The Invincible Bodyguard Starting by Escorting the Doomsday Imperial Princess Chapter 90 : Chapter 90

Chapter 90: An Escort Master Who Keeps to the Rules?

“Enter.”

A voice as steady as a mountain ca from within the tower.

Before the words had even faded, the heavy wooden doors creaked open inward on their own.

Yin Ren stepped inside.

The enormous study was filled with every kind of bookshelf imaginable. The countless books lining them exuded an ancient, weighty fragrance of ink that cald the mind at once.

At the very top of the study hung a nanmu plaque bearing the four characters “To Order Heaven and Earth.”

Beneath that plaque, seated before a wide desk of purple sandalwood, was a middle-aged man dressed in embroidered robes.

The man’s features were refined, his bearing gentle as jade, yet he also faintly carried the authority of one long accustod to high station.

He kept his head lowered, writing sothing on paper without a care for anything else, and never once looked up.

Yin Ren, Deputy Pavilion Master of Wuchang Pavilion, simply stood quietly before the desk and did not dare disturb him.

Only after the final stroke fell did the middle-aged man slowly set down the wolf-hair brush in his hand, lift his head, and let his calm gaze settle on Yin Ren.

“What happened?”

Yin Ren imdiately clasped his fists and said in a heavy voice, “Alliance Leader, I fear... Her Highness is about to slip out of our control.”

“Oh?”

The refined man addressed as Alliance Leader raised his brow slightly. Yet his eyes remained as calm and still as an ancient well, and he rely signaled for the other man to continue.

“Tell the details.”

Yin Ren drew in a deep breath, gathered his chaotic thoughts into a clear thread, and quickly reported, “Her Highness entered Great Zhou with a Purple Palace Realm Escort Master at her side, a man nad Chen Guan.”

“This man acts in a wildly unrestrained manner... overbearing to the extre! The mont he entered Great Zhou, the ten top guards arranged by Shadow Hall to receive Her Highness were all treated by him as hijackers trying to rob an escort, and every last one of them was beheaded!”

“Afterward, the road of tempering that Tai’an Pavilion had prepared for Young Mistress through Ten Thousand Deaths, No Retreat not only failed to temper her disposition, but was forcibly... torn apart by this man through brute force.”

“Even Zhang Wen, Deputy Hall Master of Tai’an Pavilion, together with the two Hall Masters under him, were all beheaded as well!”

After hearing this string of failed reports, the Alliance Leader not only showed no anger over the loss of a capable subordinate, but instead revealed a trace of surprise.

“There is actually such an Escort Master?”

He slowly rose to his feet and walked to the window, gazing at the sky beyond the estate. A curve of genuine interest unexpectedly lifted at the corner of his lips, and with a single sentence he touched the heart of the matter.

“An Escort Master like this, one who clings to his own ‘rules’ so firmly that he even dares escort a rebellion... there are not many such people left in this world.”

Seeing that the Alliance Leader did not seem to take the matter seriously, Yin Ren grew all the more anxious and hurriedly said, “Alliance Leader, with this Purple Palace Realm Escort Master protecting Her Highness, I fear our plan to ‘defy heaven’ will no longer be possible!”

Lowering his voice, he proposed a guess. “Do you think this could have been done deliberately by Su Jingyan?”

“Is that even a question?”

The Alliance Leader leaned back into the grandmaster chair and pressed at his brow with one hand. His tone carried a trace of helpless mockery.

“That old bastard was unwilling to accept it in the end after all. To think he left this old man with such a hard nail to deal with.”

“Alliance Leader! We must think of a solution at once!” Yin Ren’s voice rose several degrees.

“The two of them are already on the road to Shangjing City. If Her Highness is allowed to enter Shangjing directly without having reached our requirents, then the plan we have prepared for a hundred years is very likely to co to nothing...”

“Old Yin.”

The Alliance Leader cut him off directly. His tone was bland, yet carried a majesty that permitted no argunt. “How many tis has this Alliance Leader told you that in all things, you must remain calm? Haste only breeds disorder.”

He paused, then turned the topic.

“Though the Purple Palace Realm may count as a level of mastery capable of suppressing an entire region, in the end, he is still only one man. He is not so demon or fiend!”

“So long as he is a man, he must have desires and pursuits of his own.”

“Tell —why would he risk such enormous danger to escort a ‘rebel princess’ into Shangjing City?”

“This...” Yin Ren was struck speechless.

At first, the information he had received had only said that this Escort Master was a madman who feared neither heaven nor earth, and so had dared accept such a fatal escort.

But now it seed the matter was far from that simple.

This man must be seeking sothing. Otherwise, there was no way to explain why he would wade into such filthy waters while carrying the risk of extermination for his entire clan.

He looked at the Alliance Leader before him, a man who rely sat at the desk and yet seed already fused with heaven and earth, steady as Mount Tai. Boundless awe rose within Yin Ren’s heart.

Truly worthy of being the Alliance Leader who toyed with the hearts of n in the palm of his hand. With a single sentence, he always struck straight at the core of the matter.

He cautiously asked, “Alliance Leader, do you an... that this Escort Master called Chen Guan also wishes to claim a share in this ga of restoring the dynasty?”

“Heh.” The refined man smiled faintly. “Then you think too little of the trade of Escort Masters, and even more little of human desire.”

With his hands clasped behind his back, he slowly walked to the center of the study, his gaze deep enough to seem capable of seeing through the human heart.

“These so-called Escort Masters who keep to rules are rely pursuing the goal within their own hearts. Mm, one might also call it faith. But to say that an Escort Master can truly be governed by faith alone—that is all nonsense.”

“In the ancient ages, there were not many such Escort Masters to begin with, let alone in this chaotic age of today!”

He paused there, then countered with a question of his own.

“If this Alliance Leader’s guess is correct, then that Escort Master should be... quite young, yes?”

“Indeed!” Hearing these words from the Alliance Leader, Yin Ren’s heart trembled slightly. He imdiately clasped his fists and said, “Alliance Leader, your foresight is truly divine! It is said that Chen Guan is... not yet twenty.”

“A Purple Palace Realm cultivator at twenty?” A faint shock appeared on the Alliance Leader’s face when he heard this.

He had already assud Chen Guan was not very old, but he had never expected him to be so young.

A nearly imperceptible gleam flashed through his eyes, and soon he returned to that sa gentle yet imposing bearing.

“My niece, Luo Li, is only sixteen.”

“She carries half the bloodline of the Shadow Clan. That race is hailed as heaven’s own favored children—born with natural beauty and beauty that topples cities. Even among the Ten Great Imperial Dynasties, they would still count among the finest.”

“Ever since ancient tis, heroes have never been able to resist beautiful won!”

He said this much, then let the rest hang in the air.

“You tell ... a hot-blooded young man, escorting a beauty of such caliber and wandering the jianghu alone...”

That man was none other than Luo Li’s uncle, Luo Wenyuan, who held high office in Great Zhou’s court as the Grand Preceptor.

His hidden identity, anwhile, was that of the Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Defying Alliance.

The so-called Heaven-Defying Alliance was a coalition ford by twenty-five shadowy organizations, all united for the purpose of overthrowing Great Zhou.

It had existed for more than a hundred years, and its mbers had long since spread throughout all of Great Zhou.

As for the Yin Ren before him, he was the Deputy Pavilion Master of Wuchang Pavilion, one of those twenty-five organizations. He was also one of the chief figures responsible for gathering intelligence and dispatching missions on behalf of the Heaven-Defying Alliance.

Yin Ren suddenly understood and thought of sothing at once.

Back then, had not the Violet Firmant Emperor also fallen only after encountering Empress Yinglan, thus bringing about this tragedy?

These won of the Shadow Clan truly were terrifying. They could actually bewitch a Purple Palace Realm expert until his soul was utterly lost!

Yin Ren said flatly, “Alliance Leader, could it be that the brat wants the girl herself?”

Luo Wenyuan smiled faintly, neither confirming nor denying it.

He rely waved a hand and instructed, “Pass the order down. First, prescribe the dicine to fit the illness. If he refuses to appreciate the favor, then make him... disappear directly. My Heaven-Defying Alliance does not gain much from one extra Purple Palace Realm expert, nor does it lose much from one fewer.”

He let out a soft sigh, and his tone carried a trace of complexity.

“Rember this. No matter the cost, that girl must walk the road of restoring the dynasty that I, her elder uncle, have spent a hundred years laying down for her.”

At that point, Luo Wenyuan fell silent for several monts before finally slowly speaking again.

“If she wants to restore the dynasty, how could that girl possibly do so without paying so price?”

“Starting today, let your twenty-five halls begin moving according to the plan.”

“Yes!” Yin Ren imdiately clasped his fists.

“Oh, right!” Just as Yin Ren was about to turn and leave, Luo Wenyuan called him back.

“Rember—before that emperor Zhou Tianyuan cos into contact with Luo Li, she must complete the imperial baptism that this Alliance Leader has arranged for her.”