Your subordinates are quite capable; now they all belong to me.

Separated only by a wall, Shen Yueye could not help but widen her delicate lips.

She genuinely felt that the assassin's creed—"Nothing is absolutely true, and no means are bound by shackles"—suited this Prince Regent's heir far better than anyone else.

This fellow's combination of a string of thunder pellets, tetanus poisons, soporific drugs, and a skill that mimicked a woman's voice was far superior to her own methods, and infinitely more uninhibited.

He was simply born for this trade.

Moreover, for some reason, Shen Yueye always felt that he carried the bearing of an old acquaintance. The more she looked at his style, the more familiar it seemed.

If everyone here did not insist that he was the Prince of Jinghai's heir, Shen Yueye would have thought he was the illegitimate son of that crafty old man.

Then, hearing the cries of "Vixen!" echoing from outside, the young girl slightly pouted her red lips and puffed out her fragrant cheeks:

"What a mischievous, stinking brat! They used me as a tool, and you've made me take the blame as well!"

That pack of wicked servants outside had intended to use her hands to eliminate the Prince's heir.

Who could have imagined that their own Prince's heir was actually playing the pig to eat the tiger, intending to use the cover of the assassin's intrusion to wipe out a large swath of core backbones from the hostile factions.

Even for major powers, how many such core cadres who could perform dirty work could they possibly afford to lose?

However, her Fifth-Rank promotion ritual required her to assassinate an influential target—good or bad alike—in order to spread the codename she had chosen for herself as an assassin.

Her codename was—Heart Moon Fox.

By pinning this battle record onto her, Wang Cheng was actually not short-changing her at all.

Shen Yueye had also heard that the current Number One Assassin in the Heavenly Realm, [One Sword Send-off] Song Zhong, was actually a hemophobist who didn't even dare to kill a chicken.

Yet he had pioneered the subcontracting model, always tailoring tasks to the targets' weaknesses and connecting the most suitable assassins for the job, maintaining a hundred percent mission success rate.

He richly deserved his title as the Number One Assassin, and his official rank had been steadily climbing higher and higher.

When one could kill people simply by lying down, who would be willing to do the bitter, grueling work themselves?

Hearing the commotion in other directions growing louder, the two exchanged glances and knew the time for parting had come.

Shen Yueye looked at Wang Cheng with eyes clearly filled with sympathy.

*“Though the Eastern Sea has vast domains and grand enterprises, this lofty heir's position is not so easy to hold after all.*

*In truth, every family has scriptures that are difficult to recite. The Shen family, the gods of wealth on the father's side, and her mother's maternal family—which of them is any different?”*

With a fleeting thought, she casually tossed a length of wish-fulfilling heaven-reaching incense to Wang Cheng, transmitting her voice directly into his ears:

"Wang Cheng, is it? You may call me Heart Moon Fox. If one day you wish to escape this cage, light the incense, and I can take you away to Greater Zhao.

This is a paid service, oh!"

The golden silk veil across her face rippled without any wind, an invisible shroud swept past her form, and the air warped as Shen Yueye gradually faded into it.

[Rare Commodity: The Empress's Golden Silk Veil (Treasure of a Province).]

*[The world's most glamorous woman once successfully escaped several coups, drawing reinforcements to seize the throne. Her legend condensed into this golden veil that once belonged to her.]*

*[Once donned, it perfectly conceals one's aura and emotional fluctuations, impervious to various confinement formations and restrictions, allowing the wearer to come and go as they please.]*

*[Without a powerful suppression artifact at hand, once she turns around, others cannot even remember her appearance.]*

*[Even if you brush past each other next time, you will not recognize her.]*

This pair of golden silk veils was precisely Shen Yueye's greatest reliance in daring to roam ten thousand li alone to hunt down oath-breakers, allowing her to move freely even within the headquarters of the Five Peaks Flags.

There was simply no need for Wang Cheng to worry about her safety.

Wang Cheng glanced at the incense in his hand, sighing inwardly:

*“Second Senior Sister is truly a kind-hearted girl with a lovely face. If she marries one day, Master will probably cry his eyes out for real.”*

Before she vanished completely, Wang Cheng also tossed a length of incense toward her, flashing a bright, toothy grin:

"Beautiful Fox Sister, thank you, you're truly a good person!

If you encounter trouble in Pinghu Port or the Eastern Sea Realm, just come find me. My situation isn't actually as bad as you think."

"Fox Sister?"

Shen Yueye was somewhat speechless at this overly familiar fellow, only reluctantly accepting this strange moniker for the sake of his striking looks.

Outwardly, she glared at him with a pair of fox-like eyes that carried inherent allure even when feigning anger.

Inwardly, however, she felt a trace of secret delight at the prefix "beautiful," before her graceful figure spun in place and vanished entirely.

The ripples in the air dissipated, and Wang Cheng fell into deep thought:

*“Those Western texts say, what was the ultimate fate of the Empress and her empire? It seemed they were annexed by another great empire.*

*To be able to casually pull out a treasure of this caliber, Senior Sister's background is likely far from simple.”*

After that, paying no mind to those imperial guards, he hefted his twin iron maces and continued practicing the set of [Thirty-Six Routines of the Thunder Lord's Cloak Maces] amidst the falling pear blossoms.

General outline: "The mace is the ancestor of penal weapons, and thunder is the punishment of the Heavenly Dao. Through the mace, one connects to the thunder pivot, transforming into the embodiment of law and decree, executing divine retribution the moment the mace is swung."

Summed up in four words: Acting on behalf of Heaven to execute punishment!

Wang Cheng felt that this mace technique was more aligned with the style of the Three Offices' [Direct-Year Hall Officials]; the more righteous the deeds performed, and the more it represented the minds of hundreds of millions of common folk, the greater the natural might of the mace technique in his hands would be.

Strike, owl, pierce, dot, block, parry, cleave, frame, intercept, blow, sweep, raise, cover, roll, press—

The twin maces were brandished in Wang Cheng's hands into a sphere of silver light, his body following the maces, whipping up fierce winds and shattered jade-like pear blossoms across the courtyard. Wind and thunder accompanied him, fierce and peerless without match.

This mace technique, reclaimed from Mao Haifeng, had been practiced by him to at least the stage of entering the chamber, possessing a lethal move that fused method and martial arts—[The Desperate Mace: Thunder Lord Champing Teeth]!

Wang Cheng intentionally suppressed it, only displaying the level achievable through diligent and bitter cultivation within the lower three ranks.

The group that rushed into the courtyard saw that the heir was unscathed, and most of them let out long sighs of relief.

"Good, good, the heir is fine."

Others looked on in startled doubt, having no idea what accident had occurred.

Unable to fathom why the assassins had dealt fatal blows to them while showing leniency toward the "arch-criminal" who "bullied men and women and committed every conceivable evil."

They muttered under their breath:

"It couldn't possibly be because the heir is better-looking than us, could it? That reason is far too far-fetched; our fallen brothers probably wouldn't be able to accept it."

Yet regardless of their thoughts, failing to secure the bedchamber and plunging the heir into mortal danger due to negligence was a grave offense, and they fell to their knees one after another.

Sun Xiong and several other Sixth-Rank officers had long since used the excuse of severe injuries to find doctors and slip away secretly, leaving behind only the newly appointed Gao Ren and seven or eight lightly injured guards.

They also bore a subtle resemblance to scapegoats.

Wang Cheng practiced the entire set of thirty-six routine mace techniques before exhaling a long breath of white air, turning his gaze to the kneeling guards.

Now, nominally, Wang Cheng held the highest authority in the Eastern Sea Realm; he owed no explanation to anyone regarding the assassins' whereabouts, nor would anyone dare to ask.

The mere fact that Wang Cheng did not fly into a rage on the spot and hold these guards accountable was enough for them to thank their lucky stars; how could they possibly stir up extra trouble?

Seeing Gao Ren, who had established "great merits" today, instinctively looking at his twin maces with obvious yearning for this famed ultimate technique of the Prince of Jinghai,

Wang Cheng smiled warmly at him and said:

"Want to learn? I'll teach you.

I am a Seventh-Rank Imperial Attendant Official; I'm very fast at teaching people things."

Seeing him kneeling on the ground with a rather decent posture, Wang Cheng couldn't help an itch in his hands.

He drew a [Five Emperors' Golden Coin Sword], tapped him twice on the shoulder, and "loaned" the basic routines of the Thirty-Six Routines of the Thunder Lord's Cloak Maces, along with a portion of Mao Haifeng's insights, directly to him.

The latter genuinely believed this was the capability of an [Imperial Attendant Official], and overwhelmed with joy, he kowtowed in gratitude.

Wang Cheng then looked toward the other guards beside him.

"Brothers did their utmost; letting the assassins in was not a failure of valor, but entirely because those assassins were too cunning and too vicious.

Since I'm completely fine anyway, let's just let the matter of inadequate protection rest.

Take this money, go back, tend well to your injuries, and look after the families of our fallen comrades."

He produced a large amount of gold, silver, silk, and incense ritual money that had been tainted by the [Golden Evil Master], "bestowing" it upon these heavily battered core members of the Black Peak Flag.

By the way, he also bought out their livestock-like lives for the next several decades!

This scene left a profound impression on the onlookers.

"Calm in the face of major crises—the heir is indeed the true lineal descendant of the old shipmaster, possessing his elder's demeanor from back in the day."

"The heir is truly benevolent and righteous!

Assassins broke into the palace, yet not only did he not blame the patrols and guards, but he even rewarded them. Where else could one find such a lord?"

"We swear allegiance to the heir to the death!"

At this moment, bathed in the lofty radiance of the second-generation sun, who could have guessed that the true mastermind was right close at hand?

The palace guards gradually dispersed.

No one noticed that apart from Gao Ren the "jinx," the other core members of the Black Peak Flag all had a flash of golden light momentarily gleam in the depths of their eyes, their gazes toward Wang Cheng filled with fanatical devotion.

The supreme weapon-ranking power of money had flexed its might once again.

Others could at best buy off neutral decisive voters to sway them into supporting their winning coalition.

Yet Wang Cheng could directly buy off other people's winning coalitions!

"Your subordinates are quite good; they belong to me now."

It wasn't that they lacked loyalty; it was simply that the heir offered far too much.

In truth, before returning to Yingzhou, Wang Cheng had no idea he would encounter Magellan and that state-treasure-class vessel, the *Trinidad*.

This skill of "turning enemies into friends and making harmony bring wealth" with the power of money was his greatest source of confidence in dealing with the internal traitors.

Before dawn, Old Dragon Tail and Third Uncle Zhang personally led men to replace all the guards inside the palace, especially around the Lintang Hall.

A core personal troop totaling three hundred men, specially cultivated exclusively for Wang Cheng since years prior, was also arranged overnight to garrison the palace.

In the Central Plains, those chosen as personal troops for military officers were never random strays found off the street.

They were essentially clan relatives and fellow townsmen who had grown up together since childhood, fiercely loyal and possessing formidable combat prowess.

Military officers led them to gradually expand their forces from the very beginning of raising arms, rising from squad leaders and sentry officers to platoon commanders, company commanders, camp commanders, guerrilla generals, and regional commanders... these were the fire seeds of "a single spark can start a prairie fire."

Naturally, they were also virtually non-renewable resources, with one less for every casualty on the battlefield.

Yet with the arrival of this group, another severe problem emerged.

When ignoring official ranks during work, Wang Cheng's surroundings devolved into:

"Cousin, I thought I wouldn't get to see you."

"Older cousin..."

"Uncle..."

"Big nephew..."

"Third Granduncle..."

"You've come just in time. When I was rewarding the guards this morning, I accidentally emptied my private stash of money. Come with me to Big Brother's estate to haul over some wealth.

Today we'll pay a visit to the Black Peak Flag, keep handing out money, and keep dishing out rewards!"