Chapter 915 The Dragon Abyss Changes Hands!

Originally, the Prince's Mansion had invited the Sword Saint's family to today's banquet. If they had gone, they would have been seated at the family table in the back. Prince Pingxi definitely hoped that the Sword Saint's family would interact more with his own family.

After all, good neighborliness is very important. It takes a great fate from a previous life to become neighbors.

But the Sword Saint refused.

Since the Sword Saint didn't go, Liu Dahu naturally couldn't go either. He was one of the prince's personal guards, but none of the martial generals at today's banquet were below the rank of lieutenant general, so if he couldn't enter as the "village idiot son of the neighbor," he wasn't qualified to attend.

Liu Dahu finished practicing his saber techniques and walked to the water tank, using a ladle to scoop water and pour it over his body.

After wiping himself dry,

he turned around

and saw his father standing in the corner, his expression seeming to hold an unspeakable loneliness.

Liu Dahu walked over,

first reaching out to grab the equally lonely duck,

and then stuffing it into the chicken coop and closing the cage.

Then he walked to his younger brother and picked him up.

"Dad, are you worried about something?" Liu Dahu asked.

The Sword Saint looked at his two sons,

sat down on the bench beside him,

turned his head,

and glanced at the Dragon Abyss that he had placed by the woodpile after chopping wood during the day.

"Take your brother to bed first. Dad is just pondering a sword technique today."

As he spoke,

the Sword Saint even reached out and gestured a couple of times.

"Okay."

Liu Dahu obediently carried his younger brother into the house.

Leaving the Sword Saint alone,

sitting in the small courtyard under the starry sky.

…

The Prince's Mansion's baby-grabbing ceremony officially began.

All the civil and military officials attending the banquet were present.

The large round table that had been placed inside the house was also moved outside.

Xiong Liqing held Da Niu, Fourth Mother held Zheng Lin, and Liu Ruqing and the Princess of Fu stood behind them.

Tian Tian and Ji Chuanye moved small stools and stood on them to get a better view.

Unlike usual, all the teachers of the Prince's Mansion were also present this time.

Incense was lit,

and the master and apprentice from the Calabash Temple were also invited to chant a blessing sutra.

After everything was prepared,

Zheng Fan picked up the "steaming tray" from the large round table.

Immediately,

the corner of Zheng Fan's eye couldn't help but twitch.

He knew there would be some extra things, but he didn't expect there to be so many.

That sword looked a little familiar…

Oh, right, wasn't it Baili Jian?

How could this sword be placed here?

Soon, Zheng Fan understood and found it a bit funny:

I didn't expect even you, Sword Saint, with your thick brows and big eyes, to play this trick.

Then,

this…

Zheng Fan reached out and picked up the jade-carved seal.

Actually, placing this thing here wasn't too out of line.

The imperial princes of Great Yan were naturally greatly restricted, and according to Great Yan tradition, after the emperor's sons were granted princedoms, they would immediately petition the new emperor to reduce their rank when their father died.

That is, the imperial clansmen, their princedoms were often only for one generation. If the father died early and the brother ascended the throne early, they might only be princes for a little over a decade before being demoted.

Hundreds of years ago, there were instances where imperial clansmen were specially allowed to retain their princedoms for one generation after making great contributions, but there had been no such precedent in recent centuries.

After all, as the desert barbarians were increasingly suppressed by the Zhenbei Marquis Household, the Ji family's imperial clan no longer needed to constantly go on expeditions to the desert like their ancestors, so they naturally couldn't earn the kind of military merits that would allow them to retain their princedoms.

As for the non-imperial princes of Great Yan, they were only established in the previous generation, with the Zhenbei King and the Jingnan King, and originally didn't exist, so there was no ancestral precedent to follow.

Moreover, the three non-imperial princes conferred by Great Yan, including Zheng Fan, all had the "grace" of "hereditary succession without replacement" added to their titles.

Therefore, after Li Liangting died, his son Li Fei didn't have his rank reduced and directly inherited the princedom.

In Tian Tian's case, firstly, the Jingnan King had only disappeared, not died in battle, but even if Old Tian never came back, Tian Tian would be able to inherit the princedom after reaching adulthood, but it might be compromised a bit, avoiding his father's name and changing the title of the princedom.

The previous Yan Emperor Ji Runhao was very generous and gave the two princes of the north and south great honor. For example, the prince's seal was actually very similar to the emperor's jade seal in terms of appearance, with only slight differences in the details.

Zheng Fan benefited from the previous generation, and everything was done as usual. His prince's seal was also of this specification.

But Zheng Fan clearly saw that this seal was not ordinary.

He picked it up, weighed it a couple of times, and looked at the words on the bottom. Zheng Fan "heh"-ed in his heart, as expected.

Then he looked at the corner that had been repaired with gold.

Damn it,

did you have to be so "craftsman-like"?

He turned his head and glanced at the demon kings standing around, and found that their facial expressions were all extremely natural, as if everything had nothing to do with them.

There was no way, since the thing had already been placed there, Zheng Fan couldn't remove it unless it was too outrageous.

Zheng Fan turned around and first took Da Niu from Xiong Liqing's arms.

"The auspicious time has arrived, Princess, grab for luck!"

Chen Daole acted as the master of ceremonies on the side.

Immediately,

all the civil and military officials present knelt down:

"May the Princess be blessed with ten thousand years of health and happiness!"

Zheng Fan held Da Niu's small hand and waved it gently,

and said:

"Rise."

"Thank you, Princess!"

Everyone rose, everything was orderly and meticulous.

Zheng Fan first placed Da Niu in the middle of the round table.

In other families, girl babies would not do the fortune-grabbing. There were many restrictions on women in this era, and there were very few occupations available to them.

But Prince Pingxi would not pay attention to these rules. He would support whatever his daughter wanted to do in the future.

After Da Niu was placed on the round table, her gaze couldn't help but look at the various objects around her.

Immediately afterward,

Zheng Fan also took Zheng Lin from Fourth Mother's arms.

The prince was a daughter-slave, and a well-behaved and smiling daughter could always win the prince's favor.

But precisely, in the eyes of outsiders, this son was the real key.

The prince held Zheng Lin facing the round table;

On one side,

the civil officials collectively tidied up their official robes,

and then,

together, they knelt down very solemnly in a grand ceremony:

"May the Heir Apparent be blessed with ten thousand years of health and happiness!!!"

On the other side,

the military generals knelt down even more forcefully, and in an instant, a sense of肅殺(su sha) as if they were in the army swept over them;

They were serious, solemn, and sincere.

"We are willing to die for the Heir Apparent, willing to die for the Heir Apparent!!!"

Loud and inspiring.

On both sides of the civil and military officials,

this was not a blessing,

this was recognizing their master;

Recognizing their… young master.

The prince was the object of their loyalty, and the heir apparent was the object they would continue to follow.

In the Great Yan of today,

the Zhenbei Marquis Household had long lost its former glory. When Li Liangting was alive, he could indeed achieve unity of military hearts with his personal prestige and the help of his adopted sons;

But after the new North King ascended the throne, the originally cohesive system had long been estranged due to the death of the old North King. Beifeng County was the court's Beifeng County, and the Zhenbei Army was also the court's Zhenbei Army.

But west and east, the feng shui really turned in turn;

The current Prince Pingxi's Mansion had the ability to pass on this cohesiveness, unless… Zheng Fan's brain was flooded and he learned from Li Liangting to throw his child into some mountain ravine and ignore him for more than ten years.

A military governor was a separatist force;

And on the basis of this separatist force, adding a prince would often be even more terrifying, because it had a center and a inheritance.

Immediately,

an even more…

To be precise, a scene that would make those civil and military officials who had already knelt down at this time even more excited and inspired appeared.

The teachers of the Prince's Mansion also all knelt down at this time.

"May the Young Master be blessed!"

This meant that the Prince's Mansion, both inside and outside, had unified its consensus.

It could be said that as long as this Heir Apparent grew up normally, even if he was absurd or纨绔(wan ku) (prodigal son), nothing could stop him from taking over the foundation left by his father after he came of age or some day in the future.

Zheng Fan lowered his head and grabbed his son's hand.

But he noticed the smile on his son's lips.

The little thing seemed to like this feeling very much. He was still young and lacked the ability to think, so his reaction to the outside world came from his own intuition, and his expression of preference was also very obvious.

At the age of three, you can see what someone will be like when they are old. What is being seen? It is human nature.

Son, do you really like this feeling of being called upon by thousands of people?

Zheng Fan wasn't angry, because he had no reason to be angry. He himself could refrain from rebelling as long as Ji Lao Liu didn't disgust him, after all, his current life was almost the same as the emperor's. Moreover, there was the goal and grand ambition of unifying the lands, which he had promised Lao Tian and those fallen soldiers.

But why should he care if his son had this idea in the future?

Could it be that I owe your Ji family something?

"Everyone, rise." Zheng Fan said on behalf of his son.

"Thank you, Heir Apparent!"

Everyone rose, and then, almost everyone's face showed a flush at this time, which was excitement.

Zheng Fan placed Zheng Lin in the center of the large round table as well.

The two children,

were grabbing for luck together.

Zheng Lin sat there, and his gaze was immediately attracted to the glass of cocktail that Ah Ming had placed on the table.

Ah Ming, who was standing on the side, smiled.

He was already fantasizing about sitting in the wine cellar with Zheng Lin, who would be a little older in the future, and tasting wine together.

The blind man remained calm as always.

Soon,

Zheng Lin's gaze shifted to the "Imperial Jade Seal" that he had been playing with for a long time.

And at this time,

Da Niu, who had been on the table earlier, began to crawl to one side and came to Baili Jian's side.

Da Niu seemed to be attracted to the sword.

Xiong Liqing, who was on the side, smiled. She hoped that her daughter could be safe for the rest of her life. What was the guarantee for a safe life?

Look at her father. Even though he had thousands of troops under his command, who could he not do without when he went out on weekdays?

Of course, Xiong Liqing could also guess who had placed the sword. If her daughter chose this sword, it meant that her daughter could get unconditional protection from that person.

The princess clearly understood that her daughter was different from that sword servant. If she had been accepted as a disciple since she was a child, she would really be more important than his own daughter.

Ah Li raised his eyebrows. He was about to fulfill his promise to the sword servant.

Everyone's eyes were now focused on this large round table. While the Heir Apparent was still looking around, they naturally paid special attention to the Princess who already had a tendency to choose.

However,

when Da Niu reached out and touched Baili Jian,

she quickly retracted her hand,

and on her face,

she actually showed a look of disgust.

This scene made many people feel puzzled.

The blind man explained: "The Princess is a fire phoenix spirit body. The fire phoenix is an寄生(ji sheng) thing (parasitic or dependent, referring to an auspicious symbol), representing endless life; while the owner of Baili Jian had just left, and the sword body carried the intent of death, which the Princess did not like."

Zheng Fan sighed, what a pity.

The princess was also a little helpless.

But,

at this moment,

a long rainbow, like彩霞(cai xia) (colorful clouds) in the night, roared up from the east side of the Prince's Mansion.

Immediately afterward,

it fell down again,

and landed perfectly on the round table.

The surrounding civil and military officials were greatly alarmed for a time, and instinctively thought that assassins were attacking.

But the people in the Prince's Mansion seemed very calm. They knew who had made the move.

Soon, the chaotic scene calmed down, and everyone understood what was going on. After all, outsiders only heard that the Sword Saint of Jin was used by Prince Pingxi, but many of them present had personally seen the Sword Saint accompanying the Prince during expeditions.

Da Niu was not frightened,

looked at the Dragon Abyss falling in front of her,

took the initiative to crawl closer, and excitedly began to clap and laugh.

Da Niu liked swords, but she didn't like the remaining sadness on Baili Jian.

And the Dragon Abyss, which had been refined by the Sword Saint to this day, as the Sword Saint gradually reached perfection, seemed simple and unadorned, but in essence, the sword intent could be said to be quite雄渾(xiong hun) (vigorous) and continuous!

Immediately,

a grand voice came from the east,

with a meaning of declaration:

"From today onwards, the Dragon Abyss changes hands!"