Chapter 224: The Royal Secret
To be completely honest, He Qing did not have a comprehensive understanding of the curse, but she knew the gist of how it came by.
According to her explanation, Jade Dragon City used to be classified as a large country. However, fifty years ago, following the death of the nation’s Rank 5 guardian beast, the Jade Dragon Kingdom went on a steady decline and was demoted to a mere intermediate country.
It was during this period that the curse started in her family.
“Uncle Lu, I don’t know much about it either. I remember ever since I was a young girl, I’ve been told that the curse would pick a girl from our family and whoever was chosen must shoulder the curse’s burden. They told me that it was to ensure the stability of our nation’s foundation. In other words, if the curse was ever broken, the Jade Dragon Kingdom would be in trouble,” He Qing said gravely.
But then she lowered her voice and mumbled, “I don’t believe any of it. What’s with all this talk about a nation’s fate. A country should rely on its politics and ability to ensure its survival, not some stupid curse! But father and the others believe the tale wholeheartedly.”
As Lu Bin listened to her speak, he started to gain a grasp on the current sitaution.
It was no wonder He Yu reacted that way when Lin Jin successfully treated her curse. While removing the curse would benefit her, there was a risk that it would spell disaster for the Jade Dragon Kingdom.
In the past, she never considered breaking the curse but only wished for the pain to cease.
In her words, ‘If I had to die, I rather it be a comfortable death.’
After understanding where He Yu was coming from, Lu Bin had the same reaction as He Qing.
Bullsh*t!
To place an entire nation’s fate on the tiny shoulders of a single girl was the greatest joke of the century no matter how he saw it. But it seemed like the royal family, including the emperor, believed in such a preposterous story!
“I don’t buy it either. Seventh Princess, think harder. Did you leave anything out? Why did they tie the curse to the country’s fate? Would the country actually deteriorate if the curse was broken? Or would our enemies come to attack us?” Lu Bin’s concern was obviously on a much more comprehensive scale.
To him, the fastest way to destroy the Jade Dragon Kingdom was if stronger enemies invaded their nation.
But what did this have anything to do with He Yu’s curse?
He Qing couldn’t answer his questions.
“I really know nothing else. I just know that this curse concerns the nation’s fate so Sister Yu probably doesn’t want it broken for this reason.” After that, she went into deep thought for a moment before mumbling indignantly, “Mister Curator’s a liar. He said he would send someone over to break the curse but that guy hasn’t shown up yet.”
If one wasn’t attentive enough, they would have missed what she said or dismissed it as nonsensical mumbling.
Lu Bin was stunned.
He stared at He Qing and asked warily, “Seventh Princess, do you know happen to know the Curator?”
***
After another round of conversation, both Lu Bin and He Qing stared at each other wide-eyed.
“Uncle Lu, you’re saying that that Appraiser Lin is the Curator’s disciple?” He Qing’s eyes were wide as saucers. Lu Bin nodded. “Yes, this was what Ye Yuzhou of Maple City told me so it should be true. I’ve never met this Curator before but I’m growing increasingly curious about him. I’d like to meet him if the opportunity ever arises.”
He Qing’s round eyes blinked and then came to a great discovery. “Oh, oh, I understand it now. When the Curator said someone would come to treat Sister Yu, he was referring to his disciple. Right, Maple City’s Ye Yuzhou, Old Ye… Hahaha, who knew that Old Ye was also a citizen of the Jade Dragon Kingdom. I’d like to meet him if the chance arises. He might be shocked to see me!”
Then, Lu Bin asked, “Will I be able to enter the Curator’s Visitation Hall?”
He Qing shook her head. “Nope, nope. Unless Curator allows it, both Old Ye and I can’t help you with that.”
Lu Bin looked baffled and mumbled under his breath, “This doesn’t make sense. I understand why Brother Yuzhou is allowed in due to how high both his cultivation level and pet beast’s rank are. But why is the Seventh Princess granted access?”
None of this made sense to him.
However, their main concern now was that He Yu didn’t want to be cured. Especially after they had confirmed that Lin Jin was genuinely capable of removing her curse.
“We can’t leave this up to her. Even if we have to force her, we can’t just watch Sixth Princess die,” Lu Bin decided. He Qing nodded in response. “Since this is the case, Uncle Lu, I’m on your side. I’ll give you my full support and even if Sister Yu blames me after, I won’t be afraid.”
Thus, this young girl and old man formed an alliance on the rooftop.
Unbeknownst to them, a silhouette had flown out from the imperial city’s temple and landed before the sixth princess’s quarters in the blink of an eye.
Upon closer inspection, that shadow belonged to a dragon.
The silhouette entered the room. A tragic cry could be heard and then the dragon darted out in panic, returning to the temple in the distance.
In her bedroom, He Yu stared curiously at her right pinky finger.
Her finger was now a shade of greenish-purple as if a malicious aura was being trapped in there. There was a thick golden ring on her finger, separating her normal-colored skin with that purple finger.
For some reason, this golden ring suddenly flashed brightly and a ball of flame appeared as if something had been ignited by it.
But the fire disappeared in the blink of an eye, as quickly as it came.
If there hadn’t been remnants of light on the ring, He Yu would have assumed it to be some sort of hallucination.
“Something must have happened just now,” He Yu mumbled to herself.
***
The royal capital was indeed lively. As the weather brightened up again, the peddlers stayed around to reopen their stalls. It was still early so calling it a day wasn’t worth it. Other than the locals, many foreign merchants could be seen walking along the streets, and there were also people dressed like warriors rushing about. Various types of pet beasts tagged along with their masters, and the entire scene was so dynamic that it could serve as the subject of a painting.
Lin Jin had in his hands quite a few of the local delicacies like stewed meatballs and deep-fried pancakes. He also made sure that Xiao Huo and the white ape got their fill as well.
At first, Lin Jin had been walking about aimlessly. But then, he figured that as a beast appraiser, he should drop by at the local Beast Appraisal Association a brief visit.
Hence, Lin Jin inquired about the association’s location and made his way to headquarters.
The royal capital was an entire scale larger than Maple City. Back home, the distance he covered would have been enough to cross over from the east gate to the west gate. In the royal capital, however, that distance was only a few streets long here.
There hadn’t been many people around but when he arrived near the Beast Appraisal Headquarters’ consultation hall, the place was packed with people and the liveliness here was comparable to the main street.
There were even more pet beasts here.
Not only local ones, but it was obvious that there were many foreign visitors here too. This was normal as this was the Headquarters of the Jade Dragon Kingdom’s Beast Appraisal Association. To put it more bluntly, this was where all the best beast appraising resources, as well as appraisers, were concentrated. So it wasn’t odd for visitors from all around to travel here for their services.
On the topic of scale, headquarters was at least ten times larger than their subsidiary branch in Maple City.