Chapter – 3 – Chu Nanshuang

“I really did not expect that I would meet someone related to the protagonist so soon.”

“Chu Nanshang was described using the national flag in the novel. I’m really curious to see how she looks.” Su Xuan mumbled in his mind, while raising his eyebrows slightly.

Since Su Xuan knew the events that would proceed around Chu Nanshuang, he naturally had to intercept them.

“Let’s go.” Su Xuan ordered.

“Yes, my lord!” Chen Qindu abided.

The two of them walked straight towards the direction of the Northern Division’s gate.

Outside the gate, someone had already prepared the horses. The two of them mounted the horses and headed in the direction of the imperial palace.

————–

In the core of the palace.

“I, Su Xuan, pay my respects to Your Majesty!”

“I, Chen Qing, pay my respects to Your Majesty!”

Su Xuan and Chen Qing had arrived at the palace, and performed a respectful greeting. After all, it was the duty of every subject to perform a respectful salute to the ruler.

Su Xuan noticed from the corner of his eye that there were two other people in the hall, along with Zhao Huan whose age was already showing.

A middle-aged man was present in the front, and a young man who had a fair and delicate face and a cool temperament was present behind him.

The young man, just like how Su Xuan was judging him, was judging Su Xuan too. After all, who wouldn’t be curious about the pillar of Dafeng, a man who tore his way into Tai’an City from the Desolate Realm?

After hearing countless legends about him, Chu Nanshuang couldn’t control her curiosity. Was he really as the rumors described him to be?

Now that she had finally seen the legendary man, she couldn’t help but thoroughly analyze him. She noted that even the Green Dragon, the one regarded as the pillar of Dafeng by the people of Dafeng, couldn’t stop the gradual erosion of time from turning his temples grey.

“It seems that that’s her.” Su Xuan looked at her chest, which was completely barren, and understood that the other party was disguised as a man.

Although Chu Nanshuang was disguised as a man, it was not hard to notice that she would be extremely beautiful if she reverted back to her original form. Even when she was disguised as a man, her face was picturesque.

“Xiao Han, I am really sorry, but there is no way that I will be letting this red faced friend of yours get taken away to Yunzhou.” Su Xuan said in his heart.

Since he knew the next events of the plot, there was no way he would let Chu Nanshuang get taken away by the Jianghu warriors. Hey, maybe he could even have a heroic rescue scene. Women of Chu Nanshuang’s age loved such sets.

His heart could not help but give birth to a plan as he looked at Chen Qing.

Since Chen Qing couldn’t be used by him, he would not allow him to stay in the position of the provincial governor any longer.

He could grab this opportunity to change the emperor’s opinion of Chen Qing, using subpar results. After all, a company would only stay favorable in the eyes of the public if their services were excellent. As soon as the quality falls, the company’s reputation also plummets. 

“Rise.” Zhao Huan smiled when he saw the two of them arrive.

“Let me introduce them to both of you. This is the envoy from the Dachu Dynasty, Xue Ren.”

“Greetings, Lord Envoy.” Su Xuan and Chen Qing both clasped their fists in greeting.

The Northern Division was independent of the imperial court and was only responsible to the emperor. They had no specific official rank, but everyone who were civil and military officials feared this group of people who wore garments adorned with the design of a flying fish.

The envoy of the Dachu Dynasty was equivalent to the representative of the Emperor of the Dachu Dynasty, and thus they had to show enough respect.

The Dachu Dynasty’s territory was more than twice the size of the Dafeng Dynasty’s, and its strength was far superior to Dafeng. Even martial artists in the ninth stage of the Grandmaster realm were present in the Dachu Dynasty.

Luckily, there was peace between the two dynasties since they were separated by a desert. With such a long distance between them, war would be nothing but a loss of money. Hence, both sides tacitly agreed to the desert acting as a buffer zone.

“Ah, so this is Dafeng’s Green Dragon commander! Even though I have heard so many legends about you during the journey to Dafeng, I still did not expect the legendary commander to have such a dignified bearing.” Xue Ren narrowed his eyes and said with a smile.

“Lord Envoy surely jests. It was just some people gossiping for entertainment.” Su Xuan waved his hand while smiling.

 His predecessor was widely popular with the general public. This was mainly due to a few reasons. Firstly, it was because the Dynasty needed a figurehead who received the public’s adoration, and who better than him? He, the Green Dragon Commander, at least in name, was considered as the one with the highest status amongst the Commanders, only below the Grand Commander. He was also the one who led the Northern Town’s Division, whose main purpose was to inspect the officials of corruption and bribery. He was also a martial artist in the Grandmaster realm, and in this Dynasty where everyone greatly endorsed martial arts, it only naturally heightened his public status.

“I summoned you two because I hope that the Northern Town’s Division can take up the security of the Dachu Envoys in Tai’an City.”

Zhao Huan continued, “The Dachu Envoys will stay for half a month in Tai’an City. Both of you can decide amongst yourselves on who will guide the envoys.”

Before Su Xuan could speak, Chen Qing stepped forward and said in his deep voice, “Your Majesty, Lord Su has been living in the Northern Town’s Division, and it is not the best place for entertaining the envoys.”

“Although my residence is a bit remote, it is quiet. I think the envoys need a quiet rest after the long journey that they have embarked. If the envoys are fine with it, they can stay at my residence. I will provide them with only the best standards of hospitality.”

“Oh, Chen Qing, Chen Qing, you probably don’t know that this entourage has the princess of Dachu, right? When she disappears suddenly… how will you be able to explain it?” Su Xuan muttered maliciously in his heart, the corners of his mouth lifting into a faint smile that no one detected.

He was waiting for Chen Qing to shoot his own leg. Originally, he had thought he would have to waste some energy to push Chen Qing to perform such an action, but luckily, Chen Qing took the initiative to come forward himself.

Zhao Huan nodded while saying, “Alright. The envoys and their companions will be entertained by you.”

“This humble servant obeys the order!” Chen Qing said with joy overflowing in his heart.

The emperor would not be stingy and definitely give him a generous reward for entertaining the envoys. How could he miss this opportunity to gain easy money for doing barely anything?

Chen Qing couldn’t help but glance at Su Xuan while asking, “Lord Su, you won’t blame me for overstepping my bounds, right?” 

“How could I?” Su Xuan chuckled while continuing, “We are all sharing His Majesty’s worries, and as Lord Chen said, I live in the Northern Town’s Division, which is indeed not a good place to entertain the envoys.”

“I am relieved that Lord Su is not offended.” Chen Qing said while laughing.