Inside the carriage, Xu Jin looked at Su Changyu.
It wasn’t that he harbored ill intentions, but rather, he felt a sense of hostility that arose from a rivalry in love.
However, Xu Jin was not a fool. He knew that Su Changyu definitely wasn’t an ordinary person since he could be in the same carriage as Princess Xu Yang.
If he nitpicked on Su Changyu as soon as he arrived, Princess Xu Yang would definitely find him problematic.
It would not be good if he left a bad impression on her.
Thinking of this, Xu Jin immediately smiled at Su Changyu.
“Who is this Fellow Daoist?”
He looked at Su Changyu and asked with his eyes full of curiosity.
Inside the carriage.
Su Changyu was sitting quietly, and as soon as Xu Jin entered, he stared at him with a peculiar gaze. Su Changyu knew that Xu Jin definitely wasn’t a good person.
At the thought of this, Su Changyu didn’t want to answer him at all.
In an instant, there was an awkward silence in the carriage.
Fortunately, Princess Xu Yang immediately spoke up.
“This is Senior Su Changyu. He saved me when I encountered some issues this time.”
Princess Xu Jin spoke up and eased the awkwardness.
Xu Jin was stunned to hear her words. He wasn’t displeased by the fact that Su Changyu didn’t answer him. He instead looked at Princess Xu Yang eagerly.
“Your Highness, what danger did you encounter?”
“What’s going on?”
“Who had the audacity to attack you?”
“Is he tired of living? Your Highness, I’ll deploy some troops to avenge you.”
“Are you hurt? Are you in shock?”
Xu Jin looked at Princess Xu Yang with exasperation in his eyes, wishing he could kill that bunch of beasts now.
Seeing the way Xu Jin was behaving, Li Changqing, who was at the side, couldn’t help but take a sip of wine while thinking to himself calmly, ‘Those who like currying favor will never come to a good end.’
On the other hand, Princess Xu Yang was a little frustrated. She detested people like Xu Jin who were overly worried the most. She was sick of his behavior.
However, he was the son of the marquis after all and was considered one of the people whom the emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty valued the most. Besides, Xu Jin was just showing her some concern, so Princess Xu Yang had no choice but to accept it quietly.
“It’s not a big issue, it’s mainly thanks to Senior Su.”
Princess Xu Yang answered.
“Not a big issue? Good to hear, good to hear. I was worried sick.”
“Thank you for saving Her Highness, Senior Su. Saving her is akin to saving me, I owe you a favor now. If there’s anything you need help with in the future, feel free to come to me.”
However, he was still rather displeased with Su Changyu. Perhaps, it was because Su Changyu was handsome or maybe it was because he vaguely felt that there was some inexplicable secret between Princess Xu Yang and Su Changyu.
However, he still had to be polite to him on the surface, lest he left a bad impression on Princess Xu Yang.
Su Changyu naturally wouldn’t take Xu Jin’s kind words seriously.
Besides, Su Changyu was from the Great Xia Dynasty, not the Great Qian Dynasty. What trouble could he possibly encounter?
What he had to do now was to hurry up and leave the Great Qian Dynasty. Once he returned to the Great Xia Dynasty, he would get to do what he had to.
He wanted to go to Taishang Xuanji and thrash things out with him.
Hence, Su Changyu didn’t say anything.
Seeing that Su Changyu still did not answer him, Xu Jin once again felt a little embarrassed.
It was impossible to say that he wasn’t angry, but rather, Xu Jin knew very well that Su Changyu was Princess Xu Yang’s benefactor and he really couldn’t say anything.
After thinking about it, Xu Jin couldn’t help but put the blame on Li Changqing.
“Fellow Daoist Changqing, you failed to protect Her Highness and let her be in danger. How should you be punished?”
Xu Jin reprimanded Li Changqing who was watching the fun.
As soon as he heard that, Li Changqing was dumbfounded.
‘Why do you have to get me involved?’
‘Surely you don’t think I’m a pushover, do you?’
Li Changqing couldn’t help but ask coldly when he looked at Xu Jin.
“The princess didn’t blame me, what right do you have to blame me? Xu Jin, you’re just the son of the Marquis, not the Marquis of the Great Qian Dynasty.”
Li Changqing spoke in displeasure.
Although Li Changqing wasn’t the son of a marquis, his father was an important and authoritative minister of the imperial court, and hence, he really didn’t need to be deferential to Xu Jin.
After hearing Li Changqing’s words, Xu Jin was immediately speechless.
He felt even more awkward because he couldn’t afford to offend any of them.
“Okay, it’s just a trivial matter after all, there’s no need to get the military involved. Besides, I didn’t suffer any major injuries.”
“Xu Jin, take a seat.”
Princess Xu Yang immediately told him to sit down.
Xu Jin didn’t go on any longer and immediately sat down beside Li Changqing in a thick-skinned manner.
After he did, he immediately spoke again.
Princess Xu Jin hadn’t had the time to continue speaking before he interrupted.
“Your Highness, Senior Su seems to be wearing the royal clothing of the Great Xia Dynasty. Is he a prince of the Great Xia Dynasty?”
Xu Jin looked at Su Changyu curiously.
“Um…”
However, at the mention of this, Princess Xu Yang was momentarily at a loss for words.
After the brief contact, Princess Xu Yang had merely found out Su Changyu’s identity, but she didn’t know if Su Changyu was a royal of the Great Xia Dynasty or not.
Seeing that Princess Xu Yang was humming and hawing, Xu Jin couldn’t help but frown.
“Your Highness, it can’t be that you don’t know where your benefactor is from, right?”
Xu Jin seemed a little surprised, but soon, he looked at Su Changyu again and asked.
“Senior Su, are you a royal of the Great Xia Dynasty?”
Hearing Xu Jin’s voice, Su Changyu did feel that it was a little bizarre. After all, Su Changyu had been ignoring him repeatedly and a normal person wouldn’t be so thick-skinned as to continue asking.
‘Why is Xu Jin still continuing to probe?’
‘Do you like to ask questions that much?’
‘Are you lusting after my beauty?’
Su Changyu found it bizarre but he couldn’t quite put a finger on it.
He didn’t want to answer at first, but after thinking about it, he felt that it would indeed be a little unfriendly of him if he didn’t answer at all.
After all, he was still in the Great Qian Dynasty.
After thinking about it, Su Changyu decided to answer him briefly so as to prevent the situation from becoming too awkward.
At the thought of this, Su Changyu couldn’t help but say, “No.”
His words were brief and simple, making him look more like an expert.
However, Xu Jin’s eyes contained some disappointment while Princess Xu Jin seemed to be thankful. On the other hand, Li Changqing looked very calm.
“No? Why are you wearing a royal clothing then?”
Xu Jin continued to ask while pouring himself a glass of wine.
However, after hearing this, Su Changyu could not help but look at Xu Jin with a calm gaze. However, the calmness in his eyes made Xu Jin feel a little guilty.
“Does it matter if I’m a royal of the Great Xia Dynasty or not?”
Su Changyu was very curious.
‘Why do you keep asking me if I’m a royal of the Great Xia Dynasty?’
‘So what if I am?’
‘So what if I’m not?’
‘Why are you so talkative?’
Su Changyu was really conflicted. He didn’t want to talk or answer anyone’s questions now.
Firstly, he felt that it was meaningless. Secondly, he was scared that his condition might act up and he might end up saying something wrong.
Hence, he felt that it would be better to say less.
However, before Xu Jin could speak again, Li Changqin’s voice sounded.
“If you’re really a royal of the Great Xia Dynasty, it would indeed be a little troublesome. So, this is an important question.”
Li Changqing took a sip of wine and asked.
Su Changyu was indeed a little shocked.
However, his face was composed and he looked at Li Changqing.
Li Changqing didn’t keep him in suspense and explained right away.
“In the past twenty years, the relationship between the Great Xia Dynasty and the Great Qian Dynasty has been strained, especially between the royals. The emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty hates the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty, and they almost went to war. Senior Su, don’t you think it is important?”
His tone was calm but his words made Su Changyu stunned.
‘Almost went to war?’
‘These are two major dynasties. The casualties of some battles between smaller nations were usually more than a million. If the two dynasties went to war, the sky would probably come crashing down.
Hence, Su Changyu couldn’t help but be curious.
“Why?”
Su Changyu asked with puzzlement.
After hearing Su Changyu’s question, the three of them seemed a little shocked because that matter wasn’t a secret.
However, they did not expect that Su Changyu actually did not know about it.
Clearly, Su Changyu was in recluse for a long time.
Hence, Princess Xu Yang explained.
“Actually this matter is not very complicated.”
“Forty years ago, my father’s sister, that is, Princess Changling, married the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty.”
“In the beginning, my father really opposed it. Aunt Changling was the person my father doted on the most. So, he was dead set against it, but Aunt Changling and the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty loved each other. They were also compatible.”
“In the end, my father agreed to the marriage, but more than ten years later, Aunt Changling gave birth to the Tenth Prince of the Great Xia Dynasty, resulting in a worldwide phenomenon. He was then called the son of the Great Xia Dynasty’s luck.”
“Father was extremely excited and thrilled. After all, the Tenth Prince is his biological nephew, but unfortunately, Aunt Changling passed away after giving birth to the Tenth Prince.”
“Father was enraged, but in the end, there was nothing he could do. After all, the dead cannot be resurrected. However, since then, the relationship between the Great Qian Dynasty and the Great Xia Dynasty has become really strained.”
“However, the real reason for the fall out was because of the disappearance of the Tenth Prince. The only person my father cared about was gone, and since then, he absolutely hated the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty and cut off all contact with him.”
“For the past twenty-odd years, the subjects of the Great Xia Dynasty have never dared to step foot into the Great Qian Dynasty, let alone the royals. Senior Su, if you’re a royal of the Great Xia Dynasty, you won’t be allowed into the palace even if you’ve saved me.”
“Otherwise, if Father finds out, he’ll probably…”
Princess Xu Yang told him everything that happened.
At this moment, Su Changyu couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief.
‘Fortunately, I’m not a royal of the Great Xia Dynasty. Otherwise, it’ll be over for me.’
‘Who is the Tenth Prince though?’
‘I’ve never heard of him.’
Su Changyu was slightly curious but he was mainly thankful that he wasn’t a royal of the Great Xia Dynasty. Otherwise, he would be in huge trouble if he was imprisoned.
“Your Highness, you’re too kind.”
At this moment, Xu Jin suddenly spoke up and picked up his wine glass.
“His Majesty not only detests the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty, he also hates everyone in the Great Xia Dynasty. Back then, the Crown Prince of the Great Qian Dynasty almost got stripped of his title when he became friends with the Crown Prince of the Great Xia Dynasty. I heard that he even got hung on the tree and received a huge beating.”
“So, Senior Su, if you are really not a royal of the Great Xia Dynasty, you should change out of your clothes.”
There were evil intentions behind Xu Jin’s treacherous smile and his words were full of ambiguous meaning.
However, he wasn’t really trying to frighten Su Changyu, but rather, he wanted to disgust him.
It wouldn’t work on a real peerless expert but it really worked on Su Changyu.
He was really a little scared after hearing those words.
He somehow wanted to get off the carriage and flee.
Although he was not a royal, Old Xuan was the one who gave those clothes to him. Hence, he wondered if Old Xuan was really a royal. What if he was a prince?
Su Changyu was a little scared.
In fact, what he felt was not as simple as fear.
He was somehow flustered.
However, he still had to pretend to be impressive.
“If the Tenth Prince is found, the relationship between the Great Qian Dynasty and the Great Xia Dynasty might be improved, right?”
Su Changyu asked calmly.
Xu Jin answered him, “I’m not sure but the Tenth Prince is already dead and there’s no doubt about that. So, there’s no room for improvement. Even if the Tenth Prince somehow returns, he would probably mean more to His Majesty than the Crown Prince.”
Xu Jin said.
However, the next moment, Princess Xu Yang could not help but frown and look at Xu Jin.
“Xu Jin, don’t you think that what you said is a bit too much?”
Princess Xu Yang frowned and looked at Xu Jin.
Not only had Xu Jin repeatedly insulted the Crown Prince, he even said that the Tenth Prince was dead, which was absolutely intolerable.
Although everyone knew that the Tenth Prince was probably really dead, there was no evidence or corpse to prove that he was dead, so no one dared to be certain. Even the emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty still felt that the Tenth Prince was still alive.
If anyone dared to say that the Tenth Prince was dead, that person was bound to die then.
Hearing Princess Xu Yang’s angry rebuke, Xu Jin immediately fell silent.
He knew he had said the wrong thing, but it was mainly because he was jealous of Su Changyu.
Li Changqing glanced at Xu Jin.
In order to ease the tension a little, he couldn’t help but speak.
“The Tenth Prince might still be alive. Xu Jin is a little overboard with his words but the latter half of what he said is right.”
“His Majesty has been concerned about the Tenth Princess for more than ten years. After all, Princess Changling is His Majesty’s biological sister.”
“Besides, the current empress of the Great Qian Dynasty was on close terms with Princess Changling. If not for Princess Changling, the empress of the Great Qian Dynasty would have died in the palace long ago.”
“It is also because of Princess Changling that the Empress was able to marry His Majesty. Hence, the Empress is very concerned about the Tenth Prince too.”
“Tsk, if the Tenth Prince really appears some day, I think he would surpass the Crown Prince’s position.”
Li Changqing said so.
He sounded rather envious.
A person who disappeared after his birth was actually missed greatly by the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty, as well as the emperor and empress of the Great Qian Dynasty. That was a huge honor.
If he didn’t disappear, he would definitely be the crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty. After all, the Tenth Prince would definitely have the backing of the Great Qian Dynasty too. The current Crown Prince would be no match for him.
At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded.
“Your Highness, you’re finally back. His Majesty is looking for you.”
It was a sharp voice and disrupted the communication between the three people inside the carriage.
