Chapter 456: Threat of the Second Prince
Back when she was attending Kargath Academy, when she had heard that her father had already confirmed an engagement between her and someone else, the princess had been extremely against such a proposal. She had even gone to visit her father in person several times to try and repeal it, but all her attempts had resulted in failure.
But after she had grown up, the princess had gradually come to understand the situation. Right now, the Gesun Kingdom could be considered to be a developing kingdom. And although she was a princess of a pampered status, there were many things she did not have the freedom to do independently. For example, she didn’t even have any margin of choice regarding an important matter like lifelong marriage which related to her future happiness. Thus, she was born as a victim—to be sacrificed for the wellbeing of her kingdom. Such a fate like this had only been gradually accepted by her as time went on.
Initially, when she had first heard of the king’s proposal of marriage between Jian Chen and her, she had been against it. But since the moment she’d hear of Jian Chen’s achievements and saw his appearance, her heart had gradually accepted him. After all, Jian Chen was handsome and talented. If he was able to become a Heaven Saint Master at the age of 21, his future potential was practically unlimited. Not only that, but he was also an Imperial Protector for the Qinhuang Kingdom and was not arrogant despite holding such a status. In fact, he was rather amiable. After being enshrouded with so many glorious achievements, the princess’ image of Jian Chen had begun to change for the better. She could even say that Jia Chen was a natural born slayer of the hearts of women, the knight in shining armor they dreamed of.
Thus, the princess had secretly felt delighted at this marriage before because of Jian Chen’s excellent qualities. Even if she were to survey the entire continent, it would be hard to find a man that would be able to measure up to Jian Chen. Moreover, Jian Chen’s particularly strong amount of strength and special status were also extremely important to the princess . The thought of having such an outstanding person as her future husband stirred excitement in her heart.
But at this moment, Jian Chen actually took the initiative to suggest dissolving the marriage. This made the princess feel extremely disappointed. Although only a very short amount of time had passed and the princess couldn’t say she was absolutely smitten with Jian Chen, he had at the very least captured her affections.
After a long while of silence between the two, the princess finally broke the odd silence with a question, “Changyang Xiangtian, could you please tell me: Why is it that you wish to rescind the marriage? Could it be your heart is already fixated with someone else?”
Jian Chen shook his head, “Princess, you must have heard about what happened to me back then. I was forced to leave my Changyang clan for many years, and despite surviving these harsh conditions, I have made many enemies. They are very strong and are perhaps enemies that I cannot face off against as I stand today. Furthermore, there’ll be an even more serious matter in the not so distant future. The final results are outside my range of anticipation, but I know that I must dedicate myself to improving my strength so that I will be able to avoid any possible calamity. Thus, I do not wish to waste time having any personal considerations with a woman.”
Hearing Jian Chen explain his reasoning, the princess let out a breath in relief before smiling at Jian Chen’s handsome yet determined face. “Changyang Xiangtian, it is no wonder that you were able to reach your current stage in such a short amount of time. Judging by how hard you work at cultivating, you must have suffered a lot these past few years.”
Hearing her speak those words caused Jian Chen to inwardly sigh. In the past few years, he had truly suffered many hardships and paid heavy prices Not only had he walked the line between life and death multiple times, he had even truly died at one point. The current achievements he held today were by no means a coincidence.
“Princess, I hope that you can understand. I do not wish to have a relationship at the moment. I only wish to improve my own strength to be able to deal with the future.” Jian Chen replied. He thought about the Shi family and the Jiede clan; both of these clans had Saint Rulers within their ranks. They were the people who really frightened Jian Chen.
There was also the Yangji Sect of the Qiangan Kingdom. The patriarch had said something about guardian clans. This had also somewhat concerned Jian Chen. They shouldn’t be that major of a faction, but the patriarch’s words had caused Jian Chen to infer several things. And so, he started to fear that the guardian clans were far stronger than he had initially thought.
Then there was also the matter with the tiger cub. Jian Chen had taken elder Xiu’s words to heart. Perhaps the white tiger cub had already caused a stir within the continent. The Gilligan clan had already been established as an enemy of the white tiger cub and would chase after it until either side dies. With the cub being a Heavenly Tiger God, the Gilligan clan would be extremely adamant on having it die before it could grow old, since the cub’s complete growth would spell destruction for the Gilligan clan.
Right now, what made Jian Chen worry the most was that the king of the Gilligan clan would not follow the agreement it had made with the humans and would leave Cross Mountains in order to personally find and kill the tiger cub. This king was a terrifying existence that could easily kill a Saint Ruler; so Jian Chen didn’t dare face against the king of the Gilligan clan by himself without sufficient strength.
Hesitating for a moment, the princess spoke, “Changyang Xiangtian. That year my father had personally made the proposal. But now that you wish to rescind this marriage, have you thought about the honor of our imperial palace?”
Seeing Jian Chen grow silent, the princess hesitated for a moment before finally thinking of a solution. After a brief moment, she finally found the right words to speak, “How about this: you and I will go to my father and ask that the wedding be postponed for a later date?”
“If we do that, princess You Yue will be…” Jian Chen looked a little embarrassed. If they were to do this, it would squander the princess’ youth. Right now he had only wished to improve his own strength, he had never thought about such a life-changing event like marriage.
The princess let out a sigh in relief, after coming to a conclusion like this, her heart still felt a little helpless. If this were several years ago, she would’ve agreed to Jian Chen’s suggestion of cancelling the marriage without any hesitation. But now…
“Ai, princess. I didn’t think that I would come across you here, what a coincidence.” Suddenly, a cheerful voice could be heard as a smiling youth approached them from far away. His age wasn’t all that different from Jian Chen’s and he was also quite handsome himself. However, he had a scholarly look to him that made him look weak which was a huge contrast to the determined look of Jian Chen.
Right behind this youth were two guards around the age of fifty with steady faces and fierce eyes.
“That’s the second prince of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom!” The princess whispered to Jian Chen.
Jian Chen nodded his head slightly as his eyes hovered onto the second prince of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom before quickly losing interest and looking around at the beautiful and colorful flowers appreciatively.
The second prince wore a luxurious robe with a folding fan held in his hand. He approached them with an elegant stride. Without even waiting for a greeting from either of the two, he sat down on the stool by the stone table without sparing Jian Chen a glance. His face held a splendid smile as he spoke to the princess, “I never would have imagined that I would be able to come across the princess while on a simple stroll. It would appear that the princess and I, your exalted prince, were brought together by fate.”
The princess and the second prince exchanged several words of greeting before the second prince finally took notice of Jian Chen. “If I am not mistaken, then you must be fourth master of the Changyang clan, Changyang Xiangtian.” The second prince revealed a faint smile on his face, but his expression was haughty and his words did nothing to hide his arrogance. He even looked at Jian Chen with a look of disdain.
“That is correct, I am he.” Jian Chen spoke emotionlessly.
The second smiled before turning to look at the princess, “Princess, I wish to speak with Changyang Xiangtian in private.”
For a moment, the princess hesitated before finally standing up from her seat, “Then I won’t be disturbing you two.” Then, she walked out of the pavilion and across the sea of flowers by herself.
After the princess left, the smile on the second prince’s face disappeared only to be replaced with a threatening stare at Jian Chen, “Changyang Xiangtian, this prince knows of your engagement with the princess. But the princess is someone I have my eye on already. Each and every single suitor of the princess won’t be getting past me, so this prince hopes that you will go to the king and rescind the marriage.”
Jian Chen gave a mocking look toward the second prince before speaking, “It isn’t your turn to meddle in my affairs. Furthermore, you do not even have the rights to interfere. Your majesty, if you don’t have anything to say, please excuse yourself.”
The second prince’s face changed color as his eyes began to gain a cold and detached look, “Changyang Xiangtian, do you understand the words you are saying? Do you truly wish to have me as your enemy? Could it be that you wish for your Changyang clan to be destroyed? It would appear that you know not of the strength of the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom.”
Jian Chen’s mouth revealed a cold smile. With the second prince being so impolite, Jian Chen didn’t bother to give any face to the prince. With disdain, he spoke, “Your majesty, do you have the qualifications to even be called my enemy? The Changyang clan is not one you can anger. As for the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom, do you believe that with just a single command, I could have your entire Heavenly Eagle Kingdom disappear overnight!”
“Outrageous!” The second prince roared in anger as his hand broke apart the stone table in two. His eyes glared fiercely with killing intent at Jian Chen before yelling, “Changyang Xiangtian, you know not of the difference between the heavens and the earth! Since you are so willing to walk the path of doom, allow this prince to see you through and through. Knowing that you have now insulted my Heavenly Eagle Kingdom, there will be no one to save you now. Come, apprehend him! We shall bring him back to the Heavenly Eagle Kingdom to see how my father will deal with him.”
The two bodyguards standing behind the Second Prince walked forward with dark faces. The cold glints in their gazes carried powerful killing intent. Jian Chen’s words just now had caused murderous thoughts to arise in both people. They both stretched a hand toward Jian Chen’s shoulders with little concern for him.
The corners of Jian Chen’s mouth tilted up into a sneer of disdain. His finger lit up, causing azure and violet Sword Qi to shoot out and head straight toward the two people’s outstretched palms.