Feng Yu Jiu Tian - Volume 14 - Chapter 5.1

FENG YU JIU TIAN VOLUME 14 CHAPTER 5.1

Obviously, Qing Zhang didn’t have plans to kill Feng Ming inside the carriage.

He didn’t hide any assassins or weapons inside the carriage. He didn’t object to allowing the maids serving them. After boarding the carriage, he was very pleased and enjoyed the special tea from Yong Yin.

Sitting face to face with Qing Zhang, Feng Ming was full of curiosity about this Royal Uncle who had taken over most of his Older Brother’s power, therefore he couldn’t resist to ask, “Royal Uncle must be very busy, so why did you not hesitate to leave the capital of Tong Kingdom to meet up with me?”

QZ: If I didn’t personally came here today, I would be very worried.

FM: Ah? Why do you say that?

QZ: Hasn’t Duke Ming heard of the bad unaccounted news regarding Tong Kingdom’s Great King?

FM: I heard some.

QZ: Well, Tong Kingdom’s Prince Qing Li suspects Duke Ming of killing his father. He vowed that if Duke Ming dares to come to Tong Kingdom, he will make Duke Ming pay in blood. Duke Ming must have heard more or less of it, right?

Ever since Feng Ming set foot on Tong Kingdom, he had seen Tong soldiers with sharp gleaming spears in their hands; therefore, his acting skills couldn’t be rough to give them a reason to train their weapons handling.

He thought about how his success or failure would affect Rong Tian, Lie Zhong Liu, everyone in the Xiao Family, etc… even if his acting skills were not top notch, he would definitely have to force himself to reach its pinnacle.

After hearing Qing Zhang’s words, Feng Ming immediately answered with a dissatisfied tone, “Could it be that Royal Uncle also believes in those rumors? If I did murder Tong Kingdom’s Great King, would I dare to step foot onto the Tong territory? There is no such fool who is not afraid of death, right? I believe that Prince Qing Li is being confused by a troublesome person. I am confident that he will soon be aware of this…” As long as the head in Rong Hu’s possession was not discovered by him…

Seeing him speak in a serious tone, Qing Zhang laughed and waved his hand, “I certainly don’t believe that Duke Ming would be heartless to do such a thing. Also, I don’t believe that my Royal Brother is dead…”

Feng Ming silently thought, of course he doesn’t believe because if he did believe that Qing Ding is dead, then his nephew would ascend the throne as King, taking away the power in his hands.

“….Qing Li is still young, he can be easily vulnerable to other people’s persuasion. I feared that during his moments of confusion, he would do something stupid and rashly ambush Duke Ming. Therefore, after receiving news of Duke Ming reaching the borders of Tong Kingdom, I immediately rushed over here, in order to meet Duke Ming upon your first arrival in Tong Kingdom and to ensure your safety. First reason is to protect Duke Ming. Second, is for the sake of my naive nephew – if he would really kill Duke Ming, how could we face the Xiao Family and Xi Lei’s King? Ah, ever since Royal Brother’s whereabouts are unknown, Qing Li’s temper has become worse each day. Even towards his Royal Uncle, he has become very disrespectful. However, he is still the only flesh and blood of my brother, if I would allow him to commit a huge mistake and my Royal Brother comes back, how am I to explain everything to my brother?”

Speaking sensible words this time along with the helpless look on his face made a very convincing act. (This time speaking sensible words, combined with a helpless look on his face, he was very convincing.)

Feng Ming was very cooperative and gazed at him with grateful eyes.

“Duke Ming,” Qing Zhang said, “I have a favor to ask of you, hopefully Duke Ming can agree.”

Feng Ming slightly trembled inside, he said, “Please ask, Royal Uncle.”

QZ: Qing Li holds a grudge against Duke Ming, but that is because of trickery by others. I urge Duke Ming not to be resentful about this….

FM: Of course.

QZ: ….I also urge Duke Ming that once we reach the capital Tong Ze, you promise to meet with Qing Li, remove all misunderstandings and shake hands.

FM: This…

QZ: Safety is absolutely not a problem. The troops inside Tong Ze are within my control. I would use my head to guarantee Duke Ming’s safety. With me by your side, Qing Li will not dare to touch a single hair of Duke Ming. As long as Duke Ming has the courage to meet with Qing Li just once, it will be enough for those around Qing Li to believe that Duke Ming is innocent. Afterwards, Qing Li won’t be able to do much by himself. Even if he doesn’t come to his senses, he will have no way to cause you much harm.

Feng Ming silently thought about the situation and relations within.

Qing Li wanted to kill him in order to use his life as announcement of the death of Qing Ding, thus, to ascend the throne. For that very same reason, Qing Zhang would absolutely not allow Qing Li to succeed. Therefore, Qing Zhang should be highly interested in Feng Ming’s safety, wasn’t that right?

Moreover, without taking the accuser Qing Li into consideration, why should Qing Zhang want to harm him?

Why should he dare to offend Rong Tian and the Xiao Family for no reason?

Argh! Even though this man’s words were not entirely genuine, but they were partially stating the truth.

Cautious, Feng Ming tried to find out the reason, while answering in a flustered manner, “Royal Uncle’s kindness, Feng Ming doesn’t know how to repay it.”

Qing Zhang’s lips suddenly curved in a strange arc, he chuckled, “Repayment is not as simple. As long as Duke Ming agrees with my two requests, then my kindness would be repaid.”

“Ah?” Feng Ming was dumbfounded at this moment.

Is this a mistake?

This old man was too straightforward.

QZ: It’s just two small requests, I guarantee Duke Ming will complete them without much difficulty.

FM: Uh… what are those two small requests?

QZ: The first one…I hope Duke Ming can switch Fen Cheng port exchange with Fang Di port instead in the future.

Seeing Qing Zhang’s true greed, Feng Ming quickly understood the situation.

The Xiao Family was the world’s largest shipping business and Fen Cheng the biggest pier used. All of the cargo shipped in and out required to pay the local government’s taxes. If all items exchanged at Fen Cheng city were instead from now on shipped to Fang Di, then Tong Kingdom would gain a lot of taxes from the Xiao Family every year.

This was nothing more than wanting a huge bribery because pier taxes were due every year.

This Qing Zhang actually wanted to overtake Yong Yin’s tax business. His reaction was very fast! He must have received news regarding Tai Can - the official in charge of Fen Cheng port, who had disappeared, and guessing that Fen Cheng port’s operation was unstable, he thought changing ports wouldn’t do much harm to the Xiao Family, but the interest would be in his favor. Therefore, he tried to find a method ensuring Feng Ming to agree to this request.

Excellent! If this man was born in modern times, he would definitely be a top businessman.

QZ: In fact, Fang Di is not a bad port. Although it’s a bit dilapidated, but if the roads are widened, coupled with a few expansion repairs, it would be much better than Fen Cheng port.

Feng Ming certainly didn’t want to argue with him regarding this matter, “I will have my subordinates take care of it. As long as the cargos are smoothly handled in Fang Di, then all of the shipments will be handled in Fang Di.”

“Great! Duke Ming is a very easy going/practical person!!” Qing Zhang blossomed when he smiled, he affectionately patted Feng Ming on the shoulder.

FM: The second request….

QZ: The second request is even simplier. I have heard of Duke Ming’s extraordinary beauty and thought that those words were just exaggerated rumors. But seeing you today, Duke Ming is even more vivid than the rumors. The reason why I brought the best artist here is because I want him to paint a portrait of Duke Ming. Of course, I’m afraid that no brushes in the world can capture Duke Ming’s complete grace, but as long as half of your charm is presented, it would still be a masterpiece. If Qing Zhang could have that painting and hang it within the Royal Palace, it would be a great blessing. Don’t know if Duke Ming would agree to this request?

Feng Ming thought long and hard but could not imagine that his handsomeness was to the point of extraordinary. However, if a portrait could exchange for Tong Kingdom Royal Uncle’s kindness, then he wouldn’t mind.

Didn’t know what people had rumored about him, hopefully it was nothing like “beautiful appearance but stupid,” or something like “has a long forehead but no brains?”

FM: You’re too kind, Royal Uncle … I …my appearance is quite ordinary… Having the best artist come and have my portrait hung up in your Royal Palace, I’m afraid I don’t deserve it…

(NOTE: It’s been written in history books and that the best artists granted by the Kings, cannot be easily invited to come and paint a portrait to just anyone.)

QZ: Duke Ming is too humble. Doesn’t Duke Ming know that a portrait of you has been sold at a high price? Portraits that look a bit like you could sell for twenty pieces of gold. If the artist is able to paint a portrait similar to 70-80% of Duke Ming, then that portrait could sell for more than 100 pieces of gold.

FM: What? (Feng Ming’s eyes widened, his mouth dropped in surprise.)

During that moment of surprise, the rotation of the wheel finally came to a stop. One of Qing Zhang’s guards reported, “We’ve finally reached the Banquet, Royal Uncle and Duke Ming please exit the carriage.”

When Feng Ming hadn’t even stepped out of the carriage, Luo Yun and Rong Hu came and ordered several clever guards into the hall, “Prepare Young Lord’s cutlery.” Before Feng Ming sat down to eat, all of the places that were commonly searched had been thoroughly checked.

During the banquet, there were lots of burning incenses inside and not a lot of people. The main ones were only Feng Ming, Qing Zhang and Zhuang Pu. Zhuang Pu was not a talkative type of person and the one doing the most talking was Qing Zhang. He lamented about his Royal Brother, his unworthy nephew, and sang praises about Feng Ming.

Feng Ming occasionally had personable verbal exchanges, but was trying hard to keep himself awake.

After the long banquet night, Feng Ming finally decided to take his leave for the night. When asked where he was going to be resting at, Rong Hu gave Feng Ming a signal to which Feng Ming replied that he would be heading back to the ship to rest.

Qing Zhang didn’t bother to stop him, but asked Feng Ming if he intended to come to Tong Ze. Feng Ming answered that he will.

Tong Ze was the capital of Tong Kingdom. According to the discussion Feng Ming had with Lie Zhong Liu, Tong Ze was one of the destinations he must stop at.

QZ: That is good. I will be traveling the same way as Duke Ming. My ship is also stationed at Fang Di port. Tomorrow morning, please allow my ship to travel alongside with the Xiao fleet. We’ll travel upstream towards Han Ruo. Once we reach Han Ruo, we’ll disembark and travel by foot for four days until we reach Tong Ze.

At this time, Zhuang Pu stood up to report, “Since the Xiao Family has many highly skilled men traveling along the Aman River, I will not have to worry about Duke Ming’s safety. As for me, I will bring another set of troops to follow along the shore and help one another. Once we reach Han Ruo, we’ll join up again. The guards under my command and the guards beside Duke Ming will both escort Royal Uncle and Duke Ming; therefore, the both of you will be guaranteed absolute safety, how about it?”

Luo Yun and Rong Hu, who were responsible for the protection and safety of Feng Ming, had carefully studied the route heading to Tong Ze several times. Following the Aman River to Han Ruo and then travel by land was the easiest and safest way.

Zhuang Pu was Tong Kingdom Imperial General with the important duty of protecting the Tong Kingdom’s Royal Family, so naturally he was an elite senior bodyguard with similar thinking as Luo Yun and Rong Hu.

Rong Hu and Luo Yun exchanged glances, confident of this suggestion.

Feng Ming had become a major factor in Qing Zhang and Qing Li’s power struggle. If Qing Zhang allowed Feng Ming to encounter trouble in Tong Kingdom, not only would he lose that shining light in front of him, but also expose his true face – using unlawful means to take control of the situation in Tong Kingdom.

Ah, these people must be very afraid that Feng Ming will be killed by Qing Li~

FM: For me to travel alongside Royal Uncle is a very good thing.

QZ: Then it’s settled.

After settling on tomorrow’s plans, Feng Ming was glad he finally got out of that boring banquet. He climbed onto the horse carriage with both Rong Hu and Luo Yun right behind to protect him and at the same time exchange their views about the situation.

“Qing Zhang clearly insists on traveling together with Duke Ming, what do you think?”

“According to his reasoning, it does seem that he is protecting the Young Lord’s safety.”

Feng Ming intervened, “Right now, he has to protect me, the situation calls for it. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. This sentence can be used to describe the situation today.”

For Feng Ming to be in alliance with Qing Zhang would undermine Qing Li’s power. To a person who had been accused and vowed to be killed by Qing Li, this was good news.

Of course for Qing Li, not so much.

“Even if Qing Zhang is willing to protect Duke Ming, there is no guarantee that there is not someone from Qing Li’s men among his guards. Right now, whether he is sincere or fake, we must not let our guard down regardless of by water or land, we must strengthen our protection.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

======

Qing Zhang personally escorted Feng Ming to the main door and after seeing his carriage leave in the distance, he returned back to his room.

Quickly returning to his luxurious furnished bedroom, Qing Zhang yawned, while removing his belt, he ordered the female attendants to leave.

Once everyone had left, he shut the door, his eyes suddenly flashed in the darkness without the slightest weariness.

“My Lady? My Lady?” Qing Zhang lit a small candle and walked towards the embroidered bed, then lowered his voice and asked, “My Lady, are you still awake?”

A white jaded hand suddenly stretched out from under the canopy, so beautiful it was thrilling. That hand grabbed hold of Qing Zhang’s shirt and pulled him in to which Qing Zhang gave a gentle “Aiya~” and fell inside the canopy. It was hard to see anything inside. The looming fragrance floated about, tingling his thirst.

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