Chapter 473: You"re not fit!
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"It was Shan Ling all along!" Fang Zhengzhi never believed in coincidences. There was no way Shan Ling rushed over on such short notice...
Definitely not with hundreds of man in tow.
The only explanation was that Shan Ling was nearby.
However...
That was quite the despicable method.
If Fang Zhengzhi was in his position, he would definitely not have planned something like this. It was much too despicable and boring.
It was equivalent to seducing someone with a pretty lady before having a group catch them in the act and extort the man thereafter.
How lame...
But Fang Zhengzhi had fallen for it...
Shan Ling had not seduced Fang Zhengzhi using Princess Shan Yu. Shan Ling exploited Fang Zhengzhi"s weakness - his love for good food...
There was no way Fang Zhengzhi could have thought of it.
Fang Zhengzhi never expected that Princess Shan Yu would poison him, much less poison the lamb that so many would want to taste.
But now, he could be sure that Shan Ling had slipped in the poison into the spices when Princess Shan Yu wasn"t looking...
Okay then...
There was only one way out of this...
Ordinarily, the man being extorted would cave in to any requests in order to protect his reputation.
However, Fang Zhengzhi wasn"t afraid of that.
Shan Ling could spread this everywhere!
Fang Zhengzhi couldn"t be bothered.
However, this was a different scenario altogether. In this case, he could simply charge Fang Zhengzhi with a crime.
Barging into Princess Shan Yu"s room!
That was punishable by death!
Fang Zhengzhi knew what Shan Ling was about to do.
Shan Ling had already ordered the remaining servants and soldiers to wait outside.
Then...
He entered the room.
Was he about to strike?
If Shan Ling struck now, he could say that he lost control when he saw Fang Zhengzhi and killed him on the spot.
Would the Great Xia pursue the matter?
Fang Zhengzhi didn"t know.
But the fact was that the Great Xia would not go to war with the Southern Region because of this. His death would be meaningless...
At the very most, they would compensate the Great Xia with some jewels and gold.
"Sister, I made a mistake. I didn"t expect that this shameless fella would come here after failing to win you over at the banquet. I will now..."
"Brother, are you trying to kill him?" Princess Shan Yu interrupted Shan Ling with icy words.
"Should he not be killed?" Shan Ling asked, visibly shocked.
"Brother, if you want to kill him, you will have to do so over my dead body!" Princess Shan Yu stood in Shan Ling"s way.
"Haha... I don"t really understand what you mean." Shan Ling stopped in his tracks.
Fang Zhengzhi heaved a sigh of relief. It was a good thing Princess Shan Yu was smart.
However...
Even with her protection, Fang Zhengzhi wasn"t confident that he could survive.
Shan Ling was much more powerful than Princess Shan Yu.
"You want to kill him to void the contract of the 10 gold mines, am I right? However, you are willing to sacrifice my innocence for those mines. Brother... you are vicious!" Princess Shan Yu also heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Shan Ling stop.
"Sister, that is simply not true! You have misunderstood me!"
"Hmph!"
"Okay then, since you have been so blunt, I will be honest with you! We cannot give control of the gold mines to an outsider!" Shan Ling spoke up after some hesitation.
"Is that so? Then let me make this clear to you. As long as I am here, no one can harm him!" Princess Shan Yu a.s.serted.
"Are you really going to be at odds with me over an outsider?" Shan Ling"s tone was filled with fury.
"You? You are not fit to be my brother!" Shan Yu"s voice was filled with anger as well.
"Aish... sister, you know that I have loved you since you were a little girl. You are my closest family member. You may not understand my actions now, but I am doing this all for the good of the Southern Region. With Fang Zhengzhi"s reputation, we cannot possibly reclaim the 10 gold mines. Without those gold mines, how will we ever grow? Sister, what would you do if you were in my shoes?" Shan Ling sighed.
"At least I won"t do something so despicable! I can"t believe you are willing to sacrifice me for those 10 gold mines!"
"Despicable? Did you forget who signed that deal? It was you! The Princess of the Southern Region!"
"You..." Princess Shan Yu could not find the words to express herself.
"As your brother, I helped you to correct your errors and stem the bleeding. I am trying to build up the Southern Region! What have I done wrong?" Shan Ling added.
"No matter what you say, you can forget about hurting him today!" Shan Yu a.s.serted.
"Are you really going to protect him with your life?"
"Yes!"
"Why?"
"Because there would be no Southern Region without him!"
"Okay then, I will kill all the soldiers at the door!"
"Shan Ling, those are our citizens, what are you trying to do?"
"Sister, you are a smart girl. You should know what I am doing? There is a stranger in your room at night. If news of this got out, how will we still maintain our standing?"
"But this..."
"Enough, now that things are at this stage, we either kill Fang Zhengzhi or the soldiers outside. There is no other choice!" Shan Ling repeated.
Princess Shan Yu was silent.
She knew what Shan Ling was saying. However, she had to choose between innocent citizens and Fang Zhengzhi.
There was no good option here.
But Shan Ling was right...
It didn"t matter how it happened. The fact was that it happened. The reputation of the royal family couldn"t be sacrificed. She had to make a decision.
"What if... he"s not an outsider?" Princess Shan Yu bit her lips as she looked at Fang Zhengzhi.
"Are you really going to marry him? You should be able to tell that he doesn"t like you! Furthermore, he is a dead man walking!" Shan Ling"s tone was icy.
"I don"t mind. I am willing to marry him even if he can only live for a day!"
"Just because of what he did in the war?"
"No, because... because I like him!"
"Sister, this is not the time for jokes! How can you possibly like this shameless fella?" Shan Ling couldn"t believe his ears.
"I also thought that I would never like him, but you know me well. If I didn"t like him, then based on what happened today, he would be dead!" Princess Shan Yu said with determination.
"Sister, you..." Shan Ling"s expression changed.
As someone who had watched Princess Shan Yu grow up, Shan Ling could tell that Princess Shan Yu was serious.
With her character, she would never have let Fang Zhengzhi live if she didn"t like him.
And just now...
When he tried to enter...
Princess Shan Yu"s first reaction was to close the door.
The only possible explanation was that Princess Shan Yu liked Fang Zhengzhi.
"What do you have to say?"
"This is a serious matter. If you are to marry him, then you will have to get the King"s approval!" Shan Ling responded after some hesitation.
"Okay then, we will let father decide!"
"Carry Fang Zhengzhi to the throne room! The King will deal with him!"
...
...
The throne room was lit up...
The King, Crown Prince Lin Tianrong, as well as the settlement chiefs, generals, and Great Xia candidates were gathered there.
However, in comparison to the banquet before...
It was significantly more somber. There were no food or drinks, much less music. Two rows of soldiers lined the sides of the room.
In the middle of the throne room...
Fang Zhengzhi lay "comatose".
Shan Ling was quite barbaric in his handling of the situation. He didn"t even dress Fang Zhengzhi...
This was to "preserve the evidence".
"Crown Prince, how do you think we should deal with this?" The King of the Southern Region asked solemnly.
No one could blame him.
No father could smile and laugh when his daughter"s room had been broken into in the middle of the night.
Furthermore, Princess Shan Yu was his favorite daughter.
"Father..." Princess Shan Yu spoke up.
"Sister, you can rest a.s.sured that father would make the right decision. Don"t you think so?" Shan Ling interrupted.
"You... Father!" Princess Shan Yu appealed.
"Shan Yu, you can say your piece later, but let"s listen to Crown Prince Lin Tianrong first!" The King of the Southern Region waved Shan Yu off.
Princess Shan Yu"s mouth twitched but she didn"t speak.
All of the other candidates stared at the comatose Fang Zhengzhi, their eyes about to pop out from their sockets.
Who would be that audacious?
How dare he barge into Princess Shan Yu"s room and get in her bed? How could someone be that shameless?
That was ridiculous!
I wonder...
If he succeeded?
This was the question that flew through the minds of the candidates. The settlement chiefs and generals felt conflicted.
They knew how important Fang Zhengzhi"s contributions to the war were.
If not for the fact that Fang Zhengzhi could die anytime, they would have accepted him as a Prince even if his cultivation was ruined.
But now...
What was this?
"Ahem... I never expected something like this to happen. Ordinarily, we would execute him and all his relatives, but..." Crown Prince Lin Tianrong was in a difficult position.
The throne room was silent.
Everyone looked at Lin Tianrong, waiting for him to continue.
"However... Fang Zhengzhi"s contributions to this war... even though they"re undeniable, but..." Crown Prince Lin Tianrong hesitated as he looked at the King.
"I understand what you"re saying. Without Fang Zhengzhi, I couldn"t possibly be sitting here today. Since that is the case, let"s forget it!" The King of the Southern Region hesitated before speaking.
"Forget it?!"
The candidates of the Great Xia looked at each other in shock when they heard this.
All of the settlement chiefs and generals were in shock as well.
However, there were also traces of exasperation and humiliation. It was almost as if they had been slapped in the face.
"The King is mistaken, that wasn"t what I meant." Lin Tianrong explained.
"Then what do you mean?" The King of the Southern Region asked.
"By barging into Princess Shan Yu"s room, he had committed an unforgivable sin. However, I just received orders that he is now the a.s.sistant minister of the Minister of Rites. He is the acting Minister of Rites as well. As such, the punishment cannot be decided by me." Crown Prince Lin Tianrong explained.
"a.s.sistant minister?!"
"Rank three official? Acting Minister of Rites?!"
"My G.o.d... this has never happened before! How old is Fang Zhengzhi? He is already a rank three official! Furthermore... the Minister of Rites is a rank two post!
All of the candidates were shocked to hear this.
They knew that Fang Zhengzhi would be handsomely rewarded, but this bordered on the ridiculous.
A promotion was definitely warranted.
But Acting Minister of Rites was too big a jump.
The Six Ministries!
That was a powerful position!
He had just been promoted from a rank four Sword Envoy to Minister of Rites. This had never happened in the history of the Great Xia.
This only meant one thing. The Emperor valued Fang Zhengzhi greatly!