The Attack of the Wastrel

When Gu Rong heard Wei Guoping call out his name, his face turned pale. He had been working hard to make it seem like he disappeared from existence.

Gu Lingzhi was his daughter. When he first raised the idea of letting him catch her, they praised him for placing his righteousness before family and when he completed the job, they would remember his deed. However, they now resented him since his plan failed. Because of his awkward identity, Gu Rong could only bottle up his anger and not speak up. With a superficial smile on his face, he said, “Lingzhi has only been promoted to a Martial Teacher for less than two months and everyone knows that. I’m afraid we may not have been able to capture her because she might have spiritual artefacts in her possession. After all, the Spirit Tribe historical remnants are in the main palace, and only the Third Prince and her have entered the seventh floor.”

“Nonsense! Don’t think that I did not know that all the treasures she had taken from that place have been taken by you and the North Qiu’s Royal Family. What other treasures could she have kept?” Wei Guoping scolded rudely, though he knew that anything was possible.

Even if Gu Lingzhi did not get any treasure from the Secret Territory, there were plenty of other ordinary treasures. At the end of the day, it was their mistake of taking Gu Lingzhi lightly. However, given the current situation, there was no one who dared to bear the responsibility themselves. If in a moment of anger, if the North Qiu Kingdom decided not to provide them resources anymore, they would then be really placed in a difficult situation and lose their wives and soldiers. No matter how bad the situation was on the Wei Family’s side, everything went on as per normal on Rong Yuan’s side.

When the news of Gu Lingzhi being attacked by the people sent by Wei Family spread through Chiyang City, Gu Lingzhi stepped out from the infirmary aptly. With a face filled with burn scars that made people tremble at the sight of it, she participated in the Graduation Ceremony.

In the hall that the Royal School used to host banquets, the students that participated in the final graduation examination stood on the podium, receiving congratulations from Rong Zhisheng.

Of the twenty-three people who have participated in the assessment, nineteen had graduated successfully, one was missing and three of them have failed to complete the assessment and were thus unable to receive the Royal School’s graduation certificate. The eighty percent passing rate was much higher than the previous years, and this made Rong Zhisheng beam with pride as he announced the graduation results.

The nineteen students who were successfully graduating took turns to stand on the podium. The scars on Gu Lingzhi’s face was such a ghastly sight and caught the attention of many. This made those who had already sympathized with Gu Lingzhi’s encounter feel even more sympathetic towards her.

“I don’t know if such severe burns can even be treated. If it does not heal, wouldn’t His Highness have to face such a horrible-looking face his entire life?” Amidst the sympathetic feelings, there were also some who thought about it in another direction.

“Aren’t there any precious elixirs in the Royal Palace? This injury must be cured! Even if it cannot be healed, His Highness can still marry someone else.” The student beside him couldn’t care less.

“Doesn’t that mean…that we have another chance?” A female student suddenly spoke up when she heard the remark. This sentence caught the attention of many other females. Previously, there were many of them who were unwilling to give up on the Third Prince, even after he had been married and had been strictly rejected by the Third Prince. However, it was different now. Without Gu Linghzhi’s good looks, they could perhaps be favored by the Third Prince now.

Rong Yuan who stood in the crowd, using the Yirong Pill to change his appearance, heard the discussions among the girls around him. The air pressure in his body dropped to its lowest as he coldly swept his gaze across the girls, icily replying, “Based on the deep affection that His Highness has for his wife, even if her face is never cured, he will still never change his affection for someone else.”

“You are not the Third Prince, how would you know that he will not get tired of her face?” Although they feared his aura, the girls that felt like there was still hope and could not help but refute.

Rong Yuan snorted, “You are not the Third Prince either and how would you know he would get bored?”

Seeing how his master was arguing with a girl whose name he did not even know, over a question of whether there will be a change of his heart, Yuan Zheng helplessly slapped his forehead. As long as he was met with a matter that concerned Gu Lingzhi, his master would never rest.

Rong Zhisheng finished announcing the graduation results, then said something to encourage the other students before starting the most anticipated part of the ceremony – the replacement of the school flag.

As mentioned before, the Royal School’s flag would be stained red with animal blood by every year’s graduates. It was the greatest wish of every Royal School’s graduate that his own flag could be chosen to be the next academic year’s flag. To Gu Lingzhi, this was no exception.

Although she had already known the results, before Rong Zhisheng made the announcement, Gu Lingzhi still felt very excited. Up until Rong Zhisheng officially announced that next year’s flag will be the flag that Gu Lingzhi brought back, she was flushed with excitement. It was not about the sense of accomplishment this honor gave her, but about how it proved that she was qualified to be the person next to Rong Yuan.

Just as Rong Yuan was afraid that he was not good enough, as though wronging Gu Lingzhi, Gu Lingzhi also felt like she was not worthy enough of Rong Yuan. This was the mentality of every pair of lovers. To seem more worthy of the other party, they often thought of how to make themselves better and just like this, they helped each other to improve while growing old together.

The next event of the Graduation Ceremony was a group of students that gathered together to celebrate. With Gu Lingzhi’s “heavy injuries”, she did not participate in the activity. Escorted by Tianfeng Jin and others, she returned back to her dormitory she shared with Rong Yuan.

“I’m finally back, I don’t ever want to go to the infirmary again.” Returning back to her own place, she did not have to put on a front. Gu Lingzhi let out a thankful sigh.

“Indeed, there is no need.” Ye Fei nodded her head. “After graduating, you will no longer be taken care of by the Royal School, and even if you get seriously injured, there will be no more help sent to save you.”

Gu Lingzhi sighed and moved closer to her to win her favor. “Fei-er, I know I am wrong. Don’t be angry, please?”

“Go away! Don’t be so cheesy.” Ye Fei shuddered. “Who is angry with you? I am just telling you the truth.”

Gu Lingzhi grinned, “Don’t call me cheesy, a certain someone calls you Fei-er every day and yet I don’t see you disliking it.”

This time, it was Ye Fei’s turn. Thinking of that person who despite her protests, insisted on calling her with such a cheesy name, Ye Fei had given up hope. “Sure, sure, sure, it is up to you however you like to call me, as long as you don’t feel awkward yourself.”

“How can it be awkward? I think this name sounds really good. Fei-er, Fei-er, Fei-er…” Gu Lingzhi continued to call her that a few times in a row. Finally Ye Fei could not bear it and surrendered. Qin Xinran also followed Gu Lingzhi’s “Fei-er, Fei’er”, calling her out, which made Ye Fei flush with embarrassment. The three of them started to laugh.

Tianfeng Jin stood at the side, her gaze bearing a smile, watching the three laughing and thought how this scene might no longer be a common occurrence in the future. Her heart filled with sadness, and in the direction of Gu Lingzhi, her face solemn, she said, “Lingzhi, wait for me. It won’t be long before I graduate from the Royal School and I’ll find you.”

To her, Gu Lingzhi was not only her friend, but also her benefactor. She has long vowed in her heart that she would do everything she could to help Gu Lingzhi. Given the current situation, she could undoubtedly fulfill her promise.

Gu Lingzhi who was still laughing with Ye Fei and Qin Xinran was taken by surprise. In which she then smiled softly and replied, “Well, I’ll wait for you.”

Now was a time that she and Rong Yuan had a shortage of people they trusted, and being able to have someone as trustworthy as Tianfeng Jin by her side, was a bonus.

“Me too,” Qin Xinran interjected as well.

“I’m going too.” Ye Fei echoed, shaking her fist, her eyes flashing with excitement. “I really want to graduate now. This battle with the North Qiu Kingdom concerns the entire continent. Who knows, it may even be in the history books. How can I miss such an honorable event? When I graduate, I must destroy all those villains from the North Qiu Kingdom.”

Looking at how aggressive Ye Fei was, Gu Lingzhi could feel cold sweat forming on her forehead. Who knew what would happen when Ye Fei found out about Pan Yue’s true identity? However, this would be a long time from now. Maybe they would have reached the end of their lives, and there would still be no victory or defeat with the North Qiu Kingdom, so it was still too early to worry about it.

“Okay! Then it is settled, we will find you when we graduate,” Qin Xinran concluded. Four of their gazes met and they smiled.

Thinking of how she first approached Gu Lingzhi, who Rong Yuan liked, to get rid of her, gave Qin Xinran a sudden realization. If only she knew at that time that she would become someone that Gu Lingzhi saw as a true friend, she would have been her friend from the very start. She would not have wasted so much time taking precautions.

The four chatted a lot, before Rong Yuan came back with a dark face.

“Oh, who has provoked our Highness this time, why that dark face?” Ye Fei joked after seeing Rong Yuan’s face. Although she still had some animosity towards the Third Prince, on the account of Gu Lingzhi, she had reluctantly accepted him as one of her own.

Rong Yuan glanced at Ye Fei, his face easing slightly, and walked towards Gu Lingzhi who was surrounded. He grabbed her by her arms, into his embrace, holding Gu Lingzhi’s head, and said in a low voice, “I want to kill Lang Jingchen.”

When he saw Lang Jingchen previously, he already had the urge to eliminate him. If not because Gu Lingzhi stopped him, who knew, Lang Jingchen would have attended his own funeral before the Graduation Ceremony.

“Killing Lang Jingchen now will not be good for our plan. Let’s leave him alone for now and who knows, we may be able to get some useful information from him.” Gu Lingzhi whispered into his ear and patted Rong Yuan’s head comfortingly.

Seeing this scene, Tianfeng Jin and the others were taken aback. Ye Fei looked like she had been struck by the thunder. “Oh my, is His Highness throwing a tantrum? Am I seeing things wrongly?”

Tianfeng Jin looked at the two hugging and gave an objective answer, “You are not seeing things wrongly.”

With her personality, seeing this, she had the urge to let out a scream.

Known as the Kingdom’s War God and the dream lover of every unmarried woman in Chiyang City, he was actually throwing a tantrum!