At home anywhere-who throughout history could match him!

``` [Ownership of the northern frontier had been settled, beyond reversal. From this moment onward, it had a new master.]

[Lu Chen, Prince of Yan.]

[There was no turning back.]

[The clan heads amid Jiangnan's misty rain remained unwilling to accept it, but they no longer had the strength to contend!]

[The Northern Region was a barren, ill-fated land. For twenty years, the fires of war had filled its skies. Its bitter frontier cold was worlds apart from Jiangnan's prosperity.]

[Now, they finally understood—or consoled themselves—that the Northern Region had already become a place beyond the reach of the court's whip.]

[Its allegiance existed in name alone!]

[Thus, after weighing the gains and losses, the clans of Jiangnan traded the unprofitable Northern Region for peace in their own corner of the world. In weighing the bargain, they even found some measure of relief.]

[The members of the Jiangnan Noble Clans, clad in red court robes with auspicious beasts embroidered upon their chests, recovered from their shock. As their gazes crossed, a barely perceptible joy quietly spread.]

[Suddenly, this bargain seemed no loss at all!]

[Only Xie Chun'an stood among the crowd with an unfathomable gaze, sighing inwardly.]

[He looked toward the figure seated in the highest place, his heart a jumble of conflicting emotions, unsure what to think.]

[The Northern Region occupied the position of Kan in the trigrams, its nature that of vast waters. The Lu Clan's iron cavalry wore dark robes and black armor.]

[Qianyuan in the south inherited fire virtue and raised crimson banners.]

[Chu belonged to earth. With the Five Elements set in motion, the five states beneath heaven began to stand in true balance.]

[This change was not merely a transfer of territory, but a turning of the heavenly mandate.]

[Though poor, the Northern Region