And he still had a card to play, and that should be to convince Li Xiuxian to keep well away from the Duchy in the near future. Li Changtian doubted at his stepmother would trouble herself to reach all the way to the Zhao Family in the Capital City, to revenge this slight. Especially after his father had already captured Zhou Jinhu, and she had a toy to play with at the moment, to relieve her anger."... that scheming wh.o.r.e! You have do something about her, brother! You have to!"
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The First Ducal Prince and Heir to the Duchy of the Westlands sighed as he shook his head at his older sister. He had not bothered to listen her tirade, and only turned his hearing back on when he saw that she had reached the end of her unceasing denunciation of the present d.u.c.h.ess. Naturally, he did not care about what she had said at all. He was just letting her vent her frustrations, after all.
To be honest, he was more concerned about slipping her out of the Duchy, and back onto the road to the Capital, where he could leave her safety to her fool of a husband. Why didn"t he send one of his older, steadier Protectors with her?
Then again, those powerful fellows would certainly not be able to tolerate her juvenile mannerisms and her reckless behaviour. Li Changtian bit down on a sigh as soon as he remembered that, and reminded himself to send word to the Zhao Family to keep her locked up for the rest of the year.
The capture of her favourite bodyguard should be enough of a warning to her. As well as to the Zhao Family.
"Oh. And could you, maybe, save Jinhu from father"s hands?"
He sniffed, as soon as he heard that. What was she thinking? Did she really believe that their father would let Zhou Jinhu go? After what he had done? The dumb fellow would be lucky if the Duke didn"t Question him under torture! Which was probably something that he was undergoing even as he rushed to the North.
"Save Zhou Jinhu? Why should I even bother? He can"t even take care of a young man who hasn"t even reached two decades yet? Besides, he carried out the attack out in the open, in Yanyun City. Do you really believe that Father will forgive something like that?
"It would be a surprise if he doesn"t send the idiot"s head to the Zhao Family, and demand an explanation!"
Besides, wasn"t it a bit too much? Even if he could convince his father that the attempt had not be aimed at Changhai, would the rest of the Duchy believe him? Given the prestige that he had already garnered so far, wasn"t that as good as slapping his own face? Over this Qin Feng fellow? And that idiot Zhou Jinhu?
Why would he do something like that? And risk the reputation that he had built up over the years, there in the Westlands?
Far better for the fool to be tortured and slaughtered by his father, than to admit that he had such a useless, brainless idiot working for him!
Besides, Zhou Jinhu was one of his sister"s people, and not his. So there was no way to tie him to the dolt. If anything, only the Zhao Family would be affected. And they were only connected through the marriage, and because both of them were joined in service to the Third Royal Prince.
Not to mention the fact that he was supposed to be leading his troops to deal with the Barbarians. He had managed to slip away unnoticed for the moment, but he wasn"t going to take any action other than utterly devoting himself to getting rid of the annual threat to the Duchy. THat was what built up his reputation in the first place.
So, he should wait until the Zhao Family was involved, and the Third Prince is alerted, before he begged a favour from his father. That should put him on better footing in the Capital, if nothing else.
And it would allow him to the option of pushing all of the blame on the Zhao Family instead!
"Then ... what are we going to do with that Qin Feng? Just the thought of him makes me feel sick! You should get rid of him, Younger Brother!"
It took some effort for Li Changtian to stop himself from rolling his eyes. What was this Qin Feng? Wasn"t he merely an Outer Court disciple of the Heavenly Sword School? Should he even bothered with someone like that? If it was not for the fact that he had saved his younger brother and accompanied him back to the Duchy, would a minor character like that even come to his attention?
Although, to be fair, he had been rather worried when he first heard about how the young fellow had been involved in getting his younger brother back to the Duchy. And his partic.i.p.ation in the capture of Zhou Jinhu had been something that was brought up during all of the recent gossip in Yanyang City. Which was why he had dug up about everything that he could about the younger man.
And satisfied himself that he was no threat at all!
"A disciple of the Heavenly Sword School? And you think he is working for Changhai"s maternal grandmother? Don"t be absurd! He is but an Outer Court disciple! She would never use someone with such a low status, regardless of his cultivation level! The fellow is at best one of Changhai"s confidantes!"
"But ... But he came with the troops that escorted the b.a.s.t.a.r.d North! And everyone says that he is ..."
"Everyone says that your husband is a worthless fat pig. Don"t tell me that you are finally listening to what everyone says?"
The Ducal Heir, Li Changtian sniffed as his sister pouted at his words, and waved a hand to the South. "You should know better than to kick up a fuss, regardless of whether there is truth in what the gossips on the street say. Or, at the least, keep your antics to the Ducal Palace itself. What possessed you to send a close aide to carry out an a.s.sasination ... Who doesn"t know that Zhou Jinhu is one of yours? How could you send your personal guard against one of younger brother"s people? And with Changhai present at that?
"Can you blame everyone for thinking that you are actually aiming to take younger brother"s life? That is certainly what Feng Xueli and her people are thinking now, I can a.s.sure you!"
"Who cares what that b.i.t.c.h thinks! She can go to h.e.l.l! And all of her family with her! Just wait until I get back to the Capital. I fix her up properly once I am there!"
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