Chapter 1112: Chapter 926: Equivalent to Asking Me For a Fist Fight
Walking out of the private room, only the Crown Prince was still waiting outside; the others had already left.
Seeing Chen Chao walk out, the Crown Prince excitedly grabbed Chen Chao and asked urgently, “How did it go, Elder Brother?”
Chen Chao glanced at the Crown Prince and did not answer the question, instead asking, “Does Your Highness know? That Miss Wu is actually already a Nepenthe cultivator.”
“Eh?”
The Crown Prince immediately asked curiously, “Then what about it? Will things become very difficult?”
Chen Chao looked at the Crown Prince and shook his head. “Whether she is a Nepenthe Realm or not, it is already difficult, but since she is in the Nepenthe Realm, it means she can live for a very long time. If Your Highness does not put your cultivation realm at heart, the two of you may not necessarily be able to be together for very long in the future.”
The Crown Prince was startled, then scratched his head, feeling somewhat awkward.
“Some people cultivate with eternal life as their goal, while others do not. Someone like Your Highness, who wants to spend more days with the girl you like, cultivating for that reason, this subject still thinks is very meaningful.”
Chen Chao narrowed his eyes and smiled. “How about, while this subject is in the Divine Capital these days, Your Highness set aside some time every day and let this subject properly train you?”
The Crown Prince fell silent at once. As the heir apparent of Great Liang, even when he was still a prince, he had not particularly liked cultivation. His cultivation over these years could only barely be called passable, and even that was being generous; it was simply too terrible to behold. After becoming the Crown Prince, he had even less reason to cultivate. By now, his cultivation had long stagnated.
He thought for a moment, then suddenly thought of something and asked curiously, “So does this mean Miss Wu has already agreed?”
Chen Chao did not answer this question either. After all, this kind of matter was obvious. He merely said, “Your Highness should work hard at cultivation. That can also be considered giving Miss Wu an explanation. Otherwise, decades from now, when Your Highness is white-haired and Miss Wu is still in her prime, it will not look good. And after some more years, if Your Highness were to, well, leave Miss Wu alone behind, she would also be lonely.”
The Crown Prince thought for a moment and said, “Elder Brother, I understand.”
Chen Chao looked at the Crown Prince approvingly and smiled. “With someone like Your Highness as emperor, Great Liang will still see good days even a hundred years from now.”
Such words were not something that could be said casually. Change the person, change the timing, let someone overhear it, and it would likely be regarded as treasonous words coveting the throne. But at this moment, the Crown Prince, for once, did not refute it. In fact, he understood that the elder brother before him could, in many situations, represent his imperial father.
“Elder Brother, there is something I have always not asked, but I still want to know.”
The Crown Prince glanced at Chen Chao, somewhat hesitant to speak.
Chen Chao knew what he wanted to ask and said calmly, “Still alive. But from now on, the affairs of Great Liang will have to be borne by you.”
The Crown Prince’s expression was complicated. After thinking for a moment, he said softly, “Imperial Father has been tired for so long. This is also good.”
Chen Chao smiled without speaking. In truth, if the Great Liang Emperor were to see the current Crown Prince, he would probably still have some different views about this youngest son of his.
But he was destined to be unable to like him to the extent of Chen Chao.
“All right, go in and talk with Miss Wu.”
Chen Chao said with a smile, “Be open and straightforward. Say whatever needs to be said. Matters concerning the Mountains and Rivers Sect and the rest, this subject will handle.”
The Crown Prince nodded, then suddenly said seriously, “Elder Brother, thank you.”
Chen Chao was taken aback, then waved his hand and laughed. “If you take this subject as an elder brother, then there is no need to thank me. If you do not, then even if you thank me, this subject does not mind.”
The Crown Prince said softly, “Elder Brother is the only relative I can still see from time to time now. I hope Elder Brother will take good care of yourself…”
He did not say the latter half of the sentence, likely because he could not bear to.
Chen Chao nodded and said, “Understood.”
……
……
Chen Chao left the restaurant and glanced into the distance. Song Lian had already walked over. The two exchanged a look, and Chen Chao smiled and said, “Sorry to trouble you, Elder Brother Song.”
Song Lian kept a straight face. “Duty-bound.”
In fact, every time before when the Crown Prince secretly left the palace, Li Shou from the Directorate of Ceremonial would quietly inform Song Lian, who was the one providing protection.
Chen Chao nudged Song Lian and asked curiously, “Did you argue with Sister-in-law last night? Or are you feeling powerless in certain matters, so your mood is bad right now?” [hinting that he couldn’t get it up]
Song Lian gave a smile that was not quite a smile, cast Chen Chao a sidelong glance, and said nothing, but the meaning was clear enough: with Your Father’s body, would that happen?
Chen Chao said with a perfectly serious smile, “Not necessarily. Elder Brother was fighting and killing in the Northern Frontier before; maybe you picked up some hidden injuries. And now you are getting on in years, after all.”
“Surname Chen, you, a cherry boy, think you are qualified to talk to me about this kind of thing?”
Song Lian stared at Chen Chao, his eyes full of mockery.
Chen Chao frowned and said, “Song Lian, are you asking this official for a fist fight?”
Song Lian met him head-on. “So what if Lord Warden Commander’s cultivation realm is high? Some things either are or are not. This subordinate is not speaking nonsense, is he? Hmph, you surnamed Chen can say Your Father can’t get it up, but Your Father isn’t allowed to say you are a virgin?
“But Your Excellency really has made something of yourself now. When you cannot win an argument, you treat others as asking for a fist fight. Truly imposing official authority?!”
Chen Chao covered his face and sighed. “Elder Brother Song, the two of us, is this really necessary?”
Fine, fine, Your Father cannot win your in an argument, all right? Damn it, other matters would be one thing, but this sort of thing, what is Your Father supposed to use to refute it?
Having been defeated, Chen Chao rubbed his head and also felt somewhat melancholy. His younger brother looked like he would not be long from stepping into a brand-new world, yet as for himself, damn it, when would this ever end?
Song Lian smiled and said, “When you have time, your sister-in-law says to have you come over to the house for a simple meal. You run around everywhere; being able to see you even once is not easy.”
Chen Chao chuckled and said, “Easy enough, easy enough. After all, Sister-in-law’s signature dishes have been tempting me for ages. But this time, I will be bringing the whole family along, so Sister-in-law will have to prepare a bit more. After all, the kids are all at the age where they are still growing.”
“No need to say more. During these days when you were not in the Divine Capital, your disciples went over quite often.”
Song Lian smiled and said, “Your Sister-in-law likes them very much.”
Chen Chao asked curiously, “Then when are you planning to have a child, Elder Brother? If it is a daughter, we could even become in-laws. These two disciples of mine are both good seedlings.”
Song Lian asked, “Why can it not be a son?”
Chen Chao frowned, pointed at Song Lian, and said, “Enough, enough. The two of us should find a place to trade a few blows instead. You are already setting your sights on my little disciple. At this point, even if you don’t want to ask for a fist fight, I’ll be testing my fists against yours.”
Song Lian did not know whether to laugh or cry. When you went after my daughter, you did not say a single word. Now Your Father asked one question, and you act like this?
But at this moment, Chen Chao was actually already thinking about something else. That damned Yu Xiyi’s final disciple was destined to be a female sword immortal. If she married Little He, it would not really be wronging her.
Just as this thought arose on this side, Yu Xiyi on the other side was buying a bag of roasted soybeans, tossing one or two into his mouth as he walked, chewing slowly and savoring the flavor.
A group of children followed behind him, all copying his actions.
For no particular reason, however, this Great Sword Immortal Yu sneezed, rubbed his nose, and Jiang Xiao’an beside him asked curiously, “Master, what is it?”
Yu Xiyi did not care, saying with a grin, “Probably some guy is secretly talking about how good-looking your master is behind my back.”
The corners of Jiang Xiao’an’s mouth twitched. Glancing at Ning Qingnian beside her, she looked helpless. The meaning was probably, look, I really envy how reliable your master is.
Why is my master like this?
……
……
In front of the private room, His Highness the Crown Prince hesitated again and again. Before he could push the door open, Wu Xinyue walked out from inside. Their eyes met at once. His Highness the Crown Prince blushed a little. After a moment of silence, he finally gave an awkward smile and said, “Miss Wu, how were the dishes? Were you used to them?”
Wu Xinyue looked at this nominal ruler of the Great Liang Dynasty and was actually a little surprised. From their previous interactions, she had not thought of him in this way. In truth, that was also because from beginning to end, this His Highness the Crown Prince had never displayed the manner that a crown prince ought to have.
But who would have thought that the son and younger brother of such an overbearing His Majesty the Emperor, and of that equally overbearing Lord Warden Commander, would actually turn out like this?
You call it being cut from the same cloth? Perhaps only the blood in their veins was the same.
Wu Xinyue smiled and said, “I still prefer white sugar cakes.”
His Highness the Crown Prince nodded and said, “I also think white sugar cake has more flavor. And it is cheap too. You can afford to eat it every day.”
Wu Xinyue asked curiously, “With a status like Your Highness’s, what is there that you cannot afford to eat?”
His Highness the Crown Prince scratched his head and said sincerely, “Miss Wu, I should apologize to you about this. My identity was really inconvenient to reveal, so I did not tell Miss Wu.”
Wu Xinyue smiled and said, “I deceived Your Highness as well. Let us call it even.”
His Highness the Crown Prince nodded and sighed. “I truly did not expect that Miss Wu had already stepped into Nepenthe. I imagine cultivation over these years could not have been easy, right? I have heard that you cultivators on the mountains will go into seclusion for decades at a time at the drop of a hat.”
Wu Xinyue felt her head ache listening to this, then asked with a half-smile, “How old does Your Highness think I am?”
His Highness the Crown Prince froze and secretly regretted not having asked Elder Brother clearly how old this Miss Wu actually was.
But now that she had asked, he could only probe cautiously and said, “At the age when you understand life and fate?”[50 years old]
This was probably the greatest age he could accept. Any older than that, and no matter what, it would feel a bit off.
Wu Xinyue glanced at him helplessly, but fortunately she was not angry, nor did she make His Highness the Crown Prince keep guessing. She said plainly, “Not much older than Your Highness.”
His Highness the Crown Prince let out a soft sigh of relief.
Wu Xinyue asked curiously, “Does Your Highness think I am an old woman?”
His Highness the Crown Prince immediately shook his head. “How could that be? Miss Wu looks very young.”
Wu Xinyue neither confirmed nor denied it, only saying, “Your Highness should head back. I’m heading back as well.”
His Highness the Crown Prince first let out an “oh,” but soon raised his arm and said with a smile, “Miss Wu, you have not eaten the white sugar cake yet, have you? Let us eat some together? Miss Wu likes it, so I specially saved some.”
Wu Xinyue looked at the white sugar cake and smiled as she nodded.