White-Robed Chief

Chu Li leisurely rode his horse as he accompanied the women from King An’s Imperial Residence, but his thoughts were on King Ping.

The reason behind the sudden appearance of King Ping’s wife was clearly related to King Ping himself somehow. Otherwise, Consort Ping would never leave the Imperial Residence so unexpectedly.

King Ping had always been in a rather awkward situation. Due to his great contributions to the imperial court, everyone could tell that the Emperor was hesitant and uncertain about what should be done with King Ping, and so were the courtiers.

If the Ji Dynasty regained its peace and was no longer plagued by border conflicts, they would be able to remove King Ping’s military power. However, considering how the Li Dynasty had been growing in power, the Ji Dynasty’s current situation was becoming increasingly tense and critical. It seemed almost certain that an eastern invasion from the Li Dynasty would be happening sooner or later, so a great war would inevitably break out between the two nations.

If King Ping was not stripped of his military power, he would make a greater contribution once the war broke out. When the Emperor ran out of things to reward King Ping with, the Emperor might have to grant King Ping the position of Crown Prince. On the other hand, if King Ping happened to be stripped of his military power, the Ji Dynasty might not be capable of withstanding the power of the Li Dynasty’s cavalry.

If the situation at the border became urgent, King Ping would have to be called back into action. In that case, King Ping’s prestige would grow immensely and the general trend of events would be set. Then, no one would be able to stop him from ascending the position of Crown Prince.

Unfortunately, the courtiers had their hearts set on having King Jing become Crown Prince. The courtiers viewed King Ping as a man of war and violence, and it was not a good idea to let such a man govern the country.

Chu Li remained deep in thought while riding his horse alongside the group. Without realizing it, they had traveled over a few miles.

“Rumble…” They felt the ground tremble and heard a thunderous noise. A group of riders galloped over and caught up to them very quickly.

“It’s Granduncle Bao.” Leng Tao turned his gaze to the group of riders.

Chu Li signaled the protectors to move aside and make way for the riders.

As the riders approached them, the ground shook even harder. Fortunately, this road had been sprinkled with water beforehand to moisten the soil. Thus, the place would not become muddy, and there would not be dust flying everywhere either. Even if they spurred their horses down this road, the air would remain clean of dust and debris.

The rider who had been leading the group was Prince Bao.

He was dressed in a purple tunic and had been galloping to his heart’s content. He did not seem old at all. Instead, he was in great spirits while his eyes were sharp and piercing.

“Neigh…” Prince Bao was just about to gallop past them since he usually paid no attention to these juniors. However, he had pulled on his reins abruptly.

As he suddenly reined in his horse, the eight riders around him stopped their horses at the same time. The horses whined loudly and then came to a steady halt but remained in their positions around Prince Bao. This showed the extraordinary skills and quick reflexes of his eight protectors.

Prince Bao laughed heartily and asked, “Chu Li, when did you come out of isolated cultivation?”

Chu Li gave a fist salute and smiled politely as he replied, “Greetings, Your Royal Highness. I’ve just come out of isolated cultivation today.”

“Good, good. Come, let’s travel together!” Prince Bao waved him over with a smile and said, “There’s nothing dangerous here, so there’s no need to protect them!”

“Understood,” Chu Li replied with a chuckle.

He turned around to give Xiao Shi, Xue Ningyu, Song Liuying, and the others a fist salute.

“Go ahead.” Xiao Shi gently nodded.

As Xiao Shi and the ladies gave Prince Bao a fist salute, Prince Bao waved his hand and signaled to them to be at ease. Nonetheless, he showed no interest in talking to them.

Chu Li approached Prince Bao with a smile and said, “Your Royal Highness has achieved great improvement in your cultivation level. This is worthy of celebration.”

“Haha.” Prince Bao spurred his horse and traveled beside Chu Li as he laughed and replied, “While you were in isolated cultivation, I’ve been keeping myself busy as well!”

The two of them joked and laughed about as they trotted away on their horses with the eight protectors staying at a close distance around them.

Leng Tao muttered angrily, “Granduncle Bao is being too unfair. Out of all people, he chose to speak to Chu Li. Ugh!”

“Don’t tell me Granduncle Bao should engage you in a conversation instead?” Leng Qiu gave him a sidelong glance and scoffed. “You should check and see first if you’re worthy of his time!”

“Humph, Chief Chu is just an outsider!” Leng Tao retorted. “Instead of favoring his own people, Granduncle cares more about an outsider. This is truly unfair!”

“Well, can you even compare with Head Chief in terms of your capabilities!” Leng Qiu curled her lip into a sneer. “If you want others to think highly of you, you have to possess some valuable skills and abilities first. Aside from all that fat in your body and your ability to eat like a pig, what other skills do you have?”

“Sister Leng Qiu, I have to argue with you on this one!” Leng Tao replied with discontent. “My martial arts skills are pretty good!”

“Would you like to have a round of battle then?” Leng Qiu asked and scoffed.

Leng Tao anxiously shook his head.

No matter how strong his skills were, he could never defeat Leng Qiu. Her swordsmanship had suddenly improved at an incredible rate. He found it almost impossible to believe that she had managed to improve so quickly. Could she be a genius at cultivation after all? Did he have a lack of aptitude? However, he had heard from his father that his aptitude was excellent!

When Xiao Shi noticed Xiao Qi staring at Chu Li’s retreating figure, she smiled and said, “Prince Bao and Chu Li can be considered good friends despite the difference in their age.”

Xiao Qi nodded and kept her eyes on Chu Li as he continued to travel ahead of them.

Chu Li rode his horse and traveled alongside Prince Bao while they chatted about various affairs in Fairy’s Capital.

“This time, King Ping’s wife will be attending the ceremony too,” Prince Bao said and shook his head while sighing. “This is going to be a tricky situation!”

Chu Li asked, “Is Consort Ping someone who’s difficult to get along with?”

“Not exactly,” Prince Bao replied and shook his head. “Although this young lady, Xinxiang, appears to be somewhat cold and indifferent toward others, she’s kind at heart. It’s just that she doesn’t enjoy socializing with others a lot. She prefers to stay in the residence and grow flowers and plants. Furthermore, her identity is too sensitive, and King Jing’s wife will be coming too. When that time comes…”

While he was speaking, a torn expression appeared on his face. “I’m not afraid of them starting a fight since they’re both not the type of people who like to quarrel. I’m just scared that some of their scribes may cause trouble. There might also be others who intend to drive a wedge between them and create a disturbance.”

“I’m sure both consorts will keep their subordinates under control,” Chu Li said.

“I certainly hope so. This is such a difficult and unrewarding task, and yet my brother has insisted on me taking up the task!” Prince Bao smiled bitterly. “He thought it would be an easy task.”

“It’s probably because the Emperor thinks highly of Your Royal Highness. The Emperor is planning to let Your Royal Highness take charge of the House of Deva in the future, right?”

“You can tell that too?”

“The Emperor has made his thoughts very clear.”

“Ah…” Prince Bao shook his head. “I really don’t wish to become Resident Chief at the House of Deva and offend so many people.”

“Well, that’s beyond your control, Your Royal Highness,” Chu Li replied with a chuckle. “As long as the Emperor thinks you’re suitable for the job, that would be quite enough.”

“Indeed, I have no control over this!” Prince Bao sighed. “Sometimes, I feel rather jealous of you. While you’re a chief, you’re free to do whatever you like. You can go into isolated cultivation whenever you wish, and no one would be able to stop you — unlike me. I’m always held up by various mundane affairs!”

Everyone knew about his situation at King An’s Imperial Residence. Since he was a Rank-One Chief, even King An did not know what to do with Chu Li.

Chu Li broke into laughter.

As they continued chatting, they had traveled over ten miles without realizing it.

There was a sudden bright light in the sky as if another sun had appeared. A shining doorway was faintly discernible in the sky, and its appearance was accompanied by distant echoes of music. Then, a white ray of light shot straight up into the sky from Fairy’s Capital and entered the shining doorway, disappearing in an instant.

The shining doorway gradually vanished and the sky now looked the same as before. It felt as though that entire incident just now had been a hallucination.

Chu Li frowned as his expression turned grave.

Prince Bao’s expression also became serious as he gritted his teeth and exhaled sharply. “The Holy Church of Light!”

Chu Li said, “Nothing good happens whenever their people appear!”

“Damn it!” Prince Bao huffed. “This person must have perfected his merits since they have ascended to Heaven. I wonder who they have attempted to assassinate this time!”

Chu Li nodded.

Based on what they had witnessed just now, he could assume that there had been an assassination attempt by a disciple from the Holy Church of Light. As for whether or not the assassination attempt had been a success, Chu Li could not tell for sure. Now that they were more than ten miles away from Fairy’s Capital, he could not observe the situation there through his Omniscient Mirror.

Prince Bao massaged the space between his eyebrows. “I feel very uneasy about this. I’m afraid the victim might be related to me.”

Chu Li’s expression changed slightly as he frowned and asked, “It can’t be Brother Shoushi, right?”

Prince Bao turned his head and commanded, “Jia He, go back and take a look. Find out what has happened!”

“Understood, Your Royal Highness,” a middle-aged protector replied and gave a fist salute. Then, he leaped off his horse and instantly disappeared before their eyes like a gust of wind.

Prince Bao said, “We’ll receive news about the situation very soon.”

Chu Li muttered, “I hope nothing serious has happened!”

He found this situation rather odd. Logically speaking, the Holy Church of Light should be focusing all of their attention on dealing with the Qiu Dynasty right now and should have no time and energy to think about the Ji Dynasty. Why would they cause trouble again?

After a short while, Jia He reappeared in front of his horse like a gust of wind and gave a fist salute as he said, “Your Royal Highness, I’ve asked around and found out what has happened. Consort Ping has been assassinated right after she came out of her residence!”

“She’s been assassinated?” Prince Bao asked gravely.

Jia He was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man with an average physique, so he would not draw attention to himself in a crowded place. His expression was solemn and grim as he replied, “Consort Ping has died during the assassination attempt.”