A Sword Cannot Harm People (Thanks to Zheng QW for the Alliance Leader reward!)

Changle Marquis merely held her wine cup, listening with an indifferent expression, neither approving nor disapproving.

When the banquet ended, Fang Xun hurried forward and continued fawning over her. "This humble official has prepared a quiet residence for Changle Marquis..."

Before he could finish, Changle Marquis calmly refused. "No need. I have somewhere to stay."

Fang Xun was initially stunned, but then he witnessed a scene that left him dumbfounded.

The agarwood sedan Changle Marquis had arrived in suddenly rose into the air without warning.

Immediately afterward, the endless clatter of mechanisms rang out. The contraptions within the carriage unfolded and expanded madly. In the blink of an eye, the sedan that had originally seated only one person transformed into an enormous manor suspended in midair!

The manor was actually even larger than the entire county yamen below.

Surrounded by her maids like stars circling the moon, Changle Marquis stepped upon empty air and entered it.

Then, with a boom, the gates of the aerial manor shut tightly, sealing without the slightest gap.

Fang Xun stood below with his head tilted back, opening his mouth but finding himself speechless.

So that sedan can fly. Then why did she insist on having spirit beasts carry it slowly along the ground when entering the city? Wasn't that like farting after taking off one's pants—an unnecessary extra step? Li Shun, watching the sedan above the county yamen turn into a manor from afar, could not help shaking his head as he grumbled inwardly.

Changle Marquis's arrival had no impact whatsoever on Li Shun's life.

He continued lying low in an orderly fashion, waiting for the Cold Mountain Venerable's seal to be lifted and for the new Square Inch space to be opened.

However, Fang Xun, the magistrate of Cold Mountain County, fell into a peculiar kind of torment.

"Today... Changle Marquis still hasn't gone out?" In the county yamen study, Fang Xun asked in a seemingly casual manner.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, Changle Marquis has not come out even once since the day she arrived." Sensing that Fang Xun was in a poor mood, County Commandant Cheng Yishu answered cautiously.

Fang Xun impassively raised his eyes and glanced out the window.

Changle Marquis's breathtakingly beautiful face seemed to flash before his eyes once more.

Ever since he had rendered the great service of capturing Xiong Jin alive, Fang Xun had lived a period of joyful contentment.

Though he had not claimed the merit alone, under his master's patronage and arrangements, his rank had risen to Fifth Grand Master of the Ninth Rank, and he had been appointed Clerk of the Household Office under the Left Chancellor's Residence.

Once the approval process was complete, he could travel to the capital to assume office by next spring at the latest.

It truly was a single step to heaven.

Originally, Fang Xun had already been quite satisfied.

Yet after meeting the Changle Marquis who had appeared out of nowhere, his heart, once calm and still, began pounding fiercely again for some reason.

Changle Marquis and he—one man unmarried, one woman unwed.

If he could use some means to win Changle Marquis's heart...

Though he knew full well that the difference in their status was as vast as clouds and mud.

But what if?

Once such a thought took root and sprouted in his heart, it could no longer be restrained.

"Man proposes, heaven disposes!"

"I, Fang Xun, am also a disciple of the School of Names. In talent and strategy, I am no weaker than the heroes of the realm."

And when he thought of all the benefits that marrying Changle Marquis could bring, Fang Xun's breathing could not help becoming rapid.

Setting aside the lofty status of a twentieth-rank marquis in Great Qian.

Changle Marquis's own intricate web of connections alone was a great Creation Realm fortune capable of defying fate and changing one's life for any official.

Changle Marquis was the sole surviving bloodline of the Xu Kingdom royal family remaining in this world.

After the King of Xu Kingdom surrendered to Great Qian in those years, his former subjects had likewise been incorporated into Great Qian.

Over five hundred years of changing times, these people had long since grown deep roots and flourishing branches in the court, their tendrils spreading into every corner of Great Qian's officialdom.

"Even if I cannot form a good match with her, it would still be good to use this opportunity to build a relationship with Changle Marquis. Such an opportunity comes but once in a thousand years!" The more Fang Xun thought about it, the hotter the fire in his heart burned.

He suddenly recalled the plain wooden hairpin Changle Marquis had worn when they first met.

It seemed to bear a hidden carving of an ancient sword pommel.

"Could it be that she likes such things?"

Fang Xun's heart stirred, and he looked toward Cheng Yishu beside him.

"Are there any good-looking swords in the county yamen treasury?"

"Swords?" Cheng Yishu froze on the spot.

"They cannot chop or slash, cannot serve as weapons, and can only be used as ornaments. Why would the treasury keep them in stock?"

This answer was within Fang Xun's expectations. He opened his mouth and said, "Then help me look around the county..."

Just as the words left his mouth, he suddenly paused. His gaze flickered. "Forget it. I'll go myself!"

With that, he hurriedly pushed open the door and left.

Watching Fang Xun's impatient figure hurry away, Cheng Yishu, who had always behaved with utmost respect before him, slowly straightened his back. With a cold snort, a trace of contempt and mockery appeared in his eyes.

The next day, Fang Xun found an excuse to visit Changle Marquis and presented the two treasured swords he had spent the entire night gathering from across the county.

One had a jade-green blade, while the other gleamed with chilling light.

Changle Marquis sat upon the couch, looking at the two swords before her. Her expression was somewhat dazed, as if she had fallen into an extremely distant memory.

"Do you know what a sword is?"

Fang Xun paused, then stammered out a guess. "Perhaps... some kind of ritual implement?"

Hearing this answer, Changle Marquis lightly swept her beautiful eyes over Fang Xun. It was impossible to tell what emotions lay within them.

After a moment, she withdrew her gaze and continued in a cool voice, "In the past, Xu Kingdom was the foremost land of sword forging under heaven. And the Xu Kingdom royal family was the greatest lineage of swordsmiths under heaven. Of the ten famous swords under heaven, seven came from their hands..."

It was Fang Xun's first time hearing such a secret. Seeing that Changle Marquis was actually willing to share it with him, he grew even more excited, believing that he had taken the right path by catering to her tastes.

Changle Marquis extended her snow-cold, pale wrist and made a grasping motion through the air. The long sword radiating cold light instantly fell into her palm.

"A sword is not some ritual implement."

Her originally languid tone abruptly changed, revealing a grim killing intent. "It is the sovereign of all weapons, a great instrument of slaughter!"

Before her words had faded, a cold gleam flashed in her eyes. The sword in her hand transformed into a streak of icy light and viciously stabbed toward Fang Xun's chest.

Yet Fang Xun showed no intention of dodging. He merely widened his eyes and allowed the sharp sword to plunge fiercely into his chest.

However...

The gruesome scene of a blade piercing his chest and blood spraying everywhere did not occur.

At the instant that deadly weapon stabbed into Fang Xun's chest, the blade, which had been coldly radiant and incomparably sharp, shattered like fragile glass in an instant, scattering into countless dazzling points of light!

Neither of the two present was at all surprised by this bizarre scene.

After all, in Great Qian, "a sword cannot harm people" was common knowledge known to all.

Expressionless, Changle Marquis pulled out the broken sword, now left with only its hilt. As she moved, the scattered starlike specks in midair gathered again, and the blade returned to its original, undamaged state.

"It once was... it once was..."

Changle Marquis looked at the completely unharmed sword in her hand. An utterly inescapable desolation welled up in her eyes as she murmured softly to herself.

Seeing this, Fang Xun instinctively felt a pang in his heart and was about to offer comfort.

But Changle Marquis directly ordered him to leave.

The speech Fang Xun had prepared in his heart was forcibly swallowed back down. He could only helplessly cup his hands and bid farewell.

When he returned to the county yamen below in a sorry state, he saw his confidant Wu Kuang pacing anxiously and fearfully outside the study as he waited for him.

"What happened? Why are you so flustered? What kind of behavior is this?" Fang Xun straightened his official robes and asked slowly in a deep voice.

Wu Kuang hurried over and lowered his voice. "Your Excellency... Yu Niang, Yu Niang has returned!"

Fang Xun's pupils suddenly constricted.

And Wu Kuang's next words struck him like five thunderbolts, making his eyes split wide with rage.

"And... she's carrying a huge belly, waiting at the county yamen gates."