Zhu Zhuqing was no fool like Xiao Wu, who let Yu Xiaogang run circles around her with a few glib words.
Having grown up in a cruel world of scheming and intrigue, how could she fail to hear what Yu Xiaogang really meant?
For the sake of his so-called ambition to make his name known throughout the world, Yu Xiaogang was now tying her to the academy's future and using morality to pressure her.
Someone else might not have dared to object, but who was she? She was a young lady of the Zhu Family of the Star Luo Empire's Duke's Mansion.
He wanted to threaten her with that? Yu Xiaogang must still have been dreaming.
She had held her tongue before because of Dai Mubai, but now she had given up on him. Did she have nothing better to do than stand here watching Yu Xiaogang scramble to make himself feel important?
Zhu Zhuqing sneered.
"Teacher Yu, I call you teacher out of respect. I'm returning to the Duke's Mansion in the Star Luo Empire now. What? Do you have a problem with that?"
With that, she ignored Yu Xiaogang's ugly expression and walked straight away from the academy gates.
Others might fear the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, but she did not. Even setting her own background aside, the Dai and Zhu Families of the Star Luo Empire had intermarried for generations.
Women of the Zhu Family married into the Dai Family, and women of the Dai Family married into the Zhu Family. Between them, the two families had several practitioners of Martial Soul Fusion Skills.
They also commanded enormous armies and had no reason to fear the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. They gave it face by calling it one of the Upper Three Sects, and it actually dared think itself some big shot.
On a more personal level, she, Zhu Zhuqing, was penniless and still faced being hunted down by her family. Death was death, wherever it came. She was not afraid at all.
Zhu Zhuqing's departure plunged the atmosphere at the gates into silence. Yu Xiaogang's face darkened, and he flicked his sleeve before walking into the academy with a cold snort.
The others exchanged glances, then all left.
"Mubai, come to my office."
Flender sighed and flew straight away from the gates.
Meanwhile, in the Crown Prince's Manor in the heart of Heaven Dou City, Sunday was leisurely sipping black tea.
Xue Qinghe brought over a plate of pastries with a smile.
"Try some, sir. These are my favorite pastries."
Sunday nodded, picked one up, and tasted it, his eyebrows lifting.
So sweet? Does he really love sugar that much?
"They taste quite good."
Seeing Sunday's reaction, Xue Qinghe smiled.
"They're a little too sweet for you, aren't they, sir? I handle so much official business every day that I like strongly flavored food.
"But since I also have to go out from time to time, I need to mind my image, so I settle for sweets."
Sunday nodded. He could understand that. After all, he sometimes became utterly exhausted too, though the pastries he ate were all made by little birds.
"I understand. Thank you for all your hard work, Your Highness."
Xue Qinghe picked up a pastry and slipped it into his mouth, his eyes narrowing slightly as he sat down beside the table.
"By the way, something happened yesterday. Have you heard about it, sir?"
"What happened?"
Sunday was a little curious. Had news of him wiping out that team of soul masters reached Xue Qinghe so quickly?
"I only just heard myself. Apparently, after the Strength Clan was exterminated, someone attacked the Speed Clan's compound. Their clan leader, Bai He, was seriously injured.
"The clan treasury was robbed, and several clan members died. The news has already caused quite a stir."
Sunday raised his eyebrows. The Speed Clan had been robbed? What could that shabby little nest possibly have that was worth going after?
"The Speed Clan of the Four Great Clans?"
Xue Qinghe murmured an assent.
"Yes, the one connected to the Strength Clan."
"But... as far as I know, they aren't particularly wealthy, are they? And because of their unusual martial souls, the Speed Clan has no combat ability.
"That's why they've always lived in seclusion and been quite friendly toward outsiders. Why would anyone attack them?"
He genuinely could not understand it. Robbing some random village might yield more Gold Soul Coins than robbing the Speed Clan.
Hearing Sunday's doubts, Xue Qinghe shook his head, curiosity showing on his face as well.
"I don't know either. Outsiders know very little about this clan.
"If they hadn't come out to report the theft to the authorities this time, perhaps no one would have found out."
"A theft? What was stolen?"
Hearing Xue Qinghe's words, Sunday immediately seized on the overlooked detail. The most valuable thing in the entire Speed Clan...
Xue Qinghe thought for a moment.
"I didn't read it closely. I think it said something about a hundred-year-old ginseng."
"Crystal blood dragon ginseng."
Just as I thought, Sunday mused. The answer was all but staring him in the face.
"What is that?"
When Sunday immediately supplied its name, Xue Qinghe's expression grew more serious.
Anything that caught Sunday's attention certainly could not be ordinary ginseng.
Sunday waved a hand. He already knew who had done it. He had wondered why Ning Fengzhi had dared to act a few days ago. So he had received information beforehand.
"It's something valuable, though someone has probably already eaten it."
"Eaten it? Could you explain, sir?"
Xue Qinghe frowned and asked in confusion.
"You should understand, Your Highness, that this is a real treasure. Very few people could know about it, and whoever did would have to be an insider."
"Indeed. With such a clear objective, aimed directly at one particular item, the culprit must have known them. Are you suggesting it might have been one of the other two great clans?"
"No. Ever since the Clear Sky Sect abandoned the Four Great Clans, they've helped one another. If either of the other two clans needed it, I imagine they could simply ask. Think a little further, Your Highness."
At Sunday's words, Xue Qinghe lowered his head in thought. Connecting this to the Strength Clan's destruction two days earlier, a flash of insight streaked through his mind.
"Could it have been... Tang Hao?"
Someone outside the Four Great Clans, yet intimately familiar with the Speed Clan's treasure.
Someone who also had ample time to commit the crime. Xue Qinghe could think of only one person.
That also explained why Ning Fengzhi had dared to move against the Strength Clan. He had been certain Tang Hao was elsewhere.
After working it out, Xue Qinghe looked deeply rueful.
"This Tang Hao really is something else. To think he would steal from his own former subordinates. I wonder what the old sect master, Tang Zhen, would think if he were still alive."
"Think? He'd surely be angered to death all over again."
Hearing Xue Qinghe's words, Sunday could not help sighing inwardly.
Tang Hao's way of thinking amazed him too. Whether the man was godlike, he could not say, but he was certainly a long way from human.
Sunday had truly never encountered anyone who could anger his own father to death and then blame him afterward.
"We have no way of knowing that. But as far as I know, Bai He is actually Tang Hao's maternal uncle."
"Ah! Then... why didn't he just ask for it?"
Hearing Sunday say that Bai He was Tang Hao's uncle, Xue Qinghe wondered whether he was hearing things.
Unless he remembered incorrectly, hadn't the confidential letter said Bai He had been beaten and seriously injured?
Sunday scoffed.
"Ask for it? Back then, because of the trouble he caused, the Clear Sky Sect threw the Four Great Clans into the path of the thunderbolt to save itself.
"The Four Great Clans suffered devastating casualties as a result. Later, because of their particular circumstances, the Speed Clan was suppressed by Spirit Hall while being driven from place to place.
"After living on steamed buns and pickled vegetables for all these years, do you think they'd hand it over if Tang Hao came asking?"
Xue Qinghe thought it over carefully. Yes, Tang Hao really was something else.
Before you continue