“Fourth Young Master.” Chu Li did a closed fist salute.
Siao Baihe did the same as well, he was warm and gentle, “Chief Chu, let us have a word.”
He pointed at the pagoda in the center of the sea of flowers.
The both of them entered the pagoda, white silk fluttered in the wind, it was dream-like.
Chu Li suddenly felt disconsolate, from that day onwards, the pagoda would be empty, Siao Shi would not be there anymore.
The both of them stood before the railing, Siao Baihe looked towards the vast lake and sighed.
Chu Li said, “Fourth Young Master, after this trip, are you going to leave?”
“… My eldest brother insists that I stay for a period of time.” Siao Baihe shook his head and sighed, “But I’m really not good at handling the matters of the public house.”
“The Second Lady is leaving soon, the Third Lady is in Isolated Cultivation as well, if you leave too, Fourth Young Master, the big House of High Dukes will only be left with the Eldest Master, no one can save difficult situations alone, the Eldest Master will suffer and become very worn out.” Chu Li shook his head and sighed, “Fourth Young Master, it will be better for you to stay and help out the Eldest Master.”
Siao Baihe looked at him bitterly, “Chief Chu, my eldest brother said that you have remarkable resourcefulness and can see through one’s heart, he said that that you’re even better than my third sister, unfortunately, I don’t have such capabilities, I only have basic martial arts, ……and my martial arts is not as good as my third sister’s, you can say that I’m a total failure.”
Chu Li smiled and said, “Fourth Young Master, you have your own strengths, why do you have to belittle yourself!”
Siao Baihe shook his head, “I know my own household matters, if I stay in the public house, I will be of no help.”
“Two heads are better than one, having someone you trust to discuss matters with, is much better than having to handle everything by yourself.” Chu Li said, “Moreover, if you leave, the Second Lady will be worried too.”
“My second sister…” Siao Baihe sighed.
He shook his head very hard and showed a painful look.
He thought to himself, his second sister could have actually ignored the marriage, she did not have to sacrifice herself.
What was more hateful was that she initially wanted to sacrifice herself for the House of High Dukes, but because of evil people, she brought a disaster upon the House of High Dukes instead, his second sister was most likely the one who suffered the most!
As a real man, he could not even uphold the House of High Dukes, but had to let a weak lady like her second sister marry their enemy, there was nothing more mocking or insult more heartless than that!
He took a deep breath and suppressed his overflowing thoughts, then he showed a warm smile, “Alright, I’ll stay here for some time and be with my eldest brother.”
Chu Li smiled as well.
Siao Baihe asked, “Is my third sister alright?”
Chu Li slowly kept his smiled back and sighed, “The Second Lady and the Third Lady are both too foolish!”
The Second Lady sacrificed herself for the House of High Dukes, the Third Lady sacrificed herself for the House of High Dukes as well, and cut off her thread of love.
Siao Baihe asked, “Is my third sister not living well?”
“The Third Lady has already surpassed the Grandmaster Boundary, she’s going after the Enlightened Mastery’s Boundary now.” Chu Li shook his head and continued, “According to Senior Shen, she has potential.”
Siao Baihe nodded gently, he looked at the vast lake again and clenched his fists so tightly that vein could be vaguely seen moving on them.
At that moment, white silk fluttered in the wind, the wind from the lake blew gently, the both of them remained silent as they stood by the railing.
——
Chu Li did not attend the lively event of escorting the bride.
Siao Shi was going to become someone else’s wife, although he knew that it was all fake, he still felt extremely complicated, he could not explain it as well, but he really had no mood to watch the ceremony, out of sight, out of mind.
Siao Shi wore a chaplet and an official gown, she looked like a fallen fairy and entered sixteen marriage sedan, then she exited Chong Ming Town at a slow pace while crowds of people watched.
Chu Li, Zhao Qingshan and Lu Donglou had already been waiting outside the town for some time.
For that time, Zhao Qingshan and Lu Donglou would escort Siao Shi to the Imperial Residence of Prince An, once they arrived at the Imperial Residence of Prince An, they would then return to the House of High Dukes as Chu Li was the only Grandmaster in the House of High Dukes.
When Chu Li would enter the Imperial Residence, he would only bring Yang Xu and Xue Ling along, Jiang Kuai would not follow them first, in case of any mishaps.
Prince An hated him to the bones at that time, so if Jiang Kuai followed them along, he would be enraged for sure.
As for himself, he was a first class scribe and of a noble class, Prince An would not do anything to him as he was not fully certain, whereas Jiang Kuai would not be the same, should Prince An look for trouble with him, Jiang Kuai would have no power to resist him, so it would be better for him to enter the Imperial Residence later on.
“Sigh…, Chief, are you sure that you’ll be alright to enter the Imperial Residence alone?” Zhao Qingshan sighed, “Old Lu and I should follow you.”
Lu Donglou immediately nodded, “That’s right, that’s right, the Imperial Residence is enormous, I’m afraid that you alone will be isolated there, Chief.”
Chu Li smiled and said, “Prince An will take revenge for sure, if I’m all alone, there won’t be any loophole, he won’t do anything to me, but if you two come along, it will be too dangerous!”
“Thank you for your hard work, Chief!” Zhao Qingshan and Lu Donglou shook their heads and said that.
When they thought about it, their heads ached.
Chu Li said, “It will be a bumpy road, if the both of you encounter an assassin, please be careful, don’t charge towards him no matter what, run away if things are going bad.”
The both of them laughed out loud.
Chu Li said in a serious manner, “I’m afraid that Prince An will be ruthless and really give orders to kill the Lady, if she kills the Lady, he will blame it all on the factions of the martial arts world, then he will be able to get away safely.”
“Yes!” The both of them said in a serious voice.
Chu Li continued, “I will take the opportunity to bring the Lady away first, please don’t show any openings.”
They quickly nodded in reply to that.
Chu Li was not very worried about them, they were men with experience and had the Spirit Blessing Pill with them, furthermore, if something really went wrong, they could send a signal immediately and someone would answer to that.
Right after they finished talking, Prince An and an army of triumphant people approached them slowly, the Guard of Honors led the way, while the musicians were at the back.
Chu Li held a horse and welcomed Prince An’s entourage, he directly moved towards the side of the sixteen marriage sedan, whereas Zhao Qingshan and Lu Donglou went to the other side.
Prince An was sitting on the horse, he glanced at Chu Li coldly and pretended that he did not see him.
Now whenever he looked at Chu Li, he felt uncomfortable and uneasy, he could not wait to destroy him so that he would be satisfied.
After they marched for two miles and the crowd dispersed, the Guard of Honors withdrew, the parade sped up and took advantage to hurry back to the Fairy’s Capital.
When it was noon time, everyone stopped by a post-house, Chu Li went to the pagoda then did a closed fist salute and said, “Your Highness, the Second Lady has a request.”
“Say it.” Prince An was having some solid food at that moment, he looked at him calmly.
Chu Li said, “This entire path won’t be peaceful, the Lady would like to follow me and go ahead first.”
“Chief Chu, don’t you think that it’s against the rules?” Meng Zhi said faintly, “The Second Lady has already left home, she’s considered to be one of ours from the Imperial Residence now, how can she not travel together with us?”
Chu Li glanced at him and continued looking at Prince An, “Your Highness, you don’t have another troop of army in ambush to attack the Lady, do you?”
“How impudent!” Zheng Lide was agitated and changed his countenance abruptly, he shouted out loud.
Chu Li did a closed fist salute and said in a serious manner, “The Lady is weak and fragile, she won’t be able to withstand a rushed journey like this, please understand us, Your Highness!”
“If I don’t agree to that, it will sound like I have sinister motives.” Prince An said calmly, “Alright, as long as she returns to the sedan before we enter the Fairy Capital, you can go your own way if you want to!”
“Thank you very much, Royal Highness!” Chu Li did a closed fist salute and bowed.
Prince An waved his hand, he was too lazy to say anything else.
“You Highness!” Meng Zhi called out with dissatisfaction, “How can you decieve him like that!”
Prince An smiled faintly, “Don’t bother about it, let them be.”
“… Yes.” Meng Zhi could tell the Prince An was burning with rage on the inside, but he was forcefully suppressing those emotions, so he knew that it was inappropriate for him to continue talking about it.
Prince An looked towards the sixteen marriage sedan and put on a smile.
He thought to himself, even if Chu Li could overturn rivers and seas, as long as he could control Siao Shi, Chu Li would not be able to escape from him, killing him would require no effort at all!
Siao Shi was only a weak lady who did not practice martial arts, as for himself, he was a Grandmaster, so he had countless ideas to torture her, he could not wait until night time to show her all the hatred and enmity that he had pent up in him all alone, he wanted to show him how strong and powerful he was!
As Prince An thought about that, he felt an inexplicable pleasure of revenge.
Chu Li was such a loyal man, while Siao Shi had such beautiful looks, if he had no feelings or affection towards Siao Shi, no one would believe it, as long as there was affection, it would be the best!
He could not wait to execute Siao Shi right then right there, he could not wait to toy her utterly and to trample over her completely, especially in front of Chu Li, so that he would understand how it felt like to be more dead than alive, and to be so incensed and outraged!
Hah, as long as they entered the bridal chamber, wouldn’t Siao Shi be his toy then?
No matter how powerful Chu Li was, he would still have to listen and oblige to him, wouldn’t he? Or else, he would torment Siao Shi instead and punish Siao Shi with all his might, when that would happen, he wanted to see if Chu Li would be emasculated or not!
As he thought about that, he showed a smile and watched as Chu Li and Siao Shi fluttered away and left.