Volume 3, Chapter 3: Flattery (1/2)

Volu Dynastic Records</eraphy of the Prince of Li</e, shapely eyebrows furrowed, her expression frigid In a cold voice, she declared, “Good, you dare to quibble In that case, We will explain things clearly to you Do you need to have Us explain to you everything that you have done in this last year? As a subject, you not only do not know to admonish your lord’s behavior, you only kno to flatter and curry favor, instigating the Crown Prince so many deeds that are contrary to proper rites Do you not deserve to die? As a subject, you are disloyal As an individual, you are unrighteous Since you are such a disloyal and unrighteous individual, if you have the least bit of conscience, you would slit your throat and commit suicide Could it be that you still need Us to take action for you?”

With a calm expression, Xia Jinyi replied, “This subordinate is no hu I am unlearned and do not possess exceptional nificant His Ihness, the Crown Prince, saved this subordinate’s life This subordinate is unable to return the favor and can only spare no effort to help ensure the Crown Prince’s happiness If this can be considered as disloyal, this subordinate has nothing to say As for being unrighteous, this subordinate actually accepts that charge However, this subordinate is only wholeheartedly loyal to the Crown Prince Since tihteousness ofttis to the Emperor—those who command these lands are all vassals to the Emperor Even if the Crown Prince acts out of line, what is the big deal? Were this not the case, ould you have to kill so hteousness over family?”

Xiao Lan was immediately at a loss for words At this moment, Li Hanyou smiled humorlessly and said, “What a forhness, the Crown Prince, is the lord, while you are a subject His I His Ireat ambitions We are disinclined to reason with you Senior apprentice sister, there is no need to speak further with this flunky Let us quickly ask the Crown Princess to issue the order While the external affairs will naturally be handled by the Crown Prince, the matters within this household are the responsibility of the Crown Princess”

Xiao Lan immediately saw the reason in Li Hanyou’s words In a loud voice, she ordered, “Quickly report to elder sister, saying that Xia Jinyi, the flunky that has been confounding his master, has been bound, and ait elder sister’s instructions”

Xia Jinyi sht, someone else to do the dirty work is not bad However, he had not a shred of fear To hi¹

Li Hanyou’s brows furrowed She originally thought that this Xia Jinyi was no ,² vile character Whenever that kind of person’s fate hung in the balance, they would frequently beco for a way out, cority However, today this youth only had a slight sneer on his face, not only refusing to beg for forgiveness, but also not supplicating himself This caused Li Hanyou to become extre himself? Or was this his natural attitude? In either case, his outrageous conduct that offended Heaven and Earth was likely to have ulteriorchambers of the Crown Princess, Lady Ciu, Xiu Chun was kneeled upon the floor, begging piteously Lady Cui helplessly stated, “We know that this Xia Jinyi is your paramour, and would frequently speak on Our behalf before the Crown Prince Hoould We not be grateful? However, Concubine Lan spoke reasonably His Ihness, the Crown Prince, is Our husband and is also the one We depend upon What will We be able to do if soated His Ihness to lead a dissolute lifestyle outside this residence If this infore and offend the Emperor We do not have any alternatives”

“Your I ill of Concubine Lan,” replied Xiu Chun tearfully “Over these years, has Concubine Lan ever taken Your Ihness seriously? Has she ever asked for Your Ihness’s views about any reater power than a thousand words frohness Why has she now reive the order? What’s more, no matter how bad Jinyi is, he is cohness, the Crown Prince, and is also extrehness Has Your Iardless of the situation, he would always speak up for Your Ihness’s brother passed, if not for his notification, Your Ihness would still be completely in the dark⁴ If it were not for Your Ihness, it is likely that crihness’s brother Although everything ends with death, ould happen to Your Ihness’s family? Furthermore, it is possible that that incident would have i heir If solely considering Jinyi’s loyal intentions, Your Ihed “That’s right That man has truly been respectful to Us Over this year, it has been extremely difficult for the Crown Prince’s concubines to see him, while it has been easy for Us All of the supplements and snacks we sent to the Crown Prince elicited return hness would spend several days in the palace I know that Xia Jinyi has put ht into his conduct”

The expression on Xiu Chun’s face greatly ihness, this servant is going to say soh His Ihness especially well, he has also not co to pay visits to Your Ihness’s chahness has becohness’s status But if Your Ihness were to issue the order to kill Xia Jinyi, once His Ied When the time cohness’s decision It is likely that frohness will cease to cohness’s chambers When the time comes, ill benefit? That wohness’s position for quite sohness does not consider yourself, you must consider the heir In the future, when the Crown Prince ascends to the throne, let alone noithout a trusted individual beside the Crown Prince, hoill Your Ihness be able to deal with that bunch of foxes?”

The htened she became She stated, “Xiu Chun, you speak the truth We were almost deceived by that slut Iuard Xia is the Crown Prince’s trusted confidant It is not suitable for Us to punish him First, have him be taken into custody Once the Crown Prince returns, have His Ihness handle his punish to trans the crown princess’s response froly Angrily, she rebuked, “What a cheaped herheard ru an illicit affair Now, We can see that those rumors are true Fine We will not ask others to help Today, I must beat you two to death”

A look of fear appeared on Xiu Chun’s face She was originally worried about Xia Jinyi’s safety and thus had come personally to transmit the order Unexpectedly, Xiao Lan wanted to punish her also Xiu Chun was frightened, not daring to h she was asha, refusing to beg piteously for forgiveness Xia Jinyi coldly stated, “Both His Ihness, the Crown Princess, have long known about this subordinate’s relationshi+p with Xiu Chun It is only that Her Ihness is fond of this subordinate Therefore, we did not urgently wish to get married This subordinate dares not dare accept the words of illicit couple”

Li Hanyou’s coed She callously said, “What’s the use of ya on with the for time”

Xiao Lan immediately rose to her feet and called out, “Come! Use punishment! Beat this illicit couple to death for irl has her own mistress For her to lack honor and shame, she should be punished by her mistress”

Xiao Lan replied, “Have you lot heard clearly? Deliver Xiu Chun back Tell elder sister that I airl of hers Why haven’t you lotfor?”

Two i red-lacquered punishment staves in their hands At the saed Xiu Chun away As she struggled, Xiu Chun wept and yelled, calling out, “Darling Xia, darling Xia!” However, the palace ed far away and her voice could no longer be heard

The two i Xia Jinyi One of the thispered, “Her Iive us subordinates for not holding back” As he finished speaking, one of the punishment staves had already heavily smashed onto Xia Jinyi’s shoulder and back Xia Jinyi felt his back burst out in sharp, stabbing pain, i decisively With a few hits, his back would be broken But facing his absolutely detested eneiveness Closing his eyes, he did not speak a single word, gritting his teeth and waiting the following painful strike

Strangely, that strike never cae, sturdy looking individual with his eyes wide open and glowering, tightly holding onto the punishment staves With surprise, Xia Jinyi called out, “Senior apprentice brother!” ThisAt thisaura, his eyes filled with bloodlust Xiao Lan’s expression sank as she asked, “Supervisor Zhang, what are you doing? How dare you have the i coolly replied, “Xiao Lan, there’s no need to use your identity to suppress me Status-wise, you are the , a Sect, while you, Xiao Lan, are a disciple of the Fengyi Sect Originally, when the envoy frotong Sect, I came to help you on the order of my master However, how has this junior apprentice brother of mine obstructed you? Could it be that you do not take , seriously? Or is it that you believe that I will look on while you beat him to death?”

Xiao Lan was furious Just as she was about to speak, Li Hanyou had already spoken up in a frosty voice, “Hero Zhang, let Us speak a fair word First, regardless of whether thisSect, what has he done while attending to His I him will remove his evil nature fro Sect, and should cherish purity How can you shi+eld such a vile creature?”

Zhang Jinxiong uncaringly replied, “Princess of Jingjiang, don’t think that I am a fool Even if Jinyi has sinned, his crio convince His Ih this junior apprentice brother of , he is not a bad person Even if he is acting as an accoo kill the villain Instead, you two are s difficult for ”

Xiao Lan could no longer endure, suddenly juh she did not have a sword in her hands, her sleeves were like the drilling strike of a snake or dragon Her figure appeared before Zhang Jinxiong, already striking out Zhang Jinxiong did not dare to be neglectful in the slightest, throwing up a fist in defense This fist’s intent was to strike first, using solidity to coht to the direct disciples of the Kongtong Sect, Divine Gates Fist The fist and sleeve sla Xiao Lan to retreat one step She trembled inside Ordinarily, she was conceited due to the unique characteristics of the Fengyi Sect’s cultivation techniques As a result, her internal energy was quite strong Surprisingly, this direct disciple froy This being the case, her fear grew and she withdrew, ju back At this moment, Li Hanyou had already unsheathed a sword and tossed it to her Grabbing the sword out ofher arrave, while her bearing relaxed

Mentally, Zhang Jinxiong praised the disciples of the Fengyi Sect as living up to their reputations Wielding a sword caused Xiao Lan to appear severe, fierce, and ood In the blink of an eye, the entire cha’s pair of iron fists were not weaker in the slightest The Kongtong Sect’s martial arts were already mysterious The two directly assaulted each other without regard for defense In the span of a few short seconds, the two had already exchanged dozens of blows Although Xiao Lan’s swords were extraordinary, she was after all only a wo a life of luxury How could she be a ’sexperience? Gradually, she fell onto the back foot

To the side, Li Hanyou frowned slightly If it were so Jinxiong face However, this Xia Jinyi was coh he was social cli, his te to acknowledge his le shred of remorse or dread If he were pere Over this past year, the crown prince had already become aloof and distant towards Xiao Lan If this person was allowed to stir up trouble, it was likely that it would affect the Fengyi Sect’s ability to influence the crown prince Thinking of this, Li Hanyou’s expression grew bleak Offhandedly, she stated, “Hero Zhang, Supervisor Zhang, it seems that you are determined to protect this hoodlum Fine Allow Hanyou to experience your lided forward, launching herself towards Zhang Jinxiong’s back, ar was busy fighting with Xiao Lan In addition, Li Hanyou’s martial arts were better than his Just at the rievously injured, Xia Jinyi suddenly leaped at Li Hanyou like a leam of disdain flashed in Li Hanyou’s eyes, as she punched doith one fist Like a kite with its string cut, Xia Jinyi sluh blood was trickling out of Xia Jinyi’s mouth and he had a erence Li Hanyou landed Just as she was about to attack Xia Jinyi again, Xia Jinyi laughed ruthlessly and lifted one of his cuffs, causing a silvery light to blink out Li Hanyou tre that the disciples of the Kongtong Sect were all trained to use several types of concealed weapons to protect the the concealed weapons The silvery light did not hit the wall and instead disappeared With a humorless smile, Li Hanyou quipped, “Let’s see if you have any other talis, she advanced again Xia Jinyi once again raised his hand and shot out so This time, Li Hanyou extended her lily-white hands to block, revealing a silver wrist guard, which caught that silvery light, now eht and took a look It was a five ular heads on each side, manufactured from sharp, polished steel If this kind of concealed weapon were to hit, blood would not stop flowing from the injury location Li Hanyou mercilessly stated, “Good, We will allow you to suffer the consequences of your own actions”⁷