Jiang Wang's Mansion

Great Chu, the imperial capital.

Under the Empress's rule, this flourishing capital, which had endured through the reigns of more than a dozen Chu kings, had grown even more prosperous this year. The whole city was thriving, its splendor reminiscent of the height of Great Chu five thousand years ago, when Emperor Chu the Conqueror had just founded the kingdom.

Clearly, the people had great confidence in Chu's first Empress. Chu Qiongyu had lived up to their expectations, stabilizing Chu's declining fortunes in just half a year and beginning to lead the kingdom back to its former heights.

The imperial capital was a little different from usual today, especially around the eastern gate. People kept pouring out of the city, and the area ten miles beyond the walls was packed with a vast crowd, leaving the main road completely blocked.

"Is some important figure coming today? Why is it so noisy outside the eastern gate?" A young cultivator, who had no idea what was going on, saw the scene and couldn't help grabbing a passing cultivator to ask.

The passerby didn't refuse to answer. "You don't know? Saint Chu has returned!"

"Saint Chu?" The young cultivator furrowed his brow and asked curiously, "I didn't think Chu had a Saint Chu right now."

Ever since the previous Saint Chu, Feng Yiming, had stepped down, the position had remained vacant for nearly a year. It had been so long that the people of Chu had almost forgotten the post even existed.

The passing cultivator laughed. "Of course it's the former Saint Chu, Feng Yiming. They say that after becoming a book-bearer for the Mysterious Bookstore last year, he set off for the imperial capital with a book on his back. He's reached a spot ten miles outside the city today. Everyone's heard