More than a month after Lin Xulian sent the message to the An Valley through Fei, Lin Huang with his entire family and the Lin Mercenary Clan arrived at the Qiangdu country"s wall. And since the King already informed that the prince will be arriving soon, there are some men posted around the walls to welcome them. With this, they didn"t get a hard time entering the country.
This news spread throughout the capital just before Lin Huang"s company could arrive. It was because some curious ones also waited on the wall for their arrival and immediately shared the news. As a result, excitement and curiosity filled the capital in antic.i.p.ation of the arrival of the prince and future King.
Most of the citizens went to the capital, both old and young, to marvel the prince and feed their curiosity. The restaurants, teahouses and stall owners rejoiced for the boost in their income. Even the small stores and food stalls that usually doesn"t receive much customers had their goods sold out. They cannot help but thank the prince for his existence alone.
From the wall, the party took two days to arrive in the capital. That"s because they brought a carriage with them for the two madams of the Lin clan and Lin Huang"s one-year-old son and didn"t use their qigong in its full potential. Their escorts didn"t mind. But for some reason they could tell that Lin Huang is not in a good mood. Even the air around the Lin Mercenary Clan is a bit heavy.
Arriving at the capital, Lin Huang and his father Lin Xu led the group with the carriage behind them. While the other clan members surrounded it from the side and back. Their arrival caused an uproar to the capital. In no time the citizens filled the side of the road. The customers of the restaurants and teahouses also gathered by the window to witness their procession.
They all wear their uniform black robes with an embroidered characters LIN on their chest. Lin Xu wore a simple dark blue robes with cloud patterns. Lin Huang on the other hand attracted most attention in his black robes with silver thread flying crane embroidery. He usually wore plain robes but ever since he married Yin Mei, his wardrobe completely changed.
Because she got relieved from her duties in the palace and focused on her married life, Yin Mei used all her time in embroidery. She is not used to the idle life of a married woman after all. That was until she gave birth to her and Lin Huang"s son, Lin Haoyi. Luckily, there are no concubines she has to deal with.
"Is that the prince in the front? That insanely handsome one?" One of the women voiced out.
"He must be! Seeing the princess, I already expected that the prince would be handsome. Bur reality is even more surprising." Another woman added.
"Even if he is not that strong, I will be willing to be his princess. Strength could be gained in time but that face and stature is one of a kind. Definitely a supreme quality man!" Another woman exclaimed. The others also squealed in excitement and admiration to Lin Huang. This also includes the women of the Pan clan.The men on the other hand noticed a different thing. "Why does the prince looks familiar? I think I saw him somewhere before.""Eh?! Isn"t that the leader of the strongest mercenary group in the other three countries? What was it called again?""Right! It is the Lin Mercenary Clan! Who would have thought that they are actually related to our King. I thought it was just a coincidence. People with the same name are normal after all.""And none of us knows that the King has any remaining relative. Apparently, only the clan heads and the King"s closest confidant knows about it and is helping him search for them over the years. I thought the King would choose either young master Hu Hai or young master Gu Rin to inherit the throne.""Why are they hiding it? Does this have to do with the Liu clan?""Probably. If they knew they exist, they would surely turn their revenge on them. We can"t be sure that they didn"t have any spy within the country.""But is this fine? Him becoming our King. He is too weak to succeed the throne.""Don"t you know? He is considered as the strongest man outside Qiangdu. The Liu clan excluded of course. He is a prodigy. He is still young and could get stronger in no time. He is a Lin after all."*******
Lin Huang doesn"t care about what the citizens are talking about. In fact, he didn"t even make any effort to listen. His eyes are glued on the castle resting on top of a hill at the center of the capital. Beside him, Lin Xu feels the same. The only thing they want is to see Lin Xulian.
They long want to see her ever since she decided to escape from the Gonglu country"s palace. She didn"t even meet them before she left to Qiangdu country. They are extremely worried. Even her mother Yang Hua had a bad feeling. Seems like their daughter is purposely hiding from them. Knowing her daughter, something must"ve happened that she doesn"t want them to find out.
When they finally arrived at the castle, they were led inside the hall where the King is waiting on his throne. Yang Hua and Yin Mei, carrying their son, also followed closely behind their respective husbands with the Mercenary Clan surrounding them from the side and back.
The first thing they noticed when they enter the hall is the huge black stone standing proudly behind a throne. Seeing this, the mercenary felt their body trembling for unknown reason. They could already feel this weird sensation the moment they entered the country. But the feeling is many times stronger inside the hall. And they are certain that the stone has something to do with it.
Lin Xu and Lin Huang have it worse. They are masking it well but their muscles are uncontrollably trembling. It"s like they feel really hungry but not for food. And they don"t even know what their body wants. But for some reason it didn"t feel threatening. They are just worried that they could not do anything once everything turn south because of this discomfort.
When they finally reached the throne and come face to face with the King dressed in an ethereal white robes, Lin Xu raised his eyebrows in surprise. It is rare to find someone with the same built as him. To think that the King of Qiangdu is one astound him. Lin Huang on the other hand didn"t care.
"Welcome to the Qiangdu country. I am the King—…" Lin Ziuzhong didn"t get to finish his introduction when Lin Huang"s cold and hostile voice interrupted him.
"Where is Lian"er?""Huang, don"t be rash. We should listen to their demands first." Lin Xu warned his son.
Hearing this, not only Lin Ziuzhong, even clan head Hu, Gu Rin and Hu Hai felt like there is something off with the situation. So Clan head Hu chose this moment to interject. "Young master Lin, there must be some kind of misunderstanding."
His voice caught Lin Huang"s attention. And his eyes narrowed seeing clan head Hu"s familiar face. "It"s you!" then he immediately unsheathed his sword and attacked Hu Min. Clan head Hu on the other hand could only block his sword with his metal reinforced arms.
Seeing this, Hu Hai also stepped out. "Young master Huang! There is no need for a fight. Please listen up."
Lin Huang stopped attacking and diverted his attention to a familiar voice. Seeing Hu Hai"s face, his eyes dilated in anger. "So you"re a spy after all. To think Lian"er trusted you. Unforgivable!"
Lin Huang is about to change his target when his body suddenly felt heavy and dropped into his knees. And just before the other mercenary and Lin Xu could aid him, they also dropped leaving the two women and the child unaffected.
"This castle stood unscathed for several centuries. I cannot let the lot of you put a dent on it." Lin Ziuzhong said in a cold and emotionless voice while releasing immense oppressive aura leaving the mercenary immobile.