Chapter 1948: Unintentional Disclosure
Chapter 1948: Unintentional Disclosure
“Brother Yan Shun, let’s go then. Let’s meet princess Tai’an and the fifth prince as soon as possible.” Jian Chen’s eyes shone brighter and brighter after listening to prince Yan Shun’s introduction of princess Tai’an and the fifth prince. In the end, he hurried off in a manner even more urgent than prince Yan Shun.
He was extremely attached to his friends and family in the southern region, except he could not leave since he was trapped in the northern region right now. Now that princess Tai’an and the fifth prince who possessed great status in the Xi Empire had come to visit, Jian Chen saw a sliver of hope of him leaving the northern region.
Under prince Yan Shun’s lead, Jian Chen passed through beautiful hall after beautiful hall before arriving in a majestic hall at the very heart of the imperial palace.
Jian Chen saw a male and female seated in the hall as soon as they entered. They were young and they were talking with the emperor of the Xuandao Empire leisurely.
The woman possessed a beauty that was enough to outshine the moon. She was filled with a presence of nobility, making her seem divine and otherworldly.
The young man seemed righteous. His eyes shone brightly, and as he spoke, he naturally revealed a somewhat dignified presence as well as a firm resolution. He seemed a little like a ruler.
He vaguely possessed the presence of a ruler, like a true dragon.
“No wonder the Xi Emperor appreciates the fifth prince so much. If the fifth prince becomes the emperor, he’ll definitely be a great, talented one,” Jian Chen studied the man and woman in the hall. Without any introduction, he knew that they must be princess Tai’an and the fifth prince from the Xi Empire.
In particular, Jian Chen had gained an impression of the fifth prince from the first glance.
In the past few years, Jian Chen had seen quite a few princes, but it was rare for anyone to possess the fifth prince’s presence.
As a result, he could not help but take notice of the fifth prince.
The emperor stood up and nodded at Jian Chen with a smile. Afterwards, he introduced him to princess Tai’an and the fifth prince, “Fifth prince, princess Tai’an, this is fellow Jian Chen from the southern region.”
The graceful princess Tai’an and the imposing fifth prince immediately stood up when they heard that. They clasped their fists at Jian Chen and exchanged pleasantries.
“Haha, you young people should talk. I’ll go deal with some matters first,” the emperor said to them extremely politely before leaving with prince Yan Shun.
In the blink of an eye, only Jian Chen, the fifth prince, and princess Tai’an remained in the majestic hall.
“Jian Chen, there’s no need for you to refer to me as the fifth prince. That’ll be alienating me instead. My name is Xi Hao, so you can directly call me that,” smiled the fifth prince. Afterwards, he looked at princess Tai’an beside him and said, “As for the princess Tai’an beside me, her name is Shangyun Shuixian. Aside from being the princess Tai’an of our Xi Empire, she’s also the treasured daughter of the Shangyun clan.”
“Greetings. You are welcome to just call me Shuixian,” princess Tai’an smiled faintly and nodded at Jian Chen slightly.
After mingling with quite a few princes and prodigies in the past few days, Jian Chen gained a rough understanding towards the division of strength on the Cloud Plane.
Naturally, Jian Chen knew about the Shangyun clan. Although the Shangyun clan was not located in the Xi Empire, they were a famed clan in the northern region. Many ancient empires and large organisations had to show them respect.
This was because the current empress of the Xi Empire came from the Shangyun clan.
Afterwards, Jian Chen and the fifth prince conversed freely. Clearly, the fifth prince wanted to rope in Jian Chen, so he completely put down his identity as a prince of the Xi Empire. He only behaved like an ordinary friend.
The fifth prince was extremely patient. Although he wanted to rope in Jian Chen, he had not mentioned a single word of it.
As they conversed, princess Tai’an would add a little to the conversation from time to time. She asked Jian Chen questions about cultivation modestly. She revealed respect and admiration for Jian Chen through both her tone and expression.
“Xi Hao, lady Shuixian, I’ll be honest. I have extremely important matters that require me to rush back to the southern region as soon as possible, but the entire northern region is currently sealed by the Xi Emperor. I was wondering if you had any methods for me to get back to the southern region as soon as possible.” Jian Chen finally mentioned his main intentions after talking for several hours.
The fifth prince and princess Tai’an frowned when they heard that. After a moment of thought, the fifth prince said, “Jian Chen, this matter is rather troublesome. If it was any other time, I can easily let you use the regional teleportation formation at our Xi Empire. Even if the regional teleportation formation at the Xi Empire is unavailable, I believe I’ll be able to borrow the teleportation formations in the ancient empires and some large organisations with my prestige.”
“However, now that uncle Ziyun has personally sealed up all the teleportation formations in the northern region, basically no one will go against his word in the northern region with his current prestige. It’s impossible for the ancient empires to be bold enough to use their teleportation formations, and even the teleportation formation at our Xi Empire has been closed as well. You can only use it if you gain the approval of uncle Ziyun or the ancestral emperors.”
The fifth prince smiled in a self-deprecating manner, “Jian Chen, don’t try to depend on the fact that I’m one of the princes of the Xi Empire right now. Princes like me can’t just meet with the ancestral emperors of the Xi Empire. As for uncle Ziyun, he’s currently locked in a stalemate against the ancestor of the Heaven-cracking sect. And with uncle Ziyun’s temperament, it’s extremely likely that he’ll start fighting with the Heaven-cracking sect. I’ll only displease him if I go find him now.”
“The regional teleportation formation at our Shangyun clan is closed as well. Jian Chen, we probably won’t be able to help you with this,” said princess Tai’an as well.
Jian Chen became disappointed with that. He said, “The Xi Emperor is just a little too vicious. He really isn’t going to let off anyone who hunted him down in the past. The Xi Emperor had captured an Imperial Protector of the Xi Empire earlier, and now he has gone to go deal with the Heaven-cracking sect, a peak sect in the Xi Empire. If this continues, it’ll be very bad for the Xi Empire. Moreover, the Xi Emperor’s revenge has trapped many people here, making them unable to leave.” Jian Chen felt very helpless.
“Yeah. Uncle changed drastically after ascending as emperor. He wasn’t like this before. It’s just a pity that no one can persuade and convince uncle in the current empire. Even the ancestral emperors can’t do anything about him,” the fifth prince added helplessly. Faint worry appeared on his face. In the current imperial family of the Xi Empire, only a few Primordial realm experts were left after all the slaughtering his uncle did. It filled the entire empire with angst and unease.
Princess Tai’an sighed gently from that. She became slightly depressed and said gloomily, “Actually, you can’t blame uncle. Everything is bound by karma. If it weren’t for the relentless pursuit of the people before, causing aunt to lose her daughter, my uncle would have never become like that.”
“What? Lose her daughter?” The fifth prince was stunned. Even Jian Chen became surprised. He stared at princess Tai’an.
At this moment, princess Tai’an suddenly returned to her senses. She realised her mouth had slipped, so she immediately covered her mouth tightly out of surprise.