CH 2

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Sudden knocks sounded from the door, interrupting Su Xuan’s thoughts.

“Who is it?”

Su Xuan asked while imitating the tone of his predecessor.

“My Lord, this humble Chen who manages Qingdu greets you.”, the middle aged man outside the house said, wearing silk clothes that had a distinct flying fish present on it, which was made out of gold threads.

In Fusi, a strict hierarchy was present.

The Green Dragon, the Vermillion Bird, the Black Tortoise, the White Tiger, and the Grand Commander all wore silk clothes adorned with a flying fish made out of purple threads, the provincial governors all wore silk clothes adorned with a flying fish made out of gold threads, people from the thousand households wore silk clothes adorned with a flying fish made out of silver threads, Lieutenant Colonels wore silk clothes adorned with a flying fish made out of copper threads, and ordinary guards all wore normal silk clothes.

In Dynasties of Ancient China like Dafeng, there were commonly a total of nine states.

The authorities of these nine states had two major responsibilities:

The first is to supervise and inspect the officials, and prevent them from looting the common people, accepting bribes and embezzling the funds.

The second is to prevent the warriors from oppressing the common people, and to also prevent them from uniting to threaten the rule of the imperial court.

The middle-aged man outside, Chen Qing, is a provincial governor who was in the ninth stage of the Hidden Divinity Realm!

However, according to the memories of his predecessor, Su Xuan knew that Chen Qing was a guy who couldn’t be bribed.

His predecessor tried multiple methods to get him into his party, but Chen was not moved at all.

Chen Qing, as a provincial governor, naturally had his own delusions of superiority.

Su Xuan knew that the reason behind Chen not boarding his boat was because he was on the emperor’s ship.

Although he and Zhao Huan had a positive relationship, Zhao Huan was the king for a reason. Zhao Huan knew that as he grew older, he needed someone to restrain Su Xuan.

Otherwise, when the next emperor succeeded the throne, he will inevitably be hollowed out by Su Xuan.

And Chen Qing was the way Zhao Huan thought of using to restrain Su Xuan.

“Since I can’t become the emperor, I must help a person positive to me become the emperor…”

Su Xuan’s eyes flickered, and his heart became dark.

Before the protagonist Xiao Han begins to rise like his looming death, Su Xuan was eager to make his series of moves.

Chen Qing played a decisive and crucial role in the development of the plot. His predecessor conspired to help the second prince, a puppet, ascend to the throne. This information was leaked by a spy to Chen Qing.

Chen Qing informed Zhao Lian and Xiao Han of this matter, so that they could prepare in advance.

After his predecessor was killed by Xiao Han, Chen Qing took the opportunity to become the Commander of the Green Dragon.

Due to this rise in status, Chen Qing’s power reached the level where it could only be described as covering the sky with one hand. The amount of glory and wealth he earnt would not end even if he enjoyed it endlessly.

As long as he fell in love with a woman, no matter what the identity of the other party was, he would do anything to get them. May it be coercing them, or forcing them.

At that time, Zhao Lian still relied on Chen Qing to consolidate her position, so she could only turn a blind eye.

Su Xuan knew that he would eventually have to face Chen Qing.

After all, Chen Qing was in the position of the provincial governor, and the only viable direction to traverse to increase his power was becoming the Commander of the Green Dragon.

If he wanted to be promoted to the position of the Commander of the Green Dragon, then Su Xuan would have to die.

If Chen Qing chose to join Su Xuan’s camp, he would remain as the provincial governor until the day of his retirement.

People always desire for more. When they reach a certain height, they will yearn for a higher position.

Just like the inflated ambition of his predecessor to secretly control the entire Dafeng, Chen Qing’s present goal was to command the Green Dragon.

However, he had now become Su Xuan, and Su Xuan had no plans to let things develop according to the original plot.

A reclusive guy like Chen Qing is like a poisonous snake in the shadows, always lurking, waiting for the opportunity to give the enemy a fatal blow.

Su Xuanyi considered secretly killing him.

Zhao Huan would definitely have some doubts if he did kill Chen Qing. After all, Chen Qing was a warrior of the Hidden Divinity Realm, and was also in the ninth stage. A person would need the strength of the Grandmaster Realm at the least to be able to kill him, and in the whole of Tai’an City, only he had this strength.

As soon as Chen Qing died, it would arouse Zhao Huan’s suspicions, and the end result would be nothing more than Zhao Huan supporting another person to try and restrain him.

Instead of having an enemy whose roots he did not know, it was better to let Chen Qing stay alive.

As long as Su Xuan acted cautiously, Chen Qing would not be able to turn over any storms.

Warriors of the Hidden Divinity Realm had a chasm of difference from Grandmaster Realm warriors in terms of combat power.

Killing Chen Qing was easy, but dealing with all the subsequent issues was not.

All these unrelated tidbits of information and thoughts only flashed around in Su Xuan’s mind for a second, after which he pushed the door open and asked, “What happened?”

Chen Qing looked at the purple threaded flying fish design that Su Xuan had on his silk clothes, and a trace of deep desire flashed in the depths of his eyes.

Chen Qing smiled and said, “My Lord, His Majesty sent me to escort you to the palace, along with Duke Xu.”

Even though he was the person the emperor used to restrict Su Xuan, on the surface, his status was weaker than that of the commander. Therefore, he had to be respectful while talking to him.

Even if Su Xuan suddenly slapped him, he would have to laugh and say, ‘My face is relatively thick due to my inferior position. My Lord, I hope that your hand doesn’t hurt.’

“Oh? Has something happened?”, Su Xuan asked.

Generally speaking, the Emperor would only summon the commander and the provincial governor at the same time if it was a very important issue.

Su Xuan was moderately sure that nothing big happened in Tai’an City during this time period.

“Duke Xu informed me that the Great Chu Dynasty has sent envoys to Tai’an City. His Majesty wants to send people who can properly entertain the envoys and prevent them from facing any mishaps which could lead to a war between the two Dynasties.”, Chen Qing replied.

“The Great Chu Dynasty?”, Su Xuan frowned slightly while murmuring in a low voice.

He knew the development of the plot, and thus naturally knew who this envoy was.

In Ancient China, there were seven dynasties and dozens of vassal states.

Dachu is located beyond the Northwest Desert Prefecture of Dafeng, the two separated by a desert that acts as a buffer zone. The desert is thousands of miles wide and stretches for tens of thousands of miles.

One of the envoys who had arrived to the Dafeng Dynasty, if he had guessed correctly, was the princess of Dachu, Chu Nanshuang.

She was also one of the main heroines.

The main purpose of Chu Nanshuang’s visit to Dafeng was to see the cultural customs here.

Later on, she sneaked out with her personal maid to explore since she was idle, but was abducted to Yunzhou by Jianghu warriors.

[TL Note : Here Jianghu warriors probably refers to the lowest rung of people in Ancient China, like thieves. This link might help you understand what Jianghu warriors are in depth – Jianghu – The Hidden World | Daoist Gate ]

…and then she was saved by Xiao Han.

The next order of events proceeded like you would expect. She witnesses Xiao Han act handsome and cool, is impressed by his great kindness, and the little girl can not repay his astronomical amount of mercy, the final act being tender love sprouting in her fragile heart.