After a journey of five days, they finally arrived at the capital. Gui Le's King, He Su himself, came to welcome them. The peasants of the city knew that the famous Marquess of Jing-An had won and returned. They rushed to greet him and they scrambled behind the two lines of somewhat serious-looking soldiers. Everyone had their necks craned forward, trying to get a better view of the stage.

"Which one is the Marquess of Jing-An?"

"Yer stupid. Have ya never seen the Marquess of Jing-An before?" Someone pointed, "That's him, the 'un in front of the army. Geez, who in the capital can't recognise the Marquess of Jing-An?"

"Haha, this is my first time in the Capital. I came to visit my relatives. I never imagined I'd be able to see the Marquess of Jing-An with my very own eyes! When I get back home, I'll have a lot of stories to tell!"

While the crowd continued to chatter, the army had already stopped at the city gates.

He Xia got off his horse. In a loud voice he shouted, "Hail the King. I, He Xia, has won the battle and Dong Lin has officially retreated."

He Su was completely covered in yellow-gold cloth. On his head he wore a headdress adorned with gems. More gems glittered from his clothes. He smiled slightly and personally helped He Xia up. "My Beloved Official, you may get up. Thank you for solving another one of my many problems. Gui Le is very proud of having the House of Jing-An and thanks to them we have nothing to fear about our enemies."

He picked up He Xia's hand fondly and they turned around.

"Look! It's him!"

"The Marquess of Jing-An!"

A ripple of excitement from the crowd of peasants.

He Su smiled at He Xia, "I cannot thank you, My Beloved Official, enough." He walked up the well-prepared stage and held up a cup of the best wine in Gui Le. He slowly announced, "To all those who have gathered here, please listen. Dong Lin has long been an enemy of Gui Le. After today's victory, we no longer have to live in fear and I shall repay our hero who has made this so."

Everyone nodded eagerly, wondering exactly how the ruler was planning to reward He Xia.

He Xia knelt down, "The victory was thanks to King, who directed everything. All He Xia, did was make the army follow King's plans. I do not deserve any reward."

"No no, you are Gui Le's best official. How could I not reward you?" He Su had another thought, "I will give you three rewards. First, I'll award you a cup of the best wine in Gui Le."

Behind He Xia, someone gave him a cup of the good wine. He Xia took it and raised his head to look at the King. He Su nodded, "You may drink."

He Su made sure he had finished the cup before saying, "Secondly, I'll give you a precious sword. Someone, please bring it up."

He Xia was presented with a long red box.

He Xia started to get a headache. He was getting even less sure of He Su's real intentions. He could only reply, "Thank you, King." He pushed open this lid and his eyes widened. "Ahh..."

An extremely precious sword laid inside the box. There was no sign of rust and the hilt was a jet black colour. It was a long lost sword, known as the "Precious Heimo Sword". It was known that the blade was extremely destructive – one small cut would leave a nasty scar for a lifetime.

He Xia had lived in wealth for all of his life and so he took no interest in jewellery and the like, but he loved good weapons. Seeing the precious sword made him shout in surprise.

He Su laughed from the raised platform, "How is it? You like it?"

"This sword is too precious. How could King..."

"That's why I have to give it to you. Everyone knows you like soldiers and weapons. Just take it."

He Xia didn't know whether to be shocked or happy. "Thank you, my King." He turned back around and received the box.

Pingting had come up from behind and took the box from her Master. She was about to leave when He Su noticed her, "My, aren't you Pingting?" He walked down the platform, breaking into a smile, "Why are you here with He Xia again?"

Pingting bowed, "I am here, my King."

"No need. Back when you were still learning with He Xia, you memorised everything faster than us, and was acknowledged as a female genius. Back then, we visited the Royal Residence a lot too, and there were many beautiful women but not as clever as you! He Xia, you're luckier than me." He Su turned his head and laughed, "Anyway, the third is rather normal, jewellery and gold. I know you don't like those kinds of things so I'll just get someone to send them to Jing-An Ducal Residence."

"Thank you, King!"

"We grew up together, we're like brothers, so why the politeness?" He Su looked at He Xia fondly and looked at Pingting, who was planning to leave. "Pingting."