The Third Prince raised his palm, about to strike, when suddenly he felt a strange urge.
Before he knew it, his tongue was out. Under the gang leader's terrified gaze, he leaned in close and began licking his ear.
"Y-Your Highness?" The gang leader's entire body went rigid.
Gangster Number Two, Number Three, Number Four, Number Five, Number Six… all the way to Number Thirty, along with Yun Xue and the Yun household servants, all stared at the Third Prince in shock.
"Your Highness, what are you doing? What are you going to do to me?"
The gang leader snapped back to his senses, overwhelmed with shame and fury, and tried to flee. But for every step he took, the Third Prince took one after him, until he finally gave up the struggle.
After finishing with the gang leader's ear, the Third Prince moved on to lick Gangster Number Two's ear.
Gangster Number Two was mortified beyond words.
It took the Third Prince nearly half a shichen to complete his great undertaking across all thirty men.
Thirty burly men stood there, utterly humiliated.
The Third Prince gave a heavy cough and spat out a clump of mud: "How dare you… you, all of you, dared to offend Lady Yun and this prince! This prince shall now… mete out justice for Lady Yun!"
"Men, carry them away! This prince will punish them severely!"
The Third Prince's guards: "?"
Carry? Carry?!
Has His Highness gone mad? They'd never noticed His Highness had a fondness for men before!
The guards suddenly clutched certain parts of themselves protectively.
After finishing his speech, the Third Prince finally felt his body return to his own control. Seeing Yun Xue's shocked, slightly disgusted expression, his mighty frame trembled—both furious and frantic.
Had he lost his mind? Why had he suddenly gone and licked these mud-footed ruffians!
"Ugh," he spat out a mouthful of dirt, then couldn't hold back any longer and began retching violently.
A sour stench drifted on the wind, and Yun Xue stepped back three paces.
This… the Third Prince, famed for his noble and pure character, how could he be so disgraceful…
Shu Yan waited and waited, but no notification of a successful System task arrived. Frowning, she pulled up the Plotline.
[The Third Prince enjoys a fine reputation both in court and among the common folk. It is said that at his birth, auspicious clouds lingered for three days without dispersing, and he once spent five years in arduous cultivation at a temple.]
[Seeing his outrageous behavior, the kind-hearted Yun Xue, after her initial shock, reasoned that perhaps he merely had unusual preferences, or had suffered some psychological trauma—she should not hold prejudice against him.]
So, this meant Yun Xue could still potentially fall in love with the Third Prince in the future?
Shu Yan pressed a hand to her forehead.
Truly worthy of being a future love-struck fool—that ability to automatically make excuses for a man was indeed quite something.
Shu Yan changed "fine reputation" to "infamous reputation."
The System popped up a notification: [Caw, caw, caw. Today's three Word-Alteration Opportunities have been used up. You cannot alter words at this time.]
"Fine."
Unable to alter words, Shu Yan instead urged her mistress: "Miss, the Third Prince surely wouldn't want anyone to see him in such a sorry state. We should take our leave first."
Yun Xue found this reasonable, gave a bow, and turned to go.
The Third Prince panicked. Wiping his foul mouth with his sleeve, he hurried forward: "Lady Yun, that was all a misunderstanding—please, don't misunderstand… This prince, this prince is not…" Not a lover of men, and not a madman either!
"You worry too much, Your Highness," Yun Xue said, her voice kind yet distant. "This humble daughter saw nothing. May Your Highness soon…" Recover.
She swallowed those last two words, gave him an encouraging smile, and decisively turned and left.
There was no helping it—the Third Prince's breath was simply too foul.
……
Shu Yan helped Yun Xue into the carriage, and only after confirming that Yun Xue was far, far away from the Third Prince did she exit the Plotline and return to reality.
No rush. Since we can't make changes today, let's head back first. It won't be too late to finish Task 1 tomorrow.
Back in reality, Shu Yan found herself at home, lying in her own bed. She turned over, intending to find something to eat, when Diao Si and Wei Min called.
"President Shu, Young Master Zhou has agreed to let us resign," Diao Si said.
"That fast? Great, come over—let's discuss the preparations for the new company."
Half an hour later, Shu Yan met the two of them at the coffee shop downstairs in her neighborhood.
"How did Zhou Chu agree to let you resign so quickly? I thought he'd at least try to hold you back."
Wei Min shook his head. "I've worked for him for four years. Making things too ugly wouldn't do him any favors either, especially since we've already made up our minds to leave."
Shu Yan immediately understood.
Then Wei Min added, "Also, regarding the company, I have something to say to you. Have you prepared your new company yet?"
"Not yet," Shu Yan shook her head. "I was planning to look into it today."
"Then you don't need to bother," Wei Min said. "I have a friend who runs a clothing company—it's doing quite well. He can transfer the shares to you."
Shu Yan was momentarily stunned.
An hour later, upon seeing "Zhanmei Apparel," Shu Yan couldn't help but glance at Wei Min.
Although this company couldn't compare to the Zhou Corporation, it had been a rising star with strong development potential in Tuchuan over the past two years. Its subsidiary brand "Yi Xuan" had been established for just over a year, yet it had already built a considerable reputation in the mid-to-high-end market.
Such a good company—why would his friend suddenly want to transfer it to her?
Wei Min seemed to guess what she was thinking. He left Diao Si behind to familiarize himself with the new environment, led Shu Yan to the top floor of the building, and opened the CEO's office with practiced ease.
"Have a seat." He closed the door, sat down, and got straight to the point: "This company is mine."
Shu Yan raised an eyebrow but wasn't particularly surprised.
She'd already guessed as much. Earlier, when he was showing them around the company, he'd spoken with such authority and familiarity—knowing it even better than his "friend" did. It was obvious he was the true person at the helm behind this company.
"So, Brother, you're giving up a perfectly good company and transferring it to me—why?"
"Hmm, because you also want to bring down the Zhou Corporation. Does that count as a reason?"
"Also?" Shu Yan keenly caught that word and looked at him curiously. "Brother, do you have… some kind of grudge against the Zhou Corporation?"
And yet he'd spent four years running around under Zhou Chu's command.
"That, I can't tell you for now," Wei Min said. "However, I can assure you that this company has no problems whatsoever."
"Alright. I trust my brother's character."
Shu Yan reviewed the company's relevant documents, had the System verify that everything was in order, and spent half a day handling the share transfer procedures.
The next day, the procedures still weren't complete. Thinking about the Divine Artifact, Shu Yan entered the Plotline first to work on her tasks. She still hadn't finished Task 1 from yesterday.
This time, she landed in the rear courtyard boudoir of the Yun residence. The eldest young lady, Yun Xue, was in the middle of dressing up and applying her makeup.
"Hurry, hurry, Bai Que. Today is Father's fortieth birthday, and quite a few guests have arrived." Yun Xue was full of anticipation. "Let's wash up quickly and head to the front courtyard for the banquet."
Shu Yan quickly stepped forward to help comb her hair, drawing on Bai Que's memories, while pulling up the Plotline.
[Today is Master Yun Chun's birthday. The Third Prince arrives to offer his congratulations and plans to take the opportunity to earn some favor with Yun Xue, washing away the bad impression from yesterday.]
However, the Third Prince did not head straight to the Yun family's main hall. Instead, he first went to Yun Xia's private chamber, intending to steal a moment with his little sweetheart before going to the front courtyard to offer congratulations to the head of the household, Yun Chun.
Yun Xia was dressed in her finest today, her youthful innocence tinged with seductive charm. The Third Prince's thoughts wandered wildly the moment he saw her. As soon as he entered her chamber, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her: "My darling treasure, I've missed you to death."
"Heh heh, what a fine pair of dogs and bitches." Shu Yan cursed under her breath.
Task 1: Prevent Yun Xue from falling in love with the Third Prince.
She needed to find a way to seal Yun Xue's heart with cement and lock her love with steel bars, ensuring she absolutely would not and could not fall for the Third Prince again.
Shu Yan changed the last "Yun Xia" to "Yun Chun."