Chapter 45: This Young Master Meets A Peacock

The bluster of the Elders was strangled and they scrambled to be the first to bow after Shen Jianyu’s appearance. Lan Fen dragged him to bow so low he couldn’t even raise his eyes to see the prince. The rest of the crowd quickly followed suit. Praises and hails rang through the air and he trembled beneath the weight of them.

Chen Haoran’s mind raced seeing Song Yuelin’s reaction. He hadn’t been this worried even when the City Lord was threatening to kill them. Lan Fen panicked before entering the palace and then a prince of the Empire appeared. Song Yuelin panicked, the prince being here was bad for them. Why? Was it because of the deal the Chen family had with the City Lord? They had hidden it from the various forces in the City, were they hiding it from the Empire too? Was it something the Empire shouldn’t know period?

“You may rise,” Shen Jianyu said. He did not pitch his voice with qi. It did not matter. Every cultivator here would strain their ears to not miss a word. “You must be wondering why you were told to come here.” He smiled. Chen Haoran heard more than one breath hitch. “I was in the area and heard it was playing host to a Palace Exam.” He nodded to the Exam Official.

Was he really here for the exams? Were there going to be some additional tests added? What was so special about them that royalty would get involved?

“I heard that the exam was rather important to the people here,” Shen Jianyu continued. “So I canceled them.”

What?

A wave passed through the crowd, the sheer disbelief almost manifesting into something physical. Lan Xishen shuddered, Lan Yao widened her eyes, Lan Fen pressed her lips into a tight line, Song Yuelin was carefully blank-faced, Xie Jin openly gaped. The City Lord and Exam Official seemed just as surprised as they were.

“You’re welcome,” Shen Jianyu said.

“Your Highness I must protest,” the Exam Official said. “This is unprecedented!”

“What is so unprecedented about me using my royal authority to decide on matters established by royal authority?”

“This is an overreach, your Highness.”

“Send a memorial to the court then. Let me know when you find someone who cares.”

The Exam Official’s face pinched into something ugly but she ultimately stood down. Shen Jianyu looked down at the gathered elite of Clearsprings City with boredom. It started to dawn that he was serious, the exam would indeed be canceled.

“Is this it?” Shen Jianyu asked the City Lord.

“This should be the majority of the participants Your Highness,” the City Lord bowed and answered.

“Perhaps I’m doing the Palace School a favor then. I canceled the Exams because everyone was trash, that would be a good enough excuse don’t you think?”

The City Lord bowed even lower. “As you say.”

Had the prince really canceled the exams on a whim? Just to be a dick?

Shen Jianyu chuckled. “Are you annoyed with me?”

“Never!” the City Lord squawked.

“This Exam would have been good for your record though. I would hate to mar your sterling reputation.” Shen Jianyu snapped his fingers. “It would waste too much time to send them back to the Exam site. How about we hold the Exam here instead?”

The City Lord paled. “There is no need Your Highness! None here are fit for the Palace School. It’s only by the Empire’s grace that they are allowed a chance at all.”

“We’ll do as you say then,” Shen Jianyu said.

Their conversation didn’t go over well. Chen Haoran could see Lan Xishen grit his teeth, the other elders didn’t look better. The youth were even worse, he saw more than a few veins popping as they held in their anger. It was understandable, their opportunity for advancement was stolen from them and they were forced to stand and listen to their rulers insult them. They remained silent however, they all did. This was the power of the Empire, that just a single prince could change the fate of Clearsprings City on a whim.

This wasn’t going to do the City Lord any favors however, the situation in the city was already delicate and Shen Jianyu would not stay here forever. The people here would remember the City Lord’s words and take them back to their families. Perhaps that was the prince’s intention? To drive a wedge between the City Lord and the major powers of the city.

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Chen Haoran gripped Lan Fen’s hand tighter. That didn’t bode well for him if the prince was really here for the City Lord. If the Chen family’s deal with him was exposed then Chen Haoran would be the first to suffer the consequences.

“Alright,” Shen Jianyu sighed. “This has been rather boring.” He casually waved them away. “You all may leave, if you have any complaints then send a memorial to the Palace.”

They bowed once more to the prince and turned on their heels. The anger that had carried them into the city had been punctured and they left deflated and defeated. Song Yuelin dragged Chen Haoran and Lan Fen away as soon as they expired the palace. Xie Jin hesitated whether to follow them or not but a single glare from Song Yuelin rooted him in place. Chen Haoran looked at him apologetically but couldn’t say more in the face of Song Yuelin’s urgency.

“Who was that?” Chen Haoran demanded as they sped through the streets.

“Shen Jianyu, thirteenth prince of the Empire, ” Song Yuelin tightly replied. “A dangerous, insane bastard.”

“Is that bad for us? Is he here for us?”

“I don’t know,” Song Yuelin snapped. He grabbed Chen Haoran and Lan Fen’s wrists and ducked into an alley. Liquid shadow bubbled out from his sleeves and draped over them like a cloak. Chen Haoran had no time to adjust to the sudden blindness when Song Yuelin suddenly accelerated.

He could only liken the experience to being whipped around on a roller coaster through a dark tunnel. He couldn’t tell if his feet were planted on the ground or if Song Yuelin was dragging him through the air like some sort of trailing flag. The shadows cloaking him blocked the wind force of the no doubt ludicrous speed Song Yuelin was going at, just as it blocked sight, feeling, or any sense of being anywhere. The only things Chen Haoran could feel were his thoughts and the yellow qi coursing through him, qi and mind. In Song Yuelin’s shadow he was just a skeleton of meridians and the shaking mind within it, waiting for the darkness to recede so he could put his skin back on again.

He felt sick.

The shadows receded and Chen Haoran was a man again. His knees gave out, the sudden halt of motion combined with the blinding assault of light and stunned him. He reached for his qi to clear away the pains, but his stomach roiled and he bent over and vomited. He blinked away the tears in his eyes as his senses returned to him and spit out the sour in his stinging throat before sitting up.

They were in an alley, one of the city gates was in view outside its entrance. It was the same gates Chen Haoran used for all his trips into the Clearsprings Mountains. Song Yuelin and Lan Fen stood before him. Lan Fen looked fine despite being just as unprepared as he was, and a bitter part of his mind was not surprised.

“I apologize for the discomfort Young Master Chen but the situation called for it,” Song Yuelin said. He reached out a hand but Chen Haoran slapped it away and shakily rose by himself.

“What situation?” Chen Haoran hissed. “You haven’t explained anything! You don’t even know what’s going on!”

“Whatever the reason for Shen Jianyu to appear here is, it won’t be good for us if we catch his attention,” Song Yuelin patiently explained.

“If he were here for us he would have done something when we were in the City Lord’s palace,” Chen Haoran retorted. “He’s probably here for the City Lord, you saw how he was fucking with the guy.”

“Yes,” Song Yuelin agreed. “And how much confidence do you have in the City Lord that he won’t expose us if pressed?”

“He’s a Crystal-” Chen Haoran began but his words died as realization came over him. Nothing that had been said about the City Lord painted him as reliable. “Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that? Would the Chen family really make a deal with such a flaky bastard?”

Song Yuelin was grim. “An Imperial prince personally appearing in the region was beyond our expectations.” He sighed. “We may yet be safe but it’s better to be cautious and lay low for the time being.”

Chen Haoran frowned and looked at the gates. “Why did you not bring us to the manor?”

“We will be leaving Clearsprings City until the situation either blows over or blows up,” Song Yuelin answered.

A harsh screeching filled the air and they looked over to Lan Fen dragging her nails across the alley wall and leaving long white marks on the brick

She folded her arms and looked at Song Yuelin calmly. “When did I agree to leave with you?”

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