The Anarchic Consort

“Your Highness.”

When Shadow walked in, the first thing he saw was Baili Jia Jue’s frozen position. A flash of incredulity shone through his eyes.

Was His Highness… laughing?

Since young, His Highness had always been someone who kept his feelings under wraps.

He would only sneer or laugh sarcastically, or at best, lift up a corner of his lips.

He rarely smiled like he did right now.

Did anything joyous happen today?

However, the princess consort was not around.

Shadow had no idea what was going on in his master’s mind. Disregarding it for the time being, he bowed his head respectfully and knelt to the ground on one knee. “There has been a development with the crawling beast incident. We have found out that Helian Guang Yao was the one who planted his mercenaries in the academy. He wanted them to verify his suspicion that the princess consort is possessed.”

“Helian Guang Yao?” Baili Jia Jue fiddled with the ring on his little finger. His eyes darkened as he said, “It’s not him. I don’t think he is competent enough to have a mob of crawling beasts under his control. Continue your investigation.”

Shadow accepted his order and was just about to retreat when Baili Kia Kue spoke again. “Start by inspecting the people within the Academy before you move on to outsiders.”

“Yes, Sir,” Shadow kept his eyes averted out of respect, but his heart was in turmoil. Was His Highness suspecting that those who wanted to harm him and the princess consort was someone in the Academy? That meant that the culprit was either a student… or a teacher?

Shadow broke out in a cold sweat as he thought about this.

When he turned his head to look at his master again, His Highness had resumed his earlier position. The tips of his fingers caressed his forehead lightly, a devious chuckle making its way past his lips. Vaguely, he could be heard muttering, “She’s learned to be smart this time. I see that prey should indeed be locked up for them to learn some obedience…”

******

At noon, Tu Sufeng lifted himself gracefully off a chair in the Underground Palace. He gazed upon the row of students in front of him with an unfathomable depth in his eyes. “The final test was not supposed to take place this early, but we have no choice as we had lost another talented member of our ranks yesterday.”

“Was it because of the Bloody Snake?” asked one of the elite students who were selected from the four influential families.

Tu Sufeng glanced at him and said, “No, there was a complication at the Forest of Fantasy.”

Helian Wei Wei held the Little Seventh Prince’s hand as they stood in line. After hearing what the dean had said, a frown appeared on her face.

No one knew what would happen after this.

Tu Sufeng continued calmly, “Our Battle Spirit Forces need fresh blood like all of you more than ever right now. That’s why the test was brought forward. I want all of you to face this test with all you have, as the stakes are high. We are no longer betting on victory or failure, but rather life and death. If you were caught by the enemies, then you would have to find a way to survive by yourself. ”

While speaking, Tu Sufeng unfolded the letter in his hands and spread it out onto the wooden table, gesturing for the students to come closer and have a look.

“There will be an auction in the Capital tonight.” Tu Sufeng paused and continued, “This auction is organized by the mayor of the City of Martial Practice himself, so there would be many long-established martial arts families in attendance of this event. I want all of you to approach this person by using whatever means you can, and extract the necessary information from him without alerting anyone to your true identities.”

Helian Wei Wei stared at the name on the letter and raised an eyebrow. “Murong Hongtu?”

Isn’t this guy Empress Murong’s younger brother, and also Murong Changfeng’s uncle?

He was a high-ranking government official in the dynasty, powerful enough to have part of the military under his control. He often behaved tyrannically.

If he was a regular barbarian, then it would be fairly easy to take him on.

However, Murong Hongtu might be a tyrant, but he was also cunning.

The methods he used were ruthless and brutal, not to mention inhumane. Despite that, the monarchs had never been able to get a hold on his weaknesses.

Even those officials who were loyal to the Retired Emperor could not challenge him directly.

Now, they were letting inexperienced greenhorns like themselves take on this mission. There was a high chance that their target would see through their facades immediately.

Four of the candidates had already been eliminated from the previous tests.

There were only six students left. Other than Helian Wei Wei, the Seventh Prince, Han Yu and Yun Biluo, the remaining two were elite students hand-picked from the four influential families.

“We will complete the mission,” The two students stared at each other confidently, before looking toward Yun Biluo.

Yun Biluo nodded at them, indicating that she agreed with them.

Naturally, Helian Wei Wei did not say anything. She listened to them quietly.

If their target was Murong Hongtu, then there was one thing that they must be aware of. Who knew if he had done too many unspeakable things and made too many enemies, but that guy never went out without an entourage of highly skilled bodyguards by his side.

To tease the information from Murong Hongtu’s mouth without causing a scene, they would have to silence his bodyguards first.

“You can choose whichever weapon and outfit that you like. I don’t care what methods you use to get close to him, but my only request is for all of you to carry out this test with utmost secrecy.”

While Tu Sufeng’s last word fell, everyone had already assembled their equipment and were standing in an orderly row in front of him.

It was not difficult for Tu Sufeng to get his hands on the necessary invitations for the auction. However, they could not enter as White Academy students.

This operation was significantly more complex than the previous tests, where everyone fended for themselves.

It was a lot harder to prove their abilities while working as a team.

Moreover, the two young masters from the four influential families were adept in theories and concepts, but they had never applied their knowledge to a practical situation before. After accepting the mission, they started to delegate roles to every member of the team.

Theoretically, their plan to go with a honeypot tactic sounded reasonably feasible.

Yun Biluo’s stunning beauty should be enough to catch Murong Hongtu’s attention.

However, they relegated Helian Wei Wei, who had the best performance so far, into the most unremarkable role. She was the scout and whistleblower for the group.

Yuan Ming scoffed, “These people are doing this on purpose. Since you’ve already won twice, they won’t even give you a chance to prove your mettle in this test. This kind of underhanded tactic is kind of shameful, don’t you think?”

Helian Wei Wei adjusted her current outfit as a common servant. Her expression was calm as she replied, ” Things would not go to their plan. I doubt that their honeypot strategy would be much use against Murong Hongtu.”

“I saw you nodding just now, so I thought that you actually agreed to their plan,” Whitey spoke up, his tone as aloof as usual.

Helian Wei Wei stood up straight. “I did agree with them, but we should always have a Plan B at our fingertips.”

To successfully get what you want from a person, it was important to find out that person’s interests. Only then would you have an opportunity to get close to him.

Helian Wei Wei thought that this step was the most important.

However, the others had ignored this step outright.

The two young masters and Yun Biluo, who was an assassin, would have some understanding of Murong Hongtu’s character to a certain extent. At the very least, they had an advantage compared to Han Yu and Little Seven.

The auction was organized by the mayor of the City of Martial Practice. Hence, it was natural that Han Yu was given the responsibility to orchestrate their undetected entrance into the auction venue.

In fact, there was no need for Helian Wei Wei to blend into the crowd as a servant at all. It was a completely unnecessary role here because Han Yu could determine Murong Hongtu’s location with ease by just asking a few simple questions, without giving themselves away nor rousing any suspicion.

Therefore, this was the reason why Yuan Ming said that it was a deliberate plot by the others to prevent Helian Wei Wei from getting a chance to perform.