Leaving the Duke's Mansion

Every street and alley in Qingyang City was discussing Yuan Hao's house arrest of Huangfu Ji. Not everyone knew about it; most outsiders only knew that Huangfu Ji was a six-year-old child and that state affairs were handled by Prime Minister Yuan Hao.

Once Huangfu Ji came of age, Yuan Hao would return power to him.

Those loyal to the Huangfu Family immediately used this as leverage to pressure Yuan Hao.

However, they also knew they could not push him too hard. If Yuan Hao became desperate, things would become troublesome. Therefore, they had only one demand: Huangfu Ji had to enter a Junior Soul Master Academy to study.

As long as he entered a Junior Soul Master Academy, Huangfu Ji would be safe. They only needed to wait until he came of age.

So they could not completely fall out with Yuan Hao just yet.

Faced with their pressure, Yuan Hao flatly refused. He proposed arranging for people to teach Huangfu Ji specifically within the Duke's Mansion, but the Loyalty Faction immediately objected. They wanted Huangfu Ji under their protection, which was why they insisted on sending him to a Junior Soul Master Academy.

Neither side would yield. In the end, the Dean of the Senior Soul Master Academy stepped forward and pressured Yuan Hao. If Huangfu Ji was not allowed to study at a Junior Soul Master Academy, he would report the matter to the Empire and have the Empire uphold justice.

With the Empire brought into the matter, Yuan Hao had no choice but to compromise and allow Huangfu Ji to attend a Soul Master Academy.

He had no intention of making a wedding dress for the Empire.

What he wanted was to seize the Qingyang Duchy, not let the Empire annex it.

His public claim was that the ruler was too young and that he was merely serving as regent. Once the Empire learned that he intended to usurp the throne, it would certainly act to defend the Huangfu Family's rule over the duchy. It might even use the opportunity to annex the Qingyang Duchy and bring it back under Imperial rule.

After all, it already had a ready-made excuse.

When this news reached Huangfu Ji's ears, he showed no excitement. Instead, he remained remarkably calm.

He left his room and went to the garden. Closing his eyes, he lifted his face as the warm sunlight fell across it. At that moment, he felt something he had never felt before: freedom.

He could finally leave the Duke's Mansion.

Though this was only the first step, successfully taking it meant that his second and third steps in the future could succeed as well.

Yuan Hao did not meet with him personally, merely sending someone to notify him.

Although Huangfu Ji was permitted to study at a Soul Master Academy, he was forbidden from leaving it casually. If he wanted to leave the city to hunt Soul Beasts, he had to obtain Yuan Hao's approval. Otherwise, he was not allowed to leave Qingyang City.

None of this was much of a problem to Huangfu Ji. He had already been imprisoned in the Duke's Mansion for two years. Why would he care about such restrictions? Being able to leave was enough. Besides, he had no intention of leaving Qingyang City for now.

However, before leaving, he needed to pack and make preparations. Though the Duke's Mansion belonged to him, he possessed very few things. He first packed some clothes and bedding, then took the belongings his parents had left behind.

Logically, he should have made another trip to the Qingyang Treasury. It had once stored the treasures accumulated by the Huangfu Family over hundreds of years, including several Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones. The oldest of them had even reached eighty thousand years.

Unfortunately, Yuan Hao had already looted them all. There was nothing much left in the treasury now, and nothing for him to take away.

The most important thing was the Qingyang Duke Token. He had to take it with him.

He looked at the Black Gold Token in his hand, upon which a Golden Dragon was engraved.

It was the symbol of his identity. With it, he could prove that he was the Duke of Qingyang.

He had already made up his mind. Once he left, he would never return. Not even during holidays.

The next day, Cheng Yao, the Dean of Qingyang City's Junior Soul Master Academy, personally came to the Duke's Mansion to pick him up.

As he stepped out through the gates of the Duke's Mansion, Huangfu Ji took a deep breath.

"This air."

It was clearly the same air, yet he suddenly felt that the air outside the mansion was sweeter, freer. Perhaps it was because he had been under house arrest for two years.

For two years, he had not stepped outside even once. He had no friends, not even anyone he could talk to. Every day, he had lived in constant fear, terrified that one day he would go to sleep and never wake up.

When Cheng Yao saw Huangfu Ji, his eyes immediately reddened.

"Greetings, Duke."

He hurried forward to bow, but Huangfu Ji quickly helped him up.

"Uncle Cheng, there is no need for such formality."

To prevent any mishap, Cheng Yao grabbed Huangfu Ji's hand and led him onto the carriage. The carriage then swiftly departed.

Throughout the journey, Cheng Yao held tightly onto Huangfu Ji as though afraid someone might snatch him away halfway there. As the Dean of the Junior Soul Master Academy, Cheng Yao was not particularly powerful. He was only a level fifty-six Soul King.

"Rest assured, Duke. Once you enter the academy, you will be safe. We will protect you."

Though his hand was being held tightly, Huangfu Ji felt a wave of reassurance.

"Uncle Cheng, don't worry. No matter what Yuan Hao does, surely he would not dare make a move against me within the academy."

Cheng Yao shook his head. "That is different. He may not act openly, but no one can guarantee he will not resort to other underhanded methods."

"Besides, if he changes his mind, he may very well seize you and take you back."

Hearing this, Huangfu Ji's expression turned serious as well. Indeed, Yuan Hao could not directly attack him within the Junior Soul Master Academy, but he could resort to something covert—poisoning him to death, for instance, or using other means to make him die inside the academy.

If he truly died in the academy, Yuan Hao would have a reason to make trouble. At that point, he could purge the remaining people loyal to the Huangfu Family and eliminate all future concerns.

As for who would inherit the Duke's position after his death, were there not still surviving members of the Huangfu Family? He could simply appoint one. They would be killed sooner or later anyway.

Before long, the carriage arrived outside the Soul Master Academy in the west of the city. The academy had not yet begun its term. Most students had gone home for the break, and the new students had naturally not enrolled yet. The entire academy was relatively quiet. Only a small number of students had remained behind to cultivate.

Most of them were commoners from villages outside the city. To put it plainly, they were Work-Study Students.

Cheng Yao led him to the dean's office.

"Duke, for your safety, you should stay with me when the time comes. You need not eat the academy's food either. I will arrange for someone to prepare your meals specially."

In his view, even if Grand Duke Qingyang was only six years old, he still could not eat the same food as those students.

Huangfu Ji rejected the suggestion outright.

"No, no, no. At the academy, I'm not Grand Duke Qingyang. I'm just an 'utterly ordinary' student. I'll stay in the student dorms and eat the same meals as the other students."

"That would actually be safer."

After thinking it over, Cheng Yao suddenly understood.

If Huangfu Ji ate and lived alongside the other students, he would indeed be safer. If he lived separately and ate separate meals, the risks would be far greater. Cheng Yao could not watch Huangfu Ji at all times, nor could he guarantee that the cooks preparing Huangfu Ji's food had not been bribed—or were simply people Yuan Hao had arranged.

"That's true. Even if Yuan Hao wants to poison you, he can't possibly poison every student in the academy. If he did, he'd be courting death."

"Still, we need to be careful. There are Yuan Family descendants in the academy as well."

Huangfu Ji nodded.

Cheng Yao added, "Your Grace, get some proper rest first. Once school starts, I'll take you hunting Soul Beasts to obtain your First Soul Ring."