Hartley's name rang like a bell tolling through the capital for the next several days, his name could be heard in rampant discussions across the land, people who were present at the banquet and had witnessed the fracas were saying that their eyes were blessed by the Holy Matriarch, they felt so lucky to have seen the emergence of a potential future powerhouse, it was like when someone bragged about going to watch a world class player in the bush leagues before that player became world renowned, it was a story to be passed down to their gran children in the future around a crackling camp fire.
A tall middle age man with strands of white hair sprouting in his neatly cropped black hair like weeds in a garden, sat at his luxurious desk reading the contents of a folder, "the thick-faced shamelessness practiced abroad," the man whispered to himself with a slight smile blooming on his handsome features.
One of his subordinates had been adamant that the boy was special but the prince who sat in his brightly lit office with sunshine streaming in through the high windows, had thought differently, he couldn't see any immediate benefits to be gained from the youth, but as a good-will gesture to the energetic commander Genk, he had offered his protection as a token of appreciation to the youth for removing the guard captain in the Cassia province. He had asked Sir Lingwei to find a place for the youth and left it at that, the prince had no doubt in his mind that the inexperienced kid would be gobbled up by the politics of capital and forgotten within months if not killed outright.
But after the wave of euphoria and excitement that the youth had inspired in the masses of people across the capital, the prince had decided to have a detailed look at the youth, what he saw in the folder sat on his desk shocked him, making him immediately re-evaluate the pros and the cons of drawing in the youth a little closer. Rarely has the prince ever let sentiments get in the way of logical thinking, but he was seriously considering a gamble this time.
The youth had blazed a trail of destruction across the country on his way to the capital, some reports weren't confirmed but the youth even allegedly destroyed a cell of dark practitioners which by itself was an amazing feat if true.
After his performance at the banquet, the prince was beginning to think maybe the youth could be of some benefit in the next 3 to 5 years when the king might ascend, at that point he would need all the strength he could gather, if nothing else, the youth could play the role of cannon fodder.
The prince sat at his desk with a pensive look as he played out the countless scenarios in his mind......
Far in the east of the capital among the hectic political ramblings of the elder prince's camp, another person was campaigning for the opposite.... the immediate disposal of the youth whose name was ringing bells across the capital, Song Zemin who still hadn't fully recovered from the backlash and was feeling lucky not to lose a body part in the turbulent eruption of dark energy within the spatial crack, was telling anyone who would listen that the kid was one of the biggest threats the eldest prince's camp would face, of course, he didn't inform everyone that him, an exalted 9th layer xiantian
with a foot in the saint realm, had sent out squads of people to kill the youth who all failed miserably and as a result his position was weakened drastically.
Contrary to the beliefs of Song Zemin, everyone in Prince Dong Yulan's circles thought this was the crazy ravings of a man who had isolated himself from the world for too long.
They didn't see the insignificant youth being of any threat in the immediate future, even though some were impressed by the youth's performance at the banquet, they were privy to more information than the common man, the reports coming out stated that the youth had resisted the sneak attack of an elder.
This was the biggest headline from the banquet but it was common knowledge that elder Langzu was in the lowest echelons of elders in the country of Sasko, that's why he was the one babysitting the youths at these functions across the three prominent countries.
Technically the elder was in the 7th layer of the xiantian realm but everybody knew that he had used all types of external medicines to race through the layers of the xiantian realm, in reality he wasn't stronger than an expert in the 5th layer, since Hartley didn't defeat him and only resisted him after defeating youths of similar age to himself, they felt confident that the youth was nowhere as potent as Song Zemin was describing and didn't put much credibility in Song Zemin's words.
To them, Song Zemin's words were like smoke in the wind, fluttering away over the horizon not to be taken seriously.
Prince Dong and his allies biggest concern right now was quelling the rebellious and disgruntled nobles and merchants who had pledged their allegiance to him.
After the removal of the guard captain from the Cassia province, the profits from the shipping route offered exclusively to these nobles and merchants had been slashed by more than fifty percent, they were potentially going to lose hundreds of thousands of gold coins.
Now that even the riff-raff merchants had access to the southern shipping route, in their eyes the benefits of being under the umbrella of the eldest prince had disappeared, they didn't need to subject themselves and their forces to his will anymore. The disadvantages of submission now far outweighed the benefits to be gained.
This was a turbulent time for the eldest prince and these issues required his full attention for the moment, he was racking his brain trying to come up with ways to get another one of his vassals assigned as guard captain of the Cassia province but surely prince Jian won't fall for the same trick twice, he might have to take the Cassia province by force.
Hartley was the least of their concerns in the eldest prince's camp, of course the eldest prince was intending to deal with Hartley who had caused so much chaos, but now he had more pressing matters to concentrate on, it was imperative that he got things in order as soon as possible and prepare his forces for the next 3 to 5 years.
How could they know that by the time King Yulan ascend from the mortal plane they would be dealing with a saint.....
Away from all the plotting and scheming, Hartley, oblivious to the current situation, was sat in the inn beside Zhi Ruo,
"Ruo, this coming winter I will be 18 years old, I think we should get married at that point, I have no parents to give me permission and you have none for me to seek permission from, we will have our ceremony after the winter passes and tie our bond," holding her hand and staring in her eyes nervously he asked "what do you think?" with his voice breaking. Hartley had just made one of the worst proposal for marriage, it was more like a suggestion of marriage.
Zhi Ruo didn't mind, with eyes brimming with tears, she answered "yes" as she nodded her head like a chicken pecking rice from the floor, she then slid closer and hugged the man of her dreams for a long while before letting go.....