The Demon Prince

Qin Zhenyue laughed in anger:

What if she loses?

"I publicly promised to annul the engagement for her, so that she would no longer be bound by marriage."

Qin Zhenyue's stern face turned to surprise. He gave Xiao Xingyue a deep look, his tiger-like eyes softened, and he nodded. "Alright, I'll take the gamble! At worst, I'll step in to save him if necessary."

On the arena, Pan Yun raised his sword and addressed the crowd around him:

"Please bear witness, everyone. I, Pan Yungong, am simply dissatisfied with Xiao Xingyue's selection of military officers!"

I never thought I would actually fight the Eighth Princess.

"Eighth Princess, weapons have no eyes. If you admit defeat now and hand over your military officer position to me, it's not too late."

Li Shunhua gave him a disdainful look. She remembered the contents of Xiao Xingyue's note clearly, which gave her even more confidence.

"You talk too much nonsense."

"Then I'll have to offend you!" Pan Yungong's eyes flashed with ruthlessness. He drew his sword and charged out. With the first slash, the wind from the blade stirred up dust.

Li Shunhua did not take the hit head-on; instead, she touched the ground with the butt of her spear and took a half-step back.

Pan Yungong immediately gave chase, wanting to defeat Li Shunhua and Xiao Xingyue's choice as quickly as possible!

However, during the third move, Li Shunhua suddenly closed in and activated the second level of the Sacred Dragon Technique.

Pan Yungong's hidden true energy suddenly jolted, as if someone had punched him in the chest from the inside. His energy flow was cut off, and his sword momentum also broke.

In an instant, his legs went weak!

Li Shunhua's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and she swept her spear horizontally.

Pan Yun's shoulder armor shattered, and he staggered backward, his face filled with panic.

"What did you do?"

Li Shunhua did not answer, but pressed her advantage and fired a shot in one fell swoop!

"This shot is a punishment on behalf of those veterans for your arrogance!"

Pan Yungong was struck on the head with a club, his mind buzzing and his internal energy in disarray. As he looked at Li Shunhua making her move, he almost saw an old acquaintance. "Wait! Wait a minute!"

But Li Shunhua took advantage of his illness to kill him, and thrust out with her spear again. The spear moved like a dragon, and it was Qin Zhenyue's Demon Subduing Spear Technique!

The audience watched in shock.

"This! Wasn't Pan Yungong supposed to be a top expert among the younger generation? Is this all?"

"The Eighth Princess is clearly stronger! This Eighth Princess truly lives up to her reputation as General Qin's granddaughter and Consort Qin's daughter! She's a woman who rivals any man!"

"That's right, back then, Consort Qin was so dashing and heroic, she was absolutely captivating!"

On stage!

"This shot is my punishment for disrespecting the Ninth Prince!"

The long spear with its red tassel pierced directly into Pan Yungong's shoulder!

Just as Pan Yungong was completely dumbfounded, the third shot swept in, "This shot is buy two get one free!"

In Pan Yungong's eyes, Li Shunhua's figure completely overlapped with Xiao Xingyue's!

boom--

The final shot hit him in both knees, and Pan Yungong knelt down!

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

Qin Zhenyue stared wide-eyed until Pan Yungong fainted and was carried away by the Ministry of War.

Qin Zhenyue burst into laughter:

"Good, good, as expected of my granddaughter."

Xiao Xingyue held out his hand: "One million taels."

Qin Zhenyue's laughter abruptly stopped. His eyes darted around, and he transformed from a tiger into a cunning old fox, looking at Xiao Xingyue:

"What? One million taels?"

"A bet."

"When did I agree to that?"

Xiao Xingyue was shocked:

"Old Deng! You're going to renege on your debt?"

Qin Zhenyue pretended not to hear and left anyway, which angered Xiao Xingyue, who glared at Li Shunhua a few times. "Fine, fine, from now on, your granddaughter will pay for your grandfather's debts!"

……

When Pan Yungong was carried back to the Ministry of War, he was still unconscious.

Cao Bi's face turned ashen when he saw his apprentice's broken bones and severed hand.

"Useless! Can't even handle the Eighth Princess!"

He hadn't expected Pan Yungong to lose, and to lose so badly. How could he explain this to the lamplighter?

Just then, a servant came to the Ministry of Rites' residence and presented a note.

Cao Bi unfolded the scroll, glanced at it, and the anger in his eyes gradually subsided.

The paper contained only eight words: "Hold your troops still; Your Majesty has a plan."

Cao Bi's breathing quickened slightly, and he crumpled the note into pieces.

"Fine, then I'll bear with it for now. Men, take this useless thing away and feed it to the dogs!"

……

at night.

The inner courtyard of the Ministry of Rites' residence.

Li Lingxi sat in Lu Chengzhang's study, wearing an official robe, but her whole body was trembling, as if she were wearing a damp, cold human skin.

Her palms were sweaty as she pretended to read, secretly glancing at Xiao Xingyue:

"Xiao Xingyue, are they really coming tonight?"

Xiao Xingyue stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders, massaging them gently.

Li Lingxi gradually relaxed a bit, feeling Xiao Xingyue's hands becoming somewhat restless, and whispered:

"Don't touch me like that!"

"I'm just helping you relax," Xiao Xingyue said seriously.

"If you keep shaking like that, you'll shake Lu Chengzhang to pieces before he even arrives."

Li Lingxi released her grip on Xiao Xingyue's hand and asked curiously, "Why does it have to be tonight?"

Xiao Xingyue looked out the window:

"The Gou Li delegation will arrive in the capital tomorrow. People usually make arrangements in advance before doing bad things. Tonight, they are very likely to meet with you to confirm the plan."

"What if they don't come?"

Just as Li Lingxi asked in a low voice, there was a knock on the door—three short knocks followed by one long one.

Li Lingxi's back straightened instantly, like a kitten about to pant.

Xiao Xingyue leaned down and whispered in her ear, giving her a sense of security:

"Don't be afraid."

A moment later, a middle-aged man dressed in ordinary merchant clothes opened the door and walked in. His face was weathered, and his eyes were always scanning people with a scrutinizing look.

"Gou Li and Pu Taihen pay their respects to Lord Lu."

He bowed to Li Lingxi, then gave her a sneer:

"Lord Lu, it's cold in the prison. Have you been sleeping well these past few days?"

Li Lingxi's heart tightened; this was a test.

Xiao Xingyue stood behind the screen and tapped the wooden lattice with his fingertip.

Li Lingxi steadied her voice:

"A person who cannot sleep soundly should not be an official like me."

Park Tae-hyun narrowed his eyes:

"The lord said last time that if the lamp in the examination hall goes out, then someone else should take over the lamp-lighting."

Are the lights off now?

Li Lingxi's mind went blank. What kind of lamp? She had never heard of it.

Xiao Xingyue tapped again, signaling Li Lingxi not to follow Park Tae-hen's lead.

Li Lingxi gazed intently:

"If something were to truly happen to me, would you still be standing here?"

Park Tae-hun remained silent for a moment, his eyes filled with doubt: "My lord, please forgive me, I was just being cautious."

As soon as he finished speaking, Park Tae-hun got straight to the point:

To make a long story short...

Why was Pan Yungong, the appointed military officer, suppressed by Xiao Xingyue? And today he was even crippled by the Eighth Princess.

Why was Princess Li Shunhua chosen as the military officer?

Lord Lu.

His voice was somewhat somber:

"Have you and Lord Cao already lost control of the situation?"

One question after another nearly threw Li Lingxi into a frenzy, but Xiao Xingyue's presence and subtle reminders calmed her down, reminding her of the prepared lines she had written.

She lowered her eyes slightly, mimicking Lu Chengzhang's gentle demeanor:

"Cao Bi was too hasty in promoting Pan Yungong, which gave Xiao Xingyue a weakness. Once that weakness was identified, Pan Yungong was no longer the best choice."

Park Tae-han stared at her:

"The Eighth Princess is Qin Zhenyue's granddaughter. Would she be easier to manipulate than Pan Yungong?"