The Attack of the Wastrel

Indeed, Gu Lingzhi had wondered about this before. Even if the Emperor doted on Consort Rong, there was still the Empress in the background. Strangely, the Third Prince’s marriage matters were all unilaterally determined by Consort Rong. She never seemed to need to consult the Empress about it, which would normally be the case.

“Could it be that Consort Rong is also one of those people that helps to keep the Emperor in power?”

“Call her Mother,” Rong Yuan corrected. As he brought Gu Lingzhi to his own residence in the Royal Palace, he ruffled her hair and said, “My mother doesn’t belong to royalty by blood, so she cannot be one of those people behind the scenes.”

Gu Lingzhi was confused. Since Consort Rong wasn’t one of those people behind the scenes, why did she have so much authority?

Seeing her look of confusion, Rong Yuan laughed and explained, “Did you forget about me? I’m the most talented prince in the Royal Family in many years. Naturally, my mother’s authority would rise because of that.”

Seeing the smug look on Rong Yuan’s face, Gu Lingzhi averted her gaze.

With how Rong Yuan was boasting, was he not ashamed of insulting the Royal Family?

Nevertheless, from this conversation, Gu Lingzhi gained a better understanding of the power dynamics in the Royal Palace and realized that there was much more to it than it seemed. Take the current Emperor for example, even though he was in the highest position in the land, he still had to listen to his ancestors and elders. Furthermore, the princes that showed exceptional talent were given their own authority as well.

So, in the end, while being an Emperor sounded very impressive, he was really just a mouthpiece for all the powerful people that were keeping him in power. To put it nicely, he was their spokesperson. If one were to look at it another way, he really was just a puppet chosen by the real people in power.

The next day, at around 5am, Gu Lingzhi got out of bed and began washing up. Just as she was done, she smelled a fragrant scent of bamboo.

“You’re awake? I brought you some bamboo leaf porridge, come give it a try,” said Yuan Zheng who was standing not far from her door.

Gu Lingzhi nodded and thanked him, “Thank you for your hard work.”

Supposedly, Rong Yuan had bought this porridge for her. Still, it was obvious that the one who actually went to buy it was not Rong Yuan who was still looking extremely neat and tidy, but Yuan Zheng, who was still a little wet from the morning mist.

Yuan Zheng laughed and smiled, “No, not at all. It’s my pleasure to be able to serve His Highness and the Princess Consort.”

After finishing breakfast, Rong Yuan wiped his mouth before saying, “There will be a new student in our class today. Unless necessary, try not to speak too much to that person.”

Gu Lingzhi frowned and asked, “A new student?”

Even though the semester had just started recently, the deadline for new students to enroll had long since passed. Why would there be a new student coming at this time? Could it be someone Rong Yuan invited? Seeing the expression on Rong Yuan’s face, that didn’t seem likely. Or… perhaps it was someone else who invited this person?

“It’s a prince from the North Qiu Kingdom. He’s here on a student exchange program and will be staying for a month.”

Gu Lingzhi nodded to indicate that she understood.

When Gu Lingzhi arrived at the classroom and saw the person that Rong Yuan was talking about, she finally understood why he had such a look of disdain when speaking of him.

How was this a prince at all? He did not dress like one!

The person in question was dressed completely in bright gold clothes, and on all ten fingers, he wore rings embedded with gems. He also wore earrings which sparkled, begging for attention. Presently, he was sitting in the middle of the classroom so that he would be at the center of attention.

His eyes were curved up slightly in a look of contentment, and it was obvious that he was enjoying all the attention. As Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan entered the classroom, he caught sight of her. His eyes lit up, and he headed directly towards her.

“This young lady looks exceedingly exceptional and beautiful. I am Pan Yue, the fifth prince of the North Qiu Kingdom, could I have the pleasure of getting to know you better?”

The North Qiu prince blinked provocatively as he said this, once more flashing off the jewelry he had on him.

Without even waiting for Gu Lingzhi to reply, Rong Yuan answered, “Thank you for your kind intentions, but this lady here is Gu Lingzhi, my fiancée. Unfortunately, I don’t think your wishes can be fulfilled.”

Although the words sounded somewhat polite, the tone Rong Yuan used was extremely forceful. Returning to his seat, Pan Yue grunted, “Boring”.

On the other hand, Gu Lingzhi started to pay more attention to him.

Surnamed “Pan”, the prince of the North Qiu Kingdom… could he be a descendant of Pan Luo, the one her ancestor mentioned previously?

If he was, then she would have to be more careful this month.

Noticing that Gu Lingzhi was observing Pan Yue, Rong Yuan squeezed her hand and asked, “What’s so attractive about that peacock? If you like it, I can immediately get someone to make a dress like that for you.”

“No, I’ve got no interest in wearing that,” Gu Lingzhi immediately rejected, shuddering at the thought. She had no intention of parading herself like that.

Rong Yuan laughed and had her go to her seat. To Gu Lingzhi’s surprise, she was in the same class as Tianfeng Jin and Qin Xinran, who were seated next to her. She immediately began chatting with them.

Once Gu Lingzhi had settled into her seat, Rong Yuan gestured towards Pan Yue and introduced him to the class, “This remarkable-looking gentleman here is the Fifth Prince of the North Qiu Kingdom, attending our academy for one month as an exchange student. Please make use of the chance to interact and get to know him better. After all, it is rare to be classmates with a prince of the North Qiu Kingdom.” Even though Rong Yuan was not fond of Pan Yue, as a prince of the Xia Kingdom, Rong Yuan was still obligated to observe the necessary formalities.

The classroom immediately erupted into noise. No one had expected that this attention-loving fellow was actually a prince of the North Qiu Kingdom. Instantly, many students thought about sucking up to him. However, looking at his lewd expression, they hesitated.

Did someone like him really have any authority in the North Qiu Kingdom? Given that he was sent here as an exchange student, could there be something else behind it? As they considered this, many students became suspicious.

Not noticing the looks in the other students’ eyes, Pan Yue’s eyes trailed on the beautiful girls in the classroom. No matter how he looked, he still felt that Gu Lingzhi was still the most attractive. Rubbing his chin with a finger covered in a big gemstone, he asked a student next to him, “It seems like the relationship between the Third Prince and his fiancée is pretty good. I remember hearing from other students that have come to the Royal School for an exchange programme in the past say that the relationship between the prince and his fiancée wasn’t spectacular.”

The person who he queried eyed him with disbelief, saying, “Your news is far too outdated. The Third Prince has long since been engaged to someone new.”

“What? Really?” Pan Yue had not expected this. Deep down, he secretly began cursing the spies stationed in the Xia Kingdom for not reporting such an important piece of news. Maintaining the smile on his face, he continued asking, “Then, which clan is the current fiancée from?”

“Well, that would have to be Gu Lingzhi of the Gu Clan,” the student replied disinterestedly, before giving an excuse to change his seat.

The North Qiu Kingdom and the Xia Kingdom were neighbors, but they could not be more different. In the whole of the Tianyuan Continent, the Xia Kingdom could only be considered above average. On the other hand, the North Qiu Kingdom was like an overlord of the continent. Their Royal Family alone had three Demigods, and there were Demigods from several other clans as well. In total, they had eight Demigods, while their number of Martial Sages were in the hundreds.

Xia Kingdom only had three Demigods in total, and their total number of Martial Sage experts numbered less than a hundred.

Logically speaking, facing a prince from such a kingdom, the student should have been trying to get closer to him rather than avoid him. However, with his outfit full of ornaments and his perverse aura, the student was thoroughly scared away.

Gu Clan… Pan Yue pondered over what he heard, murmuring Gu Lingzhi’s name softly. He did not bother stopping the student from leaving.

If he did not remember wrongly, the First Mistress of the Gu clan was supposed to be a wastrel who could not cultivate. However, Gu Lingzhi was obviously a Martial Practitioner. It seemed like some interesting things had happened in the Xia Kingdom recently.

“Today’s lesson will be about training your defensive abilities. We will head over to the Martial Skills Room for training.”

Rong Yuan immediately began his lesson properly after introducing Pan Yue.

The training was organized into groups of five. Within each group, four people would release attacks at one person, who had to defend against the attacks and survive until a certain time limit was up.

Although it seemed like a simple exercise, the students found out how difficult it was after trying it themselves.

The students here were all talented students, whose spiritual energy and control was stronger than average Martial Artists.

Against normal fighters, it was possible to persist under the attack of four people through brute methods. However, Rong Yuan prohibited the defenders from returning any attacks. They could only focus on evading the attacks.

Quickly, the training room was filled with all sorts of spiritual attacks, as well as the cries of students who had been hit. As for Pan Yue, he too was subjected to the attacks of his four group members.

Unlike the other students however, Pan Yue had managed to not get hit even once, although he looked bedraggled from all the dodging as well. Even still, while he dodged, he taunted, “Is this really the best that the Royal School has to offer? It doesn’t seem like much.”

This successfully enraged the crowd. In the first place, Pan Yue’s appearance did not garner much fondness. Who knew that his personality would be just as bad? Because his group members were being mindful of his status, they did not use their full force in their attacks. After being taunted, they immediately went all out in attacking Pan Yue, drawing a series of pained howls and cries from him.

As the saying goes, don’t look for trouble of your own accord. This was applicable regardless of your status.