Zhang Lexuan's "Fall"

The maids who worked at Prince Yan's Palace were, for the most part, ordinary people who had never awakened martial souls.

Of the rare few fortunate enough to awaken martial souls, their soul power was only around level ten.

Thus, under Ma Xiaotao's deliberate targeting, those few maids were knocked unconscious in an instant, without a single one escaping notice and without alerting anyone else.

With the cover of night, Ma Xiaotao swiftly moved the maids to a prearranged secret hideout. After randomly waking one of them, she easily obtained the information she wanted through intimidation by force.

However, after questioning her, Ma Xiaotao suddenly realized there was a very serious problem.

Tying these people up was easy, but how was she supposed to deal with them afterward?

At present, she did not have a single companion in Mingdu. Once she entered Prince Yan's Palace, there would be no one to watch over the maids she had tied up!

If some trouble arose and kept her from leaving the palace for several days, these ordinary women might well starve to death.

Let them go?

That solution was even less reliable.

Though she had covered her face and specially altered her voice, making it impossible for the maids to recognize her—

as long as one of them returned to the palace and spread the news, revealing what had happened today, the enemy would certainly become wary. Her operation would then become far more difficult.

After thinking it over and over, the best option seemed to be silencing them permanently.

But Ma Xiaotao could not do that.

After all, these maids were merely ordinary people trying to make a living. Slaughtering common people at will just to complete a mission—how would that make her any different from those inhuman evil soul masters?

"Damn it! It's all that idiot Dai Yueheng's fault! Otherwise, why would I be this troubled?"

After much deliberation, Ma Xiaotao ultimately decided to leave the plan unchanged. She would still follow her original idea and keep the maids together in this secret hideout, but before taking action, she could leave them enough food to last many days.

"I hope everything goes smoothly..."

After a full night of cultivation, Xu Tianming stretched comfortably, feeling completely refreshed.

In contrast, Zhang Lexuan, who had spent the entire night supplying soul power to assist Xu Tianming's cultivation, looked weak and listless.

Seeing the resentful look on her face, Xu Tianming felt somewhat sorry for her. He communicated with Columbina, then placed a hand on Zhang Lexuan's shoulder. Under her puzzled gaze, he directly poured a suitably measured amount of Moon-Matrix Power into her body.

The moment Zhang Lexuan felt that energy, which both her martial soul and body intensely craved, she was immediately delighted. She quickly composed herself, entered a cultivation state, and began refining the power with all her strength.

A suitably measured amount of Moon-Matrix Power entering her body did not make Zhang Lexuan feel bloated or uncomfortable. Instead, it made her feel as refreshed as parched land receiving long-awaited rain.

After refining it slightly, not only was her entire night's soul power expenditure instantly restored, but her soul power also grew a little stronger.

"Don't overthink it. It's just a small reward for all your hard work."

After saying that, Xu Tianming spread his arms, signaling that Zhang Lexuan could help him get dressed.

This had originally been the duty of the palace maids, but ever since Zhang Lexuan arrived, such trivial tasks as attending to Xu Tianming's daily needs had never again been left to those maids.

Seeing Xu Tianming's gesture, Zhang Lexuan instinctively took his clothes from the rack and carefully helped him put them on.

Without realizing it, she had already made these trivial tasks a habit.

Sometimes, even she could not understand how things had become this way.

She had clearly been forcibly brought back to this palace, only agreeing to remain after being threatened.

Yet now, she was not only responsible for Xu Tianming's daily needs and assisting his cultivation... whenever they occasionally went out for leisure, she also had to take on the duty of protecting him.

Even private nannies hired from the market at high salaries were probably not as dedicated as she was.

Seeing Zhang Lexuan lost in thought, Xu Tianming casually asked,

"What are you thinking about?"

The naturalness of the conversation made Zhang Lexuan instinctively reveal her inner thoughts.

"Since I was little, this is the first time I've served someone so seriously."

Xu Tianming grinned at that.

"Is that so... Then I'm honored to have received your first time. I just wonder, how do you feel about this first time?"

"I don't have any particular feelings about it. At first, I only did this to repay you for saving my life, but as time passed, I unknowingly developed a habit."

"I see... That puts me at ease."

His words left Zhang Lexuan somewhat puzzled.

"At ease about what?"

"You'll have many more first times that I'll receive in the future. I'm sure you'll be able to get used to them by then too."

By the time Xu Tianming said this, Zhang Lexuan had already dressed him in his robe, put on his crown, and brought him a mirror so he could inspect his appearance.

"Not bad."

After nodding in satisfaction at his appearance, Xu Tianming got out of bed and headed outside.

However, as soon as he reached the door, he saw Butler Zhao waiting outside, though he did not know when the man had arrived.

"Uncle Zhao? You came so early. Did something happen?"

"Your Highness... several maids in our palace vanished without explanation last night. At first, this old servant thought they might have been delayed by something, so I did not pay it much mind. But none of them returned all night, so I thought something might have happened and came specifically to report it to Your Highness."

Ordinarily, the disappearance of a few palace maids was not something that needed to be reported to Xu Tianming, the palace's master.

As the palace steward, Uncle Zhao merely needed to buy a few new servants to fill the vacancies.

But after Xu Tianming brought Dai Yueheng back to the palace yesterday, he had specifically instructed Uncle Zhao as a precaution:

"Over the next few days, if anything unusual happens in the palace, no matter how minor, report it to me immediately, so that an accident I do not wish to see does not occur in the end."

That was why Uncle Zhao was making this report now.

After hearing this, Xu Tianming frowned slightly.

"How many people disappeared in total? What were they doing before they vanished?"

"Your Highness, six people vanished in total. They all went out last night to purchase supplies needed for the palace's daily use. However, this old servant asked the proprietors of the shops they usually visit early this morning, and none of those shops saw them last night."

Upon hearing this, Xu Tianming already had a few suspicions.

"Have you reported it to the authorities?"

"Not yet. I await Your Highness's decision."

"In that case, go at once. Have the authorities investigate this matter in secret, with their primary task being to find those maids. Remember not to make any public announcement!"

"Once that is done, post a notice outside stating that the palace will be recruiting several new maids in a few days. Those with soul power will be given priority."

"Yes, Your Highness. This old servant will see to it immediately!"