Within Tiandu Prefecture stood Yan City.
Though the city's name bore the "Yan" of the Great Yan Dynasty, seeming to borrow a measure of the dynasty's orthodox prestige, its territory was ordinary and its martial foundations shallow. It was nothing more than an unremarkable common city within the dynasty's borders, with neither heavy troops stationed there nor any top faction taking root. Among the many cities of the vast Great Yan Dynasty, it had always been obscure and wholly inconspicuous.
At daybreak, as the morning light faintly brightened, the official road leading to Yan City was already crowded with an endless stream of people. Traveling merchants, Cultivators on the road, and common townsfolk moved among one another; carts and horses passed without pause, voices rose in a clamor, and the noisy bustle of everyday life filled the entire avenue, painting a lively and prosperous street scene.
A blue-canopied carriage of simple, elegant make and steady interior traveled down the center of the official road, advancing at an even pace.
Inside the carriage, Ling Qingzhu sat upright to one side, her eyes lowered as she rested them. Her figure was quiet, graceful, and composed, a faintly cold aura lingering around her. Untouched by even a trace of the outside world's marketplace clamor, she maintained an air of calm detachment, as though removed from dust and smoke.
Opposite her, Ying Huanhuan could not endure the silence inside the carriage. Her small hand lifted the side curtain in one motion, and her lively eyes curiously took in the people and scenery along the way. Looking at the fields and hearth-smoke outside the city, and the many sights of ordinary life along the road, her eyes brimmed with fresh interest. A moment later, she turned to Xiao Ling, who sat beside her, and began