Before arriving in the capital, Wu Long had Shen Min change her disguise with the earring. Thus she would not be recognized by anyone who might have seen her before as a member of the secret guard.
They went to a branch of the Soaring Feather Trading Company, and while she was wondering what he wanted to buy he showed the attendant some kind of a token, which instantly caused the attendant to plast the widest smile she ever saw on a human to his face and lead them to a VIP room. They did not have to wait long until a middle-aged man, who turned out to be the regional manager of the whole Tingren Kingdom, entered with an even wider smile.
After Wu Long asked him for help with meeting Princess Cai Yin under the astonished eyes of Shen Min, the regional manager treated it as an imperial command and ran out to do his bidding.
“W-what is your relationship with the Soaring Feather Trading Company?”
She asked while the regional manager was out.
“I helped their owner with some things” 𝒃𝒆𝒐𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝙘𝙤𝒎
Wu Long said with a slightly nostalgic smile, as a certain attractive figure appeared in his mind.
“Owner…? S-Sui Luxiao?!?!”
She asked, as it was the name of one of the more influential people on the continent, she of course knew it. He simply nodded, while she was trying to guess what kind of a person was he really. His actions and words managed to always surprise her.
Once the regional manager was back, he led them to the carriage, and they went to the palace together. After several checkpoints they arrived at a hall, where they waited for some time and then a gorgeous woman walked in, surrounded by an entourage of guards and attendants.
“I greet the Princess”
The regional manager immediately made a courteous gesture.
“Greetings, regional manager Wen. What may be your business today?”
She replied with the grace and bearing of a royal. To which the regional manager turned to Wu Long.
“As I wrote in the application for an audience, I am merely asked to provide the means to have a conversation”
The princess’ guards were already looking at Wu Long all along, as their instincts told them that he was a dangerous man.
“Greetings, Princess”
Wu Long courteously smiled, as she nodded while looking at him with interest. Not just anyone can make the regional manager of such a large and important trading company vouch for them. When she looked at him more closely, her eyes slightly widened, as she saw his handsome face on a portrait before.
Regional manager Wen, at this time, excused himself as he was not there to participate, but only to provide a place for Wu Long to have a conversation with the princess.
“I came here to ask for your help…”
As these words came out of his mouth a look of disdain appeared on some of her attendants’ faces, as people begging for favors was a regular sight here.
“…in exterminating the Supreme Master Palace”
And when he finished, silence filled the hall, as everyone except Shen Min looked at him with dumbfounded looks. Shen Min only shook her head as she too found it absurd, just was not as shocked as them.
“Presumptious! How dare you joke with her highness!”
One of her attendants shouted and the guards also adjusted their poses to slightly menacing ones. But to their surprise, Cai Yin raised her hand.
“Are you serious?”
“…your highness…”
“…”
She asked, this time being the one to dumbfound everyone around.
“Yes”
He replied without batting an eye at the reaction of others, as he looked at her.? The middle-aged man beside her looked at him with narrowed eyes.
She sighed and looked at him for some time.
“I believe we have never met, what would make you think I would help you?”
“As any royal or influential person on this continent, you should have seen my portrait and know what happened at the Ye family banquet, so you should guess that I may have the means to do it, though of course not sure. But that aside, your own country is slowly rotting because of their existence, so it should be you asking me for help, however, since I was the one to ask for this meeting, I decided to be the one asking for cooperation”
He replied, looking her straight in the eyes. She was also looking at him, trying to figure out his motives.
“I do not have the power to help you even if I wanted. And even if I did have power, I still would not have lent it to you since slaughter is not an answer. We can only reach greater benefits through peaceful negotiations”
She finally replied after some time.
“I only need your people to power a formation, so no strength is required of them apart from their Spiritual Qi, and as for peace… I can see that you don’t believe that. You wanted to eradicate them long before I even showed up here… but something’s holding you down”
He said as he was not yet sure if he would be able to get her help until the moment he asked for help in exterminating the Supreme Master Pavilion when he saw a certain glint in her eyes.
She now widened her eyes, as it was not easy to read her intentions and emotions, since as a royal she was required to hide them very well. Yet it seemed that Wu Long saw through her “peace is the way” mask as easily as through clear water.
There was not a shadow of uncertainty in his statement, and there was none in her conviction that he was not bluffing.
She looked at the man to her side with a slightly distressed look.
“Your Highness, are you really going to let go of years of effort just because of an unknown stranger with questionable motives? He could very well be sent over by the other side to make us take drastic action…”
The man said to her in a lowered voice, but that could still be heard.
“Let me guess what your trusted servant and ‘good-willed adviser’ here told you… that if you take not the peaceful approach that ‘there will be a civil war’, that ‘the people of the nation will suffer’ and that there is only one way, that is through peaceful negotiations”
Wu Long said as there appeared more uncertainty on the princess’ face. When Wu Long pinpointed the reasons with which her trusted aide persuaded her time and time again, she looked at Wu Long with slightly widened eyes again. The middle-aged man, in the meantime, looked at Wu Long as a sworn enemy already.
“You scoundrel! It seems you came here to muddle the mind of our honorable and just princess! Guards!”
The middle-aged man shouted, and the guards around the hall, as well as some that immediately appeared from the outside took out their weapons and started to encircle Wu Long and Shen Min, until the princess raised her hand again.
“Muddling her mind is your job is it not? I never expected to see a Soul Cultivator here”
Wu Long said as he detected subtle waves of soul power in every word the middle-aged man said. As he said this, both the middle-aged man and the princess now expressed shock. Soul Cultivators were precisely dangerous since their power was not easily detected. They cultivated mainly their Niwan Palace instead of their Dantian and were masters in manipulation, diversion, confusion, and related tactics.
“It seems you were hired since the princess here has talent in Soul Cultivation, but you being her teacher allowed you to gradually seep your subtle control over her along with your teachings…”
Wu Long guessed and the princess’? eyes suddenly flickered with a profound light. She widened her eyes and turned to look at her teacher and trusted aid who was beside her for over a decade since she was a little girl.
‘Hooh~, it seems she really does have talent, just becoming aware of it by someone pointing it out when she was a little rattled from the conversation before allowed her to break out of it, she does have a powerful soul and will…’
Wu Long was a little impressed. He hoped that he could break the man’s control with this but he did not have much expectations from this approach. He was not yet in Qi Manifestation Realm and could not use his soul power to directly break the control, so he could only use this type of method, and there were a few backup plans he made as soon as he saw them, but it seemed he did not need to worry.
Suddenly, Wu Long’s pupils shrank as he looked to his side where Shen Min was standing. He detected a subtle change in her atmosphere, and then his eyes slightly widened when he saw her.
Her expression did not look much different, but one of her brown eyes turned slightly darker, and then into a gray one, as she now looked at the middle-aged man to the princess’ side with heterochromatic eyes.
‘Dual Polarity Extreme Yin Physique’
Wu Long looked at her with astonishment, as he never expected to meet his third Extreme Yin physique, which supposed to be extremely rare, but now seemed as common as cabbages.