Rong Yuan had felt distressed lately, mainly because he suddenly realized that… he had underestimated Gu Lingzhi"s charms.
Three days ago, after he had announced that Gu Lingzhi would become his fiancée, Consort Rong had confirmed their engagement the very next day. The Gu Clan"s highest-ranking administrator had also confirmed the news in the capital city, which caused the city to erupt in conversation. Even though Rong Yuan"s feelings towards Gu Lingzhi was obvious for everyone to see, no one thought that they would be engaged so soon.
After the news of the engagement had spread, Rong Yuan had expected for Gu Lingzhi"s suitors to finally back off and give up on any intentions to chase her. On the contrary, Yan Liang had openly confessed to Gu Lingzhi. He insisted that as long as Gu Lingzhi was not married to Rong Yuan yet, he had the right to woo her openly.
Other than Yan Liang, even Su Nian, who was just from a small clan, did not give up. This made the Third Prince extremely angry.
"So what if they"re engaged? It"s still possible for the engagement to be cancelled. Wasn"t that how Tianfeng Wei got dumped?" Gu Linglong stated indignantly. Yet, her eyes were full of jealousy.
"Exactly, the Third Prince must just be playing around with her feelings. One day, he will see her true colors!" another girl beside Gu Linglong agreed.
Gu Linglong had gotten some comfort from the girl"s words. The girl"s name was Tao Qian - Gu Linglong had met her whilst completing missions issued by the Student Union.
At the time, Tao Qian had just narrowly escaped from a first-order middle grade demon beast and was lying on the side of the street covered in blood. Gu Linglong was just pa.s.sing when she found Tao Qian and promptly rescued her. After Tao Qian had woken up, she decided to follow Gu Linglong wherever she went and listened to whatever orders she had. This made Gu Linglong extremely satisfied with herself whenever she thought of how she had helped Tao Qian on that fateful day.
So what if Gu Lingzhi was talented? What could Gu Lingzhi do if she was all by herself? Look at how Gu Linglong had managed to get a subordinate who was willing to do anything for her.
Gu Linglong suddenly remembered why she was angry in the first place.
"That s.l.u.t! She has always stolen my cultivation resources just because my mother pitied her for not having a mother since she was young. Right after she awakened her Spiritual Roots, there was not a sliver of gratefulness from her. Not only did she use my cultivation resources, she also spoke badly of me in front of my father which made him upset with me. She even s.n.a.t.c.hed the Third Prince away from me!" Gu Linglong spat with hatred in her voice.
"When we were in Tai-an City, the Third Prince had treated me differently from the rest and was about to propose to me. Who knew that that s.l.u.t Gu Lingzhi would s.n.a.t.c.h him away from me, and even took my spot in the Royal School! I… I feel extremely wronged!"
When she finished her sentence, she had felt so frustrated and wronged that she began to cry. If it was not for Gu Lingzhi, the Third Prince would definitely be hers to marry!
"Linglong, don"t be sad. The Third Prince is only bewitched by her for now. You are so talented; the Third Prince will definitely come back to you!" Tao Qian tried to comfort Linglong while hugging her.
"As long as Gu Lingzhi is alive, the Third Prince will never look at me again. Now that they are engaged, I no longer stand a chance…"
"Who says you don"t have a chance?" Tao Qian softly coaxed Linglong as she patted her on the back, yet her eyes were suddenly full of malice. "If wives can get disposed of even after marriage, it is even easier to cancel engagements! Haven"t you seen how Gu Lingzhi is still involved with two other boys even after being engaged to the Third Prince? As long as you have evidence of her doing something behind the Prince"s back, I"m sure the Third Prince will cancel the engagement."
Gu Linglong swung her head towards Tao Qian, "You mean…"
Tao Qian smiled innocently, "Whatever it is, Gu Lingzhi isn"t good news. Even if we cannot find any evidence, we can just make up something, can"t we?"
Meanwhile, at Hostel 3269 where Gu Lingzhi stayed, it was very boisterous. Not only were all three people present in the hostel, but there were other uninvited guests in the living room as well.
"Lingzhi, Mother wants to meet you, why don"t you come back with me to the Imperial Palace tonight?" Rong Yuan asked Gu Lingzhi.
"I"ll pa.s.s, I need to train," Gu Lingzhi rejected him bluntly. She was not ready to meet Consort Rong yet.
Rong Yuan merely laughed lightly, "As her daughter-in-law, you"ll have to meet her eventually. She has wanted to meet you for a while, if you keep rejecting her, I"m afraid she might personally send people to the Royal School to take you away."
"Third Prince, it is not nice to force someone to do something. Since Lingzhi does not want to go with you, why are you forcing her? If the Royal School cannot even protect one of their students, who would still want to study here?" Lu Feng remarked with an innocent smile. For the happiness of his friend, he would not back down even in front of the Third Prince.
"Why would I need to get approval from the school if a mother wants to meet the girl whom her son is marrying?" the Third Prince could not help but laugh.
"As long as Lingzhi is not willing, she shouldn"t need to do it, even if it is her future mother-in-law. Furthermore… her future mother-in-law, may not be Consort Rong."
Rong Yuan could hear the provocation in Lu Feng"s voice, so he merely grinned and said, "For now, it is."
A single sentence from Rong Yuan was enough to make Lu Feng clench his teeth in anger.
"Enough!" Gu Lingzhi finally interrupted the conversation. "I"ll go to the Imperial Palace with you tonight."
There was no use in hiding and she knew it too. If Consort Rong wanted to meet her, Gu Lingzhi felt that she might as well take this opportunity to confront her directly and tell her that she had no intentions of becoming the Third Prince"s fiancee. Gu Lingzhi heard that Consort Rong had fancied the idea of Tianfeng Wei becoming her daughter-in-law, perhaps Gu Lingzhi"s rejection would be music to her ears.
The tip of Rong Yuan"s mouth curled up, "I know that you wouldn"t bear to make things difficult for me."
Gu Lingzhi turned around to look at him, "I just don"t want to hear all of you arguing anymore."
Rong Yuan should not have hoped for Gu Lingzhi to have spared a thought for him.
"Lingzhi, do you really want to go to the palace? I heard that the palace is very scary, the women inside fight fiercely amongst themselves for status, it is no place for an ordinary girl like you," Su Nian muttered.
"That"s right, Lingzhi, you should think through this carefully. It is not a place for you. You should be prepared for the outcome where you may not be able to return back," Di Huan remarked.
Rong Yuan glared at him, "Why are you here? Are you bored from not having anyone to woo you?"