Seizing Power, Simon Sun Proves His Worth
The newcomer was none other than the captain of the Jiangnan Prince’s personal guard. To reach this rank, one needed not only formidable skill but also the Prince’s trust—normally, only the Prince of Jiangnan himself could command him, let alone send him on errands.
If the captain of the Jiangnan Prince’s personal guard was running errands, it meant something major had happened at Jiangnan Prince’s Manor—or that someone truly important had arrived.
“Is Prince Nolan at the manor?” Prince Colin blurted out as soon as he saw the captain, guessing boldly.
Aside from that possibility, he really couldn’t think of anything else that would send the captain running errands.
The captain dismounted, dropped to one knee before Prince Colin, and reported gravely, “Your Highness, Prince Nolan arrived at Jiangnan Prince’s Manor half an hour after the two princes left.”
“What?” Prince Colin staggered, nearly losing his balance. “You mean Prince Nolan arrived at Jiangnan Prince’s Manor first thing this morning?”
“Yes, Your Highness.” The captain bowed his head low—so low he feared Prince Colin might draw his sword and behead him in anger.
Prince Colin wanted to, but he knew the mistake wasn’t the captain’s. He took a deep breath and asked, “Why didn’t you report earlier?” They’d wasted five hours waiting outside the city for nothing.
“Prince Nolan ordered that no one in the manor was allowed to leave or leak any news. Anyone who disobeyed would be killed!” The captain looked thoroughly miserable—it really wasn’t his fault; he had no choice.
“Understood. You may go.” Prince Colin waved his hand weakly—no one dared defy Prince Nolan’s orders.
“Thank you, Your Highness. Long live Your Highness!” The captain was nearly in tears. He’d thought he was doomed this time, but had gotten off surprisingly easy.
Prince Colin trudged back to the stone pavilion. Seeing everyone else looking so drained instantly lifted his mood.
He wasn’t the only one Prince Nolan had toyed with.
“Colin, what’s going on?” The Prince of Jiangnan saw Prince Colin’s odd smile and sensed trouble.
Ahem… Prince Colin cleared his throat, swept his gaze over the group, and said unhurriedly, “There’s good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”
“Let’s hear the bad news first. That way, when we get to the good news, maybe we’ll actually be happy.” This group was used to joking around like this; no one thought Prince Colin’s delivery was out of place.
With Redwater and the Valley Master around, there was no hope of anyone acting serious.
“Alright, the bad news is you all waited here for nothing—Prince Nolan and Serena won’t be coming today.” Prince Colin said this with a straight face; no one stopped to think about the subtext in his words.
“What? Prince Nolan isn’t coming?” The Valley Master jumped up, bristling with irritation. “I’m not wasting another day waiting—Simon Sun’s still waiting for me! I have to help Simon Sun dissect that corpse. No way, I’m busy…"
“My Corpse Worm research is at a critical stage—I can’t spare time to go out tomorrow either.” Dr. Marcus Guile chimed in slowly; his voice wasn’t loud, but it was impossible to ignore.
“Caleb Wang Jinhan, didn’t we say we’d go inspect the teaching building construction tomorrow?” Victor Yun wasn’t about to fall behind—he immediately found himself an excuse.
Seeing everyone else had something to do, the Prince of Jiangnan suddenly realized he had no excuse: “Colin, what’s on my schedule for tomorrow?”
Hearing all their wild excuses, Prince Colin couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
Hahaha… Jiangnan really is a great place. Here, you don’t have to worry about war tomorrow, or spend all day wearing masks and scheming. You can just be yourself.
“Colin Dongling, could you be serious for once?” Dr. Redwater huffed when Prince Colin trailed off mid-sentence. “Aren’t you forgetting the good news? Hurry up and tell us!”
“The good news is…” Prince Colin deliberately paused, keeping everyone in suspense, then finally said, “The good news is that Prince Nolan and Serena are already at the manor, waiting for us to come back for dinner.”
“What? Prince Nolan’s already here?”
“How’s that possible? We’ve been waiting all day, and I watched every single person who passed by—Prince Nolan and Serena definitely didn’t enter the city.”
“Colin Dongling, this joke isn’t funny at all.”
“Prince Colin, are you out of your mind? Maybe you need the Valley Master to prescribe you something.”
Prince Colin wasn’t crazy, but the Prince of Jiangnan, Victor Yun, and the rest were about to lose their minds. They’d waited here all day—practically turning into 'waiting-for-husband stones'—and for what?
Prince Nolan actually played them—how could he do this?
Where’s the justice in that?
Seeing the group getting more and more out of hand, Prince Colin had to step in: “Everyone, get it together. Don’t let the local officials and commoners think the Prince of Jiangnan and the Medical Academy’s professors are all lunatics. You all go ahead and mess around—I’m heading back to the manor. Prince Nolan said we have half an hour to return.”
Of course, that last demand was something Prince Colin had added himself.
Half an hour? That’s going to kill us—the manor is far from the city gate!” The Prince of Jiangnan was about to cry. Dr. Redwater and Dr. Marcus Guile had lightfoot skills, the Valley Master, Victor Yun, and Prince Colin could ride horses, but him…
“Caleb Wang Jinhan, what are we going to do?” The Prince of Jiangnan looked for someone who was just as miserable as he was.
“Obviously, we’re taking the carriage back to the manor.” Caleb Wang Jinhan ditched the prince and hurried onto the carriage. “Quick, back to the manor!”
Caleb Wang Jinhan didn’t even wait for the Prince of Jiangnan to get in before urging the driver to go.
Someone always had to be the last to return and give Prince Nolan and Serena a chance to let off steam—and the Prince of Jiangnan was the perfect candidate.
Everyone tacitly agreed to leave the job of 'letting off steam' to the Prince of Jiangnan—even Prince Colin was shameless enough to mount his horse. “Good luck, brother. I’ll wait for you at the manor.”
Soon, only a single squad of guards and the Prince of Jiangnan remained outside the city. The captain of the personal guards saw the prince still standing there and had to remind him, “Your Highness, Prince Nolan is still waiting for you.”
“Move out.” The Prince of Jiangnan gritted his teeth.
These bastards! Back when he was Crown Prince, at least they pretended to respect him. Now look…
Ever since coming to Jiangnan, these people didn’t even bother with the pretense anymore—and perversely, he found that normal!
Clearly, he wasn’t normal at all!
Prince Colin and the others raced back at top speed—even Caleb Wang Jinhan made it to the manor within half an hour. Only the Prince of Jiangnan lagged behind.
Prince Nolan and Serena had already finished dinner and were waiting in the flower hall. As everyone arrived, Prince Nolan noticed that only the Prince of Jiangnan was missing and asked, “Where’s the Prince of Jiangnan?”
“My brother’s on the road—he’ll be here soon.” Prince Colin braced himself and stood up to answer.
It had only been a few months, but Prince Nolan’s aura felt even more overpowering than before. Maybe he hadn’t gotten stronger—maybe everyone else had just gotten too comfortable in Jiangnan.
“I’ve been waiting for you all day.” Prince Nolan played the villain first. The Valley Master and the others opened their mouths to explain, but Prince Nolan gave them no chance. He continued coldly, “Look at you—all round and well-fed. Clearly Jiangnan’s water and soil have made you lazy. None of you are ever at the manor, always out sightseeing. In this huge manor, only Simon Sun has stayed put.”
With that accusation, Prince Colin was completely stunned.
Wronged—utterly wronged!
They’d been waiting outside the city for Prince Nolan—how did it turn into them playing around?
But… seeing Prince Nolan’s stern, handsome face, Prince Colin obediently lowered his head.
Some things, even if everyone knows the truth, still need a proper excuse when the time comes—a reason everyone can accept. Now was the perfect opportunity, and his brother would surely be satisfied…