NFBE Chapter 130 The Dog That Doesn't Bark Is the Most Vicious
Chapter 130 The Dog That Doesn't Bark Is the Most Vicious
Zhou Suquan spoke in a flippant tone, a mocking smile on his face, as if he were waiting to see a good show.
Zhou Suquan came from the Huiling Zhou family. Mingwei had some personal grudges against him, and the two had always been at odds. Whenever they met, they would inevitably exchange sarcastic remarks.
This time, Zhou Suquan appeared, and Mingwei was unsure whether he was after him or Prince Chen.
He chuckled softly, a hint of amusement in his voice: "When did Commander Zhou become interested in these kinds of amusements?"
"If you're curious, why don't you go and ask the prince yourself and see if he's interested in telling you?"
Zhou Suquan's smile froze, and his gaze swept coldly towards Mingwei.
Prince Chen has always been the most well-behaved among the princes.
Due to his frail health, Prince Chen always gave the impression of being a gentleman of quiet elegance. Since Consort Duan fell out of favor, the mother and son have become increasingly low-key in Shengjing.
But someone once warned him that the dog that doesn't bark is the one that bites the hardest.
The one who seems unassuming and unassuming may actually be the one with the deepest schemes.
Zhou Suquan gripped the knife at his waist, his mind on guard, and decided not to argue with Mingwei any longer.
His gaze swept across the procession like a sharp blade, pausing for a moment on the last carriage, before he said with a mocking smile:
"I heard that His Highness Prince Chen brought a distinguished guest with him on his recent trip back to the capital. The person who is honored as a guest by His Highness must be extremely outstanding. I wonder if I, Zhou, will have the honor of meeting him?"
These words, though seemingly gentle, were barbed and contained a hidden provocation, like a needle piercing the heart.
Mingwei frowned slightly, about to retort, when he suddenly heard Prince Chen's gentle voice: "No one as outstanding as you can compare to Suquan."
Prince Chen ordered someone to lift the carriage curtain.
Zhou Suquan was slightly taken aback, then stepped forward with a smile.
"Your Highness is too kind. I am merely grateful for His Majesty's favor."
Prince Chen said gently, "Su Quan, you are too modest. If you were not capable, Father would not have entrusted the safety of the entire Shengjing to you."
Zhou Suquan couldn't help but laugh out loud. Prince Chen watched him quietly, his expression still gentle, but a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.
Zhou Suquan was indeed talented, but he was arrogant and haughty.
The Zhou family outwardly pledged allegiance to Prince Xuan, but Prince Chen knew perfectly well who they were actually serving behind the scenes.
As the laughter subsided, Zhou Su became more respectful, cupping his hands to explain his purpose:
"I hope Your Highness will forgive me. I was only inspecting vehicles entering the capital on the orders of His Highness Prince Xuan, and I had no intention of offending you."
Prince Chen lowered his eyes slightly and coughed a few times, covering his mouth.
"It's alright. Commander Zhou was merely following orders; there's no offense involved."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Suquan's face showed emotion, "Your Highness is indeed a man of great principle."
Prince Chen asked calmly, "He Feng has already checked them once before. Commander Zhou, do you think my men need to be checked again?"
As soon as Prince Chen finished speaking, the air became tense.
Although his tone remained as gentle as ever, it was sharp as a drawn sword, chilling and menacing.
Zhou Su's smile froze completely.
He then realized that the reason Prince Chen had been so polite to him earlier was because he was waiting for him to make a mistake!
Zhou Suquan gritted his teeth secretly, his tone somewhat unnatural:
"According to the rules, we should indeed conduct an extra check... Your Highness, please don't misunderstand, I just want to ensure everything is foolproof. After all, the situation in the capital has been rather turbulent lately..."
"Oh? Something's not peaceful?" Prince Chen looked at him with feigned ignorance. "I've been away from the capital for a long time and don't know what major event has happened in Shengjing. How can it be anything's not peaceful?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Suquan's expression changed slightly.
He cursed inwardly: This Prince Chen is indeed not easy to deal with; his words are full of sharpness.
If this continues, I fear I won't be testing Prince Chen, but rather he'll trick me into revealing information.
Originally, they wanted to find a pretext to keep Prince Chen's advisors, but unexpectedly, Prince Chen left them speechless.
Zhou Suquan smiled awkwardly and took a few steps back. "Now that Your Highness has returned to the capital, you must have heard about what happened in Shengjing very soon."
"I dare not speak recklessly, lest it spread as a false rumor."
He was eager to see Prince Chen off, and waved to He Feng, saying, "There's nothing wrong with Prince Chen's carriage, let it pass."
He Feng breathed a sigh of relief and bowed, replying, "Yes."
The carriage started moving again, and Yun Shang lowered the curtain and picked up the book again.
Yu Wan glanced at him thoughtfully.
This Zhou Suquan is clearly here to cause trouble for Yun Shang.
However, Prince Chen skillfully defused the situation with just a few casual words.
As expected, the wise ruler who could make the male protagonist follow him so wholeheartedly was no pushover either.
The original novel doesn't describe Prince Chen in much detail, and Yu Wan's impression of him is limited to "gentle and refined, and good at recognizing and utilizing people."
But now it seems that this Prince Chen not only has a gentle and mild personality, but also harbors extremely deep scheming, just like the male lead, he is "white on the outside but black on the inside".
Similar people always tend to gather together; the ancients were right.
……
There was no disturbance at the city gate, and Prince Chen's carriage entered the city smoothly.
After entering the city, Yun Shang's carriage separated from Prince Chen.
The house that Zhou Ying "gifted" was in the center of the East City. Yu Wan thought about it and figured that the house should be worth around one million taels of silver.
If she wanted to buy that house herself, it would take at least ten years.
She pursed her lips, about to say something more, when the carriage suddenly lurched violently.
Yu Wan lost her balance and fell forward, but Yun Shang reacted quickly and caught her back.
The air was filled with the man's clean and pleasant fragrance. Yu Wan's nose twitched, and a lewd thought popped into her mind.
Thinking that they were inside a carriage, she simply buried her head in Yun Shang's arms and whispered, "My head is a little dizzy from the bump, let me rest for a bit..."
Yun Shang lowered his eyes to look at the girl in his arms, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
They could tell she was doing it on purpose, but pretended not to notice.
He put one arm around Yu Wan and lifted the carriage curtain with the other.
He asked the driver, "What happened?"
The coachman said, "The carriage ahead suddenly stopped; there must be something wrong with it."
The coachman answered tremblingly.
The young master inside the carriage was a favorite of Prince Chen. He had just reined in his horse in a hurry; if the young master inside the carriage had been injured, he would probably be in big trouble.
Yun Shang noticed the driver's worry and said calmly, "It's alright, let's take a detour."
The driver breathed a sigh of relief and agreed.
As the carriage turned around, Yu Wan was climbing out of Yun Shang's arms.
She turned her head and caught a glimpse of a magnificent carriage parked across the road ahead.
Several servants dressed in splendid attire were busily circling around the carriage, seemingly repairing something.
Nearby, a beautifully dressed young woman was supporting a graceful and elegant lady, smiling and talking to her.
Yu Wan's gaze swept over the beautiful woman, and she suddenly froze.
"Mother."
The woman standing beside the luxurious carriage looked at the beautiful woman next to her with a puzzled expression. "Mother, what are you looking at?"
The beautiful woman had a pair of almond-shaped eyes that shimmered like water, and skin as white as snow; it was clear that she had never suffered any hardship.
"It's nothing." The beautiful woman shook her head, looking at her daughter who had been lost and found, and smiled gently. "I was just thinking that I was worried that I might not be able to buy my Wan'er the dress she liked the most after all this trouble."
The young girl looked at the beautiful woman with admiration and said considerately, "Whether we can buy clothes or not is secondary. It's fortunate that Mother wasn't injured just now."