Chapter 104
The palace banquet had come to an end . Dark clouds had overtaken the sky, and it began to rain heavily . Nasty water vapor had filled every inch of the air, as if the entire Ji City was now soaking under water . The roaring of thunder and branching of lighting were wreaking havoc under the cover of the dark clouds, violently shaking the land and making the ground seem to be turning over . The light from the torches placed on top of the city wall was dimmed, and the faded, yellowish glow could barely reach a few steps away before losing its strength to lighten up the surrounding .
Amidst such foul weather, a great number of soldiers were seen standing straight like stone pillars on top of the city wall, casting watchful eyes into all directions . The bad weather could be used as a good cover, leading to many crimes and strange events . Thus, these soldiers had to raise their vigilance to the highest level, killing all bad thoughts and intentions when they were still sprouting . Before Yan Dan came out from his secluded cultivation, the effort of defending Ji City could still be slackened slightly . But as he had completed and come out from his secluded cultivation, if these soldiers still had the same slackened behavior like before, they would be just courting death .
Therefore, on top of the city wall, a soldier armed to the teeth was deployed at a distance of every two steps . Under the dim light shone from custom made torches that could resist wind and water, these soldiers maintained a sharp vigilance as they watched over rows of coaches and people that traveled slowly through the streets . These were the people that just came out from Imperial Palace, and they were all supreme, prestigious people in Great Yan Dynasty . If anything bad happened to any one of them, the captain in charge of tonight's defense would have his skin ripped off . Hence, these soldiers had no choice but to be extra cautious .
As the weather was bad, an unsightly expression was brought upon the face of all prestigious guests, who had just come out from the palace . Among them, some of the younger members were now bowing their heads while sitting comfortably in their luxurious coaches, murmuring and pondering over and over again on the three questions . The three questions asked by Yue Tan had baffled all the ministers and noblemen in the grand hall . An awkward silence lingered in the Towering Palace for a full fifteen minutes, and none of them stood up to answer the questions .
Between the state power and a beauty, which was more important?
Between longevity and a beauty, which was more important?
If there was a girl who knew you, understood you, believed in you, loved you, risked everything just for you, and since young had been accompanying you, assisting you, protecting you, contributing everything she had just to aid you . . . For a girl like this, how was one going to treat her?
Just three simple questions, yet they had placed this group of Great Yan Dynasty's supreme members in an awkward position, as none of them could come out with any answers . Or perhaps, they did have answers in their mind, but at the same time, they did know if their answers would be deemed fit by Yue Tan . Thus, rather than saying their answers out and receiving mocking comments from her, it was better to hide their inadequacy by keeping quiet . In the mind of these supreme members, state power obviously weighed heavier than a beauty, and longevity was definitely more important than a beauty as well . As their marriage was arranged by the senior of their clan, how could they have a lover who knew, understood, gave unconditional love and risked everything just for them?
They were all men with prestigious status in Great Yan Dynasty, and none of them could throw away their face and lie in front of a few thousand men with similar rank . If Yue Tan asked the questions to a single person in a remote and quiet corner where nobody else was around, these men would definitely give her a flowery reply . But, when these questions were thrown out in front of so many people, no one would want to risk their reputation and lie in the face of the public .
Because of these three questions, the well-planned banquet of celebration had fallen into a complete silence . Princess Zhang Le had her face turned pale with anger and waited for nearly half an hour . In the end, none of the influential officials came forth and answered the questions . The Princess was fuming with rage, threw the narrow table in front of her, spun and returned to the inner palace . Since the master of the banquet was gone, left with no other choice, Yan Qijun announced the end of the banquet, and all the influential officials left the place hastily . With merely three questions, the Grandmaster of zither, Yue Tan, had blown off the celebration banquet of Princess Zhang Le . It looked like this event would become the gossip among the prestigious members of Ji City for many months to come .
"Between the state power and a beauty, which is more important?"
"Between longevity and a beauty, which is more important?"
"If there is a girl, who knows me, understands me, believes in me, loves me, is willing to risk everything just for me, and since young has been accompanying me, assisting me, protecting me, contributing everything she has just to aid me . . . For a girl like this, how am I going to treat her?"
A company of few hundred guards was seen clustering around Wu Qi and Lu Chengfeng's coach as they traveled slowly in the deep and quiet long street . Tiny specks of light could be seen at a far distance before and after them, from the coaches of other influential officials who were also rushing back to their own mansion . Within the coach, Lu Chengfeng was fiddling with a small knife that he used to carve array pillars . A thoughtful expression was hanging on his face, as he kept pondering on the three questions asked by Yue Tan .
However, for Lu Chengfeng, who was born and raised in Lu Clan, a place where he received ill treatment and was discriminated while struggling hard in keeping his life, although he had lost his virginity to a serving lady, the so-called love was not something he could relate to . He didn't have a beautiful girl that grew up together with him since he was young, who understood him and knew everything about him . Similar to all other young prestigious members of Great Yan Dynasty, unless he compromised his integrity and lied in front of everybody, it was not possible that he could answer to these three questions .
He sighed faintly, shook his head and said, "Wu Qi, in your opinion, which is more important? The state power, longevity or a beauty?"
Wu Qi was leaning against a soft couch with his legs crossed, holding an upper tier water element energy stone tightly in his palm . While absorbing the energy from the stone, he sneered and said, "In my opinion, I'll want them all . For me, I want that state power, I want the longevity, and I want the beauty . Who dares to seize the state power from me, I'll kill him; who dares to stop me from obtaining longevity, I'll kill him; who dares to touch my beauty, I'll kill him… But before that, I'll first castrate that guy . A bear's paw is what I hunger for, and same goes for a fish . Although someone said you cannot have both of them at the same time, but if anyone told me that I can't have them both together in front of my face, I'll chop his dog head away from his neck . With that, I'll be able to have them both . "
Wu Qi's answer made Lu Chengfeng nearly choke on his own breath and suffocate as he pointed at Wu Qi with trembling fingers . At length, he suddenly broke out in a loud laughter and said, "I just can't communicate with a guy like you on this topic! There is a great mystery hiding among the three questions of Grandmaster Yue, and it is worth a meticulous ponder . Does the beauty in her questions really refer to a girl? No, I don't think so… She should be referring to some other thing . Hmm, what exactly does she refer to?"
Lu Chengfeng's brows knitted into a tight frown, then he brought his fingers and lightly tapped on his forehead . He kept pondering on the questions over and over again, and the more he thought of them, the greater the mystery seemed to him . As a result, a great pain came from his head, and he realized it got tougher to solve the mystery . Eventually, Lu Chengfeng simply sat down with his legs folded, like an old monk sunk into a deep meditation, focusing all his mind in studying the questions asked by Yue Tan .
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