“No, I’m not.” Gu Lingzhi was not angry, she was just jealous.

She was apprehensive about the way she was feeling. She knew full well that Rong Yuan was true towards her, yet she was so easily shaken.

The Gu Lingzhi in the present did not know that her dishonesty about her feelings now would later lead to obstacles later in their relationship.

“Sir… sir, you can’t go in!” an anxious voice rang from outside before Rong Yuan could protest against Gu Lingzhi’s dishonesty. The door flung open and a familiar silhouette appeared.

“I’d like to see you stop me,” an arrogant and bossy voice rang out, not at all afraid of his reputation being tarnished. Who else would the voice belong to if not Pan Yue?

“Fifth Prince, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you, it seems that you’re still doing everything your own way,” Rong Yuan laughed.

Pan Yue paused for a moment after hearing Rong Yuan’s voice. He did not think that he would be imposing on someone that he recognized. His face twitched and continued to play the part of a spoiled prince. Glancing lazily at Rong Yuan, he said, “I was wondering who it was, I didn’t think that it would be the Xia Kingdom’s Third Prince. Since we all know each other, why don’t you sell me the Eight Treasure Jade? I’ll buy it at double the price you got it for.”

“I don’t think so,” Rong Yuan rejected his suggestion in just one sentence. “It’s rare that the Fuyue Restaurant would have a fifth-order demon beast on its menu and we’re lucky to be here to try it, why would we give it up? As the Fifth Prince, you live here in the Yan Capital. I’m sure you have many chances to come here to try the dishes, it’d be nice if you didn’t take it away from us.”

Rong Yuan was not soft with his words but neither was he impolite, which made it hard for Pan Yue to be harsh with him. However, when Pan Yue thought about Rong Yuan’s status, he decided to toughen up.

“You may be right, but I just want it anyway. Are you going to give it to me or not?”

With this, everyone in the restaurant could tell that the person whom they had regarded as their Fifth Prince, did not respect Rong Yuan at all. After recognizing that Rong Yuan was the Third Prince of the Xia Kingdom, they felt that Pan Yue’s attitude towards Rong Yuan was putting the relationship of both kingdoms at risk.

Rong Yuan furrowed his brows, he did not miss the hesitation in Pan Yue’s actions.

What did Pan Yue have to gain from humiliating him in public?

Even if Rong Yuan knew that Pan Yue had a motive, he was also a prince and would not allow anyone to trample all over him. His posture straightened and laughing coldly, he replied, “No, I’m not. What are you going to do about it?”

“I’ll…”

“Shut up, aren’t you going to apologize to the Third Prince?” another voice interrupted just as Pan Yue was going to use his status to win the argument. It appeared that the door to the guest room was left open and the argument had drawn a huge crowd.

“Second… Second Brother…”

“Apologize!” Pan En was visibly furious. He had heard about the Fuyue Restaurant acquiring a fifth-order demon beast and wanted to try the Eight Treasure Jade, he did not think that he would be met with such a scene.

Even though the North Qiu Kingdom was the most dominant and powerful kingdom, it was also because of this power that they had no allies. On the other hand, the Xia Kingdom who was the next most powerful kingdom after them, were comparable with the other kingdoms and hence they had managed to gain allies. If the North Qiu and Xia Kingdoms were to go to war, the North Qiu Kingdom would be decimated by the other kingdoms working together to defeat them no matter how powerful they were.

What was his idiot brother doing? He had actually dared to openly humiliate the Xia Kingdom’s Third Prince. Even though he had similar thoughts before, it was different from acting on it. Pan Yue’s actions could cause other countries to think that the North Qiu Kingdom looked down on all the other kingdoms and that would negatively affect them. Pan Yue was truly getting out of hand.

“Apologize now unless you want me to report this incident to Father,” Pan En reminded Pan Yue, seeing that his younger brother still refused to say a word.

Pan Yue had no choice but to unwillingly apologize to Rong Yuan when he heard Pan Yue using their father against him. Even after apologizing, Pan Yue was visibly indignant.

“I still want to eat the Eight Treasure Jade. It’s been months. Since I cannot take it from him, then let me have your portion.”

Gu Lingzhi silently turned her body around and covered her mouth with her hand to prevent herself from laughing out loud. Pan Yue was intentionally making things difficult for Pan En.

As it turned out, Pan En’s face darkened at Pan Yue’s words. Without waiting for Pan En to protest, a slender arm rested on his shoulder and with a soft voice, the woman said, “Your Highness, it’s just a plate of Eight Treasure Jade. You’ve tried better things than this, why don’t you just bestow it to them?”

Even though it seemed like the lady was whispering, her voice was completely audible. Gu Lingzhi immediately caught the underlying meaning of her words.

Her words sounded like she was giving Pan En advice, but she was evidently insulting both Rong Yuan and Pan Yue as well.

Though they were all princes, she had still used the word ‘bestow’, which was only used when a master was rewarding his servant. When she said that Pan En had ‘tried better things’, she was implying that the rest of the people in the room were like country bumpkins. With just one sentence, the lady had managed to insult all three of them – Gu Lingzhi, Rong Yuan and Pan Yue – leaving them no room to argue against it. If they responded, it would be as good as admitting that they were indeed unsophisticated people.

The lady was indeed worthy of associating herself with the future ruler of the North Qiu Kingdom.

Gu Lingzhi secretly glanced at the lady, wanting to memorize her appearance so that she could find a chance to get back at her in the future. To her surprise, the lady was glaring at her with hatred-filled eyes.

Could it be someone that Rong Yuan had rejected in the past?

Unexpectedly, the lady shifted her gaze towards Rong Yuan and the hatred in her eyes seemed to deepen.

She was definitely a lady that had been rejected by Rong Yuan without a doubt!

“I wanted to get it so that you could try it, but since you’ve said it yourself, let’s give it to Pan Yue then,” Pan En replied, ignoring the mocking tone in the lady’s voice. He then ordered the Eight Treasure Jade to be sent to Pan Yue.

Unhappy with the outcome, Pan Yue huffed and walked out. Pan En was visibly apologetic for his brother’s behavior and apologized to Rong Yuan for Pan Yue’s behavior. He then joined them for dinner and offered to pay for all their food that night.

Rong Yuan did not bother to argue any further due to Pan En’s sincerity. It was a pity that the original plan to spend some alone time with Gu Lingzhi had turned into an informal social event where he had to play his part of a royal.

The lady beside Pan En whom he had called Xiao Yue masked all the hatred in her eyes. With a joyful smile, she sat down at a corner, occasionally pouring wine for Rong Yuan and Pan En.

When they came out of the Fuyue Restaurant, it was already half past midnight.

The preliminary rounds of the competition had been going on for two days. The students from the Royal School had all done rather well. All of them had successfully advanced to the next round. It would not be long until the semi-finals.

The same rules applied in the semi-finals – losing would mean disqualification from the competition entirely. This time, Gu Lingzhi’s opponent was more powerful. It took Gu Lingzhi about twenty moves to beat her opponent. Amongst all the competitors in the Royal School, one of the Martial Students had lost and was disqualified.

With every round of matches, the competitors were increasingly outstanding. Gu Lingzhi met many youths who were extremely talented. On the other hand, many people had also noticed her for her talent.

It had only been two years since she had awakened her Spiritual Roots. From just a normal person, she had become a well-known figure amongst Martial Artists. When it comes to talent, she seemed to be even more outstanding than her fiancé who was known as the person who would most likely become a True God. Other men who had similar social statuses as Rong Yuan had also developed an attraction towards Gu Lingzhi. This was evident in an increasing number of people coming to pay a visit to Rong Yuan.

It was obvious to Rong Yuan that every single person who had come to pay a visit to him had wanted to see Gu Lingzhi instead. This made him increasingly sour.

“I’ve heard that not only is Lady Gu talented in Martial Arts, but also in Alchemy. It just so happens that there’s someone from my Dayin Kingdom who has come down to take part in the competition as well who is really good in Alchemy. If Lady Gu does not mind, we should find a day to learn from one another,” a fine-looking man who had come to pay a visit pointed out.

“The competition is more important, there is no need to swap any pointers,” Rong Yuan rejected the man even before Gu Lingzhi had time to respond.

“Brother, forget about it,” Ding Rou laughed at Ding Wei, “Lady Gu is the only thing that the Third Prince cares about, don’t even bother getting your hopes up.”

“That’s a pity,” Ding Wei sighed, “A pity that our Dayin Kingdom does not have such an outstanding lady like her, it seems like Mother will continue to worry about my marriage.”

Ding Wei was the Crown Prince of the Dayin Kingdom and Ding Rou’s older brother. He had once attended the competition a few years back together with Rong Yuan and established a strong friendship with him.

Back then, Ding Rou was only about seven years old. The ruler of the Dayin Kingdom had nine children, but only one of them was a daughter. As a result, Ding Rou had grown up with many brothers and under their influence, she developed a personality that exuded a lot of masculinity.

That year, Ding Rou had also followed Ding Wei to the North Qiu Kingdom where she disguised herself as a boy. For the longest time, Rong Yuan did not know that Ding Rou was actually a female and made fun of her many times. It was only when she entered the Royal School, disguised as a girl from a small kingdom and a small clan did Rong Yuan realize that she was actually not a boy.

This was the reason why Rong Yuan was much closer to her than other girls. Furthermore, she was outspoken and straightforward with the strength of any other man, which Rong Yuan greatly admired.

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