The steward asked for his leave. Murong Ting had Ye Li"s hand in her hand and said with worry: "Ah Li, look out for yourself when you are with them. I"m afraid that this eldest son of Prince Zhennan comes with ill intent." Ye Li raises her eyebrows. What Murong Ting said was not in the expertise of those ladies who grew up in the capital. When she was a kid, Murong Ting was always on expeditions by General Murong"s side. That was why she knew better than her friends. On one hand, Qing Luan and the other maids were waiting on Ye Li while helping her get changed and put some make-up on. On the other hand, Murong Ting stood by Ye Li"s side and babbled about what she knew: "Prince Zhennan of Xi Ling is the birth brother to the present Emperor of Xi Ling. He is a great general of Xi Ling. But twenty years ago, he was defeated by the father of Prince Ding, which was Prince Regent, Mo Liu Fang. Back then, my father was no more than an unknown military officer. I heard it from my father that the battle was a great defeat to Prince Zhennan, who had lost one arm in the chaos of the battle. After that battle, Prince Zhennan sent a.s.sa.s.sins to kill Prince Regent several times, however, all of his a.s.sa.s.sins failed on the verge of success. Since… Prince Regent pa.s.sed away a long time ago, if Prince Zhennan still has the bitter resentment in his heart…" Then he is going to target his hatred at Mo Xiu Yao and her, son and daughter-in-law of Mo Liu Fang.
"So, the eldest son of Prince Zhennan is here to pick a fight?" Qin Zheng"s good-looking face went pale and looking at Ye Li with anxiety, she said: "Do we need to send someone to notify Prince Ding?"
Ye Li shook her head and said: "No. Prince Ding will know about that soon enough. Besides, there"s no way that the eldest son of Prince Zhennan is going to deliberately make things difficult for a lady. That won"t look good for either Xi Ling or Prince Zhennan." Besides, if they were going to pick a fight, they would have gone to Mo Xiu Yao"s. She and Mo Xiu Yao weren"t married yet. Seeing in the mirror that she was all set, Ye Li stood up and said: "I"ll go first and check on them. You guys can wait here." Murong Ting was fast and rushed to Ye Li"s side. She said firmly: "I"ll go with you. Tian Xiang and Zheng-er can stay." Ye Li, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry, said: "Murong, I"m not going to war." Murong was very insistent: "I don"t care. I will follow you in secret if it works. In case that eldest son of Prince Zhennan has some conspiracy plotted against you, I"ll have the chance to save you."
Who would try to plot something against the future Princess Ding of Great Chu in public? Only Murong Ting could come up with that. Hua Tian Xiang waved her hands and said: "It"s alright. Take Murong with you, Li-er. She likes that kind of stuff." Murong Ting didn"t care about how they think of her at all. She held one of Ye Li"s arms with her arms happily and said: "Let"s go! Let"s go!"
"Father." Only by the time when Ye Li walked into the main hall, did she find out how unprecise the steward"s report was. She thought there were only her father and the guest. However, unexpectedly, Mo Jing Li and Ye Ying were also in their company. Murong Ting gave her a look that there was Mo Jing Li wherever they went. Ye Li had no choice but to grin at her and walked up to greet Minister Ye. Minister Ye was very willing to play the role of a caring father in front of others. He smiled with affection and said to Ye Li: "Li-er, you are here. Miss Murong is with you as well." Murong Ting"s lips curled in a sneer and said: "I invited myself here. Uncle Ye, please forgive me if I offend you by doing that." Minister Ye laughed and said: "Don"t worry about it. I am deeply gratified that Li-er has such a good friend as you. Li-er, Miss Murogn, this is the eldest son of Prince Zhennan of Xi Ling."
Now the two turned their eyes to the young man who was sitting on one side. Xi Ling was to the north-west of Great Chu. The traditions of Xi Ling were quite different from those of Great Chu. But there was one interesting point about Xi Ling. Xi Ling called itself Great Ling in their country and called Great Chu: East Chu. While Great Chu called Xi Ling as it was and called itself Great Chu. One could guess the not so friendly relations between the two countries just by the ways they called each other. This eldest son of Prince Zhennan was tall in build, with outstanding facial features as if the edges and corners on his face were carved by knives. Ye Li saw clearly there was dark purple in his eyes. It was said that royals of Xi Ling all had brown eyes. The appearance of this one showed clearly that he didn"t have the pure royal blood of Xi Ling running in his veins. "Honored to meet you, Prince." Though Murong Ting seemed careless, she showed an appropriate etiquette in front of the foreign envoy.
The eldest son of Prince Zhennan measured the two of them with his eyes bluntly. He soon gave up on Murong Ting and focused his eyes on Ye Li. After quite a while he said: "Princess Ding, Miss Murong, you are being too polite. I am Lei Teng Feng."
Lei was the surname of the royals of Xi Ling. It was good that there was no language barrier between them.
Seeing that the eldest son of Prince Zhennan with an imposing manner before him, then looking at Ye Li, Minister Ye coughed slightly and said: "Li-er, Prince Lei is here specially to deliver your congratulatory gift."
Ye Li nodded and said: "Thank you a lot, Prince. I deeply appreciate your kindness in coming here specially. I hope that you feel at home in Great Chu."
Lei Teng Feng laughed loudly: "My pleasure. I"ve admired the view of Great Chu for a long time and this time I am going to go around for a good sight-seeing. Come, present the present that I prepared for Princess Ding." He clapped his hands lightly and two guard-like men walked in. One of them carried a long and thin wooden box with carvings on it. Seeing the length and size of that box, Ye Li had a bad feeling about it. It probably wasn"t a regular gift. Lei Teng Feng gave the men a gesture. The other man opened the wooden box as he bid and a bone-chilling coldness went out at them. Minister Ye"s face went dark. He stood up in an instant and asked with annoyance: "Prince, what do you mean by this?"
Lei Teng Feng raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion: "This gift was picked by my father and uncle themselves for Princess Ding. Is there anything wrong with it?"
Minster Ye said: "My daughter is going to get married. What do you mean by giving her a sword?" Swords were lethal weapons and were considered inauspicious. In the wooden box with delicate carvings was a simple and unadorned long sword. Though it was still in its sheath, one could still feel its chilling coldness and aura of death. It was obviously a master sword that had slit countless throats.
"This gift was sought out specially by our country and my father to show our sincerity. Or… do you really not see where does this sword come from?" Lei Teng Feng folded his arms in front of his chest casually, looking at those before him with his look like a smile yet not a smile. Sensing the contempt in his tone, Mo Jing Li"s dashing eyebrows frowned. He stood up to look at the sword in the box. Murong Ting"s heart fluttered and looked at Ye Li with hesitation.
"This is… Lan Yun!" After quite some time, Mo Jing Li said in a deep voice.
Lei Teng Feng commended: "Prince Li, you really have a good sense of judgement. That"s right. It is Sword of Lan Yun."
Everyone present was moved. It was not a famous sword through all ages, but its reputation could match that of any famous sword that was handed down from ancient times. This sword had the same reputation as the first Prince Ding, Mo Lan Yun. It was the sword carried by Mo Lan Yun wherever he went to war and was also the sword worn by the several Prince Ding after him. This sword followed the past Prince Ding galloping across battlefields and sweeping over enemies. n.o.body knew how much blood had splashed on it. Until seven years ago, when the previous Prince Ding, Mo Xiu Wen died of illness at the frontier, this sword was lost. Countless people went searching for it directly and indirectly but n.o.body ever saw it again. This gift was of enough value and sincerity.
Lei Teng Feng clapped his hands and laughed: "Ever since my father learned the news that Sword of Lan Yun went missing, he went through countless troubles and sent people after it everywhere. Finally, hard work paid off. One year ago, this sword was found in Bei Di. We want to return it to its rightful owner at the opportunity of Prince Ding"s wedding. How do you like it, Princess Ding?"
Minister Ye looked grave. He stood up and said to Lei Teng Feng: "I have to thank you for such a priceless gift." It was fair to say that Sword of Lan Yun was a national treasure of Great Chu. Minister Ye didn"t dare to decline such a gift from Lei Teng Feng. He was regretting that he hadn"t refuse the visit of this eldest son of Prince Zhennan.
Lei Teng Feng nodded in satisfaction. Raising his eyebrows, he laughed and said: "To be honest, I once thought about keeping it after acquiring such a treasure. But it seemed that Sword of Lan Yun had its own soul. I went through countless troubles but still couldn"t get it out of its sheath after all that. Though I did have a top sword-casting master get it out, the sword couldn"t be put into use at all. Even the best swordsman in Xi Ling couldn"t control it. Therefore I came up with the idea that this sword could only be wielded by someone from Prince Ding"s Manor. Thus I want to ask Princess Ding to have a try at this sword."
Minister Ye said unhappily: "My daughter doesn"t know anything about swordsmanship. Besides, if you want to try the sword, you ought to ask Prince Ding."
Lei Teng Feng looked at Ye Li, laughed and said: "Isn"t Princess Ding one of Prince Ding"s Manor? I heard that a hundred years ago, the first Princess Ding once killed sixteen enemies with this sword and saved Prince Ding and that became a much-told tale. Thus, it doesn"t necessarily have to be someone in the bloodline of Prince Ding. The spouse of Prince Ding will also do. What do you think, Princess Ding?" Before Ye Li even spoke, Mo Jing Li sneered coldly and said: "Princess Qing Yun was a peerless and remarkable woman adept with both pen and sword. It was no surprise that she could wield Sword of Lan Yun. But, are you trying to embarra.s.s Great Chu by asking Ye Li to wield Sword of Lan Yun, Prince? Everybody knows that Ye Li probably couldn"t even practice a complete set of sword-play." Lei Teng Feng laughed and said: "I, on the opposite, believe in the insight of Prince Ding"s Manor. Overall, all of the past Princess Ding had been remarkable women endowed with both beauty and talent." Mo Jing Li mocked: "This one is an exception."
Murong Ting said in resentment: "Prince, are you asking a woman who has never wielded a sword in her life to use a sword that even you couldn"t draw from it sheath? Does everybody from Xi Ling enjoys making people do what they are unable to do?"
"Why don"t we ask Princess Ding if I"m asking her to do something that she couldn"t? My father told me that the sword must be given to Princess Ding. Or… am I only left with the choice of bringing it back with me to Xi Ling?" That was an outright threat. Lei Teng Feng was clear about what he wanted. If the future Princess Ding couldn"t draw Sword Lan Yun out of its sheath, if she couldn"t control it, it wouldn"t be his fault that he brought it with him back to Xi Ling. If that was it, Great Chu wouldn"t lost only its reputation but also its treasure.
"Third sister, why don"t you give it a try. You could probably draw it out of its sheath." Ye Ying said softly. "The prince of Xi Ling gives us such a valuable gift. It would be quite inappropriate if we don"t accept it." Minster Ye frowned at Ye Ying and started to think about which one did more harm to their reputation, drawing the sword out or not?