Ah, Politics(1)

The fast-moving carriage slowly came to a halt before a military outpost, which alerted Shi Yuanfe. He closed the scroll and put it in his bag, and walked outside.

"Elder Wang, we cannot accept this as a reason. Prince Shi Xiaofei has ordered the borders in, and out of the Southern Sky State closed. I'm afraid I can't do much. "

The bestial horses were strangely quiet, as a crowd of military officials carrying imperial order papers came in front of the carriage with frowns on their faces. Elder Wang stood in the middle of their formation with a stern expression.

"Are you telling me, that First Prince Shi Xiaofei's words are more precious than the Emperor's? "

Shi Yuanfe exhaled, and calmed himself. He thanked himself for acting quickly, as being trapped in this outpost was better than being put under arrest for murder.

After all, he would be the first suspect, and the first target his brother would get rid of using the excuse of him being his wife's admirer. Prince Shi Xiaofei was smart, and very opportunistic.

Shi Yuanfe calmly walked in front of the crowd, and watched the military officers bow to him. The man who had cited the reasons for barring his entry however, arrogantly cupped his hands instead.

Elder Wang seeing this turned extremely aggravated, "Officer, such disrespect would be meted out with execution if we were in the city! "

It seemed that his words were effective, as the officer bowed with apprehension on his face. Regardless of how powerless Shi Yuanfe was, he was still a prince.

"Rise, officer. I don't mind such things. Now, I will ask of the reason you stopped us here. I have an important place I need to go to. "

The brown-haired officer sighed, "How do I make you understand, prince? Prince Shi Xiaofei only did this for your safety. Currently a malevolent murderer from the Fire Dominion is running loose around the state. He could escape under the watch of the emperor, much less Elder Wang. Furthermore, the situation in Seahaven…isn't that bright. Only recently have we won it from the Fire Dominion…maybe the murderer is out there in that very city? "

Although Shi Yuanfe wasn't sure if the killer was actually from the Fire Dominion, or was supposed to attack the newlyweds before he painted that drawing, he had to play along. But even before he could say anything, Elder Wang interjected with a furious roar.

"By the orders of the Emperor, we require entry into Southern Sky State. If you dare to utter another word before me, I will snap your neck shut along with those of your pesky soldiers."

The officer gasped, and quickly backed down.

"Men, open the gates! "

Elder Wang suspiciously stared at the soldiers, and quietly whispered to Shi Yuanfe, "He's acting a bit too fast, don't you think, young master. Instead of caring for his wife, he's busy passing on military ordinances… "

"Thankfully, I thought of this beforeh— auhgck! "

As Shi Yuanfe was about to turn, his back suddenly emitted crackling noises. His spine immediately turned soft as his back turned bent, and he started to choke. An oppressive coldness started to flow out of his chest, as he began to feel as if a massive boulder had been thrown on his chest.

"Young master! Are you alright?! What happened?! " Elder Wang rushed towards him with a worrying expression, while the military officers watched with no interest in helping.

Elder Wang held Shi Yuanfe's back, and immediately infused True Essence in his fingers and massaged his arms. Slowly, a gentle warmth entered his body and started to abate his pain.

Unfortunately, it wasn't just ordinary pain.

"Arghh! " A stream of blood flowed out of Shi Yuanfe's mouth, as the gentle stream of True Essence disappeared and was replaced with even more intense pain.

Sensing his True Essence disappear, Elder Wang's frown intensified as he carried the heaving Shi Yuanfe into the carriage.

"Young master, do you remember drinking or eating something especially…cold? " Elder Wang asked as he laid him down on the floor. A cold energy flowed out of Shi Yuanfe's body.

"Why…ha? "

"You have been poisoned. I suspect that someone might've mixed something in your tea. "

Elder Wang cautiously stared at the entrance of the servant carriage. A ruthless force of energy traveled to his fists, but he was stopped by Shi Yuanfe.

"Stop! Ahck…ughh…they…they haven't done anything. " Shi Yuanfe panicked.

"Kindness doesn't beget kindness, young master! "

"No…it's not poison. Uncle Wang, look… "

Shi Yuanfe weakly unbuttoned his robe, and separated it; and exposed his frail chest. There, right around where his heart would be, a circular ring-like red vein was jutting out. It convulsed, as blue-colored light traveled through it.

Shi Yuanfe's nose started to leak blood, as he writhed in pain. In response, a red vein traveled from his right arm, while convulsing, and connected with the ring on the heart.

Elder Wang was silent for a moment. Before his eyes started to shake due to astonishment. "The Governing Heart Vessel…how…how is this possible?! Young master, weren't you born without Essence Vessels? "

Shi Yuanfe's bloody mouth broke into a smile, as he grasped Elder Wang's hands. "I…I don't know. But I can sense it; the essence you injected into me…is being refined now…

It's a miracle. I-I—"

Elder Wang's hands started to shake, as a single tear fell from his eyes. Complex emotions appeared in his expression, as he started to laugh.

"I always knew this would happen! The heavens hasn't forsaken me yet. Young master, I always knew you weren't born without any essence vessels! Something…something must've kept them dormant till now. "

"Uncle Wang…laugh later. I'm dying…"

Shi Yuanfe's suffocated whispers snapped Elder Wang back into action. He turned around and snapped his fingers, which instantly prompted the horses to neigh and run forward.

"Young master, can you sense how many vessels you have? " He asked as he inserted a few strands of blue essence into Shi Yuanfe's chest.

"Two hundred…sixty-six… "

A flush appeared on his face. He again asked, "What…what grade are they? "

"I don't know, Uncle Wang. "

"Shh, don't talk. I can't certify how this is possible, but it really is happening. I'll be staying here with you, I won't let anything happen to you, young master! "

"Servants, come quickly! Bring a tub and hot water! "

...

A few minutes had passed. By then, the male servants had rushed in and meticulously removed Shi Yuanfe's clothing, and carried him into an empty wooden tub.

Elder Wang reached into a bag stripped to his waist, and withdrew a bunch of azure flowers, and a packet of glistening powder. He took a canister of boiling hot water, and dumped it into the tub.

Shi Yuanfe whimpered and bit the bundle of cloth in his mouth. The boiling hot water seemed to have irritated the red vessels sprouting from his body, as they moved from rhythmic movements to erratic convulsions.

Elder Wang threw the unknown flowers into the tub, and watched the water turn blue. He nodded, and threw a fistful of the power in it.

Instantly, the essence vessels calmed down, and turned into the color of his flesh. They spasmed for one last time, before disappearing from his body.

"My lord…has, has his vessels…?"

A horrified maid spoke with her hands on her mouth. Elder Wang looked at her, and put his finger over his lips.

"I think it'd be beneficial for you to stay quiet. All of you, no matter what happens, this news should not leak . You are to feign ignorance, that young master Shi Yuanfe is unable to cultivate. If the Shi Dynasty, no… Shi Xiaofei comes to know of it, he'll kill our master. "

"Yes…yes, Elder Wang. We'll stay silent. "

"If you don't, I won't hesitate to make you lot disappear. Now, begone. "

Shi Yuanfe breathed in, and out. And stood up from the tub.

Earlier what happened, was the 'calming ritual', commonly applied to… babies when their essence vessels would materialize.

"Young master, do you feel alright? "

A disappointed expression hung on Elder Wang's face, but nonetheless, he was happy.

"My essence vessels…they're Mortal-Grade, aren't they? "

"As expected, you could see through my expressions, Young Master. "

Shi Yuanfe shook his head, and smiled.

"Anyway, Uncle Wang, I need my family's Mortal Law to cultivate. I could've taken it from my father if this happened a few days ago, but now? I'm barred from entering the Golden State; thinking about meeting him is useless. "

"I can arrange for that, master. All you need to focus on now however, is Seahaven city. "

Shi Xiaofei nodded, and walked towards the bed. His hands erratically spasmed, and showed signs of trauma.

…

…

Seahaven was rather close to the state's border, thus the carriage easily entered its dominion within a few hours. From far away, soldiers marching on its towering walls could be seen. Every few li[¹] surrounding the city, regiments and regiments of soldiers could be seen patrolling.

Shi Yuanfe stared through the window, as the carriage came to a halt before the West Gate. A crowd of officials wearing military uniforms came, and bowed towards Elder Wang.

The mechanical gate lifted, as the entrance of the city was revealed. The entire street, which was supposed to be filled with busy people, was empty. Not even a single chicken could be seen.

Shi Yuanfe found it a bit weird. The only reason for the entrance being empty, would be that the authorities had cleared the area already.

It was a rather stressful situation. Seahaven City was currently brimming with tension and conflict. The city was right on the border of the empire, and a year ago used to belong to the Fire Dominion. Forces from the Shi Dynasty took over the city, but couldn't win its citizens no matter how hard they tried.

The carriage went inside, and briefly skirted around the main square before entering a posh government district. Surrounding it were a few other districts, that possibly belonged to the nobles of the city.

The Mayoral Palace was expansive, and housed a few small gardens and lakes around it. Currently, a massive crowd was gathered in front of it, which coincidentally blocked Shi Yuanfe's carriage.

"Down with the Shi Dynasty! We will no longer suffer under your filthy regime! We will never be subservient to the Shi scum! "

A man dressed in red from head to toe angrily roared. Behind him were men dressed in similar outfits, but in their hands were swords and cleavers.

Due to the man being just an ordinary butcher, the soldiers effortlessly pushed him away. But it wasn't just one man, hundreds upon hundreds of such common men lined up in front of the Mayoral Palace and cried for justice.

The majority of the soldiers, much less the officers, stationed inside Seahaven were capable cultivators. Seeing such behavior from ordinary mortals made their hearts burn in anger, but they didn't dare do anything, as they couldn't just kill anyone, even if the person was a commoner. The situation in Seahaven was much, much more complex than that.

Elder Wang descended from the carriage, and with one slash of his hands, a tempestuous wind carrying the force of a storm appeared and blew the men away and split the crowd into two parts.

"Move, move! Don't block the path! " Elder Wang said, as he effortlessly broke the so-called 'crowd'.

Unexpectedly, the aggravated men dispersed from the path of the carriage, but didn't leave the square.

"So, the 'Deputy Mayor' has arrived, eh? He, he'll be out of office in two weeks! Hahaha! All hail the Fire Dominion! "

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1|Chinese unit of measurement, that translates to approximately 0.5km.