TN | The Malicious Empress

Chapter 10: Little Kim Marquis

But what was surprising was not this. Cai Lin just squeezed out from the crowd and called out, "Little Kim Marquis!"

Little Kim Marquis? Jennie glanced over.

Outside Oak Wood academy's red cinnabar door there stood a red steed. The horse's coat was bright and smooth and with one look, anyone could tell it was a good steed worth thousands of gold. The horse haughtily kicked forward as its elegant body attracted everyone's attention.

But in the end, it was not as dazzling as the person on horseback.

The youth sat on the horse's back, wearing a black embroidered robe with a dark purple mink coat worn on top. His right hand lazily played with the horse whip. His facial features were sharp and handsome, the corner of his lips was slightly hooked up, as if smirking, and the gaze is his eyes was very cold.

There was a young female in the crowd who immediately blushed and, disregarding where she was, courageously threw a silk handkerchief folded into the shape of a blossom at the youth. Ming Qi was a liberal country, so it was tolerant to the rules between young males and females.

The silk blossom fell into the arms of the youth and he twisted it in his hand as the corner of his lips hooked up into a smile. The young female who threw the handkerchief immediately flushed, already becoming silly in love.

In the next moment the stubborn and obstreperous youth's smile fleeted away. The silk blossom fell onto the ground and landed under the hooves of the red horse, crushing it into an unrecognizable mess.

He lazily straightened up, as if there was a naturally born strong evasiveness, but because of his handsome face, it only magnified his attractiveness. He had the innate ability to let one not move their eyes from his presence.

What a cold and nasty person.

Yi Pei Lan murmured, "It's the little marquis of the Kim family."

Jennie raised her eyebrows. Little marquis of the Kim family, Kim Taehyung.

Most of the old aristocratic vassal families in Ming Qi accompanied the late Emperor in the founding of the country and achieved meritorious services. After several generations, the aristocratic titles were just empty names. However, some families became more prosperous and lived splendidly.

Like the Feng family who were literary officials, there were also those like the Shen family's generals. If one were to say that the Shen family had a military lineage, it would be because they all led troops to fight in wars and were recognized as honest people. Then there was the Kim family who had military power in their hands but always drifted along. Even His Majesty was powerless towards the Kim family.

Most likely there was a rebellious streak in the Kim family's bones. All of their deeds were absolutely disgraceful, such as ignoring the capital command to retreat thousands of miles away and instead continuing to pursue the retreating enemy. At the end, they still glorified it as 'a general should judge and act according to the real situations on the battlefield and thus does not need to obey all orders'. But the Imperial family was helpless towards the Kim family, as they were invincible in battle.

The Shen family and the Kim family had an opposing relationship. This, of course, was deliberately provoked by the previous Emperor so that there would be checks and balances to stabilize the court. Shen Xin's and the Kim Marquis's views were never aligned as Shen Xin disapproved of Kim Ding's strange tactics and unorthodox methods. Kim Ding could not understand why Shen Xin still depended on military books during battles and was so conservative that he was inflexible. Both families did not have any interactions besides quarreling in court, thus the late Emperor was happy to see such an arrangement.

After Kim Ding's wife passed away, he did not marry another wife and the only concubine in the household had two sons. This meant that Kim Taehyung had two step-brothers from the same father. Perhaps Kim Ding was distressed that his son's mother died young and wanted to make it up to him, so he doted on Kim Taehyung since young, making Kim Taehyung develop an undisciplined and out of control temperament.

Even so, Kim Taehyung was a brilliant person. Other than his indifferent nature, he excelled in his studies and had noble features which were well-known in Ming Qi, else many females would not secretly admire him.

It was such a pity, Jennie's heart sighed. This kind of outstanding young man, in the end, had arrows shot into his heart and his body hung out after his skin was peeled off, such a tragic ending.

Perhaps her pitiful gaze was too obvious causing the young man to suddenly look over and his eyes, which were as deep as the stars, flashed as though as he did not understand her gaze.

CHAPTER COMPLETED & EDITED