Dual Cultivation God Returns - Chapter 1050 - 1050: The strength or status
“Ah~, Commander Chen, it is a nice day, isn’t it?”, an Inner Court Elder of the Northern Ridge Sect spoke turning to the side, to look at the blue, almost cloudless sky seen amid the columns of the long terrace-like roofed corridor leading to the entrance of one of the palace gardens, a light smile on his lips`.
He spotted the Armor of the Imperial Guard Commander followed by ten Imperial Guards, appearing from the distant doors of the Imperial Palace annex and swiftly traversing the corridor toward him.
Next to him stood an Inner Court Elder of the Pale River Hall, both Elders accompanied by two Disciples of their Sects.
Not far from them, on the opposite side of the garden entrance stood a General of the Imperial Guard of Tuyin Dynasty with six Imperial Guards he led for the prince’s protection.
Guarding the garden entrance were only four Imperial Guards of the Wei Dynasty working under Chen Hui, though there were more inside the garden, greeting him with an aggrieved look, clearly having failed to stop the prince of the Tuyin Dynasty from entering.
And next to them stood two regular Imperial Guards assigned to guard this garden at all times, who seemingly aided the guests rather than their countrymen in the dispute, and thus had looks of glee and watching a good show.
“I am not inclined to mind the weather”, Chen Hui spoke in an icy, slightly angry tone to the mocking expressions of the Tuyin Dynasty guests.
“Ah~ such a pity, the weather is so nice today though~”, the Elder of the Northern Ridge Sect shook his head with lament.
But as Chen Hui headed straight for the garden entrance, his way was blocked by the Tuyin Dynasty Imperial Guards and their General, “I am sorry, I cannot allow you to enter when His Highness the 2nd Imperial Prince of our Tuyin Dynasty is within with only two guards and some attendants accompanying him”
“Are you out of your mind? Out of my way!”, Chen Hui swiped his hand to the side with a menacing face, the ten subordinates he led also showing angry expressions but maintaining discipline and thus keeping their mouths shut.
“I am afraid I cannot do that”, the General of the neighboring nation shook his head with a widening grin.
“Hahaha, it seems that Commander Chen lacks manners toward guests”, the Elder of the Pale River Hall remarked with a smirk, earning snickers from his two Disciples.
“I am the one in charge of Her Highness’s protection, if you obstruct my way to her, I will consider it a challenge to the Imperial Authority of the Wei Dynasty, and take appropriate measures”, Chen Hui narrowed his eyes, angry but trying to keep his cool.
This made the General of the Tuyin Dynasty finally show an apprehensive look. But then…
“Hah, some protection you did, were it not an insult to my Sister, I would openly question your methods of protection that landed you in a position so inappropriately close to her”, a mocking voice reached them from inside the garden, as a youth appeared followed by an entourage of Imperial Guards and attendants of the Wei Dynasty.
“We greet Your Highness the 8th prince of the Wei Dynasty, Eternal Glory to the Wei Dynasty!”, Chen Hui was forced to bow down cupping his hands, as did everyone else present, speaking the exact same phrase, though the guests of the Tuyin Dynasty did not speak the second part.
“Glory to the Wei Dynasty”, the 8th prince who was only a year older than Wei Yuanjie waved his hand slightly dismissively as he exited the garden, continuing as he approached Chen Hui, “And who are you to consider any of our guest’s actions a ‘challenge to the Imperial Authority of the Wei Dynasty’ as you said? A mere Commander like you? When I am here and say it’s fine?”
“My duty to protect Her Highness has been officially appointed by His Majesty the Emperor himself. Thus obstructing it is-…”
“You dare!!!”, the 8th prince stepped forward, and swung his hand, giving Chen Hui a wide slap, though the latter’s face didn’t even flinch while the prince slightly winced at the painful feeling in his hand, “How dare you mention Imperial Father from your lowly lips to argue with me!!!”
“Commander Chen! You are being unruly!”
“How disrespectful! Are you trying to assert authority against his highness?!”
“If you are ordered to protect her, why weren’t you by her side to begin with? Huh?! Some excellent guardian you are, leaving your target of protection alone!”
“Hah! As if everyone doesn’t know how corrupt you are! You think we don’t know about your sneaky unlawful arrests of some ‘suspicious individuals’ in recent months? Huh?! We will be looking into that!!!”
Shrill voices of Court Officials accompanying the 8th prince filled the terrace-corridor as they pointed accusatory fingers his way.
“With all due respect, Your Highness, even your authority does not trump the will of His Majesty himself. And it was his will for me to protect Her Highness”, Chen Hui clenched his teeth.
He knew they were stalling for time since no one here had the right to stop him from doing his duty, but he couldn’t force his way past a prince of the Wei Dynasty while the latter was talking to him unless it was a true emergency for the princess he was supposed to protect.
He could only argue the law and try to push through by bringing up the Emperor as much as possible.
His remark caused a storm of insults and complaints from the Court Officials, and an enraged look from the 8th prince who didn’t expect Chen Hui to be so direct as to put him in his place with the authority of his father in such straightforward words.
However, this did not make the 8th prince and his entourage give way as they continued to bicker and argue.
Although technically Chen Hui was in the right, it all could be glossed over with the identity of the 8th prince and how things worked in the Imperial Palace, after all, this remote garden with no ‘effective’ witnesses was chosen with this in mind.
Chen Hui, who gradually revealed a steady rise in cultivation and now rose to the rank of Commander, just below General, did not yet possess enough authority to argue with a prince directly, even if he was in the right. If a bigger incident was made out of this situation by a careless action from his side, it would be Chen Hui who would be painted as the wrong side and smeared, subsequently punished.
It could also negatively affect the Princess.
Thus he had to demonstrate a miracle level of restraint, and not escalate, continuing to extremely politely stay on one point of his duty, saying the same thing over and over again.
After some time, however, it all lost meaning as…
“Haa~, so cold hearted…”, another youthful voice resounded from the direction of the garden, and a young man in Imperial Robes of different colors and bearing the Imperial Emblem of Tuyin Dynasty appeared from the entrance to the garden, “But I like it, she’ll learn to respect her future husband soon enough”
The young man was greeted by bows from everyone but the 8th prince, including Chen Hui who could not oppose the etiquette.
The prince of the Tuyin Dynasty only glanced at him dismissively despite knowing who he was to the princess, walking right past him, as he only signaled others to raise their heads but not him.
The foreign prince also sent some kind of sound transmission that made Chen Hui clench his jaws and fists with lowered head.
“Oh! You’re already done talking?”, the 8th prince chuckled, as if greeting a dear friend despite them being a bit apart in ages. It felt like a kid who met an older cooler one and was now trying to act as an equal friend with him, showing the 8th prince’s young age.
“Heh, if you call an hour of me speaking and her being silent talking…”, the 2nd prince of the Tuyin Dynasty slightly lethargically replied, not acting as friendly as the 8th prince, but not too distant either, “But what can she do even if she doesn’t agree? It’s not her decision to make”
“Hahaha, that’s right”, the 8th prince laughed a bit louder than necessary, hurrying after the foreign prince.
The Elders and Disciples of the foreign Sects and the Imperial Guards passed by Chen Hui with ridiculing expressions and low-voiced snickers.
He only waited until the distance was right until he no longer had to stand with a lowered head, and instantly moved forward with brisk steps. The look in his eyes wiping away the smiles of the two regular Imperial Guards guarding the entrance of the garden as he passed in between them.
“Your Highness!”, he soon was near the princess who stood silently watching the pond.
“Commander Hui…”, she turned with a melancholic look, clearly relieved to see him, “The 8th prince’s Mother, Concubine Luoshi summoned me here saying that her Family Head was present and demanded my presence, so I could not decline even if I knew it was a trap…”
“I heard”, he nodded, “Just like me being summoned by the Supreme General to separate us in the first place, they timed everything exactly… those bastards…”
His hand turned into a fist that made the gauntlet he was wearing produce sharp metallic sounds, and she instantly put her hand on top to try and quell his anger as she looked into his eyes.
“Oh~, it seems you two have made more progress~. You look good together”, a familiar voice resounded not far from them, as a man with a small white fox on his shoulder came out from behind the nearby trees.
“W-Wu Lo-… WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!”, Chen Hui’s angry eyes suddenly brightened as he turned to the side where he heard the voice from with a face that was about to show relief, but froze with widening eyes of shock instead.
“Ouch, you could’ve just congratulated me”, Wu Long chuckled.
“C-congratulations o-on your a-advancement, D-daoist Wu”, Princess Wei Zhenhui lowered her head in greeting, slightly stuttering as she was almost as surprised by his new looks as Chen Hui.
The latter worriedly looked at his lover at the sight of such a face, or rather such appearance overall, cursing inside to have both the luck and curse to know Wu Long.
“S-so you really were in the Mortal Transcendence Realm before?”, Chen Hui finally admitted this annoyingly relaxed tone of voice amid such a catastrophic situation could only belong to Wu Long, as well as realised this dramatic change in appearance that came along with an aura of Essence Awakening Realm made it more likely he really did advance instead of just revealing his higher cultivation that Chen Hui suspected him concealing before.
“I told you so”, Wu Long smiled, coming closer, and then placed a hand on Chen Hui’s shoulder plate, looking him up and down, “Look at you, the armor of a Commander Suits you well. Though you’ll be changing it for a General’s armor soon”
“That is, unfortunately, unlikely”, the princess sighed with a frustrated look, “We did reveal Commander Hui’s cultivation at Essence Ignition Realm yesterday as you told us to do, to stall the marriage talks, but there was strong opposition from almost all princes to promote him to General even if he meets the cultivation realm criteria, citing he does not have enough achievements”
“That is, until now”, Wu Long nodded, “You both forgot the significant achievement he made… or rather, will make soon, or rather, tonight”
Two pairs of confused eyes looked at him, as he realized they had so much on their hands lately, that it completely went out of their heads.
“Tonight you will lead a raid on a Corrupt Path lair hidden under the capital”, Wu Long reminded Chen Hui, as the two showed different reactions.
Chen Hui’s was a mixture of pleasant surprise and only slight confusion, while the princess revealed a sharp worry, biting her lower lip, since unlike Chen Hui she believed the lair to still be active.
Perhaps before she wouldn’t be so conflicted about it as it was helping her gain power as well as to make their marriage possible, but now as her feelings for him grew she wasn’t cheering it on as much.
However, both Chen Hui and Wu Long knew it was better for her to believe the raid was real and was conducted by Chen Hui, so Wu Long simply added, “Don’t worry, I will help as much as I can from the shadows. There’s no danger at all”
This slightly eased the worry of the princess. She did not know the extent, but she knew he was very powerful and had a lot of unusual methods. Not to mention, the man that Wu Long sent to guard them for a while, Li Weifang, was a powerful warrior in 3rd level of Essence Ignition Realm.
“Anyway, I’m not exactly on a stroll here either, since I have places to be as well”, Wu Long’s tone shifted to a bit more business-like one, “Lead the princess back to her palace and come out to our usual place to have a talk, also, give orders to your subordinates to prepare for tonight, the full extent of forces that you can control”
“Eh? You’re in a hurry?”, Chen Hui raised his eyebrows seeing Wu Long being not so relaxed practically for the first time.
“What do you think? That I’m here because I have nothing to do? I ran here basically as soon as I heard from you. You happy? I arrived in the city just as you were meeting, so I came right away without even shedding off the dust from the road. That said, I was in the middle of settling things where I came from, and still have a lot to do, so let’s get moving”, Wu Long made a light laugh seeing that Chen Hui thought he was here on a picnic or something.
“F-from the Soft Meadow Continent…?”, both Chen Hui and the princess showed surprise, then bewildered, and then finally disbelieving and doubting looks, both having assumed he was already on the way here when he received their message and that he was in Emerald Falls City to settle his own business or something similar.
“Yes, from there. Now hurry up and go on”, Wu Long didn’t want to waste time arguing with the two, waiving his hand in a shooing motion, surprising Chen Hui even more with how impatient he was unlike his usual laid-back demeanor.
“Are you really Wu L-…”
“Chen Hui…”
“Okay! Okay! Alright! I’m going! No need to call my name in such a scary voice. I’m walking away, see?”, Chen Hui hurriedly took the princess’s hand and placed it on his arm, leading her away.
“Haa~, seriously~”, Wu Long shook his head with a wry smile, and disappeared from the spot, returning to the city where Old Yen, Nie Guanting, and Kwon Qianhong were already busy searching for a mansion in the capital that they could buy out discreetly.
