The Attack of the Wastrel

In the Sangna Kingdom’s Royal Palace, the king sat on the ground with a confused look on his face. He did not understand what had happened.

Two days ago, he had wanted to call back the troops on the eastern front. All of a sudden, the troops from the Empire turned against them. Unexpectedly, the troops fainted out of no reason and troops who wore the armor from Minglan Kingdom and Muji Kingdom accused the Sangna Kingdom’s troops of being traitors. In just one day, they turned from becoming victors to becoming criminals. The territory that the Empire controlled returned to the Alliance. All of these made the king think that he was living in a dream.

“Why…” The king of Sangna Kingdom struggled to find words as he questioned ‘Bian Cheng’. ‘Bian Cheng’ had betrayed the Empire, was he not scared of the Empire turning back and attacking him?

Rong Yuan, who was disguised as Bian Cheng, glanced at the king and casually replied, “I would be glad.”

This only made the king more confused and he took in a sharp breath of air. Rong Yuan added, “I forgot to mention that I have appointed you as the man who will converse with the Empire. Now that the Empire knows that you have turned against them and helped the Alliance wipe out a hundred thousand of their men in addition to holding their Crown Prince hostage, you are in a dangerous position. Before the men you sent over to the western front reach there, they might be eliminated by the Empire. Forty thousand troops will be massacred by the Empire without mercy.”

“Pst!” Without warning, red blood shot out of the king’s mouth and he glared at Rong Yuan, “Bain Cheng, you…you deserve death!”

“Hm, I have to agree with that.” Rong Yuan laughed and agreed with the king jokingly. The real Bian Cheng was thrown aside to Lin En after he was used by Rong Yuan… his death had indeed been unpleasant.

Rong Yuan took pleasure at staring at the king’s sullen expression before he took out a Soul Controlling Pearl and placed it in the king’s mouth.

He wanted to end the king’s life quickly, but the Sangna Kingdom was a large country after all. If the king passed away at this moment, it would create an upheaval in the kingdom. The Alliance absolutely did not have the time and resources to pacify the population of the kingdom. Hence, Rong Yuan decided to control the king and decide on his subsequent plans later.

After he took control of the king of the Sangna Kingdom, Rong Yuan also took control over the other important ministers of the kingdom. He also appointed men from the Royal School to take over the positions of ministers whom he could not control. This all happened so quickly that the Demigods of Sangna Kingdom did not even have time to react. They were all taken care of by the Demigods of the Alliance.

“Have you two really decided?” Rong Huachang looked at his juniors with a worried look.

“Yes, we have decided on it.” Gu Lingzhi nodded her head with determination. “Although the Alliance has the upper hand now, who knows what other tricks North Qiu Kingdom has? We can only have a chance if we infiltrate the ranks of the North Qiu Kingdom.”

“But it does not have to be you two.” Rong Huachang tried in vain to persuade the two. Rong Yuan only smiled and shook his head, “Do you not trust us?”

“Of course I do but this is the Empire we are talking about. What if your identities are discovered…” Rong Huachang did not dare to finish her sentence.

“Don’t worry. Since we have decided on this, we are confident that we can escape if things go wrong. Just wait for good news with the Alliance.” Gu Lingzhi assured.

Rong Huachang knew that there was nothing she could do to dissuade the two but she only left worriedly in the afternoon.

Not long later, a bright column of light illuminated the sky from the house where the two were at. Anyone who attended the wedding would recognize this golden light as the same ray of light that Pan Wen used to escape from the wedding.

The sky was lit for ten seconds before it drew in and disappeared in a flash.

Observers of the light stared worriedly into the distance, everyone was fearful for the two people.

“Would everything really be alright?” Ye Fei frowned and asked. If it was not for the fact that the two were stubborn on their decision, she would have wanted to bind them up to prevent them from going. They made everyone worried for them by infiltrating the army camp of the Empire.

“I believe that the ones who should be worried are the men from the Empire.” Nie Sang’s opinion differed from Ye Fei. “His Highness would not let Lingzhi get hurt.”

That was true…

This reminder set most people at ease slightly but they knew that the two people were still in a highly risky position.

The Royal Palace of North Qiu Kingdom.

Guards in armor fiercely stood their ground in the area. All of a sudden, a ray of blinding golden light lit up the sky, two blurry figures were hidden in the light.

The guards fell into a moment of panic at the sudden light that appeared and they rushed towards it with weapons held in an attacking stance. The leader of the guards shouted, “Who is it? Who dares to trespass the North Qiu’s Royal Palace?”

“It’s me.” A familiar voice echoed from the light.

…Wasn’t that the Crown Prince, Pan Wen’s voice? 

The group of guards jumped in surprise. A short while later, the familiar figure of the Crown Prince emerged from the golden light. Unlike the typical royal robes he wore, the Prince appeared in a pitiful state as his clothes were dishevelled and his hair unkempt. Blood stained his clothes in all areas and the moment he appeared from the golden light, his eyes rolled over and he fainted to the ground.

Everyone was stunned by what they saw before the desperately hurried towards the prince to pick him up and transfer him to the library. A messenger was also sent to report the events to the library.

No one had expected that Pan Wen would return right when the king and Pan Liwen decided to give up on him! How much was Pan Wen worth in their eyes then? After all, Pan Wen seemed to have caused the fall of the Empire by his sole selfish actions. It was his grave mistake to fall for a woman’s tricks.

Pan Wen had teleported close to the Royal Library and the group reached the library within fifteen minutes. The moment Pan Yu learned of Pan Wen’s return, a mixture of emotions filled his face and he sat sternly on the main seat. He instructed the men to place Pan Wen on a sofa on one side of the hall before dismissing them.

Gu Lingzhi suddenly found herself like a prey being hunted. As she lay motionless on the sofa, it seemed like a thousand eyes were staring and piercing through her soul.

Time ticked by slowly, and Gu Lingzhi frowned and rubbed her head as she slowly sat up. Blinking and refocusing her gaze, she deliberately squinted her eyes as she took a look at her surroundings. The moment her eyes landed on Pan Yu, she jumped to a start and stammered, “Father…”

Her acting was so real and flawless at that point, and her voice filled with emotions.

At Pan Wen’s voice, Pan Yu stopped himself from reprimanding him. His heart softened and he nodded his head, “It’s alright. You are back and that is enough.” Pan Yu was thankful that he did not have to hand the title of the king down to the rascal, Pan Yue.

“Father…” From Pan Yu’s reaction, Gu Lingzhi immediately knew that Pan Yu cared for his son. She mentally patted herself on the back for making the decision to go ahead with the plan. Pretending as though she was guilt-ridden, Gu Lingzhi bowed her head down in shame and stuttered, “Father, I ruined everything. Do you blame me?”

“Why-”

“Why would he not?!” Before Pan Yu could console Pan Wen, Pan Liwen’s cold snap cut the air and he glared at Pan Wen with hateful eyes.

If not for the playfulness of Pan Wen, he would not have fallen for the tricks of the enemy and caused the loss of the Empire. A hundred thousand men were sacrificed because of Pan Wen’s actions, yet the North Qiu Kingdom would be ruled by this man in the future. Hence, Pan Liwen had to confirm that the Pan Wen in front of him was not an infiltrator sent by the Alliance.

As he thought of this thought, Pan Liwen coldly shouted, “The guards reported that you arrived by a Teleportation Spell? How did you escape from the Alliance?”

At the same time, Pan Liwen carefully observed Pan Wen’s facial expression and tried to find any hint of a crack in “Pan Wen”’s pretence.

However, it was Gu Lingzhi he was facing, a masterful actress who acted countless times in her life. Although people in the Royal Library were surprised, they regained their composure quickly. Fear and respect filled Gu Lingzhi’s eyes immediately as she carefully turned towards Pan Wen, “I- I felt that something was wrong back then and I hid the Teleportation Tablet on me. They took away my Storage Ring and other items but they did not know that I hid the Teleportation Tablet in my mouth. After that, I used the Teleportation Tablet while the guards were sleeping and teleported back to the palace.”

Gu Lingzhi had thought of this story beforehand and she even considered the tone and expressions she would use. There was no way for Pan Liwen to discover anything wrong with her lie.

In fact, Pan Liwen was shocked by Pan Wen’s reply. Regardless of figure, appearance, aura, emotions and expressions, ‘Pan Wen’ must be the correct person. Instantly, his expression changed from an interrogatory stance to a cold demeanour as he roared, “You have the cheek to return!”

Before Gu Lingzhi could react, she felt her body go limp and she collapsed onto the floor and kneeled before Pan Liwen.

“As the Crown Prince of North Qiu Kingdom, you fell for the petty tricks of the enemy. You sacrificed the entire army because of your lust for a woman. Is this what your father taught you?”