96: A dandy boy or a scoundrel?

First Princes Residence.

"The Sixth Prince truly lives up to his name. He quietly amassed so many powerful individuals. However, this time he suffered a great blow, and I'll be watching to see what he does next."

Yan Junlin sipped a glass of fine wine, his mood exceptionally good.

He had, of course, participated in tonight's events, sending out a Dao Repository Realm expert.

He hadn't expected Yan Wugou to have four Dao Repository Realm experts and over a dozen Tuojiang Realm experts by his side; it was an incredibly formidable lineup.

Fortunately, all those individuals were eliminated, and even the mysterious soul entity within them was taken by that Mysterious Person.

A soul entity capable of unleashing Dragon Transformation Realm aura—who wouldn't be wary?

If that soul entity hadn't been taken by the Mysterious Person, which of them would have been a match for Yan Wugou?

Now that the soul entity had been taken, Yan Wugou had lost a massive reliance, allowing them to breathe a slight sigh of relief.

"It's just, I wonder what the true origin of that Mysterious Person is."

Yan Junlin pondered, a thoughtful expression on his face.

If such a powerful being could be swayed, how wonderful that would be.

He had a vague suspicion about tonight's events: the Mysterious Person's target might not have been Yan Wugou, but rather the soul entity within Yan Wugou.

Such a being should not belong to any of their factions. This was good; otherwise, having such an enemy would be incredibly troublesome.

"Your Highness, what should we do next?"

Several guards were nearby, one of whom respectfully inquired.

Yan Junlin's smile deepened: "Yan Wugou is injured. Let's seize this opportunity to thoroughly eliminate some of his pawns. Not a single one of the factions we previously investigated should be left!"

"Understood! This subordinate will go at once."

The guard bowed and quickly departed.

Yan Junlin took a sip of wine, a pensive look on his face: "The Demon Race didn't show up tonight, and Yan Wugou, with such a formidable lineup, still shouldn't be underestimated!"

"Your Highness, the Eastern Zhou envoy delegation is arriving in Tianqi tomorrow, seemingly intending to spar with Great Xia. The Second Princess of Eastern Zhou is also among them. If we can seize this opportunity and gain Eastern Zhou's support..."

A middle-aged guard spoke up.

Yan Junlin smiled indifferently: "We'll see then. Have you invited the person I asked you to?"

"Yes, we have! He has agreed to attend the palace banquet tomorrow."

The middle-aged guard said respectfully.

"Excellent!"

Yan Junlin nodded with a smile.

When the Eastern Zhou envoy delegation arrived in Tianqi, there would undoubtedly be a series of contests. Their several princes and princesses would also compete, and then it would be seen who was superior.

"I heard Xie Weilou composed a masterpiece in White Jade Capital tonight. Does Your Highness not intend to invite him along?"

The middle-aged guard hesitated, asking in confusion.

Yan Junlin shook his head: "White Jade Capital is Yan Ruyu's territory. If Xie Weilou catches her eye and she invites him, that would naturally be for the best."

He sighed: "However, I heard that poem was plagiarized by Xie Weilou... In that case, Yan Ruyu might not invite him. That fellow is unreliable; we cannot invite him for this matter, otherwise, unpleasant things might happen."

"I see."

The guard showed a look of understanding.

If that scoundrel Xie Weilou were to attend the palace banquet, he indeed might cause some trouble.

——

The next day, at noon.

Xie Weilou woke up, stretched, and sighed: "I slept too soundly, now I'm going to be late... Oh well, Tianquan Division only pays so little each month, so being late is fine!"

He pushed open the window. The weather was good today, with a sun hanging in the sky.

Light shone down, covering the ground in silver, and the plum blossoms in the courtyard had not yet fallen, emitting a faint fragrance.

A moment later.

Lihua came in with hot water: "Young Master, it's time to wash up!"

Seeing Xie Weilou sleeping soundly earlier, she hadn't woken him.

"Mm!"

Xie Weilou stepped forward and quickly washed up.

Then he walked out of the pavilion.

Today, the Zhenxi Marquis Manor felt indescribably oppressive. Many guards looked solemn, not uttering a word.

Wu Shang had died, and Wu Ji had also died. At this critical juncture, no one dared to invite trouble.

Xie Cangxuan was not in the Zhenxi Marquis Manor; he had already gone to the imperial palace to attend an important banquet. Compared to his sons' funerals and careers, he preferred his career!

Xie Weilou glanced at the guards and smiled faintly: "Why so serious? The weather is good today, we should be laughing loudly."

"......"

The guards' hearts tightened, and they dared not say more.

"Hahaha! How boring."

Xie Weilou laughed loudly and then left the Zhenxi Marquis Manor.

——

On the street.

Xie Weilou walked leisurely forward, hands clasped behind his back.

"Move aside quickly!"

Just then, a procession guarding a carriage approached, and the common people on both sides quickly made way.

Xie Weilou glanced at it and was about to move aside.

"Xie Weilou!"

Inside the carriage, a voice sounded, and the army and carriage stopped.

"......"

Xie Weilou froze for a second, looking towards the carriage.

The curtain was lifted.

Yan Ruyi's delicate face appeared.

"Greetings, Princess."

Xie Weilou bowed lazily.

Yan Ruyi's eyes were bright, and her smile was sly: "Xie Weilou, how about accompanying Princess to a palace banquet?"

"Palace banquet?"

Xie Weilou looked at Yan Ruyi in surprise.

Yan Ruyi stated directly: "The Eastern Zhou envoy delegation is arriving in Tianqi today, and my Imperial Father is hosting a banquet. Many young talents have been invited."

Xie Weilou's expression darkened: "That hurt! This Young Master just heard about this, and I haven't been invited? Am I not a young talent?"

Yan Ruyi's smile deepened: "Yes! You are not a young talent. You are just a good-for-nothing scoundrel, but Princess is in a good mood and specially invites you to come along."

"No interest! This Young Master still has to report for duty! If I'm absent today, who knows how much silver will be deducted."

Xie Weilou waved his hand.

Yan Ruyi extended a finger: "Isn't it just a bit of silver? Princess has no shortage of silver. I'll offer five hundred taels of silver to invite you to the palace banquet, how about it?"

"Heh heh!"

Xie Weilou's face was full of disdain: "Five hundred taels to buy me for a day? Do you think This Young Master lacks money?"

"Then one thousand taels!"

Yan Ruyi extended a finger.

There would certainly be a sparring session today, possibly involving both martial arts and literature. Yan Ruyu and others had all found suitable people.

She had naturally found some people too, but none of them satisfied her. Now she had no one useful by her side, and since she was bored anyway, meeting Xie Weilou, she might as well invite him along. Perhaps there would be an unexpected surprise.

Xie Weilou had previously produced several excellent works, especially the one in White Jade Capital last night, which was even more astonishing.

However, these all seemed to be plagiarized by Xie Weilou.

In her opinion, being able to plagiarize was a skill. She hoped this guy could plagiarize a few more when the time came.

"Heh heh! Who is Xie Weilou? How can I bend my back for five pecks of rice? No, I'm too lazy to go!"

Xie Weilou said indifferently.

Yan Ruyi frowned slightly: "Then what are your conditions?"

Xie Weilou rubbed his hands and said: "Recently, Lin Qinghuang wants to learn Restriction, and I want to find a book on this subject for her, to see if I can win her a smile..."

"Books on Restriction? That's so simple! Princess knows a Restriction master. If you accompany me to the palace banquet, after it's done, Princess will have that master give you a few more books."

Yan Ruyi laughed, realizing she had thought this guy had some special request.

Isn't it just taking some old books to win a beauty's smile? How simple!

After hearing this, Xie Weilou said with a complex expression: "Bowing and scraping to the powerful, prevents me from feeling joy!"

After speaking, he walked directly towards Yan Ruyi's carriage, swaggering into it: "Princess, I'm coming in!"

"......"

Yan Ruyi's mouth twitched. What a hypocritical man!

Also, what kind of suggestive words were those?