Chapter 226 - The Birthday Party (Part One)

The entire central street of the Dongji village was bustling with happiness as all the gathered people enjoyed the happy moment.

It was finally the day of their Young Miss' sixteenth birthday and the residents of the village had given their all for the wonderful preparation.

After all, the Young Miss was the reason why the Dongji village was no longer a poor area unknown to everyone.

Within the past eighteen months, Dongji Village had developed into a smaller city, and it was all thanks to their Young Miss.

The previous old and outdated houses now looked far new and were systematically built alongside the street roads that were made of concrete.

The village now had a small school in it where their children could hone their skills. No matter what kind of future they wanted to pursue, the school provided them with proper help and a wonderful environment.

There was also a small market built around a small park that was situated at the very center of the town.

There was a five storey Inn, a three storey Garments Shop that is under the partnership of the Jin family, a bakery, a book store, a four storey building where all the final products of the farming were stored and deported, and many others.

There were even a small clinic and a spiritual herb shop located in the village.

Many maple trees were standing around the town and the houses. The street roads had street lights and benches were sitting beside them at every three hundred meters distance. 

The Fields no longer looked barren and unorganized, rather it looked very well organized, and the beautiful sight of the ripen fruits, crops and vegetables could fill anyone with awe and admiration.

The farm that was standing at some distance from the fields was also at the peak of its business.

There were chickens, fishes, ducks, pigs, horses, sheep, honeybees, silkworms, and many other animals inside the farmhouse.

An entire team of hundred and fifty-two people worked there to keep the farm business running smoothly.

In short, the Dongji village could be called a miracle village when looked at the changes and progress that had appeared there within such a short time.

The thousands of people who had visited the Dongji village in the past ten to twelve months to buy the fresh and spiritual qi rich vegetables, fruits, crops, meat, clothes, and even herbs, were always left in amazement.

Although, the village was almost at its peak but there was still something that was lacking between all these miracles.

Since the transportation system of the mortal realm was mostly carriages, it wasted a lot of time of their customers when they came to visit the village.

Even Li Ming herself was tired of the long processes that took in shifting goods or even people from one place to another.

The only solution to this problem was teleportation arrays and this was the exact reason why she was adamant about joining the Array Sect of the Guixian Academy. 

As she sat at the Long table that was sitting at the top of the platform that the villagers had set up in the small park, she looked at the people who were sitting in groups and enjoying the celebration.

What Li Ming was not expecting was to see the different groups of the students of her Academy as they climbed up the small platform, that was sitting in the middle of the park, and showed off their skills one after the other.

There was also a group of young girls that performed a beautiful dance and then there was another group of students who amazed the audience with their martial arts skills.

"I must say, If by any chance the Father Emperor got to see your birthday celebration, he would probably suffer through a panic attack." Zhang Yong whispered to her as he watched a group of students showing their cooking talent.

The Fourth Prince showed up at the park very early in the morning when the villagers were busy in the last minute touch-up of the decorations.

The villagers were more than happy to invite the fourth prince to attend the celebration as they all were aware that the prince was a close friend of their Miss.

Li Ming sure was shocked to see him there but she was not going to complain. It was a good thing that she was in the company of at least one of her mates.

Other than Zhang Yong none of her mates had personally wished her Happy Birthday yet. She only got magical messages from them at midnight.

She knew that they were busy in preparing their own birthday surprise for her, but looking at the fact that she had two more parties left to attend, Li Ming was not sure about how much energy would be left in her body by the time she would be able to visit the Moon Manor.

"Maybe you should share this secret with the people who are gathered here. I'm sure it will be the best compliment for their hard work." Li Ming teased her bondmate who just shook his head with a soft smile playing on his lips.

Some of the elders sitting below the platform noticed the warm interaction between their Miss and their Fourth Prince.

Their young miss was wearing a beautiful blue dress with pearl earrings with matching bracelets and rings. Her long hair was falling on her back and around her shoulder with white jade hairpins sitting on the crown of her head. A white veil was covering her face but her eyes shone like two beautiful stars.

On the other hand, the Fourth Prince looked far too handsome as he sat beside their Miss clad in dark red and white brocade robes with golden touches here and there.

The golden coronet that was sitting on top of his head held his long silky hair high as they fell on his back like a mesmerizing waterfall.

His warm eyes had been trained on their Young Miss ever since the celebration started.

How could those elders who had seen all the ups and downs of life and had years of experience, not see the meaning behind those warm eyes of their prince?

"They look so good together, don't they?" One of the Grandma asked her companions as she pointed towards the pair sitting in front of them with her eyes.

"Of course, they do! Grandma Fei, just look at them. One is the great and marvelous Fourth Prince of our Empire, the one who is the favorite son of our Emperor and holds the military power in his hands. While the other one is our gorgeous and powerful Young Miss, the sole owner of the Li Business Empire that is known throughout the Mortal Realm. If the two of them ended up together, it would be a day of a high celebration." One of the madams said happily as she was left awed by the beautiful couple that was sitting in front of her.

Li Ming almost choked on the tea that she was sipping as she heard the words of Grandma Fei and Madam Shen.

Zhang Yong hurriedly took out his handkerchief and started wiping her lips and chin.

This time the group of women, who had been observing the two of them, could not stop but let out a chorus of swooning squeals.

Their sudden squeals of happiness attracted the attention of the other villagers as they started looking at what had happened to make them squeal.

Li Ming also noticed what was about to happen and she immediately snatched the hanky from Zhang Yong's hands and with a click of her fingers the two of them looked as normal as if nothing happened.

That's why when the other people looked at their table they found nothing special, just the two of them talking normally and enjoying the feast.

The group of madams was left embarrassed as they realized that everyone was giving them weird looks.

After that, they stopped staring at their Miss and the Fourth Prince, not wanting to anger them with their childish antics.

"Are you purposely trying to fuel their wild imaginations?" Li Ming asked as she looked at the Shadow Lord with raised eyebrows.

"Of course, not. I was just worried that you will ruin your image in front of your people with that tea covered face of you....OUCH! Get a grip on your legs woman! Are you planning of crippling me?"  

Zhang Yong definitely was not expecting her pointy heels hitting him hard on his right feet.

The pain that shot through his feet almost made him cry out. Though his qi immediately made the pain disappear but those two seconds were still enough to make him see stars.

"It's good that you are aware of my abilities." Li Ming said as she smiled brightly at the prince.

"Aish! You are becoming more and more feisty with time. You should start learning how to behave like a lady. Even though we have already excepted you with all your faults and drawbacks but what if our mothers rejected you.....ouch! Ouch! Ouch! I'm sorry, sorry.....really sorryyyyyyyy!!" 

The Shadow Lord was bound to die.