Scaring the Prince

Before Gongyang Yi could react, a gust of wind swept towards him, and a pure white jade-like object rapidly expanded in his field of vision!

Startled, he stopped and instinctively raised his hand to protect his face, his expression panicked.

Stop!

The White Jade Paperweight stopped just before it hit Gongyang Yi's face. The airflow it created still made the middle-aged scholar's hair flutter. His wide eyes reflected the slender Paperweight, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Not this person?" Seeing Gongyang Yi's reaction and sensing the emotional fluctuations emanating from him, Qiu Yan frowned. "Prince Yan has been used and manipulated. To ensure control, simply intervening remotely with Divine Ability is definitely not enough. Ultimately, someone needs to be sent to monitor him, and this person's status cannot be too low, nor too high..."

In that instant, images of Zong Heng, Gongyang Yi, and the Crow Daoist flashed through Qiu Yan's mind.

Bang!

Gongyang Yi plopped down on the ground, completely losing his composure, then turned and ran outside on all fours.

"Trying to run? Fine, but you'll have to leave something behind."

As Qiu Yan finished speaking, the White Jade Paperweight trembled, forced by his Martial Dao Will to emit a wave that enveloped Gongyang Yi, permeated his soul, and settled his knowledge and memories!

"No! No!" Gongyang Yi, as a confidant of Prince Yan, knew many secrets and was involved in setting up this scheme. He was aware of the effects of the Literary Ancestor Paperweight, so when he felt the literary memories and knowledge in his soul settling and peeling away, his expression changed drastically, and he couldn't help but howl, his face showing a pleading look.

"You yourself are already afraid, so why do you want to be an accomplice? You won't truly understand until it happens to you, and you won't be able to wake up." Qiu Yan remained unmoved, flicking his fingers to activate the Paperweight, and in a few moments, he extracted Gongyang Yi's Literary Thought memories.

Then, Gongyang Yi's face froze, turning ashen. He looked utterly dejected and collapsed to the ground, no longer even thinking of running away.

Looking at the White Jade Paperweight, Qiu Yan noticed a change within it. "You, as a staff member of the Prince's mansion, are True Edition. Your literary talent and knowledge are quite remarkable. Unfortunately, you brought this upon yourself, and retribution will eventually come. Even if it doesn't fall on me, Qiu Yan, it will still be through someone else's hands. Besides, even if you manage to escape this fate in your lifetime, you will still face justice in the Netherworld."

At this point, he turned and looked at Prince Yan.

The prince was covering his face with his hands, blood gushing from between his fingers. Half of his cheek was dented from the blow, and he was writhing on the ground in pain, but his eyes were fixed on Qiu Yan, revealing a deep resentment.

"Young Master, this approach seems inappropriate." Seeing this scene, Qiu Yan felt very uneasy.

Dai Guo forced himself to remain calm, looked at the scene inside the room, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Young master, since we've already offended them, let's go all the way and kill them all! That way we won't leave any future trouble!"

Upon hearing these words, everyone—from the Life Cultivation whose cultivation had been crippled to the distraught Gongyang Yi, and even the writhing Prince Yan —paused abruptly, their faces filled with fear.

No matter how eloquently Prince Yan spoke, it was ultimately to save his own life. If he died, even if the murderer was struck by the backlash of the Dragon Court's Fortune and plagued by misfortune, making it impossible for him to move an inch in Great Rui, that was all in the future. He was already dead; how could he be content with that?

Qiu Yan shook his head. "For these people, death is a relief. They committed such Karmic Sin and should pay the price and bear the consequences. However, it's never good to offend them like this..."

As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed, drawing the blood from the Prince Yan's face into the air, where it congealed. Then, with a flick of his fingers, he separated a few Heart Demon Fragment, infused them with a ball of Qi and Blood, and condensed them into a red pill.

With a flick of his finger, the red pill shot out and directly entered the mouth of Prince Yan.

"Cough cough cough!" Prince Yan coughed violently, swallowed, and felt a warm sensation spreading through his body. The wounds on his face and the sunken cheeks quickly healed, and the pain subsided.

But he felt no relief whatsoever; instead, he grew increasingly anxious. Before his wounds had even healed, he hastily demanded, "What did you feed me? Did you intend to use witchcraft to coerce me?"

He had heard some things and knew that monks had many means of controlling and manipulating others.

Qiu Yan ignored him, beckoned Hu Qi and the other man, and started to walk out.

"Stop! Explain yourself!" Prince Yan's wounds had healed completely, but the pain and humiliation of being repeatedly hit on the face remained etched in his mind. He was also worried about the effects of the red pill he had swallowed. Moreover, Qiu Yan had caught him stealing Literary Thought's thoughts, which could very well be leaked, not to mention the White Jade Paperweight.

With all these factors combined, it was impossible for Prince Yan to let Qiu Yan leave.

"To injure me is disrespectful to me. A single petition is all it takes to punish you!" He had figured it out and knew that Qiu Yan truly wanted to pursue the Imperial Examinations and wouldn't harm his life, so he felt somewhat emboldened.

Qiu Yan wasn't annoyed by this. He turned around and said, "Your suffering hasn't even begun yet. You'd better pray for yourself. You say I hurt you? Do you have any proof?"

"You!" Prince Yan pointed at Qiu Yan, his expression changing rapidly. The bloodstains and wounds on his body had disappeared and healed. "I am a prince. Do I need proof to punish a mere scholar? I see you have some ability. Why not join my tutelage to atone for your sins? Back when the world was not yet settled, the Marquis of Eastern Foothills also offended the Emperor Taizu. Later, he surrendered, and the Emperor Taizu still forgave him, granting his wife and children a title. I am a descendant of the dragon; I have that much magnanimity. What do you say?"

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Qiu Yan sized up Prince Yan a few times, quite surprised. "I underestimated you before. You compare yourself to Emperor Taizu; your ambition is quite large. This is inappropriate! Inappropriate! We need to add another layer of restraint!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he shifted his body and appeared in front of Prince Yan in the blink of an eye. With a flick of his finger, he broke through the other's scalp, extracted a bit of blood and thought, and merged it with a bit of Stove Fire, forming a headband.

The headband extended, landing on Prince Yan's head, seeping into his flesh and blood, and disappearing from sight.

Qiu Yan kept Prince Yan around for two reasons. First, he was concerned about the Dragon Court's Fortune. Since he passed the imperial examination, his Fortune had been subtly Qi Manifestation, which should have been the foundation for his success. Naturally, he wouldn't abandon his martial arts for a prince. Second, he wanted to use Prince Yan as bait to find out the power behind him. Of course, in addition to that, he also had the idea of punishing him with a living punishment.

"What... what have you done now?" Prince Yan rubbed his head, finding nothing, but growing increasingly uneasy, he looked at Qiu Yan with a fearful expression. "Aren't you really afraid of a fight to the death? You're just a scholar..."

But before he could finish speaking, Qiu Yan interrupted him.

"Though a mere licentiate is insignificant, they are still obtained through examination; the throne is noble, but it is bestowed by birth. My journey north this time is at the invitation of the Principle Sect Academy. If you insist on a fight to the death, Principle Sect Academy intervenes afterward, will the theft of your Literary Thought be exposed to the world? Even if Eastern Capital elders of the Eastern Capital support you, they are still scholars; how could they allow you to steal knowledge? That's all I have to say! Now that Zhen Zhizuo of the Principle Sect Academy has arrived, I, Qiu, will take my leave. Your Highness, take care!"

After saying this, Qiu Yan flicked his sleeves, turned around, and left decisively.

"To hit the prince and still be able to issue such a righteous warning is truly remarkable!"

Upon seeing this, Hu Qi and Dai Guo exchanged a glance, then swept their eyes around the room before quickly following after them.

As soon as Qiu Yan left, the maids and servants who had been frozen in the room shuddered, one by one emerging from a deep sleep. Some of them even stretched and yawned, revealing a satisfied expression, as if they had just woken up from a good dream.

Then, they noticed their surroundings and their expressions changed.

From inside the house came gasps of surprise.

"Young master? Are you really going to just leave it like this? He is, after all, a prince..."

Walking down the corridor, Hu Qi still looked worried and awkward, glancing around every now and then.

We just beat up the prince, and now we're swaggering around on his turf. How can he feel at ease?

Dai Guo also said, "Prince Yan doesn't seem like someone who can let things go easily; keeping him around is ultimately not a good idea..."

Qiu Yan shook his head and said, "If Prince Yan were dead, that would be a real problem. We wouldn't be able to explain ourselves no matter what. It's better for him to be alive than dead. Don't be fooled by his words. Even if he's a prince, there are some things he can't touch. He won't make a fuss about what happened today; he'll do everything he can to cover it up. Besides, I'm not without backup plans."

His words piqued the curiosity of the Dai Guo, who couldn't help but ask, "Young master, what did you feed that prince? Was it really witchcraft?"

Qiu Yan shook his head and said, "What I gave him was Heart Medicine."

Dai Guo scratched his head. "Heart Medicine? What kind of medicine is this? But just from the name, you can tell it's extraordinary. From now on, that prince will probably have no peace of mind and will definitely try every means to get it back."

"That's precisely what we want to make him uneasy. The more he can't calm down, the faster the medicine will take effect." As they spoke, the group arrived at the gatehouse, gave a few instructions, and Qiu Yan turned around and walked in calmly, even chatting and laughing with the gatekeeper.

"Good heavens! He just beat up that prince, and he can still laugh and talk like a man! No wonder he's a learned scholar! He beats people up with such righteous indignation!" Dai Guo was filled with envy upon seeing this, and a longing for knowledge arose in his heart.

On the other side, Qiu Yan walked over to the luggage of the group—they had been led there by Gongyang Yi and had entrusted their luggage to him.

However, as soon as Qiu Yan picked up the package, his brow twitched, feeling that it was a little heavy. His eyes flickered, and he caught a glimpse of pure white through the seam of the package.

"What is this?" Qiu Yan's eyelids twitched. He reached out and touched it. It was icy cold to the touch. Upon closer inspection, he found a Jade Basin inside, about the size of two palms, with the words "Northern Darkness" written on its surface.

Qiu Yan's pupils contracted, and then she saw the Ginseng Baby nestled in the basin, turning over slightly.

"This Qiu Yan is quite interesting. Let's leave the Literary Ancestor Paperweight and the Northern Abyss Jade Basin with him for now. If he can make a name for himself on this trip to Eastern Capital, he'll be a good candidate."

Deep within the mansion, a refined scholar, dressed as a handsome young man, sat in a chair, gazing at a bronze mirror before him, murmuring to himself in a voice as clear as a nightingale's song.

ps:

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