Chapter 107

The news of the carriage procession’s departure from the palace was met with a flurry of activity. The destination was Anhui, and Ho Tao and Jegal Yuhu were assigned to meet the procession along the way, while the others stayed behind in Anhui to continue preparations.
One day turned into another.
A message from Pangak in Hebei informed them that they had arrived safely and urged them to make further preparations.
Another few days passed.
Zhuge Liuhu’s neat handwriting read.
[ The procession of the imperial family’s carriages is like a golden dragon moving; it is indeed like seeing the majesty of the Great Ming Empire, so be sure to make thorough preparations ].
Judging from the way the masks became more and more agitated, it seemed that he was in a great deal of urgency.
Therefore, Anhui was also busy greeting them, and at the same time, they were busy preparing for the Fengyun Branch Meeting.
“Oh.”
Meanwhile, Fang Xiang hadn’t followed them to Hebei, but had stayed behind in Anhui to help with the preparations for the Fengyun Branch Meeting.
She had devoted her life to the sword. It was as if the wishes of the Hebei Fang family were driven into her.
As such, anything other than the Dao was not and could not be a priority for her, but she couldn’t help but stare at him.
She smoothed out her face, combed her hair, and groomed herself.
He’s dressed nicely instead of his raggedy uniform, and the hero’s sash is once again on his forehead.
Excitement, excitement.
I’ve never felt such excitement before, and I’m flushing like I’ve never flushed before. I don’t know what I’m feeling, but I don’t know where to vent my frustration.
“Ho ho. Let me help you.”
He introduced himself as Su Su of the Southern Palace family with the surname Yu. He was about to refuse, wondering what he could do to help, but was mesmerized by her next words.
“I am the nanny who has been with the Grand Duke since he was a child. Why don’t you trust my hands and go?”
A nanny.
She’s been with him since he was a child.
Fang Xiang nodded mesmerized by her words, as if she knew better than anyone else.
“Yes…….”
* * *
It was the first time I had ever seen such a lavish procession. No, maybe once.
Yeah.
Perhaps it was the procession of the emperor’s motorcade I had seen in my previous life, but it was a procession that no one could argue with.
So here I was, wrapped in a colorful patterned robe that I don’t normally wear, with a long gun wrapped around my waist, looking the picture of discomfort.
“It looks good on you.”
Beside me, embroidered with the blue and yellow threads of the Southern Palace’s markings,
“Fang Sojourner?”
Pang Xiang stood beside me, looking somewhat disheveled in his white danghye shoes, which matched the purple embroidered robe.
“Does it look good on you?”
“……Yes.”
She and Sima had been lightly flirtatious, and the battle we’d fought together on Mount Kunlun had been reassuring. At the same time, she humbly accepted his thanks, saying that it was just something she had to do.
Then there’s Fang Xiang, who practiced martial arts for the rest of the day, wielding a sword larger than her own torso, because she felt she wasn’t good enough.
That’s how she looked,
Now that she was standing there in this unfamiliar form, I didn’t know where to look.
“Hmph.”
My eyes locked on her, and I couldn’t help but feel a tingling sensation in my chest, even though she was dressed up in a forced way. I opened my mouth to say something, but I was bothered by the subtle glances I received from the people around me.
I saw the corners of Kang Woo-moon’s and Dong-hwi’s eyes curve.
Namgung-hyuk and Namgung-gal covered their mouths, and Namgung-wall was even clapping.
I swallowed hard and looked away from the scene. What’s wrong with my subject.
Just as I was about to turn back to the procession, I said.
“Don’t forget, I had the courage.”
She was the first to be brave,
She moved with a full stride. It must have been the tension between the processions.
I couldn’t help but chuckle, and I looked away.
There it was.
The monkfish troupe leader, Huang Tianhu, was coming, leading from the center of the procession. Shaking off the strange feelings, I straightened my attire.
The armor of the Guidan was originally black and red. Huang Tianhu’s opinion had been that they didn’t need any other colors, since they were already covered in blood.
But today was different.
It wasn’t the usual clunky, streamlined, easy-to-move aguidan.
“What a splendor, is it really the emperor himself?”
The words of the Iron-Blooded Sword King An Baek were as brilliant and shameless as his own, and I couldn’t help but be repulsed by them.
The image of the imperial army.
It was a contradiction to the image of a country that was supposed to care about its people.
There were so many people struggling to make ends meet, and so many people dying because they couldn’t eat a single meal.
For that to make sense.
“It has to be worthy of an emperor. Otherwise, I’m not convinced.”
It didn’t make sense, even with the greatest army of all, the Agudan, actively protecting him, unless he was the Emperor.
But then.
“Wow. This is Anhui Province?”
A woman who looked like she’d been raised by an emperor poked her head out of the carriage. She waved her hand as she made eye contact with the people, wondering what was so exciting.
It was a single dandelion, blooming among the overpowering weeds.
She was a feast of colorful flowers in a well-tended garden.
The gazes of many of the men who had been drawn to Fang Xiang were also drawn to her reflection in the window, and even the men of the Southern Palace were not left out.
“Brother …….”
“Arthur…….”
Namgunggal and Namgunghyuk looked at each other and swallowed their saliva, so there was no need to say more about her beauty.
She rolled her eyes and stopped.
“……?”
She called out to Huang Tianhou.
“Ah, mister, wait a minute!”
“Yes, Princess.”
The stiff-talking Huang Tianhou heard the princess’s whisper and lifted his head, turning around to face me. He looked pleased but focused on the princess, then quickly nodded.
“Grand Duke of the Southern Palace, be polite to the princess.”
The sudden call to me forced me to move, as I was the center of attention.
“……Yes.”
I walked over in one stride and exchanged a brief glance with Huang Tianhou.
“Grand Duke of the Southern Palace, I’m Ban.”
I kneeled down on one knee and bowed to the princess, who stood by the window. It was the most courtesy I could muster.
“My name is Joo Young-young, Joo Young-young!”
As she shouted and extended her hand to me, I turned my head to look at Huang Tianhou, unsure of what to do. Huang Tianhou simply closed his eyes and nodded, telling me to do as I pleased.
“Yes, it is an honor to meet the most beautiful princess in the Huang family.”
“You’re so stiff, what’s wrong, am I difficult?”
Of course you’re hard…….
But how can I say that straightforwardly.
“……No, it’s because I’m not good enough.”
“Hehe, I heard from Mr. Huang.”
About what.
“I heard he’s my life saver, Ban.”
Ah, is that why the plants in this greenhouse are out of the world.
I sensed something was wrong, because the princess, who identified herself as Zhu Yingyong, was looking at me with more than curiosity in her eyes.
But something was wrong.
Something cold.
What is it, this chill?
Before I knew it, I had committed the disrespectful act of turning my head away from the princess of the Yellow House. I couldn’t learn without doing so.
In that moment, I saw it.
I realized that the princess was holding my hand, and that she was looking at me with Fang Xiang’s cold gaze.
Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, something felt wrong.
Why?
* * *
Nocturnal Castle.
It was said that all the light in the world stopped here, and apart from the beautiful atmosphere, the lanterns and colorful lights everywhere made it brighter than broad daylight.
In the nighttime streets of Hangzhou, a city of revelry and luxury, Sana made his way through the crowds to take his seat atop the highest pavilion.
In the middle of Hangzhou, in a pavilion with an unobstructed view of the West Lake, he sipped his drink steadily and opened his mouth.
“……Why do you bother asking me to come?”
Even if you couldn’t pay dozens of gold coins for a cup of liquor that makes your stomach burn, it wouldn’t be enough.
The man who drank such liquor without a trace of worry, his eyes cold and unconcerned, gazed at one place, and there was someone already there.
“Don’t complain about walking here when you have nothing to do.”
Tou Lo said, “Don’t be a dick.
Bai Guang, the Green Forest King, grabbed the bottle of West Lake Wine, which was said to contain the scenery of Hangzhou and West Lake, and gulped it down.
The exquisite aroma spread out in all directions, making his nose tingle and his whole body burn. The aroma was breathtaking, and Bai Guang added that he should take a few bottles with him.
“You want to die.”
The voice melted into the darkness.
It seemed to come from within the landscape, or perhaps even from the seahorse in his hand.
It was everywhere,
as if to show that he was confident of being unnoticed.
Bai Guang’s ears pricked up at the sound of a voice like scraping iron.
“Don’t live in the old world. You’ll end up at the bottom of the West Lake.”
Bai Guang’s words brought him up the stairs.
The six-foot-tall man bared his teeth, making Bai Guang look dwarfed.
“You’re so fierce. We were once romantically linked on social media. Let’s reminisce about those days.”
King Jiang Jianglong Gu Man.
The master of the Jiang River, the waist and heart of the Zhongyuan army, swept his gaze across the white light.
If Bai Guang is a mountain tiger.
Gu Man was the shark of the sea.
Unlike the face on the outside,
he was considered to be more than just a white light.
“Galpyeong, you’re here too.”
“Don’t give me a name. One would think we were friends.”
The man who had grumbled at Baekwang for bothering to come and see him lifted a cup and clinked it. It flew from the end of the hall to the end of the stairs and back again.
Gu Man’s mouth curled up at the corners when he saw the heat rising from the cup.
“Gu Chu, are you late again today?”
“He’s coming from far away, so you’ll have to forgive him.”
Kudangtang!
Seeing the commotion beneath the pavilion, Baekwang clinked his glass as if he didn’t need to.
“That’s it. I’m here.”
And so began the meeting of the five masters of the Unanimous Fortune and Black Island.