In the capital city of Great Shang, the decree of the Shang Emperor’s marriage was quickly issued, shocking the entire city.

Just like Li Ziye, no one had expected that the person chosen by the Shang Emperor would be the eldest prince, who had the lowest presence among the four princes.

Many people who were friendly with the Southwest King came to visit, trying to find out something.

After all, the eldest prince had a leg disability, and they couldn’t understand why the Southwest King would agree to this marriage.

Even if this was the Emperor’s decision, if the Southwest King was unwilling, the Emperor could not force it.

However, the Southwest King remained silent and did not show any dissatisfaction.

“Father, how could you agree to this marriage? That Mu Yuan is a cripple. You are harming Qing Qing!”

In the mansion of the Martial King in the capital city, the sound of quarreling rang out. The Southwest King’s eldest son, Zhu Qingge, looked at his father with anger and shouted.

“So what if he’s a cripple? He is the Emperor’s eldest son and has the potential to become the Crown Prince!” The Southwest King suppressed his anger and responded coldly.

“Great Shang has more than just this one prince. The other three princes are all outstanding individuals. Why do you have to choose this cripple?” Zhu Qingge angrily retorted.

“This is the Emperor’s decision. As a subject, I must obey.” The Southwest King said in a deep voice.

“Emperor, it’s always the Emperor in your eyes. Don’t you have your own wife and children?”

Zhu Qingge clenched his hands tightly and said uncontrollably.

“How dare you speak such rebellious words!”

The Southwest King’s face changed, and he slapped Zhu Qingge in the face, angrily saying, “How dare you speak such rebellious words!”

With a loud slap, five bright red palm prints appeared on Zhu Qingge’s face, glaringly obvious.

The Southwest King’s hand trembled, and he regretted it after the slap.

“Father, you have disappointed your son too much!”

Zhu Qingge looked at his father, who seemed somewhat unfamiliar, with a disappointed expression, then turned and left.

Once, his father was a fearless figure in his eyes, the indomitable Martial King of Great Shang. But today, all of these impressions had completely collapsed.

In the mansion, the Southwest King looked at his son’s departing figure, his expression darkening.

He knew that neither Qing Qing nor Qingge would be satisfied with this marriage, but he had no choice.

The Emperor in the Hall of Heavenly Worship was not as simple as he appeared on the surface. He couldn’t gamble with the fate of the entire Southwest King’s mansion and could only obey the Emperor’s orders.

In the Shihua Garden, as night fell, Zhu Qingge sat in the hall, drinking cup after cup, his anger clearly visible.

No one dared to approach him.

“Would you mind having a drink with me, brother?”

At this moment, a calm voice sounded in Zhu Qingge’s ear.

“Get lost!”

Zhu Qingge coldly spat out a word and continued to drink by himself.

“Your wine is terrible.”

A young man sat down at the table, directly placing a jar of wine on the table, saying, “The wine from my Li Family is the best in the world!”

“Li Family?”

Zhu Qingge looked up at the young man in front of him and squinted his eyes slightly, saying, “You are the legitimate son of the Li Family who has been making a lot of noise recently.”

“Just a reputation.”

Li Ziye opened the wine jar and poured a cup for the Southwest King’s eldest son, smiling, “Try it.”

Zhu Qingge frowned but did not refuse. He picked up the cup and drank it all in one go.

As the wine entered his throat, a fiery sensation came, so intense that it made his head spin. The burning heat of the strong wine made him dizzy.

“Good wine!”

Zhu Qingge coughed a few times and showed a look of enjoyment on his face. This was real wine, strong enough!

Compared to this wine, the wine he had drunk before was as bland as water.

Li Ziye smiled and poured another cup for Zhu Qingge, saying, “The Southwest King’s eldest son, with such a noble status, also has things that trouble him?”

Zhu Qingge’s eyes narrowed at the words and he said, “You know my identity?”

“Heh.”

Li Ziye smiled lightly and said, “This jar of wine, ‘Drunk in Dreams,’ is worth a hundred gold. If you weren’t the Southwest King’s eldest son, why would I take the initiative to offer you a drink? Does the prince really think there is such a thing as an instant connection and a belated meeting in this world?”

After hearing the young man’s direct words, Zhu Qingge was first stunned, then laughed heartily and said, “Haha, you’re right. If I weren’t the Southwest King’s eldest son, who would take the initiative to offer me a drink!”

Li Ziye smiled and poured himself a cup of wine. To be honest, he didn’t really like this ‘Drunk in Dreams’ wine; it was too strong!

He was a refined person and had to maintain the image of a modest young master at all times.

“Speak up. What do you want from me? I’ve drunk your wine, so I can agree to do a small favor for you.”

Zhu Qingge finished the wine in his cup and then looked at the young man beside him, speaking directly.

“The Li Family can also do what the prince can do. There’s no need to trouble the prince.”

Li Ziye continued to pour wine for the former and said, “Today, I came here just to invite the prince to have a drink. After all, if the prince wasn’t in a bad mood today and came here to drink, it wouldn’t be easy for a commoner like me from the merchant family to get to know the prince.”

“With you in the Li Family, it will prosper.”

Zhu Qingge took a sip of the strong wine, this time not drinking it all at once, and calmly commented.”Thank you for the praise, Your Highness.”

Li Ziye chuckled and said, “Since the matter is settled, getting angry is pointless. Why not think about what to do next?”

“Do you know what I’m angry about?” Zhu Qingge frowned.

“It’s quite obvious.”

Li Ziye lifted his cup, gazed at the wine within, and with a slight smile, said, “To be honest, His Majesty’s arranged marriage caught most people off guard, except for the Confucian School.”

With that, Li Ziye drained his cup in one gulp.

Instantly, a burning sensation spread, stinging his throat painfully.

“The Confucian School?”

Upon hearing this reminder, Zhu Qingge’s expression changed dramatically, realizing he had forgotten about this.

If there was anyone in this world who could change His Majesty’s decision, it would only be the Confucian Scholar, the Teacher of All Under Heaven!

“Thank you for the reminder!”

Zhu Qingge came back to his senses, set down his cup, and stood up to leave.

“Where are you going, Your Highness?”

Li Ziye reached out and grabbed him, asking.

“To the Confucian School,” Zhu Qingge replied.

“Your Highness, it’s already dark.”

Li Ziye said with a smile, “Even if you want to visit the Confucian School, you should at least wait until tomorrow morning, shouldn’t you?”

Zhu Qingge was startled, then looked outside at the darkened sky and had no choice but to sit back down. He picked up the wine and drank it in one gulp, saying, “Sorry, I was too anxious.”

“Concern leads to chaos.”

Li Ziye calmly said, “Your Highness, you should be mentally prepared. Meeting the Confucian Scholar may not be so easy.”

“I understand.”

Zhu Qingge took the wine jug from the table, filled his cup, and continued to drink silently.

Li Ziye did not disturb him and quietly accompanied him in drinking.

After a long while, when the wine was finished, Zhu Qingge stood up, staggering slightly.

Li Ziye reached out to support him and said, “Let me escort you back to your residence.”

“Thank you.”

Zhu Qingge rubbed his somewhat aching head and replied.

Li Ziye helped him out of the Shi Hua Garden and headed towards the Southwest King’s Mansion.

The night streets were so quiet, having lost the hustle and bustle of the day, everything returned to peace.

As they walked, they didn’t talk much.

Li Ziye’s purpose was really just to make connections with the Southwest King’s heir because he knew very well that too much of anything is not good, and a good impression was enough to change many things.

“Li Brother, thank you for today!”

Approaching the Southwest King’s Mansion, Zhu Qingge spoke earnestly, “I am glad to have made a friend like Li Brother.”

Although the direct heir of the Li Family had stated his intentions upon meeting, this had made him feel more favorable and less guarded.

“I feel the same.”

Li Ziye smiled and said, “Your Highness, until we meet again.”

After speaking, Li Ziye did not say more, changed direction, and prepared to return to Li Garden.

Unexpectedly!

Just then, a cold wind howled on the street, dark energy swirling, and an extremely cold aura swept over, enveloping both of them.

Li Ziye and Zhu Qingge felt it and their expressions changed.

“Boom!”

With a loud noise, the dark energy arrived, and as they made their move, they found themselves powerless to retaliate, sent flying by a tremendous force.

Ten steps away, they stumbled to the ground, blood spilling from the corners of their mouths.

“What is this thing?”

Zhu Qingge looked at the spreading dark energy in shock.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen it before.”

Li Ziye wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said in a deep voice.

Zhu Qingge glanced at the nearby Southwest King’s Mansion and said gravely, “We’re so close to the mansion, my father should have noticed by now, why—”

Before he could finish, the dark energy surged forward, continuing to rush at them.

Within the dark energy, a pair of cold eyes appeared, their gaze so chilling that even the heavens and earth seemed to freeze.

“Clang!”

Li Ziye drew his flexible sword from his waist, infused it with Genuine Qi, and slashed at the dark energy.

A grating sound of metal scraping echoed as the sword met the dark energy, blocked as if by sharp claws, unable to advance an inch.

Beside him, Zhu Qingge regained his composure, without any hesitation, his two Divine Hidden Techniques roared, powerful Genuine Qi surged out, and with a deep shout, he threw a punch.

“Boom!”

In the massive impact, their attacks were simultaneously blocked by the figure within the dark energy, unable to inflict any damage.

“Cackle! Cackle!”

An eerily piercing laughter came from the dark energy, which exploded with chilling aura, sending them flying once again.

“Spit!”

Ten steps away, they steadied themselves, both spitting out a mouthful of blood.

What kind of monster?

They exchanged glances, shock evident in their eyes. The creature within the dark energy was definitely not human.

“Clang!”

In a critical moment, from afar, a righteous Qi surged to the sky, sword energy crisscrossing, a fiery meteor-like sword light broke through the air, slashing towards the dark energy in front of them.

With a thunderous roar, the street shook.

“Ah!”

In a piercing scream, a shocking scene unfolded. The creature, previously unharmed by blade or sword, burst into violent flames upon contact with the righteous Qi of the Taiyi Sword.Moments later, at the end of the street, a figure clad in a white scholar’s robe appeared. In the blink of an eye, he was standing before the two, his gaze fixed on the silhouette shrouded in dark qi ahead, a rare glint of murderous intent flickering in his eyes.

“Brother Li, Young Master, please step back a bit.”