Chapter 343: Bai He
Outside of Chong Ming Town, there were huge crowds of people.
It was the grand marriage of the Second Lady from the House of High Dukes, moreover, she was married to Prince An who was known to be virtuous, as the Princess consort, it was a big event for Chong Ming Town as it was a great honor.
The residents in the town were all proud of it, they had their meals early, cleaned themselves up, and wore clothes that they would wear for festivals, then they left their houses early to wait on the streets, or even waited outside of the town, hoping to get a good look at Prince An’s prepossessing appearance, if they could steal a glance at the Second Lady’s beautiful looks, it would be even better.
As for the residents outside of the town, they left even earlier, some of them waited at the town gates impatiently, whereas those who wanted to look at the Second Lady waited outside of the House of High Dukes.
The entire Chong Ming Town overflowed with a joyous and jubilant atmosphere, people flooded the streets and jostled one another in the crowds, it was way more packed than when people watched the various lanterns during the Lantern Festival.
On the outside of Chong Ming Town, Siao Tieying led a group of superiors from the House of High Dukes to welcome Prince An’s parade, he had a confused smile on his face.
The Guard of Honors of Prince An were arrayed out for the parade, each of them looked solemn and holy, the majesty and prestige of the imperial family filled the whole parade.
The people who surrounded them watched lamentingly, and as they saw the handsome Prince An on the horse, cheers and acclamations were heard, they all felt that only a virtuous Royal Highness from descendants of emperors and nobles like him would be worthy of the Second Lady.
At that time, Chu Li had already left the parade secretly and silently, he appeared at the Island of Symphony of the House of High Dukes.
On the Island of Symphony, big red silks were decorated all over, which made the entire island appear to be triumphant and joyous.
However, when Chu Li arrived at the Island of Symphony, the atmosphere on the island was not so joyous.
When he entered Siao Shi’s room in the building, other than Yang Xu and Xue Ling who were in the house, there was another man, he had a slender figure, was taller than him by a head, and was extremely attractive as his eyes were sharp and had an awe-inspiring look, an aura of elegance surrounded him.
Once Yang Xu and Xue Ling saw that he arrived, they sighed in relief and gave him a signal, then they left gently.
“Chu Li, this is my fourth brother.” Siao Shi was sitting at the dressing table, when she saw him through the mirror, she pointed at the slender, handsome young man beside her and said, “This man finally decided to return!”
Chu Li was shocked for a moment, so that was the Fourth Young Master from the House of High Dukes, Xiao Baihe.
“Greetings, Fourth Young Master.” Chu Li did a closed fist salute and smiled.
Xiao Baihe waved his hand and said, “Chief Chu, there’s no need for formalities.”
Siao Shi said, “Don’t bother about him, he’s just an idle person!”
Chu Li laughed.
Siao Shi did not look very well, she scoffed and asked, “That servant, Prince An, has he entered the town?”
Chu Li nodded in reply to her, “He’s entering the town now, Lady, it’s time for you to put your makeup on.”
“What’s the matter if I have makeup on or not, I’ll just have to show up in that outfit.” Siao Shi said faintly, “I heard that you’ve killed quite a number of people?”
Chu Li said, “I exterminated ten Grandmasters from the Imperial Residence of Prince An, finally managed to round it off!”
Previously when he made various preparations, gathered help from each Grandmasters and assembled all the powers and strength that he could use, it was all for achieving that moment.
Very fortunately, there was not much of a twist or turn, he managed to destroy one of Prince An’s weapons at last, which greatly damaged his strength, so for the time being, Prince An would not even be able to think about harming the House of High Dukes.
He did that not only to inflict casualties for Prince An, it was even more to frighten him to let him know that the House of High Dukes had powers like a dark guardian that he could not comprehend, so that he would not take drastic actions.
Siao Shi sneered and said, “He must have indulged in a wishful thinking, thinking that he can become badly injured halfway through and delay the big marriage!”
Chu Li smiled and said, “His Highness Prince An’s plot was quite solid, it had an extremely high success rate and exceedingly low risks, it was very wise of him!”
“Hmph!” Siao Shi casted a sidelong glance at him, “Well he gave you a chance to take advantage of it! Now ten of his Grandmasters are dead, I believe the Imperial Residence of Prince An will stop by now?”
“There’s probably still over ten Grandmasters with him, we can’t be too careless, the eldest master must be careful and be on guard should be go crazy.” Chu Li said.
Throughout their conversation, Siao Baihe remained beside Siao Shi and heard of the protector’s report.
When he heard the news, he was extremely shocked and surprised.
He had been concealing his identity and made a living wandering around the martial arts world, although he was not a Grandmaster yet, he knew how powerful a Grandmaster was.
So when he heard that this young chief who was powerful and influential in the public house managed to kill ten Grandmasters at a stretch, it was a very shocking news.
More importantly, how did he manage to gather all those Grandmasters to aid him?
That was what really shocked him, presumably, from tomorrow onwards, the martial arts world would revere the Yi Public House, the martial arts people in their border would also act righteously and would not dare to cause anymore troubles, the public house would be more at leisure.
“Chief Chu, how did you gather so many masters?” Siao Baihe laughed and said, “The Dark Guardian of the House of High Dukes, if the outsiders hear about this, they will really believe it.”
Chu Li laughed, “I took six men from the Ren Public House, one was an intimate friend of the Third Lady, two were my friends, eight from our own public house, and I managed to get Lu Yurong from the Ren Public House, it was sufficient to handle those ten Grandmasters.”
“Your ability and measures you take to play tricks, it’s really surprising!” Siao Baishi said in lament, “You even managed to get people from the Ren Public House!”
He knew very well about the enmity between the Ren Public House and the Yi Public House, Lu Yurong was the worst.
Chu Li said, “Lu Yurong understood that we shared a common lot, I even helped her steal a treasure from the Imperial Residence of Prince An, so she agreed to gather six Grandmasters for me.”
“You even convinced Lu Yurong, you’re good!” Siao Baihe laughed and said.
Chu Li said, “It was all because of helplessness, if we can’t settle Prince An, the House of High Dukes will have no means of survival, when the Lady and I enter the Imperial Residence, it will be unusually difficult for us as well.”
“You have to be wary.” Siao Baihe continued, “How can Prince An be reconciled with that, he will exterminate and get rid of you for sure.”
Chu Li smiled and said, “I have my ways to protect myself, don’t worry, Fourth Young Master.”
Siao Baihe nodded, he was rest assured about Chu Li’s measures of handling matters, he laughed and said, “Chief Chu, I’ll hand my second sister over to you then!”
Chu Li did a closed fist salute, “When we enter the Imperial Residence, it will be inevitable for her to feel slighted, but I’ll try my best.”
“It’s really hard to fathom a person’s mind, I never thought that Prince An is a man like that,” Siao Baihe shook his head and sighed, “My eldest brother is suffering, he even has to welcome Prince An today, I’m afraid that he can’t hold it in and fight with Prince An in public!”
“Our eldest brother has heard of the great news too.” Siao Shi scoffed, “He’s in a good mood right now, he won’t do anything reckless to Prince An, alright fourth brother, you should go attend to your own matters!”
“… Alright.” Siao Baihe did a closed fist salute.
Chu Li did a closed fist salute in return, when he watched him leave, he thought to himself, the Fourth Young Master is not a simple man!
When Siao Shi saw from the mirror that Siao Baihe had left the house, she stood up abruptly and stretched, which showed he graceful body, then she scoffed and said, “Chu Li, you’re really something now!”
Chu Li smiled and said, “Lady, you’re blaming me for hiding that from you, are you?”
“At least you know!” Siao Shi humphed, “That was such a fun matter, why didn’t you tell me beforehand, at least I can be happy about it!”
When she heard about Prince An, she became anxious and worried, had she known that Chu Li was preparing to go against Prince An, she would have been in a better mood.
“I wasn’t certain, if I failed, wouldn’t that be embarrassing?” Chu Li laughed.
Siao Shi said, “That was actually very risky and dangerous, you must be in luck! … You’ve always liked to take dangerous measures!”
Chu Li laughed.
“I don’t want to walk with him, don’t want to go through the ceremony with him!” Siao Shi’s face turned dark, she frowned and said, “When I think about it, I’ll have goosebumps all over!”
“That…” Chu Li smiled bitterly, “No matter what, you’ll have to walk the parade, you shouldn’t let your temper affect you, just bear with it for a while and it will be over in no time.”
“Ask Yang Xu to disguise herself as me!” Siao Shi said.
Chu Li was surprised by her thoughts, he hastened to wave his hands.
It was not like Prince An had never seen Yang Xu before, once he would find out about it, they would be in a huge trouble, it was a real assurance, if Prince An exploded on the spot, the big marriage would really be delayed then.
When Siao Shi saw his firm and resolute look, she scoffed and did not say much about it, “After the ceremony, what happens?”
Chu Li smiled and said, “We can imitate Prince An’s scheme, an injury.”
“That’s true.” Siao Shi bowed gently, “Once there’s an injury, I’ll be able to avoid him clinging on to me.”
Chu Li said, “Actually, there’s a lot of ways to do this, you don’t have to worry about it, Lady, for all you know, once you enter the Imperial Residence, Prince An might even suddenly pass away.”
Siao Shi rolled her eyes at him and scoffed, “I’m not worried at all.”
Chu Li laughed out loud, “You must hold on to the prayer beads, don’t lose it no matter what!”
“Of course!” Siao Shi nodded.
That was also the reason that emboldened her, should anything bad happen, she could crush the bead and Chu Li would appear immediately to bring her away from danger.
“Lady, it’s time for you to put your makeup on.” Yang Xu’s voice was heard from outside, “The eldest master has entered the town.”
“Come in!” Siao Shi’s face turned gloomy again.
Chu Li smiled as he backed off, when he exited the house, he saw the Siao Baihe was waiting for him outside the building.