“Ah…”
“Ah…”
“Soren, I will tear you into ten thousand pieces.”
“I will have someone rape your sister first and then kill her!”
“I will exterminate your entire family!”
In the empty secret room, Princess Zhi Ning seemed like a completely different person. All her previous elegance and nobility had vanished.
Her gaze became extremely crazy, and her voice turned into a sharp screech.
But she only vented for less than half a minute before she immediately fell silent.
It was like a lake surface going from raging waves to calm as a mirror in just a moment.
Then she faced the mirror to tidy her makeup, her slightly dishevelled collar, and her beautiful hair.
She gently patted her exquisite face, then gracefully left the secret room.
……
When Princess Zhi Ning came out again, she looked at the gold shop manager and the casino boss. A rare charming smile appeared on her peerless beautiful face.
“Do you know what Soren wrote in his letter?”
The gold shop manager said, “Roughly some ignorant and stupid words.”
“He told me to kill you two.” Zhi Ning said, “What a joke. You two are not only my trusted aides but also the trusted aides of His Highness Zhi Li. We rely heavily on you. Asking me to kill you would be cutting off my own hands and feet, would it not?”
“We dare not, we dare not.” The gold shop manager said, “We will now use special methods to warn that profligate once. Should we castrate him or make a move on his sister?”
“Do as you see fit.” Zhi Ning said, “Alright, I am tired. You may withdraw.”
“Yes!” The two bowed deeply, stepped back one step at a time, and only dared to turn around after they could no longer see Zhi Ning.
At this moment, Zhi Ning glanced at the eunuch beside her, then drew her jade hand across her own neck in a slicing motion.
“Yes.” The eunuch nodded and silently followed.
“Whoosh…”
A soft white light flashed.
Two heads instantly rolled to the ground. Whether it was the gold shop manager or the casino boss, these two so-called underground emperors of the royal city, their faces remained full of respect right up to the moment of death.
Because everything happened too quickly, they did not even have time to show expressions of fear or shock before they were already beheaded.
Because until their deaths they would never believe that Zhi Ning would kill them.
They were so useful, so indispensable. One controlled the money bag, the other controlled the underground forces.
And that eunuch’s weapon, from drawing it out to killing to disappearing back into his sleeve, did not take more than half a second from beginning to end.
Immediately after, two other ghost-like eunuchs floated up quickly, caught the rolling heads, then dragged the two corpses away and disappeared without a trace.
These corpses could not be wasted. The blood would be used by Zhi Ning to make anti-counterfeiting marks on gold notes, and the bones and flesh would be chopped up to make flower fertiliser.
“Go and kill their entire families.” Zhi Ning then said.
“Yes.” That eunuch floated out like a ghost in an instant.
Then Princess Zhi Ning said indifferently, “Help me change my clothes. I am entering the palace to see His Majesty. This ugly drama should end.”
“Yes.” Several maidservants walked over gently, their footsteps making not the slightest sound.
Zhi Ning gave a light shake, and the cicada-wing-like garment on her body fell to the ground. Her peerlessly beautiful naked body instantly unfolded completely in the air.
Then, like a bloodthirsty and exquisite elf, she gracefully walked into her dressing room.
……
Inside the Duke’s mansion.
Duke Zhi Ting sighed and said, “Prepare yourself mentally. Your Suo clan’s Tian Shui City territory will probably not be kept. After all, a new strategy for a kingdom always requires some sacrifices. It is also your Suo clan’s bad luck. The territory happens to be stuck right on the north side of the Barbaric Gorge, blocking the kingdom’s path south.”
Lan Ling felt immense grief and indignation in his heart. Why must the Suo clan become cannon fodder? But he did not say a single word.
Duke Zhi Ting said, “The bribes I have accepted have never been returned. But since you once pledged allegiance to me, then… after losing your territory and title, I will protect the lives of your family. This is also the limit of what I can do.”
Lan Ling bowed deeply and said, “Thank you, Your Grace.”
“Alright, you may go and await His Majesty’s decree.” Duke Zhi Ting said, “It will probably be within these two or three days.”
Lan Ling withdrew from the Duke’s mansion.
……
The next day, Lan Ling was in class at the Royal City Academy. It was currently an art lesson.
Suddenly, the bell rang, and it was the most solemn and magnificent twelve chimes. This meant that the king had arrived, or that the king’s decree had arrived.
This meant that all students had to go to the academy square to listen to His Majesty the King’s instructions.
“It has finally come.” Lan Ling sighed in his heart and followed the other noble students towards the academy square.
A quarter of an hour later, several tens of thousands of people stood neatly on the entire square.
The noble children were at the front, the commoner children at the back, clearly separated.
“The king has issued a decree. Kneel!” Following the eunuch’s loud shout, all the students knelt down neatly.
Then the eunuch’s sharp voice resounded throughout the entire academy square. Strangely, although his voice was clearly not loud, it could clearly drill into everyone’s ears. There was no doubt that this was a great inner palace expert.
“Our Furious Wave Kingdom was founded on martial strength. The royal family and the nobility share the world. Since the founding of the kingdom, the noble class has always been the mainstay of the kingdom. However, for several decades, the noble children have been indulging in civil pleasures and neglecting martial training, greedy for enjoyment. Whether in civil governance or martial prowess, each generation is worse than the last. This situation pains me deeply. If this continues, the kingdom will no longer be a kingdom.”
This counted as a reprimand to the noble children, but it was indeed the truth. The noble students in the Royal City Academy, whether in literary talent or martial skills, had already fallen far behind the commoner students. But this was entirely deliberate by the royal family. The royal family’s strategic direction was to let a large number of commoner elites replace the hereditary noble class and become the new mainstay of the kingdom’s ruling layer.
After the eunuch read to this point, he paused. His cold gaze swept across the noble children kneeling all over the ground. This glance was on behalf of His Majesty the King, and instantly all the noble children lowered their heads in admission of guilt.
“Therefore, I have decided to restore the ancestral system. From today onwards, anyone who inherits a title must obtain the Noble Warrior Medal issued by the royal family. Otherwise, they may not inherit the title or the territory. This is the decree!”
After the decree was read, the noble children present all wailed in grief.
And Lan Ling’s heart suddenly turned cold, constantly sinking, sinking.
He had already guessed that His Majesty the King’s decree might be very bad, but it was even worse than he had imagined.
Previously, one only needed to pass the graduation grand examination to inherit the title, meaning an average score of sixty was enough.
But now, one had to obtain the Noble Warrior Medal. What did this mean? It meant ranking in the top ten in the graduation grand examination. It meant achieving more than eighty or ninety points on average in every subject.
One must know that, whether in civil or martial subjects, Lan Ling had only studied for less than five months. Being able to pass was already defying the heavens. Now he was required to enter the top ten?
One must know that this cohort had more than two hundred noble children taking the graduation grand examination. He had to rank in the top ten out of more than two hundred!
The previous Soren had been dead last. Now Lan Ling was required to enter the top ten. This was completely harder than ascending to heaven.
Especially in the martial arts archery subject. Originally, a one-hundred-and-eighty-jin bow at a distance of several tens of metres with a hit rate of about sixty percent was enough to pass. Now, it required at least a two-hundred-and-fifty-jin bow at more than one hundred metres with a hit rate of over eighty percent to pass.
And the time left for Lan Ling was at most three months or so. It was truly harder than ascending to heaven.
Previously, during the struggle between Duke Zhi Ting and Zhi Li, the king watched but offered no opinion.
But after Princess Zhi Ning entered the palace to meet the king, the decree from Zhi Bian came down the very next day. No one knew what exactly Princess Zhi Ning had said to the king. Was her position in the king’s heart really that high?
There was no doubt that this decree was targeted at Soren, to prevent Soren from inheriting the title and taking over Tian Shui City.
King Zhi Bian used this resolute attitude to express his support for Zhi Li. This also let all the powerful figures of the kingdom see clearly that although Prince Zhi Li was not the king’s biological son, he was his biological nephew and most beloved adopted son. His position as heir was as firm as a mountain.
Lan Ling could be certain that once Zhi Li completely controlled Tian Shui City, in next year’s Royal City Academy graduation grand examination the king would certainly show mercy, cancel this decree, and allow the noble children to inherit titles easily. Because the royal family could not wait for the noble heirs to become more useless with each generation.
The noble children present were undoubtedly all shrewd people. After the initial shock and tension, they immediately relaxed, then turned their gazes filled with sympathy and schadenfreude towards Lan Ling all at once.
The Suo clan was definitely going to perish. Who told them to block the path of the future crown prince?
And those girls who had once been pursued by Soren now looked at Soren (Lan Ling) kneeling there motionless, their hearts also filled with sympathy and a bit of heartache.
One night of marriage brings a hundred days of grace. Although Soren was a fickle bastard who changed girlfriends as often as he changed clothes, being with him was truly very happy. He really knew how to please girls.
Although these girls outwardly showed hatred towards Soren to the point of gnashing their teeth, deep in their hearts they missed the time spent with Soren extremely. He was so bad, yet so likable.
Seeing him like this now really made people’s hearts ache.
The decree announcement ended, and everyone returned to class.
Lan Ling, however, headed to the dean’s office to meet Dean Jian Yong and request a long leave of absence. He would not be able to attend school for the next few months.
In front of the office stone building, a eunuch blocked his way and said indifferently, “Princess Zhi Ning wishes to see you.”
Lan Ling looked towards the roadside and immediately saw a low-key yet extremely luxurious carriage. Even from far away, one could smell a distant fragrance.
Inside that carriage was Princess Zhi Ning.
Lan Ling’s heart jumped, “Is the meeting finally going to happen?”