Chapter 176 - Return To Capital City
The days passed quietly.
Nan Luo was originally worried that his accidental misspoke would end up badly. However, Long Qian Xing didn't act any different to them after that. He would appear occasionally and accompanied them.
Just like now…
Looking at the young man, who was looking inside from the window, he felt that he really wanted to punch Long Qian Xing.
"We'll arrive soon in the Capital City." Long Qian Xing's eyes landed on the Go board that Feng Ao Kuai and Nan Hua was playing. "You might want to keep it away."
"Is there anything important that happened in the Capital City lately?" Feng Ao Kuai asked as he put his last piece and started counting. Seeing that he was losing again, he felt a bit miserable.
"The gate is a bit crowded."
Feng Ao Kuai furrowed his eyebrows and moved to the window. He peered his head outside and looked at the gate in front of him. Seeing the people who were staying there, he felt a sense of unease.
Nan Hua looked at Long Qian Xing as she felt a sense of coldness from him. "Do you know who they are, Brother Long?"
"Prime Minister Bei."
The moment the name was said, the temperature dropped to the chilling point. Feng Ao Si was staying inside the carriage too, so he could listen. Upon hearing the name, his eyebrows furrowed because his father had warned him to be very careful of this prime minister.
Feng Ao Kuai knew more than his brother, thus his eyes were so cold. If looks could kill, Feng Ao Kuai might have killed that prime minister.
Only Nan Luo was clueless.
Nan Hua lowered her gaze as a glint flashed by her eyes. She knew very well why Long Qian Xing hated Prime Minister Bei so much. This prime minister was the one who held the highest power in Fei Yang Kingdom.
If not because of the palace's system, he might have long schemed to obtain the throne.
Prime Minister Bei had served ever since Emperor Huan's Reign.
Emperor Huan was the title of Yang Zhou's grandfather and also the emperor before Emperor Xuan. The changes of Emperor in Fei Yang Kingdom was quite recent because Emperor Huan was in power until late of age while Emperor Xuan didn't last long because of the conflicts within the palace.
To be exact, he served nearing the end of Emperor Huan's reign. Afterwards, he was the trusted officials and rise to become the Prime Minister during Emperor Xuan's Reign. As for why, it was obviously because of the benefit that he could give to Emperor Xuan.
However, Emperor Yang Zhou hated him.
It was obvious because Prime Minister Bei was the one who held the power in the palace. The officials chose to follow him rather than the Emperor. It caused the power in the court to be split.
A small part supported Emperor Yang Zhou.
Another part supported the second prince.
Another part supported the Empress Dowager.
And lastly, the majority supported Prime Minister Bei.
If Emperor Yang Zhou failed to show that he was the one who had the most power by the time of his coronation, there was no doubt that he would just become a puppet emperor. One who didn't have real power and could only stand at the back as Prime Minister Bei being the one to order around.
"Why is he here?" Feng Ao Kuai asked in a low tone.
"He might be curious as to why I travel with General Nan." Long Qian Xing sneered.
It was obvious that Prime Minister Bei felt a bit worried that the two great general families united. Not to mention, Long Qian Xing could be said to be at Emperor Yang Zhou's side. On the other hand, Nan Family was still in rocky situation.
While there were some problems, it was still a force to be reckoned.
Prime Minister Bei definitely couldn't relax.
Clip! Clop!
They arrived before the gate and went through formality. Old Master Nan was looking in the direction of the prime minister at the side with narrowed eyes. He would be the biggest idiot if he thought that Prime Minister Bei came here just to look around.
"General Nan greets Prime Minister Bei."
Prime Minister Bei was a middle aged man and looked slightly plump. However, the word authority could be seen from him. Not to mention, his mere presence caused quite the pressure to the people around him.
His long moustache and beard was one of the few traits that people always remembered his image to be.
Despite his smile, no one dared to relax around him.
"There's no need to be so formal." Prime Minister Bei laughed. His dark eyes were scanning the group before his eyes landed on Long Qian Xing, who came forward.
"Long Qian Xing from Long Family greets Prime Minister Bei."
"Young Commander Long, right?" Prime Minister Bei smiled and the gaze deepened. "It's quite the surprise to see you return with Great General Nan."
Great General Nan.
Old Master Nan flinched slightly when he heard the greetings. He could no longer be called as great general because of his injury, so many people usually called him only as general.
However, the implication of the man who said it was clear.
Long Qian Xing was calm. "There's an emergency and our troops end up meeting each other. It must be fate that allowed us to be near the incident and clear up the mess, so we choose to travel together."
…
Note:
In case the explanation is a bit difficult above.
Emperor Huan -> Yang Zhou's grandfather
Emperor Xuan -> Yang Zhou's father (the emperor for around 5 years and also at the start of the story)
Emperor Yang Zhou -> this is the current Emperor in the story, Long Qian Xing's study partner.
Since Yang Zhou is not formally an Emperor yet (he's not of age yet since he's only 17 years old), he still didn't have any new title and I use his name to refer to him.