When Yu Fengcheng was ordered to come and greet the Ninth Prince, he already knew this mission would not be easy. The Ninth Prince’s mother was the Sacred Lord of the Longevity Sect in the wasteland, who controlled the eight clans of the wasteland and was effectively a hidden female emperor.
She was the greatest enemy to the north of the Tianchen Dynasty.
Because of that identity, far too many people in the Tianchen Dynasty hated the Ninth Prince and wished they could get rid of him as soon as possible.
Any faction might send assassins.
But he truly had not expected Fang Dingzhi, the Northern Plains Frontier Marshal, to skip all pretense and directly send three thousand Northern Plains Iron Cavalry to block the official road.
It must be said that Fang Dingzhi’s duty was to guard the north against the wasteland. Every year, the soldiers who died in clashes with the eight clans under the Longevity Sect numbered in the tens of thousands. Even his deeply beloved wife had been brutally killed in an assassination by the Longevity Sect. His hatred for the Longevity Sect ran deep into his bones and blood.
He had more than enough reason to kill the Ninth Prince.
Most importantly, Fang Dingzhi had the courage to kill a prince.
“Your Highness, this servant will do everything I can to hold them off. Let Miss Xu take you and flee. Once you are captured and taken to the Northern Plains Frontier Manor, even ten servants like me could not save Your Highness’s life.”
Yu Fengcheng was not intimidated by the overwhelming momentum of the Northern Plains Iron Cavalry ahead. His sword was already drawn, and his expression was determined.
The mission to bring back the Ninth Prince could fail, but he had to die before the Ninth Prince did.
“Put your sword away.”
Chen Chu straightened his posture.
“Your Highness!!”
Yu Fengcheng wanted to warn him how serious the situation was. Once they fell into the hands of Fang Dingzhi, the Northern Plains Frontier Marshal, their lives would no longer be their own. But a single glance from Chen Chu stopped him, and he could only swallow the rest of his words.
At this moment, Chen Chu stood in front of Yu Fengcheng and Xu Zhaoxing, facing the three thousand cavalry before him. There was not the slightest trace of fear toward the Northern Plains Iron Cavalry in his eyes. Instead, there was a soul-shaking indifference, as if a king were looking down from above.
That single look actually unsettled Liu Chuang’s mind, as if he were facing a peerless figure on the same level as their Marshal.
Xu Zhaoxing behind him was also stunned by that back view, which clearly had nothing to do with brawn yet now appeared tall and imposing. She truly could not tell whether Chen Chu was bluffing or truly fearless.
It was impossible to see through him, impossible to guess.
But with the Northern Plains laying out such a display, even the most lifelike paper tiger would be forced to reveal its true form.
There was no way to bluff one’s way through this.
She was very curious what Chen Chu intended to do.
“Do you know who I am?”
Chen Chu’s voice was cold, like a lonely snow ridge.
Liu Chuang came back to his senses. He did not believe Chen Chu could stir up any waves in his hands at all, and said with great contempt, “Of course I know. Aren’t you just the Cursed Blood born from His Majesty and the Sacred Lord of the Longevity Sect, the Ninth Prince Your Highness that everyone in the current court hates?”
Chen Chu did not get angry. He responded in a calm tone, “Since you know I am a prince, why do you not kneel?”
Kneel?
Every subject of Tianchen, whether noble or common, high official or dignitary, had to kneel and pay respects when seeing a prince.
The reasoning was correct.
But…
“Sorry, Ninth Prince. The rules of our Northern Plains soldiers do not include kneeling to a prince. Why don’t you go see the Marshal and ask him to change that rule?”
Bare-faced contempt.
Xu Zhaoxing held her forehead. She only felt that Chen Chu was being foolish to the extreme. The other side had brought three thousand troops in full force to capture him, so how could they care about his prince status?
Trying to pressure people with his prince identity… wasn’t that just humiliating himself?
Now the royal family’s face had been trampled underfoot.
“I’ll change the rules for you.”
Before Liu Chuang could even fully understand the meaning of those words, Chen Chu flicked his sleeve. Heaven and earth seemed to freeze for an instant, and then a storm of sword qi that covered the sky and earth swept over…
Liu Chuang, standing at the very front, immediately clamped his legs against his horse’s belly, but both man and horse were flipped over, rolling in utter embarrassment. The frozen posture landed him in a perfect one-knee kneel on the ground.
Following that, the elite three thousand iron cavalry behind him were sent flying like rootless duckweed, men and horses tumbling in chaos, the formation thrown into complete disorder.
After the storm passed, all three thousand cavalry were kneeling, not a single one spared.
Liu Chuang was unconvinced and tried to stand, but his body felt as though it was bearing a tremendous weight, no matter what he could not straighten his spine.
Chen Chu looked down, quite satisfied.
“Much more pleasing to the eye.”
Liu Chuang was horrified inside, and Yu Fengcheng and Xu Zhaoxing were both stunned by Chen Chu’s divine-like method.
Wasn’t it said that His Majesty had ordered the Dynasty’s Ancestor not to let the Ninth Prince cultivate? Then where did this terrifying level come from?
To be able to break three thousand Northern Plains riders with a single wave of his hand… there were not many experts in the imperial city who could do that!
“Your Highness the Ninth Prince, may I invite you to meet me on the mountain peak?”
A thunderous voice transmission came from a distant mountain peak, and a figure standing proudly against heaven and earth could be faintly seen.
“Why not?”
Chen Chu’s figure flickered, leaving an afterimage behind, and he had already arrived there in the blink of an eye.
The man on the mountain peak was naturally Fang Dingzhi, the Northern Plains Frontier Marshal. He had a burly figure, stern brows, and carried an intense, chilling killing aura.
After witnessing Chen Chu’s methods, he was quite candid and said bluntly, “I sent Liu Chuang to block the road not out of malice. I only wanted to detain the Ninth Prince and exchange him with His Majesty for my useless son. After seeing the Ninth Prince’s strength, I decided to change my approach. I can cooperate with Your Highness the Ninth Prince.”
Recently, two great disasters had struck the Tianchen Dynasty, suddenly making this once extremely powerful dynasty seem precarious.
First, His Majesty Chen Qing had borrowed the power of the nation’s dragon fortune to break through the barrier and step onto the pinnacle of the mortal world, Grade 16. Yet at the most critical moment, he was cut off by an extreme sword qi that came from a hundred thousand li away.
What was severed was not only Chen Qing’s path of martial arts, but also half of the Tianchen Dynasty’s dragon fortune.
The second event was the fall of the old ancestor Chen Wuji, who had protected Tianchen for three hundred years.
Both were earth-shaking events that shook the very foundation of the dynasty.
In addition, there was another incident that was not as severe in impact, but was still impossible to ignore.
The Northern Plains Heir got into an argument with someone at the Heavenly Palace over a courtesan, and the other party accidentally stabbed through the heir Fang Lingqiu’s manhood.
For others, this would not have been a major matter. But in the Northern Plains, it was enormous.
The Northern Plains Frontier Lord, Fang Dingzhi, had loved only one woman in his entire life, and he had only one son. According to imperial city tradition, this only son had to be sent to the imperial city as a hostage.
Now that his son’s manhood had been ruined, it was as if the heir of the Northern Plains Iron Cavalry had been destroyed. One could imagine how deep that hatred ran.
This matter had already happened half a month ago.
The fact that Fang Dingzhi could still speak to Chen Chu so calmly now was surprising enough.
As for whether the destruction of Fang Lingqiu’s manhood was an accident or a scheme to sow discord between the royal family and the Northern Plains Frontier Manor, that was still worth debating.
One must know that in the thirty years Fang Dingzhi had been stationed in the Northern Plains, the Longevity Sect had tried to incite him countless times, always claiming they fully supported him in setting up his own banner, splitting the Northern Plains from the Tianchen Dynasty, and even hoping that Fang Dingzhi would lead the Northern Plains Iron Cavalry to attack Tianchen and replace it.
Fang Dingzhi and His Majesty Chen Qing had grown up together like brothers. His loyalty was beyond question and had never wavered.
But if Chen Qing could not give an explanation for Fang Lingqiu’s matter, it would be hard to guarantee that Fang Dingzhi would not develop rebellious intentions.
Yet after half a month, Chen Qing had not only failed to send the culprit who harmed Lingqiu, the Northern Plains side still did not even know who the culprit was.
To handle things so poorly, he was truly not afraid that Fang Dingzhi would turn against him.
Upon hearing about cooperation, Chen Chu did not rush to refuse, or rather, he had no intention of refusing. He only asked, “How do we cooperate?”
Fang Dingzhi said, “I want to know the truth behind Lingqiu’s ruin, and I also want Your Highness to send Lingqiu back to the Northern Plains. In return, in the struggle for the legitimate heir, the 300,000 Northern Plains Iron Cavalry will stand with the Ninth Prince.”
Chen Chu smiled. “If His Majesty has gone half a month without giving a reply and has even kept the heir under control, then I imagine the truth is probably rather unpleasant. As for sending the heir back to the Northern Plains, he is unlikely to agree.”
Fang Dingzhi of course knew that.
Fang Lingqiu’s manhood had been ruined, and His Majesty had dragged his feet without giving an answer, which had already pushed Fang Dingzhi from anger into even greater anger.
And now Fang Lingqiu was the dynasty’s only leverage against Fang Dingzhi. If he were His Majesty, he would not release him easily either. Once the man was released, Fang Dingzhi might immediately set up his own banner and split the Northern Plains away from the dynasty.
“I believe the Ninth Prince has a way.”
Hearing that, Chen Chu did not deny it. “I naturally do.”
“Then it depends on whether Your Highness is willing to cooperate with me!”
“It brings me nothing but benefits. Of course I will agree.”
After receiving that answer, Fang Dingzhi immediately took out an order token engraved with a fei-beast pattern and handed it to Chen Chu as a sign of sincerity. The token was the Northern Plains military talisman, able to mobilize the 300,000 Northern Plains Iron Cavalry, and it was even more useful than an imperial decree.
He also gifted a million spirit stones and three thousand iron cavalry.
And not just anyone’s cavalry… it was Liu Chuang’s three thousand cavalry.
Everyone knew that the Northern Plains Iron Cavalry were valiant and skilled in battle, each one equal to ten men.
Three hundred thousand iron cavalry were enough to hold back the eight clans of the wasteland, whose more than one million troops could not cross even an inch of the borderland.
Although Fang Dingzhi had given him only three thousand men, their combat strength was equivalent to a thirty-thousand-strong army.
Most important of all was Fang Dingzhi’s attitude.
If the former Chen Chu, though hated, had been insignificant in the eyes of the dynasty’s officials, then now, with the support of the Northern Plains, no one would dare to look down on him.
That included the Tianchen Emperor, Chen Qing…