“Cut them off!”
On the Baili Mountain road nearing the outskirts of the Imperial City, several horses surrounded a speeding carriage. The fork in the road was only a few hundred meters from them.
“Liangliang!” Qi Xuan who was steering the carriage could not be concerned with his own fear but Qi Yue grasped tightly onto Shen Liang’s clothes with fright.
“Don’t mind them. Hurry.”
Slap!
The whip continued to swing and slapped fiercely against the horses, painfully prompting the horses’ hooves to fly and splatter across the muddy puddles.
“Motherf*cker! Kill the coachman!” Seeing that the carriage was rapidly approaching the city gates, the bandits grew furious. The bandits driving alongside the carriage raised their cold blades and slashed at Qi Xuan.
“Qi Xuan! Ah!”
“Liangliang!”
Shen Liang’s pupils shrank and without a second thought, pulled Qi Xuan over. With his actions, a long bloody opening was slashed across his arm, opening a long trail of blood. It splattered instantly over them. Qi Yue and Qi Xuan were both horrendously frightened, but Shen Liang only lightly scowled. He didn’t even glance at his injury, “Don’t be distracted! Tighten the reins!”
Compared to having his limbs severed and eyes gouged, such an injury didn’t amount to much.
“En.” Qi Xuan fought back the tears and nodded. He once again tightened the reins. Qi Yue fought against the angst to tear off a slip of cloth to wrap and bandage Shen Liang’s injury.
“Kill them! Hurry!”
“Jia! Jia…“
Seeing that the situation was growing tense, the bandits decided to settle for slaughter. However, the sound of galloping horses sounded. Within a moment’s notice, dozens of horses surged for them from less than a hundred meters out. The soldiers all donned a unified black armor and just a single glance would ascertain such a group to be part of a well-trained military.
“Ironclad Guards?”
“This is bad! Withdraw!”
Shen Liang and the bandits exclaimed simultaneously. The difference was while the bandits cried out in shock and panic, Shen Liang only watched the approaching ironclad guards and his voice so quiet that only the two servants by his side heard him.
“Charge!”
The ironclad guards were well-trained and with just one glance, they recognized the bandits to be of pursuable threat. They surged forward with murderous intent without the need to ask for justification. The Ironclad Guards were Daqin Empire’s most elite and mysterious force. They do not act often, but the moment they do, rivers of blood would flow. Corpses would pile into mountains. All that remained from the battlefield would be the remnants of armor and blood splattered in the blades of the grass on the plains. The bandits were not their opponents and wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Liangliang!”
The carriage had already pulled to a stop. The Ironclad Guards were fierce and merciless. Qi Yue and Qi Xuan, who had never seen the battlefield nervously grasped onto the corners of Shen Liang’s sleeves.
“We’re alright.” In contrast, Shen Liang was more indifferent. No, it would be more accurate to say his indifference was almost humiliating to the Ironclad Guards. In the midst of the bloodbath, not the slightest fluctuation emerged in his eyes. It was as though he was used to seeing so much blood splatter.
“State your identity!”
Shortly afterward, two columns of military horses trailed out from the fork of the road. They surrounded a magnanimous and gorgeous carriage. The Ironclad Guard who opened the fork looked at them expressionlessly and exuded an excessively stern and unfriendly demeanor. Qi Yue and Qi Xuan were still young and inexperienced. This was something they had never encountered before, and their cowardice was inevitable. But Shen Liang calmly raised his head and met his gaze without qualm. His gaze then shifted toward the carriage not far behind.
“This one is the heir of the Marquis Donglin Manor. We encountered bandit upon our return to the Imperial City and give gratitude to the Duke of Qingping for coming to our aid.”
The Ironclad Guards were under the Duke of Qingping’s rule. Everyone knew this and Shen Liang could ascertain that the one in the carriage could be none other the Duke of Qingping, Pei Yuanlie.
Silence befell them. The Ironclad Guards were anything but benevolent and Qi Yue and Qi Xuan were frightened to the point they neglected to breathe. Only Shen Liang was able to maintain his composure and not the slightest fluctuation could be examined from his expression.
No one knew how much time passed, but the door of the carriage carved from agarwood was gently pushed open. A man silently leaned against the armrest in the carriage. His long black hair flowed to his waist and was tied with only a simple purple ribbon. Some strands freely flew with the wind like ink splashed against his shoulders and highlighted the exquisiteness of his refined features which formed a deep and perfect silhouette. The man had slightly raised lips and a pair of deep pupils that shimmered with a demonic light. His gaze was difficult to meet but once done so, one would find it difficult to breathe as thought their soul had been stripped seven points and burned with brilliance. He was enchanting and exuded an unparalleled nobility throughout his domineering aura.
He couldn’t be older than twenty. His attire was exquisitely embroidered, and the purple robe embroidered with golden wire hung loosely over his body. The plunging neckline of his attire revealed a large section of his bronzed skin. It gave an enchantingly, seducing appeal. The only problem was the bandaged wounds which marred his chest from sight but did not diminish his charisma that infatuated both men and women.
Even his own Ironclad Guards who should be accustomed to seeing their lord could not resist their lord’s charisma, much less those who were meeting him for the first time?
In actuality, Qi Yue and Qi Xuan really were dumbfounded. They might as well be drooling but it was a pity that Shen Liang didn’t feel anything. Not to mention that his mind could not afford to think in that direction, even if he had the heart to notice this, it was useless. No matter how handsome the Duke was, he himself wasn’t lacking himself.
Five years of turmoil had reduced his current state into a weak and feeble stature. In addition to the rough journey, his hair had become disheveled, and the fever did nothing but added a sickly and pale delicateness to Shen Liang’s features. Despite everything, his features were exquisite. His delicate willow eyebrows were like a sword, exquisite but never lost its heroism. Shen Liang’s eyes were vibrant black stones, deep as the abyss, and the cold gleam was not any less intimidating. It was as though despite his physique; Shen Liang was well capable of tearing down and destroying everything in sight.
Even the Shen Liang now was fully capable of attracting others, not to mention after a period of time later, when he would have been raised more appropriately. If he was as he was now after facing such hardships, how beautiful would he inevitably become in the near future? His title as the Daqin Empire’s number one beauty wasn’t to be taken lightly either. As someone whose features had been carved delicately and exquisitely to perfection himself, Shen Liang couldn’t care less about the beauty of the Duke of Qingping.
Pei Yuanlie’s eyes appeared to make a careless, nonchalant sweep over them, but took careful notice of the cold glow in Shen Liang’s eyes. In addition to that, his calmness at this moment was also an abnormal sign of fringing insanity. Pei Yuanlie’s lips curved into a playful arc. Who would’ve thought that besides the intriguing Shen Da, there was another interesting little one in the Shen Family.
“Shen Liang? Shen Da’s only younger brother?”
Strictly speaking, Shen Liang wasn’t Sheng Da’s only younger brother. Those Liu Shuhan had given birth to were also considered Sheng Da’s younger siblings, but Pei Yuanlie clearly had no intention of taking them into account. Although the sons of the concubine turned legitimate wife could also be considered legitimate heirs, there was still an evident difference between those bastards and the original bloodline.
“Yes.”
Facing the pair of phoenix eyes that seemed capable of penetrating people’s hearts, Shen Liang nodded his head. His mind attempted to recall all he could about Pei Yuanlie, the Duke of Qingping.
During his previous life, he had minimal to no contact with this man. Besides knowing that this man led the Ironclad Guards and his body would be made into a human skin kite and flown over the city towers as a result of the previous king’s envy and the enemy’s schemes, Shen Liang knew very little else. The entire empire grieved at that time and sought to fulfill traditions necessary to display their grievance and piety over his service, but the royal family determined that his prestige over the people was too overpowering. The old emperor passed the decree that the people should not grieve for him as he would send troops to avenge the Duke of Qingping, but in fact was desperately attempting to erase the people’s remembrance of him.
Thinking of this, a flicker of pity could not help but surface in Shen Liang’s eyes. It soon vanished with the blink of an eye.
But. Was that commiseration? Was the boy pitying him?
Despite the distance between them, Pei Yuanlie caught a glimpse of the pity in Shen Liang’s eyes. His demeanor remained indifferent, but intrigue had long since soaked his heart. He, the Duke of Qingping, would be pitied by the unfavored heir of the Marquis Donglin Manor? If this was spread around the Imperial City, he wondered just how many would die from laughter?
