The Attack of the Wastrel

“Tianfeng Wei is a very nice lady and it is my fortune to be able to marry her. Oh, that’s right. She is my wife, the First Mistress of the Tianfeng Clan who was previously engaged to the Third Prince.”

While this sentence seemed to be simply praising his wife, when he said this, it proved that all the rumors that had been floating around were true. It made those that were sitting on the fence believe the things that were being said and become annoyed with Gu Lingzhi.

Realising the image and bad impression people had of her, Gu Lingzhi was so surprised that she did not even feel angry or indignant. After what she had experienced at the Dayin dorms earlier, it seemed like there could be nothing worse that could hurt her.

“I understand, you can all go. Xiao Jin, don’t let these distasteful rumours affect your performance during the matches later,” Gu Lingzhi said calmly.

She was so calm that Tianfeng Jin and Yan Liang became suspicious.

“…Lingzhi, are you not going to try and clear your name?”

“Only ignorant people will believe the rumors. Furthermore, at the speed at which these rumors are spreading, it is obvious that someone is doing this on purpose. Even if I wanted to do anything about it, it would be useless and people would just think that I am being overly defensive.”

“How can it be useless? What about His Highness? Won’t he help you?” Yan Liang could not help but state.

It was only after he said it that he realised Rong Yuan, who should have been with Gu Lingzhi, was not around. This was extremely unusual given that Gu Lingzhi was injured and defamed.

“Him?” Gu Lingzhi replied extremely casually, as if what Yan Liang had just mentioned was insignificant. “He’s busy.”

Gu Lingzhi did not want to continue the conversation as she grabbed her injured shoulder and pretended to start to doze off against the chair. It was obvious that she was sending them off.

Although both Tianfeng Jin and Yan Liang could detect that something was wrong with Gu Lingzhi, seeing her attitude, they could not bring themselves to say anything. Eventually, all they could do was tell her to rest well and take their leave.

Only when she and Wei Hanzi were the only ones left in the living room did Gu Lingzhi finally lifted her head. Exhausted, she instructed, “I want to rest, turn away anyone that wishes to visit.”

Reaching her room on the second floor, Gu Lingzhi lay flat on the bed tiredly. Who cares what people thought about her? Immediately after the Inter-school Competition ended, she was heading back to the Xia Kingdom. Whoever wanted to hurt her using these rumours was going to be disappointed. The only thing that could affect her was the people she cared about. If the person that was trying to hurt her was smart, they would learn from Ding Rou. That was the only effective way.

Annoyed at herself, Gu Lingzhi fell into a daze and eventually drifted off.

The injury at her shoulder was quite bad. However, in order to personally see and question Rong Yuan, she had endured through the pain. What a pity she did not get to see him.

Outside her room, Wei Hanzi stood for a long while. She lifted her hand to the door and let it down repeatedly, feeling extremely conflicted.

On one hand, she could not bear to see Gu Lingzhi upset and wanted to tell her that Rong Yuan had visited the night before. On the other hand, she could not go against Rong Yuan’s orders. This made her think twice about loyalty as her main value.

When Rong Yuan sent her to Gu Lingzhi, he had said to treat Gu Lingzhi as her Mistress and serve her unconditionally. But in this given scenario, should she be siding with Rong Yuan or Gu Lingzhi?

Even after Gu Lingzhi’s breathing stabilized from inside the room and she fell into a deep sleep, Wei Hanzi had yet to come to a decision. In the end, she merely bit her lip, dropped her hand and stood to one side.

Forget it. Both of them were her masters and it would not be good to betray either one of them. She decided to just be a bystander. If Gu Lingzhi asked her about Rong Yuan again, she will then tell the truth.

Making her decision, Wei Hanzi smiled under her mask.

“Lingzhi, wake up. It is time for lunch,” a familiar and low voice woke Gu LIngzhi from her slumber. Opening her eyes, she saw Rong Yuan’s concerned gaze.

“I heard you were injured, so I’ve ordered someone to make some nurturing medicine for you. Drink it while it is hot.”

Gu Lingzhi looked at the table as he spoke. There were a few dishes on the table and in the middle, a big bowl of soup was steaming. The entire room was filled with a medicinal scent.

Retracting her gaze, Gu Lingzhi looked towards Rong Yuan and purposely ignored the helping hand he stretched towards her. She leaned onto her other side and pushed herself up. In a bland voice, she said, “Your Highness, what are you doing here? Don’t you have to accompany the Dayin Kingdom’s Princess?”

Seeing her gaze shift, Rong Yuan laughed lightly, “Her injury is much better now, and she does not need me to accompany her. On the other hand, how did you end up like this? Are you doing this on purpose so that my heart aches?”

“Your heart ached?” Gu Lingzhi looked directly into his eyes and threw back at him.

“Of course!” Rong Yuan responded certainly. He then got up and shifted the lunch tray to beside the bed and found a place for himself beside Gu Lingzhi. In a smooth and natural movement, he picked up the bowl of medicine from the table and poured out a small bowl. Holding it in his hands, he then scooped up a spoonful of soup and blew on it before holding it out towards Gu Lingzhi.

“Here, drink this to warm your stomach first.”

Gu Lingzhi continued to remain silent as she looked at Rong Yuan. Seeing how he continued to be attentive and take care of her, she was slightly confused as to what he was thinking.

“…Aren’t you afraid that you will make Ding Rou jealous if you do this?”

“Why should I be afraid if she is jealous?” Rong Yuan chuckled, the gaze he gave her was filled with adoration. “Or are you the one that is jealous?”

Gu Lingzhi remained silent and stared at him.

After last night and today morning, how could he still act as if nothing was wrong? This made her feel that she was overreacting when she felt sad and suspicious!

“I…” Gu Lingzhi’s mouth opened. The rash and bold attitude that she had when she rushed over to find Rong Yuan this morning had completely disappeared. Now, the uncertainty and the worry were suffocating her. She was afraid that if she were to ask him, she would receive the answer that she was dreading the most. What should she do then?

Sensing her hesitance, and uncertainty, Rong Yuan said it for her, “Did you want to ask me where I was last night?”

Gu Lingzhi stiffened as she pursed her lips and nodded her head slightly, “I heard that you stayed at the dorms where the people from the Dayin Kingdom were staying. This morning… I went to look for you.”

After she finished speaking, she immediately turned her head to the side as she thought of what happened at the Dajin dorms. Anger and indignance surged through her, causing her eyes to turn slightly red.

“You came to find me today?” Rong Yuan frowned, “The guards did not inform me that you came.”

Gu Lingzhi bit the side of her mouth. She did not know whether to feel relieved or angry that Rong Yuan was not involved in the matter that caused her to be held outside. However, if Rong Yuan was firmer in his behavior and did not demonstrate any signs of affection towards Ding Rou, how would those guards dare to hold her back outside and shame her?

“Silly girl,” Rong Yuan pulled her into his embrace as his heart ached for her. It was rare for him to see Gu Lingzhi continue putting up a brave front although she was clearly upset. He explained softly to her, “Last night, I was out with Ding Rou and was ambushed by a group. In order to protect me, Ding Rou took a hit. I couldn’t leave her alone after that and that is why I did not come back. Don’t think too much.”

“Ding Rou got injured because of you?” Gu Lingzhi raised her head abruptly. Rong Yuan’s cultivation level was already halfway to reaching the level of a Martial Sage. On the other hand, Ding Rou was merely a Martial Practitioner. Of all people, how could it be someone like Ding Rou that had to protect Rong Yuan?

It seemed like Rong Yuan knew that it was an embarrassing thing to be protected by a woman whose cultivation level was so much lower than his. He averted his gaze and briefly explained what had happened, “…we were outnumbered and there were a few Martial Lord experts. When one of them tried to launch a sneak attack on me, Ding Rou realised and helped me block that attack, almost losing her life as a result. I stayed at the Dayin Kingdom’s dorms for a night for her condition to stabilize.”

Hearing Rong Yuan’s explanation, Gu Lingzhi should have felt relieved. However, an even heavier weight fell on her. How much must one love another, for a woman to risk her life to protect a man? It was no wonder all the Dajin’s bodyguards treated Rong Yuan as if he was their emperor’s son-in-law. Rong Yuan owed his life to Ding Rou now.

So preoccupied with her thoughts, Gu Lingzhi failed to notice that Rong Yuan did not bother to check on her injury although he was so concerned about her. It was not that he did not care, but he already knew her state.

After her meal, Rong Yuan coaxed Gu Lingzhi to rest before heading back to the Dayin Kingdom’s dorms. The reason was that Ding Rou had awoken but was refusing to eat her medicine until she saw Rong Yuan.

Although Gu Lingzhi wore a light smile on her face as she bid him farewell, her fingers that were clutching her blanket almost popped out of her hands.

She must see Rong Yuan before she was willing to eat her medicine? The way Ding Rou was behaving was clear as day. She was demonstrating her affection for Rong Yuan, and Rong Yuan had hurried over without any questions. What did this imply?

In the next few days, Rong Yuan was always rushing between places. It was as if he stayed at the Dayin Kingdom’s dorms. It was only until the day before the finals that he remembered his responsibilities and gathered everyone who had made it to the finals. After counting, he was surprised to find out that out of the nine who came to the competition, only two Martial Students were eliminated. The remaining seven had all made it to the finals.

“All of you performed well. Let’s continue to work hard and win all top three positions for the Martial Practitioner and Martial Teacher categories.” As his eyes swept over all seven of them, Rong Yuan encouraged and spoke as if getting all top three positions was such an easy thing.

“I don’t have an issue with that. When the time comes, the only one with an issue with that would be the North Qiu Kingdom. They are going to go down.” Nie Sang was the first to respond. His kind and gentle smile carried a hint of slyness.

Lang Jingchen scoffed, “‘When the time comes’? I think the First School is already going down.”

In the past few days, with Gu Lingzhi’s lack of action, the rumors surrounding her had spread like a wildfire. Even the neighboring towns around the Yan Capital had heard of Gu Lingzhi and what she had done in the past.