Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Chapter 68 Establishing a Persona

The Fourth Prince certainly wouldn't explain to Jia Lian, since he was already very unhappy with Jia Lian anyway.

Seeing Jia Lian facing the ridicule of the crowd, head bowed, his face gloomy and terrifying, he even felt a faint sense of anticipation.

Since leaving the palace several months ago, his biggest worry has been that no one dares to fight him, and even if they do, they do so cautiously and dare not really hit him.

If Jia Lian really wanted to beat him up because of this, he would be more than happy to do so!

Perfect timing! He also wanted to give Jia Lian a good beating. This pretty boy had not only caused him to be scolded by his father several times, but his general might have even been killed because of him. He had wanted to deal with him for a long time.

Therefore, the Fourth Prince stood in the middle, head held high, waiting for Jia Lian to lose his temper and argue with him. Then, he would naturally mock him again, ultimately provoking Jia Lian to retaliate in anger. This is quite reasonable...

As expected, Jia Lian, amidst everyone's ridicule, took back the two steps he had taken earlier and stood before the Fourth Prince.

Thinking he had successfully provoked the situation, the Prince Duan's heir continued, "What, you want to use force against the Fourth Prince? Let alone whether our Fourth Prince intentionally named a chicken that way, even if he did, your father, a mere official, can only suffer in silence. If he dares to harbor any rebellious thoughts because of this, he shall be killed!"

The fourth prince retorted to the heir of the Prince of Duan, then turned around to say, "I deliberately chose this name, so what..."

But Jia Lian had already torn off his robe and thrown it on the ground. He glared at the Prince Duan's heir and said, word by word, "Your Highness, if you have any complaints about me, no matter how vicious your words are, I dare not do anything to you because of your noble status."

However, my father is a first-rank general of the current dynasty. Even if his status is not as high as that of Prince Duan, he is still a meritorious official with a noble title from the court! How dare you insult my father in public! If Jia Lian tolerates you, wouldn't he be unworthy of being a son?!

Today, even if it costs me my life, I will make you pay for this. Enough said. If you're a man, let's settle this in the ring. Are you in?!

Finally, Jia Lian shouted the words "Dare you?" with a fierce glint in his eyes, which immediately stunned everyone present, and they all put away their playful smiles.

Even the Crown Prince of Duan was startled, then flew into a rage, saying, "Who do you think you are, daring to speak to me like that? You've gone too far!"

"I only ask you, do you dare or not?" Jia Lian took a step closer to the Prince of Duan, as if he would attack him at any moment if he did not agree.

Jia Lian's behavior was exactly what the Fourth Prince wanted. He immediately adjusted his mindset, laughing with amusement, "Who doesn't know that the young heir of Prince Duan is a cowardly coward? I've long suspected he's missing something in his crotch, and today the truth is out! Hahaha, this is hilarious! The young heir of Prince Duan is a spineless coward. If the old prince finds out, he'll probably immediately strip him of his title and appoint someone else. Otherwise, won't the Prince Duan's line die out?"

With the Fourth Prince's words, the tide turned, and everyone's gaze toward the Prince Duan's heir became intrigued.

Zhang Su was somewhat worried and wanted to offer some advice, but seeing Jia Lian's expression, he ultimately chose to wait and see. Putting himself in Jia Lian's shoes, he realized that if someone insulted his father like that, he probably wouldn't be able to bear it either. Anyway, with His Highness here, if his younger brother Lian suffered any loss, he could simply ask the Fourth Prince for help, and everything would be fine.

"You're asking for death!!" The Prince Duan's heir dared not do anything to the Fourth Prince, but how could he possibly take Jia Lian seriously?

Seeing Jia Lian's aggressive attitude towards him, he was immediately enraged.

Under any other circumstances, if Jia Lian dared to offend him, he would definitely have his men deal with him.

But now, firstly, the Fourth Prince is present and will definitely not allow him to do so; secondly, he has indeed lost face in front of all the royal relatives and must regain it!

He observed that Jia Lian was not particularly tall or strong, and had the appearance of a pale-faced scholar, so he assumed that the other party was just angry and embarrassed, and did not think that the other party could beat him.

He was beaten by the Fourth Prince because he couldn't fight back, but he didn't need to hold back against Jia Lian... Perfect, he could vent his anger on this arrogant brat!

"You're determined to die, how could I, the young master, stop you!"

After saying that, the Prince Duan's heir jumped onto the martial arts stage without hesitation and said to Jia Lian with disdain, "Boy, today I will definitely let you see my skills."

As he spoke, he twisted his neck and wrists, appearing to be an expert.

When the Prince of Duan's son performed martial arts on the stage, Jia Lian's angry expression briefly disappeared.

He turned and gave Zhang and Feng, who looked worried, a reassuring look, before walking up the steps to the training platform.

The commotion finally caught the attention of the group of people at the head of the table who were devoted to poetry.

The Third Prince saw from afar that the Prince Duan's heir was confronting a young man on the martial arts stage. Somewhat displeased, he asked why the young man was not following his instructions.

His attendants then told the Third Prince about the previous grievances.

Upon hearing this, the Third Prince was very displeased and said, "This Prince Duan's heir is already causing trouble within the royal family, and now he's uttering such inappropriate remarks! He's someone who often serves the Crown Prince; if all the nobles in the court knew, wouldn't it bring criticism to His Highness the Crown Prince? He's truly foolish!"

Everyone agreed that the Third Prince's words made sense, and those who had long been dissatisfied with the Prince of Duan's heir also voiced their criticism.

One person asked, "Should we stop them?"

"Well, the words have already been spoken, how can they be taken back? Let's just hope that the two of them have a duel in the arena, and then this big problem can be turned into a small one, and the small problem can be resolved without any further trouble. Alright, let's continue with what we're doing, and we don't need to pay attention to anything else."

Taking advantage of the situation, the Third Prince gained a good reputation. On the martial arts stage, the Prince Duan's heir had already launched a fierce attack on Jia Lian.

Royal children are required to learn the Six Arts, and Prince Duan's heir is a playful and competitive person in the royal family. Therefore, he did learn some fighting techniques from the martial arts instructors, but he only did it sporadically.

However, because of his noble status, his own guards, needless to say, and even if others occasionally fought with him, they dared not go all out and even flattered him, which made him think that he was invincible.

For example, in the fight with the Fourth Prince two months ago, he believed that if he hadn't held back, he could have easily beaten the Fourth Prince to the ground in a few moves.

Having no opportunity to use his martial arts skills, he was finally faced with a hothead today, and he was willing to beat him mercilessly. He had already decided that he would use all his skills to beat Jia Lian until he was begging for mercy on his knees!

Therefore, almost as soon as Jia Lian stepped onto the stage, he rushed over with all his might, trying to take Jia Lian down in one move.

Jia Lian did not retaliate immediately, but instead tried his best to retreat.

The Prince Duan's heir intended to humiliate Jia She by insulting him. Jia Lian was not angry at all, but he keenly sensed that this was an excellent opportunity!

In this feudal country where filial piety is the foundation of governance, if someone insults your father and you cower in fear, you will definitely be looked down upon and considered an incompetent and useless person.

If that's the case, why not do the opposite and adopt a stance of not fearing royal power and being willing to risk one's life for filial piety?

The heir of Prince Duan was slightly overweight, and Jia Lian judged that he had a high probability of beating him. Even if he couldn't win, it wouldn't matter. As long as he showed a fearless and ruthless anger, even if he was beaten up, he could teach all the royal princes present a lesson: he, Jia Lian, was a man of filial piety, courage, and fearlessness in the face of power!

Isn't this exactly the quality a general should have?

I believe they will spontaneously promote his reputation...

If we could beat him... that would be even better. Being able to rightfully beat up the Crown Prince is a rare and precious opportunity.

After dodging a few moves, Jia Lian realized that the Prince Duan's heir was all show and no substance. Not wanting to waste any more of his momentum, he roared, swept the Prince Duan's leg off balance, and immediately pinned him to the ground. He then unleashed a flurry of punches, yelling, "You dare insult my father! I'll beat you to death! I'll beat you to death!"

The shifts in power on stage were not unexpected. In everyone's eyes, Jia Lian, who had been furious from beginning to end, after testing the waters a couple of times, tackled the Prince Duan's heir to the ground and then beat him mercilessly without regard for the consequences.

Some members of the royal family even openly shouted, "Good, well done!"

"Who's this? Good timing, looks like he's got some skills!"

Only a few guards from the Prince Duan's residence, who were watching from the sidelines, were getting restless. It seemed that the young master had no chance of turning things around. If things continued like this, the young master would suffer a great loss.

However, the place was full of dignitaries, and it was a competition on a stage, so these servants dared not interfere. They could only watch helplessly, hoping that the two princes would speak up and stop it.

What worries them is that the Fourth Prince is clapping his hands, needless to say. Why isn't the Third Prince doing anything about it?