203: Chapter 203: More Money Required!

In the capital, in a secluded small courtyard in the south of the city.

A hunchbacked traveling merchant slipped into the main room and locked the door behind him.

He did not light a lamp, blending entirely into the darkness.

Then, he raised his right hand, and a faint glimmer of True Qi emanated from between his fingers.

The True Qi flowed along his fingertips like a tiny snake, gently pressing against the skin behind his ear.

A very faint peeling sound rang out.

The traveling merchant's facial muscles twitched slightly, and with force from his fingertips, he slowly peeled a thin, cicada-wing-like, translucent mask from his face.

The mask fell off, revealing the face of a middle-aged man.

He walked to the water basin, scooped up cold well water, and washed his face.

Then, he came to a hidden secret room inside the small courtyard.

The middle-aged man untied a pitch-black Mysterious Iron Token from his waist.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed the token precisely into a groove on the stone wall.

Immediately, the stone wall parted from both sides, revealing a jade wall.

A moment later, light swirled on the jade wall, and a blurry figure wearing a bright yellow python robe slowly appeared on the jade wall.

The middle-aged man dared not show the slightest negligence; he immediately knelt on both knees, pressed his forehead heavily against the cold ground, and bowed respectfully.

"This subordinate greets the Prince, wishing the Prince an Immortal lifespan without bounds."

"Rise."

A majestic voice came from the jade wall.

"How did the matter go? Was that brat from the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion truly held in check by that demoness from the White Lotus Sect?"

The middle-aged man slowly straightened his body, but kept his head lowered, answering respectfully:

"Reporting to the Prince, this subordinate tested him twice last night and today; the matter is undoubtedly true.

The Child Gu of the Heart-Devouring Life-Sharing Gu inside Chen Shanzhi's body has begun to devour his heart meridians.

This subordinate used the spirit-severing pill as bait; after he took it yesterday, the medicinal effect was immediate.

When I saw him again today, that playboy was already a frightened bird; in order to survive, he complied with every one of our demands."

"Hahaha! Good! Excellent!"

A burst of extremely delighted laughter came from the blurry shadow of the Prince of Qi within the jade wall.

"Previously, I secretly set a trap to have Tang Liu face Chen Shanzhi at the Academy's opening martial arts competition.

I originally intended to use Tang Liu's hand to smash Chen Shanzhi to death with one punch in front of everyone.

Once Chen Shanzhi died, that old brute, Marquis of Zhenguo Chen Zhan, would surely go completely mad upon learning at the border that his only grandson had been murdered.

He might even lead his troops directly back to the capital to demand an explanation, thereby stirring the stagnant water of this capital into a complete mess.

By then, the royal family would surely bear the brunt, and I could sit securely on the mountain to watch the tigers fight, then naturally clean up the aftermath."

Speaking of this, the Prince of Qi gave a disdainful snort:

"Who would have thought that Tang Liu was such a useless piece of trash!

Having Cultivated a Cultivation Technique like the Divine Turtle Art, he actually lost on the ring to a playboy who indulges in wine and women all day long."

When the news of Tang Liu's defeat came back, the Prince of Qi was indeed furious for a long time; if not for the fact that Tang Liu still had some utility, he would have killed him long ago.

"However... it seems it doesn't matter now."

The Prince of Qi waved his long sleeve, a hint of playfulness in his tone:

"A dead heir can only be used to enrage the Marquis of Zhenguo.

But a Marquis of Zhenguo's heir whose life and death are in my hands is far more useful for my next grand plan than a cold corpse!"

The middle-aged man bent his waist and echoed: "The Prince is brilliant, truly a Saint.

In order to survive, Chen Shanzhi is now desperate to get the antidote to completely dispel the Child Gu.

He has already agreed to fully cooperate with our actions inside the Four Seas Academy Secret Realm once it opens, secretly sabotaging Jiang Yingrao's deployment."

"Mm, the matter of the Secret Realm must not fail."

The Prince of Qi nodded slightly: "According to the news from the Grand Elder and the others, that White Lotus Sect leader Sect Leader Gu Manzi has, for over a decade, disregarded all objections to bet everything on the Four Seas Academy.

In this fully opened Secret Realm, they have likely found something of an Immortal.

When the time comes, I will directly play the role of the oriole behind the mantis; this item of the Immortal will be mine."

After the Prince of Qi finished rejoicing, the middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, his expression becoming grave, and he bowed again:

"Prince... regarding the incident at Shi Village, the Prime Minister's side is very angry now."

Hearing the words Shi Village, the figure of the Prince of Qi in the jade wall visibly paused.

"Is that old thing Prime Minister Ouyang Mingyuan lecturing me?" the Prince of Qi sneered.

"The Prime Minister's meaning is that he previously helped me agree to block the Jiantian Division's eyes and ears outside the city.

But we didn't tell him that the people inside Shi Village were actually from the God-Invoking Sect."

Cold sweat faintly appeared on the middle-aged man's forehead, and he said in a low voice:

"Now, Commander Fu Qingyun of the Jiantian Division has already begun to suspect some of the Prime Minister's informants and forces in the imperial court because of this matter.

Most importantly, the Prime Minister's daughter, Ouyang Wanqing, was also at Shi Village at the time.

She was almost killed by the awakened Evil Spirit and has been in a coma for over twenty days."

"The Prime Minister said that if we cannot give him a reasonable explanation, then the subsequent cooperation will end here."

"Bang!"

The blurry figure on the jade wall suddenly flicked his sleeve, emitting a dull sound like thunder.

"Give an explanation? That Prime Minister Ouyang Mingyuan has such great airs!"

The Prince of Qi snorted coldly: "What reasonable explanation?"

"The Prime Minister said, you need to add more money!"

The Prince of Qi immediately understood; being targeted by Commander Fu Qingyun, his own daughter almost losing her life—these were nothing but bargaining chips to raise the price.

The Prince of Qi's tone was icy: "Old thing, his appetite is getting bigger and bigger.

Back then, I secretly recruited him only because I valued that indelible rebellious bone in his nature.

I wanted to let his Prime Minister's Mansion serve as a vanguard in the court to fight the royal family like dogs."

"Who would have thought that this old thing has now reached a point in the court where he can reach the heavens, with power concentrated in his own hands!

More than half of the court officials have become lackeys of his Prime Minister's Mansion!"

But what puzzled the Prince of Qi even more was not the Prime Minister, but Jiang Yin, who sat on the Dragon throne.

"That Jiang Yin... is truly mad now."

The Prince of Qi whispered, seemingly sighing, yet also disdainful:

"Prime Minister Ouyang Mingyuan is forming cliques for personal gain and controlling the government in the court, yet not only does Jiang Yin not think about how to weaken or suppress him, he actually, not long ago, granted the marriage of Prime Minister Ouyang Mingyuan's only daughter, Ouyang Wanqing, to the First Prince."

"Let a minister who holds half the court's power and has wolfish ambitions become the First Prince's father-in-law?

This Jiang Yin is intending to hand over the entire Great Jiang empire on a silver platter."

Thinking of this, the Prince of Qi couldn't help but sigh:

"Jiang Yin, oh Jiang Yin... my good royal brother, how wise and martial you were before the late Emperor back then.

I never thought that you would have fallen to such a muddled and incompetent state now."

As the words fell, the temperature in the stone room seemed to drop to the freezing point in an instant.