With the autumn hunt concluded, a grand banquet for the ministers followed, along with the customary bestowal of rewards.

Wei Yuan had placed first in the autumn hunt. Besides the customary gold and silver, the King of Jin also bestowed upon him a treasure sword. The sword was nothing more than a top-grade mystic artifact, but it came with quite a few “privileges”—for example, seeing this sword was like seeing the King of Jin himself, that it could be used to kill any official, that its wielder could kill first with the sword and report the deed later, so on and so forth. Of course, if Wei Yuan actually believed any of it, then that would be his own failing.

Although King Wei had suffered a total defeat, he had at last opened a treasure trove which happened to contain a bit of national fortune. The realization had improved his complexion significantly. Out of three princes, he was the only one to have obtained any national fortune. A small amount it might be, it was certainly something he could use to his advantage.

On a related note, Lü Wenbai, Military Commissioner of Yunxiang, came in second place, and King Wei, the fifth prince,...