Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After running through a round of tasks, the sun was already dipping low. Lu Yunqi couldn't do another task if his life depended on it. Dragging his weary ass, he stepped through the Anywhere Door and back into his room.

It had to be said, this instant-return-to-base skill was really convenient.

The second he got back, he flopped onto the couch like a dead fish, too wiped to even hear Liu Bao come in.

He didn't snap out of it until Liu Bao shook his arm. He sat up, groggy, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Liu Bao said, all smarmy and eager, "Young Master, everything's all set for you. His Highness the Sixth Prince has already bathed and is waiting for you to do the honors."

Lu Yunqi gave a nasty little laugh. "Put the word out that the Sixth Prince, Murong Jie, is now my man."

"You got it! Liu Bao's on it!"

With that, Liu Bao was about to leave, but Lu Yunqi called him back: "Draw me a bath. I need a good hot soak."

He hadn't done farm work in ages, and he was beat. He'd like to know what part of "idle young master" was supposed to be idle.

It wasn't until he sank into the tub that Lu Yunqi felt human again.

He was comfy now, but no way was he letting the guy who'd tormented him for nine lifetimes be comfy too. He told Liu Bao to go fetch the guy to wait on him.

Murong Jie had shackles on his feet, and someone had dressed him in a sheer robe that left nothing to the imagination. From Lu Yunqi's angle, he had a full view of his pecs, abs, and that V-line.

Lu Yunqi snorted: "What, they didn't have enough fabric left over for pants?"

Murong Jie's dark face was unreadable, his eyes flat and lifeless. By now, the original owner had already been tormenting him for two weeks, and in past lifetimes, he'd drag this Sixth Prince out and humiliate him at every chance.

It wasn't that he hated Murong Jie specifically; it was just that all the other princes kowtowed to him like groveling dogs. And since his dad was Lord Nine Thousand Years, he never gave a damn about any of those princes.

Only Murong Jie, with that born-stone-cold face, never flattered him, never groveled, never bowed. That pissed Lu Yunqi off, and he wanted to grind the guy into the dirt.

What he didn't know was that Murong Jie wasn't like those useless princes at all. He'd been biding his time for twenty-three years, then flipped the script and took the throne, killing everyone who'd ever wronged him—especially Lu Yunqi, who died the fastest and the most horribly!

Just thinking about it made Lu Yunqi shudder. Getting killed by him nine times had left some serious trauma.

He couldn't kill Murong Jie himself—if he did, the mission would fail and he'd be dust anyway.

Whatever. If he couldn't kill him, he could at least gross him out.

So he crooked a finger at Murong Jie. "Don't just stand there like a statue. Get over here and help me bathe."

Murong Jie walked over with a blank face, grabbed a towel, and started scrubbing him. But Lu Yunqi drawled, "Put some back into it. You skip meals or something?"

Murong Jie pressed harder, and Lu Yunqi yelped: "Ah... shit, that hurts! Damn it, Murong Jie, you doing that on purpose?"

Murong Jie stopped and stood there like a lamppost.

The guy was tall, gorgeous, with hair like a black silk waterfall—clearly packing some serious stamina. Just standing there, he looked like a goddamn celestial being.

The male lead was the male lead, after all. That face alone deserved a whole chapter in the history books.

But then again...

He reached out, grabbed Murong Jie by the collar, and hauled him into the tub. Splash! Water went everywhere, even knocking over the screen.

Murong Jie landed on top of him, and Lu Yunqi craned up to smash their lips together, wrapped an arm around his neck, and flipped them so he was on top, pinning him down.

Caught off guard, Murong Jie frowned and tried to shove him off, but Lu Yunqi warned, "I'd suggest you behave, unless you want another beating. I want to fuck you—you should be honored. Not just anyone gets a taste of this body."

He bit down hard on Murong Jie's lip. The guy didn't even flinch, just lay there like a corpse.

Lu Yunqi snorted. "Boring. You born a plank of wood or what?"

He got up, bored out of his mind, stepped out of the tub, shot a look at Murong Jie still lying there, and said, all dismissive, "What are you still lying there for? Get up and help me get dressed!"

Murong Jie got up, shackles clanking, climbed out of the tub, dried Lu Yunqi off, and slipped a soft silk robe over him.

Satisfied, Lu Yunqi grabbed his chin and said, all teasing, "That's more like it. Get this through your head—my dad's got six hundred thousand Lu Family troops. Even your old man has to bow to mine, let alone some neglected prince like you. Come with me. I've got something to tell you."

With that, he turned and led Murong Jie to the study, pointing at the back door and saying, "This leads to your side courtyard. You can hang out here so I can call on you whenever I want. Don't forget—you're mine now. Your job is to serve me well. Look at your whole damn palace—it's basically our Lu family's backyard. Your brothers are all tearing each other apart. Stick with me, and you might actually live a little more comfortably."

Not that he cared—humiliating Murong Jie was basically Lu Yunqi's hobby.

Murong Jie thought, Fine, Lu Yunqi. I'll show you exactly how you're gonna die.

Alarms went off in Lu Yunqi's strategy system, and the System Sprite popped out to warn him: "Boss, don't push it! The target's hatred is maxed out. Watch out—he might just snap and kill you!"

In the past, Lu Yunqi would've panicked and tried to calm him down.

But now he knew that was useless. So instead, he stepped up, grabbed the guy by the throat, and said coldly, "What? Got a problem? I know you want me dead, but I love watching you hate me and not being able to do shit about it. One night together means a hundred days of love. You had a damn good time fucking me earlier, didn't you? Now you're all cold and heartless?"

The System Sprite was about to lose it, yelling in his ear: "Boss, boss, quit provoking him! You're gonna get yourself killed!"

But the next second, the alarm went silent.

Lu Yunqi blinked. It just vanished like that?

Back then, this alarm would blare all night and ruin his sleep. Now, a few words and it's gone?

Huh, so that's it. Murong Jie's a damn masochist. Being nice doesn't do shit—you gotta crank up the crazy. The more twisted you are, the more docile he gets!

Staring at the hatred meter stuck at ninety-five percent, Lu Yunqi thought, Not bad. This worked better than nine lifetimes of begging and apologizing for three months straight.

Sure, success only came if hatred dropped below fifty percent, and that was a pipe dream. But whatever—this time around, he had a plan.

He shoved Murong Jie onto the couch, then turned and walked out of the study.

Maybe because he'd worked his ass off all day, Lu Yunqi slept like a log that night—no dreams, just straight to morning light.

The second he sat up, a maid brought him his toothbrush, mouthwash, and the gold basin he always used to wash up. Talk about living large.

Lu Yunqi asked, "Where's my dad? He back yet?"

The maid Yun Hua said, "Lord Nine Thousand Years came back last night but headed to the palace this morning. The Emperor wants to reward him—sounds like he won another big battle."

Lu Yunqi just went "oh." Yun Hua asked, "Young Master, aren't you glad for your father?"

Lu Yunqi said flatly, "Yeah. Thrilled."

What was there to be happy about? The more military glory, the quicker the grave. If the Lu family hadn't outshone the emperor, and if that title "Lord Nine Thousand Years" weren't so damn flashy, the whole family wouldn't have been wiped out.

Whatever. Rome wasn't built in a day. This emperor was a spineless coward, leaning on Lu Tong to fight his wars while handing him way too much power.

And Lu Tong spoiled his only son rotten, letting him run wild with zero respect for the imperial family.

But whatever. Everyone dies eventually—sooner or later, it's all the same.

Lu Yunqi asked again, "Where's Murong Jie?"

Yun Hua, who had evidently heard of the scandalous affairs between her young master and Murong Jie, covered her mouth with a smile and replied, "His Highness the Sixth Prince just finished his breakfast and is currently practicing horse stance in the courtyard."

Lu Yunqi thought to himself that what he was doing wasn't really horse stance at all—it was clearly his Nine Lives Divine Palm technique, which took nine years to master and was only one year short of completion.

If he couldn't successfully conceive his child within this year, then a year from now, he'd be a dead man.

At this thought, Lu Yunqi hissed again, hoping that last time would be enough to get him pregnant; otherwise, having to go through it again would really wear him out.

But... whatever, it was quite enjoyable anyway. Worst case, he could just do it a few more times.

Yun Hua served the morning meal, and Lu Yunqi instructed, "I'm resting today. Nobody's allowed to come in and bother me. Get out!"

Yun Hua murmured an acknowledgment and withdrew, closing the door behind her as she left.

After eating his breakfast, Lu Yunqi slipped behind the screen, opened the cabinet door, and headed to the Wanyuan Wasteland.

He was feeling much better today and hoped to knock out more system tasks. Yesterday's task had been to spray herbicide, and today, as soon as he opened the system, he heard the notification of yesterday's task rewards arriving.

"Congratulations, host, on completing the third step of reclaiming one mu of wasteland: spraying herbicide. You have received a seeding drone, usable for three days. Your task points have reached thirty, and the system market is now open. Please check your system market."

"There's actually a system market?" Lu Yunqi was quite surprised, thinking that previous systems hadn't had a market—at most, they'd given him a points exchange shop. But then again, the previous systems had all been focused on targeting Murong Jie. Indeed, as long as he didn't fixate on a man, surprises kept coming.

Lu Yunqi opened the system market, and the first market appeared before his eyes: the Talent Market.

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

Hey, that cold-hearted bastard is a total masochist!

It seems that in this tenth life, our young master Lu has finally figured out the Sixth Prince's temperament~

Please send flowers! The rankings are a bit cold, so dear readers, give me more flowers~