The Mind of an Emperor

"Heaven Dou City", Heaven Dou Great Soul Fighting Arena, a VIP box.

"Your Highness, Commander Ku Fan has arrived."

Xu Yixiu gently knocked on the door of the private room and respectfully addressed the Third Prince Xue Ye inside.

"Let him in."

The quiet sound of the Xue Ye rang out.

Xu Yixiu: "Yes~"

Outside the door, Ku Fan nodded to Xu Yixiu, the Third Prince's personal guard, before solemnly entering the private room.

"Your Highness~"

Upon entering, Ku Fan immediately clasped his hands and bowed to Xue Ye, who was sitting upright on the sofa.

"You're here~" Xue Ye remained seated, casually waving her hand and pointing to another sofa beside her, saying, "Sit."

"Your subordinate is terrified." Ku Fan did not move, remaining bowed, his voice trembling slightly.

Xue Ye glanced at Ku Fan indifferently, her voice neither pleased nor angry, and said, "I told you to sit, so sit. What? Does my word not carry weight?"

A few beads of cold sweat appeared on Ku Fan's forehead. He pursed his suddenly dry lips and replied in a low voice, "Thank you, Your Highness."

After expressing his gratitude, Ku Fan moved a few meters away to the sofa, carefully sat down, straightened his back, and waited for the Third Prince's next instructions.

"I heard that you sent the corpses of those ' Gale Demon Wolf ' you killed during the military exercise to the [Green Wood Merchant Association] in exchange for a batch of ' Boneless Silver-Scaled Fish '?"

The calm sound of the Xue Ye rang out again, but his gaze was directed through the floor-to-ceiling window at the two Soul Ancestor fighting back and forth on the Soul Fighting Arena below.

"Your Highness..." Ku Fan subconsciously tried to get up, half of his buttocks leaving the sofa.

Without turning around, Xue Ye said, "Let's talk while sitting down."

"Yes~" Ku Fan sat down again and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, I sold military exercise supplies without your permission. Please punish me!"

Without any excuses or justifications, Ku Fan readily admitted his mistake.

In fact, the sale of the corpses of "Gale Demon Wolf" is an unspoken rule in the military. Generally speaking, the enemies and prey killed by the army belong to that army, and how to deal with them is naturally their own business.

Not to mention, the "Gale Demon Wolf" is the kind of "trash" that has almost no value, and many people don't even want to look at it.

However, sometimes things are one way, but the logic is another.

Firstly, this is a military exercise, not a combat mission. Those "Gale Demon Wolf" were driven to their designated location by a specialized team of Soul Master. In terms of ownership, they should belong to the Empire.

Secondly, there's the issue of the value of the "Gale Demon Wolf." Not to mention that there are thirteen leader-level wolves among them with cultivation levels of over a hundred years, which means thirteen Hundred-Year Soul Ring, those are Soul Beast that humans can't eat. Using them as fertilizer to cultivate some Soul Power plants would be a good option.

Therefore, if the higher-ups really want to investigate, Ku Fan will have to bear some punishment, no matter how small.

"Alright, I've already spoken to Marquis Fei Bai about this matter on your behalf. I'm sure he'll give me face and not pursue it further."

He raised it high, then gently lowered it. Xue Ye looked back and glanced meaningfully at Ku Fan before turning back to look at the Soul Fighting below, and said calmly.

Fei Bai, the commander of the 10,000 "Royal Knights" stationed at the Royal Hunting Ground, is an Imperial Marquis, Soul Emperor- level expert, and also Ku Fan's current superior in the military.

Despite both being marquises and Soul Emperor, this man's prestige far surpasses that of Marquis of Cedar Song Yao of the Cold Wind Grand Camp in the [Water Wood Duchy].

Upon hearing Xue Ye's words, Ku Fan immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He had just been transferred from the border army to the capital and had even joined the empire's strongest "Royal Knights," where he was also the sole commander of the formidable "Divine Crossbow Battalion" of three thousand soldiers. If he were to be accused of disobeying military orders, the trouble would be immense.

Thinking of this, Ku Fan immediately stood up from the sofa, knelt on one knee facing Xue Ye, and said solemnly, "Thank you, Your Highness. I will always remember Ku Fan Highness's kindness!"

A smile played on Xue Ye's lips, but she regained her composure as she turned to Ku Fan and said, "Remember this: you were transferred from the border army to the ' Royal Knights '."

"You are my person."

"I hope you will think carefully before you act. What I give you is yours, do you understand?"

"Yes—!" Ku Fan bowed again and answered loudly.

"Okay." Xue Ye nodded in satisfaction.

After having Ku Fan watch the next one-on-one Soul Ancestor level Soul Fighting with him, Xue Ye waved his hand, signaling the other party to step down.

Outside the door, Ku Fan nodded again to Xu Yixiu, and left with steady steps.

Inside the private box, Xue Ye watched the host giving his warm-up remarks on the Soul Fighting stage below, and suddenly asked, "What do you think?"

Suddenly, a handsome middle-aged man with graying temples and a dashing face appeared on the sofa where Ku Fan had been sitting.

Fei Bai, Martial Soul is "Unicorn Heavenly Soul Horse", is a level 65 Power Attack System Battle Soul Emperor and one of the five generals of the "Royal Knights", the ace army of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Most importantly, he was a supporter of the Third Prince Xue Ye.

Fei Bai pondered for a moment and replied, "Your Highness, based on the information we have so far, apart from his close relationship with that person from the Green Wood Merchant Association, Ku Fan has not done anything else inappropriate. We can preliminarily conclude that he was not sent by any other party; he is very 'clean'."

"As for that person from the [Green Wood Merchant Association],"

Fei Bai paused for a moment before continuing, "On the one hand, we had a friendly relationship in the border army before, and on the other hand, Your Highness was able to promote me to ' Heaven Dou City ', which can be considered as an indirect recommendation. Therefore, it is only natural that the two sides would become closer."

"To be able to openly exchange the corpse of the ' Gale Demon Wolf ' for the rare ' Boneless Silver-Scaled Fish,' I believe that both Ku Fan and that person from the [Green Wood Merchant Association] are either fearless or... have a clear conscience—"

Xue Ye nodded slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and continued watching the new round of Soul Fighting below.

Although Fei Bai concluded that he was inclined to trust Ku Fan, Xue Ye, as a prince who aspired to the throne, still had his own judgment.

Therefore, he would only give Ku Fan 70% of his trust.

Or rather, even towards Fei Bai, who was the first to follow him, Xue Ye did not have 100% trust. Ninety percent was Xue Ye's maximum level of trust!

"Oh, right."

As if remembering something, Xue Ye turned her head and looked at Fei Bai: "Has Xue Xing not visited you these past two days?"

While maintaining a friendly, elder brotherly demeanor to win over his ninth brother, who had a particular fondness for military uniforms and the armed forces, Xue Ye always remained wary of him.

He says he's not interested in the throne, but who knows if he's just saying it to cover up his true intentions and take advantage of the situation?

However, when faced with Xue Ye's question, Fei Bai's lips twitched, and for a moment he didn't know how to answer.

How so?

They said that Your Highness's ninth brother hasn't left his residence these past two days—not the prince's mansion, but his bedchamber.

Still writing, the next chapter should be before midnight~