Locking a teacher from the academy in the Left Guard's office could be a major or trivial matter, depending on how it was handled.
Teacher Zhang walked out with slightly disheveled hair, bearing a somewhat miserable look after his defeat in battle. If he wanted to leave, the Left Guard officials here could not actually stop him. However, he had already negotiated matters with Chen Chao during the fight, so he could not go back on his word. Hence, he quickly walked out and left with the Left Guard.
The students of the academy watched this scene in silence, but no one dared to say anything.
After Teacher Zhang left, they also dispersed.
With a pale face, Weng Quan finally opened his mouth to ask, "Lord Commander, do we still need to investigate the names on the list?"
Investigating Scholar Xie alone had already stirred up such a storm. If they were to investigate all the names on the list, who knows what kind of upheaval it might cause in the Divine Capital?
“Why are we not investigating?” Chen Chao glanced at Weng Quan, raising an eyebrow. "Are you scared?"
Weng Quan nodded, admitting honestly, "This lowly official is indeed a bit scared.
If investigating each person on the list led to a series of troubles, he might end up implicated sooner or later.
Chen Chao raised an eyebrow, "What happened to your persistent spirit? You were able to modify a carriage so many times back then, and now you can't endure such a thing after just one incident?"
Talking about the story of that carriage, Chen Chao felt a bit of a headache. Back then, he could not understand how such a stubborn fellow could exist in the world.
Weng Quan frowned and said, "Your Excellency, you're not investigating the case with us, us boorish folks can't see through the twists and turns of these matters clearly. Perhaps we can only be led by the nose all the time. It's also because Your Excellency is heartless, leaving us behind to go alone to spend time with a girl."
Chen Chao raised an eyebrow and said, "Do you think I went to find her? Didn't I go to the academy to find evidence for you guys? Weng Quan, you don't have any conscience when you speak. If I didn't go to the academy to find proof, could the matter be resolved? If it weren't for you, could I have fought against that old guy? My god, he's a cultivator in the Great Beyond Realm! Your Father was risking my life!"
Chen Chao's words left Weng Quan speechless. He really did not know how to refute Chen Chao. Fortunately, before he could say anything, Chen Chao patted his shoulder and smiled, "Don't worry, the things ahead won't be so difficult. At least I've already gathered the evidence. If they want to cause trouble, it shouldn't be possible."
After saying this, Chen Chao looked at the sky, where snowflakes were still falling. It was unknown when it would stop.
"I still want to have a good New Year. I don't know if there's still a chance."
Considering the current situation in the Divine Capital, it was hard to say whether the most chaotic things would erupt before the New Year.
Chen Chao shook his head, thinking that the New Year should pass just fine. It was not too realistic for the Divine Capital to fall into complete chaos.
After all, the Lord Warden Commander deliberately left to lure out those spies, not to let the Divine Capital descend into irretrievable chaos.
With this in mind, Chen Chao, who left Scholar Xie's residence feeling somewhat at a loss, gained some confidence. He shook his head and walked alone on the long street, inexplicably arriving at the front of a small tavern.
Stopping at the small tavern, he looked around curiously, then furrowed his brows.
How could there be a small tavern in such a remote place? Chen Chao wondered if the tavern owner really believed that the fragrance of wine was not afraid of the depth of the alley, or perhaps he was just an inexperienced young tavern keeper who did not quite understand how to do business?
Regardless, the tavern in front of Chen Chao aroused his curiosity. He stopped in his tracks, turned around, and walked inside.
When he lifted the curtain, it brought in a gust of wind and snow.
While a snowstorm raged outside, the small tavern was warm, with several stoves lit. It seemed that these stoves were meant for warming the wine, but at the moment, there was no wine on them because there were no customers.
The woman selling the alcohol wore a thick cotton coat and leaned on the counter, her eyes closed. The faint sound of her breathing suggested she was asleep. The entire small tavern had only one customer at the moment – a middle-aged man in a blue cotton robe. On his table sat a jug of wine, with half a bowl of wine remaining. Apart from that, there was nothing else on his table, and he did not order any side dishes.
Chen Chao was hesitating whether to wake up the woman selling liquor and have a jug of wine for himself when the man in the blue robe spoke up with a smile, "There's too much alcohol, and my alcohol tolerance is poor. I can hardly finish it. If sir doesn't mind, how about we share the remaining half jug of wine? Consider it a chance encounter, sharing words that we normally can't tell our family and friends."
Hearing this, Chen Chao felt a bit strange. When he turned to look, he saw the man in the blue robe quietly looking at him with a gentle expression.
Having just fought with someone who was a so-called scholar, Chen Chao suddenly realized that true scholars were indeed different from those so-called scholars. The difference between the two was apparent at a glance.
Although he did not know the man's life experiences, Chen Chao could roughly judge that he must be a scholar.
At the behest of unknown powers, Chen Chao hesitated for a moment and sat down in front of the man in blue robes.
The man in blue robes took out a clean wine bowl, placed it in front of Chen Chao, and poured him a bowl of wine.
Without waiting for Chen Chao to respond, the man in blue robes chuckled and said, "My surname is Song, and my given name is Yingxu. I used to have some business here in the Divine Capital many years ago. However, my family fell on hard times long ago, and now my entire family is no longer in the Divine Capital. I miss it very much, so I've traveled a long way to visit the Divine Capital."
The man in the blue robes who called himself Song Yingxu looked at Chen Chao, raised his wine bowl, and took a sip on his own. Then, he said with a smile, "The wine in the Divine Capital, this is the first time I'm drinking it in many years."
Listening to these words, Chen Chao felt that something was off, but he could not quite pinpoint it. He simply picked up the wine bowl in front of him, took a small sip, and felt the fragrance of the wine swirling in his mouth, which eased his mood a bit.
These days, he had been too tense. The life and death of the Left Guard rested on his shoulders, and he could not afford to be careless.
Song Yingxu looked at the young man in front of him who had not spoken yet and smiled, asking, "How's the wine? Does it live up to the price of a single skygold currency for this jug of wine?"
Chen Chao frowned slightly and shook his head, "It's not good wine."
Indeed, the wine in front of him could only be said to be passable. It was far from being good wine, let alone worth a single skygold coin.
"The person who brewed the wine took it up halfway, clearly lacking the skill, yet still liking it. What can you do about it?" Song Yingxu glanced at the woman dozing off at the counter, his emotions inexplicable.
After a moment of silence, Chen Chao said, "If you like it, just do it. Doing it poorly is another matter. If you haven't even done what you like, won't you regret it later?"
"Life is fleeting, everyone dies someday."
Changing the subject, Chen Chao said calmly, "But to say that this jug of wine is worth a skygold coin is really unreasonable."
Song Yingxu laughed heartily, "If you have the chance, you should tell her that even if she continues to run a tavern for a living, she shouldn't go against her conscience."
With that said, Chen Chao got straight to the point and asked, "Does sir know me?"
Song Yingxu nodded and said, "Is there a young man in the Divine Capital now more famous than you?" "At the Myriad Willow Convention, your fame shook the world. Later, you left the Divine Capital, nearly exterminating the Sublime Bright Sect; an ancient sect with countless years of heritage in the Rainwater County. Now, you are the commander of the Left Guard in the Divine Capital. The achievements Lord Commander has made at your age make it hard for people to forget you even if they want to."
Chen Chao sighed and decided not to beat around the bush. He straightforwardly asked, "Which family sent you, Sir?"
Song Yingxu remained silent for a moment, looking at Chen Chao, and said, "I come from the Crown Prince's Manor."
Chen Chao was about to speak but suddenly froze, looking at the man in front of him in shock.
The man still looked at him calmly.
Although the Great Liang Emperor had been in power for several years, he had not made a choice among the three princes. Currently, the Great Liang did not have a so-called Crown Prince's Manor.
None of the three princes were conferred the title of crown prince, so there was no Crown Prince's Manor.
As for the Great Liang Emperor's previous crown prince, it dated back to the crown prince during the reign of Emperor Lingzong.
Song Yingxu looked at Chen Chao and said smilingly, "Your Highness truly resembles His Highness the Crown Prince."
Chen Chao did not say anything. After hearing this term of address, he felt somewhat unnatural. He knew that his identity could not remain a secret forever, and those who should know would eventually find out. However, what he did not expect was that his identity would be known by these so-called former subjects of the deceased Crown Prince.
What did this mean?
It went without saying.
Chen Chao looked at Song Yingxu in silence, unable to speak.
Song Yingxu sighed, "Knowing that the bloodline of His Highness the Crown Prince still exists and is alive, to this subject, there's nothing more joyous than this."
"To see that the bloodline of His Highness the Crown Prince is actually so extraordinary and still upholds the dignity of the Crown Prince makes this subject even happier."
Song Yingxu spoke with emotion, his voice trembling slightly.
Having experienced that past, he naturally knew many secrets unknown to others. Seeing Chen Chao again naturally made him rather excited.
Chen Chao looked at him, trying hard to recall the three characters "Song Yingxu," wanting to see if he had any memories of him. After struggling for a while, he still could not remember anything, so he just furrowed his brows slightly.
As if knowing what Chen Chao was thinking, Song Yingxu said, "This subject is from the Crown Prince's Manor. During the late Emperor's reign, this subject served as the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel."
Hearing this answer, Chen Chao did not say anything. Soon, he asked, "Why did you come to the Divine Capital?"
The reasons for leaving the Divine Capital in the first place were apparent and did not require any explanation. However, why return now? Could he not ask about that?
Song Yingxu replied, "Naturally, it is to retrieve what belongs to His Highness."
Locking a teacher from the academy in the Left Guard's office could be a major or trivial matter, depending on how it was handled.
Teacher Zhang walked out with slightly disheveled hair, bearing a somewhat miserable look after his defeat in battle. If he wanted to leave, the Left Guard officials here could not actually stop him. However, he had already negotiated matters with Chen Chao during the fight, so he could not go back on his word. Hence, he quickly walked out and left with the Left Guard.
The students of the academy watched this scene in silence, but no one dared to say anything.
After Teacher Zhang left, they also dispersed.
With a pale face, Weng Quan finally opened his mouth to ask, "Lord Commander, do we still need to investigate the names on the list?"
Investigating Scholar Xie alone had already stirred up such a storm. If they were to investigate all the names on the list, who knows what kind of upheaval it might cause in the Divine Capital?
“Why are we not investigating?” Chen Chao glanced at Weng Quan, raising an eyebrow. "Are you scared?"
Weng Quan nodded, admitting honestly, "This lowly official is indeed a bit scared.
If investigating each person on the list led to a series of troubles, he might end up implicated sooner or later.
Chen Chao raised an eyebrow, "What happened to your persistent spirit? You were able to modify a carriage so many times back then, and now you can't endure such a thing after just one incident?"
Talking about the story of that carriage, Chen Chao felt a bit of a headache. Back then, he could not understand how such a stubborn fellow could exist in the world.
Weng Quan frowned and said, "Your Excellency, you're not investigating the case with us, us boorish folks can't see through the twists and turns of these matters clearly. Perhaps we can only be led by the nose all the time. It's also because Your Excellency is heartless, leaving us behind to go alone to spend time with a girl."
Chen Chao raised an eyebrow and said, "Do you think I went to find her? Didn't I go to the academy to find evidence for you guys? Weng Quan, you don't have any conscience when you speak. If I didn't go to the academy to find proof, could the matter be resolved? If it weren't for you, could I have fought against that old guy? My god, he's a cultivator in the Great Beyond Realm! Your Father was risking my life!"
Chen Chao's words left Weng Quan speechless. He really did not know how to refute Chen Chao. Fortunately, before he could say anything, Chen Chao patted his shoulder and smiled, "Don't worry, the things ahead won't be so difficult. At least I've already gathered the evidence. If they want to cause trouble, it shouldn't be possible."
After saying this, Chen Chao looked at the sky, where snowflakes were still falling. It was unknown when it would stop.
"I still want to have a good New Year. I don't know if there's still a chance."
Considering the current situation in the Divine Capital, it was hard to say whether the most chaotic things would erupt before the New Year.
Chen Chao shook his head, thinking that the New Year should pass just fine. It was not too realistic for the Divine Capital to fall into complete chaos.
After all, the Lord Warden Commander deliberately left to lure out those spies, not to let the Divine Capital descend into irretrievable chaos.
With this in mind, Chen Chao, who left Scholar Xie's residence feeling somewhat at a loss, gained some confidence. He shook his head and walked alone on the long street, inexplicably arriving at the front of a small tavern.
Stopping at the small tavern, he looked around curiously, then furrowed his brows.
How could there be a small tavern in such a remote place? Chen Chao wondered if the tavern owner really believed that the fragrance of wine was not afraid of the depth of the alley, or perhaps he was just an inexperienced young tavern keeper who did not quite understand how to do business?
Regardless, the tavern in front of Chen Chao aroused his curiosity. He stopped in his tracks, turned around, and walked inside.
When he lifted the curtain, it brought in a gust of wind and snow.
While a snowstorm raged outside, the small tavern was warm, with several stoves lit. It seemed that these stoves were meant for warming the wine, but at the moment, there was no wine on them because there were no customers.
The woman selling the alcohol wore a thick cotton coat and leaned on the counter, her eyes closed. The faint sound of her breathing suggested she was asleep. The entire small tavern had only one customer at the moment – a middle-aged man in a blue cotton robe. On his table sat a jug of wine, with half a bowl of wine remaining. Apart from that, there was nothing else on his table, and he did not order any side dishes.
Chen Chao was hesitating whether to wake up the woman selling liquor and have a jug of wine for himself when the man in the blue robe spoke up with a smile, "There's too much alcohol, and my alcohol tolerance is poor. I can hardly finish it. If sir doesn't mind, how about we share the remaining half jug of wine? Consider it a chance encounter, sharing words that we normally can't tell our family and friends."
Hearing this, Chen Chao felt a bit strange. When he turned to look, he saw the man in the blue robe quietly looking at him with a gentle expression.
Having just fought with someone who was a so-called scholar, Chen Chao suddenly realized that true scholars were indeed different from those so-called scholars. The difference between the two was apparent at a glance.
Although he did not know the man's life experiences, Chen Chao could roughly judge that he must be a scholar.
At the behest of unknown powers, Chen Chao hesitated for a moment and sat down in front of the man in blue robes.
The man in blue robes took out a clean wine bowl, placed it in front of Chen Chao, and poured him a bowl of wine.
Without waiting for Chen Chao to respond, the man in blue robes chuckled and said, "My surname is Song, and my given name is Yingxu. I used to have some business here in the Divine Capital many years ago. However, my family fell on hard times long ago, and now my entire family is no longer in the Divine Capital. I miss it very much, so I've traveled a long way to visit the Divine Capital."
The man in the blue robes who called himself Song Yingxu looked at Chen Chao, raised his wine bowl, and took a sip on his own. Then, he said with a smile, "The wine in the Divine Capital, this is the first time I'm drinking it in many years."
Listening to these words, Chen Chao felt that something was off, but he could not quite pinpoint it. He simply picked up the wine bowl in front of him, took a small sip, and felt the fragrance of the wine swirling in his mouth, which eased his mood a bit.
These days, he had been too tense. The life and death of the Left Guard rested on his shoulders, and he could not afford to be careless.
Song Yingxu looked at the young man in front of him who had not spoken yet and smiled, asking, "How's the wine? Does it live up to the price of a single skygold currency for this jug of wine?"
Chen Chao frowned slightly and shook his head, "It's not good wine."
Indeed, the wine in front of him could only be said to be passable. It was far from being good wine, let alone worth a single skygold coin.
"The person who brewed the wine took it up halfway, clearly lacking the skill, yet still liking it. What can you do about it?" Song Yingxu glanced at the woman dozing off at the counter, his emotions inexplicable.
After a moment of silence, Chen Chao said, "If you like it, just do it. Doing it poorly is another matter. If you haven't even done what you like, won't you regret it later?"
"Life is fleeting, everyone dies someday."
Changing the subject, Chen Chao said calmly, "But to say that this jug of wine is worth a skygold coin is really unreasonable."
Song Yingxu laughed heartily, "If you have the chance, you should tell her that even if she continues to run a tavern for a living, she shouldn't go against her conscience."
With that said, Chen Chao got straight to the point and asked, "Does sir know me?"
Song Yingxu nodded and said, "Is there a young man in the Divine Capital now more famous than you?" "At the Myriad Willow Convention, your fame shook the world. Later, you left the Divine Capital, nearly exterminating the Sublime Bright Sect; an ancient sect with countless years of heritage in the Rainwater County. Now, you are the commander of the Left Guard in the Divine Capital. The achievements Lord Commander has made at your age make it hard for people to forget you even if they want to."
Chen Chao sighed and decided not to beat around the bush. He straightforwardly asked, "Which family sent you, Sir?"
Song Yingxu remained silent for a moment, looking at Chen Chao, and said, "I come from the Crown Prince's Manor."
Chen Chao was about to speak but suddenly froze, looking at the man in front of him in shock.
The man still looked at him calmly.
Although the Great Liang Emperor had been in power for several years, he had not made a choice among the three princes. Currently, the Great Liang did not have a so-called Crown Prince's Manor.
None of the three princes were conferred the title of crown prince, so there was no Crown Prince's Manor.
As for the Great Liang Emperor's previous crown prince, it dated back to the crown prince during the reign of Emperor Lingzong.
Song Yingxu looked at Chen Chao and said smilingly, "Your Highness truly resembles His Highness the Crown Prince."
Chen Chao did not say anything. After hearing this term of address, he felt somewhat unnatural. He knew that his identity could not remain a secret forever, and those who should know would eventually find out. However, what he did not expect was that his identity would be known by these so-called former subjects of the deceased Crown Prince.
What did this mean?
It went without saying.
Chen Chao looked at Song Yingxu in silence, unable to speak.
Song Yingxu sighed, "Knowing that the bloodline of His Highness the Crown Prince still exists and is alive, to this subject, there's nothing more joyous than this."
"To see that the bloodline of His Highness the Crown Prince is actually so extraordinary and still upholds the dignity of the Crown Prince makes this subject even happier."
Song Yingxu spoke with emotion, his voice trembling slightly.
Having experienced that past, he naturally knew many secrets unknown to others. Seeing Chen Chao again naturally made him rather excited.
Chen Chao looked at him, trying hard to recall the three characters "Song Yingxu," wanting to see if he had any memories of him. After struggling for a while, he still could not remember anything, so he just furrowed his brows slightly.
As if knowing what Chen Chao was thinking, Song Yingxu said, "This subject is from the Crown Prince's Manor. During the late Emperor's reign, this subject served as the assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel."
Hearing this answer, Chen Chao did not say anything. Soon, he asked, "Why did you come to the Divine Capital?"
The reasons for leaving the Divine Capital in the first place were apparent and did not require any explanation. However, why return now? Could he not ask about that?
Song Yingxu replied, "Naturally, it is to retrieve what belongs to His Highness."
