Chapter 286: Prince’s Residence
Prince Xin’s Residence actually wasn’t in the imperial city. Instead, it was constructed in the south district. After Han Li and company sat in a carriage for two hours, they eventually arrived at a certain street.
The architectural styles of the south region and the Qin Residence were clearly different. Most of the buildings here were constructed to standard and template.
How great an official’s position was, meaning how high they were in that position, could be clearly told by the size and style of their residence.
All of the officials’ residences were located at this district. The strict following of feudal rank and elevation strictly divided the officials. Nobody here dared to alter these buildings as they wished, else they would break a law and invite punishment.
As a relative of the King, Prince Xin possessed royal status, so naturally his residence was one of the best in the south district.
The mansion residence’s area was larger than the Qin Residence by about a half. However, this was balanced by huge residential rooms.
When the carriage to Prince Xin’s residence stopped, Han Li took a look at the mansion residence and immediately felt that the mortal world was thriving in wealth.
The residence’s gate was over fifteen meters tall and over ten meters wide. Thickly wrapped with yellow copper, it was embedded with several tens of huge nails, appearing quite luxurious and imposing.
In addition, there were two ten-meter stone platforms to the sides of the gate, each with a fierce azure lion statue. They were each sparklingly polished through its entire body, so bright they were hard to look at.
But what awed people the most from Prince Xin’s residence were the sixteen neatly armored palace guards standing on the steps outside the gate. Prince Xin had borrowed these guards from the imperial city barracks to prevent any mishap from happening.
The chief steward of Prince Xin’s estate was a small old man. In the place of the host, Prince Xin, he was on the steps greeting every new guest with a smile across his face. He didn’t dare to neglect even a single guest.
At this moment, several tens of carriages of various sizes had stopped in front of the residence’s gate, occupying nearly all of the empty space in front of the mansion.
In front of the huge azure stone platforms, five or six guests who had yet to enter the residence were exchanging greetings. Their clothes were magnificent, their movements elegant; it seemed their status was not low.
Seeing this, Qin Yan straightened his clothes and over-cautiously stepped off the carriage.
After a diligent glance in every direction to ensure there were no cultivators nearby, Han Li left the carriage at ease.
As for the young masters and madams of the Qin Clan, they left the carriages as soon as they arrived. They stood in front of the mansion, talking cheerfully.
Han Li looked at the guests who were still in front of the steps and discovered that apart from the juniors of the Qin Clan, almost all the other guests had also brought along their children and other such youths.
“Could it be that the so-called Prince Xin deliberately sent all of these invitations to the Prince’s Residence as a pretense to deliberately gather youths to this place?” With this thought, Han Li felt there wasn’t any substantial evidence and took a glance at Qin Yan.
From his wrinkled brow, it seemed Qin Yan was also slightly surprised.
“Grandfather, we’re going in first! The young prince is waiting on us!”
A sixteen to seventeen year-old Qin Clan young master saw that his lord grandfather still hadn’t moved far from his carriage and couldn’t help but gather the courage to say these words under the encouragement of his siblings. He seemed afraid that Qin Yan would criticize him.
“Alright, I got it. Everyone can go in!”
Greatly going against these youngsters’ expectations, Qin Yan nodded and happily agreed. This caused these youths to feel slightly overwhelmed by favor! They couldn’t help but happily walk among their peers.
However, without waiting for Qin Yan to bring these people forward, the chief steward of the Prince’s residence immediately spotted this group after dealing with another guest. He immediately took the initiative to welcome them with a large smile. Walking over to them, he said very cordially, “Sir Qin, you’ve arrived at last! My Lord Prince talked for several days about how you haven’t come to visit for so long. Please enter as soon as possible! I’m sure the Prince will be very happy to see you, Sir Qin!”
“Hehe, recently, I haven’t…”
This steward of the Prince’s residence wasn’t ordinary. With just a few eloquent words, he was able get everyone who heard him to smile and feel warm inside.
Qin Yan couldn’t help but smile as he chatted with this chief steward with ease.
However, because there were still guests arriving at the prince’s residence, the steward couldn’t speak much longer with Qin Yan and brought them inside the residence. Then after a few modest words, he quickly went back to the residence’s gate.
Although Han Li remained at Qin Yan’s side, he remained silent. However, the moment when Han Li looked at the back of the chief steward, suspicion flashed through his eyes.
He didn’t know why, but although Han Li definitely didn’t feel any spiritual power fluctuating from the chief steward’s body, Han Li suddenly felt his blood run cold when this man drew near, as if a fearsome demonic beast were approaching him. This caused Han Li to feel greatly uneasy!
Although Han Li did not know why he felt this, he had always fully trusted his senses. He immediately added this chief steward to the list of names he should be wary of.
“Honorable Nephew Han, let’s go! I’ll give you an introduction to a few old friends of mine!” When Qin Yan saw the chief steward depart, he said this toward Han Li with a smile.
This caused the several Qin Clan members standing next to Qin Yan to immediately grow sour. They all felt that this clan lord of theirs was far too biased.
However, Han Li only smiled to himself. He knew this was truly just an excuse Qin Yan came up with so that Han Li could stay by his side at all times.
They were then led to a large guest hall of Prince Xin’s residence by Qin Yan.
There seemed to be over a hundred people in the hall. But although there seemed to be many guests, since people arrived in groups of two and three, the Qin Residence’s party of eight was the same size as parties from three sects.
At this moment, Prince Xin had yet to appear in the hall. It seemed he wouldn’t appear until all his guests were present.
Just as Qin Yan arrived at the entrance of the large hall, he was immediately cordially called out by a few familiar long time friends.
Qin Yan naturally saluted and replied to them all. But when he swept his eyes across the room, he said a few words of apology and walked over to a sickly old man accompanied by a young man and a young woman.
The man had an earnest face with thick eyebrows and large eyes. Although the woman’s appearance wasn’t outstanding, her large eyes were provocative, and she looked through the juniors at Qin Yan’s side with no trace of politeness. Han Li was naturally among those she had swept her eyes over.
“Senior Brother Hua, I didn’t think such a great medicine god as yourself would show up here! I would have thought that with your disposition, you would decline an invitation to such an occasion.” Qin Yan walked in front of the old man and sat down next to him with no trace of politeness, teasing him with a soft voice.
“Ke! I originally thought not to come, but the strange illness afflicting the prince’s concubine had been cured. This greatly piqued my curiosity, and I thought to see what expert doctor was able to perform such a miraculous feat!” The old man that Qin Yan familiarly addressed as ‘Senior Brother Hua’ softly replied with a faint smile.
“Oh! So it’s like that. So the rumor that Prince Xin had invited Senior Brother to treat his favorite concubine’s illness wasn’t just a rumor. Could it be that Senior Brother Hua’s healing arts weren’t enough to treat this illness?”
When Han Li saw Qin Yan’s great astonishment, he reasoned that the medicinal expertise of this old man should be very well known within Yuejing.
“Hehe, there are countless odd and fantastic illnesses in this world. I only gained my current reputation through pure luck! There are a few strange untreatable illnesses that are quite strange and difficult even with my medical expertise.” The old man smiled without seeming to mind. His view of the world seemed quite wide.
“But I still can’t believe it. There is actually another great doctor within Yuejing who has superior medicinal expertise?” Qin Yan shook his head. He seemed to hold much confidence in this old man’s healing arts.
But when Old Man Hua heard this, he faintly smiled and didn’t speak any further. Then he pointed to the young man and woman at his side and said, “These two are Hua Nan and Hua Fang. You’ve seen them before. Come over and greet your Grandpa Qin!”
Old Man Hua was clearly viewed with much respect in these two’s eyes. This pair agreed without the slightest hesitation and rushed over to salute and greet Qin Yan.
“Hehe, I didn’t think that your grandson and granddaughter would suddenly grow so big since the moment I took my eyes off them so many years ago. I don’t have anything good to give on hand. How about I give them these jade-embedded pendants as a welcoming gift!” As Qin Yan amiably said this, he felt around his body and took out a pair of flawless dark-green jade pendants. From a single look, one could tell these items were exceptionally valuable.
Although a strange expression of satisfaction flashed through the man’s eyes, it quickly disappeared. The woman’s face, however, was filled with joy, and she looked at the jade pendant with her fiery gaze.
“Don’t hesitate. If you want them, then take them! Old Brother Qin is no stranger to our household!” When Old Man Hua saw this, he couldn’t help but yell this with a smile.
When they heard this, the man and woman then dared to take the jade pendants that Qin Yan offered them. Their expressions were quite happy.
“Apart from this one, I’ve already seen the other juniors several times already. Could it be the dear nephew who recently arrived at Yuejing?” The old man’s gaze then arrived at Han Li, sizing him up with great curiosity.
“That’s right. This is Han Li! He’s a descendant of my Senior.”
“Honorable Nephew Han! This is your Senior Uncle Hua, one of the two great medicine gods of Yuejing!” At this moment, Qin Yan then thought to introduce Han Li to this Senior Brother of his.
“Greetings to Senior Uncle Hua!” Han Li sincerely shouted to him.
“En, not bad, not bad!” Old Man Hua truly did not see anything that was outstanding about Han Li but he still spoke those words of praise.
But after a moment of thought, he remembered the rumors that were being spread about the youth. He hesitated for a moment before taking out a small white bottle with his wrinkled shriveled hands and offered it to Han Li.
“This is a Heart Protecting Pill that I meticulously refined! Although I don’t dare to say it will cure anything, common small illnesses and injuries will not be a problem. I will give this to Honorable Nephew Han to protect himself!”
When the words left the old man’s mouth, Han Li immediately felt the envy and jealousy of the Qin Clan members behind him. Hua Nan and Hua Fang also revealed an expression of shock. The fame of this ‘Heart Protecting Pill’ was obviously greatly renown!
