The Thirteenth Prince gazed about with his large, liquid-black eyes. He appeared unaware as to the significance of today. With a certain neediness, his plump hands clung onto Imperial Consort Lian Yi's clothing.
Xing Lou gazed upon the clueless Thirteenth Prince and raised his hand slightly. Using his finger, he gently tapped the space between the brows of the Thirteenth Prince. A faint glow spread from Xing Lou's finger onto the prince's entire body. The little prince was exceptionally well-behaved and obediently kept still. He just blinked and surveyed the glowing light surrounding him, making intermittent garbled sounds with his little mouth.
A while later, the light was absorbed into the Thirteenth Prince's body and the blessing ceremony ended.
Having witnessed the whole procedure, Ji Fengyan still could not understand what had actually happened. She had sensed Xing Lou emitting a surge of warm energy that was gradually absorbed by the Thirteenth Prince. It all seemed very mystical, but from Ji Fengyan's point of view…
This entire thing felt like a bit of a sham.
From what she understood about blessings, the practitioner giving the blessing should impart part of his own spiritual energy to the person receiving the blessing. In some ways, it was to guide the destiny of the receiver toward the path of happiness, wealth, and longevity—to let him endure less pain and illness in life.
When Ji Fengyan was a young child, her Master and Grandmaster had blessed quite frequently her, but it was just a way to dispel bad luck and sickness.
Xing Lou's actions were like that of her Master and Grandmaster's, but… the resulting effect felt somewhat lacking.
Just as Ji Fengyan was mulling over this weird blessing, the Thirteenth Prince's gaze suddenly landed on the 'bald eaglet' beside her. That tiny palm-sized figure immediately caught the attention of the Thirteenth Prince and he instantly reached out his plump white hands, cooing.
"Ah… ah…"
The Emperor of the Kingdom of the Sacred Dragon was amid thanking Xing Lou when he noticed the strange behavior of his son. Following the Thirteenth Prince's line of sight, he saw Ji Fengyan and that comical-looking bald eaglet.
"Who is this?" The Emperor smiled. He had not been oblivious to the interactions between Xing Lou and this young lady.
With Xing Lou's character as it was, this was the first time something like that had happened.
Consequently, the Emperor's attitude toward Ji Fengyan also underwent a subtle change.
Since the big boss of the Kingdom of the Sacred Dragon had personally spoken up, Ji Fengyan could not pretend she didn't hear him. She stood up and said, "Your Majesty and Imperial Consort, my name is Ji Fengyan, daughter of Ji Yun."
After a stunned pause, the Emperor of the Kingdom of the Sacred Dragon gave a brisk laugh. "So you are Ji Yun's daughter. It is truly like father like daughter. Not bad, not bad."
Such praise from the Emperor himself nearly caused everyone in the grand hall to vomit blood in exasperation.
What could the Emperor have possibly seen from Ji Fengyan's puny figure to make him think she was "not bad".
After Ji Fengyan's words, a strange look flashed across Imperial Consort Lian Yi's eyes, so quickly that no one noticed it at all.
"I heard your father died in battle, sacrificing his life for the nation. It was such an unfortunate pity. However, he would be much comforted to know how outstanding his own daughter is now." The Emperor said in a kindly tone.
Ji Fengyan just gave a smile and did not reply.
She was no fool. She knew that the Emperor of the Kingdom of the Sacred Dragon was so courteous to her solely because she was seated at the same table as Xing Lou.