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Capital City, in the blink of an eye, nearly a month had passed since that long night.
Over this month, many events had unfolded in the Capital City.
The Eleventh Prince, Mu Qing, and the Rakshasa King, Tao Yaoyao, were both punished for their previous actions. Of course, the punishment wasn't severe—merely a forfeiture of salary and house arrest.
The one most affected was the Crown Prince, Mu Yuan. Originally set to strengthen his power through marriage to the Southwestern Royal House, he might have even ascended to the position of the Crown Prince. However, with the marriage alliance failing, all such talks had turned to dust.
Apart from the Crown Prince, the Southwestern Royal House was the most implicated party. The revelation that Princess Qing Qing was a demon had caused a storm of gossip throughout the city, severely damaging the reputation of the Southwestern Royal House. Even the position of the Martial King was nearly lost.
Furthermore, the heir apparent, Zhu Qingge, had made disrespectful remarks and gestures during Mu Yuan's grand wedding. In a fit of rage, the Emperor of Great Shang stripped Zhu Qingge of all his military titles, and the decline of the Southwestern Royal House seemed inevitable.
However, just when everyone thought the Emperor would continue to pursue the Southwestern King's culpability, the matter was suddenly dropped.
The Southwestern King left dejectedly, returning to the borderlands, perhaps never to return to the Capital City again.
As the month in the Capital City drew to a close, the first snow of winter began to fall heavily from the sky.
The city was draped in a beautiful silver-white, intoxicatingly beautiful.
The arrival of this snow also signified that winter had fully arrived.
The New Year was not far off, especially this year's New Year, which was much earlier than usual.
"Time for your medicine!"
In the Li residence, within the inner courtyard, Li Youwei carried a bowl of medicine to the room with the little red hood and left promptly after setting it down.
"Miss Li."
Inside the room, Bai Wangyu stood up and politely thanked her, "Thank you very much."
"Stop fussing."
Li Youwei said indifferently, without further words, and left the room.
Bai Wangyu looked at the medicine bowl on the table, braced himself, and drank it all in one gulp.
Next to the medicine bowl was a small dish of candied fruit, Li Ziye's favorite treat as a child.
Whenever they fell ill as children, Li Ziye would refuse to take his medicine because of the bitterness. Therefore, Li Youwei would always prepare candied fruit in advance.
The reason why Bai Wangyu was now receiving such treatment was that Li Youwei had heard from Li Ziye that this little red hood was very likely to be the next Helmsman of the Confucian School.
Considering that the Confucian School and the Imperial Academy might become potential major clients for the Li Family, Li Youwei's attitude towards Bai Wangyu had somewhat improved.
"Bang!"
At that moment, a loud crash came from outside the room, followed by a slap as if something had hit the ground.
Hearing the commotion, Bai Wangyu took a piece of candied fruit, stuffed it into his mouth, and curiously went out to see what was happening.
Under the tree in the courtyard, a figure was planted in a pile of snow, with more snow continuing to fall from the tree, almost burying the person below.
"Brother Li."
Seeing this, Bai Wangyu hurriedly went over to pull Li Ziye out of the snow.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"
Li Ziye spat out several mouthfuls of snow and shook his head, saying somewhat embarrassedly, "The ground is slippery with snow, my mistake!"
This darn Flying Immortal Technique is so damn hard to master!
A smile appeared on Bai Wangyu's face, but he did not point out the obvious, saying, "Brother Li, don't be impatient. Look at me, I can't even move my Genuine Qi now, I'm worse off than you."
"Get lost, don't annoy me."
Li Ziye replied irritably, "Don't think I don't know, you're already at the Third Realm. Once your injuries heal, I still won't be able to beat you."
"Strength doesn't mean everything."
Bai Wangyu smiled, "If it weren't for Brother Li's rescue, I might have died outside the Imperial Academy."
"Hmm, you do have a point."
Li Ziye stroked his chin, nodded, and patted the shoulder of the person in front of him, grinning, "The Confucian Scholar also said I'm smarter than you. Don't lose heart, keep trying."
"…"
Bai Wangyu felt his earlier comfort was superfluous.
This guy would never be disheartened, no matter what.
"Old Bai, the New Year is coming. Don't go back to the Imperial Academy this year; just spend it in the Li residence," Li Ziye said.
He knew that the little red hood was an orphan, who had spent previous New Years in the Imperial Academy. During the festive season, the Imperial Academy was almost deserted, and it was too pitiful for the little red hood to be alone.
"I have to pay my respects to the Confucian Scholar and the Instructors," Bai Wangyu hesitated before saying.
"Everyone has their own families. When can't you pay respects? I'll accompany you when the time comes," Li Ziye said.
Hearing this, Bai Wangyu nodded slightly and replied, "Alright, thank you, Brother Li."
"Come on, let's go out," Li Ziye seemed to have thought of something and said.
"Where to?" Bai Wangyu asked, puzzled.
"To find Little Huakui."
Li Ziye said and quickly walked outside.
Outside the Li residence, Li Ziye and the little red hood boarded a carriage and headed towards the east of the city.
In a quiet courtyard by the Xiang River in the southeast, Yu Qingxuan, dressed in a simple brocade robe, was sweeping snow in front of the courtyard. She had just cleared a small path when a carriage drove by, churning the neatly swept path into a mess.
"…"
Yu Qingxuan looked at the carriage, wishing she could hit the people inside with a broom.
"Qing Xuan."
Li Ziye jumped down from the carriage and smiled, "Long time no see."
"Not that long, just over a month. Young Master Li is a busy man."
Yu Qingxuan saw the visitor and replied with displeasure, "What brings you to think of me today?"
"Heh heh."
Li Ziye gave an awkward smile and said, "Isn't the New Year coming? Qing Xuan, come spend it at the Li residence this year?"
"Go to the Li residence for the New Year?"
Yu Qingxuan was taken aback, a complex look flashing in her eyes.
Over the years, she had spent the New Year alone, almost becoming a habit.
"If you don't say anything, I'll take it as a yes. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be off. I'll send someone to pick you up later!"
Li Ziye said, not giving Little Huakui a chance to refuse, and then got back into the carriage and hurried away.
"Li"
After Yu Qingxuan came to her senses and was about to say something, she realized the carriage had already left.
"This guy."
Yu Qingxuan showed a helpless expression, watching the departing carriage. After a long while, a smile appeared on her beautiful face.
Well, since the guy has invited her so warmly, she might as well reluctantly accept.
"Ah, if only the little monk were here, it would be even livelier."
On the carriage, Li Ziye lamented, "I wonder if the little monk has found a way to save the princess?"
"He will find it," Bai Wangyu said with a smile.
"Old Bai."
Li Ziye said somewhat gloomily, "After the New Year, only two years will be left of the three-year deadline. What should I do? I don't want to fight that woman; I can't beat her!"
He had met Yan Xiaoyu and the little monk, as well as the Fourth Prince, Mu Bai, and the little red hood in front of him. They were all freaks. Huo Lin'er was as famous as these guys; how could he possibly beat her?
"I don't have a good solution for this either."
Bai Wangyu said helplessly, "I thought that with Brother Li's chance to be inscribed in the Heavenly Book, you could at least put up a fight against Huo Lin'er. Unexpectedly, in the end, Brother Li only advanced one realm. It's strange, when Brother Li was inscribed, the Heavenly Book made a huge commotion, and the righteous energy that poured into Brother Li's body should have been enough to advance you into the Fifth Realm. I don't know what went wrong; it didn't achieve the expected effect."
"Let's not talk about the Heavenly Book. By the way, Old Bai, when you fought with Fa Hai, didn't you use some powerful technique? Can you teach me?" Li Ziye suddenly remembered something and asked.
"Are you referring to the Forbidden Technique of the Vast Righteousness?"
Bai Wangyu frowned slightly and said, "Brother Li, it's best if you don't learn it. The cost is too great. This time, if it weren't for the Confucian Scholar personally saving me, I might have lost my life."
"Uh…"
Li Ziye looked contemplative and said, "I'll think about it some more."
***
While the nobles and commoners of Great Shang were preparing for the upcoming New Year, the four tribes of the Desert North had been tormented by the matter of the demons for a month.
In the tent of the Huyan tribe, the chieftains of the Chisong, Bai Di, and Helan tribes had once again gathered.
"Do you all have no doubts now?"
The Huyan chieftain looked at the three men before him with a grave expression.
Inside the tent, the chieftains of Chisong, Bai Di, and Helan had equally serious expressions. The terror of the demons had exceeded their imaginations.
"This matter is no longer just about our four tribes; we can't shoulder it alone."
The Helan chieftain said solemnly, "Notify the Dantai, Helian, Tuoba, and Chili tribes. Let's discuss how to resist the demons together."
"Dantai."
Upon hearing the name of the Dantai among the other four tribes, both Bai Di and Huyan chieftains frowned.
If possible, they really didn't want to deal with this tribe.
The reason was simple.
Because of that woman.
Dantai Jingyue!
A very terrifying woman.
In the central part of the Desert North, where the grass was the most abundant, the Dantai tribe had long lived there. The women could wield swords and ride horses, and the men were even better at archery.
However, in recent years, the Dantai chieftain had grown old and was bedridden, and his young son was too small to inherit the chieftain's position. Therefore, the affairs of the Dantai tribe were handled by the chieftain's eldest daughter.
Dantai Jingyue, a woman who had been regarded as the hope of the Dantai tribe since her birth.
It was said that when Dantai Jingyue was born, the sun and moon appeared together in the sky above the grasslands, shining brightly.
Therefore, the Dantai tribespeople, who worshiped the Eternal Heaven, revered Dantai Jingyue as the Celestial Maiden, meaning the Daughter of Heaven.
In the middle of the grassland, tents stood tall. The grassland people often had to migrate with the grass, so they rarely built palaces as luxurious as those in the Central Plains dynasties.
In front of one of the tents, a beautiful woman stood quietly, draped in a light blue fur robe, her eyes brighter than the stars, captivating at first glance.
"Celestial Maiden."
At that moment, a Dantai warrior approached, bowed respectfully, and handed over a letter, saying, "A letter sent by the Huyan chieftain."
In front of the tent, Dantai Jingyue took the letter, glanced at it, and her lips curved slightly.
She thought those four tribes could hold on for a few more days, but they couldn't withstand the pressure so soon.
The demons from the north were indeed unstoppable.
Years ago, she had noticed that the sky on the grassland was getting colder and the grass was becoming scarcer, no longer suitable for living.
Now that the demons had appeared, her plans could finally be set in motion.
The eight tribes of the Desert North, it was time to leave this barren land and compete in the Central Plains.
The peace of the Central Plains dynasties had ended, and the war had begun!