Xu Longxiang jerked his horse to a sudden stop, shouting his brother's name several times. Seeing no reaction from the latter, he thought his brother had died, and broke into loud sobs.

It was only after Old Huang hobbled over and whispered a few words that Xu Longxiang started to laugh while sucking in his snot, giving the old servant a pat on the shoulder that landed as a slap so hard, the old man fell squarely on his butt.

The Northern Liang Palace lay nestled in Qingliang Mountain, surrounded by lush vegetation and presiding over thousands of households.

As the Lord of Northern Liang, Xu Xiao ruled over the three northwestern provinces, and was the sole monarch in the kingdom who came from a different lineage. Both within the royal court and the realm of fighters, he invoked condemnation and acclaim in equal parts.

By all accounts, Xu Fengnian was quite a handsome and striking casanova.

Several popular courtesans in Ling Province had been fighting tooth and nail over him in jealous fits.

If anyone in the castle dared to shoot daggers at Xu Fengnian and displayed their hatred of him unreservedly, that would be the maid who at this moment was distancing herself from several servant girls who were smiling coyly. Jiang Ni was her name.

Xu Fengnian left the Tingchao Pavilion and came to the stable, where there was a lone russet-colored horse with a lame leg.

Old Huang was grumbling at the horse when he spotted Prince Xu. He grinned from ear to ear, his two missing front teeth in full view, painting an altogether goofy scene.

News of a beauty with peerless elegance coming to Dragon Inn had been the hot topic of the capital city of Ling Province for the past two days, second only to Prince Xu's return in terms of buzz.

Rumor had it that this lady was even more alluring than the top courtesan of Ling Province, Yu Youwei.

White fox-face entered the palace, one of the three great forbidden fortresses along with City of the Peerless, where the "World No. 2" resided, and Wu's Shrine of Swords.

City of the Peerless had an old freak who belittled all the world's masters.

Wu's Shrine of Swords housed a large horde of wizened swordsmen who spent all their lives honing their sword skills.

Whereas Northern Liang Palace, aside from being guarded by the Northern Liang iron cavalry, contained countless masters who had chosen to stay out of worldly affairs.

The Zijin Mansion possessed a tremendous reputation,

and Yu Youwei was its the Oiran. She once performed a sword dance which mesmerized and scared Xu Fengnian out of his wits all at once.

The procuress here was all dolled up today, personally welcoming the three loaded scions.

Xu Fengnian flung the tightly bound Yu Youwei onto the grand bed in the inner chamber, then proceeded to feed her the Yuni Powder.

The drug would revive an unconscious female, while making her body supple and devoid of strength, like an amorphous resin. She would not even be able to bite her own tongue in despair, though still perfectly capable of moaning and purring.

Before long, wisps of snow had ushered in the onset of winter.

White fox-face had now spent five days inside the first floor of the Tingchao Pavilion,

while Yu Youwei and Empress had settled down as well.

Once again, white fox-face had gone into seclusion.

Xu Fengnian went to the center of the lake with Jiang Ni, Yu Youwei and Old Huang in tow, to make mulled wine while admiring the snow.