Chapter 945: A Hidden Chess Piece

Leng Tao was riding on a huge horse with his plump body in a straight and upright posture, but hung his head low and had a reluctant expression on his face. He had two protectors following closely beside him and one of them was Qiao San.

There were four more protectors trailing behind them. Chu Li recognized one of the four protectors as a Grandmaster from Crouching Bull Mountain too. It seemed like this Young Lord Zhuge Tian’s words had been quite effective. Qiao San had come after all.

“Your Royal Highness, take a look behind and see who has come!” Qiao San quickly whispered with excitement and delight upon noticing Xiao Shi and her companions. “It’s the Imperial Residence of King An!”

“Sister Leng Qiu?” Leng Tao’s face lit up as he immediately turned his head to look behind him.

When he saw Leng Qiu, who was riding on her horse with her body in an upright position, his expression instantly turned into one of joy. He laughed heartily and said, “I didn’t expect such a coincidence to happen. We really ran into Sister Leng Qiu!”

After he had finished speaking, he pulled on his reins and turned his horse around before spurring it forward in the direction he had come from. Soon, he reached the front of the group from King An’s Imperial Residence.

Liu Xing and the other protectors at the front of the group blocked his way with expressionless faces. They stood in his path in an imposing manner but did not speak.

Leng Tao reined in his horse and then glared at them in dissatisfaction while waving his plump, fair hand around. “Get out of my way. I have something to say to Sister Leng Qiu!”

Liu Xing and the others sat motionless on their horses, which seemed to remain rooted to their spots like statues as well.

The protectors stared coldly at Leng Tao. Among them, Zhu Tianhua’s gaze appeared to be especially menacing.

When Leng Tao noticed Zhu Tianhua’s tall and burly figure, he said disdainfully, “Zhu Tianhua, you traitor, how dare you glare at me!”

“Prince Tao, please conduct yourself with dignity!” Zhu Tianhua replied with a huff.

“Wow, you’re rather bold. Who gave you the nerve to contradict me?!” Leng Tao cast him a sideways glance and scoffed. “Have you not learned from your mistakes!”

“Prince Tao seems as spirited as always.” Chu Li had gently bumped his legs against his horse’s sides to move a few steps forward. When he appeared in Leng Tao’s field of vision, he held up a fist salute with a faint smile on his face.

Immediately, Leng Tao’s expression changed slightly while his body flinched involuntarily.

He had kept his gaze fixated on Leng Qiu and had not been paying attention to anyone else, so he had not noticed Chu Li’s presence.

Chu Li had been absent quite a few times during the previous Hunting Ceremonies. Everyone in Fairy’s Capital knew that Head Chief Chu had gone into isolated cultivation and that he would not be appearing in the city for a short while.

Leng Tao had never expected to run into Chu Li again.

Chu Li’s faint smile remained on his face. “May I know what business has brought you here, Prince Tao?”

“It’s nothing!” Leng Tao hurriedly replied. Then, as he soon realized that he had been behaving too weakly, he cleared his throat and said, “I just came to say hi. I’d like to say hello to Sister Leng Qiu. Our friendship has developed after our previous fights.”

“Indeed, friends are often made after a fight.” Chu Li came closer to size Qiao San up, who was still beside Leng Tao. “Where did you get this guy from?”

Qiao San scoffed and muttered, “You’re Head Chief Chu, aren’t you? His Royal Highness has a respectable status. As a mere chief, I don’t think you’re qualified to interfere with the affairs of the royal family members from the Imperial Residences. You should get out of the way!”

“Hehe…” Chu Li started to laugh as he shook his head and said, “You’re very loyal. You’re quite bold as well!”

He turned to look at Leng Tao. “Prince Tao, is this how your protectors usually behave?”

Leng Tao huffed and replied, “Although his words sound rather harsh, what he said makes a lot of sense. Am I not allowed to even speak to Sister Leng Qiu? As far as I can recall, you’re not my third uncle but a mere chief, right?”

“Your Royal Highness has improved a lot.” Chu Li nodded. “Alright then. I shall go and inform her. Please wait here.”

“Thank you!” Leng Tao replied with an arrogant huff.

He felt like he had finally won a round against Chu Li and consequently became proud of himself. He gave Qiao San an approving glance, and Qiao San grinned happily.

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Chu Li maneuvered the reins and gently bumped his legs against his horse’s sides again to turn his horse around and make his way back to Leng Qiu and the other ladies. Then, he smiled and said, “Prince Tao seems to have fallen for Miss Qiu. Would you like to go and say hello to him?”

“Why would I do that!” Leng Qiu pursed her red lips into a pout.

Leng Qing said, “Younger Sister, give him a good scolding when you get the chance to do so!”

“… Fine.” Leng Qiu agreed to the suggestion after giving it some thought. “Head Chief, that protector of his called Qiao San is especially annoying!”

“How is he annoying?” Chu Li asked.

“He has a cunning look in his eyes. It’s easy to tell that he’s not a good person. Moreover, he behaves very rudely, as if he’s capable of defeating us at any moment,” Leng Qiu muttered with a huff.

“It seems like he came from the mountains then.” Chu Li nodded. “He doesn’t have much respect for imperial power, but it’s okay. We’ll find an opportunity to teach him to fear us!”

A smile appeared on Leng Qiu’s face.

Leng Qing said, “Head Chief, you have to be careful. This guy is crafty and treacherous!”

Chu Li nodded before he raised his voice and said, “Liu Xing, allow Prince Tao to come over, but he can only come alone!”

“Understood!” Liu Xing and the others gave a fist salute.

Xue Ningyu, Song Liuying, Xiao Shi, and Xiao Qi sat quietly on their horses but were looking over at them with amused smiles. Since the main purpose of the Hunting Ceremony was to allow the young men and women in the royal family to socialize and interact with one another, they would not easily intervene.

Qiao San glared at Liu Xing and the other protectors but did not cause any more trouble. He gave a fist salute. “Please be careful, Your Royal Highness.”

Leng Tao took a deep breath and nodded. He seemed as though he was about to enter a tiger’s den.

Indeed, he was anxious and frightened. When Chu Li had been absent, he had felt very relaxed and at ease, even though Leng Qiu and the others had been giving him the cold shoulder. He did not mind being scolded and beaten up by them at all. However, the moment Chu Li showed up, he immediately began to feel uneasy and uncomfortable, as if he was now in a dangerous situation.

Leng Tao had become traumatized by the experience after Chu Li beat him up a few times. When he saw Chu Li smiling at him, he felt his confidence slipping away.

Chu Li ignored Leng Tao and went to circle Qiao San instead.

Naturally, Qiao San could not recognize him. Back then, when he had taken on the identity of Zhuge Tian, he had sent Qiao San to the Imperial Residence of King Cheng. Now, it seemed like he had made the right move. Qiao San had gained Leng Tao’s confidence and had become his trusted subordinate.

Qiao San’s identity as a disciple of Crouching Bull Mountain was sufficient to convince King Cheng to trust and use him in any way he liked.

The Imperial Residence would only dare to recruit people like Qiao San, who had a clean background and came from a well-known sect. For those who had an unclear background, the Imperial Residence would most likely refuse to associate themselves with such people to avoid getting themselves into trouble. At most, they would use such people once and only when necessary.

As Leng Tao came before Leng Qiu and Leng Qing, he smiled stiffly and gave a fist salute. “Sister Leng Qiu, it’s been a while.”

“We saw each other ten days ago!” Leng Qiu replied impatiently. “I say, Leng Tao, just hurry up and tell me whatever you have to say. Stop wasting our time with all this blabbering!”

“Ahem.” Leng Tao began to relax when he saw this familiar expression on Leng Qiu’s face. He smiled and said, “Actually, I don’t have anything in particular to tell you. I just wanted to come over and say hi. Sister Leng Qiu has become more beautiful now.”

“I’m aware of that. You’re still blabbering!”

“This time, the Hunting Ceremony will be hosted by Granduncle Bao again,” Leng Tao said. “Additionally, Fourth Aunt will be attending the ceremony too.”

“Fourth Aunt will be joining us too?” Leng Qiu looked surprised.

Their fourth aunt was the wife of King Ping. She rarely ever left King Ping’s Imperial Residence. Although she still kept in touch with the other Imperial Residences, she appeared to be rather indifferent toward them, as though she looked down on them.

“Of course!” Leng Tao said proudly. “Fourth Aunt seldom comes out to join us after all. I’ve intentionally asked around to find out about this.”

“Humph, you don’t have any other skills. You’re only good at gossiping!” Leng Qiu scoffed. “Alright, we need to hurry on with our journey now. We don’t have the time to gossip with you. Move aside!”

“Let’s travel together.” Leng Tao grinned cheekily.

“No thanks!” Leng Qiu waved her hand impatiently to dismiss him. “Get out of the way. Stop blocking our path!”

As soon as she finished speaking, she bumped her horse’s sides with her legs and moved forward.

The protectors in front of them moved forward too. However, Leng Tao shamelessly stayed beside Leng Qiu and kept fawning over her.