Vol 16 Chapter 3 (1/2)
Book 16 Chapter 03 - Locked In Constant Strife
Back at the Dian King's Mansion, Xiang Shaolong saw ten over palace guards standing guard at thedid he realize that these soldiers have been personally dispatched by Li Yanyan to protect the Mansion
Thefor a discussion After hearing Xiang Shaolong's account, Madanantly said: ”I did not expect Lord Chunshen to be such an ungrateful person Despite my late father-in-law favourable treatment of him in the past, he actually colluded with the Li Clan to harm us”
Xiang Shaolong is already used to seeing people repaying kindness with evil and coo their integrity for wealth Fortunately, we do not need to rely on anyone else Once we dispose of Tian Dan, ill iently work towards the restoration of Dian Let them kill each other”
Madahed and softly whispered: ”Luckily, I can still rely on you”
Xiang Shaolong was secretly alar extraordinary occur today?”
Mada's spirit rose: ”It can be said that we arrived at the right time Each vassal lord has either sent an important minister or has come personally to express their condolences They all cherish the memory ofpeople who support Li Ling, they have all indicated that if we ever take action, they can provide us eapons, rations and reatly over the last few years Everyone hopes that we restore our country and suppress the Yelang people's wild a Hua Ciwa is also co to express his condolences”
Xiang Shaolong frowned: ”Will Li Ling come?”
Madahed She smiled bitterly: ”If the Chu Court allows him to conized his position I believe Li Yuan will not allow such a thing to happen”
Xiang Shaolong state in a deep voice: ”I think there's a high chance that he is already here Otherwise, Lord Chunshen would not have deliberately invited you back while sending people to assassinate you during your journey InHua Ciwa The very reason Li Chuangwen forcibly occupied the Dian King's Mansion is to help Li Ling showcase his authority Unfortunately for them, weXiaolie, Shouchun becale Li Yanyan understood the complexities of this situation which explains why she dispatched soldiers to defend the Dian King's Mansion”
Mada! I a such complicated matters What can we do to counter them?”
Xiang Shaolong reasoned: ”There is still one thing we est that we move into the palace? One of the reasons could be to allow Li Ling to openly and po's Mansion Lord Chunshen can then use our safety as an excuse to keep us in the palace akin to house arrest Not only can they prevent us fro with the other vassal states, they can also openly declare that Li Ling has officially become the Lord of Dian This method is certainly despicable”
Madarily swore: ”Don't tell me that they can manipulate Li Yanyan so easily?”
Xiang Shaolong replied: ”We haven't really ascertained what kind of person Li Yanyan is But from my observation, she is closer to Lord Chunshen and Li Quan in comparison to Li Yuan Otherwise, Li Yuan would not be ith joy when he learnt that Li Yanyan and treated me differently”
Mada peered at him for a while and nodded: ”You are certainly a man who can move a woman's heart Li Yanyan has always hated e on your account”
Xiang Shaolong almost lost his voice and said: ”She hates men? Is she a lesbian?”
Mada was startled: ”What is a lesbian?”
Xiang Shaolong knew he had a slip of the tongue and explained: ”It means she likes other women who are of the same sex as she is Hei!”
Mada pursed her lips and s to this effect Just that fro that a man has touched before She treats men even more harshly That is the reason why Li Yuan can deduce so much from just an ordinary conversation between you and her”
At thison the door and announced: ”The Eer and the Great Prayer is here!”
Xiang Shaolong and Mada stared at each other in shock This was totally unexpected and they did not knohat to do
With her face covered with a thick veil, Li Yanyan sat on thethe front door The Great Prayer Li Quan was standing respectfully on one side holding up the royal tablet Doughty palace guards lined the two sides of the hall until they reached the hall entrance The atmosphere was solemn and stately
After Mada paid their respects to Li Yanyan, the protocol official barked: ”Please rise!”
Mada stood up
Xiang Shaolong carefully stole a glance at that Great Prayer Li Quan His face was long and narrow and his body was tall and thin, with a beautiful beard reaching his chest He is around the age of forty and he resembled an immortal or a Taoist priest It is a pity that his face was pale as a result of overindulgence in wine and women He has shi+fty eyes which betrayed his evil charactor
The Eer Li Yanyan calmly enquired: ”Has the Imperial Uncle has come to see Princess and the Crown Prince (of Dian) to convey my wishes?”
Of course Mada what to reply her, Xiang Shaolong gave a dry cough: ”Eer, Imperial Uncle had……”
The Great Prayer Li Quan let out a cold snort and interrupted: ”The E to the Princess No one is allowed to reply on her behalf”
Xiang Shaolong alhter him This lord is really an insufferable bully
Mada's words are as good as my own”
Li Quan gave a cold snort and looked towards Li Yanyan's heavily veiled face
Li Yanyan commanded: ”General Wan, please speak!”
Xiang Shaolong secretly thought that if he didn't show a little bit of hisin Shouchun He unhurriedly and caler, is the crafty villain Li Ling presently approaching Shouchun with the Yelang King in tow?”
Li Yanyan and Li Quan trembled at the same time and were stumped on the spot The atmosphere was extremely aard and hard to bear
Xiang Shaolong's eyes were flashi+ng severely He continued in a deep voice: ”Will the Eer please answer me”
Li Quan recovered fro, how dare you be rude to the Eer?”
Irritated, Xiang Shaolong rebutted: ”Great Prayer Li, please forgivemy State of Dian I do not think I am rude in any way”
Li Quan has always been even more despotic than Li Yuan and has rarely been contradicted by anyone Nonetheless, he could not be unreasonable under the present circumstances and he was momentarily speechless
Xiang Shaolong icily gazed at him and his lips curled into a cold sneer that caused Li Quan to shi+ver in fear He then turned to Li Yanyan carried on displaying a fearless attitude while quietly waiting for her reply
Li Yanyan serenely answered: ”Li Ling did request to come here, but was flatly rejected bythough”
Xiang Shaolong laughed loudly: ”In this case, I will usethese two colluding villains have both reached Shouchun If not, ould there be a need to trouble the Eer and the Great Prayer to come personally to invite us back to the palace?”
Li Quan's face changed colour immediately and loudly shouted: ”What audacity!”
Xiang Shaolong faced the sky and laughed wildly: ”What’s so audacious? Since Chu wants to deci to bear this insult, I hereby invite Eer to return to the palace We will all offer ourselves as sacrifices to our late king and coer to trouble herself on our account anymore”
Li Quan's coain If this happens, it will cause all the vassal states to have the desire to secede andQin When that happens, it will be an enormous disaster for Chu
This is the greatest fear of Chu
Li Yanyan's delicate body trehtly and she does not kno to deal with this situation
Mada Baoyi Instead, it is this boy who kept standing straight with his head held high and not revealing the least bit of fear
Xiang Shaolong's eyes were like an eagle’s, staring hard at Li Yanyan
Of course he would not be so stupid as to kill himself If necessary, he will run away i under house arrest in the palace and vulnerable to anyone's attack His greatest fear is that people will discover the flying needles on his body By then, even Li Yuan would want to kill him
At thisweapons could be heard frorily: ”Who dares to hinder me?”
The eight iuards outside the door extended their halberds and cut him off
Li Yanyan ordered delicately: ”Let Imperial Uncle come in!”
The halberds withdrew and Li Yuan sheathed his sword He displayed a heroic spirit as if the whole world is under his feet
Xiang Shaolong saw Mada an intoxicated expression While concerned, he could not do anything at the moment
Li Yuan strode to Xiang Shaolong's side and stood up after paying his respects Li Quan sneered and said: ”Imperial Uncle…”
Li Yanyan coldly cut him off and said: ”I will handle this!”
Li Yuan flashed Li Quan a disdainful look and state in a deep voice: ”Forgive er continues to be misled by evil men, our country's demise is at hand”
In defiance of Li Yanyan's order, Li Quan argued: ”What is theof the Left Minister's words? Explain yourself or I will hold you accountable” Following that, he knelt down in front of Li Yanyan and koed: ”Eer, please be the arbitrator Even when the late king was around, he has never said a single word of insult to me”
Xiang Shaolong uy; no wonder he has been bribed by Lord Chunshen Unexpectedly, the power in Qin, Chu and Zhao has all fallen into the hands of the E Xiaocheng lived an excessive life and died under his extravagant lifestyle Qin's King Zhuangxiang was poisoned by Lu Buhile Chu's King Xiaolie probably died under the hands of Li Yanyan
(Justin: Li Yanyan did not kill Xiaolie but probablyher beauty and indirectly cause his death It is also not due to excessive love )
Because Li Yanyan's face was hidden by her veil, she appears uess her intentions After a long silence, she slowly said: ”I words to scare people”
In reality, Xiang Shaolong still does not knohere Li Yanyan stands She see fa up an act But one thing is for sure: Regarding helping Zhuang Baoyi reclai Li Quan and Lord Chunshen Otherwise, she would not have appeared in the Dian King's Mansion
When she had ordered Li Yuan to bring the entire Zhuang fa, she 's arrival in Shouchun
Li Yuan heaved a big sigh and remarked with disappointment: ”I have already said all that I wanted to say The past sages have a saying, 'going against the popular senti has colluded with the Yelang people and they are forcing their will on the other vassal states and harbour wild a a blind eye and even lending the the vassal states to consider defecting to Qin Judging by the nu to visit the Dian Crown Prince since he arrived in Shouchun, we knohere the popular sentiment lies It is definitely not eer has been misled by evil men and that the demise of Chu is near If we lose our South-western territories, the strong arht in Within a month, their soldiers would be outside the walls of Shouchun At that time, it would be too late to try to appease the vassal states”
Xiang Shaolong is beginning to feel that Li Yuan is really serious about the Zhuang family's restoration He may be an unscrupulous man but in the end, he is someone who loves his country and his family
To a certain extent, if he wants to remain in Shouchun, he would have to cast his lot with Li Yuan