Chapter 271: Exposed
After hearing what Ming Zhaoshu said, Lu Yin lowered his head again and did not dare to answer.
“Are you willing to work for me, Lu Seven?” Ming Zhaoshu suddenly shouted while staring directly at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin felt something jostle within his head. It was that same pressure from Ming Zhaoshu once again. Powerhouses who were able to traverse the universe without a spacecraft might not all be able to use spiritual force attacks, but their bodies had fundamentally transformed, and they were all able to naturally exert pressure on those weaker than them. This was one of the many reasons why so many geniuses were unable to leap realms and challenge powerhouses above them once they became Limiteers. However, this pressure had no real effect on Lu Yin.
“I am willing to work for you, my lord.” Lu Yin pretended to collapse and quickly blurted out a response.
Ming Zhaoshu nodded in satisfaction. “Good. Lift your head.”
Lu Yin did as commanded and felt a strong gust of wind coming towards him. His expression changed quickly as he restrained his urge to make a move while a pleasant scent was inhaled into his body, bringing him a sense of numbness along with the aroma.
“This is a unique medicine of mine that will increase your power and the sensitivity of your five senses. However, there are some side effects. You’ll need to absorb it regularly, or else you’ll be reduced to a puddle of blood and pus,” Ming Zhaoshu coldly informed him.
Lu Yin trembled in fear. “I understand, my Lord.”
“As I said before, you’ve done no wrong. Help me to accomplish something, and I can remove this medicine from you forever. Otherwise, you already know the consequences.” After saying this, Ming Zhaoshu stood up, walked over to Lu Yin, and whispered, “Enter the crown prince’s household.”
Lu Yin was startled. “The crown prince’s household?”
Ming Zhaoshu had a cold glint in his eyes. “You’ve been to Qianshan Village, which means that you should have a slight connection to the royal family. You’re smart, so you will definitely be able to get inside and obtain the trust of the crown prince, Ming Hao. His butler, Wu Xia, died recently, so there is a ripe opportunity for your picking.”
“Yes, my lord,” Lu Yin answered. So Wu Xia had died already? That wasn’t that much of a surprise. After all, he had discovered the location of the node that kept the five planets sealing the continent safe. Wu Xia was already being threatened back when Lu Yin was Possessing him, and it wasn’t a surprise at all that Wu Xia had been killed.
Ming Zhaoshu was very pleased with Lu Yin’s reaction. More importantly, the secret medicine could not be eliminated without a certain amount of strength. The king also couldn’t sense anything abnormal about Lu Yin; he appeared to be completely ordinary. Thus, it should be impossible for the youth to purge the medicine himself. Lu Yin was also very intelligent and aware that, even if he informed Ming Hao about this, the man would not do anything about it on Lu Yin’s behalf; it would be a dead-end.
“If you do well, I will arrange for Yue’er to marry you,” Ming Zhaoshu nonchalantly added on.
Lu Yin looked up in surprise. Yue’er?!
Ming Zhaoshu smiled condescendingly. “Did you think that only young men of noble blood such as Bei Qing had the right to marry her? You’re wrong—you could have the opportunity as well. I can promise you that Yue’er will never leave the Reverent King Estate and that she won’t marry anyone else. She will be yours and yours alone.”
Lu Yin quickly made a sound of acknowledgement. Ming Zhaoshu had a very tight grasp on human behavior. If Lu Yin truly were an ordinary coachman, then he would have definitely been pumped full of vigor at the prospect of obtaining the woman that he had once only been able to admire from afar. Few would ever receive an opportunity such as this. A beautiful woman paired with a debilitating drug—this was Ming Zhaoshu’s way of entrapping Lu Yin.
“That’s all. You may go,” Ming Zhaoshu stated.
Lu Yin bowed once more before leaving. When he reached the door, he heard Ming Zhaoshu say, “I must ask that you leave before we arrive at the capital. I’ll send men to keep in contact with you. Also, you would do well to remember this: don’t try anything funny and never meddle in my business.”
Lu Yin bowed one last time and then exited the study.
Outside, Tang Si watched him with an indifferent expression.
Lu Yin bowed towards him as well before walking away.
Tang Si’s eyes remained trained on Lu Yin’s back as he left before entering the study. “Was that necessary, my lord?”
Ming Zhaoshu smiled. “He’s very smart, ambitious, and lucky. Having him attempt to infiltrate the crown prince’s household could very well turn out to be an unexpected boon for us.” He paused for a moment before continuing, saying, “Besides, he now has a connection to Bei Qing as well. That may prove useful to us in the future as well.”
“Bei Qing won’t pay any attention to him at all. To him, Seven’s merely a slave who was trying to gain his favor,” Tang Si said.
Ming Zhaoshu smiled. “It doesn’t matter if they’re on good terms or not. What’s important is maintaining that connection between them.”
Elsewhere, Lu Yin had already moved away from the study. His mind had not stopped racing ever since. The crown prince’s household did not hold any interest for him; the biggest secret there was the location of the node, and after what had happened to Wu Xia, Ming Hao must have become even more cautious about guarding this secret. It would be very difficult for Lu Yin to obtain that information with his own abilities, and there was no need for him to go to that residence anyway. The drug, on the other hand, was something he could force out of his body on his own as well.
He was now wondering what Ming Zhaoshu’s motives truly were. Based on Wu Xia’s memories and the rumors circulating amongst the commoners, Reverent King Ming Zhaoshu was an upstanding person who was staunchly loyal to the emperor, Ming Zhaotian. He seemed to live solely for the land and the people. The only thing against him was that he was slightly lacking in battle power. His older brother, Ming Zhaotian, wasn’t much older than him, but he was already in the Martial God realm. And Crown Prince Ming Hao, was a Martial Emperor just like him, but it was rumored that, despite being in the same realm, Ming Zhaoshu's battle prowess was greatly inferior to the crown prince.
This was the one bit of Ming Zhaoshu that had been a disappointment.
However, things would be very different if he had truly comprehended a domain. Lu Yin did not believe that anyone who could comprehend a domain was weak. Ming Zhaoshu was also a very accurate judge of people, and yet, he had allowed Bei Qing to continue attempting to woo Ming Yan. From this, it was apparent that he was a very calm person who was not easy to deal with. He was hiding way too much from the public.
Everyone knew that the king’s position was being eyed by Crown Prince Ming Hao, and that quite a few people had been sent to sneak into Ming Zhaoshu’s household. When he had first heard of this, Lu Yin had been rather confused. Ming Hao was no fool, but he had still somehow let everyone know that he was sending people into Ming Zhaoshu’s household. But now, Lu Yin was starting to think that those rumors were actually a way for Ming Zhaoshu to reduce Ming Hao’s support.
Of course, this was all merely conjectures by Lu Yin and were perhaps nothing more than nonsense. However, some of it could be true. Lu Yin pondered over this newfound information while walking, and just when he was rounding the corner, he crashed into someone.
“Ah!”
After hearing the shout, Lu Yin reached forward, intending to wrap his arms around the girl who he had run into. He smelled something fragrant and rather familiar. Was this… Ming Yan?
Time seemed to stop. Right at the corner, Lu Yin had his arms around Ming Yan, and the two stared at each other for an indeterminate amount of time.
Yue Xianzi was the first one to react and did so by hitting Lu Yin on the shoulder, forcing him to move back. “How dare you do this to the young miss!”
Lu Yin took several steps backwards and began begging for forgiveness with a bowed head.
Ming Yan looked at him curiously. “Are you that coachman? Lu Seven, was it?”
“Yes, I’m Lu Seven,” Lu Yin quickly answered.
Ming Yan gazed at him. “Raise your head.”
Lu Yin was speechless. These were the exact same words that Ming Zhaoshu had spoken to him. He slowly did as ordered and looked at the princess with a feigned expression of fear.
Ming Yan stared right into his eyes, and something flashed through her own, as if she was thinking of something.
“How dare you look straight at the Young Miss!” Yue Xianzi shouted as she raised her hand once again.
Ming Yan hastily stopped her. “It’s fine, Yue’er. Let’s go.”
Yue Xianzi shot another angry glare at Lu before leaving with Ming Yan. Ever since Lu Yin had demonstrated those forms, she had lost all interest in him. She believed from the bottom of her heart that he was a native of this continent, and so, she hadn’t even used any martial power in her attack.
Lu Yin ducked his head and waited until they left before raising his head once more. He rubbed his shoulder. Thankfully, she hadn’t used much strength, or else it would have been extremely obvious that he hadn’t been injured.
Two days later, the sun shone brightly and a white mist rose from the ground. Clean air covered the earth.
A row of carriages left the king’s palace in Antai City and continued heading towards the center of Ming Island.
Not too long after the entourage left Antai City, a crack that extended all the way into the forest opened in the sky. After the crack appeared, several figures landed.
Lu Yin narrowed his eyes. More trialtakers had appeared.
“My Lord!” Tang Si exclaimed.
Ming Zhaoshu soared up into the air. “Stay here. I’ll handle this.” He lifted an arm as a fierce martial power distorted the air and spread out in all directions.
Not too far away, a similar force appeared that contended against his attack.
“There’s a Martial Emperor realm powerhouse around? They’re looking to die!” Ming Zhaoshu shouted as he leaped up and charged out.
Right after Ming Zhaoshu left, dozens of figures appeared from underground. Tang Si exclaimed, “Evil sect members! Kill them all!”
The carriages were all thrown into disarray. The evil sect members had taken advantage of Ming Zhaoshu’s preoccupation with the trialtakers to launch an attack on them. It was complete chaos.
Butler Seven hid under the private carriage, trembling in fear. They were in the very middle of the entourage and surrounded by the troops, so they were temporarily safe.
All of a sudden, a sharp attack came rushing their direction, streaking through the air. Tang Si leaped up and counterattacked with his lance. There was a resounding clang, and powerful shockwaves struck the ground, knocking dozens of people unconscious. Tang Si was forced to take about ten steps back and looked up in shock.
The trialtakers were making their moves; they were Limiteers from the Innerverse.
Many of the people who trained in the Innerverse were very powerful, and this person was as strong as a student leader from the Astral Combat Academy. For his move to force Tang Si to stagger backwards was proof in and of itself that the person had the ability to contend with the top sixteen fighters of the Astral Combat Academy.
Some distance further away, Ming Zhaoshu’s battle with the Explorer was becoming increasingly heated. The cracks on the ground had even reached the carriages, splitting the entourage in two. Lu Yin and the rest were thus forcibly separated from Tang Si.
Blood spurted out from underground as Yue Xianzi’s eyes narrowed. “There are more people underground!”
Right after that, another ten experts appeared and rushed towards them. Lu Yin clenched his fists and watched the situation very carefully.
The carriage was overturned, and Yue Xianzi burst out, carrying Ming Yan with her. She coldly looked ahead to where there were about ten Martial King realm experts attacking them and pushed the princess to the side of the carriage. “Take care of her.”
An intense battle had broken out in all directions.
A force tore through the void, aimed right at Ming Yan. Lu Yin grabbed her and pulled her aside. “Be careful.”
Ming Yan lay in his embrace and looked up at him. Her eyes flitted about as she said in a very low voice, “Why are you following us?”
Lu Yin was caught off guard. “What are you talking about, my lady?”
Ming Yan pursed her lips and repeated herself. “Why are you following us?”
With a light thud, Yue Xianzi sent a couple Martial King realm experts reeling, but just when she was about to rush over to the princess, she was stopped.
Experts started gathering around Lu Yin and Ming Yan. Compared to all the other carriages, Ming Yan’s safety was far more important.
Even during this chaotic battle, Ming Yan did not seem at all afraid for her life and continued to stare right at Lu Yin. “What exactly is it that you want, Lu Yin?”
Lu Yin was startled. “You know me?”
“Someone once told me that your name is Lu Yin. Why are you following us?” Ming Yan stared at him, stubbornness clouding her beautiful face. She fully understood what it meant to have her reputation tarnished in this era and was unwilling to be obsessed with the incident. What had happened had happened, but she did not want to be looked down on.
When it came to anyone else, she could continue to pretend as if nothing had happened. However, it wasn’t the same when this man was in front of her. He had destroyed her pure reputation, and she would never be rid of this stain. He had created trouble for her and disturbed her mental state. Even her dreams were no longer pure, as she had dreamed about this person for ten consecutive days.