Ma Xiaotao's Plan

The moment Zhang Lexuan spoke, Xu Tianming was stunned.

Good heavens, this woman looked dignified and elegant on the outside, yet the moment she opened her mouth, she said something utterly shocking.

Her tone was so aggrieved that, if he had not seen it with his own eyes, even Xu Tianming might have believed she had truly been beaten.

But Dai Yueheng was different.

He genuinely could not see.

From the very first wail Zhang Lexuan let out, his heart seemed to bleed.

"Stop hitting her! Please, don't hit Sister Lexuan anymore! I'll talk, I'll tell you everything! As long as you don't hit Sister Lexuan, I'll answer anything you ask!"

Xu Tianming had thought Dai Yueheng would hold out a little longer, but Zhang Lexuan had barely cried out twice before he surrendered outright.

It seemed he had still underestimated the power of a love-struck fool...

Xu Tianming gave Zhang Lexuan a thumbs-up, signaling for her to stop for the moment, then spoke again.

"You tell me to stop, and I stop? Wouldn't that make me lose face?"

"Bastard! I'm already willing to cooperate with you, what else do you want?"

"Oh? Still talking back? Looks like you still haven't learned to behave!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Tianming casually gave Zhang Lexuan another pat. She immediately understood and promptly let out another cry of pain in cooperation.

Thinking that his beloved Sister Lexuan was being beaten because of him, Dai Yueheng was nearly driven to tears. In his panic, without time to think, he slammed his head into the hard floor.

Bang!

Well, judging by the sound, he had a solid head...

Seeing Dai Yueheng go this far, Xu Tianming finally continued.

"Remember your current status! Show some respect when you speak. If you displease me, it proves that your Sister Lexuan failed to educate you properly. And the price for failing to educate you properly is that she must accept my punishment! Do you understand?"

"I understand, I understand! I understand!"

"Good. Then tell me, what's your name? What's your background?"

Things having reached this point, Dai Yueheng no longer dared hide anything. He immediately and obediently revealed his identity and background.

"Oh! No wonder you showed such hostility toward us from the Sun Moon Empire on the street. So you're from the Star Luo Empire! And even the White Tiger Duke's legitimate eldest son! That explains it."

After saying that, Xu Tianming paused. Then a wicked smile curled across his lips, causing Zhang Lexuan's heartbeat to skip when she saw it.

She had a bad feeling about this...

"Originally, I merely suspected that Shrek Academy had ill intentions. But now it seems the Star Luo Empire also harbors ulterior motives toward our Sun Moon Empire! Judging from your actions today, may I take it that your Star Luo Empire has already prepared to declare war on our Sun Moon Empire?"

The moment those words were spoken, cold sweat instantly appeared on Dai Yueheng's forehead.

He might have been love-struck, but that did not mean he had no brain at all.

The Star Luo Empire indeed held hostility toward the Sun Moon Empire, but it absolutely could not become enemies with the Sun Moon Empire at this time!

If his actions caused relations between the two nations to worsen, or even sparked a war, he would practically become a sinner of the Star Luo Empire worthy of being recorded in history. The White Tiger Duke's Estate would also face immense danger.

Therefore, after understanding the stakes, Dai Yueheng hurriedly said, "That's not it! The Star Luo Empire has absolutely no intention of going to war with the Sun Moon Empire. What I said on the street earlier had nothing to do with the Star Luo Empire!"

Dai Yueheng's attitude was extremely earnest, but Xu Tianming instantly caught the loophole in his words.

"Hehe, if it had nothing to do with the Star Luo Empire, then it had something to do with Shrek Academy?"

"No! It had nothing to do with Shrek Academy either. Those words were only... only because my brain wasn't working right. I acted on impulse and spouted nonsense. It was purely my personal behavior and had nothing to do with Shrek Academy or the Star Luo Empire!"

Xu Tianming naturally knew Dai Yueheng was telling the truth. After all, even if the Star Luo Empire and Shrek Academy truly had designs on the Sun Moon Empire, they would not let a student with only five rings know about it.

But that was how negotiations worked.

If you did not first pin a big enough accusation on the opposing side before negotiating, how could you seize enough benefits?

"Hehe, you say it's unrelated, so it's unrelated? You want to play the whore and still build a shrine to your virtue? How could there be such a good deal in this world?"

After tossing out those words, Xu Tianming lost interest in continuing his conversation with Dai Yueheng. He motioned for Zhang Lexuan to gag him and cover his ears again.

Zhang Lexuan rolled her eyes at him speechlessly, but she still obediently rose from the lounge chair and completed the task Xu Tianming had given her.

"Alright, the world is quiet again. It's getting late, so it's time for us to cultivate... Sister Lexuan~"

Xu Tianming deliberately emphasized the last three words, making Zhang Lexuan roll her eyes at him again in annoyance.

"Don't call me that!"

"What? Is there something wrong with that form of address?"

Don't you know perfectly well what's wrong with it?

Zhang Lexuan held those words back and did not dare say them aloud. In the end, she merely puffed out her pretty cheeks in anger.

"I don't care! You're just not allowed to call me that!"

Seeing this, Xu Tianming only found her even cuter.

"Fine, whatever you say. But are you still going to cultivate or not?"

Zhang Lexuan could not even be bothered to answer that question. Instead, she naturally walked into the bedroom, removed her shoes and outer robe, then sat directly on the bed, making her intentions clear through her actions.

It looked like another night of diligent cultivation.

Outside Prince Yan's Palace.

In a dark corner at the end of the street, Ma Xiaotao, who had been observing all afternoon, had basically figured out the situation.

That idiot Dai Yueheng had offended a prince of the Sun Moon Empire and was currently imprisoned within the heavily guarded palace.

In Ma Xiaotao's view, with her current strength, sneaking into the palace and rescuing him without making a sound or alerting anyone was nothing more than a fool's dream!

Could she only give up now?

The instant that thought surfaced, Ma Xiaotao swiftly crushed it.

If she could avoid causing trouble for the academy, she should solve the problem herself!

Since a direct assault and prison break would not work, she would have to outwit them!

As for how to outwit them...

Even after thinking for an entire afternoon, Ma Xiaotao still had no clue.

Just as she was preparing to temporarily leave the vicinity of the palace and find somewhere to rest, the palace gates suddenly opened, and several young women dressed as maids emerged.

At the sight, Ma Xiaotao immediately stopped. Staring at the departing backs of the maids, a bold idea quickly formed in her mind.

Such a large palace definitely needed maids to serve within it. All she had to do was take this opportunity to knock out these palace maids and hide them away. Once the palace found itself short of maids and could not locate the missing ones, it would surely recruit another batch!

At that time, she could find a way to slip in among them and enter the palace directly as a maid!

"What a perfect plan! I really am a genius!"

Clearly, Ma Xiaotao was extremely pleased with her "genius" plan of walking straight into a trap.