Vol 2 Chapter 256 (1/2)

Chapter 256

Chapter 256: Family Business

Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The eldest prince had been on deployh the men of the eren’t as barbaric as they used to be, the fields of battle were as bloody as ever - so much so that the weapons and armaments of the men were each now crusted in crimson blood The eldest prince was remarkably different from his brothers, who had remained within the comfort of the capital for the duration of their years He was a man who didn’t rely so much on materialistic needs and the amenities typically desired by noblerizzled man of war

The Great Prince was now returning to the capital as a General, coion of soldiers The rules of the iment of 200 to 500 soldiers with hiht the lowest of the given threshold He didn’t want to bring an extreme amount, in the event that any possible unruliness that may arise from his men would distract the officers of the city fro said, the reatly and toiled arduously on their journey hoht to enter the capital first, it was difficult for them to maintain their composure The 200 men that the Great Prince had selected to travel with him were all on horseback, and the expressions upon their face spoke of utter disdain toward those of the envoy 400 eyes were now peering at that carriage in particular, for they kneho resided within

Inside the carriage they all stared at sat the princess-to-be No matter how infuriated the soldiers were, they ues, for they did not desire to upset the future empress

The Director of the Board of Rites had walked ten ates in a bid to welco officer, and therefore he was the most qualified for this task In the aard silence that enveloped both parties, he was visibly uncoer of theirso much noise as to drown out said the Director

The neighing of the horses of the western arned their steeds into two lines facing the envoy Although inti, it did make the place look a whole lot tidier In between the noise, a person clad in Xuansu armor clapped his steed and approached slowly

As this happened, Fan Xian stood beside the carriage containing the princess His eyebroere raised as he watched and dodged the sudden passing of the western army’s soldiers As they went, they did so quickly, in a bid to kick up dust to both dirty and intimidate Fan Xian and the others in the envoy The soldiers had been away froe of who Fan Xian was The precipitous appearance of Fan Xian, to whom they took for some snobbish pretty-boy, irritated them almost i him believe he was to be trampled

But Fan Xianfor the horses and their s, Great Prince”

The Great Prince of the Qing Kingdo steel, which gave the iraced with a tall nose and high cheekbones, which was beautiful to look at Just a lance would have you kno much of a real man he was To compliment his beauty, the Great Prince wore arlistened in the sun, creating an ie that almost seemed to portray him as God No one would dare to look at him head-on

Fan Xian did not do this, either But he earing a sested he did not think h, so it could not be seen

The Great Prince looked as if he did not notice Fan Xian directly before his horse He mistook Fan Xian for a petty and low-ranked officer of the capital The truth was that he was perhaps the irl?” the prince at last said

The Great Prince was not one to beat around the bush and dress up his words - he was quick and to the point He had planned to say this quietly, in a one-to-one with Fan Xian, but he mistakenly shouted it out loud for all of his ht to huht to claihing out loud The noise ehter could undoubtedly be heard miles away This surprised even the Great Prince, which then brought a smile to his face

A few of

the mounted soldiers cockily drew nearer to Fan Xian They had gotten so close that he could hear them breathe and he could even smell the scent of their breath As many of the soldiers inched closer and closer, they desired to push the envoy off the road and take it themselves

Fan Xian frowned, not expecting the Great Prince to be so disrespectful towards his future wife and his own brother-in-law He trotted forward slightly, bit-by-bit, until his own horse’s face was staring Fan Xian directly in the eye And what big eyes did that steed possess It was a risky move, for he knew that warhorses were difficult to fully control and h

He was prepared to step back, knowing that his goal of aggravating the Great Prince had succeeded He did not desire a proper confrontation, in which they ht Fan Xian had no affiliation or relations with the arnized If the Bureau of Military Affairs received ainst the soldiers of their kingdoovernment

As he was thinking about this, it suddenly dawned upon hiile state of affairs Seeing their Cohly-trained warriors drew their swords fro places within the envoy It was as if theyto the tall rocks that dotted the road, and others stood upon carriages They brandished crossbows, and they trained the crosshairs of their weapons upon the heads of the horses that had gathered around Fan Xian

”No!” the Director of the Board of Rites shouted in fright He was in shock at the prospect of these two coht outside the capital, for it would be an embarrassment to the entire country The Director also believed he would be fired and lose the support of the Great Prince Even though Fan Xian had the support of the Overwatch Council, even he would receive grave punishment from the prince if this were to occur

The officers who had come to welcome them were aware that Fan Xian was a person that everybody should be frightened of, and in a bid to ease the tension, they each and all yelled, ”Stop! What are you all doing!?”

The Great Prince did not s in silence He wasn’t angry at the man that was called Fan Xian of the Overwatch Council and he in fact thought the opposite He now possessed a modicum of respect for him, for he knew that whomever would actually choose to confront the Great Prince was a e

Fan Xian, in his heart, knew that his options noere quite few His officers from the Overwatch Council had been trained extensively, quite often by Fan Xian himself, on their travels He just didn’t expect they would care far more for Fan Xian’s personal safety than their reputation within the government And even now, they still kept their crossbows aimed at the horses around Fan Xian The soldiers of the western ardom secure; if news of this confrontation spread any further, he suspected that Chen Pingping would be in trouble for quite some time

The Great Prince laughed, having figured out that which now ailed Fan Xian’s ht to resolve the predicament he now found himself in

But seeing the Great Prince threatened, his soldiers now also grew concerned The harsh training they had each endured over the years was beginning to show They began shouting, and many riders departed the main fore Another group went to surround the flanks of the envoy and a few extra soldiers now decided to encircle Fan Xian

Despite being further surrounded by ferocious horses and their brutish riders, Fan Xian raised his hand, keeping his esture

The officers and swordsesture and without a sound or expression, sheathed their swords and withdrew their crossbows All together at once they did this, before returning to their place in the envoy as quickly as they originally appeared

The Great Prince was still on his horse He wore a heled This belied his true feelings, however, for in his heart, he was quite surprised Seeing such a weak, bookish person before him, he found it difficult to believe that he was the one in command of such well-trained soldiers And to be in a situation as fraught with peril as this, the sight of a single gesture signaling all of them was most impressive The Great Prince knew that even he could not discipline and train his own men to achieve such effective compliance

The Great Prince knew that outside the capital, he could not do anything to harates of the city, two of his brothers were awaiting his arrival So, he gestured to his own soldiers to back off, a gesture which

which wassounds of disappointness, the horsemen withdrew their weapons and stepped back with their horses The difference between the prince’s ht and day, and the Great Prince saw it all too clearly This rimace

As the horses were getting ready to pull back away from Fan Xian, the horses were too close as they were With one heavy step, dust from the dried earth was kicked up, which went into the nostrils of one of the horses This aggravated it, which caused it to kick its legs up angrily, confusing the other horses to do the same

Two horses began charging at Fan Xian

This was an accident; that was plain to see The Prince had moved away from Fan Xian at this point, and when he heard the commotion, he looked back in shock He knew that if one of these horses were to trample and kill the much-loved, widely celebrated commissioner Fan Xian before the E in the ould be squandered entirely His thoughts trailed to the legends surrounding Fan Xian and he earnestly hoped in his heart that if he was indeed the Cory horses would not be the end of him

Swish!+ The horses went right past Fan Xian, as he holly enveloped in a giant plureatest of warriors could have perceived the appearance of two phantom slashes from within the dust cloud

Thud! Thud! The sound of two heavy objects hitting the ground quickly followed When the dust settled, Fan Xian could be seen once again bearing his arrogant shtened horses continued running for a little while longer, before collapsing on the ground totally, with the weight of their fall breaking the dried ground The riders that were upon them seemed to pass out, but the full truth of what had occurred was soon revealed Two horse heads were seen rolling along the ground, leaving a messy trail of blood in their wake

Behind Fan Xian stood tordsswords Their faces were stern and cold, as they looked all around at the company of the Great Prince

Tords had decapitated the two sta horses It was a perfect counter, exacted with flawless precision The Great Prince’s pupils shrank as he peered at the tordsely faers were tapping the plates of his armor as the Great Prince approached Fan Xian to speak ”Mister Fan, you really are so has been at war for the past few years, but I never thought upon htered in public by you So, this is how the soldiers of the kingdom are to be welcomed home?”

Fan Xian sighed and used his hand to cover his mouth and nose, for the scent of the horse blood tainted the air with an awful fragrance He then explained to the Great Prince, ”My Lord, even if I was infinitely brash, I would not dare to slay the warhorses of my lord” It was at this point that Fan Xian realized that although the Great Prince was macho and boorish, he was not stupid Every as about himself, and to hear the Great Prince refer to hi' made Fan Xian recall how before the prince was to return to the west, the current Emperor had already decreed to swear in the Great Prince as the next in line to ascend the throne He was chosen first, before his two brothers

Thinking of today’s grand offense towards the Great Prince, Fan Xian looked vehemently troubled

When the Great Prince’s face turned cold, the bodyguard beside him turned to speak to him privately After that, the Great Prince looked once more towards the tordser Guard”