Heavenly Star

“Twin trees? A very strange name, why are they called twin trees?” Ning Xue asked, Meng Zhi could not help but secretly prick up her ears.

Ye Wuchen thought for a moment, then in a low voice he lowered his head and said, “In the sky they are lovebirds, on the ground they are twin trees. Xue-er do you understand the meaning of this saying?”

Ning Xue blinked her eyes at a loss and shook her head, “Why will they want to be twin trees?”

Ye Wuchen turned around, pointing at the twin trees and said, “Take a look, Xue-er. Don’t these two trees resemble two persons leaning onto each other? Their bodies grew together, even their roots are intertwined, the leaves are crisscrossing, they share everything. When they were alive, no matter what season, when the wind blew and the sun shined, or when the wind howled and rain torrented, they tightly hold onto each other. Even if they are to fall, they will fall down together. If they encounter disaster and died, they will die together. In the sky, they want to be lovebirds, like two lovers depending on each other, being interdependent in life and death. Whether living or dead they will always be together, never to leave each other.”

Ning Xue opened her small mouth just as the explanation finished. She stared at the twin trees for quite a while, as if she wanted to deeply remember their interdependent position together. When she shifted her gaze, Ye Wuchen saw the look of determination and sentimental attachment in her eyes that were inconsistent to her age.

“Then… How about the lovebirds? Are they in a similar situation?” she gently asked withher hazy eyes.

“Lovebirds are two birds, a male and a female, each has only one wing. The male has only one wing, on the left side and the female has only one wing, on the right side. If they want to soar up high, they need to support each other as they flap their wings. When they are soaring up in the sky, if one of them runs into danger, the other one will fall into its death. This is similar to the twin trees, pertaining to two lovers depending on each other, through life and death.”

“In the sky they are lovebirds, on the ground they are twin trees…” Ning Xue softly mumbled the words as her body tightly shrunk back to Ye Wuchen’s bosom and she gently laughed.

Meng Zhi blankly stared at the twin trees for long time. Her brain was flooded with all the things that Ye Wuchen had said, and her once confused heart slowly stirred up. No matter what era, or in which period of time, a woman’s perception was stronger than men’s. Ye Wuchen’s words, regarding aspects of the emotion, was a blank space. Like all ordinary girls longing for the fabulous love in their hearts, in order to leave behind a beautiful mark that would forever be impossible to wipe out.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Today was the fifteenth day since Ye Wuchen left Tian Long City.

“Princess…”

“Is he back?” everyday before this day, Long Huang-er did not wait for the maid to greet her before she hurriedly asked.

“Master Ye still hasn’t returned.” The maid replied. She no longer replied “Master Ye will not return for at least a month” because this statement was now unnecessary. She felt pity for this thirteen year old girl who had really fallen deeply into his hands. She could not help but admire the Emperor’s future son-in-law’s strategy, for what kind of method was used, and for letting this young girl, who had not have any interest in the world of affection before, to become so attached to him now.

“Oh.” Long Huang-er responded in a low voice, as she headed back inside with disappointment.

At this time, two unfamiliar faces appeared inside Tian Long City.

A young man of twenty-five or twenty-six years of age, tall and straight, very handsome, dressed in white robes, with a jade fan in hand. His eyes constantly scanned the streets, evidently it was his first time to visit Tian Long City. He face contained an inherent loftiness that he had carried along. When people looked at him, they felt the feeling of being look down by him. This kind of feeling was not an illusion or hallucination, but a fostered nature of someone who has been living in the life of the royalty throughout his life, intangible to the oppressive minds of others.

Beside him, a middle aged person of around forty or fifty years of age followed his every step, with his body only half a step away. He was good looking, dressed in a green suit, his eyes half squinted, with an extremely rigid face. His whole body was surrounded by a breathless silence, less likely to attract any attention from other people. He was carrying a huge blade on his back, judging from the shape of the sheath, it was a wide bladed long sword.

The two of them were silent all the way, through twists and turns as they headed to the direction of the Imperial Palace. In front of the palace gates, they were stopped by the guards.

“Who are you? In this important area of the palace, loitering people are not allowed to enter.” Seeing his luxurious clothes and arrogant look, the guard’s tone of voice was relatively soft.

The man did not get angry, he just smiled and said, “This young brother, kindly inform Your Majesty the Emperor, that Feng Ling from the Gale Nation would like to seek his attention.”

“What? People from the Gale Nation?” when the guard heard the name, he was surprised at first, subsequently his expression went cold and strict. Their long-winded hatred for the Gale Nation had been deeply-rooted in their veins. It would take a very long time for it to fade away, so now that he heard the name all of a sudden, he would not lack a reactions. Immediately though, he was surprised once more and in a great rush, he responded, “Wait a moment, I will inform them right away.”

He suddenly remembered the news about the Gale Nation’s crown prince’s visit that had been circling around the city for the past few days. The name of that crown prince was…Feng Ling!

“What, Feng Ling?”

Long Yin, in his imperial study room, was greatly shocked, “Based on the information we received, it will take them at least three more days to arrive. Humph, how many people did he bring?”

“Only a middle aged man carrying a blade on his back.” replied the guard.

“Just one person? What great courage. There is no other who would dare pretend to be the Crown Prince of the Gale Nation. This person should be the real one. Quickly, lead him to the Flying Dragon Hall, I will head out after a while.” Long Yin said with knitted brows.

“Yes!” responded the guard as he retreated.

“Elder Li, just as a precaution, go ahead to check if he was the real one or not. Summon the people, transmit my orders…”

For Long Yin to not personally welcome him, Feng Ling was not concerned even to the slightest degree as he proceeded inside the imperial palace. When they were about to step inside the gate, two guards halted their steps. Facing the middle aged man behind Feng Ling, they respectfully said, “This honorable superior, every person who will enter the Tian Long gate, except the imperial guards, should not bring any bladed weapons with them. Please unload your weapons.”

The middle aged man, still with his eyes half-closed, did not move his whole body including his eyelids, pretending not to have hear it. Feng Ling stepped forth and said, “Gentlemen, for my elder, no matter where he goes, he will always bring along his weapon. The blade stays beside him even when he sleeps. I can guarantee with my Gale Nation’s royal reputation that unless he is forced, he will never put the blade to use within the vicinity of the imperial palace. Kindly consider it, brothers.”

With his disposition as the Crown Prince of the Gale Nation, he was being very polite towards the two guards. Although the two of them were hateful towards the Gale Nation, they felt overwhelmed by the favor from the superior. But they still could not be sloppy with the rules of the palace. They lowered their heads and said, “Please do forgive us, Crown Prince Feng. This is an established rule of Tian Long Imperial Palace. Those who violate it will be guilty of the crime of rebellion. Please do not make it difficult for us.”

“Then there’s nothing to be done.” Feng Ling regretfully shook his head, then directly proceeded inside.

That silent middle aged man with the half-closed eyes suddenly opened wide his eyes, exposing both eyes that emitted faint green lights. Upon contact with his eyes, the two guards were like being struck by lightning, and a very heavy surge of highly irresistible pressure attacked them from all directions, pressing down on every part of their bodies, causing them to be unable to move a single step like being frozen by ice, until their vision transformed into a blank space…

When they were awake again, their bodies were covered in cold sweat, limp and painful all over as if their strength had been shed off, and their breaths came labored. Feng Ling and the middle aged man had already gone, their shadows had disappeared before their eyes. The two of them looked at each other, their whole body trembled from coldness, like they had just been through a terrible nightmare.

The Flying Dragon Hall was especially used by the Tian Long Royal Family to entertain important guests. Most days, it was unoccupied, so there were no guards watching the area. Without the need for anyone to assist them, the two, one ahead and other followed behind, stepped inside the hall. Feng Ling took a few glances around, then turned around and said, “This should be the place where they receive guests. Teacher, please go ahead and take a seat.”

With his honorable status as the Crown Prince of the Gale Nation, in front of this middle aged man he still showed a very respectful attitude. The middle aged man slightly nodded, but remained silently standing on the spot. His eyes did not move a bit, and even his breath was undetectable. If he was just lying there instead of standing, people would think that he was just a corpse that had been dead for a very long time.

Feng Ling knew him very well, so he voluntarily sat down instead. The Flying Dragon Hall was unoccupied most of the time, so there was no tea inside the teapot, yet the entire place was bright and clean. Someone must be cleaning it everyday. Feng Ling lifted his head, heavily inhaled the air in this area as he said with ease, “This is my first time here in Tian Long Nation. Indeed it is truly different from the Gale Nation, as even the smell of their air is more relaxed.

“Although our Gale Nation possesses a large territory, with sands encircling both sides, the supplies are poor. The more westward you are, the more difficult the condition of the people’s way of living and the air is congested with the smell of sandy soil.

“Cang Lan Nation has cold weather and frozen ground, similarly they have poor supplies. Except for those people who are used to live in the area, people can rarely adapt to its climate. Its extreme north is a forbidden area for humans.

“Kui Shui Nation has plenty of terrible beasts roaming around. The number of fierceful beasts are greater than the number of beasts present in our Gale, Tian Long, and Cang Lan Nations combined. Natural disasters and beasts attacks are continuously occurring.

“Comparing them all, only Tian Long Nation can be considered as the nation that prospers with people at peace, well fed and clothed, a heaven on Earth.”

“I finally understand why my Father, after suffering from a serious defeat during those days, had declared for the whole of twenty years that he would return to seize Tian Long Nation. Our Gale Nation has multiple times more land than Tian Ling Nation, multiple times greater armies than the Tian Long Nation, and also multiple times greater ambitions than the Tian Long Nation. Why should we let Tian Long Nation enjoy all the pleasures that our Gale Nation cannot have?! Even if not for these, my Feng Family shall dominate the world in the future. What my father said is right, a real emperor must be someone who can stand above all others; there should be no person with equal standing with him. Being just a small Gale Nation’s Emperor is not enough! On one side there’s clouds yet in the other, rain will fall. The whole world will come to his hands, and a word can make corpses litter the ground for a thousand miles, but he can also forgive a thousand lives, these are the attributes of a real emperor.”

At first, Feng Ling had lowered his voice, but it got louder in the end. With the help of the middle aged man, he only used two days to secretly arrive at Tian Long City, then he walked around the Tian Long Nation for two more days. In these two days, he observed all the things around the Tian Long City. His original not-so-big ambition had sparked up, just like his father’s.

The Gale Nation had plenty of desert, the ground was relatively infertile. Once the strong winds arrived, the sands would cover a big part of the sky and if the wind became stronger, pedestrians would find it impossible to cross the roads. The Gale Nation had absolute confidence to defeat the Tian Long Nation and was now tempted to invade.

Translated by:

Fatty_Uncle

Edited by:

seriouspotato patrick_father_of_dragons