Chapter 092: The Battle at the Peak

"Have the princess represent the court in Yan City at Prince Xiang’s daughter’s wedding?"

The more Li Qianshi thought about it, the more he felt the idea was an excellent one.

If his elder sister were still in Luo City, who knew when she might barge into the palace again to inspect his every move? He would be on edge every day. Send her off to Yan City, and at the very least he could enjoy some peace and happiness for a good while.

"Wan Shu, that is a splendid idea!" Li Qianshi said to Consort Wei. "My elder sister has always enjoyed an excellent relationship with Prince Xiang. Since his daughter is to be married, there could be no better choice than to send her to offer congratulations on behalf of the court. Yes, splendid indeed!"

A shadow of sorrow suddenly crossed Wei Wan Shu's face. "But even if we send the Grand Princess to Yan City, it would only drive her away for a time. After the wedding, she would still return. Why not..."

Her eyes rolled with calculation. "Why not, after the Grand Princess attends the wedding at Prince Xiang’s estate, send her to guard the northern frontier? Then, far away at the border, she would no longer be able to meddle in Your Majesty’s affairs."

"Besides, with the Grand Princess stationed in the north, the people of the Yan Kingdom would no longer dare to raid the border villagers at will. To Your Majesty, it would be a gain on both sides!"

Li Qianshi shook his head. "The northern frontier is bleak, and my elder sister already suffered for so many years in the Nine Nether Prison. How could I bear to send her to endure frontier service there?"

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten? The Grand Princess was once called an unparalleled genius among immortal cultivators. Her ambition has never lain in the court, but on the great path of cultivation."

"Compared with the clamor and chaos of Luo City, the quiet barrenness of the northern frontier would surely be more suitable for the Grand Princess’s cultivation," Wei Wan Shu said in measured, reasonable tones.

Li Qianshi said, "What you say does seem to make sense."

Seeing that he appeared to be moved, Wei Wan Shu pressed on. "Your Majesty, you saw her attitude toward you today. Where is there any distinction between ruler and subject?"

"The Grand Princess has always been proud and aloof. Ever since childhood, she has thought Your Majesty inferior to herself, so naturally she would never submit to you. If she is sent to guard the frontier now, would that not prove to the Grand Princess that even without her, Your Majesty can still manage the affairs of state perfectly well?"

Li Qianshi said, "But sending my elder sister to the frontier... I truly cannot bring myself to say it to her face."

"Why must Your Majesty speak personally?" Wei Wan Shu said. "Once the Grand Princess reaches Yan City, Your Majesty can simply issue an imperial edict and have it delivered there. Then she can be ordered directly from Yan City to the northern frontier to take up her post."

After thinking it over for a moment, Li Qianshi nodded. "Good. Let it be done that way."

...

Yan City, Pear Blossom Lane, the small courtyard where Song Ye lived.

Murong Qingyi had only just come to visit when Zhang Zixuan arrived as well.

Song Ye's courtyard was the same one behind the former tea stall, and Zhang Zixuan knew the way perfectly well.

"Big Brother Song, congratulations on your upcoming wedding!" Zhang Zixuan was already shouting from outside the gate.

Song Yan, hearing the voice, sprang toward her with delight. She was already quite familiar with Zhang Zixuan.

Once Zhang Zixuan had entered the courtyard, Song Ye asked, "Zixuan, how is it that your news travels so fast? You even knew in the Bright Clear Palace that I was getting married?"

"The Prince Xiang’s estate already sent the wedding invitation to the Bright Clear Palace. How could I not know?" Zhang Zixuan replied.

Song Ye had not expected Qin Xuanxi to act so quickly. The date had only just been set, and the invitations were already sent to the Bright Clear Palace.

Suddenly, a great crane descended outside the gate.

Duan Ling and Zhou Nongshan were seated on its back.

Duan Ling leaped down first and called into the courtyard, "Brother Song, I heard you're getting married, so Nongshan Senior Brother and I came ahead of time to offer our congratulations."

It happened to be their turn to go down the mountain to buy supplies, so while their master was drunk again, they secretly rode off on his crane and made the whole journey here.

Song Ye was puzzled. Duan Ling was a disciple of the Moon-Drawn Sect; could it be that even the Moon-Drawn Sect had received his wedding invitation?

Beside him, Qin Xuanxi smiled softly, her expression seeming to say: yes, it was I who had people send it.

Not only the Bright Clear Palace and the Moon-Drawn Sect, which were both not far from Yan City, but even the Vast Mystery Palace in distant Luo City, and the sects whose headquarters lay within the six other great kingdoms, Qin Xuanxi had sent invitations to them all by means of "arrow pigeons."

Arrow pigeons were a low-grade class of demon beast with little offensive power, but their flight speed was astonishing, many times, even dozens of times, faster than ordinary homing pigeons.

The Scarlet Feather Guard kept many such pigeons, and Qin Xuanxi had ordered them all released, so that the various sects across the seven great kingdoms of the Xuan Ying Continent would receive word that "Su Qingyu, direct disciple of the Lonely Jade Sect, is to be married."

Of course, the Lonely Jade Sect was a secluded sect and did not maintain good relations with most others. So the vast majority of sects, upon receiving such an invitation, would not pay it any heed, let alone make a special trip to Yan City to offer congratulations.

In the end, the only sects likely to send representatives were the five not far from Yan City: the Bright Clear Palace, the Moon-Drawn Sect, the Divine Wind Gate, the Celestial Dawn Sect, and the Seven Stars Sect.

Precisely because these five sects were all situated relatively close to one another, they had formed the "Alliance of the Five Sects."

Even so, if these five sects sent people to congratulate them, it would not be out of respect for the Lonely Jade Sect, but for the Prince Xiang’s estate.

Still, Qin Xuanxi’s purpose in doing all this was not truly to ensure that every sect receiving an invitation would send someone to the banquet. She simply wanted more people to know that she was getting married.

Once she had built the stage, all she had to do was wait for that Wine Immortal to take the bait.

Seeing Qin Xuanxi, Zhou Nongshan asked directly, "Sister-in-law, on the day of your wedding, will there be your stir-fried raw chicken on the banquet table?"

Clearly, after two years, Zhou Nongshan still could not forget the dish of stir-fried raw chicken that Qin Xuanxi had made back then.

Song Ye immediately answered for Qin Xuanxi. "Brother Nongshan, that day is your sister-in-law’s wedding day. How could she possibly cook personally? Besides, your sister-in-law is a duchess now. How could you ask a duchess to cook for you!"

At those words, Zhou Nongshan looked utterly crestfallen. If he could, he would gladly go seven days and seven nights without eating a thing, just to taste once more the stir-fried raw chicken Qin Xuanxi had cooked herself.

"How about this, Brother Nongshan," Song Ye continued. "After the wedding, stay in Yan City for a few more days. If one day your sister-in-law is in a good mood, I’ll have her secretly make that stir-fried raw chicken for you once again."

Qin Xuanxi, standing nearby, said nothing. Even she did not know whether she would still be in Yan City after the wedding.

Indeed, on the wedding day itself, she could not foresee what might happen.

If the Flute Immortal were to appear that day, then a battle would be inevitable at this wedding.

And that battle was destined to be recorded in the annals of history, for it would be a peak clash between two sides whose cultivation had already reached the summit.

In the entire world of cultivation, nearly a hundred years had passed without a battle of this magnitude.