Castle of Black Iron

In the blink of an eye, it had been late November. The winter was coming as Dragon Emperor City turned cold at once. All the imperial gardens in Forbidden City were covered with silver-like frost in each morning. There were no more brilliant peonies, osmanthus flowers or tiger chrysanthemums anymore. All the flowers in the imperial gardens had been withering, except for the red plum blossoms in the Plum Garden. They welcomed their own season with their brilliant glory.

Leng Manxue was born in winter; therefore, she liked winter. She was more obsessed with plum blossoms which could still open arrogantly in winter. Leng Manxue’s residence in Forbidden City was close to the Plum Garden in the internal courtyard. In the small building where she lived, the moment she would open her windows, she would be able to see the beautiful scenery in the Plum Garden.

Last night, it started to snow in Dragon Emperor City. On the second morning, when the general manager of Forbidden City got up and pushed open the vermilion windows, she saw that the purplish red plum blossoms were covered in pure white. In a split second, Leng Manxue felt good.

“After wind and rain gave way to spring, the snow over the sky welcomed spring. Long icicles are hanging over the cliff; however, the plum blossoms are still contending with each other. Despite being beautiful, plum blossoms don’t contend with peach blossoms and apricot blossoms. You just notice the others that the spring is coming. When the mountain is covered with blossoms, you just smile in the flowering shrubs.”

Watching this scenery, Leng Manxue recited a poem unconsciously.

Of course, it was not made by Leng Manxue herself, but made by Zhang Tie casually when he met Leng Manxue last month after exiting his cultivation. Zhang Tie expressed that this poem about plum blossoms was his favorite. Leng Manxue bore it in mind at once. Not only Zhang Tie liked it, but Leng Manxue also liked it; because she felt a heroic spirit in this poem, a strength that could give people hope and brilliance in despair. Such a heroic spirit and strength resonated with the depth of one’s soul. Implored by Leng Manxue, Zhang Tie could only write it down and gift it to Leng Manxue.

At that moment, the poem was hanging on the wall of Leng Manxue’s bedroom. She would take a look at it every day.

Although being not runes, Zhang Tie’s words also carried a marvelous strength.

“Is spring coming?” Leng Manxue murmured with a faint smile as she watched the silver-covered Forbidden City and the golden glazed tiles of those houses and palaces under the white snow.

“Now that winter has arrived, would spring be far away?”

With such a good mood, General Manager Leng started her work.

When Zhang Tie was in secluded cultivation, Leng Manxue mainly served as the general manager of the logistic affairs of Qianji Agency and the five major departments of Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace. All the materials that Qianji Agency and the five major departments required in Forbidden City were under her control. Those who passed messages between five major departments and Qianji Agency were also Leng Manxue’s subordinates. On this occasion, even if Leng Manxue didn’t participate in making decisions with the five major departments and Qianji Agency, everything that happened to the five major departments and Qianji Agency within Forbidden City was transparent to her.

Leng Manxue sorted out the daily important things and prepared to present them to Zhang Tie when he exited his backroom.

Zhang Tie didn’t leave his backroom especially for writing a poem for Leng Manxue last time; instead, he was finishing the second round of trade with Wu Qiankun from Emperor NvWa Palace.

Leng Manxue knew that Wu Qiankun was here with the second batch of six demon generals. Leng Manxue arranged some people to send the six big iron cabinets to Jiaotai Palace where Zhang Tie was in secluded cultivation.

The second round of trade underwent smoothly and calmly. After completing this round of trade, Wu Qiankun left there.

After completing the second round of trade, Zhang Tie didn’t stay overnight in the Palace of Heavenly Purity; instead, he only stayed there in the afternoon. After writing a poem for Leng Manxue and taking a short rest, he had a grand supper. In the evening, he returned to Jiaotai Palace and entered secluded cultivation again.

This made Leng Manxue admire Zhang Tie. As Dragon Emperor, Zhang Tie still spent so much time in cultivation. This really made many people ashamed.

Given Zhang Tie’s diligence, all the 7 elders of Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace felt shameful being indolent in cultivation as they stopped contending with each other for the sake of their profits. Besides those elders on duty in Qianji Agency, all the other elders were in secluded cultivation when they were free. They dared not interfere with the affairs of the five major departments anymore.

The others might treat Zhang Tie’s diligence as a good example; however, Leng Manxue always felt that Zhang Tie had his own concerns. It seemed that he was not doing that only for growing more powerful.

As she touched Zhang Tie in an increasingly higher frequency, Leng Manxue became more and more confused about him. She felt that he was becoming more and more profound and unpredictable.

Sometimes, Leng Manxue felt that she and Zhang Tie came from two different worlds.

…

Leng Manxue’s office was in the Westcold Pavilion beside Yangxin Palace.

As each affair in Forbidden City was exclusive to some personnel, Leng Manxue only needed to command or arrange people to do things. She had over 10 subordinate immortal generals. Therefore, she didn’t need to do too many things herself.

Like usual, the first thing that Leng Manxue did was to make a tour inspection around Forbidden City. Then, she would return to Westcold Pavilion to handle public affairs.

“Last afternoon, Commander-in-Chief Huang quarreled with President Guan of Earth-Treasures Department for the sake of Dragon’s Teeth Army!”

In Westcold Pavilion, soon after Leng Manxue handled some public affairs, she had received the report on the event that happened to Earth-Treasures Department last afternoon from one of her subordinates.

“Hmm, why did Commander-in-Chief Huang quarrel with President Guan?”

“It’s said that they quarreled over the compensation of Dragon’s Teeth Army. Last month, two more immortal generals joined Dragon’s Teeth Army. However, the monthly compensation that Earth-Treasures Department distributed to Dragon’s Teeth Army didn’t increase. Therefore, Commander-in-Chief came there to ask President Guan about that. However, President Guan told Commander-in-Chief that all the military compensation for Dragon’s Teeth Army were budgeted in advance. The new immortal generals of Dragon’s Teeth Army were not covered in the budget. Therefore, they couldn’t enjoy it. If Dragon’s Teeth Army wanted more compensation, they had to apply for it from Earth-Treasures Department in advance. According to Commander-in-Chief, only those qualified candidates who had passed the examination could join Dragon’s Teeth Army; however, he didn’t know how many candidates were recruited in advance precisely. He could estimate it at most. He hoped President Guan to not comply with the rules so strictly…”

“What did President Guan say?”

“No way. Therefore, Commander-in-Chief reported it to Qianji Agency and hoped those elders on duty to solve it through reconciliation…”

“Hmm, I see. You could leave…” Watching the subordinate leaving, Leng Manxue let out a sigh inside. After that, she recorded this event briefly on her work report.

Although Leng Manxue was standing on the side of Huang Baimei, she knew that President Guan was right too; because this was the responsibility of Earth-Treasures Department and the procedures that they followed. As for Commander-in-Chief Huang, he just followed Zhang Tie’s order to expand Dragon’s Teeth Army. Huang Baimei was always serious, he would never falsify a number for more element crystals than in need. Additionally, it was troublesome to do that. If he did that, he would commit a felony and couldn’t pass the examination of the Supervision Department at all. What was more, so many people in Earth-Treasures Department were keeping an eye on Dragon’s Teeth Army. They were crystal clear about the concrete strength of Dragon’s Teeth Army. If the population of Dragon’s Teeth Army that Huang Baimei reported was not right, Earth-Treasures Department would get a reason to go berserk and curtail the provision of element crystals for Dragon’s Teeth Army…

In the final analysis, it was because of a shortage of element crystals. Although Leng Manxue didn’t know how many element crystals Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace had, she knew that stockpile of element crystals might be limited given the deeds of Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace in the past couple of years. Otherwise, the 5 elders would not have sold immortal wind palaces to Emperor NvWa Palace and President Guan would never be so careful about the monthly compensation of Dragon’s Teeth Army.

However, as long as they ran out of element crystals, Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace would collaspe for sure. As Leng Manxue grew up in Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace, she had a special affection for Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace. She never wanted to see the fall of Dragon Emperor Immortal Palace.

When all the others were anxious about the supply of element crystals, Leng Manxue was curious that Zhang Tie didn’t even care a bit about it. Therefore, she thought Zhang Tie might have got a solution.

“General Manager, Wu Qiankun from Emperor NvWa Palace is paying a visit to His Majesty outside the Forbidden City!”

When Leng Manxue was thinking about Huang Baimei’s trouble in Westcold Pavilion and pondering how to give a favor to him, she received the message from her subordinate——Wu Qiankun is coming…

‘Did he send the third batch of demon generals for His Majesty? That’s too fast. It’s not even been a month since he did it last time.’

Leng Manxue knew that Zhang Tie liked those demon generals that Wu Qiankun brought here. Before noticing Zhang Tie, she asked, “Is he here alone or with the same iron cabinets like how he did the last two times?”

“He’s here alone!”

“Hmm!” Leng Manxue sent the order after a short silence, “Lead him to the Westcold Pavilion…”

“Yes, sir!”

After waiting in Westcold Pavilion for less than 10 minutes, Leng Manxue had seen Wu Qiankun.

Wu Qiankun was here alone. Even though he tried to be composed, he still couldn’t cover his anxiety in front of Leng Manxue.

After inviting him to take a seat in Westcold Pavilion and having people serve him a cup of tea, Leng Manxue asked him, “General Manager Wu, what are you here for this time?”

“Is His Majesty free? I want to see His Majesty!”