The villainous prince who bullied Feng Aotian was actually myself.

Page 75

As is well known, a warrior named Qin Wuyang accompanied Jing Ke on his assassination attempt on the King of Qin. This man had killed someone at the age of twelve, and no one dared to offend him.

However, when he saw Qin Shi Huang, he turned pale with fear and immediately cowered.

Although Caesar was "somewhat" inferior to Qin Shi Huang as described in Chinese history, the oppressive aura of the first emperor of mankind emanating from him was truly suffocating.

Perhaps, this is what it means to be an emperor.

A powerful figure capable of ruling a region receives elite imperial education from a young age, gaining extensive experience in the upper echelons of society. Ultimately, they rise to power through fierce competition among their peers, enduring countless trials and tribulations. Even if they were once immature teenagers, the bloodshed they experience would likely transform them into remarkable individuals.

Caesar did not rush to speak, but remained silent for a moment before slowly standing up.

“Father, I have made myself very clear to you in my letter regarding Helena, and I think you can see my determination.”

Leon mustered his courage, raised his head, looked directly at Caesar, and spoke first before Caesar could even open his mouth.

“Leon, first of all, you have your own ideas, which is fine, but have you seriously considered that your ideas might be foolish and cannot bring any benefit to the Empire or our Hoyle family?”

Caesar began speaking in a methodical manner.

“Father, Helena is a lawful citizen of the Empire. Her father was a glorious warrior who sacrificed his life for the country in the war against the Dragon Clan. She is the orphan of a martyr. When the people supported our grandfather in destroying the Solomon royal family and establishing a new empire, wasn’t the essence of the empire to exist as a spear and shield to protect the people of the empire?”

Leon retorted, "I'm simply not forgetting the original aspirations of the founding of the nation. What's wrong with that? Is my grandfather wrong?"

In this instance, Leon directly positioned himself on the moral high ground.

From the very beginning, he had no intention of backing down.

Since Caesar was his own father, he naturally couldn't show disrespect. So, in order to have a voice, after much thought, Leon decided to just bring up Caesar's father directly.

Even though Hoyle I had long since passed away, and Caesar was now the most powerful emperor in the empire, Leon did not believe that Caesar would dare to disrespect the founding emperor, his own father.

If he is truly disrespectful, then it's a case of like father, like son, so it doesn't seem so wrong, right?

There was no way around it; Leon had always been very filial.

"You unfilial son—is this how you speak to your father?"

Sure enough, Caesar's face twitched slightly, and his expression suddenly became somewhat subtle.

ps:

Chapter Ninety-Three: A Spring of Repayment

The conversation with Caesar ultimately ended unhappily.

Leon was kicked out of his office by Caesar yesterday.

the reason is simple.

Caesar wants Leon to give up Helena.

Leon, however, firmly stated, "If you want to harm Helena, then please ask Father to execute me first."

Enraged, Caesar retorted, "Then you might as well die!"

So Leon was kicked out by Caesar.

The news spread throughout the entire upper echelons of Guberlan in less than half an hour.

Because such things cannot be spread indiscriminately, no newspaper dared to investigate the matter, let alone publish it.

Otherwise, Leon would probably be making headlines again.

Leon couldn't sleep all night.

The next day, Hebrew appeared at Leon's palace.

In her hand was a document bearing the imperial seal and Caesar's personal seal.

"Your Highness Leon, you have committed the crimes of deceiving the king, disobeying the king's orders, showing no remorse and displaying a terrible attitude. You have committed the crimes of insubordination, treason, disloyalty, and filial impiety. You are hereby sentenced."

Hebrew made no attempt to hide the smile on her face. She walked up to Leon, who was kneeling on the ground to receive the decree, and handed the judgment to him. "This is the verdict. Accept the order."

Leon didn't care about the Hebrews' mockery; on the contrary, he felt a sense of relief.

Fortunately, Caesar was rational; as long as he didn't order his own death, any punishment was negotiable.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."

Leon tried to maintain a respectful posture, took the judgment from the Hebrew's hands with both hands, and then quickly began to read it.

The punishment was very brief: Prince Leon was demoted from his position as the first in line to the throne and exiled to the southern frontier tomorrow.

“Southern Xinjiang is a wonderful place, Your Highness Leon. I will miss you.”

Hebrew laughed in a cheeky way.

"No, please don't disgust me."

Leon scoffed, "Hebrew, you really are like a disgusting fly."

"Thank you for the compliment."

Hebrew smiled and then looked toward the neatly arranged maids behind Leon, finally settling on Lucy and Anne.

However, she did not do anything else, but just smiled contemptuously and turned to leave.

After Hebrew left, the mission was completed, and the soldiers and maids who had gathered behind Leon dispersed.

Exiled to southern Xinjiang...

Ah.

Leon knew exactly what Southern Xinjiang was. It was the poorest, most backward, and most unforgiving place in the empire, extremely far from Guberlan, dozens of times more remote than Yiling City.

Leon gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Caesar was truly enraged; it seemed he intended to ensure he would never enter politics again.

In that case, he would completely lose his competitiveness between the Regent and Leon.

Of course, the possibility of being taken back to the palace cannot be ruled out.

However, Leon felt that the Regent and Leon probably wouldn't give him another chance to return to the palace.

The journey to the southern border is long and arduous, passing through so many chaotic areas. With Leon and the Regent's methods, it shouldn't be difficult for them to kill themselves on the way, right?

"Your Highness Leon, please come with me."

At this moment, Edwin, who had come with Hebrew, stepped forward.

Behind Edwin stood a line of Imperial soldiers, one of whom was holding handcuffs.

Leon should have been hanged for disobeying the royal decree, but Edwin personally came to take him to prison, which was already a great honor.

"Lord Edwin, could you give me five minutes to prepare?"

Leon asked in a humble yet assertive manner.

"Your Highness, please excuse me."

Edwin replied in a very amiable tone.

"Thank you."

Leon gave a slight bow, then quickly turned and went downstairs towards the laboratory.

Upon entering the laboratory, Leon quickly rummaged through the items and soon found a wooden box. This was no ordinary wooden box, but a spatial artifact.

It's roughly similar to the storage artifacts or spatial magic treasures in cultivation novels on modern Earth.

Leon quickly packed all his experimental data and a large amount of treasured supplies into the wooden box, then stuffed the box into his pocket.

then……

It seems there's nothing else to take from this palace, so let's leave it at that.

Leon sighed deeply and wiped away his tears.

My attitude towards this palace is the same as Helena's: I have absolutely no attachment to it.

Never mind, let's go.

Leon opened the laboratory door.

But at that moment, Leon discovered that two people were kneeling at the entrance of his laboratory.

"Anne, Lucy, what's wrong with you?"

Leon was somewhat surprised.

"Your Highness, we have no other choice but to beg you for help."

Anne spoke with a sorrowful expression.

"Help you? You can see for yourselves, I can't even take care of myself right now."

Leon sighed helplessly, but seeing the tears welling up on Annie and Lucy's pretty faces, he softened. "Speak, what is it?"

Well, I might die on the way to southern Xinjiang in a few days. Maybe after I die, I can ride a truck to a new world. I'll just consider it a way to accumulate some good karma before I leave this world.

"We want to escape the palace."

Lucy and Anne spoke in unison.

"Escape the palace? Don't be silly. You two are so beautiful. The outside world is much more complicated than inside these four high walls. You are also beastman slaves with no human rights. You will probably encounter even more unfortunate things."

Leon laid it all out in the open.

“But if we stay in the palace, Lucy and I will definitely be defiled. If we can escape, we might still have a chance.”

Lucy replied.

"Hmm...I do have an idea."

Leon suddenly remembered something and almost forgot the most important thing!

“Annie, Lucy, I have a detailed map of the palace's defenses in my desk, and I have some valuable gold bars hidden under my bed. These can help you escape the palace. Once you're out of the palace, go to Peace Town and find the local security commander, Knight Lord Rosen. Tell him not to panic and to follow the emergency plan I've prepared in advance.”

Leon quickly said, "You can set off tonight. If you are unfortunately stopped by soldiers on your way out of the palace, just bribe them with gold bars, and then seriously tell them that you have received a secret order from Prince Leon to visit Leon in prison. This matter should not be publicized, otherwise consider these gold bars as your money to save your lives."

"Do you understand?"

Leon emphasized.

"Yes, thank you, Your Highness."

Anne and Lucy exchanged a glance and nodded repeatedly.

"Your Highness, I'm sorry. Lucy and I misunderstood you before. You are truly a good person. Thank you for your protection over the years. If there is another chance in this life..."

At this point, tears welled up in Anne's beautiful eyes.

“Your Highness, please take care. We misunderstood you before. If there is an opportunity in the future, Anne and I will repay you with our lives.”

Lucy finished speaking for Anne.

Uh, this...

Why did I get friend-zoned again for no reason?

You two are going to repay each other with a spring of gratitude?

cough cough.

Well, it's hard to say whether I'll even survive this wave.

"Alright, I'm leaving. Take care of yourselves."

Leon sighed heavily. Five minutes were almost up; he had to go to the prison with Edwin.

P.S.: The Guberlan arc will end in a maximum of three more chapters.

Chapter Ninety-Three: Leon's Visit

Imperial prison.

The last time I came here, it was to capture prisoners and test the Crimson Nails with blood. This time, I've become the "prisoner."

That's a bit ridiculous.