51 Crown Prince Jing (1/2)

Chapter 51: Crown Prince Jing

Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

For a long time, the people in the restaurant stared blankly, unable to say a word. They had seen fights before, but they had never seen the son of a noble house get involved himself. Even if they were lucky enough to have seen such a rare scene, they had never seen such an open two-on-one scenario.

Even Teng Zijing was somewhat gloomy. Even though he was substantially weaker than the Guo family bodyguard, the blow the young master had struck had caused him to lose face rather badly.

Suddenly, he had a fleeting thought of the comical scene that had transpired earlier - the young master could see such a complicated situation so clearly, and... though that blow had seemed chaotic, the angle of it, the accuracy, and the power behind it had led to such a frightful result. He looked at Fan Xian with reverence and admiration in his gaze.

Watched by everyone in the vicinity, the Fan clan attempted to leave the restaurant. The door to a private room opened, and a number of people came out, who had come to see what the noise was, seemingly having heard all the commotion outside. Among them was someone with a high and noble air, wearing beautiful clothing. When he saw Fan Ruoruo, his eyes shone. He approached them and bowed. ”Ruoruo,” he said, ”it is so rare to see you out and about.”

He was handsome, with thick eyebrows and bright eyes, a straight nose and thin lips - an attractive man indeed.

Fan Ruoruo bowed in response, slightly surprised. ”I did not expect to see you here either, Crown Prince.” She hurriedly introduced him to Fan Xian, who had not realized that this was Crown Prince Jing, heir of the royal house that his own family was closely acquainted with. The two exchanged pleasantries.

The House of Jing and the House of Fan had a friendly relationship, and so when Fan Ruoruo introduced Fan Xian, the Crown Prince guessed immediately who he was, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised.

He saw that Fan Xian was neither servile nor overbearing in his words, and sensed an unspeakable self-confidence in him beneath the surface. And yet he found that the youth's gentle smile put him at ease.

At that moment, Guo Baokun came over to greet the Crown Prince, and a member of the restaurant staff came to whisper an explanation of the clash between the Guo and Fan families into the Crown Prince's ear. On hearing this, the Crown Prince seemed quite intrigued. ”It seems you have objections with the scholars,” he said to Fan Xian.

”Anyone who can read can be a scholar,” replied Fan Xian, bowing to the Crown Prince. He did not care for the hierarchy of this society, nor did he believe that reading a few essays made you superior to the common people. ”I have read many books myself. It is not that I have a problem with academia... it's just...”

He smiled. ”It's just these so-called geniuses I have a problem with.”

As he said this, the people in the restaurant fixed him with curious expressions, wondering what this skilled fighter and son of the noble house would say next. Even the Crown Prince looked at him with great interest. ”And why do you despise these scholars?”

The Crown Prince remained polite, but due to Fan Xian's illegitimate parentage, he did not make reference to the name of his clan.

Fan Xian understood the rules of this society, and was not angry in the slightest. ”The reason I have a problem with them is that I feel that deception is a common practice nowadays,” he explained, smiling. ”It seems one only has to spend all their time in a tavern to become a genius. They spend more time painting their faces than they do reading books. It is not beneficial to the nation to let them squabble among one another.”

Though his words were harsh, they were not cruel, and were almost light-hearted.