Song of Adolescence

Chapter 67 Record of Heavenly Revelations History - Uprising of the Eight Princes

Twenty years ago, the previous Emperor suddenly became seriously ill, and a riot broke out in Heavenly Revelations City. Each of the eight Princes amassed their own forces to fight for the throne. This was known in history as the “Uprising of the Eight Princes.” Among them, the seventh prince, Langya Prince Xiao Ruofeng’s capabilities and martial arts were superior, and he was already quite prestigious in court. He was the best candidate to be crown prince, but he didn’t like taking on such an eminent position and much preferred to wander the world, making friends with the heroes of the martial world. As such, he was often away from Heavenly Revelations. During the “Uprising of the Eight Princes”, he returned to Heavenly Revelations but instead of fighting for that supreme power, he supported his full-blooded brother, third prince Xiao Ruojin. At the same time, he brought with him a number of friends he made during his travels in the martial world, all of whom were young and talented in the martial world. Among them were Lei Mengsha of Lei Clan and Li Xinyue, the successor of Sword Heart Tomb.

On the night that the previous Emperor passed away, all the forces brought their own army and rushed to the Hall of Calming Purity. Because whoever could become the name on that edict, that person would become the next Emperor. Among them, the third prince Xiao Ruojin’s army did not have an advantage, and he only had a mere three hundred Brave Tiger Guards5. His cause should have been hopeless that day. But, what happened outside the Hall of Calming Purity that day gave rise to many legends afterwards.

For example, Li Xinyue, the successor of Sword Heart Tomb, was dressed completely in white and appeared like an immortal. Her one sword broke through a hundred armours and opened the road towards the Hall.

There was also Lei Mengsha of Lei Clan. He struck with his fist from a whole hundred feet away, and punched through dozens of men and crushed the head of the fourth prince.

There was also a youth who was not yet fifteen years old, armed with a spear, and took down nearly ten of their enemy’s martial experts.

There was also a long-haired man armed with a long staff, who guarded the west of the imperial city all by himself. He stopped eighteen top-rate martial experts who attempted to besiege the city. It was said that once the staff came out, it was limitless, boundless and endless.

There was Langya Prince Xiao Ruofeng who was a martial expert himself. Although several other Princes also invited top-rate experts from the martial world to bolster their forces, he alone fought back the combined forces of these Princes. Finally, he guarded Xiao Ruojin and killed everyone who stood in their way. By the time they came before the Hall of Calming Purity, he was soaked in blood and could barely stand, but nobody else dared to step forward. Only these two brothers, Xiao Ruofeng and Xiao Ruojin, stood outside the Hall of Calming Purity, and waited for the edict to be passed.

At that time, the Grand Eunuch, together with the Eunuch of Incense, the Eunuch of Seal, the Eunuch of Records as well as the Eunuch of Sword, brought out the edict. The surviving Princes, including the third prince Xiao Ruojin who had already obtained an absolute advantage, did not dare to move hastily. Because even though they had the successor of Sword Heart Tomb and a top expert from Lei Clan on their side, the Five Grand Eunuchs of Heavenly Revelations possessed powerful skills that made them untouchable.

Everyone watched the Five Grand Eunuchs carefully, especially the other few Princes. They’d obviously already lost to the third prince in terms of force, so their last hope was to expect their own name to be written on the edict. Then, with the justified backing of the edict, and with the support of the Five Grand Eunuchs, they would still have a chance to take the throne.

However, the Five Grand Eunuchs merely held onto the edict and did not speak for a long time.

In the end, Langya Prince broke the impasse, took a step forward, and secured the edict from the hands of the Grand Eunuch. He glanced at it before he faced everyone and tore the edict into pieces. Then, he announced loudly, "This Prince has read it. By order of the Emperor, the successor of the throne is the third prince Xiao Ruojin!"

"The successor is the third prince Xiao Ruojin!"

Before the eyes of everyone present, Langya Prince Xiao Ruofeng\'s actions could have been considered treasonous, but it was very odd that the Heavenly Revelations Five Grand Eunuchs who were responsible for giving the Emperor’s orders remained silent throughout and did not step forward to stop him. Until after Xiao Ruofeng yelled for the third time, "The successor is the third prince Xiao Ruojin", the Five Grand Eunuchs took the lead to kneel down. When the other surviving Princes saw this situation, they also dropped their weapons and bent their knees. All the servants and soldiers in the palace followed to kneel, and they all cried out, "Long live."

On the second day, the third prince Xiao Ruojin ascended to the throne, and Langya Prince Xiao Ruofeng was bestowed the title Pillar of State and was named “Beili Grand Protector” which gave him command of the three armies. Of the many martial experts who guarded Xiao Ruojin to enter the city that night, only Lei Mengsha accepted an official position. He was named one of the Eight Pillars of State. As for the rest, they returned to the shadows, did not obtain an official position and did not join the army. They were named the Four Guardians of Heavenly Revelations and protected the imperial city under the names Qinglong, Zhuque, Baihu and Xuanwu6.

Later, there were those who speculated that the edict actually had a different name on it. And that it was not the third prince Xiao Ruojin, but the seventh prince Xiao Ruofeng instead. But, he chose to tear up the edict, and since this new Emperor voluntarily gave up his throne, then the Five Grand Eunuchs naturally couldn’t say much about it. However, there were divergent opinions about the reasons why Xiao Ruofeng did this. Some people said that it was because Xiao Ruofeng preferred the free lifestyle of the martial world and did not want to be trapped in Heavenly Revelations City. But, the fact was, after the “Uprising of the Eight Princes”, Xiao Ruofeng held the title of Beili Grand Protector and did not leave Heavenly Revelations even once in the first four years. After four years, he left only because he went to war. Until the day he died, he never re-entered the martial world. Hence, some people also said that the reason why Xiao Ruofeng did this was because when he was very young, Xiao Ruofeng suffered a serious illness once and was close to death. At the time, their mother was not one of the favoured concubines, and everyone in the palace treated them coldly and even the imperial doctor didn’t bother to take a closer look. As a prince, Xiao Ruojin knelt down before the imperial doctor who had been summoned in a hurry and was planning to leave in a hurry, and forced the imperial doctor to give all of his effort to treat Xiao Ruofeng, thus saving his life. However, which of these were the truth, Langya Prince refused to say a word about it until his death.

At that time, Lei Hanyi was eleven years old. Lei Mengsha was expelled by the Lei Clan because he violated the ancestral decree to “Never Enlist”, so Lei Hanyi never entered the Lei Clan. Instead, she became the successor of the Sword Tomb’s Sword Heart Formula, followed her mother’s family name, and became Li Hanyi. Later, she became the second disciple of Li Changsheng, the previous Citymaster of Snow Moon City. Li Hanyi practiced the sword until she was fourteen years old, and did not enter Heavenly Revelations City again. It was not until after the birth of her younger brother that she went against her parents’ orders and went to Heavenly Revelations City on her own.

Then she stayed in this city for another five years. At the age of nineteen, she brought her sword with her and left Heavenly Revelations. Together with Baili Dongjun and Sikong Changfeng, they wandered the martial world. Back then, she was always wearing a gray veil and armed with her Rainfall sword. Her swordsmanship was lithe and graceful and she became known in the martial world as "under the willow tree, the Rainfall sword leaves no scars". That year, the Demonic Cult Eastern Incursion happened and Snow Moon City, as one of the upright sects of the martial world, lent their power and also participated in the retaliation. Li Hanyi alone, smashed through eight of the Demonic Cult elders with her sword.

From that day, she was called a sword immortal. But, no one in the martial world knew that she was the daughter of Lei Mengsha and Li Xinyue, and even she herself was slowly forgetting everything. Until four years ago, when Li Hanyi stepped into Heavenly Revelations City again.

The incident of that year was recorded in the history books as “Langya Prince’s Rebellion”. During this incident, at least dozens of key court officials were dismissed, more than a dozen generals were discharged and returned to civilian life, and the four guardians who were supposed to protect Heavenly Revelations went their separate ways.

At that time, Li Hanyi, who stepped into Heavenly Revelations City, had already replaced her sword with “Armoured Glacier”, which was ranked third among the top ten famous swords under Heaven. That day, the sword of the sword immortal practically reached the throat of the present Emperor.