Chapter 166: Chapter 137: Master of Humor
Long Yi was stunned. The antics of these five blockheads were rather over-the-top and ostentatious. They failed to offer gifts, and are now wanting to become followers? In reality, each Guardian Dragon Knight was always surrounded by a series of followers, all from prestigious noble families. Being a follower of a Guardian Dragon Knight was not only far from disgraceful, but also brought honor to their families. After all, the Guardian Dragon Knights stood at the pinnacle of this world’s power hierarchy, with a status that could even rival that of the emperor! Doesn’t it feel glorious to serve under a general who serves under the emperor? Or to serve under a Guardian Dragon Knight whose status matches that of the emperor?
No need for deep thought, just using a bit of spinal cord to think can lead to a conclusion.
Neither is glorious, of course.
But people must face reality, and that’s how the world is structured. You can’t be the strongest, but if you’re going to lose, at least lose to the strongest one.
As a result, these realistic scoundrels sought out Elsa.
’A group of young men, who admired the beautiful Guardian Dragon Knight Elsa, collectively came before her, suppressing their true feelings while silently guarding their goddess in their hearts.’
Perhaps at some point, some irritating poets would document these stories and spread them around?
Perhaps, wouldn’t it be better to take advantage of this opportunity to slaughter this group of fools?
Long Yi couldn’t help but harbor such wicked thoughts.
"No."
Elsa said with determination.
"Why? Is it because we are not good enough?" Anfa asked.
"No, it’s because you are men." Elsa said.
"..."
"..."
"..."
There was an awkward silence all around. This reason was arguably the most challenging to refute. If you’re not handsome enough, you can have plastic surgery. If you’re not strong enough, you can train. If you’re not rich enough, you can earn money. If your status isn’t high enough, you can trade it for military merits.
But can you become a woman?
There are cases in this world where men have changed into women and women into men, but would these five men in front of her change just because of this statement? Absolutely impossible!
"You little brat, do you believe it now?" A loud, coarse voice rang out, and people respectfully made way.
From his advantage of being taller, Long Yi saw that it was the Emperor accompanied by three generals and leaders of the five legions who had arrived. The one who spoke was none other than Anfa’s grandfather, General Iron Hand - Kari.
"Although Miss Elsa didn’t accept us in the end, I believe she won’t accept any male knights either, so essentially we haven’t failed." Anfa stood up, still as graceful as ever.
Everyone in the vicinity paid their respects to the Emperor, who returned the gesture with a smile, indicating that they need not be too formal.
"Long Yi, oh Long Yi, you really do have a knack for causing trouble. It wasn’t enough when you were fighting with my son, now you’ve even made a scene in my garden?" The Emperor half-jokingly said.
"Your Majesty, Chief Justice himself is here, whether this incident is my fault or not, please don’t blame the innocent." Long Yi imitated the Emperor’s tone.
The five legion leaders all looked at Long Yi with amused expressions. When Long Yi had fought with the Third Prince, these five legion leaders were also present, and now they were seeing this young man up close for the first time. They couldn’t help but like him, just standing there, he naturally emanated a certain aura of charisma. This charisma wasn’t just about strength, but also the aura of an old soldier. Logically speaking, how could a boy of this age have been to a battlefield? So why did they all have this misperception?
"Innocently blamed? It seems I as the Emperor, no longer have the power to casually frame someone?" The Emperor laughed.
"Your Majesty, stop pretending to be the bad guy. My parents have always admired you. Since you became the Emperor of the White Dragon Empire, you enacted over a thousand laws more than the previous Emperor. Your speech about enforcing strict laws when you first ascended the throne has been widely circulated among the common folk. Although I haven’t read the Empire’s laws in detail, I believe that with Your Majesty’s wisdom and insight, you definitely wouldn’t leave such an ability to yourself." Sincere Long Yi flattered straightforwardly.
"Ha ha ha, good lad, your flattery is quite brazen, isn’t it?" The Emperor had always thought Long Yi was a troublemaker, is there anything he wouldn’t dare to do since he even dared to mess with the Emperor?
"How could this be called flattery? I am just stating the facts. With Your Majesty’s wise eyes, you can naturally see that I am an honest man who won’t lie." Long Yi said.
Actually, everything Long Yi said was indeed true. Since the Emperor ascended the throne, the Imperial Laws have been steadily becoming more stringent and meticulous. Regardless of other aspects, at the very least in terms of the emphasis placed on the law, this Emperor indeed surpassed his predecessors by a lot.
"Well, I didn’t expect that besides having fighting skills, you also have a pretty good way with words." The Emperor apparently lost interest in continuing the discussion about framing the accusation.
"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty." Long Yi answered.
"However, why do I feel a sense of weakness from you? Is it because you feel guilty for beating up my son?" The Emperor continued, still smiling, but subtly brought up the topic again.
Not far away, the Third Prince, who was pretending to eat, also heard this. He had always thought that the Emperor had given up on him, but to his surprise, the Emperor mentioned it again. Could it be that his father was going to avenge him?
"Guilty? How could that be possible!" Long Yi laughed too. "As for the incident during the school opening ceremony, who was right or wrong, it was clear to you, Your Majesty, and your son saw it clearly as well. Even the Generals saw it clearly. Your Majesty, do you think I did something wrong?" The way Long Yi asked, actually seemed somewhat irrational. The Emperor at this time, whether he said right or wrong, it was extremely inappropriate. Long Yi’s question was actually making it difficult for the Emperor to save face. Yet, the high-ranking military officials still kept an amiable smile on their faces as if they hadn’t heard anything, and the smile on the Emperor’s face remained unchanged as well.
"In that matter, I believe you did the right thing." The Emperor said.
The Third Prince’s gaze dimmed, he lowered his head, almost burying his face in the plate, no one saw that his expression had turned extremely sullen!
"Your Majesty is wise." said Long Yi.
After that, the Emperor said some unimportant encouraging words, and then left with a group of military bigwigs. Although Long Yi was not that fearful of the Emperor, there was still a generation gap between the Emperor and his ministers. This was something the Emperor himself was very aware of.
Moreover, he shouldn’t interfere with other people’s business.
Indeed, after the Emperor left, another person came over.
His clothes were modest just right, his smile was just right too, at the first glance, he was the kind of person who easily gives people a feeling of intimacy.
"Hello Long Yi." The person greeted him with a smile.
"The Second Prince?" Long Yi noted the royal badge on him, which represented the Emperor’s offspring, from afar. The Emperor had three sons: The First Prince was stationed at the border; the Third Prince had just left the garden angrily, so the person in front of him could only be the Second Prince.
"Correct." The Second Prince nodded satisfactorily, Long Yi’s observation was indeed good.
"What brings you here?" Long Yi didn’t like dealing with the royal people, in his mind, the higher the status, the harder it was to communicate. Conversely, the Elf Empress was decent because the elves were a group of strange creatures, so an elf empress in line with human thinking would make people feel closer.
"We knew each other for a long time already." The Second Prince detected the distance in Long Yi’s tone—he saw this as being due to the poor foundation laid by his third brother, but he was not worried, he had a solution.
"Did we meet before?" Long Yi carefully recalled all the people in his memory, none had a look, speech style, or attitude like the man in front him.
"Here, let me tell you a joke." The Second Prince leaned towards Long Yi with a smile, and then said, "Once upon a time, there was a tiny white dog with black spots..."
"Ah Hahahahaha!" Before the Second Prince finished his joke, Long Yi suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"So! Hahahaha! It was you! Hahahahaha! You really are hahahahaha! Wait hahaha, let me laugh first hahahahaha!"
The sudden laughter from Long Yi turned all attention back to this place, but this time, the expressions on everyone’s faces were not that good. Although it was a casual royal banquet, who would dare to be casual at an event involving the royal family?
Then, this man actually dared to be casual.
Not only did he have a fight with the grandson of a certain general before, but now he was laughing out loud without any reserve. Some wanted to step forward to stop him, but as soon as they saw the person in front of Long Yi, they immediately halted. Because in front of Long Yi stood the Second Prince.
The present Emperor had three sons. The eldest, the First Prince, was thirty this year. He was also a Dragon Rider with considerable prowess. However, he admitted that he was not good at politics, so he had been working with the army and hiding at the border. The youngest, the Third Prince, was only nineteen, with substantial strength and decent political acumen. However, his personality was extremely poor, and there were rumors that he had no tolerance for others. The Second Prince, on the other hand, was completely different from his eldest brother and third brother.
The Second Prince was twenty-two this year. He was also a Dragon Rider, with average strength, but extremely politically savvy. When he was fourteen, he proposed a series of naive law reform plans, which, from an adult’s point of view, were certainly full of loopholes. But when the Emperor removed the parts full of loopholes, the plans showed immense potential.
And the recent law reform was based on his ideas.
The Emperor often told his ministers that among his three children, if there was anyone who could surpass him in terms of governance, it could only be the Second Prince. Because of this, the disgruntled Third Prince and the Second Prince once had a debate that lasted for three days. At first, the Third Prince’s aggressive attitude put the Second Prince at a disadvantage. No doubt, the Third Prince was quicker in his reactions and very good at seizing his opponent’s weaknesses for a fierce attack. However, the Second Prince, with his wisdom, gradually gained the upper hand by remaining calm and strategic, eventually forcing the Third Prince to concede defeat.
The Emperor had always shown more favor to the Second Prince, and ever since the school opening ceremony, the reckless Third Prince had further fallen out of the Emperor’s favor. It was all but a matter of time before the Second Prince would become the future Emperor. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users can read on m.qidian.com.)
