13 The Kingdom of Glacier Falls

The escorts rushed their way back to the Northern Nation as fast as they could, taking any shortcuts possible. They would only make bathroom stops and let the Cloud-Striding Qilin sleep for one day. It would take them only three days to return to the Northern Nation.

The Cloud-Striding Qilin was a mighty mount, capable of reaching speeds of 800 li per hour in it's prime. For one to be able to run for three days straight required a special medicine that made it burn it's blood essence to travel faster than its body could handle. It would need to rest for a full month to fully recover and travel at its normal speeds.

Along the way, Chu Fan was able to view his new cultivation slip.

"What kind of cultivation slip did hallmaster Chen Si give to you, Chu Fan?"

Yao Lingyan was curious as to what kind of secret skill or technique hallmaster Chen Si had gifted Chu Fan.

"Ah, it's just a body refinement technique, nothing much. I was curious as to what cultivation manuals the sect had."

Yao Lingyan thought about the vast selection of cultivation manuals that the sect had and tried to recall any body refinement techniques in the sect libraries.

"As far as I know, the sect doesn't carry any. Maybe this might be from the sect's hidden vault."

Yao Lingyan was confused. She didn't think that Chu Fan was one to think of attempting to dual cultivate, so she quickly lost interest.

Chu Fan's eyes gleamed at the thought of the manual having come from the hidden vault of sect. He quickly dove his conscious into the cultivation slip.

He was taken to a mountaintop landscape. It was a sunny and breezy place full of grass and had a great view of the world below.

Words began to spell out, "Codex of Infinite Vigor".

Chu Fan's eyes lit up as he saw these words. They were fitting for such an amazing body refinement technique. He knew that from the scene surrounding him, that this technique was one of at least the heaven tier ranking.

He quickly and patiently began to read and etch the mnemonics of the cultivation into his mind. After he was done with that, he began to view the cultivation routine of the manual.

The person would perform the technique came forth and bowed towards Chu Fan. He was a person of considerable youth. In his eyes, one could see that he was not the age his body portrayed him to be.

He began to perform the cultivation technique before Chu Fan, dazzling him with a very funny dance routine. He began to spin, jump, stride, and tumble.

"Motherfu**er, have I been duped by Hallmaster Chen Si?"he thought to himself.

In truth, he hadn't been duped at all. Hallmaster Chen Si knew that the sect only carried one Body Refinement technique and it was this Codex of Infinite Vigor. The sect had kept it as one of it's many secrets as it brought some shame to the sect.

The Skyward Sword Sect founding patriarch had one this manual from a game of chess against a wondering sage many eons ago. The manual had such an impressive name. yet when a person wanted to cultivate it, they were surprised to have seen it was just a comedic dance routine.

No matter how much the sect had wanted to trade the technique for some other technique; the other sects would turn a deaf ear at the very mention of its name. So it had been confined to the sect vault where it sat for many eons until today.

When Chu Fan came asking to see if the sect had any body refinement techniques, he saw that maybe Chu Fan and this technique were fated to find each other. And hopefully Chu Fan could find a hidden meaning to such a mysterious cultivation manual.

"No, there has to be more to this. It wouldn't be a heaven-tier Body Refinement manual for no reason."

Chu Fan put his thoughts together and pondered over the mnemonics and dance routine. He could only come to one conclusion: to actually just follow the dance routine and follow the mnemonics.

The goal of the exercise routines in the manual were for the purpose of exhausting the whole body. To cultivate this technique, a person must first exhaust their body to the extent that they could no longer move their body.

Then while circulating their qi, the cultivator would bathe their body and muscles in qi, refining them over and over again. This was the only method of cultivating the first stage of this body refinement technique.

Chu Fan could not argue such simple logic and chose to dance in a comedic fashion.

Yao Lingyan startled to giggle before laughing uproariously. The sight of Chu Fan prancing around and twirling in midair was too much for her, she couldn't contain her laughter.

Shortly after, Chu Fan ended early as he was thoroughly exhausted. His chest heaved up and down as he gasp for air.

He began to breathe and envelope every part of his body with qi.

He felt a warm and tingling at first. Then the pain came as it felt like somebody was piercing his body with hot needles; but he chose to grit his teeth and bear with the pain. He knew that the more it hurt, the better the results would be.

Yao Lingyan could only sit aside and watch in worry as Chu Fan lay there in pain.

After an incense stick's time past, Chu Fan could sit up now. He was still sore and could not move the rest of his body at the moment. He noticed that his skin was a lot smoother and he had lost a noticeable amount of freckles on his body. He was astonished by the signs of his progression in training.

Yao Lingyan ran to his side with a very worried face.

"What's wrong with you Chu Fan? First you start to dance like a madman and then you fall to the ground from exhaustion. What are you trying to do, scare me to death?"

Chu Fan looked over at the worried girl with a smile.

"Worry not, my sweet-"

He was interrupted by the sounds of his rumbling stomach.

"What, are you hungry? I have some food with me if you are."

Yao Lingyan retrieved a piece of bread from her bracelet and handed it to Chu Fan who stared at her silently.

His pupils dilated as he noticed the sensation that came with his belly's grumbling. It made his intestines churn a bit. But the sensation did not stop there, it continued to travel. And it made its way downwards, ending at his rear end.

"Yao Lingyan, does this carriage have a toilet?"

Yao Lingyan understood his underlying meaning.

"I'll go tell the escorts immediately."

And she rushed outside, leaving Chu Fan in silence as he put his whole mind body, and soul into a profound state of unity. He was giving his all to clench and hold together the dam from unleashing the forbidden beast of filth.

They made an emergency bathroom stop near the border that separated the Eastern Nation from the Northern Nation. And Chu Fan sped off like a phantom into the nearby brushes.

He vowed to only practice this technique when in private and near a restroom.

"Ahhhhh." he sighed as he relieved the built up pressure from earlier.

He finished up real quick before noticing how much colder it was now.

The two escorts handed Yao Lingyan a fur coat for her to stay warm.

"Your highness, we were only expecting to retrieve you. These loyal subjects are sorry. Your guest and fellow disciple will have to bear with the cold until we find a village and are able to acquire a fur coat for him."

They bowed to Yao Lingyan with sincerity.

Chu Fan had already returned and heard their words.

"Sirs, you need not worry about me. We pair of brotherly disciples shall share this big fur coat here. You need not make a stop for another fur coat, seeing as we are in a rush."

Chu Fan lifted Yao Lingyan's baggy fur coat and carried her piggy back style, while wrapping himself in the fur coat.

"See, it fits us both perfectly fine. Now, shall we be off and on our way again."

The two escorts couldn't say much because they couldn't say, "You dare lay a hand on the princess." as it would only reveal Yao Lingyan's "secret". They could only allow Chu Fan to act brotherly with their young princess, as he supposedly thought she was a boy.

They reentered the carriage and Chu Fan let down the, now fuming princess.

"What do you think you are doing, insolent pervert? If they found out that you knew my secret, you might have been stranded here to die."

She pouted and stomped her feet at the bold and reckless actions of Chu Fan's playful mind.

"Don't worry about it. Like I said, I have a plan. Have faith in me."

Without warning, the Qilin blasted off and the two people in the carriage fell over.

Yao Lingyan fell onto the seat making it seem like she had already been sitting without any discomfort. Chu Fan though was laying at Yao Lingyan's feet in a pose that made him look like a pretty little french muse, ready to be drawn by their artist.

He got up and sat next to Yao Lingyan who was acting like he wasn't there. He began to sniffle and shiver.

"It's getting mighty cold in here. The Northern Nation lives up to it's name. Even the most brave of heroes must don a thick coat in such cold conditions."

Yao Lingyan glared at Chu Fan who was making googly eyes at the moment. She slowly draped a portion of her fur coat over him and he moved in closer to her.

"I guess we're even now Yao Lingyan. I've saved you from the coldness before, and this time it's you who shall warm up my heart and keep me from the cold."

He smiled at Yao Lingyan who could not help but smile and blush.

"That's not fair. I'm still mad at you. How are you planning to deal with my family?"

Chu Fan patted her on the head.

"How about this? You tell me about your family along the way and I'll come up with a way to deal with every single one of them."

Yao Lingyan shook her head in agreement.

She began to list in detail her royal relatives and their personalities.

She was the only daughter of the northern emperor, Yao Tianshi. He was a magnanimous ruler who cared for the people of his nation dearly. He was a mighty figure that was a in the 7th level of Foundation Strengthening, a stage of Qi Formation that came after Qi Condensation.

Contrary to popular belief, neither of the prince's wanted to become the next heir to the throne. They fully understood the level of stress an emperor would go through. And the lack of freedom, worst of all, was the fact that one had to be confined to the palace walls. They didn't want to become prisoners to their own nation. Their names were Yao Cong and Yao Gang.

The two princes themselves were polar opposites of each other. They both cultivated in the Qi Formation system but differed in their preferred techniques and lifestyles. They were two sides to one coin.

They were both students to a cultivator by the name of Ma Kuo. He was a rogue cultivator that had stumbled upon an abandoned immortal's cave in his youth. He was a sage-like figure that the kingdom respected, with the power to demand it if he needed to. He was a pillar to the kingdom, as he was a friend of the former emperor.

Yao Cong was a calm and tactile man, he dabbled in aesthetics, botany, and alchemy. He was a slender and handsome young man who looked dignified and scholarly. He preferred learning internal martial arts, never being the one to instigate fights. He was two years older than Yao Lingyan and younger than Yao Guang by six months.

Yao Gang was one who favored hunting, combat beast taming, and weapon forging. He was an athletic man who looked very strong and brave. He loved external martial arts as it allowed him to exert the full force of his body. He was one to take up any chance of having a friendly duel. He was two years older than Yao Lingyan and older than Yao Cong by six months.

The only way to tell that the two were brothers were the emerald-green pair of eyes that they held in common, an inherited trait from their father. They took after their mothers for the most part. They shared their father's pride, passion for justice, and doting love for their baby sister.

Yao Lingyan had three mothers: Lee Ting, Wu Nuan, and Xiao Zhen. They treated one another in a sisterly manner.

Lee Ting was her birth-mother and second noble consort. She was a beautiful woman who could captivate even the most courageous and reserved heroes. In her hazel colored eyes, one could feel warmth with a hint of sadness; this made men fall to her knees as they tried to unravel this mystery. She was not of a noble background, but the kingdom loved her. For she resembled a lotus blooming from the muddy waters, giving hope to most other commoners of entering the palace one day. Unlike the other two wives of Yao Tianshi, Lee Ting was the first woman that the emperor chose for himself to marry.

Wu Nuan was the Emperor's first wife and Empress Consort. She was a heroic, courageous, and outspoken individual that dared to challenge the social norms of society. She was graced with above-average looks; she was also tall and slightly muscular. She was the granddaughter of the previous Unit Commander Wu Guan. She possessed his unmatched strength and tenacity; even frightening the emperor himself if she was enraged. She was a gifted spear-wielder and huntsman. She was mother to Yao Gang. After meeting Yao Tianshan due to her grandfather's nagging, she fell in love at first sight and willingly accepted a proposed marriage.

Xiao Zhen was the emperor's second wife and first noble consort. She was a gentle and tactile person who, too, challenged the many roles and expectations of society. She was a beauty, cast from jade and a noble bloodline. Her father was the previous emperor's left chancellor. She was gifted in aesthetics and armor-crafting. She was mother to Yao Cong. She was brought to the palace to entertain the past emperor on his 50th birthday party and was insisted by the empress dowager to wed Yao Tianshan; and so she too graciously accepted the proposed marriage.

Yao Tianshi's father was alive but in closed-door cultivation at the time, he had delayed progression in his cultivation to spend time with his grandchildren. He went into seclusion when Yao Lingyan was seven years of age. He was ready to enter the Dantian Transformation stage of Qi Formation.

This required complete concentration as failure meant harming oneself, delaying another attempt by at least two years at the earliest.

Eventually the group of four people arrived at a kingdom surrounded by snow. This was the Kingdom of Glacier Falls.

It was a kingdom situated atop a dragon's vein that allowed it's people to remain prosperous and live without any real threat. The kingdom had an array set up around it that converted the qi in the surrounding area into heat; making the kingdom a livable place that had clean running water and warm sunlight.

Chu Fan and his party arrived at the city gates where they were greeted by two guards standing at their post.

"Oh, your highness. Your loyal subject greets you upon your return."

As he looked up to peak, he noticed a fat figure standing at the opening of the carriage.

He was quickly infuriated by the sight of a random fat kid. He was expecting the princess and not a commoner. He felt maddened by having wasted words that were only worthy of falling upon the ears of royalty.

The two escorts were not fast enough to stop the guard from speaking.

"Who is this insolent brat? To think you'd be audacious enough to climb atop the royal mount. Men, capture this runt and drag him to the dungeon immediately. I'll have to teach him a lesson today."

He had meant to scare Chu Fan away with these words. But he was surprised to see Chu Fan smiling at him. Chu Fan turned around to speak to a figure still seated in the carriage.

"Hey, Lingyan. This guard says he wants to have me dragged to the dungeon so he can teach me a few lessons. Is this how your kingdom treats its royal guests?"

Yao Lingyan exited the carriage and looked over at the guard who spoke earlier.

"Who dares to drag my guest to the dungeon? Which guard dares offend my royal guest?"

The guards were flustered at this point. They weren't expecting Yao Lingyan to bring a guest at all, much less a person who looked like Chu Fan. Chu Fan seemed like an unworthy commoner to them, so the thought never came to their mind.

The two escorts could do nothing but sigh and shake their heads. They could only hope that these two ignorant guards did not receive harsh punishments later.

"We lowly guards beg your forgiveness, your majesty. We did not know that this young handsome chap was your royal guest."

They pleaded on their knees as they never meant to offend a member of the royal family.

Yao Lingyan was frustrated at the moment. Chu Fan had unintentionally stirred up problems already and forced her into resolving the issue. In truth, she thought he deserved a few smacks to the butt. But to keep the facade that Chu Fan was just a guest, she was forced to protect Chu Fan and act arrogant.

"Hmph! If my guest can come to find it in his heart to forgive you, we can overlook this matter. And as if it never happened, we'll go on with our lives. What do you say, Chu Fan?"

She looked over to see Chu Fan smiling sinisterly.

"What are you secretly plotting? You're giving me a headache over here. Why'd fate have to choose you of all people?" she thought to herself as she shook her head.

She couldn't help but smile at the man that was to be her future partner. He was a deviant and playful soul that did not fear the fact that he tempted death so many times.

"Alright, I can simply forgive this matter. Only if these two brothers can buy me some Dokimon Cards. Just have them sent to the palace for me."

He waved his hands and the kneeling guards kowtowed upon his forgiving words.

"Thank you for your benevolence, young master."

They wiped their tears and the escorts took their two young masters to the palace.

Along the way, Chu Fan noticed that the locals all seemed to love eating spicy foods and Hailstone Wheat was their staple grain of choice. He had a slew of ideas as this reminded him of dishes he had yet to cook for the disciples of the sect.

They stopped at a popular clothing store of the kingdom renowned for their quality of fabrics and wonderful designs, Ar Nie's Textiles.

They were greeted at the door by the owner of the establishment, Ar Nie. He happily showed them the latest line of clothing designs he had.

Yao Lingyan chose her designs and had them sent to the palace when they were finished.

Chu Fan had to be sized as Ar Nie's was a little biased towards the skinnier and/or wealthy crowd. The store had an outlet for people looking for discounts, situated on the poorer side of the kingdom. There they sold the old and outdated designs of years past as well as faulty products. Yet, commoners still shelled out their coins at any chance they had of grasping on to whatever feeling that the upper class society might have from being so fancily dressed.

The "bigger" clients that Ar Nie had in his shop tended to be from the higher class. They could afford to spend a little more on "extra fabric" as they had to custom order their clothing.

So Chu Fan chose his designs and had his order delivered and billed to the palace as well. He promised to pay Yao Lingyan back, with food of course.

They finally arrived at the palace gates where they were received by the guards. These guards were prepared for the appearance of Chu Fan this time.

The escorts had made it a point to notify the palace of the "prince's" return alongside his guest. This all occurred while Chu Fan and Yao Lingyan were selecting their clothe's designs and getting Chu Fan sized up.

They had greeted the group and opened the gates to allow them in.

The palace was kind of in disorder at this point. They were not expecting a guest and needed to put up a front that Yao Lingyan was a "prince"; they were oblivious to the fact that Chu Fan already knew Yao Lingyan's secret. The palace maids, eunuchs, and officials scurried about informing one another to refer to Yao Lingyan as "third prince".

Chu Fan loved the chaos before him. This level of misunderstanding was comedic to him.

He loved being the one that could make the situation even more grand by saying, "Aren't you a princess? Why are they calling you third prince?" But he chose to silently observe without reacting much while laugh hysterically on the inside.

There were maids and eunuchs greeting their party in weird robotic voices. They were obviously scripted and forced to say certain things.

"Your kingdom seems to be very busy third prince. Yet, the servants and officials seem to love gossiping."

He was openly teasing her and she got irritated. She reached her right hand out to pinch him on his back.

"Chu Fan, the servants and officials are only discussing the foods being served at tonight's banquet. They are celebrating my return. You, as my guest, should just relax and not chat too much."

He rubbed his sore back and kept quiet. This made Yao Lingyan smile; for once the fat fool was willing to listen to her.

She took him on a tour of the palace grounds, but she only showed him about a fourth of it all before it was almost sunset.

The palace itself covered a large portion of the kingdom, a person could get lost if they wondered around without a guide.

Yao Lingyan and Chu Fan were stopped by the servants as they needed to get prepped for the welcome-home banquet.

Chu Fan and Yao Lingyan were both lead to separate rooms, which Chu Fan protested deeply. He received four good knocks on the head as Yao Lingyan's answer to his proposal that two "brotherly" disciples should share a room.

A eunuch escorted him to his room where a bath was already prepared for him. He disrobed and entered the bath.

And he happily bathed as he basked in the fact that he was currently in a foreign nation, bathing in the palace in preparation of a grand banquet.

He began to anticipate the food being served and the possibility of him getting to taste a hundred-year nectar wine, like in the books he read in his past life.

He finished up quickly and dressed in the new set of robes that had been specially designed for him. It was a set of yellow robes with a rising dragon design, although this dragon's belly seemed to bulge a little due to the elastic materials woven into his clothing.

He was now dressed for the event and followed his attending eunuch to the grand hall.

He made it the hall at the same time that Yao Lingyan had arrived. He was shocked at the sight of her.

She was not wearing a set of robes with any of the designs she had chosen from earlier on in the day. And she was dressed to look even more like a guy at this point. With makeup accentuating the corners of her eyes. She looked like a scholarly fellow that could fall in love with a snake demon.

Instead she was wearing a set of robes that were definitely too long for her.

She stumbled along while making her way towards Chu Fan. She was less than a meter away from him when she tripped over the skirt of her robe.

She was caught by Chu Fan who accidentally groped her by the breasts by accident; which he swiftly switched to her arm.

It was too late, the maids saw this and sucked in a big breath of cold air. They started gossiping and suspecting Chu Fan immediately.

"Third Prince, you need some good exercise. All that time you spend at the sect cafeteria has made you plump. But don't fret, with time your body will develop into a fine one; as if your were sculpted from the very best piece of jade in existence."

Chu Fan bowed as he could only desperately attempt to make up something off the top of his head.

The maids were still talking amongst themselves.

"Surely it seems that this young master is a man who favors other men. Look how he likes to touch our third prince like so."

They had begun to suspect that Chu Fan was a person who swayed towards liking men; so they breathed a sigh of relief as their young mistress was actually a girl. But Chu Fan didn't know this "secret".

And they began to fantasize this forbidden pair of lovers.

"What will this fatty do upon finding out his beloved is in fact a girl and not a boy like he wanted? How would the princess feel that the man she came to love only loved the part of her that was a man?" they thought amongst themselves.

This would become their big gossip of the night and inspire a nationwide amount of contraband taboo writings of forbidden love affairs between male warriors, scholars, and/or princes. But that's a story for another day.

Chu Fan knelt down and started to fold the skirt of Yao Lingyan's robe in a little, enough to allow her to walk properly and look presentable still.

"What are you doing Chu Fan? Everybody can see us." she asked as she blushed.

This only served to make the maids gossip more as some of them began to swoon at this show of brotherly love.

"I can't have you tripping in front of your subjects. It's not very good to be stumbling in front of people that expect you to look prideful and dignified." he said as he pet Yao Lingyan on the head, only serving to make the other party blush even more.

They both made their way to the grand hall where the banquet was being held.

The banquet itself was a small one because of Chu Fan's appearance. The amount of guests was kept small as to not increase the chances of anybody slipping up and revealing Yao Lingyan's "secret".

All of Yao Lingyan's parents and siblings were present except for her grandfather. Her father and mothers were currently seated atop a throne that was on an elevated platform, showing the domineering superiority that was the emperor.

Yao Lingyan's brothers sat on their own elevated platforms at the left and right of the of the thrown, enjoying the music and dancing women who were onstage.

Her three childhood friends were also present alongside their father and mother. They sat at the right side of the grand hall.

These three friends were the children of the current minister of education, Yi Qianbi. He had two daughters and a son.

The two daughters who were twins, were named Yi Ai and Yi Bai. They were both a year older than Yao Lingyan and were the only female friends she had.

Their brother was named, Yi Gui. As far as knowing males, other than her brother's, Yi Gui was the only male she ever interacted with. He was the same age as Yao Lingyan.

Yao Lingyan made her way to greet the guests of her home-welcoming banquet.

Chu Fan chose to quietly sit in the left side of the thrown where he could bask in the music and become immersed in the skills that the dancers before him displayed.

Chu Fan didn't notice the glare that Yi Gui was giving him from the side, nor did he care for it at all. Yi Gui posed no real threat to him despite being at a higher level than him.

The banquet had officially started and Yao Lingyan made her way to be seated next to Chu Fan where the the two sisters also made their way to sit next to her.

She wouldn't look at Chu Fan at the moment as she was a bit irritated. She had noticed how immersed Chu Fan was with the dancers and was pouting in jealousy. He didn't even notice her pouting as he didn't think much of him enjoying the performance.

The food was served and the banquet continued for a while. Eventually, Yao Tianshi arose from his seat to give a toast.

"I thank you all for coming today. I hope we can have fun today as we commemorate the return of our prince-. Yes! To our third prince! Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

"To the prince-!"

And everybody downed their glasses full of juice and/or wine.

Yao Gang then got up and bowed to the emperor.

"Royal father! I would like to demonstrate a new spear technique I've learnt as a way of celebrating our little prince-'s return."

His father nodded in satisfaction.

"Very well, show your father and our guests what you have learnt."

The performers moved offstage and near the entrance of the grand hall.

"Yes!"

And he leapt a considerably far distance while wielding a spear that was thrown to him in midair by his master.

He thrust his spear-tip into the stone flooring shattering it. From there he bent his spear bent at a ninety degree angle as his weight bore down upon it.

"Ha!!" he shouted as he sprang himself with the force of the spear rebounding and straightening.

He twirled his spear mid-air as the phantom image of a tiger appeared and swiped with a ferocious might, creating a gust of wind that knocked over the performers in front of the stage.

The great tiger phantom then gave a great roar as Yao Gang started to go berserk the atmosphere was starting to feel intense. He had not fully learned to control this technique yet and it was evident.

"Enough! Yao Gang stop before you start destroying the grand hall." yelled Wu Nuan.

Noticing the voice, the tiger phantom immediately dispersed and the atmosphere returned back to normal.

Yao Gang was afraid of his mother and swiftly made his way back to his seat.

Next to stand up was Yao Cong.

"Royal Father, your son would like to demonstrate his flute skills for this occasion. I've recently composed a melody and would like to dedicate it to our little prince."

Yao Tianshi nodded in agreement and Yao Cong made his way onstage.

He began playing a tune that seemed to be melancholy and soothing. It was so soothing that the guests began to nod off and almost fall asleep.

Xiao Zhen was wary of how well her son's music was working and threw a chopstick towards one of the musician's guzheng. She aimed and struck a chord that made a loud noise that reverberated throughout the grand hall, waking up any and all of those who were falling asleep.

Yao Cong took this as a sign that he should stop and bowed as he made his exit from the stage.

The next person to stand up was Yi Gui of all people.

He pulled out a box and held it with both hands. He took a deep breathe before walking onstage and bowing to the emperor.

"Your highness, this loyal servant has prepared a gift for the third prince-'s return. We've found an especially rare Frost Plum. We fought off a mighty Frost Treant guardian just to retrieve this for the prince-. I've already instructed the head chef to candy this plum."

The emperor was thoroughly pleased to see this.

At the side, Chu Fan felt like tearing his hair out. To see the precious treasured fruit he needed so much be flaunted before him by this little turtle boy as a candy infuriated him.

"Mmm. This is very good for our little Lingyan. The effects of the frost plum will surely boost your cultivation. You must thank Yi Gui for such a precious gift, Lingyan."

Yao Lingyan was speechless as she knew how Chu Fan was feeling at the moment. She could only look at Chu Fan and sigh.

Yi Gui approached Yao Lingyan and handed her the box of plum candies that she received with both hands.

"Thank you, Yi Gui, for such a thoughtful gift."

Yi Gui turned to Chu Fan with a smirk and harrumphed as he turned back and headed towards his table.

Chu Fan was fuming, but he collected his thoughts together and stood up.

Yao Lingyan didn't know what he planned to do. But she knew she could not stop him. She could only sit back and watch in discomfort.

Chu Fan got onstage and bowed towards the emperor.

"This lowly commoner has no gift to offer the third prince but some simple songs."

Before the emperor could speak, Chu Fan began to sing.

He began to sing Fei Yu Qing's Yi Jian Mei, only to receive laughter from most of the crowd. Yao Lingyan was blushing in embarrassment at this point.

The only one's who remained silent and moved were those who listened closely to the lyrics being sung. They understood the theme and applauded Chu Fan.

Chu Fan bowed towards the emperor.

"Ah, this little commoner has yet to introduce himself. My name is Chu Fan. I offer my greetings to Royal Father-In-Law, Royal Mother-In-Laws, and Royal Brother-In-Laws."

The laughter immediately ceased as the grand hall was now deadly silent.

"Oh my heavens!" sighed Yao Lingyan as she looked at the sincerely smiling Chu Fan.