White-Robed Chief

Prince An pondered for a moment, then he slowly nodded and said, “Alright, for the sake of them being so righteous, I’ll dismiss their punishment! … Since all of you left the residence without any authorization, each of you will be penalized a thousand taels of silvers, if this happens again, you’ll be banished from the Imperial Residence!”

“Yes, Royal Highness!” Zheng Lide replied in a respectful manner, he dared not show any unhappy looks.

Prince An said faintly, “Will the rest of them refuse to comply with my punishments?”

“They dare not.” Zheng Lide quickly said.

Prince An said, “If anyone can just transfer you like that, why do I need you? … No more next time!”

“Yes!” Zheng Lide answered respectfully.

Prince An waved his hand, he looked rather lethargic.

Zheng Lide backed away cautiously and exited the study room, then he sighed a long breath of relief. He felt like his back was already completely wet and it was terribly sticky.

Prince An turned around and looked at Xu Ning, “Revered Sir, please take care of my safety!”

Xu Ning put his palm together and bowed.

“Royal Highness, who will be in charge after you sleep?” Song Liuying frowned with her long eyebrows, she faintly asked.

She did not mention about Chu Li anymore.

“No rash actions should be taken in the residence, do not let anyone leave.” Prince An said faintly, “Be aware of the people from the Imperial Residence of Prince Cheng!”

“I heard that Prince Cheng is a powerful and domineering man, no one dares to provoke him.” Xue Ningyu scoffed and said, “If he really provokes us, are we going to just hold back?”

“Forbearing will be our priority.” Prince An sighed, “Wait until I recover from my injuries.”

“When are you exactly going to recover, Royal Highness, give us a certain answer!” Xue Ningyu scoffed.

Prince An pondered for a brief while, then he shook his head and said, “One month, ……you may discuss about the big and small matters in the residence, but you can’t let any Protectors leave the residence, you just have to watch over our doors closely.”

“… Alright.” The two ladies nodded slowly.

It wouldn’t be tough for them to watch over the residence closely, but it would really bother them to instruct people to do things.

Xue Ningyu said, “Royal Highness, we really can’t do this, let my eldest brother guard the Imperial Residence!”

“You must not!” Prince An’s face changed.

He became more and more sleepy and could not pick his energy up, but he forcefully said, “If you eldest brother comes, I won’t be able to explain myself anymore. A Prince must not have anything to do with the army at all, it’s a huge taboo in the imperial court, you must not ask your eldest brother to come over at all, or else you’ll be causing me trouble!”

“Things have already turned out to be like that, why are you concerned about that! … Alright.” Xue Ningyu scoffed and said, “Then let Sister Song’s eldest brother come over.”

“That won’t do too.” Prince An tried his best to keep his eyes open, he said, “Whatever it is, both of you can discuss about it, remember to keep a close eye on our doors and avoid any trouble, if anything happens, endure it silently first, I’ll handle them when I wake up.”

“Yes.” The two ladies nodded helplessly.

Prince An could no longer hold his heavy eyelids, he fell into a deep sleep again.

“Revered Sir, when will the Royal Highness wake up again?” Song Liuying asked.

Xu Ning placed his hands together and said, “He should be awake in another three hours, you don’t have to wait here, Princesses, when the Royal Highness wakes up, I will send someone to get you.”

“Sister Song, you should go back and take a rest, I’ll watch over here.” Xue Ningyu said.

Song Liuying lowered her head gently and said, “Alright, I’ll come over at night.”

——

When Chu Li returned to Tianshu Courtyard, the sun was setting, the courtyard was painted in red.

Siao Shi was half leaning, half laying down on the bed, she forced a smile with her extremely beautiful face, and looked at him from head to toe with her limpid eyes that were like autumn water, she looked stunning under the setting sun.

Chu Li moved closer to her, “What’s the matter?”

Siao Shi scoffed and casted a sidelong glance at him, “Putting yourself in the limelight again?”

Chu Li broke into a laugh and said, “I lost my position as the Head Chief.”

“Hmm——?” Siao Shi’s pretty face turned gloomy.

Chu Li said, “Prince An woke up, he blamed me for transferring the Protectors out of the residence without any authorization, so he stripped me off my position as the Head Chief. I’ll be able to stay over here without any worries from now on, and be carefree as I’m relieved of my job.”

“Empty words!” Siao Shi rolled her eyes at him and scoffed as she said, “He’s quite a resolute man.”

She thought that if she was in Prince An’s shoes, she would have demoted Chu Li as well.

Once Prince An went in coma again, the Head Chief would be the most powerful person in the residence, but he happened to be his enemy, how could he allow him to do anything he wanted to. Therefore, it would be best to demote him from his position, if it really wouldn’t do, he could just reinstate him and compensate him after that.

Prince An should be very proficient in simple political tricks like that.

Chu Li laughed and said, “He has qualities to be an imposing person with great power and influence, unfortunately…”

He shook his head and started laughing.

If Prince An demoted him of his position as the Head Chief when he first woke up, it would not have been much of a trouble, the people would only debate about it at most and would not say much about it, they would not even pity him or respect him.

Unfortunately, an opportunity worked like lightning, one brilliant flash and it would be gone, since Prince An did not grab the chance, he gave him an opening to perform and to win over people’s support. Thus, even if Prince An was dead now, he would have sufficient prestige to take control over the entire residence without causing any trouble.

Siao Shi said, “You willingly let him demote you from your position?”

“If I’m demoted then just let it be, the Head Chief is just a figurehead, now I’m just a man in deed but not in name, even better.” Chu Li smiled and said.

Siao Shi burst into laugher, “A man in deed but not in name, go and brag about it!”

Yang Xu pursed her lips and laughed as she stood aside, “Lady, we all heard what the Chief said, it was very heartwarming, I’m sure that everyone stands with the Chief, everyone will listen to the Chief too,”

“Naive!” Siao Shi casted a sidelong glance at her and said, “They will listen to Prince An even more! … Alright, let it pass if you really lost your position, your role as the Head Chief was quite meaningless anyway.”

As they were talking, Song Liuying was seen curling towards them, dressed in an agate green gown, and a head full of golden dangling ornaments.

“Head Chief, the Royal Highness is severely injured, so he’s in a terrible mood.” Song Liuying smiled and said, “It can’t be helped that he was a little extreme with his words and actions, please forgive him, Head Chief.”

Chu Li shook his head as he smiled and said, “Princess Song, there’s actually nothing wrong in the Royal Highness’ decision, I don’t blame the Royal Highness.”

“Hmm——?” Song Liuying was surprised.

Chu Li sighed and said, “You’re not aware of the resentment between the Royal Highness and I, do you, Princess?”

“What resentment?” Song Liuying asked out of curiosity.

“Speaking about that, I’m to be blamed for the declining of the Imperial Residence’s power.” Chu Li shook his head and sighed, “Previously the Royal Highness set a trap along the path of escorting the bride, he made ten masters from the Imperial Residence to disguise as assassins to assassinate me, but I outwit him with his own trick and killed all ten of the assassins, so how can the Royal Highness not hold any grudge against me!”

“The ten Protectors were all killed by you, Head Chief?” Song Liuying asked as she was utterly shocked.

Chu Li smiled bitterly and said, “That time, I settled them together with the Protectors from the House of High Dukes, I killed them all without asking their identities, so the Royal Highness was forced to suffer in silence.”

“No wonder the Royal Highness dislikes you so much!” Song Liuying came to a sudden realization, she shook her head and sighed, “Those were ten Grandmasters, the Royal Highness was so heartbroken that he couldn’t sleep, it really ruined his plans.”

Chu Li said, “The Royal Highness is already very magnanimous for not killing me.”

Song Liuying looked at him helplessly, “Sigh…, I initially wanted to persuade the Royal Highness, I guess there’s no way out of this.”

“Now he’s always worried that the Royal Highness will secretly exterminate him.” Siao Shi forced a smile, “But he can finally stop worrying about that.”

Song Liuying remained silent.

After all, they had been married for ten over years, so she was very clear of Prince An’s mind, he was certainly not a magnanimous man. If Chu Li did something like that, she was afraid that he had already become a pest and a thorn in the Royal Highness’ side, he would definitely find a way to kill him.

“Head Chief, why not you return to the House of High Dukes.” Song Liuying sighed and said, “Why do you have to associate yourself with the troubles here?”

Chu Li looked at Siao Shi, “If I really leave the Second Lady alone here, I’m very worried.”

“The Imperial Residence is not as scary as you think it is.” Song Liuying laughed and said, “Outsiders might not understand it, they think that a wife of nobility will never be free, and that the Imperial Residence must be full of danger, but it’s actually not so complicated.”

Chu Li laughed.

From her point of view, the Imperial Residence was calm and peaceful, but danger always lies within the peacefulness.