Hearing Madam Black Veil’s words, Princess Shayan immediately became alert, but she did not reveal anything.
“Xiaoyan, do you still remember your cousin Gu Tu?” Madam Black Veil asked.
Madam Black Veil was not only Princess Shayan’s wet nurse, she was also considered her aunt.
Besides being the wife of the Heavenly Demon Banner Lord, Madam Black Veil was also the Rakshasa King’s half-sister. Not just any Rakshasa woman was qualified to be Shayan’s wet nurse. At the time, Madam Black Veil had an abundant supply of milk and also possessed royal Rakshasa blood, making her particularly suitable to become Princess Shayan’s wet nurse.
Princess Shayan rarely saw her biological mother. The Rakshasa Queen was elusive and spent most of her time outside Rakshasa City.
Therefore, in Princess Shayan’s heart, Madam Black Veil was more like a mother.
She drank Madam Black Veil’s milk until she was three, but continued following her until she was ten.
As for her cousin Gu Tu, they had grown up together as childhood companions, although he was a full six years older than her.
All along, both Madam Black Veil and the Heavenly Demon Banner Lord had hoped to strengthen their family relationship by having Gu Tu marry Princess Shayan.
However, after Gu Tu turned fifteen, he became Venerable Chonglou’s disciple and had almost no opportunity to return to Rakshasa City, so the marriage alliance with Princess Shayan never came about.
Now, Gu Tu was already thirty-one years old, yet he had still not married. He had even disappeared from the public eye for several years.
Then, who exactly was this Heavenly Demon Banner Lord?
Among the thirteen Demon Banners in the Rakshasa domain, the Heavenly Demon Banner was first, the Earth Demon Banner second, and the Demon Banner third.
The Heavenly Demon Banner Lord, Litian, had indisputably become the leader of the thirteen Banner Lords and had also become a member of the Rakshasa Council of Elders.
Then what relationship did this Heavenly Demon Banner Lord have with Prince Youming?
Prince Beilian and Prince Youming had studied under the same shaman.
Gu Tu and Prince Youming had studied martial arts under the same Venerable.
Thus, the three of them had naturally become allies.
It was similar to Naishu, Shayan and the Little Rakshasa King all learning swordsmanship under Fire Demon Venerable. Therefore, Naishu had naturally become an ally of the Little Rakshasa King.
……
“Your cousin Gu Tu has followed Venerable Chonglou in martial arts for sixteen years. Now he has finally achieved great mastery in martial arts and has left the Thirteen Towers.” Madam Black Veil said, “You two grew up together as childhood companions. If you could marry each other, would you not be like an immortal couple?”
Princess Shayan could not help thinking of her childhood companion and cousin, Gu Tu.
To tell the truth, although the two had grown up together, she did not have very good memories of Cousin Gu Tu.
That was because this cousin had been a dull and quiet person since childhood.
He was obsessed with martial arts, naturally cold and not fond of talking.
Although he was several years older than Shayan, he never gave way to her during their usual arguments. He had even bullied her many times.
Moreover, no matter what game they played, she would always lose.
In short, Cousin Gu Tu was a very annoying person. He was intelligent, disliked interacting with others, and seemed to enjoy bullying and putting people down.
But she had to admit that Cousin Gu Tu had left a deep impression on her.
“Xiaoyan, tell your wet nurse the truth. Are you willing to divorce Lan Ling?” Madam Black Veil asked. “As long as you nod your head, I will immediately go and speak to His Majesty the Rakshasa King. I will immediately have Gu Tu come and propose marriage.”
Princess Shayan fell silent.
If she agreed, it would mean breaking with the Rakshasa Crown Prince and siding with Prince Youming.
Everyone knew that Gu Tu and Prince Youming were senior and junior disciples under Venerable Chonglou.
She hated Lan Ling and dreamed of divorcing him.
But she did not want to take sides in the struggle for the throne, and even less did she want to become an enemy of the Little Rakshasa King.
This was not because she had particularly deep feelings for the Little Rakshasa King, but because she was afraid of him, a fear that came from deep within her heart.
“Wet nurse, could you let me think about it carefully?” Princess Shayan said.
Madam Black Veil nodded. “Of course, my good daughter. This is an extremely important matter, so you must think it through carefully. I will not go anywhere these next few days. I will stay here with you. I absolutely cannot let that bastard Lan Ling bully you.”
Princess Shayan nodded, then leaned into Madam Black Veil’s arms.
……
Inside the Little Rakshasa King’s residence.
“Shayan’s wet nurse, Madam Black Veil, has entered the princess’s residence. Do you know what this means?” the Little Rakshasa King asked.
By now, Lan Ling already understood the relationships among the higher-ranking figures of the Rakshasa clan very clearly. He nodded and said, “I know. They are trying to make Shayan divorce me and marry Gu Tu, the heir of the Black Demon Banner Lord and Prince Youming’s junior fellow disciple.”
The Little Rakshasa King nodded. “My father has only three children, me, Youming and Shayan.”
Lan Ling said, “If Shayan sides with Youming, it will still have a huge impact.”
The Little Rakshasa King said, “It will not have much impact on me, but it will have a great impact on you. Without the status of Princess Shayan’s husband, you will not be a member of the Rakshasa royal family. You will not be able to follow the path of the previous Heavenly Demon King, and you will not be able to legitimately take control of the Rakshasa clan.”
Lan Ling had already deeply experienced this point.
If he had not obtained the loyalty of the Black Demon Banner Lord, he truly would not have been able to take control of the Black Demon Banner’s territory or obtain the loyalty of tens of millions of people in that territory, even if he had killed hundreds of thousands or millions of people.
In human kingdoms, legitimacy and a recognised claim were very important.
In the upper levels of the demon realm, legitimacy was equally important.
Of course, Lan Ling possessed the greatest possible legitimacy, but unfortunately he could not reveal it. Otherwise, he would certainly suffer the backlash of the Seven Demon Kings and meet the same fate as the Dragon Emperor.
Therefore, Princess Shayan was actually not important to the Little Rakshasa King. His position as Crown Prince did not depend on Shayan in the slightest.
Lan Ling, however, desperately needed Princess Shayan. He needed the status of royal son-in-law.
Once Princess Shayan divorced him, his highest status within the Rakshasa clan could only be that of Flame Demon Banner Lord.
“Lan Ling, I want you to comfort Shayan and completely win her over. I believe this will be very easy for you,” the Little Rakshasa King said.
Lan Ling thought for a moment. “Your Highness the Crown Prince, actually… I do not want to take your path.”
The Little Rakshasa King said, “Then what path do you want to take?”
Lan Ling said, “Develop and strengthen the Flame Demon Banner, continuously annex the surrounding territories, eventually establish the Flame Demon Empire and sweep across the world!”
The Little Rakshasa King said, “That is the path of kingship, but you do not have enough time. The Heavenly Demon King and Princess Di Nie will soon sweep across the entire demon realm.”
Lan Ling said, “It may not be insufficient.”
The Little Rakshasa King closed his eyes and thought for a moment. “It is not enough. Truly, it is not enough.”
Lan Ling said, “But I really do not want to take this path.”
The Little Rakshasa King said, “Then could you compromise for my sake? I do not have much time left. If you stubbornly divorce Shayan, your only choice will be to leave the Rakshasa clan and pretend to pledge allegiance to the united front of the Demon Empire, using the opportunity to annex the Rakshasa domain and strengthen yourself. Before the Heavenly Demon King and the others completely destroy the Rakshasa clan, you must become strong enough to protect yourself. Regardless of whether there is enough time, this path would make you my enemy. Are you willing to become my enemy?”
Lan Ling fell silent.
The Little Rakshasa King said, “Fine. Consider it a request from me, for the sake of Shayan’s lifelong happiness. Please go and properly comfort my sister Shayan, will you?”
Lan Ling smiled. “I cannot see that you care about her happiness.”
“How could I not care?” the Little Rakshasa King said. “She is my biological sister.”
“I am not exactly a suitable husband either. She may not necessarily be happy with me,” Lan Ling said.
“But at least she will not die,” the Little Rakshasa King said. “She has already been with you. If she divorces you and marries Gu Tu, would you let her live?”
Lan Ling said nothing.
Clearly, even if he divorced Shayan, he would never allow her to marry Gu Tu.
By then, his decisiveness in killing Princess Shayan would not be much different from what he had shown with Jade Butterfly.
“Great Demon Emperor, for the sake of my sincere heart, and for the sake of the fact that I do not have much time left, please go and comfort my sister Shayan!” the Little Rakshasa King said.
He then pretended to kneel halfway down while also pretending to cough weakly.
Lan Ling was completely speechless.
A Rakshasa Crown Prince who was as cold as a sculpture could become surprisingly troublesome when he started acting shamelessly.
“Fine,” Lan Ling said. “The extent to which Shayan and I hate each other is far beyond your imagination, and it is very likely that the situation is already beyond repair.”
With that, Lan Ling left and headed towards Princess Shayan’s residence.
……
Inside Princess Shayan’s residence!
For some reason, Princess Shayan had been unable to sleep peacefully these past few days. Jade Butterfly’s head and Beilian’s head kept appearing in her mind.
She was not a soft-hearted person. When she killed Naishu, she had not even blinked, nor had she suffered any nightmares.
Yet on these two nights, she repeatedly dreamed of Jade Butterfly covered in blood and Prince Beilian in a terrible state.
Although she refused to admit that these were nightmares, because brave and powerful people did not have nightmares, they were indeed nightmares.
“Ah……”
With a cry of alarm, she was once again awakened by a nightmare.
This time, she dreamed that Jade Butterfly’s cold claws had seized her throat while she cried out sharply, “You caused my death. You caused my death. Give me your life…”
“Ah… ah…”
In the nightmare, Princess Shayan waved her hands before suddenly waking up.
Madam Black Veil, wearing her nightclothes, ran in and gently held Princess Shayan in her arms. She softly massaged Shayan’s back and the top of her head with her palm.
“Xiaoyan, do not be afraid. Xiaoyan, do not be afraid. Your wet nurse is here…”
As she comforted her, she secretly administered a sedative to Princess Shayan.
Gradually, Princess Shayan felt her consciousness becoming increasingly hazy, while her limbs gradually became weak and hot…
Madam Black Veil and Prince Youming had already run out of patience!
Princess Shayan had never given them an answer. Although she hated Lan Ling deeply, she had always refused to stand on Prince Youming’s side.
At this moment, the Rakshasa King’s female envoy had already returned to Rakshasa City and was about to formally ask Princess Shayan whether she was willing to divorce Lan Ling.
Therefore, Madam Black Veil and Prince Youming felt that it was necessary to force the matter.
They planned to have the Rakshasa King’s envoy see Princess Shayan and Gu Tu together, so that the Rakshasa King would have no choice but to dissolve the marriage between Lan Ling and Shayan in order to conceal the scandal, and would have no choice but to marry Princess Shayan to Gu Tu.
At that point, even if Princess Shayan was unwilling, she would have no choice but to marry Gu Tu.
As for whether Shayan would hate her wet nurse Madam Black Veil afterwards, neither Madam Black Veil nor Prince Youming cared anymore.
Because by then, Princess Shayan would have no choice.
Madam Black Veil continued administering the sedative to Shayan.
At this moment, Princess Shayan’s body was burning with heat, and she had completely lost consciousness.
“You are nothing more than a used woman. If it were not for Prince Youming, and if it were not for getting my son into the Rakshasa royal family, do you think we would be willing to marry you?” Madam Black Veil coldly spat at Princess Shayan.
Then she stood up and walked outside, intending to call her son Gu Tu inside and force the situation.
Just then, someone knocked on the door of the princess’s residence.
The royal son-in-law, Lan Ling, had arrived!