"My lady, what does our benefactor Chen look like?" Wu Qiong asked curiously.
He only felt the name Chen Nan sounded a bit familiar, but couldn't recall where he'd heard it.
Xia Anruo replied, "I only met him once. As for his appearance... tall, slender, and very handsome."
Although she had met Chen Nan once, she hadn't paid much attention to his appearance at the time.
Wu Yue said, "I drew a portrait of Uncle Chen before." As she spoke, she quickly took out a portrait of Chen Nan from a cabinet. Although the little girl hadn't learned to paint, her skill was exquisite, capturing three parts of Chen Nan's spirit on paper.
"I've seen him," Wu Qiong said with a grave expression. "When I entered the city earlier, I encountered the Black Dragon Guards apprehending this person."
"The Black Dragon Guards are the private soldiers of the Third Prince. Why would they be apprehending our benefactor Chen?" Xia Anruo's eyes were filled with disbelief.
"Yes, Uncle Chen has already become a palace guard. How could the Black Dragon Guards dare to arrest him?" Wu Yue was full of confusion. She had gone to watch the guard selection earlier and seen Chen Nan, and had been paying attention to his movements ever since.
Upon learning he had become a palace guard, mother and daughter were overjoyed. They knew that if Chen Nan became a palace guard, no one would dare to touch him.
But now.
The Third Prince's Black Dragon Guards were arresting him.
Xia Anruo was shocked: "Does this mean the Ulong Gang's backer is the Third Prince?"
"There should be no other possibility." Seeing his wife and daughter's anxious expressions, Wu Qiong gently comforted them, "My lady, you and Yueyue should rest at home first. I will go rescue our benefactor Chen now."
Wu Yue asked nervously, "Can you defeat the Third Prince's Black Dragon Guards?"
A cold smile spread across Wu Qiong's face: "The Third Prince? What does he think he is!"
------
The Crown Prince's Mansion.
Chen Nan was bound by iron chains to a cross-shaped wooden frame. Although he possessed immense strength and an invincible physique, the handcuffs and shackles were made of some unknown material that surprisingly suppressed his strength.
Yes.
It suppressed his physical power, leaving him feeling like a puddle of mud. Not only could he not exert himself, but even lifting his head had become an extremely difficult task.
"The Third Prince arrives!"
Following a loud announcement, the Third Prince Wen Zhiyuan, dressed in a white brocade robe and holding a folding fan, elegantly walked in with a group of servants.
He appeared like a graceful young noble, with a refined smile on his face.
When he stopped about five meters away from Chen Nan.
The servants behind him quickly placed a prepared chair behind Wen Zhiyuan, and another servant brought a table in front of him. Following that, a succession of maids placed pastries, fruit platters, and tea on the table.
It was evident that this was a man who enjoyed life.
Wen Zhiyuan gently fanned himself with his paper fan and calmly asked, "Did Song Dahu instruct you to kill Jiang Zhuo?"
Chen Nan chuckled, "Since Your Highness knows about this, why not kill Song Dahu? Why bother with a small fry like me?"
A cold glint flashed in Wen Zhiyuan's eyes: "Do I need a small fry like you to teach me how to conduct myself?"
With that, he casually waved his fan.
Whoosh!
A powerful divine force shot out from the fan, instantly striking Chen Nan's chest.
A dull thud was heard.
"Hmm?" Wen Zhiyuan frowned, his eyes filled with disbelief: "You didn't even spit blood after enduring my attack?"
Huang Nan said, "Your Highness, this fellow's strength is exceptionally impressive. He even defeated more than ten Black Dragon Guards at the city gate earlier. If I hadn't acted personally, I might not have been able to subdue him."
"That strong?" Wen Zhiyuan looked astonished, then a cold smile appeared on his face. "What good is it even if he's strong? Isn't he just a weakling here?" He then burst into unrestrained laughter.
The powerful were the most useless in this world, for in this forbidden land, only absolute imperial authority was supreme.
It could even transcend cultivators.
"Third Prince, you must know that I've become a palace guard, right?" Chen Nan appeared very calm. Even though he had taken a hit just now, he only felt a slight pain, nothing more.
Even if his strength was completely gone and he couldn't exert any force.
His physique was not something that could be easily harmed.
"Are you threatening me?" Wen Zhiyuan let out a heavy snort. "So what if you've become a palace guard? Do you think I'm afraid of you?"
"And, you don't actually think the palace guards will come to save you, do you?"
"If so, I advise you to give up on that idea!"
"Ye Chen may have returned."
"But he definitely won't come tonight."
"Because he dares not bring palace guards to my mansion to demand your release. Even though he has the right."
"Even if he comes, he'll wait until dawn to see the Emperor."
"But by then, you'll likely be cold, won't you?"
Wen Zhiyuan was intelligent.
He was not as incompetent as other princes might have thought.
It was precisely because of this that he chose to act against Chen Nan at night, as he was confident that Ye Chen would not dare to bring palace guards to his mansion to demand his release, even though palace guards held significant authority.
But that authority had limits.
It wasn't enough to supersede the imperial family.
Unless he dared to risk the Emperor's wrath.
But he was different.
What if he killed Chen Nan? He was just a palace guard who had recently passed his assessment, not yet having undergone the training.
Even if he was killed, all he would face was a reprimand from the Emperor.
Nothing more.
"Guards, dismember this fellow for me. I want him to know the consequences of opposing me!" Wen Zhiyuan's eyes flashed with a cold light.
"Yes!"
Two Black Dragon Guards drew the long swords from their waists.
Their sharp swords emitted a chilling gleam under the moonlight. Even Chen Nan felt a touch of apprehension upon seeing them.
Just as the two raised their swords.
A terrifying aura erupted into the night, like a primordial beast awakening from slumber, causing the heavens and earth to tremble.
"What is it? Who possesses such terrifying power?"
"Releasing such a terrifying aura within the city, what are their intentions?" Wen Zhiyuan let out a piercing shriek. In all his years, this was the first time he had felt such a terrifying aura.
It filled him with a strong sense of crisis.
"What a powerful aura!"
Chen Nan also showed a solemn expression. Although he didn't know who it was, the aura was too terrifying. It must at least possess the strength of peak Divine Sovereign realm.
Boom boom boom!
Accompanied by deafening roars, screams of despair echoed from the Crown Prince's Mansion.
Following that.
A middle-aged man holding a branch walked into the backyard, exuding killing intent.
Wen Zhiyuan shrieked, looking at the man in terror: "Who are you? Do you know that trespassing into the Crown Prince's Mansion is a capital offense?"