The male lead enters the capital, the female lead appears, and the unseen power goes to work

"Princess, it's time for breakfast."

"I'm not eating. I have no appetite..."

Huai'an rested her cheeks in her hands, her eyes unfocused. She looked thoroughly bored.

Xiaoyun sighed.

"Princess, I heard that the heirs of the provincial kings are entering the capital today. The Duke of Wei'an's heir and Heir Gu are going outside the city gates to welcome them..."

Huai'an's eyes lit up.

"Princess, why don't we go and watch?"

"Wh-what's there to see? I'm not going."

Xiaoyun said pitifully, "But Princess, I really want to see what the heirs of the provinces are like..."

Huai'an cleared her throat.

"Ahem. Since you grew up with me and want to see them so badly, I'll go with you."

Xiaoyun shook her head inwardly. "Thank you for your kindness, Princess!"

"Heir Gu has extraordinary might. Sparks are bound to fly when he meets the other young lords. It'll certainly be lively today."

"Hmph! What's so mighty about that ungrateful fellow?" Huai'an said angrily. "When he was in prison, I helped him look after his parents and elder sister."

"But after he got out, he didn't even come to thank me. He just sent me a stick of candied hawthorns. It's infuriating!"

Xiaoyun smiled helplessly. "Princess, Heir Gu is an outside official. He can't enter the inner palace without a reason."

"Then couldn't he just force his..." Huai'an stopped. "If he forced his way into the inner palace, Imperial Sister would probably slap him right back out."

"Then he should at least have left a letter or something..."

In any case, Huai'an couldn't let go of the fact that Gu Yuan hadn't come to see her these past few days.

Xiaoyun pressed her lips together and smiled. "Princess, Heir Gu has been busy preparing to receive the provincial kings' heirs lately. He surely has little free time."

"The fact that he made time in the middle of all that to send you candied hawthorns shows how much he values you."

"Really?"

"Of course!"

Huai'an gave a delicate huff. "Since he's so busy, I'll condescend to go to the city gate and see how he's doing."

"Heir Gu will surely be moved to tears of gratitude when he sees you."

"Hmph, who wants him to be moved to tears of gratitude..."

Outside the Qi Capital.

Gu Yuan and Ning Yan were already waiting there.

"At the end of Great Li, rival powers rose up everywhere."

"The Grand Progenitor raised an army in Qi and fought across the land. After twenty years, he finally brought peace."

"The nine sworn brothers of different surnames who fought alongside the Grand Progenitor performed outstanding military service and were granted the titles of kings of the Nine Provinces, to be passed down through their families without end. It has been over four hundred years now."

"After more than four hundred years, can the Nine Provinces still be called Great Qi's Nine Provinces..."

Ning Yan sighed.

"Brother Ning, it sounds as though you mean something more?" Gu Yuan asked, feigning curiosity.

"Forgive me, Brother Gu. I'm only venting."

"Of the Nine Provinces' kings today, Xiao Ye, the King of Qingzhou, is the strongest. He advanced to the First Grade over a decade ago. His son Xiao Chen is also a martial arts genius who entered the Fifth Grade at a young age. His prospects are limitless."

Gu Yuan sighed inwardly.

Empress, oh Empress, just look at yourself!

Even a young lord who had yet to enter politics could see the situation clearly, yet the ruler of Great Qi could not. What a failure.

"Still, no matter how strong Xiao Ye is, he's ultimately only at the First Grade. He can hardly reach the Empress's realm. That's precisely why Her Majesty remains confident she can control the Nine Provinces. Little does she know..."

"Little does she know what?" Gu Yuan smiled.

Ning Yan shook his head. "Nothing."

"Anyway, everyone in the Qi Capital says Brother Gu's martial talent is a once-in-a-century rarity. Might I have the honor of seeing it for myself?"

"Isn't this a bad time?"

"We have nothing to do while we wait. Let's find something to occupy ourselves."

Gu Yuan smiled. "Let's forget about sparring. How about we try something else?"

Ning Yan was slightly taken aback. "What did you have in mind?"

"Let's see who can beat up more young lords later."

!!!

Ning Yan was dumbstruck for a long while.

He could naturally tell what Gu Yuan intended to do.

"Haha, everyone says Brother Gu is outrageously bold. Now that I've seen it for myself, you certainly live up to your reputation."

A sharp gleam flashed in Ning Yan's eyes.

Gu Yuan was someone Her Majesty the Empress held in high regard.

Everything he did represented the Empress.

The Empress was having Gu Yuan make his move in full view of everyone. Her meaning couldn't have been clearer.

She was giving the kings of the Nine Provinces a show of force!

Of course, that depended on Gu Yuan being able to defeat the heirs of the Nine Provinces' kings.

"Brother Gu, among the heirs of the Nine Provinces' kings, only Mo Jiang of Mozhou is good for nothing. The rest are all dragons and phoenixes among men."

"There's no need to mention Xiao Chen, the King of Qingzhou's heir. Then there's Lu Zhaoming, the King of Shuzhou's heir. He excels with both spear and sword and has reached the Sixth Grade, even though he's two years younger than Xiao Chen."

"I hear he's blunt and rash, with a fierce desire to win. I'm afraid he'll want to spar with you when he sees you."

Lu Zhaoming...

Gu Yuan took a small sip of tea. "I hear there's a deep grudge between Qingzhou and Shuzhou. He'll probably pick a fight with Xiao Chen first."

"That makes sense." Ning Yan smiled. "Besides those two, the three northern provinces of Jiao, Yun, and Liang border the Northern Desert, and their people are fierce. I hear their three young lords grew up in the army, fighting the Northern Desert barbarians, and all became skilled martial artists."

"Gan and Dian have favorable terrain and abundant resources, making them extremely wealthy. Their two young lords are well versed in commerce and have money to burn. They're quite enviable."

"As for the last one, Ruzhou, its young lord is very mysterious. I don't know much about him, only that he's skilled in both civil and martial pursuits and is exceptionally handsome, no less so than you, Brother Gu."

The heir of Ruzhou...

Gu Yuan knew all too much about that one.

"Brother Ning, let me tell you a secret."

"The heir of Ruzhou is a woman."

What???

Ning Yan stared at him in astonishment.

"Brother Gu, you're not joking, are you?"

"Of course not. When the heir of Ruzhou arrives, you can see for yourself, Brother Ning."

"..."

The heir of a province was a woman?

It was simply inconceivable.

"Heir Gu, over here!"

A clear voice rang out.

Gu Yuan turned around to see Xiaoyun sitting on a carriage, waving at him repeatedly. Beside her was the princess's carriage.

"Why is the princess here?"

Wait!

She's the female lead, of course she had to come... But why does it feel like she's here for me?

At the same time, a carriage approached from the distance.

Ning Yan narrowed his eyes and said slowly,

"That's Qingzhou's carriage."

Well, well, well.

The male and female leads had appeared at the same time.

Heaven truly does have its designs!

"Xiaoyun, is he coming over?" Huai'an asked, a little nervous.

"No, Princess. Qingzhou's carriage seems to have arrived. Heir Gu and Young Lord Ning have gone to welcome them together."

"..."

Huai'an was a little angry. "That fellow from Qingzhou couldn't come earlier or later, but had to arrive just when I did. He deserves a beating!"

Xiaoyun covered her mouth and chuckled. "Don't worry, Princess. Once Lord Gu is finished, he'll certainly come to see you."

"Who wants to see him?" Huai'an huffed. "Xiaoyun, let's go have tea on top of the city gate."

Meanwhile, inside Qingzhou's carriage.

Hong Ni leaned out and said softly,

"Young Lord, someone's coming."

"One is Ning Yan, the Duke of Wei'an's heir. I haven't seen the other before."

Lü Luo's lips curved upward. "Clad in silver armor and bearing himself so impressively, he must be Gu Yuan, the martial arts genius whose name has spread through the Qi Capital lately. Anyone could guess that."

Hong Ni chuckled. "Who would dare call himself a genius before our young lord?"

"Even the Empress in her youth couldn't compare to him."

Lü Luo didn't disagree.

"Naturally."

"Being a genius is merely the threshold for meeting our young lord."

"Before long, our young lord is destined to surpass the Empress and become a martial arts grandmaster without equal in the world!"

Xiao Chen raised his eyes slightly.

"Gu Yuan... I don't like that name..."