Seeing Jiang Moran's reaction, the black lines on Fengqingzi's forehead darkened even further.
“Damn it, how is this guy so strong?!” Realizing their hired experts had been instantly slaughtered, shock and fury washed over the faces of the three young men.
The Eldest Prince, however, showed no trace of fear. Instead, he stood up from his seat.
“I admit you have some skill, but you picked the wrong people to provoke today,” he said coldly.
“Jiu Ge.”
Fengqingzi froze for a moment. “Who is Jiu—”
Before he could even ask who, a violent fist wind rushed right at his face, so fast that his pupils didn't even have time to contract.
—Bang!
The fierce wind blew the hair back from his forehead, but a hand appeared before him, steadily catching the lethal fist.
A flash of surprise flickered across Jiu Ge's deadpan face. It lasted only an instant before his expression returned to normal, but as he pulled back, he realized he could not retract his fist.
Jiang Moran's fingers slowly tightened. Jiu Ge's knuckles let out a series of sharp cracks, causing him to let out a muffled groan of pain.
In the next second, Jiang Moran slammed Jiu Ge's head down onto a nearby table, which shattered into splinters upon impact.
Amidst the wreckage, Jiu Ge quickly clenched his fist and lunged at Jiang Moran's abdomen, a long, slender silver needle clasped between his fingers.
If this punch connected, the poison on the needle would guarantee his opponent's agonizing death!
Unfortunately, Jiang Moran didn't even spare the punch a glance. Grabbing Jiu Ge's head, he slammed it ruthlessly against the wall.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The entire building seemed to vibrate. Jiu Ge's consciousness rapidly faded, and the strength drained from his body. Finally, his vision went black, and he collapsed from Jiang Moran's grip, completely unconscious.
Jiang Moran patted the dust off his hands and turned to look at the four frozen young men.
The Eldest Prince's expression was completely frozen as he stared in disbelief. In all the years Jiu Ge had served him, this was the first time his guard had ever been beaten so helplessly.
This man was absolutely terrifying...
Under the Eldest Prince's stunned gaze, Jiang Moran slowly walked over to him. Of the other three, one had already wet his pants in fear.
“Reasonably speaking, since you harbored killing intent toward me, I should kill you no matter what.”
The Eldest Prince's face paled to a ghostly white, but Jiang Moran's tone suddenly shifted. “Fortunately for you, someone set this up, and I have no desire to let things go exactly as they planned.”
Jiang Moran patted the prince on the shoulder, then kicked Fengqingzi as he walked past, jolting the swordsman back to his senses.
Once the two had departed, the Eldest Prince collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud. This was without a doubt the closest he had ever come to death; in the past, as long as Jiu Ge was by his side, no one could harm him.
But there was always a higher heaven, and always someone stronger.
Against regular assassins and troublesome minor foes, Jiu Ge was more than enough. But once he faced a truly top-tier expert, even Jiu Ge was entirely powerless.
Only after walking out of the tavern did Fengqingzi suddenly remember that the Eldest Prince would ascend the throne in three days and become the sovereign of the Tianwu Kingdom!
They had effectively offended the future Emperor and slapped him right in the face. At the thought of this, Fengqingzi broke out in a cold sweat. Was a nationwide arrest warrant the best-case scenario now?
“Senior...”
“Go back to the Heavenly Pavilion first. Stick close to Su Jinfeng so you don't get yourself killed,” Jiang Moran interrupted him, giving a calm instruction.
Left with no other choice, Fengqingzi nodded. He turned and walked back toward the Heavenly Pavilion without asking any more questions. As soon as he turned around, Jiang Moran's figure vanished into the crowd.
With that, Jiang Moran was gone for the entire day.
As dusk fell, in Maplewood Garden.
The Second Prince and another man sat opposite each other in the courtyard. A game of Go was laid out on the stone table between them. The guest, holding a white stone, had been lost in deep thought for a long while.
“Your Highness truly possesses superb skill. I am deeply impressed.”
The Second Prince smiled slightly. “You flatter me. While the board appears to have more black stones, the white stones have already secured the vital positions. Victory is already within grasp.”
The guest nodded. This was indeed true. With the white stones occupying the most critical positions, the black stones, despite their numerical advantage, were constantly constrained. In the end, reversing this game would be nigh impossible.
He stroked his beard and sighed with emotion. “With your elder brother about to ascend the throne, I did not expect Your Highness would still be in the mood to play Go.”
“Since ancient times, it is only natural for the eldest son to succeed the throne. Why should I worry over it?”
With that, the Second Prince set down a black stone and glanced at the darkening sky, saying calmly, “It is getting late. Men, escort the Chancellor out.”
Two attendants stepped forward and bowed. Seeing this, the Chancellor could only stand up and follow one of them out of Maplewood Garden.
The other attendant remained standing beside the Second Prince, utterly silent. Only after the Chancellor had completely departed did the Second Prince slowly speak.
“How are things progressing?”
The attendant said respectfully, “According to the shadow guards' reports, everything is proceeding exactly as Your Highness anticipated. However...”
The Second Prince waved his hand, gesturing for him to continue.
“Our men in the Imperial Prison have already returned. However, the ones sent to guide the white-clad swordsman never came back. By the time the shadow guards located them, both had been killed in an alley.”
The Second Prince rolled a black stone between his fingers, remaining silent after listening to the report.
Did the white-clad swordsman have the power to repel the mysterious expert guarding his elder brother? Clearly not. Yet, he had not only walked away from the Drunken Immortal Tavern unscathed but had also killed the guides sent to lead him there.
It must have been the ‘Senior’ he spoke of who made a move.
He had not expected this person to truly possess such power. Previously, when the Third Prince sent numerous experts to assassinate them, this man had neutralized every single one of them. It seemed the strength of this ‘Senior’ far exceeded his estimations.
He let out a soft sigh and placed his black stone directly over one of the white stones on the board, burying it beneath. With this single move, the state of the game shifted dramatically, bringing the black and white stones into a perfect, neck-and-neck deadlock.
Then, he pulled another black stone from the bowl. This time, instead of placing it down, he held it suspended an inch above another white stone.
The Second Prince stared quietly at the white stone. As long as he placed his black stone down, the entire board's balance would reverse in an instant, and the black stones would utterly crush the white.
Yet, he left this move floating.
“Soon,” the Second Prince murmured to himself. No one noticed the microscopic crack that suddenly splintered across the white stone beneath his finger.
In the end, he did not place the black stone down. Leaning back, the Second Prince took a sip of his tea, then turned to the attendant who was still standing quietly nearby.
“Is there anything else?”
The attendant lowered his head, speaking with a trace of apprehension. “We received word from the cellar. A few jars of the hundred-year-old aged wine are missing, and all the other wines were smashed into pieces, leaving the floor entirely flooded...”
“We have not yet identified the culprit, but the palace servants nearby are currently being interrogated.”
The Second Prince frowned slightly. The cellar's wine was smashed?
...
“Senior...”
Fengqingzi looked at the wine in his cup, asking with a trace of uncertainty, “This wine... seems to be imperial palace wine.”
Holy shit.
Jiang Moran stared at him with wide eyes. Since when did this guy become such an expert at tasting wine? He actually managed to identify it?!
“Have you been to the imperial palace to drink before?”
Fengqingzi shook his head. “No, but I've robbed corrupt officials of it a few times.”
...
Rate on N.U.
