Rise of the Sword Son-in-Law

Chapter 194: Imperial Capital Forces

Soon, Xu Ping’an arrived at an extremely quiet tea house, guided by the young beekeeper.

The scenery of the tea house was serene and beautiful, very peaceful.

Xu Ping’an was very satisfied.

On the way here, Xu Ping’an had already asked for his name.

The young beekeeper was named Wu An, an ordinary resident of the eastern sub-city of the capital.

"Wu An, I’m going to ask you a few questions. If your answers satisfy me, these will be yours," said Xu Ping’an as he took out ten Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

As Wu An saw the ten Lower Grade Spirit Stones, his eyes instantly brightened.

A big customer indeed—he hadn’t misjudged. This man was certainly very generous.

Ten Lower Grade Spirit Stones were definitely a significant fortune.

Ordinarily, even if he attended to ten patrons, he might not receive ten Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

Some folks would at most give him some gold coins, so in his eyes, Xu Ping’an’s generosity was truly impressive.

Xu Ping’an, however, didn’t mind; such Spirit Stones were abundant in his storage ring, nearly piling into a small hill.

"Your Grace, just ask away, I shall withhold nothing and tell all," said Wu An with a smile on his face.

Xu Ping’an nodded, "First, tell me about the distribution of power in the capital."

Wu An nodded, not seeming surprised at Xu Ping’an’s question.

"You must be from out of town, my lord. Then let me explain in detail," Wu An said with a smile.

Xu Ping’an nodded.

"There are many forces in the capital, complex and intertwined. Speaking of the most powerful, it would naturally be the imperial family of the capital. The Sovereign of Great Qin is formidable and has reached the Ninth Rank Peak," Wu An said.

"Isn’t the first power said to be the Capital Academy?" Xu Ping’an asked with a doubt.

"In terms of strength, naturally, it’s the Capital Academy. However, the Capital Academy does not involve itself in secular affairs. Besides, in a certain sense, the Capital Academy also belongs to the imperial family, so it cannot be considered the first," Wu An explained.

Xu Ping’an nodded.

The Capital Academy might be powerful, but since they don’t get involved in secular matters and support the royal family, outsiders see the royal family as the number one power.

"The strength of the royal family primarily comes from the Sovereign of Great Qin, the foremost expert. Following that, it is due to the Long Yan Army," Wu An said, his face showing reverence.

"The Long Yan Army is very strong?" asked Xu Ping’an.

"Very strong. The Long Yan Army is not large in number, only thirty thousand strong, but the lowest among them are of Fourth Rank. The Centurions have reached Fifth Rank, the Thousand Captains Sixth Rank, the Deputy Generals can attain Seventh Rank, and the Long Yan General is of Eighth Rank," Wu An explained.

"Thirty thousand, all above Fourth Rank? That is indeed terrifying," Xu Ping’an nodded.

Thirty thousand soldiers, all above Fourth Rank, and organized as an army—their collective combat power could be said to be extremely frightening.

While individuals in an army may not possess the strongest combat power, the organizational strength of an army is formidable, more disciplined, and the collective combat power definitely exceeds a simple sum.

"Exactly, the Long Yan Army is the foundation of the Great Qin Empire, as well as its backbone. The city’s security is also managed by the Long Yan Army," Wu An added.

Xu Ping’an recalled the scene when he had first entered the city, where a Seventh Rank Expert acted and killed a Sixth Rank Expert with a slap.

That person who acted was likely one of the Deputy Generals of the Long Yan Army.

"How many Deputy Generals are there in the Long Yan Army?" Xu Ping’an inquired.

"There are three vice generals, but only one chief general," Wu An responded.

Xu Ping’an nodded and continued to ask, "How many princes and princesses are there in the imperial family of the capital?"

"There are ten princes, but the Eighth Prince, the Tenth Prince, and the Twelfth Prince have all passed away. Additionally, the Second Prince, and the Eleventh Prince are not in the capital, so the ones truly worthy of attention in the capital are the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, the Sixth Prince, and the Ninth Prince. As for the Thirteenth Prince, he’s too young to be taken into account," said Wu An.

The Crown Prince, the Third Prince, the Sixth Prince, and the Ninth Prince?

I’ve heard of the Crown Prince and met the Sixth Prince before but have no idea about the Third Prince or the Sixth Prince.

Perhaps on this trip to the capital, I can’t avoid coming into contact with them.

"Tell me about these princes," said Xu Ping’an.

"There is no need to mention the Crown Prince. As the heir apparent, his ambition is tremendous. He’s already forty years old and has reached the Sixth Rank Peak."

"The Third Prince is extremely low-profile, spending his days studying at the Imperial Capital Academy. He is a disciple of the vice-chancellor of Wan Tianguo at the academy. It is said that he is about to step into the Seventh Rank. Now at just thirty, he has quite a few supporters in the court."

"As for the Sixth Prince, he’s a wastrel who fancies women. It is said that he has married ten consorts, around the age of twenty-six, his strength is at the Fifth Rank. Of course, some say he is pretending to be a pig in order to eat a tiger, biding his time."

"The Ninth Prince is not weak in strength, and he has high talent, but he lacks support and has no powerful backing. The Sixth Prince may be a wastrel, but his birth mother is the current Empress, so the Ninth Prince has the least hope."

Wu An said a lot, and Xu Ping’an listened attentively.

He gained a certain understanding of the struggle for the throne within the Imperial family of the capital.

"In addition, there are three princesses in the Imperial family. The Fourth Princess and the Fifth Princess have both married and are not in the capital. Only the Seventh Princess is in the capital," Wu An continued.

"However, this Seventh Princess is not at all simple. With extremely high talent, it is said that she has reached the Fifth Rank Peak at only twenty-one, is highly skilled in swordsmanship, and also is the beloved biological daughter of the Empress, favored by the Sovereign, and most importantly, she has the beauty of an angel, exceedingly beautiful." When Wu An spoke of the Seventh Princess, his eyes lit up.

This indicated that the Seventh Princess was indeed very beautiful.

However, Xu Ping’an was not interested in these things.

"Apart from these two forces, are there any other powers?" Xu Ping’an asked.

"Yes, apart from the Imperial Capital Academy and the Imperial family, there is the General’s Mansion for National Stability, which is also an extremely formidable power. The General for National Stability is a Ninth Rank Expert who has killed countless enemies and commands an army of a million soldiers, among whom is the Long Yan Army general, also his disciple," said Wu An.

A Ninth Rank Expert?

It seems that, indeed, the General’s Mansion for National Stability is a very powerful force.

Not to mention anything else, just the title "National Stability" itself speaks volumes about the strength of the General’s Mansion for National Stability.

Following that, Wu An shared more about the capital with him.

This allowed Xu Ping’an to gain a deeper understanding of the capital.

After their conversation, Xu Ping’an had Wu An find him a quiet place to stay.

With twenty-four days remaining until the grand competition in the capital, he still focused on cultivation.

Upon settling down, Xu Ping’an began his journey of cultivation.

He had two things to do next.

One was to complete two Body Refining processes, at least breaking through to the Fourth Rank Fifth Layer.

The other was to comprehend the sequence inheritance, master its contents, and enhance his own combat power.

So, in the following days, Xu Ping’an tempered his bones while perceiving the inheritance.