Quiangdu Country.
Envoy Hu arrived at his home country in just five days using only his qigong. If Lin Xulian and Feng Jun Yi knew about this, they would surely vomit blood. It took them two weeks to reach the An valley where the main headquarters of the Jianghu is located. From there it would take another month to reach the Quiangdu. Envoy Hu even run a few errands along the way but he still reached the country in such speed.
Envoy Hu immediately went to the King's castle on top of a hill. The building is different than the palaces of other countries. It is made out of stone that is piled up together. It is also the only unique building in the country. Inside the castle, envoy Hu immediately saw the king sitting on his throne. Behind him is a huge midnight black stone placed like an altar. With the small bracelet, Feng Jun Yi didn't notice the mysterious force inside the stone. But with the huge stone inside the castle, you can feel the force flowing that's caressing every fiber of your being. No need to guess that the stone is the key to their youthful look and long life.
The King looks like an old man on his 80s. But he is surely much older than that. He has full head of white long hair and white beard. The emperors of other countries wore golden clothing and accessories, but the King of Quiangdu only wore a plain white robes with necklaces, ten rings and bundles of bracelets made out from the black stone. Despite the plain clothing and old age, you can still feel his strength and his good looks is still noticeable. He is currently leaning on his seat while massaging his temples seemingly worried about something.
"Master your servant has returned." Envoy Hu announced his presence. The King prefers to be alone most of the time so there is no one to announce his arrival.
The King glanced at envoy Hu with a hopeful expression. "How was it Hu?"
"The Feng bird chose a master. It chose the Gonglu country's empress." Hu said in a deadpan voice. But deep inside he is also shaken.
The King's eyes widened in surprise. "An empress? As expected for a Lin." The King is surprised. The bird is not an ordinary bird. It is linked to the Lin's bloodline. They would only choose the descendants of the Lin clan as master. From the start, the bird was never meant as a gift. It is used to search for the Lin's descendants.
"So those brothers of mine went to the Gonglu country. They ran away after I inherit the throne to play. I became too busy because they weren't there to help me and my time to have a descendant came and pass without me noticing. They should at least leave behind a child! Now all I can do is remain alive while searching for their descendants. I can't even be away from the castle for a few days or I might get sick and die before I can take them back! Adventure my a**! I'll beat them up when I meet them again whether in the afterlife or even after we get reincarnated!" The King is obviously Lin Xulian's ancestor, Lin Zuizhong. The brothers he is referring to are the two Lin brothers who mysteriously appeared in the Blood mountain more than a century ago.
Hu listened to the King's ranting and waited for him to finish before continuing his report. "The empress also has an older brother, Lin Huang. There are two Lin brothers but one of them is only adopted. Their father is only on his fifties but without the stone he is considered old. The son is only twenty-two and is more talented than his father. He is the most suitable person to succeed you master. I thought about abducting him, but I cannot take him without hurting him. So I chose to go back and ask for your decision."
The King thought for a moment. "Who is stronger, Huang or your son?"
"My son, master. Age wise, my son is already in his early thirties and the training here is different that outside."
"Send your son outside to help Huang get stronger. Abducting him will do more bad than good. We the Lins hates it when we are forced to do what we don't like. Just look at what my brothers did. We have to slowly pull him and make him accept the throne whole heartedly. A few more years won't hurt."
Hu find it reasonable. The Lin bloodline are naturally fierce and free spirited or should he say hard headed. If they forcefully take Lin Huang, he might not accept the throne or worse make some trouble.
*******
In an inn in a remote town in Gonglu country, almost at the edge of the territory, two naked bodies of a man and a woman cuddles under the sheets of a king sized bed. The woman hugs the man in his waist, and the man is playing with her hair. Not far from the bed a servant is kneeling in one knee while lowering his head, trying hard not to look at the tempting scene in front of him.
"This better be worth the time that I should be spending with my lady." The naked man said in impatience.
Cold sweat run through the servant's back. "The message came from Lord Gong Weixie, master. He said he'll be dealing with Emperor Feng together with the second prince and asked if you would be willing to lend a hand. The fate of the Gonglu country will rest on you then."
"Why would I lend a hand to a failure like him. I have my own plan. That Gong Weixie and his straight forward and brute ways won't work. He is already old and uses outdated schemes. He would surely fail." He then lowered his gaze and his face became gentle looking at the beauty in his arms. "Did you hear that my beloved? Your stupid husband is doing something outrageous again. This time without his mother."
The naked woman snuggled closer to the man and just snorted in disdain. The woman is no other than Xia Ruzhi, the second prince's wangfei. "I don't care about that spoiled prince. He can just drop dead already. That way I could freely marry you. I would deal with him sooner or later anyway. Good thing the emperor will do it for me." She then smiled coquettishly while rubbing her naked body to the man.
The man's eyes deepened and without facing the servant, he ordered. "You can leave. Don't bother replying Gong Weixie. Don't disturb me for petty reasons again." The moment the servant left, the man pounced on Xia Ruzhi. Pants and moans filled the room, not caring about the future chaos that the empire will face.