Huai'an, the Capital City of the Chi Kingdom.
The lanterns had just begun to glow.
Yet the streets were still crowded with pedestrians: dignitaries strolling along the riverbank, and peddlers and laborers rushing about in toil.
Compared to Great Cang, the Chi Kingdom's climate was three parts warmer. Though it was only late in the first month, it was utterly unlike Northern Country Great Yu, where ice and snow blanketed the heavens and earth, and Thousand miles of ice sealed the land. Here, early-blooming winter jasmine had already intoxicated the tender night along both banks of the Lan River in the capital.
The Eastern Palace stood in a truly excellent location, positioned between the imperial palace and the Lan River. It enjoyed the protection of the palace while also possessing half a garden's worth of charm.
Crown Prince Yan Jian sat in the Orchid Pavilion. At his side were a beautiful woman and a middle-aged scholar.
The beauty was his Crown Princess, while the middle-aged scholar was his strategist. His surname was Gou, and most called him Mister Gou. People on the Second Prince's side called him the "Dog-Headed Military Adviser."
That was, of course, an insulting title.
Why did those on the Second Prince's side hate him so deeply? It had to be said that if a strategist could make those in the opposing camp hate him, that was undoubtedly an extraordinary ability. Why would anyone resent a person without ability? If he were a useless fool, the Second Prince's camp would adore him.
He was no fool. He was a true strategist. Wenxin Pavilion stood behind the Second Prince, and its people were the most sinister in The Whole World. To preserve Crown Prince Your Highness's legitimacy and keep him from losing ground before Wenxin Pavilion's wave upon