Murong Jie had no idea what his subordinates were thinking. He simply said with a grim face, "If we kill him, not only will we fail to obtain Lu Tong's 600,000 elite troops, we'll instead suffer the backlash. Moreover, letting him die so easily would be letting him off too lightly."
Xiao Hei nodded. "You're right, Master. We really can't let him off easily!"
Murong Jie instructed, "Tell the madam of Tianhuan Tower to come to Prince Cheng's residence tomorrow morning to demand the person back."
Xiao Hei cupped his fists in acknowledgment and disappeared into the night.
Early the next morning, Lu Yunqi was roused from his drowsy state by a commotion. He furrowed his brow and blinked his eyes open, catching sight of Murong Jie standing by the window. His tall, slender figure was silhouetted against the light, so ethereal that calling him a banished immortal would not be an exaggeration.
He cleared his throat and asked, "What's all that noise outside? What's the ruckus about?"
Murong Jie replied, "I don't know. It sounds like something's happening in the front courtyard."
The moment Lu Yunqi heard that, his drowsiness vanished. He threw on his outer robe and dashed toward the front courtyard, thinking to himself as he ran, "What a shame I don't have any peanuts, melon seeds, or bottled water. This drama won't be as fun to watch without snacks."
As soon as he entered the front courtyard, he heard the madam of Tianhuan Tower wailing, "Oh, my poor, ill-fated Lady Lianyi! You were staying at my Tianhuan Tower to compile the Poetry Anthology of All Under Heaven for the scholars of the realm, and to forge a path for the impoverished masses. But now you've been defiled by the Second Prince and lost your purity! How will you ever get by in the future, my girl?"
The Second Prince stood there with a dark, gloomy face, barking, "Silence! Are you afraid no one will find out about this?"
But the madam showed no fear at all, raising her voice even louder. "Prince Cheng, you are a prince, while I am but a common citizen. The common folk do not contend with officials, and you are of royal blood at that! But even a clay figurine has a temper! What kind of establishment is our Tianhuan Tower? Everyone knows we never force our girls to receive guests, nor do we traffic in human beings. We exist to give poor girls a way to earn their keep! It is precisely for this reason that Lady Xie chose to lodge with us. Years ago, Fairy Liuyi herself hosted a ten-day banquet at our Tianhuan Tower and composed the masterpiece 'Endless Canglan.' And yet, she—she has come to harm in my Tianhuan Pavilion! Prince Cheng, our lady holds the Brocade Jade Silk Document! Even if we take this matter before His Majesty, our lady has justice on her side! And you, Prince Cheng, have violated all propriety by taking our lady by force! Today, I demand an explanation!"
At that moment, Xie Lianyi emerged from the courtyard, frail as a willow swaying in the wind. Her eyes were red-rimmed as she stepped forward to help the madam up. "Mama Wu, please get up!"
But the madam only wailed even harder, crying, "I have failed Fairy Liuyi! To let her only disciple suffer such indignity!"
While the madam was carrying on with her lamentations, Prince Cheng stepped forward and said to Xie Lianyi, "Lady Xie, what happened last night was truly my inability to restrain myself. I am willing to take responsibility for you—to marry you and make you my principal consort! Would you be willing?"
Before Xie Lianyi could respond, a voice cut through: "She is not willing!"
The crowd parted to make way, and a figure stepped forward. It was none other than the Eldest Prince, Murong Feng.
He looked at Xie Lianyi with a pained expression, then swung a right hook that snapped Murong Pei's face to the side.
Murong Pei stared back in utter shock. "Elder Brother, why did you hit me?"
Before Murong Pei could even finish his question, Murong Feng landed blow after blow, left and right, turning Murong Pei's face into a mess of bruises.
Only then did the attendants snap out of their stupor and pull the two apart. Murong Feng pointed at Murong Pei and roared, "Lianyi and I have long been in love and pledged ourselves to each other! You beast! You dare to violate your own future sister-in-law! I have no brother like you!"
Murong Pei was dumbfounded. "Elder Brother, what are you talking about? Don't you already have a principal consort? When did you and Lady Xie pledge yourselves to each other?"
Murong Feng replied, "I met her half a year ago and came to know her well. I was the one who brought her to the capital for a stay. It was she who, thinking of the scholars of the realm, took the lead in compiling the Poetry Anthology of All Under Heaven, and following the example of her master Fairy Liuyi, temporarily lodged at Tianhuan Pavilion. And you—you… you are worse than a beast!"
Just then, another voice interjected, "Wh-what? Second Brother, you… you violated Lady Xie? I… I went to Father this morning and obtained an imperial decree—Father has already betrothed Lady Xie to me. When she saved me last night, she also agreed to be with me. You… you… how dare you try to take Lady Xie from me?"
Xie Lianyi looked at one, then the other, and only after a long while said: "Last night I merely happened to pass by and saved the Third Prince—I have no connection with him. It's true that I've developed feelings for the First Prince, but I never pledged myself to him. I only wish to fulfill my master's dying wish and properly compile the people's poetry collection. As for Prince Cheng, I originally respected you for being able to write poetry like Yan Tian Lu. I danced for you and celebrated your birthday. I never expected you to take advantage of my vulnerability and do such a thing. I appreciate the goodwill of all three princes! But…"
Xie Lianyi gave them a deeply disappointed look, turned around, and boarded the madam's carriage without sparing them another glance.
Only the three lovestruck sons of the Murong family were left standing there, frozen in place.
Having finished his fill of the drama, Lu Yunqi climbed into his carriage, laughing so hard his stomach hurt. While clutching his belly, he tugged at Murong Jie and said: "What a show, what a show—this play was absolutely fantastic, hahahaha! Look at your brothers—what a sight they are! Still, that Miss Xie is something else, spinning all three brothers around her finger. I'm afraid your three brothers will never be as tightly knit as they once were!"
Sometimes brothers are united because their interests align.
When interests diverge, cracks appear. Xie Lianyi was only the beginning—the rift between these three brothers was still to come.
Murong Jie let out a dark laugh inwardly, thinking: What the Murong family owes me, I will take back one by one.
What you've inflicted upon me, I will repay tenfold, a hundredfold!
Suddenly, he was caught off guard as Lu Yunqi pulled him close and kissed him—once, then again. When he went for a third, Murong Jie frowned and tried to dodge, but Lu Yunqi angrily hooked his arm around his neck and said: "Dodge what? Let your husband give you a good kiss. Honestly, why won't you learn from your three brothers? You're nineteen now—all three of your brothers have bed-warmers and concubines. I've been teaching you for days now, and you still haven't learned? Tsk, forget it. Come to my room tonight, and I'll teach you properly."
He hoped that a few more sessions would get some movement going in that belly of his.
Murong Jie's expression was grim, but Lu Yunqi pinched his firm cheeks and said: "Don't look at me like I've violated you—though I did use force, I'll admit that much! But tell me the truth—didn't you enjoy it? Men are all the same; if you let me in, it means you're not as cold as you pretend to be. Right?"
With that, he yanked open Murong Jie's collar and bit down hard on his collarbone.
Murong Jie frowned slightly but didn't push Lu Yunqi away. Instead, he closed his eyes, and a hint of pleasure flickered across his expression.
Just then, Lu Yunqi looked up and caught a glimpse of it—but the look of enjoyment vanished in an instant, so fast that Lu Yunqi thought it might have been his imagination.
Only after leaving a perfect set of teeth marks on his collarbone did Lu Yunqi release him, looking thoroughly satisfied as he said: "Good. This is my seal stamped on you. You belong to this young master for life—no getting involved with anyone else, understand?"
Murong Jie was playing mute again, so Lu Yunqi raised his hand and slapped him: "Understand?"
"…Fine." A hoarse voice answered, so low that Lu Yunqi thought he'd misheard.
He frowned at Murong Jie, thinking: You really are a master of swallowing humiliation!
No wonder you're the one who ends up succeeding—no wonder you pull off your rebellion in the end.
When it comes to endurance, you're a six-sided warrior.
Alright, alright—since you can endure, then I won't go easy on you. Tonight, I'll really turn up the heat.
But he never got the chance to wait until nightfall. The Emperor suddenly summoned Murong Jie back to the palace. That dog of an emperor had never shown this son any attention before, so summoning him out of the blue now—who knew what scheme he was cooking up.
Not that it mattered. His tangled history of love and hate with the Murong family would come to a head sooner or later—it was only a matter of time.
Even if Murong Jie had to suffer some physical hardship now, he would repay every bit of it later.
It just so happened that he hadn't been to the Wanping Wasteland in two days. The moment he returned to his room, he eagerly opened the cabinet and stepped through the Anywhere Door.
The moment he entered, the system's notification sounds came flooding in: "Congratulations, host! Congratulations, host! Cong-cong-cong-congratulations, host…"
The system stuttered for a moment before recovering. He clicked "confirm" for a long while, and when he finally looked at his total points, he'd gained a full two hundred more—bringing him to two hundred and twenty points in total.
The surprise came too suddenly. It seemed the NPCs had been working hard while he was away!
Looking at the wooden structure, it was already completed—no wonder he'd earned so many points.
The construction worker had already been idly chatting with the carpenter. Seeing him come online, he waved for a long time until Lu Yunqi snapped out of it, then walked over and said: "Master, my work is temporarily complete. Is there anything else you need me to do?"
Lu Yunqi said: "Hold on, let me see what tasks are available."
As soon as he logged in, he discovered that the system had been upgraded, and the quests had been moved to the Quest Hall, where there were many yellow scrolls, all of which should be quests that could be accepted.
They could also be accepted from the quest panel, and the advantage was that they would be sorted for you in order from easy to difficult.
Lu Yunqi clicked on the more complex quests below and found that just purchasing a Level 5 NPC cost 150 System Points.
But he discovered that the quests further down actually involved hiring a Level 5 technician to build a generator.
EXM??
Could he actually have a generator this soon?
Ahhh, that would be absolutely amazing!
He quickly clicked on the quest at the very top—he needed to complete quests fast. He wanted electricity, he wanted light, he wanted myth!