White-Robed Chief

Chu Li smiled. “His Royal Highness’s enthusiasm is hard to dismiss, I can only bear it.”

“Why is father doing this?” asked Leng Qiu, astonished.

Leng Qing seemed to be in thought. She glanced at Menglan’s direction, and guessed it was a honey trap.

Chu Li seemed to be preoccupied with his thoughts too.

There was no problem with Menglan at all, King An did not even talk to her personally. She was completely innocent and had no idea that she was being used as a honey trap.

She was purely learning and training at the Verdant Cloud Brothel, waiting to come of age so that she could start receiving clients.

She was one year away from being able to receive clients. She had been diligently learning over the years, both looking forward to it and nervous. She did not expect herself to be bought and sent to the Imperial Residence of King An.

She was slightly anxious, but the training she received allowed her to keep her calm, stopping herself from getting too panicked. She merely followed Yang Xu and listened to her orders, slowly familiarizing herself with the place. It seemed that her Master was not someone difficult to get along with.

At the sight of that Chu Li sighed to himself. King An’s move was a good honey trap. As for his motives, nobody could make a good guess.

Was it so that Chu Li would develop feelings for her, so that he could use Menglan to control him, forcing him to listen to King An? Or was it to make Chu Li suffer through hurting Menglan? Either way, it was ruthless.

There might be another motive, which was to drive a rift between him and Xiao Shi.

At the thought of that, Chu Li let out a laugh. He wanted to see what King An had planned.

The two ladies discussed for a while and continued cultivating their swordsmanship. Chu Li arrived at the Tianshu Courtyard.

Xiao Shi was reading a book under a peach tree. Upon seeing his arrival, she placed down the book and scoffed. “She’s truly a beauty.”

Chu Li smiled. “She’s still levels below you, my Lady.”

Xiao Shi gave him a sideways glance. “I think that she’s even prettier! …King An really put a lot into it this time, how could any man decline a beauty like her!”

Chu Li smiled. “King An has his ways of making me accept. Instead of that, why don’t I just accept to save me the trouble?”

“…He’s really despicable!” sneered Xiao Shi.

She knew that what Chu Li said made sense.

King An only needed to say one word. If Chu Li did not accept her, he would sell Menglan. Chu Li would have to obediently comply. In the end, it would be hard to come out on top while being compared with a vile and ruthless person like King An.

Chu Li said, “Let her stay here, I don’t need more people over at my place.”

“Are you really willing?” Xiao Shi gave him a sideways glance, she put up a forced smile. “For a beauty like her to drop right on your lap, can you really hold yourself back?”

Chu Li smiled.

Xiao Shi scoffed. “Alright then, put her with me. As it is, Yang Xu could need some help.”

Chu Li said, “She’s innocent, she has no idea of anything.”

“Relax, I won’t mistreat her!” Xiao Shi sneered. “Are you feeling sorry for her already?!”

Chu Li broke into a smile and helplessly shook his head. He stood up to leave.

Xiao Shi said, “You should come to take a look at her every day. For a beauty like her, it’s truly a pleasant sight!”

Chu Li did not say another word. He turned and left.

As he followed the little path around the Imperial Residence, he occasionally met the Scribes and maids from the residence. They all lowered their heads and greeted him, but no longer called him the Head Chief. They all showed signs of pity in their eyes, they obviously knew that his position had been stripped away again.

But they dared not slack. If something happened in the Imperial Residence, they still needed the Head Chief to make a move. His position was taken away now, but there was no telling that he would not regain the position in the future.

——

A full moon hung in the sky, its moonlight like water.

Chu Li was wearing a white robe as he drank along in his courtyard. He was pouring his own drink, and drinking it himself. It was a lonely scene, he was drinking alone without the company of his close ones. There was only the shadow of Chu Li under the moon, in the cup, and Chu Li himself. Although the mood was nice, it felt cold and lonely.

He did not go to the Tianshu Courtyard, Xiao Shi was definitely going to insult him. Although he enjoyed listening to her gentle and nice voice, her words was laced with thorns. It was better to avoid them if possible, he would go there after a few days.

“Du Du!” A knock on the door could be heard, it was especially clear in the night sky.

“Come in.” said Chu Li.

The door of the courtyard was pushed open. Liu Xing, Xiang Feixue and two other people came in, their expression showed signs of hesitation, they slowly crept closer.

Chu Li was holding onto a white jade cup, he glanced at them. “What is with that expression?”

Liu Xing bitterly smiled, he let out a huge breath. “Head Chief, we are here to bid you goodbye.”

Chu Li was startled. “Bid me goodbye?”

Liu Xing slowly nodded. “The four of us are being sent out of the Imperial Residence by the Royal Highness, we are going to deliver a letter.”

“What letter?” asked Chu Li.

Liu Xing said, “It is a letter addressed to the Feng Huang Mountain.”

“The four of you are going together?” Chu Li furrowed his brows.

Liu Xing nodded.

They felt that something was off at first. No matter how important the letter was, there was no need to have four Grandmasters sending it. They instantly guessed that the Royal Highness was using to the letter as a pretext to make a fuss, he was trying to make things hard for the Head Chief.”

“What about the Princess’s Protector?” scoffed Chu Li.

Liu Xing sighed. “It seemed like the Royal Highness does not intend on replacing any Protectors. There will be only Zhu Tianhua and Ying Wuqiu, we are worried that if anything happens…”

“Nonsense!” said Chu Li in a deep voice.

Liu Xing said, “We don’t feel reassured either, but we can’t disobey the Royal Highness’ orders. We can only come here to tell you about it, we will have to leave tomorrow, we have only received the order just now.”

Chu Li nodded. “Go, then. Do it well, so that his Royal Highness has no excuse to punish you.”

“Yes.” Liu Xing and the others quickly answered.

They were worried about this too.

They were initially recruited by his Royal Highness with a sum of money to deal with the Head Chief. But in the end, they were in awe of how great the Head Chief was. They all pledged themselves to him, of course his Royal Highness felt unhappy, marking the four of them as traitors. He was definitely going to trap them as soon as he could find an excuse.

There were living quite freely when the Royal Highness crippled his cultivation and had to go through isolated cultivation. But now that he was out and recovered all his martial arts, their peaceful lives had come to an end. His Royal Highness was going to make them pay for it.

Chu Li held out his hand. “Let me have a look at the letter.”

Liu Xing took out the letter without hesitation, he handed it to him with both hands.

Chu Li did not open the letter when he took it, he immediately held it under the moonlight and took a look, he nodded. “There is a strange smell on it. Normal people can’t smell it, but unusual beasts can.”

The four’s expressions immediately soured.

It was obviously used for tracking purposes. If they brought this along, they were going to get closely monitored. If their whereabouts were known, it would be easier to ambush them.

Chu Li shook his head. “There are probably hidden messages in the letter too, asking the Feng Huang Mountain to finish all of you. Although there are four of you, as long as you enter the Feng Huang Mountain, it will be hard for all of you to escape in one piece… With those two tricks, I’m afraid that all of you are going to die.”

“What should we do now?” Their expression got even worse.

Although their Light-body Technique was great, no matter how good it was, they were not going to escape from all these plots against them. They were afraid to say that his Royal Highness came up with these measures because of their great Light-body technique.

The Feng Huang Mountain did not only have one or two Grandmasters. It would not be a surprise if many martial arts masters were waiting for them to present themselves when they arrived! Feng Huang Mountain was a town, they did not only have their Grandmasters, but also masters from other sects!

Chu Li said, “What plans do you have?”

“Do we have to disobey his words?”

“King An will just kick you out from the Imperial Residence.”

“Why not we just throw the letter away?”

“If the letter is lost, you will be punished when you come back.”

“Head Chief, what should we do then?”

Chu Li smiled. “All of you act like you don’t know anything, just go and send the letter.”

“Ah?” Four of them startled.

Chu Li said, “I will secretly follow you, let’s see who is the one scheming now!”

“… Thank you Head Chief!” All of them were extremely happy, they quickly made a closed fist salute.

They initially admired the Head Chief because of his martial arts. If the Head Chief was personally moving, there was nothing for them to be afraid of!