The young man’s name was Yue Tufeng, and the girl’s name was Yue Lingxi. They were the eldest son and youngest daughter of the Peacock King. The bird clans had a long childhood period, plus there wasn’t much inheritance granted to them during that time, and their cultivation was low. Thus, there were not many members who could smoothly grow up into adulthood. It was very easy for them to die before ever reaching maturity. Therefore, everyone who could survive the thunder tribulation and heavenly fire and take human form was extremely favored. The same was true of the Yue Family.
Therefore, Yue Tufeng was a little arrogant by nature, but he did not seem to be annoying. On the contrary, it only made people love him more. When he saw the Beast Empress, he cupped his hands and saluted, “The Southern Yue Family, Yue Tufeng with my younger sister Yue Lingxi, has come to greet the Empress of the Southwest Fu Clan.”
The Beast Empress showed a reserved smile, with a maternal attitude. “On behalf of the Beast Emperor and the people of the Tiger Clan, this Empress welcomes your visit.”
Yue Tufeng smiled, and slowly glanced around. “Why don’t I see His Majesty the Beast Emperor?”
The Beast Empress said, “His Majesty happened to be in closed-door cultivation before Prince came. Now he is at a critical stage. I am afraid that he will not be able to come out in a short while. However, this Empress is here and can say a few words on his behalf. When His Majesty leaves secluded cultivation, I will have him personally go to the West Land to make amends.”
Yue Tufeng turned his eyes slightly and said, “What is Tiger Empress saying? For the Beast Emperor to enter secluded cultivation at such a critical moment, he must’ve encountered a breakthrough and will advance soon. This is a very good thing. It is much more important than my sister’s wedding ceremony.”
Seeing that Yue Tufeng smiled sincerely, she couldn’t tell whether his words were secretly mocking or whether they were sincere, but it felt like it wouldn’t be the latter.
The fox official smiled, though his eyes were cold. “In the past, it was said that the West Land is the most fertile place in the entire Nine Lands. Now I see that just the extravagance alone is really extraordinary. This Luan chariot must probably be driven using sparrow spirits. The West Land is really rich.”
Yue Lingxi curled her lips and said proudly, “This is natural. Everyone knows that the West Land has the most sparrow spirits in the Nine Lands, and even the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital can’t match it.”
Yue Tufeng’s complexion changed slightly, and he reprimanded in a low voice, “What nonsense, how can the West Land compare to the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital?”
The fox minister smiled cunningly. It seemed that this girl was easy to deal with.
Yue Lingxi also realized that she had made a mistake, but she was secretly annoyed with her elder brother refuting her.
After the Beast Empress glanced at them, she said to her bodyguards, “You take those friends who have come from afar to go down to have a rest. Heir of King Yue, princess, we might as well go ahead and talk while eating.”
After entering the Palace Hall, Yue Tufeng saw two people sitting on both sides of the throne eating food. When he saw Yan Tianhen, he couldn’t help but stop his feet. He said in surprise, “King Ye’s Heir?”
Yan Tianhen slowly put down the snacks in his hand. He snapped his fingers and cleaned up the cake dregs on his hands. He said, “It is precisely This Highness.”
He narrowed his eyes and sized up Yue Tufeng. “Who are you?”
Yan Tianhen glanced at him. “Only the descendants of the nine Divine Clans dare to be called a Princess. Heir of the Yue Family, if this Prince remembers correctly, the Yue Family is only the temporary ruler of the West Land and has not yet become part of the Divine Clans yet, right?”
Yue Tufeng’s expression distorted for a moment. Then he said, “It was a mistake in my words. I still hope for Your Highness’ understanding.” Actually, Yue Tufeng was already extremely dissatisfied with Yan Tianhen in his heart, and he couldn’t help but curse him for his nosy meddling, trying to catch a mouse even though he was a dog, not a cat.
The West Land was so far away that even the Venerable Emperor couldn’t control the West Land. He was just a mere Prince who had no real power. What right did Yan Tianhen have to teach him a lesson?
However, Yue Tufeng wouldn’t give people the chance to use this kind of verbal slip-up against him so easily. He still needed to go through the motions of propriety and etiquette. However, Yue Lingxi stared at Yan Tianhen but remained silent.
“Dare to ask, then who is this person?” Yue Tufeng squinted at Yin Nian, and said to the Beast Empress, “It seems that the rules in the Beast Palace vary from person to person.”
“I am a distant cousin of the Beast Emperor,” Yin Nian took the initiative to answer, glanced at Yue Lingxi, and continued to nibble at the snack in his hand.
He could still endure if it was only Yan Tianhen acting so arrogantly in front of him, but Yue Tufeng suddenly became unhappy. He didn’t even know who this kid was, but he dared to put on air in front of him. Isn’t this just slapping him in the face?”
The Beast Empress saw that Yin Nian had no good impression on Yue Tufeng. Before Yue Tufeng’s face darkened and was about to sneer and ridicule, she cut in, “This is His Majesty’s relative from the mountains. He had been living in the mountains since he was a child and had very little contact with the outside world, so he is not well-versed with etiquette. The son of King Yue grew up in the Peacock Clan, so you must be very experienced in human relations. If he caused any offence, I still hope that Prince will not mind him.”
When Yue Tufeng heard this, he suddenly felt comfortable in his heart.
The Beast Clan had always been free, arrogant, and unrestrained. There were also many poor relatives living in the mountains and wild forests. They were not only reckless by nature, but their upbringing was also very crude and vulgar. Even if it was the Beast Emperor in command of one of the nine lands, his brutish nature that came from the bones still couldn’t be changed.
Compared with an elegant and noble race like their Peacock Clan, the difference was really striking.
Yue Tufeng was too lazy to argue with a wild tiger cub, so he pretended to be magnanimous, “Since the Empress’s words have come to this point, naturally this Prince will not care about anything related to a wild relative.”
Yin Nian sneered and continued to nibble at the cake without putting Yue Tufeng in his eyes.
Yue Lingxi frowned and looked at Yin Nian with disgust.
Upon seeing this, the Beast Empress invited Yue Tufeng and Yue Lingxi into the guest seats for refreshments. The Beast Empress said with a smile, “These refreshments were all specially made by the West Land’s food cultivators. I don’t know if they are to your tastes or not. Most of the food here is rough and not very particular, it can’t compare with the exquisite delicacies in the West Land. This Empress thinks that if Lingxi marries in the future, I would like to invite more food cultivators, so that she can adapt to the environment.”
Yue Lingxi picked up a piece and tasted it. She chewed it slowly. Her movements were very elegant. When she swallowed the food, she said mildly, “Tiger Empress doesn’t have to worry too much. I’ve been very particular about food since I was a child. I only drink spring water, and I won’t eat it if it’s not prepared by food cultivators. When I came here this time, I brought eight food cultivators with me. They have served me for many years and naturally understand my taste.”
A princess belonging to the family of a minister to the West Land could actually have eight food cultivators serving her. This showed her great extravagance.
Hearing this, Yan Tianhen took a sip of the spiritual tea and chuckled lightly. “It seems that the Peacock Clan really has a deep love for His Majesty, the West Phoenix Monarch, and is very obedient, to the point where you even want to imitate his preferences.”
Yue Lingxi pinched the cake tightly and crushed it. Drinking spring water and eating food prepared by food cultivators were what the Phoenix liked. Although the peacocks coveted the Phoenix’s position and held treasonous intentions, they had to admit that the Phoenix was the most noble and elegant model of all the bird clans. Even if they couldn’t stand him, they would still compete to imitate him. However, when others mentioned it, it seemed like they really didn’t have face.
Yue Lingxi was displeased, but still smiled. “Prince must be joking. Is His Majesty the West Phoenix Monarch’s preferences actually something we can easily know? There are many things in this world that are just mere coincidences.”
“Oh.” Yan Tianhen couldn’t help but feel that this was laughable. The Phoenixes indeed only drank spring water and ate special food ever since they were born, but in Feng Jingyu’s opinion, what you eat and drink are determined by the nature of your species, just like how sheep eat grass, tigers eat meat, and people eat grains. It was that simple.
However, in the eyes of Peacocks, a Phoenix’s innate nature had become the object of imitation. I wonder if Feng Jingyu would find it funny after hearing about this.
After the Beast Empress had a few conversations with these people, she vaguely mentioned the word “sparrow spirit.”
Yue Tufeng glanced at Yan Tianhen and Yin Nian, and saw Yan Tianhen yawning.
The Beast Empress also knew the meaning, so she asked kindly, “Prince Ye, do you want to go to another place to have a look first?”
Yan Tianhen nodded, got up and stretched his muscles and bones, and said, “I have to go around and walk, it’s really boring in here.”
Yin Nian also jumped up. “I’ll join you.”
Yan Tianhen glanced at him, said nothing, and walked straight out the door with a grin. The two went out and walked a distance. Yan Tianhen turned to stare at Yin Nian and asked, “Why are you following this Prince?”
Yin Nian blinked innocently. “This Young Palace Master didn’t follow you. I just happened to be going this way too.”
Yan Tianhen ignored him.
When Yin Nian’s eyes turned, he lowered his voice and leaned over and said, “They are doing the trade of sparrow spirits in private. You are the Prince who came from the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital and the second heir to the dynasty. Don’t you have any opinion at all about this, are you going to pretend that you didn’t hear it?”
Yan Tianhen looked indifferent. “Speaking of privately doing sparrow spirit trading, shouldn’t I settle accounts with you first? The trading of sparrow spirits between the Divine Clans is not prohibited. There are few sparrow spirits in the Southwest Land, but they must nevertheless pay the same amount of tribute. There are many sparrow spirits in the West Land, so it is normal to sell some to the Southwest Land. In any case, they are looking after their own needs.”
Yin Nian narrowed his eyes and smiled, saying, “The sparrow spirits in the Southwest Land are barren, and the Northwest is in a similar situation as well. Nowadays, the most abundant in sparrow spirits are the South Land, the West Land, and the East Land. Within the Nine Lands, the number of sparrow spirits in each Land is different, yet the Royal Heavenly Capital has the other eight Lands indiscriminately pay an equal amount of tribute in sparrow spirits, which is unfair.”
Yan Tianhen couldn’t help but say a few more words when he heard him suddenly analyze the unfairness of trading sparrow spirits. “Losing fairness is not the most pressing problem. The most important thing is, those regions that are trading sparrow spirits amongst themselves can easily form alliances with each other, and once they have treasonous intent….”
Yan Tianhen stopped talking.
Yin Nian raised his eyebrows and said, “You guys are worried about this. Other Lands that trade sparrow spirits are also worried about what you will think after you know of this. So the fact that the Southwest Land and the West Land actually mentioned the problem of sparrow spirits in front of you — I don’t know whether they are confident in their backing or whether they truly don’t have a guilty conscience.”
“The West Land has always been honest and scorns to ally with other clans,” Yan Tianhen said.
Yin Nian said with a smile, “That’s when the West Phoenix Monarch was still here. The West Phoenix Monarch can live for thousands of years alone. He doesn’t care about who is sitting on that throne. Don’t think I’m easy to fool.”
Yan Tianhen looked at Yin Nian and said, “You are a traitor. What are you discussing this with me for?”
Yin Nian first expressed his displeasure with the word “traitor”, and then said, “There is a way to solve this problem. Do you want to listen to it?”
Yan Tianhen said, “Let’s hear it.”
He didn’t believe that this kid could say anything good.