesn’t have the freedom to act independently in many matters. As the second heir, Ah Hen can never stay out of the war.” Yan Zhonghua’s tone was nonchalant, but there was a thundering might behind it. “There were once 28 successors in the Yan family. Some died in demon invasions, foreign enemy invasions, struggles for power, and all kinds of unexpected but hidden dangers. Ah Hen has long been the target of public criticism. This is his fate. He cannot escape it; he can only fight and accept it.”
Yan Zhonghua looked at Lin Xuanzhi and continued, “Ah Hen is destined to have a rough life. If he doesn’t fight, someone will force him to fight. If the demon clan breaks the contract with the Qianyuan Dynasty, Ah Hen will be the one leading the charge to kill demons, and if the Divine Clans of the other eight Lands moved to rebel against the Emperor, Ah Hen will be the once suppressing them and wielding the halberd in the household. Yan Zizhang has the ambition of wild wolves, and Yan Huaijin is dormant in the dark right now, just waiting for the opportunity… One day, he will walk the path he must.”
After a pause, Lin Xuanzhi answered, “I understand.”
Yan Zhonghua said, “The orthodox Dao values you very much and regards you as the Light of Daoism and the hope for their revival. Similarly, you are an elder of Myriad Dao Academy, the same sect that previously sealed off its island, closed its doors, and had never interfered in worldly matters. Huarong Sword Immortal, there are some matters that are difficult to choose, yet you must also decide which fork to take in advance.”
“I understand His Royal Highness King Ye’s words.” Lin Xuanzhi said sincerely, “Since I chose Ah Hen, I’ve already decided to advance and retreat with him, sharing honor and disgrace; life and death with him. The sect is not important. I did not sell myself to Myriad Dao Academy, so I’ll leave when I have to. As for the so-called Light of Daoism, it’s nothing more than a halo the orthodox Dao imposed upon me, and I also don’t care about it.”
Yan Zhonghua was somewhat impressed by Lin Xuanzhi’s carefree attitude, but he still said, “Empty talk cannot be taken as proof. Don’t tell me that you’re not even slightly tempted by the benefits the orthodox Dao gave you?”
Lin Xuanzhi smiled slightly. “I don’t rely on others to give me what I want. I can reach for it myself.”
Yan Zhonghua said, “You are someone outside of this secular world.”
People outside the secular world always stayed out of worldly affairs. Even if he became Dao companions with Yan Tianhen in the future, if Yan Tianhen ever became deeply mired in the mud, Lin Xuanzhi could still leave a light sentence, “Someone outside the secular world cannot interfere in worldly affairs”, so as to cut off their relationship and any responsibility he had. Under such circumstances, no one would criticize him for throwing away the responsibility where Dao companions should help each other. After all, people who lived outside the secular world wouldn’t involve themselves in worldly affairs, to begin with. They’d think Yan Tianhen was the one who insisted on dragging him into the water, so if Yan Tianhen met trouble, he would have to take care of it himself.
Lin Xuanzhi’s pair of dark eyes gazed at Yan Zhonghua calmly. When he gave a light smile, everything in the world lost its color — “I’m willing to give Reincarnation Palace as a betrothal gift. My only wish is to accompany Ah Hen in eternal life.”
Yan Zhonghua’s eyelids twitched violently a few times. “Reincarnation Palace? The Palace Master of Reincarnation Palace is actually you!”
What was Reincarnation Palace?
This was a famous and mysterious organization that gained great reputation in recent years. Its business covered many aspects, such as buying and selling medicinal pills, magic treasures, precious ingredients, assassinations, information exchange, etc., and its style simultaneously made people feel refreshed but also made them so hateful that their teeth itched. Those in the Royal Heavenly Capital would naturally choose to win over such an organization if possible instead of offending it. After all, nobody wanted Reincarnation Palace to go after their own head. The reason for the killing order was merely to show their attitude as rulers — Reincarnation Palace killed the former Head of Criminal Law, and this account must always be settled. But who didn’t want Reincarnation Palace’s help?
Yan Zhonghua found himself increasingly unable to understand Lin Xuanzhi.
Right now, Yan Zhonghua would be the first disbeliever of anyone who claimed that Lin Xuanzhi was someone outside the secular world. But…
“Why are you doing this?” Yan Zhonghua felt it was unnecessary.
One reason a person outside the secular world would enter worldly affairs would be for the sake of the common people. Another reason would be that their life outside the mundane world wasn’t good, and they couldn’t satisfy their desire for power that way.
The world wasn’t in chaos, so there was no need for Lin Xuanzhi to involve himself in worldly affairs. As for having insatiable desires, he didn’t look like such a person at all. Yan Zhonghua felt confused, which was a rare emotion for him.
Lin Xuanzhi said lightly, “I left the secular world for the sole purpose of one day re-entering it, so I needed to cultivate my own forces from the beginning, so as to ensure that I won’t be too tied up even if I enter the secular world again in the future. His Royal Highness can think of it like this — everything I did is for one person.”
Yan Zhonghua felt incredulous. “You can’t mean to tell me that the person you did this for is Ah Hen?”
“Who else can there be?”
“You and Ah Hen have only known each other for a few years.”
“But it was precisely during these years that my Reincarnation Palace was established.”
Yan Zhonghua, “…”
If he truly counted carefully, the timeline really did match.
However, Yan Zhonghua still couldn’t accept such a “coincidence”.
Lin Xuanzhi spoke, “Your Highness, whether you believe it or not, Ah Hen is my beloved. I didn’t fall in love with him at first sight, but after many experiences together, my feelings are deep and my love is firm. I will never abandon him in this life. Even if one day, the whole world opposes him, with my own strength, I will still block the entire world’s blows for him.”
In the end, Yan Zhonghua fell silent.
After a long time, he smiled gently. “Reincarnation Palace as a betrothal gift. Such a big hand is even making me feel a little moved, and I’m used to seeing all kinds of rare treasures.”
When Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Zhonghua left the Frost-Returning Snow Terrace, Yan Tianhen had already finished coaxing You Ming. You Ming probably still didn’t know that after he left, Lin Xuanzhi had already reached an unspeakable deal with Yan Zhonghua.
Yan Zhonghua gave orders that if Huarong Sword Immortal visited King Ye’s palace in the future, there was no need to report to him or stop them. It meant he had already recognized Lin Xuanzhi’s status as son-in-law.
You Ming’s jaw dropped in surprise.
Although Yan Zhonghua played the good cop and usually acted like a gentleman with a good temper, in reality, he was the most principled one and the person whose emotions couldn’t be controlled by others. Regarding the matter of Lin Xuanzhi swindling away his family’s Ah Hen, although Yan Zhonghua kept his mouth shut, his heart was extremely dissatisfied. But now, Yan Zhonghua was the first to defect before the war?
You Ming was full of doubts, so Yan Zhonghua just took him by the shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Let’s talk about it later.”
“Then we’ll talk about it later.”
Yan Tianhen was also very curious about what exactly Lin Xuanzhi said to actually make Yan Zhonghua relax so much. Yan Tianhen’s courtyard was located on the east side of King Ye’s palace. There were pavilions and corridors, which were surrounded by mountains and lush trees. It was a treasure land of feng shui.
His yard had four entrances and exits. The main house was decorated with coloured glaze and silver candles. Magic treasures and medicinal pill bottles were placed in rows, all of which were used for collection purposes. One could see his deep wealth at a glance.
Yan Tianhen pulled Lin Xuanzhi along as he pushed off his shoes and climbed into bed, cuddling together.
“I used Reincarnation Palace as a betrothal gift, so your father will naturally feel more relieved,” Lin Xuanzhi explained.
Yan Tianhen sighed, “I didn’t expect my father to be a snob.”
Lin Xuanzhi smiled. “Your father is simply afraid that I won’t be able to help you at a critical moment in the future. No matter whether it’s the secular world or the Daoist world, they always place heavy emphasis on the families being well-matched in terms of social status. If I want to marry you, a child of a wealthy and influential family, I always have to suffer some setbacks. If I didn’t even have this confidence, then how can I face your parents?”
Yan Tianhen was greatly moved.
He knew that the fewer people who knew about the relationship between Lin Xuanzhi and Reincarnation Palace, the better. But Lin Xuanzhi voluntarily exposed his identity as the Master of Reincarnation Palace in order to reassure his father, which required courage.
“However, I did not mention my relationship with the East Land.” Lin Xuanzhi sighed slightly. “I’m afraid if I said it, your father would have even more worries to consider.”