Chapter 164: Chapter 141: The Most Heartless is the Imperial Family, a Grand Palace Banquet, Both Real and Fake

The days passed in the blink of an eye.

The end of the year arrived quickly. The winter was exceptionally cold this year, and snow had already begun to fall in the north.

The massive anti-corruption campaign that had swept through the Great Yan Court for the past ten years had finally subsided.

Notably, in recent months, the Yunwan Commerce Association had miraculously made a comeback. Many of its businesses had reopened, much to the ecstasy of the ladies and young misses of the Capital City. The expensive incense and precious silks they had long coveted were finally back.

The common people throughout Great Yan were baffled by this. The Shengjing Academy, Bailu Academy, and Xiangnan Academy all submitted memorials to the throne impeaching Prince Langya, arguing that his actions should not be tolerated.

Only a minor official from the Ministry of Revenue spread a rumor: Lu Yunwan had apparently spared no expense, paying back the hundreds of millions of silver he owed in full and replenishing the empty national treasury.

Furthermore, a large number of private workshops and businesses were taken over by the Great Yan Court and nationalized. Many minor officials were dispatched to assume control, escorted by the Imperial Guard. Anyone caught gossiping about the matter was arrested and taken away.

At this, many people understood.

The Court intended to acquire the Yunwan Commerce Association and turn it into a money-making machine for Great Yan.

There was, however, one person who was not pleased.

When Princess Jinwu of the Golden Crow Country heard the news, she was indignant and furious. She once again submitted a memorial, questioning the Cabinet.

This time, however, the Cabinet chose to remain silent, pretending as if nothing had happened.

In the Great Yan Capital City, to display the prestige of a great nation, the Cabinet held a special banquet to entertain and appease Princess Jinwu. They invited the White-robed Mage Jiang Shan, numerous officials, and talented scholars from the Hanlin Academy and various other Academies. With Dancing Girls and a stage set up, the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

Among the many seats reserved for the Princes, only one Prince, dressed in a Cyan Python Robe, was in attendance.

Prince Chongwen, Lu Yunqing.

The most influential Prince of the day.

The other Princes all declined, citing illness or a lack of time.

Night fell. The palace was brightly lit with a thousand lanterns as the banquet was about to begin. The various ministers started taking their seats.

Lu Yunqing sat upright before his table, a wine cup in hand. Countless delicacies were laid out before him. The Dancing Girls from the Music Bureau were stunning, their waists as supple as snakes. They held their pipas, tuning the strings.

Prince Chongwen took a sip of wine. Compared to a year ago, the gentle, jade-like warmth about him had vanished. In its place was a nonchalant composure. His eyes were impassive, betraying no hint of joy or anger.

A hint of reminiscence flickered across his placid face.

He thought back to the splendor of the Grand Banquet a year ago.

Back then, this palace had been filled with the figures of many Princes: his heroic, imposing eldest brother; the gloomy and silent Lu Guangjing.

His simple, honest, and very clingy third brother. The leisurely Lu Guangren, who sought only immortality. The tactless Lu Mingkong, who had angered him. And the fawning, sycophantic Lu Yunwan.

But now, not a single one of them had come to this banquet.

’Have I become hated by the others?’

’No, they’re wary of me. They’re afraid of me.’

’I’m not the man I once was. Where are all those people who looked down on me at that grand banquet now?’

’This is the result.’

Lu Yunqing believed that the current situation was the best possible outcome.

’No one else will have to be sacrificed. They just need to stay put and behave.’

’They won’t have to worry about wealth or their lives. All they have to do is wait for the moment I ascend the throne.’

Seeing him lost in thought again, Princess Consort Ning, who was beside him, knew he was recalling those unpleasant memories. “Still thinking about Lu Yunwan?” she asked softly.

“Do you feel guilty about it?”

Her mind went back several months, to the afternoon Ning Feiyu had gone missing. The moment she returned to their mansion, she saw a Prince who was like a child, rushing into her arms and repeating over and over how glad he was that she was safe.

After she told him what Lu Guangjing had said, the Prince had sneered on the spot, dismissing it as a mere ploy to sow discord.

’Just a clumsy attempt to frame the Seventh Prince.’

Afterward, however, he had fallen into deep thought. It seemed that rather than feeling relieved that the ploy had been foiled, he had sunk into even deeper concerns.

Her husband had said the incident served as a wake-up call for him.

There was no one he could absolutely trust.

The only person he could believe in was himself.

Not even the Seventh Prince.

He shouldn’t have been so open with Lu Yunwan, shouldn’t have put himself in such a perilous situation, and most of all, shouldn’t have treated him as an ally. Even Lu Yunwan could not be trusted.

The danger Princess Consort Ning had faced this time had taught him a lesson.

How foolish, how naive his previous thoughts had been.

It was a lesson he should have understood long ago.

So in the time that followed, he used this incident as a pretext to put pressure on Lu Yunwan, ordering his subordinates to investigate his businesses.

’One must guard against any potential threat.’

’Only then can one be a qualified Emperor.’

Lu Yunqing gave a faint smile and shook his head. “The imperial family is the most heartless of all. What use is guilt? Guilt only makes one die faster. That’s all.”

Seeing her increasingly mature husband, the gentle and graceful Princess Consort Ning felt gratified, but also a faint sense of worry.

“I heard from Mr. Cui that the Sixth Prince now wields considerable influence,” she said. “If Your Highness plans to wash away the stains on his name, you must be prepared.”

Princess Consort Ning stopped just short of saying the words ’hidden danger’.

Lu Yunqing frowned. “Sixth Brother would never harm me. He’s not like that treacherous merchant Lu Yunwan.”

“Besides, I’ve taken precautions.”

Princess Consort Ning nodded lightly. “It’s good that you’re prepared. It’s just… I’ve heard rumors that Lu Mingyuan is in the palace, and even after getting married, he’s still inseparable from Princess Consort Zhao, Yang Yingchan, every day. Is his character really not a problem?”

Lu Yunqing said softly, “My dear, can we please not talk about this?”

“Sixth Brother has done me a great service. To put it another way, no matter what he has done, what his character is like, or what others say, I cannot blame him, much less slander him. My Wen Dan is, to some extent, related to him, so I am incapable of doing such a thing.”

This was a core principle of the Confucian Family: a debt of a single drop of water must be repaid with a gushing spring.

His Sixth Brother’s protection had allowed him to get through his childhood smoothly, without suffering the scornful looks of others, and without accumulating any inner demons or unresolved issues.

That alone was a tremendous blessing.

Princess Consort Ning saw the earnest expression on her husband’s face and stopped talking. She considered herself a discreet person, so she didn’t press the matter further.

She turned her gaze back to the bustling banquet.

But some things, just because they were not spoken of, did not mean they would not happen.

…

「That night, at a table in a tavern on the street outside Prince Jin’s Mansion.」

The tavern was bustling. A pair of faintly yellow lanterns hung at the entrance, one promising “wealth” and the other “treasure.” They illuminated the falling snowflakes, which, combined with the clean moonlight, created a hazy, beautiful atmosphere.

A woman in black with cold eyes sat in a private room, her arms crossed, waiting for someone. Her back was ramrod straight, the very image of a Female Knight from the Jianghu. Many passersby glanced in her direction.

Soon, a tall young man wearing a Bronze Tiger Mask appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Lord Ying, I’m here. Is there another mission from Prince Jin’s Mansion?”

The young man sat down with a smile, placing his saber on the table. He took a Silence Stone from his sleeve, and the sound of their voices was confined to a radius of a few meters, preventing anyone from eavesdropping.

“You’re late,” Luo Ying said, her voice heavy.

“And where have you been these past few days? Not a trace of you. I couldn’t find you anywhere and had to resort to using the Tributor’s Jade Token. I can’t use the Jade Token to summon you without a special reason, otherwise, if Prince Jin notices something is amiss, neither of us will have an easy time. You haven’t developed a change of heart, have you?”

Faced with Luo Ying’s questioning, Lu Mingyuan gave a helpless smile.

’This woman really is sharp. She’s experienced the dangers of the Jianghu. I’ve only been hiding for a few days, and she’s already noticed something is off.’

It wasn’t that he wanted to disappear, but controlling multiple avatars at once was mentally taxing, especially the higher-level ones. His Celestial Character Grade combat avatar was at the Sea-Viewing Realm, after all, so he tried to control only one per day.

The time he could appear as Yang Jian was being taken up by Fa Hai and Zhao Gongming, so Yang Jian had naturally vanished.

During the days he had Yang Jian lay low, Luo Ying had been searching for him. But he, unaware, had been practicing his martial arts in the Cold Palace. His newly acquired Divine Weapon, the Famous Sword Yang Su, handled incredibly well. With the “Sword Master” Fate Grid, he had a high affinity for Treasure Sabers.

’After all, what Treasure Saber in this world could a Sword Master not wield?’

“Princess Jinwu has been looking for me quite insistently lately, so I’ve had to lay low,” Lu Mingyuan explained, trying to be as reasonable as possible. “Even so, I have not delayed in the matters Lord Ying has assigned to me.”

“Luo Qiufu’s every move, and every move within Prince Jin’s Mansion, is under my surveillance. More than half of the Endless Pavilion now consists of my people.”

“How did you get so many Tributors to join the Endless Pavilion?” Luo Ying asked suspiciously.

Lu Mingyuan smiled. “People can be lured with benefits. Then, you use certain methods to control them. Prince Jin has already demonstrated these methods quite well.”

“Most of the time, there’s more activity from Prince Jin’s Mansion. Princess Jin Wu hasn’t been making many moves.”

“You don’t like Luo Qiufu, do you?”

Lu Mingyuan was taken aback by Luo Ying’s sudden question.

“I feel nothing for her.”

Luo Ying’s expression softened slightly. With her arms still crossed, she said, “Good. I hope you won’t develop any compassion for that woman. After all, you didn’t even kill ruthlessly when you were dealing with the Golden Crow Country’s soldiers. I know your type. You have a moral compass, which makes you very different from those vicious Death Warriors. Your title, Ren Tu, really is undeserved.”

“You’ve been observing me for that long, my lord?” Lu Mingyuan’s expression darkened.

Luo Ying arched a delicate eyebrow and sneered. “Did you think just anyone could become my subordinate? Or perhaps you think everyone who has cultivated to the Eleventh Realm is a fool?”

“It’s like all those spies from various factions who sneak into the Great Yan Imperial Palace. They think they’re so clever, so flawless. In reality, the true masters simply can’t be bothered with them. It’s like having an ant at your feet. Would you stare at it constantly? You only step on it when it’s about to bite you.”

Lu Mingyuan thought about it carefully and nodded honestly. “That’s true.”

Luo Ying cut the chatter short, getting back to business. “I called you here today for a clear mission,” she said seriously. “The opportunity has arrived.”

“What opportunity?” Lu Mingyuan asked.

A rare smile appeared on Luo Ying’s cold, jade-like face.

“It seems Prince Jin has recently run into a problem with his cultivation. He’s already in seclusion and won’t let anyone near him. Even I can’t get close, and neither can the other three Tributors.”

“Oh?”

Lu Mingyuan’s expression remained unchanged as he gave a slight nod.

“So, what should I do next?”

Luo Ying warned, “Don’t act rashly for now. The opportunity is here, but Prince Jin is still very cautious. Your mission tonight is to infiltrate the palace during the banquet for Princess Jin Wu and create some trouble for the Eighth Prince.”

“If you do this well, you will officially become Prince Jin’s trusted confidant.”

Lu Mingyuan was speechless. “The same old formula?”

“Not this time. It’s much more difficult. There are many eyes in the palace, so there’s a high chance you could lose your life. I’ll go with you.”

“How do we do it?”

The features on Luo Ying’s face began to slowly change. A mist seemed to envelop her, and though the changes were subtle, her entire aura transformed.

Luo Ying had actually transformed into the spitting image of Princess Jinwu!

“Now you know what to do, right?”

Even her voice was identical to the princess’s.

Lu Mingyuan was utterly stunned.

After she spoke, to keep up appearances, he swallowed a Disguise Pill.

His appearance changed into that of the middle-aged General who was always by the princess’s side.

“Understood.”

…

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