Kays Translations

Chapter 37: Disturbances in the Imperial Capital

In the East Sea, a thousand miles away, lies a vast underwater plain about ten miles deep, where an imposing city stands. This city spans ten miles and is entirely covered by a dome, with not a single drop of water inside. However, the city is filled with dense sunflower spirit energy, allowing the sea folk to live carefree lives.

Inside the city, it’s as bright as day and bustling with visitors, though these “people” are quite strange—two-legged sea turtles, towering three-zhang sea patrol demons, pearl-adorned clam maidens, mermaids with fish tails and human bodies, and jellyfish that seem to float like ghosts with just a head…

In short, it’s a bizarre array of beings.

At the center of the city stands a magnificent palace covering about three miles, with the inscription “East Sea Dragon King’s Palace.”

At the entrance of the Dragon King’s Palace, a lively mermaid girl was continuously waving her tail and jumping around, “Why hasn’t he returned yet? The princess is waiting anxiously. Wei Zhe has never been late before; this time he’s delayed by a whole moment.

Could something have gone wrong?”

Just as the mermaid girl was growing anxious, a chaotic sound of footsteps approached from the distance. Soon, she saw Wei Zhe leading the way, followed by shrimp and crab soldiers clumsily busying themselves.

“So many boxes?” The mermaid girl exclaimed, “One, two, three… 1,421 boxes! How can there be so many? Wei Zhe, you didn’t rob that Li Xian, did you?”

Wei Zhe smiled and replied, “Zhu’er is joking; how could we dare to rob on land? These are all New Year gifts from Li Xian for the princess.”

“Gifts? Then hurry and bring them to the main hall; the princess is waiting impatiently.” The mermaid girl Zhu’er flicked her tail and swam into the Dragon King’s Palace.

Leading the way, Wei Zhe and the group of shrimp and crab soldiers struggled to carry the more than 1,400 boxes and five three-zhang-long tridents inside.

Not far along, they reached the front hall, where Princess Ao Qingxue was already anxiously pacing; after her deal with Li Xian, she had tasted the sweetness of success. But the previous transaction had only been a small amount; this time, it involved 1 million jin of stainless steel weapons!

“Princess, princess, Li Xian has sent you New Year gifts!” Zhu’er bounced over to Ao Qingxue—seemingly with only a fish tail, she had no choice but to leap about.

“Ah, what did you bring?”

Wei Zhe had already stepped forward, “Your Highness, Li Xian asked me to send his regards. Additionally, he has sent a large quantity of New Year gifts.”

With a wave of his hand, the shrimp and crab soldiers hurriedly began to open the boxes, revealing exquisite mirrors of various styles, sparkling and transparent glassware in vibrant colors, and one-meter-sized glass spheres, all of which immediately captured the attention of every sea folk in the front hall.

When the stainless steel weapons, even shinier than the mirrors, were displayed, many guards found it hard to look away.

“Wow, so many treasures!”

A voice of astonishment came from the back hall, as a blue dragon flew in, casting a spell that swept over all the items on the ground.

“How dare you!” Ao Qingxue shouted in anger, waving her hand as a water cloud sleeve flew out and pulled the blue dragon down from the sky.

“Big sister, beautiful sister, generous sister, please have mercy on your little brother; my place is so poor that all I have is rusty scrap iron.”

“Xiao Han, be good. Father said boys should grow up poor so they can become heroes,” Ao Qingxue said, tapping the blue dragon on the forehead, binding him, and tossing him aside.

“I don’t want that.”

“You're a boy; how can you lack ambition like this? How about this: I have a few broken mirrors that I can give you. Isn’t that generous of me?”

“Sister, you’re just too generous; I’m so touched. But…”

“There’s no ‘but.’ Go on, go on.” Ao Qingxue threw the blue dragon aside, her expression turning serious as she looked at a sea patrol demon beside her, “Ye Li, why don’t you try out that trident?”

“Understood!” Ye Li’s eyes sparkled; he grabbed the trident and was about to swing it wildly when it slipped from his grip!

With a loud splash, the trident flew out a dozen zhang, embedding itself in the city wall, shaking the entire wall.

Wei Zhe’s face turned pale; his soul nearly left his body as the trident had just flown over his head.

“Your Highness, I have sinned!” Ye Li, the sea patrol demon, trembled and knelt down, thankful that it hadn’t been aimed at the princess.

Ao Qingxue, being a princess, suppressed her anger, “Why?!”

“It’s… it’s too slippery… I couldn’t hold on.”

The trident was already as smooth as a mirror, and once submerged in the sea, it was coated with a layer of fine, nearly invisible water droplets, making it even more difficult to grip.

Ao Qingxue stepped forward to take a look at the trident, her delicate brows slightly furrowed, but the corners of her mouth were upturned, not just in anger but also in amusement. "Wei Zhe, why is there no pattern carved on the trident's handle when the sword and knife handles have them?"

Wei Zhe was still trembling. "Princess... Princess... Li Xian said he didn't know the habits of the Yaksha, so he didn't carve any patterns."

———

While the sea tribe was causing a stir, the capital of the Great Xia Kingdom was also in turmoil. It was the New Year, and officials and princes had to return, ostensibly to report on their duties; one can imagine the bustle in the capital.

There were endless connections being made, street arguments, conflicts, and people reporting on each other.

Among the most serious issues, there were two: one had no direct relation to Li Xian but had serious repercussions, while the other was directly led by Li Xian.

The first issue was that the emperor of the Great Xia Kingdom, due to his favoritism toward Concubine Hua, decided to declare her just ten-year-old son as the crown prince, stripping the original crown prince of his title—this was a classic case of replacing the older with the younger, and one can imagine the political storm this would provoke.

Every instance of replacing an older heir with a younger one could lead to the downfall of a nation. Naturally, this caused a massive shock to the political landscape of the Great Xia Kingdom.

Li Xian’s second brother, Li Wei, was serving as a general beside the crown prince, whose position was now precarious.

To be precise, Li Yulong was supportive of the current crown prince. Therefore, even though this issue was not directly related to Li Xian, it had extremely serious implications.

The second issue was related to fabric.

After Li Xian adopted the concept of hunger marketing, he certainly enjoyed the benefits; however, the consequences were also severe! The Brilliant Star Commercial Firm's subsidiary, the Colorful Fabric Shop, was selling over a thousand pieces of fabric daily at bargain prices, causing a phenomenon—people preferred to wait in line at the Colorful Fabric Shop rather than purchase from other fabric stores.

The result was that other fabric stores could hardly sell any fabric, severely impacting both the royal family's fabric store and others.

This inevitably affected the livelihood of the people, commerce, and the stability of the capital. The Wang family finally retaliated, joining many fabric merchants to petition the emperor to punish the Colorful Fabric Shop—for disrupting people's livelihoods, they must be sanctioned. They even stated that the fabric prices were so low that an investigation was necessary!

The Prime Minister, Ouyang Wubi, fully agreed with the Wang family’s proposal, even taking the initiative to submit a petition stating that this matter must be investigated.

However, the Li family, Yuan family, Shangguan family, Zhang family, and related personnel sharply countered, claiming, "We call this benefiting the people."

In an instant, everyone was in a chaotic uproar. The emperor issued a decree, "Everyone quiet down, all officials come to the court for discussion."

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