Volume 4, Chapter 7: Brothers Meet (1/2)

Volueneration owner of the Hai Fa’s nephew In the year that he turned sixteen, he acco various countries Afterwards with Zhongying busy, Li personally led the convoys south and then west

The rise of the Hai fa, Li personally dreelve sea maps that were incomparably precise and are used to this day In the seventeenth year of Great Yong’s Longsheng¹ era, in order to reward hie overseas, Li was anointed a h Li was bestoith a noble title, his behavior did not change, sailing forth across oceans even at the age of seventy In the fifteenth year of the Wenzong² E³ era, Li took a nap in his cabin In his dreams, he met an old friend When he awoke, he s incense and playing the zither, he died before finishi+ng the song He was seventy-one

Li’s character, although seely amiable on the outside, was distant and aloof inside However, at the root of his character was honor and trust When Zhongying died, his sons were still young Everyone argued that Li would inevitably cease control of his uncle’s assets Li taught his younger cousins as his own children After fifteen years, when Li choose the most capable of his cousins as his uncle’s successor, everyone knew of his raphy of Merchants</blockquote>

When Chiji walked into his cabin in a daze, he caught sight of Daoli within, quietly gazing at hiirl How could have you taken her so seriously? You will very quickly forget her and she will very quickly forget you”

With an aching pain in his heart, Chiji replied, “I also do not knohy Originally, I only considered her to be a troublesome little sister However, the day before yesterday, when I saw her walk out of the Princess of Jiaping’s roo In the face of that kind of beauty, I could not help but feel distress A phoenix bathing in fire, although beautiful, experiences bitter anguish How unbearable it must be? At that moment, I finally understood The entire journey, the reason I treated her half-heartedly, even going so far as to find her arrogant and willful, crafty and unruly, was because I knew that the day would arrive ere ulti to part ways As a result, I did not want to fall in love with her I truly did not want to harht now, she has still been seriously hurt, while I am powerless to help Daoli, you can’t understand”

Daoli stoically said, “No, I understand co amaster’s orders, I once stayed within a sot to know an innocent and kindhearted young girl She fell in love with me, while I was also moved by her However, ultimately, I personally killed her father and elder brother”

Chiji’s heart stirred, re the important task that Daoli had handled before After Daoli returned, he remained silent for several days, alone to console him, but discovered that Daoli’s eyes were co master secretly summoned Daoli that he recovered his previous spirit From that point on, Daoli was dispatched to the Eastern Sea

Hesitating, Chiji asked, “That girlis she … is she dead?”

A hint of unknowable sorrow flashed across Daoli’s eyes, as he answered, “At the tiht to allow her to live, to allow her to hide in a re master’s plans However, I understood that if she were to remain alive, she would very likely fall into others’ hands, beco a tool used by others to deal with us Moreover, she had seen me kill her father and elder brother with her own eyes I did not have any idea what lengths she would go to in order to avenge that kind of grievous hatred As a result, I personally killed her I had gone on this mission filled withHowever, I still fell into her constant affection This was my mistake Therefore, I must personally rectify thisas you are able to kill her with your own hands, you can elio to Northern Han, otherwise you will never be happy in the rest of your life”

Chiji was silent for so of your words You personally killed your beloved in order to not harbor resent h life and death with you What you say is true She is the sast women The day that she dies will surely be co away at her most splendid and brilliant If I cannot witness it with my own eyes, my entire life will be filled with re n However, I will not allow her to learn that I ah that I alone suffer this pain”

“It is best that you understand,” expressed Daoli distantly “Now that your identity has been exposed, starting tohness, the Prince of Qi The young s that he wants you to take care of”

Finished speaking, Daoli handed over a wax pellet Chiji took the pellet Re the wax, he looked at the instructions on the paper within Then he burned it As the ashes fell to the ground, Chiji showed a determined smile

Once the shi+p that carried Li Xian, Lin Bi, and company arrived at the small nameless island that served as the main base of the Marquis of the Eastern Sea, the eyes of the two individuals, standing at the bow of the shi+p, brightened Gazing into the distance, this little island was in a crescent shape, al The island was surrounded by steep precipices The smooth rocks were fundamentally i trees, allowing the patrols on the cliffs above the ability to easily spot any intruders or invaders At the center of the crescent was an excellent harbor, capable of allowing large shi+ps to shelter from the elements The Marquis of the Eastern Sea was a maritime overlord Aside from the envoys from the major countries, those who ca celebrations were eitheror pirates who plundered oceangoing shi+ps As a result, there was clear separation within the harbor, as the various factions were on guard against each other The warshi+ps of the Marquis of the Eastern Sea surrounded the island and ensured that no one would get in without per Wuji and Great Master True Compassion had come, it would be ierous location

On the dock stood several dozen sturdy-lookingcapacity, dressed in red, festive clothing At their front stood the littlehis martial disposition and filled with jubilation After he had been cured fro Haitao had returned to the Eastern Sea, proving that he ithout rival when it came to naval warfare He annihilated or forced the surrender of numerous pirates Before, the Marquis of the Eastern Sea was only the largest faction on the high seas Now, he had become the commander of all of the pirates To attain these achievehtily over these last two years Not only was Jiang Yong coe by the abilities of his son, even the distant Yong E’an was overjoyed at this news During the two years he had spent in retire to leave some leeway for his brother-in-law and elder sister

Seeing the beautiful wo Haitao shouted, “Jiang Haitao, under my father’s orders, is here to welcohness, the Princess of Jiaping!”

Lin Bi s her voice, she returned, “Little Marquis, there is no need to be too polite”

Finished speaking, Lin Bi walked down the gangplank and onto the dock After the two exchanged salutes, Jiang Haitao’s gaze fell upon the figure of Li Xian who had followed Lin Bi down An incredulous, but happy look appeared on Jiang Haitao’s face, as he cried out, “Sixth uncle!” In high spirits, he ran over and grabbed onto Li Xian’s ar heartily, he continued, “Why didn’t sixth uncle infor to co?”

Li Xian also shtly He replied, “I’ve come in private The Emperor doesn’t know that I have co Haitao excitedly said, “Nephew remembers sixth uncle’s help For sixth uncle to be able to come today, Father will definitely be overjoyed as well Sixth uncle, quickly coreed, “Okay I have not met elder cousin in many years and should first reht?”

Seeing Li Lin, Jiang Haitao’s heart leapt He knew of Li Xian’s current situation This boy was definitely the son of Qin Zheng However, Jiang Haitao was a broadnanimous individual Since this boy’s mother had already died, he wouldn’thi to see my mother”

At this moment, a tender and lovely voice spoke up, filled with dissatisfaction, “Lanlan is also here”

Only then did Jiang Haitao discover the little girl standing at Li Lin’s side With one look, Jiang Haitao was elated Walking over, he picked up Roulan, stating, “Lan’er has also come! Does that mean Sir has come as well? Father has sent several invitations, but all were declined by the Sir”

Pleased with herself, Roulan declared, “I came with Uncle Hai with Daddy’s approval”

Disappoint Hai Wuya and Hai Li, standing behind the Prince of Qi, Jiang Haitao set down Roulan Leading the way, he guided all the guests towards the distant wedding hall

In the last several years, the Marquis of the Eastern Sea had taken up permanent residence upon this island Fro thenificent hall served for hall A feast was arranged in the side halls on both sides with over a hundred tables to entertain the ordinary guests In the main hall, aside from the center that was covered in red that served as the wedding hall, on each side was placed eighteen tables for the special guests Reportedly, because the wife of the Marquis was in poor health and frequently ill, she was unable to attend the wedding Only the Marquis was present, leading his subordinate co with happiness as he welco happy occasions would frequently be vigorous and invigorating The already forty-five-year-old Marquis was gloith health and vigor Even before the banquet had begun, he had already downed several drinks

The uests in theand Southern Chu

Li Kang, the Prince of Qing, was thirty-seven years old Since the fall of the Fengyi Sect, his status and position inificantly As Li Yuan’s third son, with the eldest son, Li An, forced to co’s status as the next oldest son was only below that of his father and elder brother As for the other adult princes, the seventh prince, the Prince of Ning, Li Qi, had poor health since birth He was not doted upon by Li Yuan and did not participate in governmental affairs It was only after Li Zhi ascended to the throne that Li Qi was enfeoffed as a prince of the second rank Although the Prince of Qi had been pardoned and was granted coe army, because of the suspicions upon him, his status had been demoted from an imperial prince to a prince of the second rank All the other princes and princesses had not yet reached adulthood Because of his contributions in defending the Yong territories in Sichuan, Li Kang was promoted from a prince of the second rank to an i, who controlled the arovernment of Yizhou, became one of the individuals that was second only to the emperor

This time, he had come on the emperor’s orders to serve as an envoy to the Eastern Sea Li Kang was extreo for If he could convince Jiang Yong to pledge allegiance to Great Yong, it would be an enor, seated in the chief guest’s seat, was chatting freely, replete with charm and cordiality With this handso like so, it caused his entire table to feel as if they were being bathed by a soothing spring breeze

Southern Chu’s envoy, Lu Can, had a coh he was only twenty-five, Lu Can was already the Chief Controller of Southern Chu’s ar it difficult to know his thoughts In fact, although it was nor, the Prince of Qing, it was strange that Southern Chu had dispatched Lu Can These last several years, Lu Can had siainst Great Yong’s invasions and raids, while reinforcing the defenses at Xiangyang and Fancheng, and the defensive line along the Yangtze River He was practically buried under a heavy workload on a daily basis As the Grand General, Lu Can could be said to be Southern Chu’s foreeneral For such an important individual to leave the court and travel to the distant Eastern Sea was utterly unian to suspect that there were soes to Southern Chu’s political situation

Although Lu Can’s expression was cal any hints for people to make conjectures, one look at the completely carefree and unrestrained manner of Lu Can’s deputy, Fu Yulun, one could jump to all kinds of conclusions Who didn’t know that this Fu Yulun was the son-in-law of the Southern Chu Pri’s uncle-in-law? Could it be that conflict had arisen between Southern Chu’s two regents, Shang Weijun and Lu Xin? Was Lu Can sent to the Eastern Sea because he was being supplanted? With the current chaotic state of the world, who didn’t want to understand the situation, so as to avoid being iuests in the hall were chatting, the herald announced, “The Princess of Jiaping and the Crimson Clouds Princess have arrived!”

Everyone looked over, catching sight of a woreen dress walk in In order to attend today’s festivities, Lin Bi did not wear her usual barbarian riding clothes thatinstead into a splendid attire befitting of her status She wore a light-green ereen outer garment denoted her respected position as a princess of Northern Han At her waist was tied a pearl encrusted precious saber Her deerskin shoes reminded everyone of her other status as the commander of the Daizhou army

Everyone in the hall rose to their feet to welco and Vice Minister of Rites, Gou Lian, froardless of friend or foe, this coainst barbarian incursions, the feeneral who protected the co of their respect

With a sreeted everyone At this moment, a melodious and beautiful voice drifted over “Elder sister, is that Lu Can, Grand General Lu?”