Chapter 146: Senior Sister's Breakthrough! Divine Powers Cannot Rival Political Might

"Fugui, have you noticed? Actually, all the names of my dad's disciples are quite interesting.
My senior brother is named Zhang Quan, I entered early and am ranked second, my given name is Ruyi, my third junior brother is Zheng Qian, and you are the fourth, Wang Fugui.
Holding power (Zhangquan), making money (Zhengqian), and Wang Fugui. Isn't that a coincidence?"

Shen Yueye walked alongside Wang Cheng, making twists and turns through the Gold and Jade Workshop, chatting as they walked without any of the awkwardness of strangers meeting for the first time.

"Now that you mention it, it is indeed a coincidence. Perhaps it is destined by the heavens, and the Three Official deities will bless our lineage to flourish greatly.
Senior sister's given name is even more pleasant to the ear. If a person's life can truly be wealthy and carefree (fugui ruyi) without needing to claim kingship or dominance, then that life can be considered fulfilled."

Wang Cheng listened with a smile, pulling out the skills he had learned from Dong Piao, Seventh Uncle Dong, making sure not to let a single sentence fall flat.

After all, scientific research shows that looking at beautiful women every day can prolong one's life, and chatting with a beautiful maiden is inherently a pleasing endeavor. The nerves that had been tightly strung for this period relaxed quite a bit.

Shen Yueye possessed a lively and cheerful personality, and having disguised her identity and stayed outside alone for several months, she was practically about to burst from the suppression.

Upon confirming her junior brother's identity, she chattered incessantly like a lark, only thinking that this junior brother who casually spoke of "claiming kingship and dominance" was a bit excessively boastful.

"By the way, Fugui, my dad said you only became an apprentice last November, and before that, you were always studying at the Lianjiang Academy in Rongcheng, the prefectural capital of Minzhou. This time, after finishing your apprenticeship, you were suddenly dispatched to Yingzhou on official business.
He even told me to take good care of you.
How did you manage to secure a foothold so quickly? And in a place like the Gold and Jade Workshop where every inch of land is worth an inch of gold?
Senior sister must tell you, regardless of whether the rituals of the Baishuilang and Chaofenglang advocate 'rivers flowing into the sea', even for the sake of marrying a wife in the future, you must be frugal and know how to live within your means."

Wang Cheng smiled and nodded repeatedly in agreement:
"I didn't even need to spend money for a place to stay.
Senior sister, we've arrived!"

Shen Yueye looked up and realized to her surprise that, following behind her junior brother without noticing, she had actually reached a corner of the Prince of Jinghai's temporary palace, right in front of a small door used for procurement personnel to enter and exit.

She hurriedly grabbed his hand, lowered her voice, and said:
"You brat are truly bold beyond compare. You've only just arrived in the Eastern Sea Kingdom, do you even know what kind of place this is, wandering around so casually? Hurry up and come with me!"

Feeling that this little junior brother was sometimes shrewd, sometimes domineering, and yet at other times rather dense, she pulled him, intending to leave this place immediately.

At that moment, a fair-faced, exceptionally handsome young monk suddenly pushed the door open and walked out.

He merely glanced curiously at Shen Yueye, said nothing, and then beckoned for them to hurry and follow.

Shen Yueye was stunned, and before she could react, Wang Cheng forcibly pulled her inside.

The three of them passed through palace guards that were countless times stricter than when they first started, taking specially arranged gaps in advance without encountering a single obstruction.

Yet Shen Yueye could not help but tiptoe like a sneaking little fox, wanting to flee at any moment.

They quickly entered the Litang Hall, which Shen Yueye had visited once before, and seated themselves in a side hall.

The young monk pointed at the tea and pastries already prepared on the table, dropped them there, turned around, and walked away.

Even though Shen Yueye possessed the [Empress's Golden Silk Veil] and was confident she could take her junior brother and escape, she could not suppress her overflowing confusion:
"Little junior brother, what is going on here? How do you know people in the Prince of Jinghai's temporary palace? And why did he let us in?"

Wang Cheng did not answer her question. Instead, pointing at a fat orange cat sunning itself on the stone steps before the door, he feigned amazement and said:
"Look, a backflip!"

Shen Yueye turned her head to look, and he indeed was not lying.

But the amazement lasted only for a fraction of a second before her rosy lips puckered slightly, realizing she had fallen for his trick.

A dignified sixth-rank [Baishuilang]—let alone making a cat perform a backflip, making it stand up and dance the Huixuan dance would be no problem at all. It was not amazing in the least.

She raised her hand and patted his arm:
"Hey, this cat must be very expensive, right? Don't break it for them."

Waving her hand to frighten the big fat orange cat away, she turned back, glared with a pair of charming, alluring, yet completely harmless fox eyes, and said fiercely:
"Fugui, why are you so familiar with everyone you meet?
If you tick someone off, they might just chop your head off in a fit of anger!
Fortunately, your senior sister here still somewhat knows the Prince's Heir of this place. Later, I'll say a few nice words to him, and we'll leave quickly.
I'm telling you, the Prince's Heir of this household is on the verge of ruin, let's not get arrested as assassins. It's a pity he looks so good, cough, cough."

"Impressive, impressive, senior sister, your connections are truly vast!"

Wang Cheng was already sitting on needles and pins seeing such a cute senior sister, and he no longer had the heart to continue teasing her.

Pressing down on Shen Yueye's shoulders to seat her back in her chair, he poured her another cup of pink perilla beverage.

"Senior sister, just rest easy here and wait a moment. I'll go check on how the welcome gift prepared for you is coming along.
There will be a surprise waiting for you shortly."

He winked at her, then turned around and strode away.

Shen Yueye watched as this junior brother walked with the bold stride of a dragon or tiger, stepping out of the side hall like a local master, slightly narrowing her slender fox eyes with a flicker of suspicion in her pupils.

An illusory fox shadow emerged over her body, transforming her back into her original all-subduing appearance.

Fox eyes, beauty mark, golden silk veil, peacock dance skirt, and gold-threaded shoes—she was as breathtaking as a Dunhuang mural.

Sipping her perilla beverage, she waited quietly for quite a while, but her junior brother was nowhere to be seen returning.

Just as she was about to activate the [Empress's Golden Silk Veil] to go look for him, she suddenly heard the hurried sound of footsteps approaching from outside.

A young man, guided by the young monk, walked into the neighboring hall and paid his respects with utmost reverence:
"This humble one, Liu Yuankai, pays respects to the Prince's Heir. Please accept this meager gift as a token of my respect."

Hearing this voice, Shen Yueye abruptly stood up from her chair.

"It's him!"

Although he was using a pseudonym, she instantly recognized the owner of that voice—it was none other than her target, the perjurer Liu Jianzhen!

The hardships, grievances, and annoyance of the past few months surged into her heart, and crimson flames instantly welled up within her emerald-green fox eyes.

Yet immediately, that was replaced by another doubt.

"Why would he suddenly come to the temporary palace? Could it be that he defected from Peng Laosheng's camp to this Prince's Heir? If I want to kill him, will that Prince's Heir try to stop me?"

She was full of doubts, but Liu Jianzhen was actually even more perplexed than her.

Just moments ago, Peng Laosheng had suddenly told him that the Prince of Jinghai's Heir wanted to summon him and ordered him to enter the palace immediately.

Their Liu family possessed astonishing hidden influence in Great Zhao, but once in Yingzhou, a single daimyo could easily manipulate them, let alone the Prince's Heir who nominally ruled over the majority of the Nine Domain Islands.

He had to come whether he wanted to or not.

Wang Cheng, sitting in the main seat opposite him, appeared quite courteous:
"Manager Liu, I invited you here today to ask if you could help me with a favor?"

Upon hearing these words, Liu Jianzhen felt a surge of joy in his heart.

'The steward said Grandfather and Father are plotting a major event in the Eastern Sea to disrupt the imperial court's preliminary plan to open maritime trade, only I am not qualified to know the inside details.
If I can latch onto this line with the Prince's Heir, why worry about not making a great contribution?
You have a request? Wonderful! Once you have a request, I can quickly infiltrate the upper echelons of the Five Peaks Flag and slowly play you to death!'

He agreed repeatedly with his mouth:
"The Prince's Heir only needs to give the command. This humble one possesses meager assets and some manpower, and I will definitely go through fire and water without hesitation."

Wang Cheng clapped his hands in satisfaction.

"That is truly wonderful. You won't even need your assets or manpower, as long as you are here."

He called out toward the neighboring room:
"Fox Sister, did you hear that? Manager Liu has agreed."

Liu Jianzhen was baffled:
'Who is he talking to? Who wants to find me?'

Suddenly, a strange fragrance brushed against the tip of his nose, and he instantly felt his entire body go numb. With a thud, he collapsed face-forward onto the ground.

A slender, graceful figure flashed and appeared before him, and the brightly gleaming [Zhisui] golden medallion at her waist deeply pierced his eyes.

"You are that Zhisui hall official who hunted me down for months?! How are you here?!"

Seeing this figure etched deep into his bones, terror gripped his heart, and he nearly died of fright.

Shen Yueye did not even look at this target she had obsessively hunted for months; after all, the fish on the chopping block could no longer make any waves.

Her eyes were fixed solely on the handsome, peerless Prince's Heir who still wore a trace of an obnoxious smile.

She slightly arched her brows, seemingly catching sight of something slightly different from last time on him, yet exceedingly familiar.

The same form of address as that day echoed in her ears:
"Pretty Fox Sister, look, what did I tell you? If you have trouble, coming to find me is always the right choice, isn't it?"

He then turned his head and casually instructed the young monk standing guard nearby:
"Baldy, go find some maidservants to tidy up the Qiluuan Pavilion next to my bedchamber. Tonight, I want Fox Sister to stay in the temporary palace so we can drink wine and make merry together."

The young monk nodded in compliance:
"Understood, Your Highness."

Shen Yueye looked at Wang Cheng's face, which made one's heart beat faster, took light lotus steps forward to stand right in front of him, and suddenly gave him a charming smile:
"Very well. The junior brother who came with me is also staying here tonight, right?
However, there's no need to go through the trouble of preparing an extra place; I'll just stay directly in the Prince's Heir's bedchamber.
I see this place is quite spacious, not to mention two people, living three people here is no problem at all."

"Ah?"

Wang Cheng had only intended to make a joke, never expecting this fox senior sister to play such a high-stakes game suddenly.

Most infuriatingly, looking into her bewitching fox eyes, his heart was filled with... anticipation, lightening his bones by a couple of ounces.

In that instant, he finally experienced firsthand what a calamity-bringing femme fatale truly was. Even knowing full well she was a "vixen," it was utterly impossible to resist.

Question King Zhou of Shang, understand King Zhou of Shang, become King Zhou of Shang, surpass King Zhou of Shang!
[Heart Moon Fox] Shen Yueye definitely possessed that kind of potential.

What man could withstand this kind of test?

As for whether his master would break his dog legs? That was a matter for later.

In any case, senior sister made the first move.

Yet, after all, he was not some seasoned veteran among flowers; he awkwardly fidgeted for a moment and said:
"Isn't this a bit inappropriate?
Isn't our progress a bit too fast? Don't you want to seek the opinions of your elders at home first?"

Right at that moment, with the speed of lightning leaving no room to cover ears, Shen Yueye reached out and grabbed his ear tightly.

"Wang Fugui!!! Are you brat not afraid of being beaten to death by your master?!"
"Progress too fast? Ask the elders? Senior sister, how about I casually give birth to two children for you and add two grand-apprentices for my dad?"
"You actually colluded with the old man to play tricks on your own senior sister?!
Causing me to live in constant anxiety ever since I received the news!
While senior sister had to hide my identity and gnaw on salted fish and rice balls with them, you brat were living it up and enjoying yourself here in the temporary palace?
I kept thinking something was amiss—why were you so nice to an assassin you met for the first time?
And that day, I thought the thunder ball you used to destroy the traitor looked somewhat familiar—actually, that was originally part of the old man's inventory, wasn't it?
How dare you toy with your senior sister's feelings? Wang Fugui, you deserve to die a hundred times over, a hundred times over!"

The baldy nearby, although an equine-essence demon, was not some reckless brute, but rather the number one novice monk of Zhaojue Temple who could captivate thousands of female patrons.

Instead of helping, he nodded approvingly toward Wang Cheng.

To conquer a woman's heart, one must first make her remember you bone-deep; the more intense her emotional fluctuations, the better. The Prince's Heir had figured it out without a teacher and was clearly a master seed of romance just like himself.

He himself always went only for physical desires without emotional entanglement, but the Prince's Heir might actually manage to cultivate both heart and body, truly surpassing his master!

"Keep it up! The day the Buddha drops some donkey-hide gelatin into your meals, success will naturally follow.
Amitabha, excellent, excellent."

Silently offering encouragement, he walked out and dispersed the guards near Litang Hall, instructing them not to come over and get in the way.

Leaving only Wang Cheng, Shen Yueye, and the face-planted Liu Jianzhen behind.

After being subjected to an intense bombardment for quite a while, Wang Cheng's ears turned red as he grabbed Shen Yueye's slightly cool hand and pleaded for mercy:
"Senior sister, senior sister, I was wrong. Let's handle official business first, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

Shen Yueye felt he made sense.

Releasing his ear, her slender hand flipped, and a gold-inlaid jade ruyi materialized in her palm.

She chanted the incantation:
"Ruyi, ruyi, follow my will, transform!"

The ruyi lost its form, turning into an exquisite ivory-handled, gold-gilt flintlock firearm.

This was precisely one of the four secret orthodox teachings from the *Treasury-Hearing Records of the Toad Palace*, the [Seven Treasures Ruyi Heart Spell]. The sleeve sword and the flintlock were two of the seven treasures she had refined.

"He who lacks faith is unworthy of trust; the myriad living beings hand over the blades, and I shall execute the sentence!
You broke your promise, slaughtered business partners, and my punishment for you is—annihilation of form!"

Aimed right at Liu Jianzhen's head, she pulled the trigger.

Bang!

With the sound of a gunshot, this perjurer collapsed to the ground, and the bottleneck that had trapped Shen Yueye for so long shattered instantly.