Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Murong Jie had no idea what his subordinates were thinking, but he said with a grim face, "Killing him won't get us Lu Tong's six hundred thousand elite troops—it'll only backfire on us. Besides, letting him die so easily would be letting him off too lightly."

Xiao Hei nodded. "You're right, Master. We can't let him off easy!"

Murong Jie instructed, "Tell the madam of Tianhuan Tower to come to Prince Cheng's residence tomorrow morning to demand her return."

Xiao Hei clasped his hands in acknowledgment and vanished into the night.

The next morning, Lu Yunqi was roused from his drowsiness by a commotion outside. He furrowed his brow and cracked open an eyelid to see Murong Jie standing by the window, his tall figure silhouetted against the light—so striking he could easily pass for an immortal.

Clearing his throat, Lu Yunqi asked, "What's all that noise outside? What's the ruckus about?"

Murong Jie replied, "I don't know. Sounds like a fight broke out in the front courtyard."

The moment Lu Yunqi heard that, he was wide awake. Throwing on his robe, he dashed toward the front courtyard, thinking to himself, "Too bad I don't have peanuts, melon seeds, or a soda—this gossip would be way more fun with snacks."

As soon as he entered the front courtyard, he heard the madam of Tianhuan Tower wailing, "Oh, my poor, poor Miss Lianyi! You lodged at my Tianhuan Tower, compiling a collection of poetry for the world's scholars and carving out a path for the poor and destitute. And now that Second Prince has forced himself on you and ruined your honor—how will you ever survive, dear girl?"

The Second Prince stood there with a dark scowl, snapping, "Silence! Are you trying to broadcast this to the whole world?"

But the madam showed no fear, raising her voice even louder. "Prince Cheng, you are a prince, and I am but a commoner. The people do not fight officials, and you are of royal blood! But even a clay doll has some fire in it! Everyone knows what Tianhuan Tower is—we never force our girls to take customers, nor do we traffic in people. We exist to give poor girls a way to eat! That is why Miss Xie lodged with us. Years ago, Fairy Liuyi held a ten-day banquet at our tower and wrote masterpieces like *The Boundless Canglan*. And now she—her disciple—has come to harm under my roof! Prince Cheng, our girl holds the Brocade and Jade Writ! Even if we took this before His Majesty, she would have justice on her side! And you, Prince Cheng, have violated all propriety by forcing yourself on her! Today, I demand justice!"

At that moment, Xie Lianyi emerged from the courtyard, delicate as a willow in the breeze, her eyes red from crying. She stepped forward to help the madam up. "Mother Wu, please get up!"

But the madam only wept harder, sobbing, "I've let Fairy Liuyi down! To let her only disciple suffer such indignity!"

As the madam wailed, Prince Cheng stepped toward Xie Lianyi and said, "Miss Xie, I lost control of myself last night. I'll take responsibility and make you my principal consort! Would you accept?"

Before Xie Lianyi could answer, a voice cut through: "She doesn't want to!"

The crowd parted, and a figure stepped forward—it was the eldest prince, Murong Feng.

He looked at Xie Lianyi with a pained expression, then threw a right hook that snapped Murong Pei's head to the side.

Murong Pei stared in shock. "Elder Brother, why did you hit me?"

Before he could finish, Murong Feng threw another punch, then another, until Murong Pei's face was black and blue.

The attendants finally snapped out of it and pulled the two apart. Murong Feng pointed at Murong Pei and roared, "Lianyi and I have long been in love and pledged ourselves to each other! You animal! You dare violate your own future sister-in-law? I don't have a brother like you!"

Murong Pei was dumbfounded. "Elder Brother, what are you talking about? Don't you already have a wife? When did you ever promise yourself to Miss Xie?"

Murong Feng replied, "I met her six months ago and brought her to the capital to stay. She took the lead in compiling the poetry collection for the world's scholars, following in her master Fairy Liuyi's footsteps by lodging at Tianhuan Tower. And you—you... you're worse than an animal!"

Then another voice chimed in: "Wh-what? Second Brother, you... you did that to Miss Xie? I... I went to Father this morning and obtained an imperial decree—he's betrothed Miss Xie to me! When she saved me last night, she agreed to be with me. You... you... how can you compete with me over Miss Xie?"

Xie Lianyi looked from one to the other, and after a long pause said, "Last night I just happened to pass by and saved the Third Prince—there's nothing between us. I do have feelings for the eldest prince, but I never promised myself to him. I just want to fulfill my master's last wish and compile the people's poetry collection. As for Prince Cheng, I once respected you for writing works like *The Record of Heaven's Evolution*. I danced for you and wished you a happy birthday. But I never expected you to take advantage of me like that. I appreciate the three princes' kindness, but..."

She gave them a disappointed look, then turned and got into the madam's carriage without looking back.

All that was left were the three lovesick Murong brothers, fighting on the spot.

After enjoying the show, Lu Yunqi got into his carriage, clutching his stomach from laughing. "Great, great—what a show! Hahaha! Look at your brothers—what a mess! But that Miss Xie is something else, wrapping all three brothers around her finger. I bet those three brothers of yours will never be as tight as they used to be!"

Sometimes brothers stick together because their interests align.

When interests clash, cracks appear. Xie Lianyi was just the start—the rift among the three brothers is only going to grow.

Murong Jie smirked to himself, thinking, *Everything the Murong family owes me, I'll take back one by one. And what you've done to me, I'll repay tenfold!*

Suddenly, Lu Yunqi grabbed him and kissed him, then kissed him again. As he went for a third, Murong Jie frowned and dodged, but Lu Yunqi angrily pulled him back by the neck. "What are you dodging for? Let your husband kiss you properly. Honestly, why can't you learn from your three brothers? You're nineteen now—all three of them have concubines and bed warmers. I've been teaching you for days, and you still haven't learned? Tsk, forget it. Come to my room tonight, and I'll teach you properly."

He hoped a few more rounds would make his belly show.

Murong Jie's face darkened, but Lu Yunqi pinched his firm cheek and said, "Don't give me that look like I've wronged you—even though I did force you. But be honest: didn't you like it? Men are all the same. If it went in, it means you're not as cold as you act. Right?"

With that, he ripped open Murong Jie's collar and bit his collarbone hard.

Murong Jie frowned but didn't push him away. Instead, he closed his eyes, and a hint of pleasure crossed his face.

Just then, Lu Yunqi looked up and caught it—but it vanished in an instant, so fast he thought he'd imagined it.

Only after leaving a perfect bite mark on his collarbone did Lu Yunqi let go, looking very satisfied. "There. That's my mark on you. You're mine for life, and you're not allowed to have anything to do with anyone else. Got it?"

Murong Jie was playing dumb again, so Lu Yunqi slapped him. "Got it?"

"Fine." A hoarse voice answered, so low Lu Yunqi thought he'd heard wrong.

He frowned at Murong Jie, thinking, *You really can take a lot, can't you?*

No wonder you end up succeeding in your rebellion. When it comes to patience, you're an all-rounder.

Fine, fine. Since you can take it, I won't go easy on you. Tonight, I'll really push your limits.

But he never got the chance. The emperor suddenly called Murong Jie back to the palace. The dog emperor had never shown any interest in this son, so his sudden summons was suspicious—who knew what he was plotting.

Not that it mattered. The feud between him and the Murong family would eventually blow up—it was only a matter of time.

Even if Murong Jie suffered some pain now, he'd repay it all later.

It had been two days since Lu Yunqi last went to Wanping Wasteland. The moment he got back to his room, he eagerly opened the cabinet and stepped through the Anywhere Door.

The moment he entered, the system's notifications flooded in: "Congrats, host, congrats, host, con-con-con-congrats, host..."

The system glitched for a moment before recovering. He clicked "confirm" repeatedly, and when he finally checked his total points, he'd gained a full two hundred—bringing him to two hundred twenty points.

The surprise was too much. It seemed the NPCs had been busy while he was away!

He checked the wooden cabin—it was already done. No wonder he'd earned so many points.

The builder was idly chatting with the carpenter, and when he saw Lu Yunqi log in, he waved until Lu Yunqi snapped out of it, then walked over and said, "Master, my work is done for now. Is there anything else you need?"

Lu Yunqi said, "Hold on, let me see what tasks there are."

As soon as he logged in, he found the system had upgraded—tasks had moved to a task hall with many yellow scrolls, all available to accept.

He could also accept tasks from the task bar, which conveniently sorted them from easy to hard.

Lu Yunqi clicked on some of the harder tasks below and found that just buying a Level 5 NPC cost one hundred fifty points.

But then he noticed a later task: hire a Level 5 technician to build a generator.

WTF???

Unbelievably, we can have a generator this soon?

Ahhh, that's absolutely fantastic!

He quickly clicked on the top quest, eager to finish quests fast—he wanted electricity, light, and legend!

==========Author's Note:==========

Masochistic top, just, yeah...

Update, update, please leave comments and likes!