White-Robed Chief

Chu Li closed fist saluted. “Great, we’ll wait and see!”

“Safe journeys, Head Chief Chu. Sorry I won’t be sending you off!” Chen Kong closed fist saluted back.

“Wait!” Shouted Leng Tao. “Elder Chen, why did you let him go? I got hit for nothing?”

He pointed his fat face that was swollen up and yelled, “So a prince such as I can be treated like this?!”

“What do you want to do, dear prince?” Chu Li shifted his gaze to look at him.

“I want to ruthlessly beat you up!” Leng Tao gnashed his teeth.

Chu Li smiled. “And do you have the capability to do that? Why don’t you bring His Royal Highness out here and have him order for me not to resist so that you could give a slap or two?”

“How dare you defile my Father’s words?” Scoffed Leng Tao. “I will call him.”

Chu Li’s grin widened. “How could King Cheng order me not to retaliate? Is it just because he is a prince? Or because his rank is high enough?”

Leng Tao pointed at him and glared at Chen Kong in dissatisfaction. “Elder Chen, are you allowing him to be this reckless, going so far as to hit a prince at will?”

“That’s enough, prince,” Chen Kong waved his arm. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

He was actually internally respecting Chu Li. He dared hit a King, and was not the least bit afraid of offending the entire Royal Family.

Chen Kog himself wouldn’t dare though.

Chu Li’s derogatory act could only be done in the Great Ji Dynasty.

The princes and crown princes were not held in such high regard in the Great Ji Dynasty. They had been intentionally suppressed by His Majesty alongside the chancellors who worked together.

This was a world of warfare. The chancellors would not be completely under the Emperor’s thumb, and they could only contest the Emperor after climbing enough ranks. This was created by the Ancestor, and was a system that he himself could not change.

However, the crown princes and princes’ position were still special, they were after all, the Emperor’s bloodline. Hitting the son or grandson would no doubt put a frown on the emperor’s face.

Which is why Chu Li had guts to do this. He simply could not compare to this man.

Leng Tao took offence at this and shouted, “I’m not hurt but I suffered humiliation!”

“What humiliation?” Chen Kong answered. “Then, you must strive and return the humiliation!”

“How could I ever defeat him?!” Leng Tao exclaimed with resentment.

Chen Kong smiled. “If you can’t beat him in any way, then you shouldn’t be humiliated.”

“But I’m a prince!” Snorted Leng Tao.

Chen Kong replied, “If you have this sort of mindset, then you will never amount to anything. You will always be useless!”

“Elder Chen!” Leng Tao glared at him in annoyance.

Chen Kong sighed. “Recognize your shame and learn from it. The proper way to succeed is to go all out. Don’t just think about bullying the weak females!”

“Humph!” Leng Tao turned and left in irritation. He wasn’t going to sit through this earful of his nagging.

——

Leng Qiu stared at Chu Li in anticipation, her footsteps were light and quick.

Leng Qing said. “Head Chief, you’re really going to teach little sister the sword technique?”

Chu Li nodded.

Leng Qiu was elated. “But I don’t know any martial arts!”

She felt vindicated after seeing Leng Tao take a beating.

“Leng Tao’s martial arts is so-so,” smiled Chu Li. “You only need to master one move and you can take him down.”

“Really?” Leng Qiu was doubtful.

Leng Qing remarked, “It’s impossible… Leng Tao still has a few years of experience in martial arts.”

“Borderline on so-so, not much of a difference from a newbie to martial arts,” answered Chu Li.

“Alright then, let’s try it out!” Leng Qiu ignored this and was itching to give it a go. “If I can defeat him then it would be true retribution. I’ll beat him up every time I see him. Ah, it would be such a relief.”

Yang Zongwen coughed and lowered his voice. “Captain, are we leaving the matter as is?”

Chu Li shifted his head to look at him. “What else do you suggest? That we barge in?”

“About this…” Yang Zongwen was hesitant.

Dong Qifei exclaimed, “This is too frustrating! We can’t even get past the front gate!”

Chu Li replied, “You didn’t realize this before going? Do you think that the gates of the Imperial Residence of King Cheng are that easy to enter?”

“This King Cheng is just too arrogant to refuse us entry from the outside!” Dong Qifei was annoyed.

Yang Zongwen sighed. “The prestige of our Secret Guardians Hall is getting lower as we speak.”

Chu Li smiled. “So you’re putting the blame on me?”

“We wouldn’t dare,” The duo immediately closed fist saluted and replied.

Chu Li continued, “If the position of the Secret Guardians Hall was too high, then it could work adversely in our favor. The current situation is better, where we can take some humiliation, which everyone can see. The officials won’t dare to call for the disbandment of the Secret Guardians Hall anymore.”

“But obstructions everywhere makes it hard to execute our assignments!” Sighed Yang Zongwen.

Dong Qifei said, “So what are we going to do now?”

Chu Li replied, “Go back and report to the commander. See what he says about this. No matter how great we are, we can’t enter the Imperial Residence and look for the enemy spy without their permission.”

“The commander would surely blame us,” Dong Qifei curled his lips in detest.

“We can’t just barge into the Imperial Residence,” Chu Li burst into laughter. “King Cheng would be eager for this and is waiting for us to do so he can copy the Princess Consort.”

“Wait…” The duo were stunned and instantly felt chills down their spine. “No way?”

Chu Li smiled. “You guys are collateral damage. King Cheng wants to kill me.”

The two immediately shut their mouths.

They understood after Chu Li put it to words. Chu Li was too flamboyant in his actions in Fairy’s Capital, making enemies everywhere he went. Moreover, he saw nothing of the princes and hit them at will. His time was coming.

Now that the Imperial Residence of King An was on the decline, it was the prime opportunity to kill Chu Li. King Cheng would not let such an opportunity go to waste.

No wonder Chu Li was so obedient to retreat. He saw through all of this!

The duo took a glance at Chu Li and sighed quietly on how everyone else so devious, while they were fools that only knew to charge straight ahead.

They wondered if the commander or Commander Xu who had assigned this task to Chu Li had thought to eliminate Chu Li through the Imperial Residence. Chu Li did, after all, cause setbacks to the Secret Guardians Hall and killed the two Imperial House Secret Guardians.

As their mind wandered, they decided to play the fool and obediently obey whatever Chu Li told them to do.

Chu Li first sent the two ladies back to the Imperial Residence of King An, then returned to the Secret Guardians Hall.

——

“King Cheng is not allowing entry?” Xu Huande tossed a scroll onto the table and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. “This makes things harder!”

King Cheng was currently in favor of the Emperor. If they were to barge in, and he went to tell on them to the Emperor, the Secret Guardians Hall would not hear the end of it.

Chu Li closed fist saluted. “I’m sorry the task was not fulfilled.”

“You are wise, why don’t you figure something out?” Scoffed Xu Huande.

Chu Li shook his head. “King Cheng is looking for an excuse to execute me.”

“Sigh…” Xu Huande rubbed his brows in frustration.

He could foresee that happening. Chu Li and King Cheng were incompatible, like fire and water. He had been wary of King An before, but now he was without any restrain and scruple. He would no doubt want to kill Chu Li.

Xu Huande said, “So the only way to enter the Imperial Residence is with His Majesty’s permission.”

“Yes,” answered Chu Li. “I’ll return for now and await news from the commander.”

“Go,” Xu Huande coldly waved his arm.

Chu Li excused himself and left. He had just entered his courtyard when he saw Leng Qiu and Leng Qing sitting there.

Leng Qiu had changed into a green active wear. Her face was as white as snow as she excitingly asked, “Head Chief, so when are you going to teach me the way of the sword?”

“You want to learn now?” Smiled Chu Li.

“I want to learn as quickly as possible and take down that Leng Tao!” Replied Leng Qiu.

Chu Li sized her up and nodded. “The posture of wielding a sword and introduction to the sword’s technique, do you know anything about those?”

“Not one bit,” Leng Qiu shook her head.

“From the top then,” answered Chu Li. “Just one move is enough.”

“Could I learn too?” Leng Qing asked.

Chu Li smiled. “The two of you learning together would be beneficial but there will be hardships.”

“I’m not afraid of hardships!” Leng Qiu was thrilled. “As long as I can beat Leng Tao up!”