I quickly wrote, “Some important, worrying issues regarding the kingdom. This is the first time that you’ve written me a letter. It made me really happy. It can’t be that you have fallen in love with me?”
After I wrote it, I passed it to Mu Zi. She read it and looked at me, before whispering, “You are just driveling! What important issues regarding the Kingdom? All you do everyday is just play. I have never seen you pay attention in class and you are now worrying about the big issues happening in the Kingdom? I was just afraid that the teacher would call for you so I wrote a note for you to remind you to listen properly. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t like you.” After she said that, her face reddened for a moment.
‘Her expression serves to be a proof that success is nearing.’
Ma Ke and I left the academy and went directly to the prince’s mansion that night.
“Your house is really huge!” As I look at the imposing prince’s mansion, I gasped in awe.
Ma Ke smiled wryly. “Well, my father is a prince so his household is held to a higher standard. Let’s quickly head inside!” At the entrance, when the guards on duty saw Ma Ke they immediately bowed. “Welcome back, Second Young Master!”
I curiously asked Ma Ke, “Why aren’t they calling you young prince?”
Ma Ke’s face reddened. “Boss, stop making fun of me! How can I be a young prince? I will always be your brother. Quickly go and inform my father and say that I brought the magic scholar Zhang Gong.” The second sentence was meant for the guard. Ma Ke said I was only a magic scholar so that he wouldn’t expose my actual abilities.
The guard respectfully looked at me.‘The youngsters this days are incredible. He’s able to become a magic scholar at such a young age.’ He then turned around and ran into the mansion to relay the message.
Ma Ke led the way in front of me. While we walked, he said, “I will first bring you to my father’s study as he usually meets his guest there.”
I smiled and replied. “At your house, I will definitely listen to you. Let’s go!”
The height of the interior of the mansion was very tall. It was both interesting and appealing. There was a rock garden and a forest in the mansion that quivered under the moonlight. Every 20m stood a guard. After walking for a while, we finally reached the study that Ma Ke had previously mentioned. ‘How was it a study? It looked like a small scale library instead. It was 500 m in diameter and tall bookshelves surrounded the place. Many books were dazzlingly lined up on the bookshelves.’
Ma Ke told me, “Boss, you can take a seat first. I’ll check whether my father has arrived.” As he said that, he led me to the center of the couch meant for guests.
After Ma Ke went out I got bored as I didn’t have anything to do. I stood up randomly took a book off one of the bookshelves. >. It looked really old as it was even bounded by strings. The pages had also turned yellow.
‘I opened the book and realized it was just ancient poems that I hadn’t seen before. I skimmed through the book and found that it was rather interesting.’ Just as I was about to read more of it, a guard announced from outside the room. “His Highness has arrived!”
I hurriedly returned the book and went back to the couch. When the door opened, Ma Ke entered the room first, but stepped aside. Behind him, a middle aged man with a belt of embroidered jade stepped firmly into the study. ‘He seemed to have an imposing appearance and manners. He looks similar to Ma Ke, but has a royal aura.’
When he entered the room and looked at me, his eyes dazzling with radiance, I unyieldingly returned his gaze. It was obvious that the magic level of this prince was not low. He laughed. “You must be Zhang Gong! You’re so young! Please have a seat. Don’t be modest!”
I bowed and said, “Your Highness, it is a pleasure to meet you.”
The prince said, “You can treat my place as your own home. There is no need for etiquette. Please have a seat. Ma Ke, come and join us.” As he said that, he just sat down first.
While Ma Ke and I sat facing the prince, servants served us some tea. “You can all retire for the night. Without my order, no one is to be within thirty meter circumference from the study.”
“Understood!” The servants and guards withdrew.
The prince took a sip of his tea before raising his head and said, “I heard from my son, Ma Ke, that you’ve already reached the Magisters level. This is really worthy for a celebration!” ‘The prince’s wording instantly gave me a good feeling. Ever since he entered the room, he was very polite, and he didn’t directly ask about the Magic race, but instead congratulated me on becoming a Magister. It could be seen that he highly valued talented people.’
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Volume 4: Chapter 17 - Secret Talk in the Dark of Night
I respectfully replied, “I was just lucky. Ma Ke’s not far from reaching the Magister level either.”
The prince laughed. “You’re a really humble child. You have accomplished so much, but you aren’t arrogant at all. It’s really rare for this to happen. I’ll need you to help me discipline Ma Ke in the future as I have high expectations for him. Since his elder brother doesn’t have much abilities, I plan to pass all of my duties to him.” The prince seemed to be a very good natured elder.
I smiled and replied, “Ma Ke has been really hard working. I’m sure he will meet your expectations.”
The prince replied, “Let’s hope so. Since you are a friend of Ma Ke’s and the same age as my son, I’m not being formal to you, so please stop calling me prince. It makes me feel like we are far from each other. From now on, you can just call me uncle Ao Er.” Even though I knew he’s trying to pull me to his side, my good impression of him kept on increasing.
The prince continued to say, “Yesterday, I was in shock when I hear from Ma Ke that you’ve met the Magic race. The Magic race is our human race’s enemy. If we allow them to invade the northern side of the world, then our human race will go extinct. Can you tell the whole incident to uncle in detail?"
I replied, “Alright!” I told him the story of meeting the demon race at Serene Dream lake. After the prince heard what I said, he sighed. “I really don’t know how they managed to do that. They actually crossed Si Te Lun to reach our land. It’s just too unbelievable!”
I asked, “Could they have climbed over the Heavenly Falling Mountain?
Ma Ke replied for his father, “It’s impossible. The Heavenly Falling Mountain reaches high above the clouds and the midpoint of the mountain is completely covered in snow and ice. It’s impossible for any life forms to pass through that point.”
The prince said, “It’s been two years since that happened. If they wanted to invade us, why is there no movement at all? Is it because they are unprepared? No. Currently, the Kingdom of Aixia has enemies in and outside of it. Zhang Gong! You should know that the three main powers, including mine, are waiting for the time where the Emperor cease to live. His Majesty had come to find me and said that he wanted to pass the throne down to me, but the current situation won’t follow the Emperor’s decision. The three main powers and Duke Te Yi have already prepared to team up to deal with me. If it’s just military force, I am not afraid of them, but they also have many advanced magicians. My force’s magical abilities can’t be compared to theirs. Moreover, I can’t assemble the whole kingdom’s army. With my current power, it’s impossible to fight against them.”
I asked, “If they aren’t royal, how are they going to fight for the throne?”
The prince replied, “From what I know, they want to form a democratic government and use policies to decide future matters so there’ll no longer be any election of another Emperor. If that happens, the kingdom that our Ao Er clan that has always painfully governed will be taken over by them.”