White-Robed Chief

“Stand– still–!” Leng Tao bellowed.

Chu Li and the rest ignored him and continued to make their way.

“Chase him!” Leng Tao put down his hand and shouted, “Catch him and kill him!”

“Master!” One of the middle-aged men called.

Leng Tao turned his head and glared at him hatefully as if he was going to eat him.

The middle-aged man lowered his voice, “Master, forget about it!”

“Forget about it!?” Leng Tao widened his small eyes in disbelief and yelled ferociously, “I was hit by him and you’re saying that I should forget about it!?”

The other man looked at him, puzzled as well, “Elder Zhang, what is this about?”

Elder Zhang sighed and said in a low voice, “Master, Elder Huang, if I am not wrong, that man must be Chu Li, the Head Chief of the Imperial Residence of Prince An. He is rank one!”

“Are you sure?” Elder Huang could not help but called out, “Chu Li is this young?”

Although he heard that Chu Li was a young prodigy, he never thought that he was this young. For a young prodigy to be at rank one, he would at least be in his thirties.

“Head Chief Chu is popular in the Fairy’s Capital as a youthful elite. He reached rank one at such a young age. It is something that nobody except him has done!” Elder Zhang lowered his voice, “Do you think we can do anything to him?”

He looked at Leng Tao with a slightly pitiful look, “Master, it is better for you to not lower your standards to match his!”

“Blasphemy!” Leng Tao called out, unconvinced, “So what if he is rank one? I am the son of a Prince!”

Elder Zhang and Elder Huang remained silent.

In other dynasties, the status of a Prince and the son of the Prince might have been way higher than a Chancellor, but it was completely different in the Great Ji Dynasty.

If you were not on the Emperor’s throne, then being a Prince was no different from being a Chancellor. The Emperor and a Chancellor were like father and son. The Chancellor came first, then the sons of the Emperor.

The Royal Highness was just a name. Their pay was higher as a form of some sympathy from their father. They did not hold any actual power other than that. If you wanted power, you could only join the Imperial Residence and be an Official. You either worked in your position or rank. There was no loophole you could exploit.

These Princes had only one advantage, which was the future possibility of taking over the Emperor’s throne.

Those who failed to succeed the Emperor’s throne would be no different to a Chancellor or even below that.

As long as you won your brothers and took control of the Emperor’s throne, the Emperor would not put much effort on the other brothers. Instead, he would be wary of them in case they gain too much power and cause trouble to the Dynasty.

With the current Princes, it was obvious that who was the better one amongst them. Prince Jing was given the most attention so far, so the situations of the other Princes were not optimal. The Chancellors were not lenient towards them either. They would remove their positions as long as they found a chance to do so.

Leng Tao stomped his feet and scolded while he pointed to the sky, “The ideas of the Great Emperor are so weird! How can we let these people from the Public House do whatever they want? What about the rules and laws?”

Elder Zhang and Elder Huang waved their hands quickly, “Master! Master! Be careful of what you say!”

“Be careful, my foot!” Leng Tao scolded, unconvinced, “Was I wrong? Why? How do they deserve it! The twelve High Dukes are of Super Rank but my father is merely a rank four. Who’s the actual son?”

Elder Zhang and Elder Huang watched as Chu Li and the others disappeared slowly from sight. They let out their breaths and squabbled willingly with Leng Tao to shift his attention so that it would be too late to chase after Chu Li and the others.

“Master, you can’t put it that way. After all, the High Dukes have made great contributions. Just look at the number of assassination attempts when Princess Siao joined the Imperial Residence of Prince An. There were so many masters in the martial arts world who wanted to kill her. You could probably tell how many martial arts masters that the Public House offended!” Elder Zhang said in a low voice.

Elder Huang agreed quickly with him, “Indeed, those masters in the martial arts world are tough and courageous. Their martial arts skill is high in level and they are not afraid of death. They are no different from maniacs. As a High Duke, they have to be careful and be afraid every day. They have it harder than the Generals who are waging war at the border. At least the Generals have some time to rest. They can completely relax when a war ends or be transferred elsewhere to live in ease and comfort or just return to the Fairy’s Capital. The High Dukes need to keep their guards up all the time. They have no clue when there might be an assassination attempt from an extremely powerful martial arts master. To make it worse, the martial arts master’s saying of not involving one’s family doesn’t ring true for the assassins. Which Master or Lady from the Public House hasn’t been a target of an assassination before?”

“Besides, the High Dukes have made great contributions. They fought for what we have now in the Great Ji Dynasty. Their descendants can’t live in comfort and they even have to suffer through this hardship. The Super Rank is merely a compensation for the High Dukes from the Great Emperor,” Elder Zhang sighed, “The heart of the Chancellors is made out of flesh as well. They all know that it’s not easy for the Public House.”

“Let’s not talk about the High Dukes but about Chu Li instead!” Leng Tao scoffed and said, unconvinced, “He’s so young but already a rank one. Look at how old my father is and he is merely a rank four. We don’t even know if he’ll ever get to rank one in his life. It’s going a little too far!”

“About that…” Elder Zhang and Elder Huang looked at each other and stopped talking.

Leng Tao sneered delightedly, “You guys are speechless now, right?”

Elder Zhang sighed, “Master, Master Siao from the Yi Public House has a wide reputation. He is just and firm. He will not give special treatment because of personal relations. If Chu Li can advance into rank one, he must’ve made a lot of contributions. He is a Scribe, not a Protector, he only needs to contribute for his rank to advance.”

“How big was his contribution for him to be able to advance to rank one?” Leng Tao scoffed in disdain, “I never even heard about it!”

Elder Huang looked around him, there was nobody passing by. He lowered his voice and said, “The Ren Public House always wanted to deal with the Yi Public house. You probably know how good Lu Yurong is in scheming, but in the end, she still lost to Chu Li and was taken advantage of many times!”

“Lu Yurong?” Leng Tao’s expression changed.

He looked around him and scoffed, “Don’t remind me of this filthy woman.”

Elder Zhang and Elder Huang looked at each other and smiled secretly.

They would only admire their Master’s bravery if and only if he dared to call Lu Yurong that in front of her face!

Leng Tao clenched is teeth and scoffed, “I don’t care. Chu Li actually dared to slap me. I will definitely exact my revenge!”

“We will punish them well when Elder Chen Kong arrives!” Elder Huang said quickly.

Leng Tao glared at both of them, “You two cunning old men!”

Elder Zhang and Elder Huang laughed subtly, “Master, to be honest, we indeed are not the same level as Chu Li. We only have hope when Elder Chen Kong comes.”

“I can’t depend on you two, I can only depend on Elder Chen Kong!” Leng Tao scoffed as he turned his head and looked towards the town gate.

Another group of people was heading towards them from the town gate. There were more than ten horses.

There were three horses leading the front.

In the middle was a claret-colored fine horse. There was a charming middle-aged woman on the horse. Beside her were two beauties that were in the prime of their youth. One was graceful and amorous, looking around with her bright gaze; the other was pure and innocent, her eyes agile and sparkling.

Leng Tao lowered his head quickly and shrunk his shoulder as he hid at the side of his horse. He felt unlucky.

“Aren’t that the one from Prince Cheng’s family?” The middle-aged beauty gently laughed, she smiled as she looked at Leng Tao, who was shrinking his shoulders, trying to hide.

How was it possible for the horse to cover Leng Tao’s fat body? It was even easier to catch someone’s attention as he could be spotted from afar.

Leng Tao had no choice but to make a closed fist salute and forced a smile on his chubby face, “Greetings, fifth aunt.”

He dared to be rude towards Princesses from the Imperial Residence of Prince An but not this Princess. The smile on his face was genuine and friendly.

“No need to be so courteous, Young Tao. Why have you stopped here and not moving?” The middle-aged lady laughed subtly, waved her hand and asked, “What happened to your face? Did your father hit you again?”

“No…of course not,” Leng Tao’s face was red and tense. He looked at the other two pretty ladies, their smiling faces as pretty as flowers. He wanted to dive into a crack in the floor and never come out.