The Demon Prince

Xiao Xingyue shook his head:

"Not only am I finished, you're finished too."

Li Lingxi frowned:

"Me? At most, I'll get a scolding from my father, right?"

Xiao Xingyue said seriously:

"No, after this incident, Father will definitely take back your petty tricks."

The reasons are readily available: the Sixth Princess was careless and almost caused an accident at the Military Equipment Bureau.

"Don't touch the government offices anymore. Go back to the palace and learn what a proper woman should do."

Li Lingxi snorted:

"I do not want."

Xiao Xingyue shrugged: "Then break down the door."

Li Lingxi went to check the mechanism door:

"Breaking down the door by force requires at least seventh-grade strength. Can you handle it?"

Xiao Xingyue paused for a moment:

"It's not feasible right now. My strength is still about one realm away from being sufficient."

Li Lingxi's back was to Xiao Xingyue, so her expression was not visible.

"Is there any way to instantly increase one's strength by one realm?"

Xiao Xingyue frowned, his expression suddenly turning serious:

"have."

Li Lingxi continued to ask, "What?"

"Okay, I'll stop pretending. I've cultivated the Holy Dragon Technique," Xiao Xingyue said seriously.

Li Lingxi asked in a puzzled tone, "The Holy Dragon Technique?"

Xiao Xingyue finally revealed his true colors: "As long as we cultivate together, we can improve."

Li Lingxi turned around and stared at him:

You lied to me.

Xiao Xingyue looked completely at ease:

"If you don't believe me, go ask your eighth sister. Otherwise, guess why she comes to my palace every day? And why she beats Gou Li so fiercely?"

Li Lingxi was speechless for a moment.

She had certainly heard some rumors.

Eighth Sister's martial arts skills have improved by leaps and bounds recently, and Seventh Sister's attitude towards Xiao Xingyue is also strange.

Needless to say, Ninth Sister had already moved into the Prince Zheng's Mansion.

She used to think it was all just rumors, but now the smoke is getting thicker and thicker, and the mechanism door is locked tight.

Xiao Xingyue was still standing in front of her, not pressuring her.

They didn't force her? How can that be?

Li Lingxi suddenly laughed, but this laugh was different from her usual laugh. Normally, her laugh was mischievous and clever, like a little fox who had stolen a chicken.

At this moment, however, she possessed an added allure. The light emanating from her eyes was bright and clear, but upon closer inspection, it was dark and murky, deep and cunning, seemingly white on the outside but black on the inside.

"Xiao Xingyue, do you think I'm easy to fool?"

Xiao Xingyue blinked: "No."

"You have it." She approached step by step.

Smoke swirled around her shoulders, and her cloak slipped down halfway, revealing her snow-white neck and delicate collarbone, slightly smudged by machine oil, as well as the full, rounded curves below.

Her face was still covered in dust, but all her mischievousness had vanished; she exuded only a seductive and wicked charm.

She raised her hand and touched his chest with her fingertips:

"You better be able to break down the door, or I'll tear you apart."

Xiao Xingyue realized that something was wrong.

But the smoke got thicker, and the lights went out.

Their clothes were disassembled piece by piece until the mortise and tenon structure was fixed, the mechanism was activated, and the gears began to rub together.

Gradually, the smoke swallowed up all the sounds.

After a long while, the jammed main tooth inside the wall suddenly trembled, and the aura of the Holy Dragon Technique spread out in circles in the narrow compartment.

The pale golden true energy flowed along Xiao Xingyue's meridians, carrying the warmth of the Li royal family's national fortune, like a lamp that had been forcibly lit.

Li Lingxi leaned against the wooden frame, her black hair disheveled, her face still flushed.

Xiao Xingyue sat up, first circulating his internal energy to sense the surroundings, and the Sacred Dragon Technique advanced another step forward.

His martial arts prowess has reached the fifth rank perfection, just one step away from the sixth rank.

Li Lingxi suddenly spoke:

"confidant."

Xiao Xingyue paused, then slowly turned his head:

"What did you call me?"

Li Lingxi leaned against the wooden frame and sneered:

"A true friend."

Xiao Xingyue finally realized where the problem lay.

Li Lingxi wrapped her arms around his waist:

"After the homing pigeon returned last time, I followed it."

It landed in the town's royal palace, and I even saw Chen Manfu carrying pigeons, searching for you everywhere.

Moreover, the handwriting in your reply is just as ugly as Xiao Xingyue's.

Xiao Xingyue was completely stunned: "You knew all along?"

Li Lingxi raised her chin:

"Otherwise what?"

I also know that you can withstand Cao Bi's palm strike head-on.

Cao Bi is a seventh-rank official. If you exert all your strength, how could you not break through this mechanism door that has been in disrepair for many years?

You're not unable to break through, you just crave my body.

But who's after whom is still uncertain, you idiot.

"Holy crap." Looking at her smug expression, Xiao Xingyue finally managed to utter a single word after a long pause.

"Do high-level hunters often appear as prey?"

Li Lingxi nodded in satisfaction:

"More or less."

Xiao Xingyue held his forehead.

This woman is no innocent little rabbit; she's a fox disguised as a mechanical bird.

Given Li Lingxi's skill in disguise and voice manipulation, he should have realized that this woman was adept at disguise!

And so, she slept with him.

He stood up, activated the Sacred Dragon Technique, and a golden light flashed in his palm:

"I can force my way through now, it's a bit easier."

Li Lingxi straightened her clothes, her cheeks still flushed, but her tone had returned to its usual strangeness:

"Need not."

Xiao Xingyue was taken aback: "No need?"

Li Lingxi walked to the mechanism door, squatted down, and drew a thin blade from the side of her boot:

"Breaking down the door is too rude; the door is still usable."

Xiao Xingyue watched her dismantle the mechanism with her bare hands: "..."

He was completely shocked. He thought Li Lingxi was pretending not to know that he could force the door open and was going along with his little scheme. He didn't expect that it was premeditated. Li Lingxi was the one who really didn't want to break the door open immediately!

Li Lingxi pressed her ear against the door and listened for a few breaths, then pressed and flicked her fingers on the copper plate.

Click, a small tooth fell off.

She frowned: "That's not right."

Xiao Xingyue moved closer: "What's wrong?"

"This mechanism has been altered." Li Lingxi's voice turned cold:

"It wasn't an internal operation by the Ordnance Bureau. The person outside was just activating the mechanism. The person who actually altered the gear order used methods more like those of the Ministry of Works."

Xiao Xingyue's eyes darkened:

"Ministry of Industry?"

Li Lingxi removed the second gear:

"Yes, someone modified the workshop many years ago and tampered with it a long time ago."

Her movements became faster and faster, click, click, until the last copper tooth fell to the ground.

An echo came from inside the mechanism door. Li Lingxi raised her foot and kicked it open with a bang.

Outside, the informant, along with several officials from the Ordnance Supervision Bureau, was preparing to rush in and catch them in the act.

The men's faces were filled with tension; they had already prepared their explanations.

The crown prince entered the forbidden storehouse without permission, and the sixth princess was unable to stop him in time; the sleeping gas was merely an anti-theft device.

Everything is reasonable and logical.

But when the door opened, Xiao Xingyue stood inside, his robes neat and his demeanor composed.

Li Lingxi stood next to him. Although her hair was a little messy and her face was covered in dust, her eyes were clear and she didn't look sleepy at all. In fact, she looked more energetic, just like... she had eaten a full meal.

The officials were all dumbfounded, their faces turning deathly pale.

Li Lingxi slowly walked out, holding the dismantled core of the mechanism in her hand.

She had lost her previous nonchalance, and her tone was icy:

"Who activated the mechanism?!"