My disciples are all villains.

Qin Jun's brows relaxed.

A dead assassin was better than one that had escaped assassin.

After all, he was the one who had invited Li Yunzhao over. His only wish now was for the Fourth Prince not to use this against him when he returned to the imperial city.

"Men!" Qin Jun shouted.

A guard marched into the courtyard.

"My lord!"

"Clean this up."

The guard looked at the corpse on the ground. Without a second thought, he dragged it away.

Li Yunzhao slowly got up to his feet. He looked up at the moon which had just risen in the skies and saw that the new moon resembled a sickle.

It was getting late, so he should be heading back.

He had been out for long enough. If he was not back when the Empress Dowager summoned him, he dared not imagine the consequences.

"Old Mister, I'll return tomorrow. Farewell," Li Yunzhao said.

Lu Zhou said nothing. Nobody stopped him as well as they looked on when he left the Prince of Qi Mansion.

Appearing slightly awkward, the Fourth Prince, Liu Bing, smiled and said, "I think…it's time for me to leave as well."

'Look at that thick face of his.'

Lu Zhou was reminded of Jiang Aijian. He said, "You remind me of him."

He wanted to add that it was expected since they were born of the same father, but when he thought about Jiang Aijian's identity, he did not say it.

"Him?"

"Forget it. There's no need to bring him up."

It had been a long time since he was in contact with Jiang Aijian. The last time they contacted was through Mingshi Yin.

Now, Lu Zhou was in the Divine Capital. Although he was a prince, Jiang Aijian refrained from associating himself with anyone within the palace walls. Therefore, Lu Zhou reckoned that Jiang Aijian would not come.

Lu Zhou returned to the great hall with his hands behind his back while Liu Bing followed after him.

Little Yuan'er found this strange and said, "It's late. Why aren't you leaving?"

"Leaving?"

"Do you think that my master doesn't need to sleep?" Little Yuan'er thought that this person was slightly daft.

Liu Bing smiled. He cupped his fists at Lu Zhou and said, "Old Mister, in any case, I genuinely want to make more friends. There's no need to rush for a decision. It's always good to have another friend. We shall meet again. Until then."

Lu Zhou did not stop him. He had no intention of interfering with the factions in the palace. After all, Liu Bing had just returned from the borders and did not have a firm foundation, and there were many who were keeping a close eye on him.

This was apparent from his impersonation of a minor eunuch.

Little Yuan'er scratched her head and said, "Master, is he threatening us? Should I catch him?"

"There's no need," said Lu Zhou.

"Oh."

Little Yuan'er returned to Zhao Yue's side. When she glanced at her Senior Sister and remembered her tragic past, she said with a sigh, "Senior Sister, now that I think about it, I've had a happier life than you."

Lu Zhou was taken aback. Although he knew that she meant to comfort Zhao Yue and intended to say that she had been slightly ungrateful for her own life thus far, it somehow came out wrong.

…

In the courtyard, many servants came in to clean.

Qin Jun's son stretched his limbs and walked over. "Father, are our guests still here?"

"Don't wander about. Go back to your room," said Qin Jun.

"Who is he?"

Qin Jun turned to look in the direction of the great hall. Then, he looked at the damaged wall and said, "The guy your little sister won't stop talking about…"

Qin Shuo stood riveted to the ground. He was dumbstruck.

Qin Jun was too lazy to explain, thus he ordered a nearby servant, "Bring him back to his room. How will such a coward be able to inherit this mansion?"

"Understood."

When the courtyard was nearly cleaned, Qin Jun went into the main hall with the butler, Old Hong.

"Old Mister, I didn't know that the Fourth Prince would be coming as well. Please forgive me," said Qin Jun.

"Don't you know him?"

Qin Jun sighed. "The Fourth Prince is usually at the borders. He was very young when he left. Now that he's returned as a middle-aged man, his appearance has changed a lot. On top of that, in that disguise, I wasn't able to recognize him."

"The borders…" Lu Zhou mumbled, "Since he's from the borders, why is he trying to gather people to himself like the other princes?"

In Lu Zhou's impression in his past life, the people of the borders did not usually conform to these standards.

Qin Jun said, "It's only to protect himself. Soon, the Fourth Prince's military authority will be taken from him. When that time comes, he'll be alone and powerless. He has no intention of harming the others, but the same can't be said about the others."

At this juncture, Old Hong sighed as well. "Forget it."

Lu Zhou stood up with his hands behind his back. "You've done well…I've always differentiated between gratitude and grudges. Tell me what is it that you want."

Qin Jun hastily waved his hands and said, "I dare not! Unlike the greedy bunch of the cultivation world, I'd never covet the Evil Sky Pavilion's properties."

As Lu Zhou shook his head, he turned around and left while Little Yuan'er departed with Zhao Yue.

…

Meanwhile, Mingshi Yin locked Lu Qiuping up in the north pavilion.

Then, he brought Pan Zhong over and sealed Lu Qiuping's cultivation base before going to rest.

Early the next morning, Mingshi Yin left the Evil Sky Pavilion and flew toward the Divine Capital. Halfway on his flight, he suddenly remembered a question. 'Where's Master? How am I supposed to find him?'

…

In the afternoon, at the Prince of Qi Mansion, it was almost at the appointed time.

The old butler, Hong Fu, knew that Eunuch Li would come again, so he had been waiting at the door first thing in the morning. He would peer down the streets every now and then and even run to the intersection to wait.

It was only when the sun was sliding toward the west that a familiar carriage came into sight.

Hong Fu was overjoyed. He kept gesturing at the servants beside himself. "Tell the master that he's here."

"Understood. I'll go right away."

The carriage came to a stop before Hong Fu.

As the curtains were parted, the silver-haired Li Yunzhao alighted from the carriage. He did not seem to be in his best condition.

"Eunuch Li." The butler hastily supported him.

Li Yunzhao disembarked and looked up at the mansion. Then, he sighed and said, "I've kept my word. I hope that he keeps his as well."

"This way." Hong Fu dared not speak on behalf of Lu Zhou. After all, they were now here, and this matter would be up to them. He would leave fate to the heavens.

Li Yunzhao produced a brocade box as he followed Hong Fu into the mansion.

Shortly after, they entered the main hall.

When he saw the stately and unmoving Lu Zhou, Li Yunzhao dared not act carelessly. He walked respectfully up to him and presented the brocade box with both hands as he said, "This is the blank Heaven Writing scroll I mentioned yesterday."

Lu Zhou's gaze fell upon the brocade box. "Do you know what is it used for?"

'If it's nothing but a useless piece of junk, they wouldn't have kept it until now.'

Li Yunzhao said, "Come to think of it, the Empress Dowager was ailed by a heart illness for a long time. When she unintentionally used this as a pillow, she was cured of the illness within a month. I think that this item must be different from a 'scroll' that's meant to be read, but it's some kind of ancient jade which contains certain powers."

"You're a good guesser." Lu Zhou did not reveal the answer. He left it up to his imagination.

As he accepted the brocade box, Lu Zhou waved his sleeve and the lid was opened.

"Ding! Obtained one remnant Open Heaven Writing scroll."

As he expected, it was a remnant Open Heaven Writing scroll.

"There's one more?" When Lu Zhou aw this Open Heaven Writing Scroll, he frowned slightly.

Li Yunzhao was startled with a jump. He hastily explained, "I have no intention of keeping it to myself. If I had, I wouldn't have waited until this day. Throughout the years, I have had no shortage of chances."