The Empress's No.1 Lackey-Chapter 452 - 369, An Arrow Breaks the Python Dragon Flag_2

Duan Shuiliu contemplated that if it were a one-on-one duel, he would not fear Tributor, who had already started to decline from his peak strength.

But if he also had to deal with the watchful Lang Shiba and Ji Yue nearby, a single misstep could lead to a real possibility of dying in regret here.

Naturally, retrieving the treasure armor had become an unattainable dream.

"Senior Duan..."

Xu Jinglong looked anxiously towards him, feeling a slight sinking in his heart. He then saw the martial arts expert, who had a close association with his father, shake his head and then, unexpectedly, bow with his hands clasped, leaving behind just one sentence:

"I shall visit another day."

Following that, the notoriously ruthless man actually sank his knees and, like a cannonball, fled far away.

While in midair, he casually pulled a wooden hairpin from his hairpiece, threw it into the water, and with light steps on the wooden hairpin as if it were a bamboo chopstick, he used it as a boat to escape into the distance.

He ran away...

"Are the experts of Martial Emperor City all so unburdened?" Zhao Douan marvelled.

There was Chai Keqiao who had been captured when challenging others, hiding in the Imperial Prison and stubbornly refusing to come out to avoid enemies.

And there was Duan Shuiliu, who, upon being outmatched, turned and ran without any nonsense.

"Aren't they afraid of losing face if this gets out?" Zhao Douan wondered.

Eunuch Hai glanced at him and spoke indifferently:

"Otherwise, how do you think he got the reputation of being undefeated since descending the mountain? Don't listen to the fabricated tales told in the teahouses. The real people of Jianghu are very astute. Who would be so foolish as to throw away decades of cultivation over a few words of reputation?"

"...Fair enough."

By this time, with Duan Shuiliu's retreat, the oppressive atmosphere of the standoff began to ease.

Everyone understood that a fight was no longer going to happen.

"Your Highness..." The private army commander couldn't help but speak out.

Xu Jinglong's complexion was sullen, but the scene before him wasn't entirely unexpected. He coldly commanded:

"Order to set sail and return."

"Yes!"

However, just as the warship was about to leave, Zhao Douan's voice rolled over again. He chuckled:

"Is the Princely Heir leaving just like that?"

His tone turned cold from the laughter in the next sentence:

"Xu Jinglong, did I allow you to leave?"

At the top deck of the warship, the Princely Heir, who was just about to turn around and go back inside, froze in his movements and slowly turned back. The face wrapped in a fox fur collar, whether from annoyance or the cold wind, was slightly reddened:

"Zhao Douan! Don't push your luck!"

Zhao Douan said calmly:

"Xu Jinglong, I have no interest in verbal combat with you. You can blame today's incident on Duan Shuiliu for all I care. But to come and go as you please is to blatantly disregard His Majesty's authority."

Xu Jinglong, suppressing his anger, stated stiffly, "What do you want to do?"

"I'm not doing anything," Zhao Douan said eerily, "but it would be impolite not to return the gesture."

He suddenly opened his right hand and said, "Bring me a bow."

Before anyone could react, the nimbly-minded Shen Juan took a step forward and handed over a pear wood bow.

Accepting it with some regret for its simplicity, Zhao Douan expertly bent the bow, nocked an arrow, and lifted it amidst gasps. He aimed it at the top deck of the massive warship.

Then, without giving the other side time to react, the bowstring vibrated with a "whoosh"!

The top of the warship, the yellow and black Python Dragon Flag of Prince Jing's private army, was struck and tore down!

The flag fell, tumbling into the river before everyone's eyes, raising a spray of water.

Zhao Douan dropped the wooden bow and laughed heartily, his spirits soaring:

"Roll on back and give my regards to the Prince, tell him I'll be visiting in person shortly!"

Xu Jinglong's face turned extremely ugly. The private army of Prince Jing Mansion all changed color!

The scene of cutting down the general and breaking the flag was a daunting display of power. They had lost all their face.

"Set sail!" Xu Jinglong gritted through his teeth and then immediately walked back into the cabin.

Soon, the colossal ironclad warship cleaved through the waves, sailing far away. It had come with grandeur and prestige, but left in a hasty retreat.

...

...

In the distance, on the mountain side.

At the towering "Observation Platform."

The corpulent Prince Huaian, known as the "Gourmet Prince," slowly lowered the spyglass in his hand and exclaimed in amazement:

"It seems the excitement at Hu Ting is just beginning."

Xu Qian, also a Princely Heir but of a very different temperament from Xu Zudi and Xu Jinglong, frowned:

"Is this Zhao Douan really so arrogant? To shoot down the Python Dragon Flag is an insult."

Xu Junling, graceful in manner, walked over to stand beside his father and brother, feeling a hint of smugness:

"I always said that Xu Jinglong's insistence on staging this spectacle would only bring him disgrace."

"It's not necessarily the case," Prince Huaian Xu An said, rubbing his stiff face from the river wind, his eyes deep in thought:

"Let's go. The first act is over; time to rest before the next begins."

Xu Junling looked at her father and ventured,

"Are you referring to Prince Jing's reaction?

After Xu Jinglong's great defeat, this matter is not yet over. Once Zhao Douan comes ashore, he will inevitably have a clash with Prince Jing.

Yes, today on Xu Jinglong's boat, he invited so many guests, all of whom are the children of the scholarly families that stand with Prince Jing Mansion, or rather, on the opposite side of the court.

By taking this group of people with him, he's not only looking for an excuse of a coincidental encounter while out on a leisure trip but also showing it to Zhao Douan and the factions within Hu Ting City who have yet to take a stand, hesitating to make their move...

So, every action of Zhao Douan and Prince Jing significantly impacts whether the court's market opening is a success or a failure."

Xu Qian stared blankly at his eloquently speaking sister, his face full of confusion,

"Huh? Is it that complicated?"

Xu Junling couldn't be bothered with him, the elegant Commandery Princess quietly looked at her father, and said,

"How should we express our stance then?"

The portly Prince Huaian put away his telescope, his slightly plump face with small eyes exuding shrewdness,

"Do nothing. Outsiders call father a fence-sitter, saying that such a person is most likely to suffer misfortune, needing to settle accounts whichever side wins...

Heh, these bookworms who do nothing but talk won't bother to think, why in Great Yu's Nine Roads and Eighteen Prefectures do either the local royal mansions overpower the scholarly families or the other way around, yet in Huai River territory alone, your father lives in peace with all the major scholarly families?"

Prince Huaian left that remark hanging without explanation, then turned and walked downstairs with his hands behind his back,

"Let's go, Junling, prepare a modest gift. Later on, you will visit Zhao Douan in private."

"Daughter understands," Xu Junling nodded gently.

Beside them,

Xu Qian continued to be bewildered, pulling on his sister's sleeve hesitantly,

"What did you two just talk about? The wind was too strong; I didn't hear clearly."

Heh... alright, the wind was too strong...

Xu Junling looked at her silly brother with an indulgent gaze,

"Downstairs, let's go home and talk slowly."

"Oh."

...

...

On the official ship,

Zhao Douan watched the warship leave, waved his hand, and ordered the ship to continue forward.

Turning around, he walked back to the cabin. As soon as he entered, the myriad expressions he had feigned on his face vanished, and he seriously looked at the old Tributor,

"Eunuch, I sensed someone spying just now."

Haitang looked surprised: "Did you?"

She had felt nothing.

Eunuch Hai nodded and said, "Up there on the hillside ashore."

Zhao Douan asked, "Do you know who it was?"

Eunuch Hai glared at him irritably, "Do you think I have the Thousand-mile Eye or am an expert Magician in reconnaissance?"

I'm just asking... what's the rush... Zhao Douan mused internally, then asked,

"How strong exactly is Duan Shuiliu? Did he choose not to stay, or was he unable to?"

Eunuch Hai intended to boast that it was the former, but ultimately sighed,

"I'm old. Unlike Magicians who grow stronger with age, Martial Artists decline after their peak."

His tone waned with disinterest.

Haitang wasn't surprised; weakening with old age was a natural law. For Eunuch Hai to have lived over a hundred years and still possess the strength of Great Perfection in the Worldly Realm was already quite impressive.

She earnestly said, "By humiliating Xu Jinglong like this, once we go ashore, Prince Jing is unlikely to take it lying down."

But Zhao Douan chuckled mischievously, his duplicitous nature fully on display,

"Want to make a bet?"

"On what?"

"I'll bet that Prince Jing won't dare to do anything, hmm, at least not in the next few days. Any longer, I can't guarantee. The bet is to wash the other's undergarments for a month."

"Fine... but wait,"

Haitang quickly realized something was amiss, and said irritably,

"Can't you be serious? Aren't you afraid this will reach His Majesty's ears?"

Zhao Douan laughed heartily, glancing at the old Tributor who pretended not to hear and couldn't be bothered with young folks' squabbles, and joked,

"Then it depends on whether Eunuch reports me or not. But given your favored status with him, surely he wouldn't want you to be remembered by His Majesty for something like this, right?"

The python-robed old eunuch sat in the cabin, looking out at the bustling docks of Hu Ting, his lips curving slightly upwards.

Youth is wonderful indeed.

——

Next chapter updates before midnight