Xiaoyao City

In the morning, a warm breeze laden with the sweet fragrance of pagoda tree blossoms swept across the bluestone slab road.

This place was none other than the famous commercial city of Great Yan: Xiaoyao City!

Xiaoyao City resembled a bright pearl embedded in the heart of Great Yan. Although it lacked the profound heritage of those ancient cities, it relied on its uniquely advantageous geographical location to radiate a dazzling brilliance entirely its own through the accumulation of the years.

This city connected to the deserts and grasslands of the north, reached the water towns of Jiangnan in the south, linked with neighboring Great Liang to the east, and connected to the trade routes of Yanjing to the west.

Commercial routes from all four directions converged here like a spiderweb, and the coming and going of camel caravans, horse-trading teams, and merchant vessels flowed endlessly.

For the past few decades, merchants from the south and north, itinerant monks, and jianghu martial artists all had to pass through this place.

As time passed, it gradually transformed from an ordinary, small post-station city into a bustling metropolis.

Forty years ago, the Late Emperor passed through this place during an inspection tour of the south.

At that time, the small city was only beginning to take shape and did not yet have a name.

Standing atop the city gate at the entrance, the Late Emperor overlooked the bustling crowds and the endless stream of carriages and horses among the streets and alleys. Seeing that everyone wore a smile and traveled freely, he could not help but be greatly pleased, and with a stroke of his brush, he wrote down the three characters: Xiaoyao City.

From then on, this city had a name, as well as a tale of romance.

And the story of the Carefree Prince added an even greater legendary color to this city.

As the Late Emperor's most beloved youngest son, Mu Rongyi had been exceptionally intelligent since childhood.

At five, he could recite poetry and prose; at eight, he excelled at riding and archery; at twelve, he accompanied the imperial carriage on a northern hunt, bringing various grassland tribes to awe with a single arrow shot through two hawks.

After reaching adulthood, when the Late Emperor enfeoffed his imperial sons with territories, Mu Rongyi neither chose a fully formed large city that was easy to manage nor selected a strategic military location. Instead, he earnestly petitioned the Late Emperor to bestow Xiaoyao City upon him as his fief.

Your subject has no other desires; I merely wish to obtain a corner of land, witness all the myriad states of human life, and live freely and unfettered.

Mu Rongyi's words deeply moved the Late Emperor, who not only enfeoffed him as the Carefree Prince but also granted him the special privilege of neither entering the court nor holding military power, managing only people's livelihoods.

This extraordinary favor could be called unique throughout the four-hundred-year history of Great Yan.

At this moment, exactly during the sishi hour, the bustling Vermilion Bird Street of Xiaoyao City was already packed with carriages, horses, and clamoring voices.

The street was ten zhang wide, and the surface paved with bluestone slabs had been polished by time until it was smooth as a mirror, reflecting the figures of passing pedestrians.

On both sides of the street, shops of all descriptions stood in neat rows with wine banners fluttering and storefront signs abounding.

In front of the silk and satin shop on the western side, wealthy matrons dressed in magnificent garments were selecting newly arrived Cloud Brocade.

The multicolored silks emitted a soft luster under the sunlight, and the embroiderers' silver needles flew up and down. Before long, a lifelike peony blossomed upon the silk fabric.

In the teahouse on the eastern side, a storyteller was recounting tales of jianghu heroes. A slap of the clapper rang out, and thunderous applause rose wave upon wave.

The aromas of tea and pastries intertwined with the storyteller's varying tones, creating a vivid painting of marketplace life.

Walking further ahead led to the bazaar.

This was a gathering place for merchants, and the air was suffused with a mixed fragrance of spices, fine grape wine, and roast mutton.

Great Liang merchants who had specially crossed the border were displaying exquisite glassware; those crystal-clear vases and wine cups refracted seven-colored light in the sunlight, causing pedestrians to halt in their tracks.

In the fur shop next door, several mottled tiger skins hung in prominent places, and a clerk was enthusiastically introducing newly arrived cowhide wrist guards to a defense guard clad in armor.

The most lively spot was undoubtedly the bazaar's snack street.

The aromas of various delicacies rushed forward, making one's mouth water.

Steaming mutton soup with flatbread, golden and crispy sesame cakes, sweet and soft osmanthus cake, and freshly boiled almond tea—every single item made one's appetite stir.

The hawkers' cries rose and fell in succession: Freshly baked flatbreads, nice and hot! Iced plum soup to beat the heat and quench your thirst!

The edge of the bazaar was a trading place for livestock.

Plump and sturdy Saibei steeds snorted, and grooms carefully groomed their manes;

Docile plow oxen pulled wooden carts filled with grain, and their low bellows echoed in the air;

In the corner, a camel caravan from beyond the northern frontier was unloading goods, the sound of camel bells crisp and pleasant.

In the center of the city, the Carefree Prince's Estate bore no magnificent decorations on its vermilion grand gates; only a plaque hung above, inscribed with the four characters "Carefree Prince's Estate," the brushwork vigorous yet tinged with a casual air.

The stone lions in front of the doors looked charmingly naive, completely devoid of the stern dignity seen at the gates of other princes' estates.

The guards wore light armor with relaxed smiles on their faces, occasionally exchanging greetings with passing commoners.

At this moment, the Carefree Prince Mu Rongyi was clad in a moon-white long robe, wearing a bamboo-woven conical hat, mingling among the crowd.

His favorite thing to do was to cast aside his identity as a prince, shuttle through the streets and alleys just like an ordinary commoner, listen to the most genuine marketplace sounds, and savor the most authentic mortal warmth.

Watching the children chasing and playing by the street, the merchants haggling, and the pedestrians chatting and laughing, Mu Rongyi's lips unconsciously curved into a smile.

This city had grown even more prosperous due to his arrival; and he, too, had attained his wish through this city, living a free and unfettered life.

Here, there was no courtly intrigue or court ceremonial; all that remained was the truest life, the most rustic smiles, and the warmest mortal warmth.

As the setting sun went down, Xiaoyao City was gradually enveloped by twilight.

The lanterns on both sides of the street were lit one after another, dots of lamplight resembling stars falling into the mortal world.

The clamor of the night market rose once more.

Mu Rongyi walked heavily on his way back to the estate.

At this moment, his mood was exceptionally complicated.

Every step he took seemed to carry the weight of a thousand catties, his gaze hollow and bewildered, wondering how much longer this kind of walking-on-thin-ice existence could possibly drag on.

As long as that exalted imperial elder brother had not moved against him yet, he could only act like a startled bird, terrified day and night, constantly harboring deep fears and struggling bitterly on the edge of this undercurrent-churning vortex of power.

Mu Rongyi sighed softly.

Recalling those past years, he was young, vigorous, sharp-edged, and his talent and strategic intellect were both outstanding, earning him the Late Emperor's greatest affection and favor.

However, intelligent as he was, how could he fail to perceive the daily intensifying wariness in the Crown Prince's eyes?

That gaze was akin to a sharp blade hidden in the darkness, flashing with a cold light, ready to pierce through at any moment.

Mu Rongyi, who had never harbored any covetous designs on the imperial throne, weighed the pros and cons and resolutely petitioned the Late Emperor, receiving the tiny plot of land that was Xiaoyao City as a fief and becoming the Carefree Prince.

He was full of expectations, believing that such an act of concession could eliminate the Crown Prince's suspicions, allow him to distance himself from the blood-soaked struggle for the throne, and find a peaceful sanctuary.

Yet fate proved to be a ruthless teaser, and the trajectory of his life did not go smoothly as he had wished.

He had guarded against everything and schemed meticulously, finally managing to survive the difficult period of his imperial brother's ascension to the throne. He originally thought he could rest easy, but he never expected that a new storm was already quietly brewing in secret.

Now, the new Crown Prince—his very own nephew—was about to ascend the throne, and the crisis of death shrouded the top of his head.

Thinking of this, Mu Rongyi could not help but smile bitterly and shake his head, his full grievances and unwillingness indescribable.

Across the vast territory of Great Yan, asking the various enfeoffed princes to completely abandon the cultivation of private armies was sheer fantasy.

The so-called private armies were essentially nothing more than the various princes' guards; from the perspective of Great Yan's legal codes and regulations, this was nothing improper and was entirely reasonable.

It was just that some princes possessed soaring ambitions, and the scale of their subordinate private armies was far too massive, naturally drawing the emperor's wariness.

Yet for a prince like Mu Rongyi, who lacked grand ambitions and only hoped to guard his own fief and protect the peace of the local people, how truly innocent he was.

They retained private armies merely to secure a shred of safety for themselves and their fiefs in this world where martial arts reigned supreme, never imagining that it would thereby invite fatal calamity.

Mu Rongyi learned through a secret intelligence network that several of his own brothers had already died unclearly at the hands of his imperial brother.

What was even more outrageous was that those causes of death unexpectedly turned out to be unseen assassination methods.

As the dignified ruler of a nation who possessed the entire world, yet utterly disregarding fraternal affection and resorting to such base tricks to deal with his own flesh and blood, how could it not pierce one's heart with grief and freeze one to the bone?

As Mu Rongyi thought to himself, walking alone step by step, before he knew it, he had arrived at the entrance of the estate.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze directed straight at the four large characters "Carefree Prince's Estate" suspended high above the entrance.

He took a deep breath, attempting to calm the surging emotions within his heart. In a flash, a flash of resolute ferocity crossed his eyes, resembling a fire burning in the dark night.

He slightly lowered his torso, lowered his voice, and said word by word: "Imperial brother, even if you are exalted as the Son of Heaven and possess monstrous power, if you wish to easily swallow up my Carefree Prince's Estate, I will definitely fight with all my might to make you pay a painful price and bite out two of your teeth!"

With that, he straightened his back, took a large stride across the threshold of the estate, and his figure vanished behind the estate's heavy vermilion gates.