HBWnovel Chapter 193 Old Acquaintance
Chapter 193 Old Acquaintance
Chapter 193 Old Acquaintance
"Your Highness, do not panic. These are the Black Armor Army of the Xiang family of Northern Han. They will absolutely not harm Your Highness." A hint of disdain flashed in Liu He's eyes, but he still smiled and explained to Li Longqian.
After listening, Li Longqian's tense expression lessened somewhat, but he still complained, "Why are you making such a big fuss? Are you trying to intimidate my Southern Tang Kingdom?"
In truth, Liu He was also somewhat puzzled. In his letter to Xiang Boyue, he had only instructed him to thoroughly humiliate the Southern Tang princes, especially Li Longyuan. Why had he mobilized such a large force, even bringing several thousand of the Xiang family's elite Black Armor Army?
This scene doesn't look like a demonstration at all; it looks like they're here to fight to the death. No wonder Li Longqian was so scared that his face turned pale.
The army of several thousand men marched in a grand procession before the delegation and halted. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, as if guided by the will of a single person. Even the other members of the twelve aristocratic families, let alone outsiders like Lin Fei and Li Longqian, couldn't help but nod in approval—the Xiang family truly knew how to manage their army!
The lead knight dismounted, walked up to Liu He, bowed slightly, and gave a military salute: "This humble general, Xiang Hu, deputy commander of the Black Armor Army, greets Lord Marquis of Changshan. Please forgive me for not being able to perform the full salute due to my armor!"
Liu He nodded: "It's alright. Where is your commander? Why can't we see him?"
Xiang Hu replied, "The Commander is in the military camp, waiting for Your Excellency, and has specially sent this humble general to greet you."
"Alright, let's set off now. After meeting your commander, we'll head to the capital." Just as the group was about to depart, Xiang Hu's gaze suddenly drifted towards Li Longqian and his group of guards.
"My lord, please wait!" Xiang Hu said, "This is the border of my Northern Han Kingdom. No outsiders are allowed to bring weapons into the country!"
His words were clearly directed at Li Longqian's group of bodyguards. At this moment, the bodyguards that Li Longqian had brought were also holding weapons, nervously protecting Li Longqian.
Lin Fei, however, was alone, his weapons stored in his storage space, standing empty-handed to the side.
"What do you mean by this?" Li Longqian was also furious. "I am a prince of a country, can't I even bring a few guards?"
Xiang Hu's reply was simple and clear, consisting of only two words: "Disarm!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than dozens of black-armored infantrymen rushed forward, preparing to disarm Li Longqian's personal guards.
Li Longqian's guards were already stunned by the Black Armor Army's astonishing momentum. Even if they were no match for them, there were still thousands of soldiers standing there! If they dared to resist, judging from the murderous aura emanating from those men, they would definitely kill on the spot.
Therefore, Li Longqian's guards did not dare to resist and obediently allowed the Black Armor Army to disarm them.
This sudden turn of events almost made the other members of the delegation from various noble families burst into laughter—the Xiang family's army was truly reckless. They had disarmed the entire guard of a prince the moment they entered the country.
And it seems that's not the end of it. After disarming them, the black-armored soldiers actually wanted to arrest all of Li Longqian's guards, except for the unarmed and seemingly harmless Taoist priest.
The rest of the delegation were happy to watch the spectacle, since this was Xiang family territory. They figured if the sky fell, the Xiang family would take the blame, and they wouldn't have to.
"Outrageous! Outrageous!" Li Longqian was so angry that he jumped up and down. "Lord Changshan, aren't you going to do anything about these thugs and let them arrest my people?"
Marquis Liu He of Changshan said helplessly, "Your Highness, please forgive me. The Black Armor Army of the Xiang family can only be commanded by the commander of the Black Armor Army. Even His Majesty cannot control it, so I am powerless to do anything about it!"
Liu He simply shrugged, looking as if he was powerless to help.
Although the twelve noble families of the Northern Han Dynasty nominally respected the imperial Liu family, in reality, they were not subordinate to each other, each had their own territory, and none of them could control the others.
If the Xiang family gives you face and addresses you respectfully as Marquis, they'll listen to your orders. But if they don't, Liu He, in Xiaxiang County, truly has no standing whatsoever.
"My lord, please don't be offended. These people brought weapons into the country, and I was just following the commander's orders. Once we've verified their identities, I will release them." Xiang Hu explained to Liu He, already showing great respect to Marquis Changshan.
"Alright, alright!" Liu He waved his hand helplessly, "Go see your commander first!"
Liu He couldn't figure out what Boyue was really up to.
In his letter to Xiang Boyue, he clearly instructed him to focus on dealing with the eldest prince, Li Longyuan, rather than the second prince, Li Longqian.
Liu He had long since seen through the Second Prince, Li Longqian; he was truly a useless piece of trash. All he needed to do was teach him a lesson.
For the Northern Han Kingdom, it was clearly far more advantageous to let an incompetent playboy take the throne than to let a capable and powerful figure do so.
But for some inexplicable madness, Boyue didn't target Li Longyuan; instead, he immediately arrested all of Li Longqian's guards. This was completely contrary to Liu He's plan.
"When I see that kid, I'll definitely have to ask him a lot of questions and see what he's really thinking!" Liu He thought resentfully.
The delegation followed behind thousands of black-armored soldiers, heading towards their camp.
These people were also eagerly anticipating how Xiang Boyue would deal with Lin Fei. Judging from the methods Xiang Boyue had used against Li Longqian, this commander of the Black Armor Army was clearly preparing to teach these two Southern Tang princes a lesson.
As the saying goes, when two tigers fight, one will surely be injured. Lin Fei is not a pushover like Li Longqian; he won't be easily manipulated. With a "the more the merrier" mentality, everyone wanted to see what kind of sparks would fly between the Xiang family's Black Armor Army commander and the Southern Tang prince, who had risen rapidly in recent years, instantly climbing to twenty-third on the popularity rankings.
However, Lin Fei was not worried at all, and these people's idea of watching the show was probably going to be dashed.
They never dreamed that a commander of the black-armored army of the Xiang family of the Northern Han and a prince of the Southern Tang would be old acquaintances.
Moreover, Lin Fei and Xiang Boyue are not only old acquaintances, but also sworn brothers. It's simply impossible to see these two fight.
And so, each with their own thoughts, they followed behind the thousands of black-armored soldiers and arrived at the black-armored army's camp.