Chapter 132 – Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys
(Friday’s regular chapter.)
“That was an outrageous presumption! Lady Yue’er was just…..” Cheng De Cao halted in the middle of his sentence as a chill ran down his spine.
“Was just? What?” Jun Mo Xie broke into an unbridled laughter. He twitched his lips and said: “Since she’s brothel woman, what kind of an entertainment could she provide if we can’t even touch her body huh? I’m being considerate towards her profession by showing interests in her, and she offends me in this manner?!”
“You’re destroying the reputation of your Family!” Cheng De Cao’s eyes were reeking of contempt for the young master Jun: “Jun Mo Xie, you’re really forcing me to hate and despise you.” Cheng De Cao was suddenly feeling very proud of his own self at this moment: People have often said that I’m an insult to my family’s name, but I haven’t done anything even remotely as shameful as Jun Mo Xie….
“Cheng De Cao…. Fuck you! What did you just say? You despise me? You and I are cut from the same cloth, and remember that I can eliminate your entire family if you insult me again!” Jun Mo Xie furiously titled his neck and slanted his eyes: “Cheng De Cao, go back to your mother and let her nurse you up a bit!”
Cheng De Cao’s entire body started to tremble with rage, and his crimson eyes looked up at Jun Mo Xie again, while his hand landed on the hilt of his sword with a ‘pop’. ‘Clang’ he unsheathed about three inches of his sword, and exposed its metal’s cold radiance!
“Jun Mo Xie!” the sullied second prince stood up: “You’re drunk; perhaps you should go back home early today.”
“I’ve barely had a few mouthfuls of wine, how could I be drunk?” Jun Mo Xie snorted, as he titled his neck towards the second prince, unwilling to agree: “And now this sissy has just unsheathed his sword in threat!”
“I’m saying you’re drunk; it means you’re drunk!” the second prince finally snapped, unable to tolerate it anymore.
Fang Bo Wen hastily rushed towards the prince, and gently pressed hand against the Prince’s shoulder.
Jun Mo Xie raised his eyes to meet the Second Prince’s gaze. The two men continued to gaze into each other’s eyes for a while, before Jun Mo Xie crooked his mouth and smiled again: “Since the second prince says that Jun Mo Xie is drunk; then I’m drunk he he he …… even if I haven’t had enough wine, I’m still drunk, ha ha ha …. This is funny, really funny!”
He continued to laugh as he reached out to grab a cup of wine, and smashed into the floor beside Lady Yue’er. The cup broke, and crisp sound made everyone’s face twitch in surprise.
Jun Mo Xie fiercely pointed a finger at Lady Yue’er and said: “You little slut, today we are in presence of the Second Prince, and since the Second Prince is speaking in your favor, I’m letting you go for now. But I’ll come back for you later someday!” Jun Mo Xie subconsciously rubbed his crotch to indicate his nefarious desires!
Jun Mo Xie turned around and faced Cheng De Cao. He slowly extended his hand and reached out towards Cheng De Cao’s face. ‘Clap’ ‘clap’, he patted Cheng De Cao’s face twice, producing a crisp sound, and said: “So you want to kill me huh? Really? Cheng De Cao, drawing even half a sword is indicative of war; you will behave yourself in the future, understand?!”
Then, he turned around as he continued to laugh, waved his hand, almost like he was trying to wave away the atmospheric dust, twisted his hips, and quickly left.
He had made a mess out of the Second Prince’s feast; he insulted the prince’s company to the point where the prince had to personally threaten retaliation. Firstly, he had managed to abuse Cheng De Cao, and had in general been very vulgar and disrespectful…. By being rampantly arrogant and aggressive, Jun Mo Xie had lived up to the reputation of being the city’s most notorious debauchee!
Jun Mo Xie reached downstairs and sat inside his Palanquin; surprisingly, there were two more men inside his palanquin, who were both dressed in black colored clothes. Jun Mo Xie sighed and said: “After I leave, you will pay close attention to the movements inside the Ni Chang Pavilion. You will also keep an eye on the people the Second Prince meets after he leaves. While the other person will continue to watch the Ni Chang pavilion, and will keep track of the people who enter and exit the place; and do not slack one bit!” both men nodded.
The palanquin started to sway as the young master Jun left for his residence. Although today’s events hadn’t gained any concrete results, it had still been a very fruitful trip. On one hand, Jun Mo Xie had lived up to his public reputation, but secondly and more importantly, he had publicly insulted and embarrassed the woman the Second Prince had been showing interest in. So this trip had definitely been worthwhile!
Jun Mo Xie certainly knew that even though Lady Yue’er was working in a brothel, she wasn’t exactly a prostitute; in fact, he could tell that she didn’t think very highly of the profession, and was wondering if she was an expert in disguise?
Jun Mo Xie was convinced that Lady Yue’er would retaliate – in fact, Jun Mo Xie was hoping for it!
Now the situation was turning favorable for Jun Mo Xie. Since Jun Mo Xie had overheard Lady Yue’er and Lord Liu’s conversation the other night, he already knew the identity of his enemies. But they weren’t aware that Jun Mo Xie was also targeting them! Therefore, Lady Yue’er would certainly try to avenge this insult without being aware of Jun Mo Xie’s ulterior motives!
But it didn’t just stop here; Jun Mo Xie had accomplished another, third feat, today. He had built a wall between the Second Prince and Lady Yue’er by insulting her in front of him.
The Second Prince hadn’t reacted firmly, and hadn’t been able impose his dominance properly, which would have left Lady Yue’er very disappointed – If a man can’t even protect the woman he is trying to pursue, then would he still be able to call himself a man? Especially in this case, when the man was powerful enough to protect her…. But since he didn’t take the initiative, their relationship would inevitably suffer.
If Jun Mo Xie had been in the Prince’s shoes, then he would have certainly charged screaming: This is my woman! Keep your hands off her! But the second prince hadn’t, at least not boldly. In fact, even Jun Mo Xie was looking down upon the prince. Is my wealth and position of that much importance?
In fact even Jun Mo Xie hadn’t expected to get away with his actions so easily, especially since he knew that the Second Prince had shown interest in Lady Yue’er!
As for his action, Jun Mo Xie felt no guilt about the manner in which he had treated Lady Yue’er: She might be a woman, but she’s still an enemy, and there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do to intercept an enemy. Since she planned and plotted against the Jun Family and me, why should I show any restrain against her? The young master Jun’s conscience was clear in that regard!
Lady Yue’er’s entire body trembled with rage as her tear stained eyes looked at Jun Mo Xie’s swaying palanquin. She turned around and raised her gaze to look wildly at the prince in complain, but instead of voicing her complain, she turned around and left.
The second prince stood dazed in his spot, but his face was expressing the disgust his heart felt!
Who would have thought that the Second Prince’s attempt to entertain Jun Mo Xie would yield such a result? Who could have guessed that the young master Jun would act so arrogantly, and would even ignore the Second Prince’s objections!
Jun Mo Xie had paid no heed to the prince’s objections and had even left without apologizing for his actions, which was tantamount to slapping the Prince’s dignity in the face!
The Second Prince had never been so embarrassed in his entire life! It could be said that he hated Jun Mo Xie right down to his core! He stood there motionless for a long time, away from the other men in his company; the Prince was barely able to stop himself from breaking into tears!
The Prince stood dazed for a long, long time. He eventually raised his gaze, sighed and said: “Let’s go.”
Cheng De Cao decided to fawn and make his gains: “Your Highness? This Jun Mo Xie was so rude to your Highness today; allow me to teach him a lesson; I could even have his life…..”
“Are you really that stupid?” The Prince looked at the man in front of his eyes, and said: “He might have been arrogant, and may even have insulted me today, but I cannot retaliate…. and that is a fact! Do you think that Jun Mo Xie would have had the courage to contradict me if he didn’t know this? And you want me to break my relationship with him? Teach him a lesson? Assassinate him? Is your head really full of so much rubbish? First, you do not have the power to do anything to Jun Mo Xie, and secondly, if anything untoward happened to Jun Mo Xie right now, then we’ll be the first ones coming under suspicion! Jun Zhan Tian’s anger has caused blood baths in the city before as well; will you only be happy after he runs a bloody riot inside my palace? Well? Don’t you think I’ve had enough for one day?”
The flatterer had been kicked in the face. Cheng De Cao’s face twitched in anger a few times, but he remained silent. Although he continued to curse inside his heart: What kind of a prince are you? First you allow the grandson of your military general to humiliate you, and then you take it out on me?
“That’s for certain when it comes to Jun Zhan Tian….” Fang Bo Wen stroked his beard, and slowly stated: “Jun Mo Xie’s actions were clearly intentional; meaning, that he had already come prepared to cause a scene today.”
“Well? What makes you say that?” the Second Prince thoughtfully asked.
“The Jun Family has always refused to participate in the politics of the Empire, and has only concentrated their attention on military matters. All three of His Majesty’s sons were trying to involve the Jun Family in the Empire’s politics, so it’s only natural that they would want to remove themselves from being involved. Jun Zhan Tian’s army has already proven that they can cause a blood bath in ministerial mansions before; the Jun Family has already shown their power before, and whichever son of the Majesty manages to get a grasp on this force, will have enough power to overrule the other two! In other words, the prince who gains their support will rule the Empire. Now we have seen their attitude…. and the other two will also come to know about this soon.”
“So now, I’m afraid that High Royal Highness, and his brothers, will have no other option but to leave the Jun Family and Jun Zhan Tian out of the political agendas since the man doesn’t wish to get involved. Even if the Jun Family is willing to expose their true strength, they still wouldn’t be willing to join into the muddy waters of political conspiracies. In this case, the best way to retain their support is to leave them out of the politics; and that’s the only way.”
The Second Prince was gradually beginning to understand: “So I should break my political relations with them?”
“NO! His Royal Highness must break his political connections with his brothers! Only after demonstrating your solidarity against the politics of this Empire, will you ever be able to securely gain the support of the Jun Family; otherwise Jun Zhan Tian will never support you.”
“In other words, it didn’t matter which Prince’s invitation Jun Mo Xie accepted today, he was going to act in the same way, and would have choreographed a falling out. His Highness, the Second Prince was just unlucky since Jun Mo Xie decided to pick you for making his statement…..”
“Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys?” the Second Prince was finally beginning to understand, but couldn’t help gnash his teeth in rage: “Jun Mo Xie, that son of a bitch, he actually made me, the Second Prince, his chicken?”