CHAPTER 260: WORRY!

"I haven’t forgotten him, Matriarch. I simply want to rely on my own abilities to complete this expedition. Until now, I have received a lot of help from Lord Huan Tian. I don’t want to bother him this time."

Hearing her response, the matriarch couldn’t help but facepalm herself as she thought in worry.

Sigh... You are the same naive Fanrong!

I was foolish to believe that you could change in such a short time.

Maybe I wanted to believe in you...

She glanced at the calm, smiling face of Ashen, who appeared as if he was amused by this.

Even the ministers were snickering at her foolishness, whispering amongst themselves:

"Haha, did she really say that??"

"What has she accomplished to act so arrogant?"

"Right? It was only because Lord Huan Tian supported her that she has become the deputy leader. Now she wants to act independently?"

"This is fun. Even the matriarch looks puzzled as to how to solve this.

"Yeah. She only agreed to her request because she thought that Lord Huan Tian would be accompanying her."

As an emperor realm expert, the matriarch could hear their low snickers; however, she wasn’t able to retort to them.

She indeed agreed to making Fanrong the leader of this expedition, thinking that Ashen would be accompanying and helping her.

Fanrong would just be taking the credit for Ashen’s work.

However, Fanrong also understood this. She didn’t want to take credit for Ashen’s work. She wanted to earn the respect of others on her own.

However, this wasn’t the right time for her to act on her own.

This expedition carried a lot of risk.

The matriarch couldn’t allow Fanrong to leave without Ashen. She had seen how capable Ashen was in the Conqueror’s Battlefield.

She believed that if Ashen went on this expedition, the treasure would be theirs and no lives would be lost.

However, now that Fanrong was acting like this, she had to use the centuries of experience she had under her belt as the matriarch.

She knew how to deal with such situations.

"Fanrong. Elder Lang Zhen and Prefecture Lord Cheng Tao are in the inner capital right now. Why don’t I summon them to ask what they think of your decision of not including Lord Huan Tian?" She smiled kindly at Fanrong and suggested. "Since their life is on the line, their opinion should take utmost priority, right?"

Fanrong couldn’t help but nod in response to her question. Since their lives would be dependent on this decision, they had a right to protest against it.

Lang Zhen and Cheng Tao had been staying in the inner capital since the conqueror’s battlefield to receive their shares of rewards for winning.

Princess Fanrong had just not gotten enough time till now to attend to it.

Now, being summoned directly by the matriarch, it didn’t take more than ten minutes for them to appear.

They completed the formalities by bowing and greeting the matriarch.

The matriarch fixed her gaze on them and asked,

"Lord Lang Zhen and Lord Cheng Tao. You two must be aware of the treasure that has surfaced in the forest of beasts, right?"

They both nodded and answered politely. "We do."

"Then tell me, will you both follow deputy leader Fanrong to participate in the expedition to acquire this treasure?" The matriarch questioned.

They both nodded and began to answer righteously: "Of course. It is our duty to—"

The matriarch stopped them in between and informed them, "Lord Huan Tian is not included in the expedition group!"

"What??" They both glanced at the sitting figure of Ashen, who didn’t show any reaction to them, as if unbothered by what was happening. "But why isn’t he included? It is like leaving your sharpest spear at home when going to war." Cheng Tao asked.

The matriarch explained to them how Fanrong didn’t want to rely on Ashen’s help:

"It is deputy leader Fanrong’s wishes. She wants to complete this expedition without the help of Lord Huan Tian."

Hearing this, the same bewildered expression appeared on both their faces that was on the ministers’ some time ago.

As a silence appeared due to them being speechless, the matriarch questioned,

"So I ask again. Will you both follow deputy leader Fanrong on this expedition?"

Both of them looked at each other as if stuck between making a difficult choice. They were hesitant to express their views.

Lang Zhen judged that it would be better to get this over with instead of stalling it any longer.

He rejected her outright: "Matriarch. It is foolish to let a core-formation realm cultivator command an expedition group that has King realm cultivators in it. Moreover, I don’t have enough confidence in deputy leader Fanrong’s abilities to leave my life in her hands."

He then bowed: "However, if Matriarch were to order me, I’d still agree to follow her despite knowing that it is foolish!"

The ministers nodded in appreciation of him.

As expected of Lang Zhen. Straight to the point and humble at the same time... The supreme elder thought.

"I understand." The matriarch spoke calmly. "You both can leave now."

As they both left, the matriarch turned her gaze to Fanrong and questioned,

"What do you think now?"

Fanrong, with her head hung low, could only answer with what her mother wanted to hear.

"I’d like to include Lord Huan Tian in the expedition group."

"Good." The matriarch revealed a satisfied smile. "Then prepare to leave by midnight. You’ll have two days to bring the treasure into our possession."

"Yes, Matriarch." Fanrong bowed before leaving the throne hall to make preparations to leave.

Ashen also rose from his seat to leave; however, he was stopped by the matriarch. "Lord Huan Tian..."

Stopping in his tracks, Ashen glanced at the matriarch’s worried face that muttered, "Please take care of Fanrong..."

Seeing the expression on her face, he was reminded of his own mother. She had the same expression on her face whenever he left.

Ashen silently nodded in response before leaving.

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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)