The Attack of the Wastrel

In the end, Rong Yuan was still unable to marry Gu Lingzhi. No matter how determined he was, Gu Lingzhi’s unwillingness had trumped. This made Qin Xinran think that perhaps the Third Prince had a change of heart.

He had even called Consort Rong to go and convince Gu Lingzhi, it was evident of how much he cared for her. The lengths at which Rong Yuan was willing to go for Gu Lingzhi only made Qin Xinran admire him more.

Qin Xinran could only sigh. She completely understood Rong Yuan’s ignorance, it was normal to be that way when someone was in love.

In the unsuccessful marriage between Gu Lingzhi and the Third Prince, the most displeased person had to be the Third Prince, while the most pained was Gu Rong.

He was so close to getting the Third Prince as his son-in-law, yet Gu Lingzhi just rejected him like that. How could he not feel pained? Even the way he looked at Gu Lingzhi had hardened.

Gu Lingzhi feigned ignorance and hid in her room for days practicing Alchemy.

Though Rong Yuan was unsuccessful at bringing Gu Lingzhi back to the Royal Palace, he had successfully applied for a couple’s hostel in the Royal School.

His actions had caused an even bigger uproar compared to when he had eliminated the higher-ranked members of the Beicheng and Tianfeng Clans.

After all, in the Royal School, clan conflicts were the least of the students’ worries.

Qin Xinran had taken Gu Lingzhi’s place when she moved out of the hostel, living together with Ye Fei and Tianfeng Jin. This made it clear to everyone that even though the Tianfeng and Qin Clans had fallen out with each other, Tianfeng Jin was still her friend and was not to be bullied.

Regarding Tianfeng Wei, Gu Lingzhi did not bother to give her a difficult time. Rong Yuan, however, decided to cut off one of her Spiritual Roots.

“I didn’t know that my Lingzhi was so ‘kind’.”

Gu Lingzhi smiled warmly, “I cannot compare to Your Highness’ benevolence.”

They exchanged smiles with the same cunning look in their eyes.

According to Tianfeng Wei’s personality, it was a worse punishment to get rid of her Spiritual Roots so that she would become a wastrel without any cultivation, than to kill her directly. This also caused her to miscarry. Without the ability to defend herself or a baby that she could eventually rely on, the only person that she could rely on now was Lang Jingchen.

Gu Lingzhi could only shake her head and sigh when she thought about Rong Yuan had plotted to let Tianfeng Wei think that the whole idea of letting Lang Jingchen be the father of her child was Lang Jingchen’s idea all along.

Originally, Tianfeng Wei and Lang Jingchen could have spent their days properly; perhaps Rong Yuan would get bored and stop playing tricks on them. The misunderstandings between them could be resolved and who knew, maybe they could become a couple that was in love with each other. However, Tianfeng Wei was bent on going against him, which caused their relationship to go sour. Not only did she rejoin the Tianfeng Family to enter the Cangwu Realm, she had also plotted such a huge scheme.

Now, even her child is at risk of dying, who knows whether Lang Jingchen would forgive her stubbornness?

“Who do you think Tianfeng Wei wanted to get rid of when she cast out the Formation? What was her motive? Do you think Lang Jingchen’s family would arrange for him to marry another girl?” Rong Yuan added mindlessly. Whatever he said were the rumours that were going around in the capital city. Lang Jingchen had suddenly started picking a new wife again – but it was Rong Yuan’s plan all along.

The other girl that was going to be Lang Jingchen’s wife was the eldest daughter of a big clan. She was bold and cunning and liked Lang Jingchen for some time but had never caught his eye. If she were to marry into the Lang Family, Lang Jingchen would never be able to live peacefully for the rest of his days.

Cunning and shameless… Gu Lingzhi could only think to herself.

There was no way for her to hide her advancement to a Martial Practitioner. To prevent attracting too much attention to herself, the best she could do was to disguise herself as a middle-grade Martial Practitioner. She could at least explain it using the fact that she had absorbed many Enlightenment Fragments.

When the new semester started, she followed her same old routine of visiting the classrooms, Alchemy Tower, Training Tower and Town of the Brave every day. Since her identity as the Black Thorn had been exposed by Rong Yuan a long time ago, she no longer bothered to hide her identity from him. Sometimes, she would even ask him to assist her in changing.

Just two months before, Gu Lingzhi had left the Town of the Brave as a peak-level Martial Student. Now, she was leaving it as a peak-level Martial Practitioner. Some people who had been looking out for her were shocked, and they were suddenly interested in her true identity.

What kind of clan was she from and how did they manage to cultivate such a talent?

“Of course, she’s from the Royal Family,” Rong Yuan joked.

Gu Lingzhi tried not to, but she could not resist the urge to roll her eyes. “Your Highness, the increase in my cultivation was entirely due to my own abilities, what has it got to do with the Royal Family?”

“How can it not have anything to do with the Royal Family?” Rong Yuan pointed at Gu Lingzhi and said, “You are my fiancée and will be part of the Royal Family the moment you graduate from the Royal School. Though it is your biggest honour, of course, it is mine too.”

“…You are shameless,” Gu Lingzhi could only say so much. After which, she looked around at the crowd to see who would become her opponent next.

Even though she had the cultivation of a peak-level Martial Practitioner, her foundations were still unstable and barely had control over her spiritual energy. If she met with a strong opponent, there was still a chance that she might lose.

“What? Xi Hongru has also advanced to a Martial Practitioner?” Gu Lingzhi exclaimed with shock.

Xi Hongru had previously been a Level Ten Martial Student, yet he had advanced to a Martial Practitioner over the holidays. The speed at which his cultivation increased was faster than Xin Yi who was ranked first amongst the Martial Students.

“Maybe it was due to chance,” Rong Yuan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He told himself that he would get someone to check on Xi Hongru who was resting at a side. According to what he knew, Xi Hongru did not have the resources to advance so quickly.

“What? Xin Yi has also advanced?” Gu Lingzhi exclaimed in surprise once again when she saw a youth that was dressed rather elaborately.

Xin Yi suddenly turned around to look at her. He was taken aback for a while, but he walked towards them. He smiled politely and said, “You’re the Black Thorn? I’ve heard of you. Did you come to fight in a match too?”

Xin Yi was a boy that was very pretty – in fact, out of everyone that Gu Lingzhi has met before, only Di Huan’s looks could surpass his.

Seeing the stunned look in Gu Lingzhi’s eyes, Rong Yuan made his way and stood beside her without a word to put distance between her and Xin Yi.

“We’re only here to watch, we don’t intend on competing today.”

Perhaps Rong Yuan’s actions were too obviously protective, as Xin Yi furrowed his eyebrows and regarded Rong Yuan with disdain, “I did not know that Your Highness was such a womanizer to be this protective with every girl. I wonder how Lady Gu will react when she knows about this.”

Was he… standing up for her?

Gu Lingzhi was extremely surprised. Ever since she enrolled in the Royal School, she had not interacted much with Xin Yi, only talking to him a couple of times. She never thought that he would speak up for her.

Rong Yuan sensed something fishy and stood up straighter, looking down on Xin Yi and pretended to smile. “You are overthinking this, Lingzhi is not that petty and I’m not someone that cheats.”

What he meant to tell Xin Yi was that he was not fickle-minded when it came to romantic relationships, and that Gu Lingzhi knew of his relationship with the Black Thorn.

Xin Yi looked suspiciously between Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan, obviously not believing what the Third Prince had said.

“Your Highness, it is understandable for someone of your status to have a few women, but I still hope that you can treat Lingzhi better. She deserves to be treated well with your whole heart.”

Xin Yi promptly left, almost as if he did not want to speak to Rong Yuan any longer. Before he left, he even stared at Gu Lingzhi who was disguised as the Black Thorn for a long while, almost hinting to her to stay away from Rong Yuan.

Gu Lingzhi was bewildered to see that someone who had barely known her would actually speak up for her and remind Rong Yuan to treat her better.

It seems that… Xin Yi had been helping him since day one. This boy is rather interesting.

“Xin Yi’s actions are rather strange, but one thing that he says is true,” Rong Yuan held her hand as he looked at Xin Yi leave.

“What?”

Rong Yuan inched closer and whispered in her ear, “You deserve to be loved wholeheartedly.”

His warm breath lingered on her ear, instantly making her blush.

“You are a prince; how can you only have one woman in your life? You are going to inherit the throne, and you have to marry the daughter of someone powerful. How can you only focus on me?”

Maybe it was the serious expression on Rong Yuan’s face that caused Gu Lingzhi to blurt out something so direct. Had her tone sounded like she was… complaining?

Clearing her throat, Gu Lingzhi wanted to clarify what she had meant. On the other hand, Rong Yuan laughed lightly, “Is this why you have been rejecting me all this while?”

Without waiting for a reply from Gu Lingzhi, Rong Yuan brushed her hair lightly, “Who told you I was going to inherit the throne? In all of history, the Emperor of the Xia Kingdom would not be the most powerful person in the Royal Family. The only reason why my family has been occupying the throne for millennia was because we relied on the support of other people who were extremely talented as well. The throne is merely an ambassador for my family. The people who are holding onto the power are mostly those with an exceptional amount of cultivation in the Royal Family. Why else would my mother have such a big influence in the Royal Palace?”