Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: As Cheap as Weed

Fang Chen slowly walked toward the Palace of Great Peace with closed eyes, seemingly unaware of the hundred Wolf Army’s soldiers glaring at him.

“He’s really blind!” one of the soldiers murmured.

It felt like the times had really changed, seeing their most feared enemy on the battlefield become a blind cripple. But above that, it deepened their admiration for the First Wolf Marshall.

So what if you became a War supreme-ruler at a young age? In the end, you still fell in defeat to our First Wolf Marshall! Our First Wolf Marshall is still the greatest of all!

Meanwhile, the emperor, Celestial Xiao, and the officials had walked to the entrance of the Palace of Great Peace. The empress, who had maintained an impassive face thus far, saw Fang Chen’s skinny silhouette, and a pained frown flashed across her face.

“He looks the same in the paintings, just less imposing than before.” Celestial Xiao assessed Fang Chen before revealing a smile. “I don’t see anything special, though I’ll concede he does look better than the men I had.”

A flicker of rage blazed in the empress’ eyes.

The officials also glared at Celestial Xiao in anger. It didn’t matter whether they were on good terms with Fang Chen or not; it was a humiliation to Great Xia for her to compare their War supreme-ruler with her male lovers!

“Your Majesty, you explain to him. He has to undergo a trial if he wishes to marry into our Xiao Clan. I have no desire to bring back a useless blind man,” Celestial Xiao said.

The emperor turned to Fang Chen and called out, “Fang Chen.”

“Fang Chen pays respect to His Majesty.” Fang Chen halted his footsteps, clasped his fist, and bowed toward the emperor.

“Audacious, Fang Chen! Why aren’t you kneeling before His Majesty?” You Longchang roared.

The crowd figured that he was venting on behalf of his supreme-rulerfather, Eunuch You.

Fang Chen’s eyes remained closed, but he slowly turned to where You Longchang was. “The vice-commander of the West Tiger Barracks, You Longchang?”

You Longchang was stunned. Is he really blind? He’s acting no different from a normal person! We haven’t met for five years now, but he still recognized me right away!

“Yes, that’s me,” You Longchang grimly replied.

“His Majesty has bestowed me with the privilege to remain on my feet in his presence. Have you forgotten about that?” Fang Chen asked with a smile.

Startled, You Longchang blurted out, “But that’s before you fell into defeat…”

He couldn’t finish speaking. Now that I think about it… His Majesty didn’t retract Fang Chen’s privilege despite the latter falling into defeat. We were the ones who one-sidedly thought Fang Chen had lost all his honor and rights.

“It looks like you have remembered.” Fang Chen chuckled. He turned to the emperor and said, “Your Majesty, I rushed here upon receiving the imperial edict. May I know if the daughter of Wolf Marshall Xiao is here?”

The emperor glanced at Celestial Xiao before replying, “Miss Xiao is here with me. She said that you have to clear her trial before you can… marry into the Xiao Clan.”

The officials’ complexions turned awful.

It was already a humiliation for Great Xia to have Fang Chen marry into the Xiao Clan, yet Celestial Xiao still wanted to stage a play to make it seem as if Great Xia was pushing for it. This only furthered the humiliation.

“Trial? May I know what trial?” Fang Chen asked.

“Miss Xiao?” The emperor looked at Celestial Xiao.

“It’s simple, War supreme-ruler Fang. I’ll deem you to have cleared the trial if you’re able to guess the movements of my Wolf Army,” Celestial Xiao said before glancing at the leader of the Wolf Army’s soldiers.

The Wolf Army’s leader immediately ordered his soldiers to charge at the guards, maids, and eunuchs.

Bam bam bam!

Several guards, maids, and eunuchs were tossed in Fang Chen’s direction. They were both confused and horrified, as they had no idea how they were involved in the trial.

The emperor’s face twitched when he saw how the Wolf Army dared to make a move on his people in the imperial palace.

“Audacious! How dare you cause a fuss in the imperial palace, before the eyes of His Majesty?” An old official with a long white beard stepped forward and glared at Celestial Xiao. He was Great Xia’s prime minister, Li Guozhu!

“It’s required in the trial. Your Majesty doesn’t mind, right?” Celestial Xiao asked.

“Haha…” The emperor chuckled. “I wonder what kind of trial would require them. Celestial Xiao, you should just give the word. There’s no need for your subordinates to make a move lest it cause a misunderstanding.”

At the same time, he waved his hand at Li Guozhu, signaling the latter to step down.

Li Guozhu frowned, but he didn’t say anything more.

“Simple.” Celestial Xiao looked at Fang Chen. “War supreme-ruler Fang, you have four guards, four maids, and four eunuchs in front of you. Later, you have to guess whether my subordinate is going to kill the guards, maids, or eunuchs. I’d consider you to have cleared the trial if you get it right.”

The crowd was appalled.

Someone couldn’t take it anymore and roared, “Do you have the life of our people as a joke?!”

Just then, the Wolf Army’s leader took out a bow and aimed it at Fang Chen, but he soon turned it toward the guards, maids, and eunuchs.

“As long as our Greenpine Country wills so, your people’s lives can become as cheap as weed. If you’re wise, you wouldn’t let one or two lives ruin our arrangement. Your Majesty, don’t you agree?” Celestial Xiao asked.

“Your Majesty, how will the world see us if you allow them to murder our people in the imperial palace?” the empress finally spoke up.

The emperor fell silent for a few moments. In the end, he ignored the empress and turned to Fang Chen, saying, “Fang Chen, do as Celestial Xiao requests.”

The crowd was startled. The guards, maids, and eunuchs were horrified. They never thought they would be slaughtered by Greenpine Country’s soldiers despite being in the imperial palace.

Pah pah pah!

Fang Chen clapped. “I finally understand why Wolf Marshall Xiao spared me back then.”

Celestial Xiao narrowed her eyes. She remembered her father’s instructions:

Fang Chen has suffered insults and humiliation in Great Xia in the past five years. If we can win him over, even if he’s crippled as a martial artist, he can still contribute greatly to our Greenpine Country’s advancement to a grade-8 state. That’s why I spared his life then.

Whether it works or not depends on the decision he makes in the trial. If he still chooses to serve Great Xia, you have to kill him on the spot.

Otherwise, bring him back to Greenpine Country. Don’t slight or insult him anymore, for he would have already seen through my thoughts.

“War supreme-ruler Fang, it’s time for you to make your choice. Is my subordinate going to kill the guards, the maids, or the eunuchs?” Celestial Xiao asked.

The officials looked at the scene with desolate eyes. Li Guozhu first looked at Fang Chen, followed by the emperor, and in the end, he let out a sigh and fell silent.

So what if we understand what Greenpine Country is up to? Great Xia doesn’t have the power to stop it anymore. Greenpine Country is forcing Fang Chen to kill his own people, so that he’ll never be accepted in Great Xia ever again. He won’t be the War supreme-ruler anymore from this day on.

“What if I say none are going to die?” Fang Chen said.

The emperor’s expression flickered. Li Guozhu and the others were stunned.

Fang Chen should have understood the weight of the current situation. Given their plight, they had no choice but to bow down to Greenpine Country’s demands, so as to buy five more years for Great Xia!