Chapter 437: Killing Intent
Translator: Pika
Back inside the carriage, Zu An smiled at Zheng Dan. “Shall we continue?”
“No!” Zheng Dan frantically shook her head. The sudden developments just now had scared the living daylights out of her. If she had moved just a second later, they would have been exposed, and she would surely have died from embarrassment.
“Don’t worry. What are the chances that something unexpected will happen again?” Zu An continued to pester her.
However, Zheng Dan kept shaking her head, no matter how he tried to cajole her.
Meanwhile, outside the carriage, Huang Huihong frowned. Did this Zu An have some sort of fetish for having his legs massaged?
Only a scoundrel like him would make a distinguished daughter and the wife of an official do such a thing.
Huang Huihong shook his head. He couldn’t be bothered about this right now.
That ambush had set off some alarms within him. A bunch of nobodies had almost successfully killed Zu An. He didn’t dare show any more carelessness.
It wasn’t just him, either. The entire Imperial Guard seemed to share his nervousness.
However, the next few days passed peacefully. The second ambush that they’d anticipated never materialized.
Despite this, be it Zu An or Sang Hong, both understood that this was merely the calm before the storm. On the other hand, King Liang and Liu Yao only maintained their vigilance for the first few days, after which they both gradually eased up, seeing that nothing was happening.
Within half a month, their convoy had left Linchuan Commandery and entered King Wu’s territory.
In the distance, they noticed a cavalry unit charging in their direction, and a nervous energy immediately enveloped the convoy again.
King Liang and Liu Yao exited their carriage, their expressions serious and vigilant.
After observing for a while, they noted that the cavalry unit did not assume an offensive posture, and their expressions thus eased a little.
Soon, the cavalry unit reined in their horses, and three of the horsemen walked forward and stood in front of King Liang, led by a middle-aged scholar. He said, “This humble officer, Sun Buqi, pays my respects to King Liang and General Wei.”
“Sun Buqi? This name sounds familiar.” King Liang stroked his beard.
Beside him, Liu Yao said, “I heard that you and Cheng Hong serve as King Wu’s right and left arms, one as a civil official, the other as a military officer. It is because of the two of you that King Wu’s manor is well-managed.”
The Liu clan paid close attention to any powers that stood a chance of threatening the crown prince’s position. As a prince himself, King Wu was naturally the subject of careful investigation.
“General Liu is too kind with your praise.” The middle-aged scholar laughed. “I merely help out with some miscellaneous affairs in the manor. I do not deserve such compliments. I came here today to receive your distinguished selves on behalf of King Wu. My king wanted to personally welcome you, but he was busy preparing a worthy reception, so he sent me in his stead. I hope your distinguished selves do not mind.”
King Liang smiled. “There is no need to speak so seriously. We aren’t such petty people. However, we are escorting some criminals, so I fear we won’t be staying for too long. We can only thank King Wu for his kindness.”
Sun Buqi clasped his fist and said, “King Wu has specially instructed me to show proper hospitality to our two distinguished guests. You have endured a long and strenuous journey so far while escorting these criminals, and King Wu wishes to do his part for the court as well. Moreover, the two of you are King Qi’s seniors as well, and since King Wu does not live in the capital, there aren’t many chances for him to meet you. Today is a great opportunity, so he naturally needs to assume the role of a welcoming host...”
King Liang was the current emperor’s uncle, while Liu Yao was the empress’ uncle. As such, strictly speaking, these two were both King Wu’s elders. Sun Buqi made full use of this relationship to implore them. In addition, King Liang and Liu Yao normally lived lavish and luxurious lives, and this journey had been quite the ordeal for them so far. They had already planned to get some rest in a decent place.
This was especially true for Liu Yao. With his carriage currently occupied by Zu An, he had to spend all day in the same carriage as King Liang, and the two of them both felt awkward around each other. This was a good chance to request for a carriage from King Wu, to avoid any future annoyances.
King Liang suddenly realized an issue. “We have so many people with us. Would entering the city be inconvenient?”
Sun Buqi quickly replied, “King Liang need not worry. Our Clan Master has been busy making arrangements these past few days, and many residences have been prepared beforehand near the king’s manor. There is also a military drill ground nearby that is large enough for the accompanying Imperial Guard to settle in temporarily.”
King Liang nodded. If King Wu had suggested that the Imperial Guard set up camp outside the city while inviting only the two of them into the manor, they would have suspected something was wrong.
After all, the matter they were handling was just too important. Even though King Wu had always maintained a low profile, King Liang didn’t dare make any guarantees that he wouldn’t suddenly make a move.
“Would we be disturbing the people if we do this?” Liu Yao said with an insincere smile.
Sun Buqi’s breath caught momentarily, but he reacted quickly as well. “The general need not worry. We were informed that the Embroidered Envoy was coming, so many families voluntarily offered up their homes. Our master has given all of them appropriate compensation as well, so these arrangements would cause no disturbance to the people.”
King Liang sneered. This guy is acting as though he’s someone who works for the common people. Do you really think we have no idea what kind of circles you hang around with?
Despite these small disturbances, their final decision was unaffected.
The order went out quickly, and the soldiers of the Imperial Guard all cheered when they heard that they could enter the city to take a rest.
Inside the prison carriage, Sang Hong frowned. He said with a sigh, “Our country has enjoyed too many years of peace. Look what state the Imperial Guard is in now.”
Sang Qian said, “It’s to be expected if they live like princes in the imperial city day in and day out.”
Forgetting about the Imperial Guard for a moment, even Brightmoon City’s River Patrol Army was full of useless wimps. Comparatively speaking, this Imperial Guard was already pretty decent.
A hint of worry flashed across Sang Hong’s eyes. “Everyone in the Zhou Dynasty worships the emperor as the world’s most powerful being. They all believe that none of the foreign tribes would dare make a move. However, the emperor cannot protect the Zhou Dynasty by himself forever...”
Zu An heard the excited cheers of the Imperial Guard outside. He said out of curiosity, “King Wu?”
After being around him all this time, Zheng Dan knew that he lacked a lot of general knowledge regarding this world. She explained, “King Wu is the current emperor’s fifth son. However, his biological mother is one of the emperor’s concubines and not the empress herself, so this Wu Commandery was arranged for him quite early on.”
Zu An nodded. He vaguely remembered hearing Chu Chuyan talk about this before. Wu Commandery was adjacent to Linchuan Commandery. The governing buildings were located in North Order City, so named because it was located north of the Order Mountain Range that ran through the territory.
“By the way, what is King Wu’s reputation like? What kind of personality does he have?” he asked.
It was always good to gather intelligence while in someone else’s territory. That way, it would be much easier to deal with any matters that might arise.
Zheng Dan shook her head. “King Wu usually keeps to himself. He doesn’t have a bad reputation, but no one praises him for being wise and capable either. I don’t know much about him myself.”
Huang Huihong had a surprised expression on his face. Zu An had humiliated Miss Zheng, yet Miss Zheng had still replied to his question with such patience. This woman’s personality really was amazing!
Inside the carriage, Zu An wore a pensive expression. So he’s just a prince with shitty leftovers! This dude either didn’t want to get involved in the affairs of this world, or he’s cooking up something huge. Hard to say...
“Now that you mention it, there is one matter that King Wu is most famous for. He took in the daughter of a small clan as his wife.” Zheng Dan recalled some of what she’d heard before. “He is still a glorious king after all, and others in his position would consolidate their position by securing a marriage with a great clan. This is what made his decision rather surprising.
“It was only when people laid eyes on the woman King Wu had chosen as his wife that the mystery was solved, because his wife was absolutely stunning. This made King Wu’s choice much more understandable.” Zheng Dan couldn’t help but give a disdainful sniff. “You men only care about appearances.”
Zu An laughed to hide his annoyance. “Don’t you girls all like hot guys too? Those girls from my hometown go even crazier over male stars than boys do over female stars!”
Zheng Dan found this truly shocking. “Your hometown really is... really is quite something.”
Her upbringing in a distinguished clan made it hard to imagine something like this, although she had to admit that she was a little envious as well. Those girls he’d described didn’t seem to be bound by so many rules.
With Sun Buqi in the lead, their convoy slowly entered North Order City. Zu An quietly lifted the curtains to take a look. “This place doesn’t seem as prosperous as Brightmoon City.”
“But of course! Brightmoon City has its salt and iron industries, and has gathered the richest merchants from all different lands to itself. It’ll naturally be more prosperous than most other places.” Zheng Dan’s voice carried more than a hint of pride. Everyone had a bit of this when it came to their own hometowns.
The common people of North Order City filled the streets. They were all curious what the imperial city’s Imperial Guard were like. More and more came streaming out, contributing to the liveliness of the place.
With a sudden start, Zu An spied a familiar figure in the crowd. This person was currently disguised and mingling together with the rest of the onlookers.
A streak of black light suddenly flew towards him from within the crowd.