Realms In The Firmament

“What a prick!” Prince Hua-Yang’s eyes were wide open, he was furious, “You little… little shit! What did you say!”

Princess Hua-Yang also humphed in her mind and thought, [This little bastard truly doesn’t know how to talk. Such a waste of his natural-born pretty appearance.] The favorable impression which was just established had instantly crumbled.

Ye Xiao laughed and said carelessly, “So, today I was hanging around… and saw something. It is pretty good. See. I brought it to you immediately.”

Saying that, he dropped the bag on the floor.

“What is that?” Prince Hua-Yang frowned.

“A spear.” Ye Xiao opened the bag and picked up the parts of the spear. With two sounds of ‘Kah’, the extremely distinguished Hundred Fight Spear showed up in front of them!

The spear was in a spiral shape and was made from fine steel. The spearhead was 50 centimeters long!

With just a single glance, it aroused a feeling of dread in people’s hearts.

“Hundred Fight Spear!” Prince Hua-Yang’s eyes lit up as he jumped out of his seat.

One the side, Princess Hua-Yang made an exclamation when she saw it.

The mother-in-law of Ye Xiao was no ordinary woman. She used to cultivate martial arts and her cultivation level was not low at all. When she saw the world-killing vigor and the overbearing sharpness and proudness of the spear, she knew that it was not some ordinary weapon!

The past few days, she was just worrying that her husband should get some powerful weapons for the upcoming battle. Then this guy just brought them this precious spear as if he knew her thoughts like a worm in her body!

A sense of satisfaction appeared in her eyes when she looked at Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao didn’t know that his actions had won a good impression from his mother-in-law…

Prince Hua-Yang kept his eyes on the spear and paced around it. Apparently, he liked it very much.

He had gone to see this spear many times before.

However, it needed at least 250 thousand silver bars to buy the spear from the Divine Arms Mill.

That was worth as much as the cost of maintaining an army of 500 hundred men for three months. Prince Hua-Yang was extremely fond of the spear and had dreamed about getting it many times. [If only I could hold this spear and stand in the battlefield…]

However, he was too thrifty to buy it.

But surprisingly, the spear was now in front of him!

“How did you get this treasure?” Su Ding-Guo, i.e. Prince Hua-Yang, didn’t even try to disguise his love for the spear in his eyes.

“I bought it, of course.” Ye Xiao smiled, “Maybe you don’t need it… But I will just leave it to you. It is better staying in your hands than mildewing somewhere else.”

Prince Hua-Yang rubbed the mustache and laughed. But suddenly, doubts arose in his mind and he stopped. He asked doubtfully, “How did you get that much money? That day when I tried to get this spear, I stopped because it was too expensive. You family is not richer than mine. Ye Nan-Tian is poor. How did you buy it? You didn’t swindle it, did you? According to your reputation, you very likely have done so. I heard that you swindled the blood ginseng out of the house of Wang. You must have done the same trick this time…”

Ye Xiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

[It is true that good news never go beyond the gate, while bad news spread far and wide. Is my reputation really that bad?]

“Relax. I got this spear legitimately. And I spent more than others would!” He solemnly said, “As for why I could afford it, I recently acquired an unexpected wealth… Please just relax and take it.”

Prince Hua-Yang humphed and spoke, “With your reputation, I can’t trust you…”

Princess Hua-Yang annoyingly said, “Why are you so stubborn… The kid cares about you and brought you this precious spear with kindness. You are actually showing an attitude like that. You really shouldn’t.”

While speaking, she turned to Ye Xiao and said, “Xiao Xiao, where did you rob this spear? Ahem. I mean swindle… Erh. I mean… Where did you buy it?”

Ye Xiao was speechless and upset. What a damn grievance!

[I brought a gift… Yet I am actually disdained like this! That… That is truly my first time in my two lives…

I, the honorable Xiao Monarch, would actually have such a day!

And I can’t burst my anger to them. Instead, I have to cater to them…

That is so annoying!]

“A few days ago, I saved a man.” Ye Xiao blurted out a lie, “The man was being chased and ran into me… A man with a kind heart like me would of course help him. The man gave me two jade bottles before he left.”

“I didn’t care much about them at the beginning. Until lately, I discovered that in each bottle, there was a supreme dan bead…” Ye Xiao said.

“Huh?”

Princess Hua-Yang exclaimed. She looked surprised and happy.

“What? Really?” Prince Hua-Yang was a collected man, but he couldn’t help exclaiming. He stood up, “Were they really the supreme dan beads?”

As the No.1 general in the Kingdom of Chen, how could he not know of the supreme dan beads that had stirred up the chaos in the whole capital these past few days? He would never have expected that this guy had actually saved the owner of the supreme dan beads.

[It is true that Feng Zhi-Ling has been missing since he left the salesroom… He was being hunted, and was saved by the lucky Ye Xiao…

Does this kid have a kind heart? It must be a coincidence that he saved the owner of the supreme dan beads and benefitted as a return!]

“Then where are the supreme dan beads?” Prince Hua-Yang asked.

Ye Xiao took out a jade bottle and smiled, “Right here. I knew that you are going to join the battle soon, so I brought you the supreme dan bead as a gift…”

Princess didn’t wait for Prince Hua-Yang to speak and quickly snatched the bottle.

She acted so quickly that Prince Hua-Yang didn’t have the time to react.

That was no kidding. With such a dan, her husband was like carrying an extra life with him!

That was so precious!

“Xiao, you are so…” Princess Hua-Yang nearly choked with sobs, “So full of filial piety! It was a truly worthwhile thing to let our daughter marry you… Oh…”

Women were capricious. Princess Hua-Yang just had a few good feelings to Ye Xiao, but now she liked him to the fullest. She had already started to call him ‘Xiao’ now. Apparently, she had already treated him as her present son-in-law. A gift from her son-in-law was obviously something she should and would love to accept!

Prince Hua-Yang was speechless.

[Arh. Woman… Several days ago you just cried in front of me blaming me that letting our daughter marry that guy was ruining our daughter’s life. Look at you now. Just for a dan bead, you immediately ’sold’ our daughter to him…]

“What a loss of principle! You just can’t restrain yourself.”

Prince Hua-Yang sighed helplessly and said, “And the other dan bead?”

He was thinking, [The battle is full of traps. If any of my loyal brothers suffers a fatal wound, another supreme dan bead can save another life. Although it is a bit presumptuous to ask for it, I could only care less about that right now!

I have already betrothed my daughter to you. What could be wrong to only asked for two dan beads!]

Thinking about that, he spoke boldly, “How many do you have? Take them out! Give me all!”

[I should be allowed to ask for anything from my son-in-law!]

Princess Hua-Yang showed the whites of her eyes. [You old man criticized me just now… It turns out you have lost your principle yourself! I was just accepting it from others, yet you are asking for it. That’s a huge difference. I despise you very much!]

“I don’t have it…” Ye Xiao threw up his hands, “I sold the other one and bought the spear for you. Where do you think did I get the money from…”

“You!” Prince Hua-Yang was furious, “You black sheep! You you you… You are exasperating… A dan bead that could bring the dead back to life, you exchanged it for a stupid bloody spear!”

Princess Hua-Yang was unhappy all the sudden, “What are you talking about, you old man? The kid just saved one for you. He could have kept it to himself and you wouldn’t know of it, would you? You old man. You really don’t know how to appreciate what is good for you! How could you say it’s just a stupid spear. You have longed for it for a long time. I always knew that!”

Prince Hua-Yang was a bit guilty and said, “What a shame… A supreme dan bead could save a life…” He still felt aching about it.

He usually didn’t appreciate a supreme dan bead a lot, but since the war was approaching, he saw it as something extremely valuable.

Ye Xiao did have more, a lot more. However, he wouldn’t dare to reveal them at the moment even if he would die for not doing so…

As a man like Prince Hua-Yang, it was normal that he had one supreme dan bead. But if he had many… it would draw suspicions or greedy eyes. He was afraid that everyone in the Palace of Hua-Yang would be in danger because of it…

If so, that was not a gift, but a curse!

Xiao Xiao said, “You are not seeing things in the right way… With this spear, you will be invincible in the battle, killing enemies, capturing flags… That will save a lot more lives than what a dan bead could do.”

Princess Hua-Yang’s eyes lit up and she said, “That’s right. That is reasonable. As long as you stay alive, you can save many many men!”

She was a clever woman, so she naturally understood the meaning of Ye Xiao’s words: [The supreme dan bead… You must not give it to others…

That means giving a life.]

Prince Hua-Yang sighed and frowned for a long time.

After a while, he spoke gently, “They are all my brothers… It is acceptable not to save them when I am not able to… However, I could, if I were to keep this dan bead for myself… how could I face myself again?”

The princess and Ye Xiao were both silent.

Loving his soldiers like they were his own sons and sharing happiness and woe with them; standing side by side in the chaotic storms of the world.

That was Prince Hua-Yang, Su Ding-Guo.

He meticulously treated his soldiers as he treated his own kin. The princess and Ye Xiao both believed that in the battle, if one of his men and himself were both badly injured… the one who would take the supreme dan bead would never be Prince Hua-Yang!

Even if he had 100 supreme dan beads with him, he would take none for himself.

If he wasn’t like that, maybe he wouldn’t have been the Prince Hua-Yang whose majesty was felt throughout the whole kingdom for decades.

Ye Xiao felt admiration in his heart.

An outstanding character, Prince Hua-Yang was definitely one!

…

Prince Hua-Yang was delighted. He asked Ye Xiao to stay for dinner and let Su Ye-Yue, who was grounded, to join them. The four of them sat together around the table, two old and young couples. It really looked like a harmonious family enjoying happiness together. The house was filled with laughter and cheerful voices.

…

4th guaranteed chapter of the week.

Translated by: Rain

Edited by: Alpha, Arch