Castle of Black Iron

The woman then started to look at Lan Yunxi from her foot to her head in fastidious eyes as if she was checking a commodity.

Watching her deed, Elder Muyu"s eyebrows instantly rose. Noticing his furious look, the woman made a cold harrumph as she moved her eyes above their heads. 

"This is the ceremonial official of the prince"s mansion. She is in charge of many affairs beside His Majesty!" The butler introduced that female official to Lan Yunxi and Elder Muyu with a gla.s.sy-eyed look. 

Hearing his introduction, the female official slightly nodded towards Elder Muyu and Lan Yunxi as she said distantly, "My family name is Feng. You could call me Feng Shangyi in the mansion. Miss, as you"ve traveled a long way and it"s heavily snowing and windy outside, how about taking a bath and changing to a new set of clothes? After that, I will take you to His Majesty..."

Average people might not understand the meaning of this request; however, Elder Muyu was clear about it. It was almost like how major clans selected maids or concubines. In the name of taking bath, they were actually checking her body. 

Elder Muyu had not imagined that Lan Yunxi would receive such a poor treatment here. The moment the female official finished her words, Elder Muyu had asked the butler out of fury, "What do you mean? We"ve not negotiated about that..."

The butler didn"t argue with Elder Muyu; instead, he just replied with a casual smile, "There"re always regulations as long it"s concerned about His Majesty. As it"s arranged by Feng Shangyi, I have no say in that..."

"His Majesty is a prince. Given his n.o.ble ident.i.ty, we must have regulations. Not like those remote and rustic small families, every woman has to follow my order before meeting His Majesty..." Feng Shangyi jeered with a cold harrumph.

Elder Muyuan still wanted to argue something; however, Lan Yunxi stopped him by hand as she said, "After such a long trip, I really feel a bit tired. It"s not bad for me to take a bath and a nap..." After that, Lan Yunxi watched Feng Shangyi calmly, saying, "Please be my guide..."

Feng Shangyi replied with a cold harrumph, saying, "Follow me". After that, she turned around and left. After taking a look at Elder Muyu, Lan Yunxi also followed that female official away. 

The butler remained silent as he had a servant lead Elder Muyu to the side parlor for a short rest by taking a look at him. 

Clenching his fists, Elder Muyu felt fully indignified. However, he couldn"t lose temper here; instead, he could only bear it. Watching the high wall of the third prince"s mansion and the arrogant looks of those servants, Elder Muyu felt a bit desolate. When Elder Mushen was with them, how honorable was Huaiyuan Palace! Even being in Xuanyuan Hill, Elder Mushen was still the VIP of the royal prince. Even the royal prince had to treat Elder Mushen politely and call him brother. Royal prince even gifted an imperial mansion to Elder Mushen. After Elder Mushen left Huaiyuan Palace, even the inc.u.mbent head of Huaiyuan Palace would be humiliated by the servants of the third prince"s mansion...

Whose fault was it? Was it Zhang Taixuan"s fault? But Zhang Taixuan had died. It"s meaningless to complain about him. Was it Elder Mushen"s fault? When he remembered Zhang Tie, Elder Muyu didn"t feel hateful about him at all. Not only Elder Muyu, but even the other elders of Huaiyuan Palace were also speaking highly of Elder Mushen. To think it carefully, since he promoted to a knight, Elder Mushen had made the greatest meritorious deeds and borne the greatest hards.h.i.+ps in Huaiyuan Palace. However, Elder Mushen didn"t complain about it at all. Nor did he scramble for power. What Elder Mushen had done couldn"t even be made by the former head of Huaiyuan Palace. When they thought that Elder Mushen was forced to establish Jinwu Palace, all the elders of Huaiyuan Palace felt extremely sorry and shameful about that. 

The servant led Elder Muyu in a winding corridor for a while. Before they arrived at the side parlor, at the sight of a person in front, the guide hurriedly gave way to him by moving aside. As Elder Muyu was thinking about something, he only took a look at the one in front. However, when they pa.s.sed by each other, the one in front suddenly rammed against him using his shoulder forcefully and fiercely. Elder Muyu didn"t even have time to avoid it. 

In a split second, Elder Muyu was irritated as he rammed against the stranger too by stabilizing his balance.

With a m.u.f.fled sound "bang...", Elder Muyu was forced to retreat three steps backward while the rude man remained still. Besides being numb in half body, Elder Muyu felt b.l.o.o.d.y and suffocated as he changed his face at once...

"It"s an earth knight." Elder Muyu realized it when they rammed against each other. 

The stranger sneered at Elder Muyu as he apologized which sounded more like an irony, "I"m sorry to ram against you. Are you okay? Do you need my help..."

Mouth closed, Elder Muyu swallowed his blood back as he glared at that person, chesting out, saying, "I"m fine...may I know your name, Your Excellency?"

"Hahaha, I"m Jiang Feng, a humble guard of His Majesty!" that earth knight replied as he squinted at Elder Muyu, arms crossed, asking, "It"s said that a pretentious elder of Huaiyuan Palace keeps arguing with Butler Liu tentatively. It must be you..."

"Right, I"m Zhang Muyu of Huaiyuan Palace. So what?" Elder Muyu looked straight into Jiang Feng"s eyes fearlessly, chesting out.

Even facing an earth knight, Elder Muyu was still fearless with a strong qi field. 

"Hehhehheh, it"s fine. But I"ve got a suggestion for you. There"re strict regulations and many powerhouses in the prince"s mansion. Many places are forbidden in. Outsiders have to be careful and do as the Romans do. It"s not like Youzhou Province or Huaiyuan Palace. You"d better not take the regulations and temperament that you"ve formed in the tiny clan to the prince"s mansion..." Jiang Feng said gloomily. After throwing a glance at Elder Muyu whose face turned black, he laughed and walked away. At the same time, he shook his head with a sneer, "Huaiyuan Palace? Haha..."

With a red face, Elder Muyu almost charged at Jiang Feng. However, he didn"t have a reason to stir up trouble at this moment. It was not pitiful if he died for justice and respect; however, it would mean greater indignation for Lan Yunxi and Huaiyuan Palace. When he thought about Lan Yunxi who was in the prince"s mansion alone and the poor situation facing Huaiyuan Palace, Elder Muyu could do nothing but grit his teeth and clench his fists. 

The side parlor was in a remote place. After coming to it, Elder Muyu stood by a window and watched the sparrows under the eaves with sadness and fury. After the maid served a cup of tea and left the parlor, Elder Muyu finally spurted out blood over the snowy garden. 

Some sparrows were scared away by flapping their wings, leaving an area of scarlet color over the snowy land.

Elder Muyu didn"t notice that one of those sparrows circled around the garden and gazed at the scarlet blood stain on the ground for a short while before flying away...

...

Lan Yunxi was taken into a bathroom by Feng Shangyi; where some maids in imperial robes were waiting aside orderly. 

All the women inside the prince"s mansion were almost most excellent; even maids could match Lan Yunxi in frame and look.

After Lan Yunxi arrived, Feng Shangyi threw a glance at those maids. They exchanged glances with each other before walking forward to take off all the clothes and pendants of Lan Yunxi. After Lan Yunxi took a bath, those maids checked each inch of her skin in the name of wiping water for her. 

In this process, Feng Shangyi stood aside and inspected each inch of Lan Yunxi"s skin with a stern and fastidious look like an examiner. She didn"t nod until the maids cleaned water for Lan Yunxi as she slightly nodded and commented rigidly, "Skin as smooth as milk with no birthmark or scar; exceptionally fragrant; soft and orderly hair; no gap in between after pulling your legs together; even a piece of paper couldn"t be inserted in; plump yet not broad b.r.e.a.s.t.s; you could serve His Majesty on bed; tender yet not weak waist, you could deliver babies even sons. You don"t have any one of the 36 ominous pigmented naevi. Besides, you have one pigmented naevus which symbolizes that you could deliver a n.o.ble son. Not bad, not bad..."

At this moment, n.o.body knew what Lan Yunxi was thinking about. After Feng Shangyi checked her body, Lan Yunxi asked distantly, "Is it okay now?"

"Although the virgin symbol is still on your arm, I still need to check it. All the women who serve His Majesty should be virgin. Lie down on the bed over there and open your legs..."

After Lan Yunxi lied down, Feng Shangyi walked there and checked her virginity carefully. After that, she let Lan Yunxin put on her clothes. 

In the process, Lan Yunxi just watched the roof in a gla.s.sy-eyed look.

After dressing up, Lan Yunxi finally met Xuanyuan Wuji. 

...

In the prince"s costume, Xuanyuan Wuji was sitting in the main seat. The moment Feng Shangyi took Lan Yunxi in, Xuanyuan Wuji had started to observe Lan Yunxi from her foot to head with gleaming eyes. After Feng Shangyi came to his side and murmured to him, Xuanyuan Wuji revealed a strange smile.

"I"ve not imagined that Zhang Taixuan has such a beautiful daughter; not bad, not bad..." Xuanyuan Wuji burst into laughter. 

Under the extremely aggressive eye light of Xuanyuan Wuji, Lan Yunxi sat decently and calmly in an inviolable manner as she replied, "Thank you, Your Majesty. You must have known my intention here!"

"Go ahead, what"s your condition?" Xuanyuan Wuji asked casually as he watched Lan Yunxi. Besides presumptuous eye light, he was not too lecherous and behaved like what a prince should do. As a prince, he didn"t lack women.

"If I marry Your Majesty, please confer my dad as state duke!"

"Hahaha, that"s easy!" Xuanyuan Wuji agreed with her at once. Although living people could not win honor easily, as a dead man, Zhang Taixuan could be easily conferred with the t.i.tle of state duke as long as Lan Yunxi married Xuanyuan Wuji. "What else?"

"One tower of time for each kid of ours as the compensation for delivering babies for Your Majesty..." Lan Yunxi said calmly. Although it was shameless for her to bargain with Xuanyuan Wuji in this case, Lan Yunxi remained pretty calm. 

"Hahaha, don"t you feel it"s too excessive?" Xuanyuan Wuji asked distantly with a smile.

"It might be a bit excessive for others to pose such a condition, but it"s not for me. If our kids could completely inherit the ancestral bloodlines of Your Majesty and make a further breakthrough, Your Majesty"s sons would be more powerful than that of the royal prince, isn"t it the G.o.d"s providence? Won"t the throne of Taixia Country be taken by the most powerful one?"

With a shrewd eye light, Xuanyuan Wuji and Lan Yunxi looked straight into each other"s eyes for half a minute. Xuanyuan Wuji then recovered his composure as he continued, "You"re audacious!"

"If not, how dare I marry a would-be emperor?"

"Fine, I agree. It"s just a few towers of time. What else?"

"Longwind Business Group should serve imperial households!"

"Hmm! Any more?"

After thinking for a while, Lan Yunxin shook her head. Not knowing why, after meeting all of her purposes, she felt empty. 

"Hmm, that"s a deal. After fixing the date of marriage, I will have people notice you. It should be within this year!" Xuanyuan Wuji suddenly revealed a smile as he s.h.i.+fted the topic, "As my fiancee, you could stay a few more days in Datang City. Let"s go hunt together on the 29th day of this month!"

"The 29th day of this month? Winter hunt?" Lan Yunxi became silent for a second. Actually, Lan Yunxi had tried her best to avoid this day; unimaginably, Xuanyuan Wuji chose this day for hunting.

"This is a good day. It"s the last winter hunt this year. I like to see those animals with sharp claws struggle in the snow land in vain..." Xuanyuan Wuji said with a smile, revealing his snow-white teeth...

...

The meeting only lasted less than 10 minutes before they fixed the "trade". 

When she left Xuanyuan Wuji, Lan Yunxi felt empty. Although they had fixed everything, Lan Yunxi still didn"t feel good at all. It was more like losing something; instead of gaining anything.

When Lan Yunxi saw Elder Muyu again, she found his look was poor.

"What happened?"

"Nothing!" Elder Muyu said as he shook his head. In the eyes of Elder Muyu, Lan Yunxi didn"t look good either. "Let"s go back..."

"Hmm!"

The two people then got on the vehicle and set off for their hotel. On the vehicle, Lan Yunxi told Elder Muyu what conditions she had reached with Xuanyuan Wuji and that Xuanyuan Wuji invited her for hunting two days later. 

Not knowing why, Elder Muyu felt a bit improper when he heard the news.

"Miss, if you don"t want to do that, we could go back to Youzhou Province right now..."

"It"s just hunting. Why not?" Lan Yunxi said calmly as she watched the scenery outside the window, "Perhaps time could be a bit faster this way!"

After being silent for a short while, Elder Muyu said, "Elder Muyuan and Elder Muray should be in Yinhai, Gobi Desert now. They would watch the duel. If there"s any news, they would notice me at once..."

Tilting her head, pursing her lips, Lan Yunxi watched the snow scene silently as her face turned white like snowflakes at a stroke...