Chapter 224 - Another Encounter (1/2)

At sea, the azure sky seemed endless as clouds drifted by slowly. A few seagulls circled idly in the air at sea level. On the horizon, a grandiose fleet of ships sped forward. The ship in the lead was an enormous three floor passenger ship. Although it was simply designed, it seemed quite lofty and majestic. Immense sails billowed in the wind and pushed the ship forward. At the top was a golden colored flag with a coiling dragon embroidered on it. This flag was bestowed by the emperor and seeing the flag was the same as seeing the emperor himself. All officials were required to kowtow when they saw it.

At the bow of the ship was a youth with an impressive bearing. He was dressed in simple dark purple brocade robes. Cinched around his waist was a silver colored cloth that was embroidered with cinnabar and golden threads. His hair was bound up and, under the sea breezes’ caress, a few strands of unruly pieces escaped from their confines and plastered his cheek. He had a pair of clear and powerful eyes that seemed to emit coldness. His eyes were so fierce that other people trembled at the thought of looking at them. The youth’s figure was tall and straight, as if he was a sharp sword that was about to be unsheathed.

As he saw the distant Tanggu Docks quickly getting closer, Zhu Junyang’s cold expression slightly softened. He was finally back! He had triumphantly completed his first long seafaring journey and was about to come home. His year and a half journey out at sea had given him many experiences and things to think about.

The journey to and back was not completely peaceful. They had encountered pirates trying to plunder them and sneak attacks from sudden storms. However, with the thousand or so people working hard together on the ships, they were finally safely back home. He was convinced that these hard earned experiences would become his treasures in his life. They would mold him to become a better person and become his future glory!

Although this youth was almost sixteen and had a youthful looking face, his eyes glowed with a mature and wise light. His handsome and cold face hadn’t changed in the past year and a half. However, his figure had become even more imposing, as if he was cloaked with a manner that made people understand his power.

“I, Zhu Junyang...am back!” The youth lightly sighed these few words.

Behind him was a white-haired man who came forward a step. He used his somewhat shrill voice to say, “Royal Prince Yang, this time our journey from the west could be considered quite smooth. We’ve succeeded in bringing back seeds of all of the crops that the emperor mentioned. I just don’t know if our Great Ming Dynasty will be able to successfully grow these plants.”

Zhu Junyang coldly surveyed the dry land that was getting closer to him. His originally eager mood slowly calmed down. He slowly replied, “That is the concern of the Ministry of Revenue. What does it have to do with me?”

Head Steward Liu Fusheng revealed a smile that covered his entire face as the corners of his eyes lifted up until there were wrinkles, “Young Royal Prince, don’t tell me that you don’t want to personally plant the seeds that you went through so much trouble to get, see them germinate, grow leaves, blossom, and bear fruit…”

The expression on Zhu Junyang’s face darkened and became cold as he looked at Liu Fusheng, which immediately made the steward feel an immense pressure. Liu Fusheng could be considered one of the top experts within the country, yet his master’s intimidating composure caused him to drip buckets of cold sweat. He promptly kneeled on the ground and apologized, “This old servant had a slip of the tongue, please punish me Royal Prince Yang!”

The not yet sixteen Zhu Junyang, after experiencing this long sea voyage, felt that he was a man now, capable of supporting both the heaven and earth. Thus, he prohibited other people from addressing him with ‘young royal prince’ or other similar names. The last time an imperial bodyguard made that mistake, the hapless soldier was thrown into the sea to feed the sharks by a furious Royal Prince Yang. After that, the thousands of people accompanying him all knew that the name ‘young royal prince’ was a taboo that could not be touched.

Liu Fusheng’s heart raced as he secretly raised his eyes to peep at his master’s frosty expression. From the day that Royal Prince Yang was born, Liu Fusheng had been by his side. The head steward had witnessed his adorable toddler years and also watched as the cute boy slowly grew into a handsome and lofty youth. Prince Yang had learned most of his martial arts from him. After more than a decade of companionship, the two of them had established a master-disciple relationship, a true friendship, as well as a master-servant relationship. However, masters and servants still had a gap between them. Even he had a line that he couldn’t cross with the prince.

Zhu Junyang stared expressionlessly at Steward Liu, who had his head lowered in apology. They had been with each other for over a decade. A person would have sentiments about a small creature in that time frame, let alone a person. He couldn’t treat Steward Liu as a disposable creature. Doing so would only cause other people’s hearts to cool. If he wanted his servants’ loyalty, he needed to know when to reward and when to reprimand. This was the rule that Steward Liu had taught him himself.

“Since you know your mistake, when we get back to the capital you can punish yourself!” Zhu Junyang’s previous good mood had apparently been abruptly interrupted by this little episode. Frosty coldness, once again, appeared his eyes. The imperial bodyguard behind him glanced at Steward Liu, who was stealthily using his sleeve to wipe his cold sweat. In his opinion, the less spoken the less likely one would make a mistake, so he kept his mouth shut as he pretended to be one of the masts on the ship.

“They’re here! They’re here!” When the people on the docks saw the majestic fleet of over a hundred ships approaching them, they immediately bustled around. The entire area had been locked down by martial law under the orders of the imperial bodyguards, who were the personal guards of the emperor himself. The commander of the Yulin soldiers, who were in charge of protecting of Prince Yang, was around the same rank as the commander of the imperial bodyguards. The emperor clearly favored this young royal prince as he had assigned a portion of his own bodyguards to welcome the returning youth.

Steward Liu looked in the distance at the docks and saw the arrangements. He remarked with gratitude, “Master, the emperor sent people to welcome you! Looks like...they are the personal soldiers of the emperor.”

The commander of the Yulin soldiers had spotted his ‘archenemy’, Bao Qinming, in one glance. His lips twitched as he agreed, “They truly are the personal soldiers of the emperor! That fellow, Bao Qinming, has also come along!!”

Zhu Junyang’s expression remained tranquil as if the hoard of people on the shore had nothing to do with him. He stayed silent for a bit before he abruptly asked, “My lady mother...is she also in Tanggu Town right now?”