The Captivating Crown Prince-Chapter 31: Chapter -31

Chapter -31

Vin here. As I mentioned in post, I’ll be providing a synopsis of CCP chapter 30 and possibly a translation of 31 if I have time. Without further ado~

Bai Shaolin asks Shang Wuxin where they’re going to stay for the night. Everyone is impressed and in awe of her wits, while she herself is in a bad mood, feeling unwell because of how much they rushed the journey. Coupled with the poison inside her, it’s even worst.

Huan Mo Che notices, of course, and wants to help her massage her temples, but he holds himself back knowing if he got close, he wouldn’t be able to control himself. On the other hand, Leng Yu Feng straight up asks if the crown prince is feeling unwell. This causes Huan Mo Che to freeze up because he thinks that his friend, like himself, is paying a bit too much attention to the crown prince these days.

The inquiry causes everyone to notice that Shang Wuxin looks paler than usual, and they begin worrying. She ignores them and calmly tells them to stop and rest where they are. They will depart at night time, and she predicts there will be a massacre on this very night, so she tells them to tighten their defenses and keep an eye out. Then, she jumps off her horse and leaps onto a tree branch, where she proceeds to close her eyes and rest.

Soon after, two more figures join her, and she doesn’t even have to guess to know who they are. The past few days, they had been shadowing her like protective bodyguards.

Huan Mo Che finally gives in and reaches out to massage her, but her eyes suddenly shoot open, and she grabs his hand, just about to break it when she realizes he’s not resisting at all. She lets go and meets his peach blossom eyes. She warns him coldly to not touch her so casually.

The two men obediently comply and relax next to her. At night, she opens her eyes and momentarily mesmerizes the two. She asks if everyone is ready, upon which Leng Yu Feng answers a yes. He feels conflicted about what he has to do next, but he also wants to know if the feeling he gets towards the crown prince will disappear if he’s away from her for a period of time.

When Shang Wuxin proposes that Huan Mo Che accompany Leng Yu Feng, both men reject. Huan Mo Che covers up his flustered state by saying he has to stay behind to protect her. As it turns out, Leng Yu Feng has to lead a good chunk of soldiers down a different road so they can all meet up again later in the south. It will ensure their safety, and since Shang Wuxin has something else to do, she doesn’t want Huan Mo Che around either.

She nods and tells Leng Yu Feng to be careful on the road, which catches him off-guard, and he leaves without replying. A few moments later, he curses in defeat. A man named He Lanjin asks Leng Yu Feng what’s wrong, and he responds with “nothing” as he scolds himself for forgetting to bide the crown prince farewell.

He Lanjin, who has been with Leng Yu Feng since they were children and understands him very well, notices something is off about Leng Yu Feng, but he is unable to put his finger on it.

Leng Yu Feng and Shang Wuxin part ways. Suddenly, a group of bandits jump out of nowhere and eye the grains on Shang Wuxin’s carriages. Shang Wuxin abruptly smiles and easily wrecks havoc in Huan Mo Che’s heart. Meanwhile, she tells the bandit, “How amusing!” The bandit is bald, and he reminds her of Eunuch Hai—an honest person pretending to be tough.

The bandits are confused at her reaction, and before they can finish threatening her, the one who spoke in the beginning is abruptly killed.

====

Chapter 31 — Gathering Followers

As soon as the crown prince came out, the problem was resolved!

“It appears to this prince that you’re quite comfortable. Are you going to surrender?” Shang Wuxin asked as she looked at the chubby mountain bandit. His words earlier had improved her mood just a bit, so she decided to spare his life.

The chubby mountain bandit was awfully frightened by the youth standing before him and knew he had kicked an iron plate. Earlier, when he saw that the entourage had food and few people, he’d intended to rob them. The sight of a frail-looking youth leading it had only made the idea more tempting.

Who would’ve expected that youth to be such a lord!

“You all can go! Today, I was blind and disturbed you, oh great ones. This lowly one will scram right away!” The chubby bandit bowed as his head bobbed up and down. Most would look down on this bandit’s methods, but Shang Wuxin looked upon him with praise. One should know their limits, and clearly, this bandit was clever enough to know what he had to do.

Huan Mo Che took one look at the expression in the crown prince’s eyes and understood that the crown prince was very satisfied with the bandit, and he too realized how shrewd the bandit was.

The bandit knew nothing of their identities but called them “oh great ones” nonetheless, showing that he was sharp-witted. If a person as versatile as him was given the appropriate platform, he would undoubtedly be able to become a person smooth and slick in establishing social relations.

“Bengong suddenly doesn’t want to leave!” Shang Wuxin dismounted, and so did Huan Mo Che and the rest. She was quite satisfied with this particular group of soldiers and began to contemplate whether or not to take them under her wing.

“Bengong?” The chubby bandit looked fearfully at the youth. The only person who would call themselves “bengong” was the recently well-known crown prince. The bandit thought he’d offended a few officials, not the crown prince himself!

“Kill them! My brothers, kill!” He roared. He knew that if he let these people go, his brothers would all lose their lives later on. It would be better to kill the entourage now and erase all traces of the events, since he wasn’t naive enough to believe that the crown prince would truly let them go.

“Interesting…” The corners of Shang Wuxin’s curved into a cold smile before she launched herself at the bandits, followed by Huan Mo Che, who was still worried despite knowing the crown prince practiced martial arts.

Behind them, the soldiers charged in too as to not lose face for their prince.

Shang Wuxin was without a weapon. Since arriving to this world not too long ago, she had not yet found a handy weapon. To people like her, their weapons were no different from their second self, so she was not in a rush to find hers. The matter required the workings of fate.

Every time she faced a bandit, she would either break their arms or legs, but she inflicted only physical injuries. That way, the bandits would still be able continue with their everyday lives.

“Spare their lives!” She commanded suddenly. Her voice contained an undefiable tone to it. Although the soldiers were confused, no one disobeyed. They continued fighting with their weapons but did not aim to inflict life-threatening injuries.

The mountain bandits were strong, but compared to the well-trained soldiers of the entourage, they were still lacking. Moreover, the soldiers this time were all exceptional, as they were taken from the imperial palace. Before long, all of the bandits were on the ground howling.

The chubby mountain bandit noticed that all of his brothers were injured, but none had died. His heart quivered, and he held his injured shoulder as he turned to ask, “What are Crown Prince’s intentions? As long as it’s something this lowly one is capable of, this lowly one will go through fire and water to accomplish it!”

Shang Wuxin scrutinized him carefully before asking, “What’s your name? Are you the leader of this mountain?”

“Yes. This lowly one is Lin Jia’er, the leader of this mountain!” Lin Jia’er fell to his knees before the youth. He wanted to grab onto the youth’s clean robes but was intercepted by a longsword. Looking up, he caught sight of another exceptionally beautiful gentleman. However, the gentleman was looking at him with an extremely cold smile. Lin Jia’er dared not get too close to the crown prince again.

“Lin Jia’er… this prince wants you!” Shang Wuxin’s words surprised everyone, and they all started wondering what the crown prince was thinking. Huan Mo Che, on the other hand, wasn’t very happy. He knew well that the crown prince didn’t mean anything

, but he still couldn’t stand hearing the crown prince say something like that to someone else.

“Me?” Lin Jia’er embraced himself in fear. “Crown Prince, please spare this lowly one. This lowly one is ugly and will dirty Your Highness. Look!” He suddenly pointed at Huan Mo Che. “This gentleman is tall, stately, and handsome. He is much more compatible with Your Highness and will definitely be able to satisfy Your Highness too!”

Everyone else was bewildered, but they caught on nonetheless. Several soldiers had to stifle their laughs. Meanwhile, Huan Mo Che turned so red that even his neck was flushed. He didn’t want to kill Lin Jia’er anymore. As the matter of fact, he started to feel a bit anticipative.

“Nonsense!” Suddenly, an angry woman’s voice sounded. A black-robed woman appeared before them. Her hair was tied in a high pony, and several hundred people were following behind her. The soldiers all raised their weapons in preparation to protect the crown prince.

There was a hideous scar on the woman’s cheek, but she did nothing to conceal it. Her entire person emanated the beauty of self-assurance. Each of the individuals behind her was dressed in black, with a single “Shang” character sewed on their robes. The woman led them to the crown prince and knelt down.

“Your Highness, your subordinate has arrived!” Wu Wei reported excitedly. When she received the crown prince’s message a few days ago, she had been unbelievably happy. The crown prince didn’t take her, Wu Ju, or any of ‘his’ followers along on the trip to the south, so she had been very worried. The instant she received the crown prince’s message, she had grabbed a few hundred followers and hurried over.

And yet, the first thing she heard upon arrival was those impudent words.

Shang Wuxin surveyed the people standing before her, and each one immediately straightened up and tried to look their best. Some of them had been trained by Eunuch Hai, and others had been gathered and trained by Wu Wei. This was only a portion of the entire force. They had all seen the crown prince before.

Sometimes, the crown prince would personally set up their training. Everyone in the “Blood Shang” saw the crown prince as their own deity!

Shang Wuxin had named the force “Blood Shang,” and it was now a very formidable force! That was why she allowed a portion of them out to handle the business today. She believed that from here on out, the Blood Shang Army would become one of the most respected teams in existence.

Let alone everyone else, even Huan Mo Che was shocked at the sudden appearance of the group. He hadn’t expected the crown prince to have such a powerful force at hand. Moreover, the head was one of the crown prince’s own personal maidservants. To hand such a heavy responsibility to a woman… such a bold yet confident action made Huan Mo Che admire the prince even more.

“Take in these people!” Shang Wuxin instructed. She was lacking in manpower. Finding more people was time-consuming and unreliable, so this time when she took on the task of traveling to the south, she started to have designs on the mountain bandits she would encounter along the way.

Mountain bandits were all more or less skilled and could be taught. Furthermore, they were all outlaws who did everything just to stay alive, so they were more ideal. As long as they were given the right kind of training and treatment, Shang Wuxin knew that she would never have to worry about their loyalty.

After Wu Wei led the bandits away, Shang Wuxin glanced at the remaining soldiers. Her eyes flashed with a mysterious light. Bai Shaolin was the first to kneel down and call out, “This subject pledges allegiance to Your Highness the Crown Prince!” He’d already intended on it anyway, so the scene he’d just witnessed only aided in affirming his decision.

“This subordinate pledges allegiance to Your Highness the Crown Prince!” The soldiers knelt down one by one. They too had already regarded the crown prince as their master.

“I will never forsake you!” Huan Mo Che walked to Shang Wuxin’s side. His voice was gentle, but it contained the most powerful determination and resolution.

Shang Wuxin nodded in approval and then looked at Wu Wei. “From here to the south, there are many mountains,” she handed Wu Wei a sheet of paper. “This prince hopes that you’ll be able to sweep all of the mountains marked here under our banner. Wu Ju is on her way here. Hopefully, this prince will you see again when we return to the capital.”

“Yes. This subordinate will not let Your Highness down!” Wu Wei vowed.

With that, Shang Wuxin mounted her horse and led the soldiers away. The mountains she had marked contained people she found worthy to recruit, and the one she hadn’t marked were the ones she looked down on. She didn’t like to waste time on useless things.

“Onwards!” She commanded lightly. The entourage departed from this mountaintop.