Realms In The Firmament

Ye Xiao was delighted and asked with a smile, “By the way, did the Crown Prince invite you?”

Zuo Wu-Ji rolled his eyes at Ye Xiao, but his face showed jealousy, “No, he didn’t.”

Ye Xiao laughed loudly, “He didn’t? He didn’t invite Lang-Lang too. It seems that the Crown Prince only invited me. Hahahahaha. The Crown Prince sure has sincerity…”

Zuo Wu-Ji’s face turned green, “Yes. Yes. He values you a lot…”

“Ahahahahahah…” Ye Xiao stroked his horse and left in a flash.

So, all along his way, everyone came to know that… the son of the great General Ye, Ye Xiao, was invited to dinner by the Crown Prince to discuss some troublesome national affairs.

“Why would the Crown Prince invite that foppish lord for dinner? He is one of the ‘three lords in town’. What kind of national affair could the Crown Prince discuss with him…”

“Huh. You don’t know shit! He is a foppish fool indeed, but his father, General Ye is not…”

“That’s true…”

“The Crown Prince invited Ye Xiao for dinner. Would he be doing this for anything else? You know, although Ye Xiao is a foppish fool, he really has a pretty face…”

“Well that… Heh heh heh… Better not gossip…”

“Oh. It just came out from my heart. We shouldn’t gossip indeed. Hahahaha…”

“Er huh. Er huh.”

…

It was in the Crown Prince’s Palace.

The Crown Princess was in a white mourning dress. She was sitting on the chair and her eyes were cold. It made her look pretty and delicate.

“Is Ye Xiao coming soon?” In her eyes, there existed an aura of hostility.

[My brother just died.

He might have perished at the hands of Ye Xiao; maybe not…

But it was because of Ye Xiao after all.

My uncle brought people of my clan to take revenge, yet eight of the men died in the house of Ye.

And then all our men in the capital died outside the city wall. All dead…

With such intense and deep-seated hatred, how could I just let it go!]

“Very soon.” The Crown Prince frowned and said, “The truth will be revealed tonight… Take it easy.”

“I don’t care about the truth. He must die!” The Crown Princess wore an expression of madness, she was desperate for blood. Her pretty face was already a little bit twisted. Her hatred for Ye Xiao had seeped deep into her bones.

“Is it really necessary?!” The Crown Prince was displeased and countered, “We don’t know what exactly had happened. It might not be Ye Xiao’s fault. Even if he wanted to do those things, he doesn’t have that capability.”

“I don’t care. Even if he didn’t do it, I want him dead!” The Crown Princess gritted her teeth.

The Crown Prince held his forehead and frowned. He was annoyed, “You are unbelievable!”

“Would my brother die if not because of him? How would dozens of men from our clan come here if not because of him? If they didn’t come, they wouldn’t have been killed! If not because of him, how could the four guards of mine die?” The Crown Princess shouted, not at all willing to listen to reason.

The Crown Prince sighed and murmured, “You have gone mad…” He turned around and left.

When he was about to go through the door, a guard reported, “Your highness, Ye Xiao is heading to the Crown Prince’s Palace. He is proudly telling everyone on the way that the Crown Prince has invited him for dinner to discuss national affairs… So far, people in every place he has passed has become aware of it now. They all believe that Ye Xiao is coming here to have dinner and discuss national affairs…”

“…”

The Crown Prince heard him and staggered. His face turned green and he cursed in a low voice, “Bastard!”

Behind him, the Crown Princess was opening her mouth. She was also astonished…

[This Ye Xiao is truly surprising, isn’t he?

Nothing happened yet, and he had told the world everything.

Now in the whole capital, whoever has ears knows about this news!

I invited you for dinner?!

Yes, fine. Even though I have invited you for dinner, when the hell did I say anything about national affairs? You foppish prick! What national affair could I possibly discuss with you? Are you underestimating my IQ, or are you just a moron?]

The Crown Prince was upset.

“This Ye Xiao is really detestable! Does he think that after he spreads such rumors, we will not do anything to hurt him? Who the hell does he think he is?!” The Crown Princess’s face was full of hatred. The killing intent in her voice was undisguised.

“We cannot do anything to him indeed. He is the only son of Ye Nan-Tian. That’s enough to be a reason…” The Crown Prince rubbed his head because of a headache.

“So that’s the first reason we cannot do anything to him. The second one is… I am afraid there is a very wise man supporting him. We have to make another plan if we are to go against him!”

The Crown Prince smiled bitterly, “The force of the foppish fool is something we cannot underestimate… He just told something to people and it is causing us trouble…”

Speaking of that, he was suddenly enlightened. A thought entered his mind, [Maybe, Ye Xiao is not really a stupid foppish young lord; in fact he is very smart!]

“The situation is quite clear. People who already know of our attitude towards him certainly know about the purpose of my invitation. Yet for those who barely know the truth, they would certainly hold a question in mind. ‘To cozy up to the son of a great general, what does the Crown Prince intend to do?’ My two younger brothers must be paying attention to us now.”

He smiled, “This Lord Ye made such a move. It is awesome really. On the surface he is showing off that he is invited by me. In fact he was thinking deeper than that. He is getting us into trouble. It can keep him safe. At the same time he can rather enjoy the dinner this time… That is not some ordinary strategy.”

The Crown Princess frowned and spoke lightly, “Enjoy? I will see what a smart guy this Ye Xiao is! I want to see how he can enjoy at our place!”

She spoke with gritted teeth.

…

After a while, someone reported.

“Your highness. Ye Xiao is at the gate.”

The Crown Prince was in high spirits and said, “Open the gate. Show Lord Ye in. I will be greeting him in the middle hall.”

The Crown Princess humphed, “I am going too.”

Both of them prepared to greet Ye Xiao. It seemed they were showing great respect to him.

However, they were surely not intending to show respect…

They stood at the entrance to the middle hall and they saw a guy wearing in white coming over from the gate.

Following the guard, he was swinging along. He looked like he was trying to show an attitude of ‘I am calm’, ‘I am handsome’, ‘I am indifferent’. Yet within, he couldn’t help feeling proud.

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess heard the guy’s voice coming over, “I really never thought that the Crown Prince would invite me for dinner. Hahahaha… That is in fact very reasonable. I am standing high in the city right now… I have read much for all my years. I know clearly about tactics and battles. I know all about all about the ancient philosophers. I have always been hiding my talent. That’s all… Hahaha. I thought I lacked scope for my abilities and I should just waste my talent for this life. Yet the Crown Prince really has a pair of sharp eyes. He can see the best out of the ordinary. He can just find the best man no matter where he is. The real gold will shine anyway. Hahahahaha…”

His voice sounded humble at the beginning. Yet he failed to keep it that way. He had sprouted a pair of wings at the end. One didn’t need to look at him; only by hearing what he had said, one could easily imagine what he looked like at the moment.

If he didn’t have the two balls between his legs, he would have flown up to the air already…

The Crown Prince’s face immediately turned blue.

[You? Read much? Know about tactics and battles?

Hiding your talent?

You are… the best?

Real gold will shine among the shit…

I am the Crown Prince so I am not allowed to curse. But I am about to lose control now!]

The Crown Princess’s face was twisting ever so slowly.

[Such a stupid man could really kill my brother?! Or… my brother could die because of him?

That really is an injustice…]

While Ye Xiao came closer, they finally saw the face of the Lord Ye.

He had a hair knot on his head. It seemed he had tried to bind it well, yet it was a bit skew somehow… A little bit skewed though; not a lot...

It looked weird anyway.

He didn’t bind up all his hair. He left some threads hanging to his left shoulder. The hair came down along his left cheek, dangling, giving off an aura of wickedness.

The weird hair type had already made the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess feel odd.

The weird hair type was truly… unique in the world!

And then they looked at his face… Hmm. He was handsome, with long eyebrows, big and vigorous eyes, sharp nose, pretty face, small and pink lips on his mouth…

He was dressed in white, which made him look elegant. Hmm. If he was not walking in obvious splayfoot way and swinging his body, he could be much better looking…

“Lord Ye.” The Crown Prince raised his hand to show his greeting.

“Ahahaha… The Crown Prince. Your highness. I have heard many praises about you. It is my fortune to finally meet you today.” Ye Xiao greeted seriously with a face full of smiles, “It is said that in dangerous situation, it shows the true hearts of men, while in an unstable period, it reveals the loyalty of men. You can invite me for dinner at this troublesome period. There must be something important you want to discuss with me? Don’t worry. I will tell everything I know and give you my true opinions… I will try my best to exclude the difficulty and anxiety, your highness.”

He looked rather sincere with a humble voice. He looked like he was in a state of ‘a man will die for his bosom friend and I owe you for being understanding and treating me well’ kind of attitude.

He raised his hand and showed the bag of fruit to them, “Your highness. There is a small gift for you for this first honored meeting. It is a bag of fruits. The saying is quite good, that when dropping in, one needs a gift for the meeting… Heh heh. I have tried the fruit. They are quite fresh and delicious. Please accept my gift…”

…

This chapter is sponsored by Nathanael Casas-perez.

Translated by - Rain

Edited by - Alpha