White-Robed Chief

Lu Yurong felt relieved.

King Ping only wanted revenge. As long as he could get revenge, the throne was not of importance to him.

King Ping was a very shrewd person, so she could not tell for sure if he was speaking the truth. But for the time being, she could only believe him.

Lu Yurong turned to look at Chu Li. “Your Royal Highness, it seems that you are quite close to Chu Li. Pardon me for being curious, but how did your friendship begin?”

King Ping replied indifferently, “Chu Li saved my life before. It was also my fault that he was sent to the Imperial Mausoleum.”

“No wonder.” Lu Yurong laughed. “Chu Li is a truly righteous person.”

“There is even a proverb that describes a character like Chu Li’s,” King Ping said.

As Lu Guangdi secretly pouted his lips, he looked at Chu Li, who had a slight smirk on his face. The whole situation just felt rather awkward for him. He wanted to open his mouth for a few words of mockery, yet he restrained himself.

He was extremely agitated.

Initially, he thought that by following Lu Yurong here, he could do the same thing Lu Yurong could do, which was to see through the mind of Chu Li’s guest. He thought that perhaps from there, he could discover some of Chu Li’s weaknesses or get the goods on him.

The last thing he expected when sat inside this room, was for Chu Li to emit such discrete golden brilliance, which entirely covered both King Ping and Lu Yurong. His special skill had been completely nullified.

He was used to probing the human mind with his secret skill. To know what others were thinking granted him full control over them. But now that he lost that power, it seemed to him that everything was beyond his control. He felt like he was deaf and blind, without any sense of security.

Then he secretly encouraged himself again. As long as King Ping leaves the range of Chu Li’s golden brilliance, he could then see through King Ping’s mind himself!

“Let’s not talk about the imperial court tonight, let’s talk about something else!” Chu Li raised his cup and smiled. “Your Royal Highness, how is the war between Li Dynasty and Qiu Dynasty, do you know?”

“It’s almost over,” King Ping shook his head and said, “Initially we thought it would be a big war, but it was only limited to Falling Autumn City. The war itself was restricted to only the border areas.”

“What if they successfully conquered Falling Autumn City?” Chu Li said.

King Ping said, “It seems that both sides have a tacit understanding. To battle in Falling Autumn City, even if Qiu Dynasty takes Falling Autumn City, their cavalry will not proceed further”

“But why?” Lu Yurong frowned, “Is there someone mediating behind the scenes?”

King Ping slowly said, ” Fu Dynasty should be intervening.”

“That Fu Dynasty!” Lu Yurong scoffed.

She hated Fu Dynasty very much. Fu Dynasty was in the shadows of every war. They were the ones who always solicited conflict between the four Dynasties, not letting them live peacefully. Meanwhile, they would take advantage of the situation from the sidelines.

Unfortunately, everyone knew that there was nothing they could do but let Fu Dynasty puppeteer them around.

Chu Li said, “It was also Fu Dynasty who ignited the war, right?”

“You can say so,” King Ping said.

Chu Li groaned, “Ji Dynasty is a comparatively weak force, yet we always have conflicts with Li Dynasty. If war breaks out between our two dynasties, we would be destroyed by them. Fu Dynasty wants to weaken Li Dynasty to maintain balance, so they stirred up a war between Li Dynasty and Qiu Dynasty. But if Li Dynasty engages in a serious battle with Qiu Dynasty, it would weaken them too much, giving us the opportunity to swoop in and break the balance. Hence, they made it so that Li Dynasty and Qiu Dynasty only battle at the borders… I must say, Fu Dynasty is really smart!”

“The influence of Fu Dynasty is everywhere. Take some of the sects in our Ji Dynasty, for example, they too are in the shadow of Fu Dynasty,” Ping Wang said calmly.

Chu Li raised his eyebrow.

Lu Yurong said, “The four Dynasties seem to be the vassals of Fu Dynasty.”

“I guess so,” King Ping said, “Even if we know it, all we can do is go along with it. We can’t beat Fu Dynasty, not even if all four Dynasties joined forces.”

The four of them fell silent.

All of them were arrogant people, and they were most disgusted by the inability to stand up against their enemies. At this time, they all felt oppressed and uncomfortable.

Lu Yurong frowned. “Can’t we do something?”

King Ping said, “Every Emperor who ascends the throne wants to solve this problem, but unfortunately, there is nothing they can do. Fu Dynasty is too powerful, and this makes people lose all hope.”

“Sigh …” Lu Yurong sighed gently.

King Ping smiled. “So to be the Emperor is not really fun, I’d rather be a Royal Highness!”

Chu Li said, “No matter how strong Fu Dynasty is, there is no way they can control everything. Is there a way to stir up the situation?”

King Ping shook his head and said, “There are many people who hold such ideas, but it is difficult to pull off. Fu Dynasty has already garnered rich experience throughout all these centuries. They are skillful enough to be able to deal with any sort of challenge.

Chu Li nodded thoughtfully.

Then everyone began to talk about other anecdotes. King Ping soon got up and went to the toilet.

Lu Guangdi waited for a while before he got up and followed suit.

Chu Li looked towards Lu Guangdi’s back with a slight smile, then turned to Lu Yurong, “That Tide-listening Pavilion guy is quite slick.”

Lu Yurong knew what Lu Guangdi had in mind as well. She shook her head helplessly, knowing that it was useless. If Chu Li could not prevent this, he would not be Chu Li.

Chu Li said, “What is his origin really? I can see how you’re unable to shake him off. This is very unlike you, Miss Lu.”

“Don’t forget what you promised.” Lu Yurong scoffed.

If it was not for her uncle, she would have dealt with Lu Guangdi long ago, without needing any help from Chu Li.

Chu Li smiled in response. “Of course, once I promise something, I’ll not back out.”

Lu Yurong explained Lu Guangdi’s origins to Chu Li.

Chu Li said, “No wonder, people always do things that profit them. King Jing is really smart on this one. Just go along with it, Miss Lu. How many daughters of Emperors get to decide their marriage for themselves? You’ve enjoyed a princess’s privilege in advance!”

Lu Yurong stared at him, annoyed. “Right, he said that he will soon master a powerful technique that will improve his power by multiple folds. Don’t beat him up so badly next time, you would be embarrassing me too!”

Chu Li smiled and said, “Then I must let him showcase his powerful technique. Otherwise, if I robbed him of the opportunity, he would not be contented too. Surely he would come back again.”

“Okay, see if you can defeat him,” Lu Yurong said.

Lu Guangdi and King Ping happened to enter and exit one after another. When King Ping returned, Lu Guangdi went out.

Lu Guangdi held a fist salute.

King Ping gave him a slight nod and walked into the room.

Lu Guangdi returned to the room shortly with a somber expression and a frown on his face.

He realized that his special skill was not useful at all in the face of Chu Li. It was suppressed wherever he went, rendering it useless.

King Ping even had a mystical relic on him, exuding invisible power which blocked spying. Even without Chu Li’s protection, he could still do nothing to King Ping, unable to see through his mind.

After King Ping sat down, he straightened his back and smiled. “Miss Lu, I can see that you and Chu Li make a good match.”

Lu Yurong pouted her lips and chuckled. “Why do you think so Your Royal Highness?”

Lu Guangdi’s face was even more gloomy now. He wished that he could seal King Ping’s mouth so badly.

King Ping laughed. “Miss Lu, how many men in the world can beat that ingenuity of yours? Besides, at such a young age, Chu Li is the most suitable for you.”

“Chu Li has already wed.” Lu Yurong smiled while maintaining her composure. “Furthermore, if you put us both together, we would argue with each other day in day out, it would be tiring.”

Chu Li smiled and said, “It seems that Miss Lu looks down on me.”

Lu Yurong gave him an eye-roll and scoffed. “Do you think all ladies like you? Only Xiao Qi has such unique vision!”

Chu Li shook his head.

King Ping burst into laughter.

Lu Guangdi breathed a sigh of relief. His expression looked much better now.

Chu Li smiled and said, “When King Jing becomes the Emperor in the future, Miss Lu’s status will rise to a higher level. By then, she will have all the good talented men in the world to choose at her will, so of course, she would look down on me.”