Why do I have so many masters?

Wang Anfeng lifted his eyes to the imperial family’s private residence located about ten meters away.

It was midwinter, the air was crisp and thin, and the entirety of Fufeng County was draped in a bleak and pale veneer. However, this residence was shrouded in a light-colored sea of plum blossoms.

The cold plum blossoms flourished passionately, their fragrance enduring and distinct. Unlike the scenery elsewhere, passersby and visitors, upon walking by, would find the plum blossoms brushing against the armor of the imperial guards and the heavy, cold Mo Blades that had once been saturated with fresh blood. There was an unexpectedly breathtaking beauty to it.

Wang Anfeng took a slight breath.

Watching the expansive bloom of plum blossoms, a hint of amazement appeared in his eyes.

He had not intended to come here.

Yet, seeing this endless sea of flowers, the gloom in his heart dispersed quite a bit, and he felt that coming here today might not be such a bad thing after all.

He exhaled a cloud of murky breath and, collecting his scattered thoughts, Wang Anfeng followed behind a few martial artists. He walked slowly towards the inside, dressed in a blue shirt, carrying a wooden sword on his back, his presence restrained, not revealing much that was out of the ordinary.

"If you wish to enter, please leave your personal weapons here. Rest assured, we will take great care of them,"

at the forefront, a member of the Imperial Guard, dressed in Mingguang armor, around thirty years old, gestured to stop the Jianghu martial artists with a calm voice and very courteous words, requesting that the martial artists lay down their personal weapons.

After all, this place involved the Imperial Grandson, and it was highly likely that he would be the future Emperor, so the martial artists could understand the reasons behind the guards’ heightened vigilance and showed no displeasure.

The few martial artists in front of Wang Anfeng immediately raised their hands, removing their weapons and placing them on a long table nearby.

The table already bore approximately thirty or so weapons.

Swords, knives, hammers, whips—all varied extensively.

The variety was almost comparable to that of a weapons shop, yet they were merely ordinary weapons, at best slightly more refined forged items and did not match well with the reputation of the renowned knights.

Wang Anfeng’s steps faltered slightly, hesitating, and once again, the idea of leaving crossed his mind.

He hadn’t planned on coming today initially, but yesterday, while challenging the Fu Character Tower, he had used the name of Fufeng Academy to let Xue Qinshuang know it was him, becoming inadvertently bound by it. Raised in the wild from a young age, he barely grasped the matters of the official world.

At that moment, he worried somewhat.

After all, Fufeng Academy was affiliated with the Great Qin Imperial Court; if he didn’t show up and brushed off the Imperial Grandson’s face, it was uncertain whether it would affect the Academy.

He had, after all, spent a considerable amount of time at the Academy, experienced many events, and met many people.

The Academy had never mistreated him; how could he allow it to be implicated because of him?

With this thought, his steps faltered again.

Should he adhere to the rules set by Mr. Ying, that one should never part with their sword or let it leave their side, or should he, for the sake of the Academy, temporarily leave his sword here?

He hesitated for a moment.

This wooden sword had long been attuned with him, resonating with the Divine Weapon Spirit Rhythm within the sword during the battle at Pharmacist Valley two years ago. As long as he lived, even if a Grandmaster took this wooden sword, they wouldn’t be able to unleash its full power. Thus, he wasn’t worried about losing it.

As he wavered inwardly, the martial artists in front had already removed their personal weapons and placed them on the table, proceeding forward together. The guard’s gaze returned to Wang Anfeng.

Just as the guard was about to ask Wang Anfeng to also lay down his weapon, he saw the young man’s face and the plain, ordinary wooden sword on his back. Startled, he recalled the portraits he had seen earlier in the day. Without speaking, he examined Wang Anfeng, noting the resemblance between his face and the portraits, roughly seventy to eighty percent similar.

He straightened his expression respectfully, bowed his fist, and took the initiative to speak, with three parts respect in his voice,

"May I ask, are you young master Wang Anfeng?"

As he spoke the young man’s name, he intentionally lowered his voice so only Wang Anfeng and he could hear.

Wang Anfeng was slightly taken aback, glanced at the guard, and confirmed he had never seen this person before. Curious, he still returned the gesture with a bow of his fist, saying,

"Indeed, it is I."

"I wonder…"

The guard’s expression became much more relaxed, and upon hearing him, he bowed once more, respectfully saying,

"Since it is young master Wang, His Highness has already issued an order. There’s no need to disarm, please proceed directly inside."

"Please enter, young master."

In this front yard, there were also other children from noble clans who had yet to enter and were only enjoying the plum blossoms. Seeing the guard treating Wang Anfeng with considerable respect as he was led inside, while the latter kept the wooden sword on his back, they felt somewhat displeased, furrowed their brows, and scoffed, saying,

"I thought the Imperial Grandson’s guards were incredibly upright and treated everyone equally, but it seems that is not the case."

The speaker was only seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in very lavish clothing, with a handsome face and unrestrained words, annoyed by not having been allowed inside yet. His right hand held a longsword, the scabbard and hilt both inlaid with thumb-sized pieces of jade.

This sword, rather than being described as a weapon, was better considered a jade artifact fashioned in the likeness of a weapon.

Standing next to him was a middle-aged man with a stern and authoritative face, three strands of long beard beneath his chin. Upon hearing this, he frowned and said,

"Do you not know who he is?"

The young man raised his arms, resting them behind his head in a laid-back response, saying,

"Who is he?"

His voice paused, then he scoffed again, saying,

"I don’t care who he is. He doesn’t know who I am, so why should I care who he is?"

His tone became increasingly discourteous, displaying a hint of the mad scholar’s demeanor. Due to his youth, it didn’t cause offense but rather made him seem unconventional. The middle-aged man beside him, however, began to show a trace of disappointment in his eyes.

He saw the smugness deep within the young man’s eyes.

He even discerned the deliberateness in these words.

As they say, no one knows a son better than his father. How could he not be aware that his son was merely feigning the airs of a mad scholar, desiring the adulation of his peers? True talents proud of their skills wouldn’t behave so frivolously. Even if they were dismissive or arrogant, it was only because their own abilities allowed them to calmly face many opponents.

Without the strength of a mad scholar, yet insisting on acting like one, was nothing but a path to self-destruction.

The man narrowed his eyes slightly and sighed,

"If you had an ounce of sense, you would know who he is."

The young man stiffened slightly.

He detected the suppressed anger in his father’s calm tone.

The man glanced at him, hid the disappointment in his eyes, and said lightly:

"Originally, it was agreed that you would go to Jiangdong next year to gain experience. Forget about that plan; just stay home and practice for a few more years…"

"If you’re still as foolish, you might as well stay at home forever as a steward."

The young man dressed as a mad scholar was slightly stunned.

............

The Great Qin had a vast territory that included seventy-two counties.

The imperial family often inspected the lands of these counties, hence in each of the seventy-two counties, a royal residence was constructed to serve as temporary accommodations during these inspections; naturally, these could not be compared to ordinary noble estates or wealthy households.

In the front courtyard, there were miles of red plum blossoms by the river. With a flowing creek underneath, when one walked along the creek, pavilions were visible upon looking up—every step changed the scenery, almost blending all the sceneries of the Fufeng viewing garden into one furnace. The ingenuity was commendable.

Wang Anfeng stepped forward.

Many guests present at the event, whether they were from noble clans or martial artists from Jianghu who fought life and death battles, had all been disarmed, leaving him alone carrying a wooden sword on his back, which was quite conspicuous.

The low chatter gradually quietened down.

Eyes fell on the young man’s sword handle, and on the blue shirt he wore.

After a moment of hesitation, understanding dawned on their faces.

Disturbance, accompanied by hurried, yet forcibly hushed tones, erupted around Wang Anfeng like a surging tidal wave. In those gazes, various emotions relentlessly surfaced.

Fervor, curiosity, provocation.

And greed.

A greed that seemed to want to devour his skin and gnaw on his bones.

Fufeng County City. Ministry of Punishment.

Yan Ling, now dressed again in the red clothes of a constable, held the case files, his gaze fixed on the characters in the files; his brows were tightly furrowed, as if pondering something.

Today the Ministry of Punishment was quite peaceful, as all the original constables and local renowned arrestors from Fufeng had already left for the banquet.

He had already become the most influential speaker here.

With his achievements over the past three years, there certainly was a place for him at today’s banquet.

Yet, he had already told Zhu Jian’an yesterday to excuse him from the banquet, arguing that he, being still very young and having handled many major cases, didn’t hold a high official rank yet. Any pretext of handling cases could help him be excused, whereas Zhu Jian’an, being the Deputy Chief Arrestor of the Fufeng Ministry of Punishment, couldn’t leave.

And the others at the banquet, even if they noticed his absence, would probably not comment.

After all, with the number of people the Imperial Grandson could accommodate at the banquet being limited, his absence meant an additional slot could be opened; this being a matter of benefit, those from the noble clans would certainly not be vocal about it.

Although the protagonist of today was the Imperial Grandson, just being seated at the banquet would enable them to accrue substantial benefits.

This royal banquet saw the gathering of officials, nobles, families of great repute, as well as ordinary but wealthy merchants and martial artists from Jianghu. Those who secured a place were certainly amongst the finest in their fields.

And since these individuals had made a name for themselves in their respective domains, they were all very clever.

They naturally knew what they ought to do on such occasions.

And it was exactly these kinds of actions that Yan Ling found most distasteful.

The so-called forming of cliques and factions.

The young man paused in flipping through the files, thoughts of the past people’s duplicitous expressions and the hidden rivalries beneath cordial smiles intensifying his disgust.

His gaze almost did not seem like it was on people.

In the royal residence.

Wang Anfeng’s steps faltered momentarily as he looked up.

Within his view were noblemen in brocade, dignified officials, heroes, wealthy merchants, and numerous women of stunning beauty and exceptional faces.

They were looking at Wang Anfeng.

With greed and joy.

Like a pack of wolves eyeing their prey.

PS: First update presented............

Thank you for the generous rewards from Zhouruan and the luckiest and most victorious Wuyou, truly grateful...