The Glory After Rebirth [重生之尊荣]

Chapter 475- 477

Chapter 475: The Arrival of Ling Zhaowu

The man addressed as "Sheren Wang" (In feudal China, hangers-on of an aristocrat are generally called Sheren) had a quite ugly look on his face.

Gazing at the dead man in Xue Yi's arms, he came to realize that things had gone beyond what he'd bargained for, that he must return and report it to the crown prince as soon as possible. However, he soon found that extricating himself from the current situation was no longer within his capabilities...

...

In the Eastern Palace, the abode of the crown prince.

A guard hastened into the Eastern Palace, requested an audience with Mu Rongfeng and, after his request was granted, gave the crown prince a blow-by-blow account of what had happened in the inn.

"Your Highness, Xue Yi's half-brother is dead. Sheren Wang was taken into custody by order of Dugu Miao, who has now accompanied Xue Yi into the palace to seek an audience with His Majesty."

"What?!" Mu Rongfeng sprung to his feet in fury. "How did that happen? The orders I gave Wang Huai were to rebuke Xue Yi and take him down a peg. Why did someone get killed there? And how did Xue Yi's half-brother get involved in this? When did he come to this city?"

The guard replied, "To my knowledge, Xue Yi's half-brother posed as his bodyguard and entered the city with him on that day."

With a sulky face, Mu Rongfeng railed, "Wang Huai is such a good-for-nothing. He never makes, but always mars!"

After a while, he instructed through gritted teeth, "Come with me to see my father."

"Yes, Your Highness."

...

A detailed report on the incident in the inn was soon delivered to Ling Zhang's abode and placed on his desk.

The courtyard house in the Jiahe Chamber of Commerce was very quiet, totally unaffected by that disturbance in the inn.

"Childe Ling, just as you expected, the Dugu family seized the opportunity and intensified Xue Yi's resentment towards Mu Rongfeng. Mu Rongfeng went to the palace with all haste in an attempt to make amends, but Xue Yi refused to grant him absolution. In no circumstances would Xue Yi ever again consider talking with Mu Rongfeng about cooperation. The old monarch promised that he would mete out severe punishment to the crown prince, but he's been skirting around the subject of an alliance suggested by Xue Yi." Lian Hai related to Ling Zhang what had happened outside.

Ling Zhang gave a sneer. He'd seen this coming as well.

The Wan Kingdom making a request for an alliance was synonymous with offering Mu Hengtian an opportunity to charge them exorbitant prices. The reason why Mu Hengtian was in no hurry to see Xue Yi was because he wanted to keep Xue Yi in suspense for a while, so that he would be in a more advantageous position during the negotiations. However, now that the plan had been derailed by the deeds of Mu Rongfeng who'd waded in, Mu Hengtian, without doubt, was secretly displeased with Mu Rongfeng, but he still wouldn't grant Xue Yi's request right away. With such a golden opportunity of negotiating favorable terms in front of him, on no account would he make concessions just because of the death of one man. It was a natural thing that he'd been evading talking about the subject of an alliance. Ling Zhang believed that Mu Hengtian would first placate Xue Yi and then ask unreasonable conditions. An alliance was of little significance to the Luohai Kingdom, so Mu Hengtian was in no hurry and didn't mind delaying it for a while longer.

"Previously Xue Yi might have the patience to wait, but now that his half-brother's dead, there's no doubt he wouldn't be able to wait for long. I'm sure he'll do whatever he could to force Mu Hengtian into agreeing to forge an alliance. Cooperating with Mu Rongfeng is no longer an option for him, and Dugu Miao helped him get an audience with Mu Hengtian, which means currently the Dugu family is his only choice," said Lian Hai.