Dragon City Lord's father-in-law, the pillar-state general of Tide Dragon City, old General Yang Ganglie, arrived from the south at the head of eight thousand cavalry in a mighty procession, drawing the city's military officers to their knees to kowtow while its civil officials offered grand salutations.
Beside the Ancestral Land, the moment Long Yuqing saw his father-in-law return, he lifted his dragon robe with both hands and broke into a trot. Like a landlubber hurrying to market, he rushed impatiently up to the exceptionally magnificent White Shadow Horse.
His face wreathed in a dutiful smile, he personally took his father-in-law's reins and steadied the stirrup before saying, "There's still a little while before the auspicious hour for the ancestral rites. I thought you would return a little later, Father-in-law... The journey must have worn you out, hasn't it? Please, dismount. I've had the Waiting Pavilion prepared to keep you shaded and cool."
Seated on the White Shadow Horse, Yang Ganglie admonished him without a trace of a smile. "The Xingshan Red Tide has come early. That will certainly set tongues wagging across the world. Our Tide Dragon City sits at the foot of Xingshan, an extremely sensitive location. Yet you insisted on staging these ancestral rites for no good reason. People are bound to speculate. If anyone decides the surging tide is connected to the rites, it will cause trouble."
There was a reprimand in those words, but Long Yuqing was already used to it. He merely grinned. "Father-in-law, it's precisely because the surging tide will invite speculation and frighten the citizens that I decided to hold these rites, to pray for blessings for our people and our family. Besides, the expert who read my fortune said I'm bound to face a calamity this year... So I also wanted