Shen Anran gave Li Yuanling an odd look and asked, "He knows Your Highness's identity, and still refuses to let up like this?"
Li Yuanling thought for a moment and said, "That is also what confuses and frustrates me. This person seems to have quite a background, and he has not shown the slightest restraint just because of my identity, or even my threats."
As she said this, Li Yuanling was visibly somewhat vexed, "If I had known, I would not have been so kind as to help with anything in the first place."
At those words, Li Musheng gave her a sidelong glance and said with a laugh, "Listen to yourself, you are just showing off. Someone is pursuing you, which means this adopted sister of mine does have at least a tiny bit of charm, does she not?"
At those words, Li Yuanling immediately furrowed her elegant brows, shot Li Musheng a sharp look, and said, "What do you mean, a tiny bit of charm? The line of people pursuing me could stretch from the imperial palace all the way to the city gates of Shangyang City, for your information."
Then her gaze shifted, and she said, "No, I helped you with so much work. Now it is your turn to repay me, Elder Brother. You have to help me get rid of this person. I never want to see him again."
At those words, Li Musheng spread his hands with an exasperated expression, "Are you serious? Someone is merely pursuing you, and you want to deal with him that severely?"
"I meant for you to think of a way to stop him from bothering me. I never said to actually deal with the person."
Li Yuanling rolled her eyes, and Li Musheng shook his head, then looked over at Yu Jin beside them and said, "A small matter like this is something for Commissioner Yu to handle. I have no time for it."
Seeing this, Li Yuanling had little more to say, and turned her gaze to Li Musheng, saying, "The establishment of the Martial World League by the Three-Sect Alliance is absolutely not something to take lightly. And a large part of the reason they are doing this is because of you, the Eighth Prince who destroyed Falling God Peak."
"Whatever the case, you cannot truly just wash your hands of it and ignore everything."
Li Musheng narrowed his eyes, but could not be bothered to engage further with his adopted sister on the subject.
He had already done Emperor Yuanwu a favor by helping eliminate Falling God Peak. He could not be expected to deal with every other chaotic thing that came up as well. Where would he find the time?
Of course, if there was something he genuinely could not look away from, or if someone brought trouble directly to his door, that would be a different matter entirely.
At that, Li Musheng reached out and beckoned to the big black cat, which was lying not far away.
The big black cat's eyes rolled, and it immediately got up from the ground and padded to Li Musheng's side, rubbing against the hem of his robe in an ingratiating way.
It thought that perhaps Li Musheng had reconsidered and was finally going to channel a surge of power into it, giving it the same formidable strength he had given Huo Mu.
Instead, Li Musheng gave it a scratch and casually removed the copper ring from around its neck.
"Has something gone wrong with this Hidden Kill Order? I have been back in the capital for days and there has not been a single move from the Hidden Kill Pavilion."
Li Musheng had a puzzled expression. He had given them half a month, but naturally he preferred they acted sooner rather than later.
The sooner this was resolved, the sooner he could put the Hidden Kill Pavilion to use helping him locate the Tianqi Secret Treasury keys and the Fire Qilin across the four other nations, and the sooner he could leave the capital without being pulled into every matter that arose.
At those words, both Li Yuanling and Shen Anran showed unusual expressions. They were of course aware of the Hidden Kill Pavilion matter.
Though they had complete faith in Li Musheng's strength, an assassination organization that had the entire martial world living in fear was still no small source of unease.
"If Your Highness had not made your strength known, those three assassination attempts would have been straightforward enough. Now that news of Your Highness destroying Falling God Peak has spread everywhere, the Hidden Kill Pavilion will likely send far more formidable assassins," Shen Anran said, thinking it through, and Li Musheng waved a hand, "It does not matter. Whoever they send, the result is the same."
At those words, Shen Anran and Li Yuanling said nothing more. There was not much point in worrying for Li Musheng, after all.
Just at that moment, a Tianjin Guards attendant came hurrying in from outside the courtyard and came before Li Musheng with a bow, presenting a letter with both hands, "Someone claiming to be from the Hidden Kill Pavilion delivered this letter and asked that Your Highness open it personally."
At those words, Li Musheng's eyebrow went up. Speak of the devil, he thought.
He took the letter and opened it directly, then read through it quickly.
The big black cat, hearing that the letter was from the Hidden Kill Pavilion, immediately perked up all over.
It pushed forward to Li Musheng's side at once and craned its large cat head upward, trying to read what was written inside.
After all, it was the one wearing the Hidden Kill Order around its neck. Shen Anran and the others might not be worried, but it was deeply invested, since this was very much a matter of its own cat life.
"What does the letter say?" Li Yuanling asked, glancing at Li Musheng with some curiosity.
Li Musheng tossed the letter casually to the big black cat and said, "Three days from now, the Hidden Kill Pavilion invites me to meet them outside Shangyang City for a battle."
At those words, both Li Yuanling and Shen Anran showed unusual expressions, "Is this not supposed to be an assassination? Why are they issuing a formal challenge?"
Li Musheng waved a hand, "Makes no difference either way."
Li Yuanling's gaze suddenly brightened, and she said, "If the Hidden Kill Pavilion sends their finest, a clash at that level is extraordinarily rare. In three days, I absolutely have to go and watch."
Shen Anran also gave a nod, though she was not going to watch the clash so much as simply to see Li Musheng in action.
The big black cat, meanwhile, finally let out a breath of relief. The Hidden Kill Pavilion was targeting Li Musheng, and it had not been included. Even with the Hidden Kill Order around its neck, it need not be on edge anymore.
"Fine. We wait three days then."
Li Musheng casually took the Hidden Kill Order and put it back around the big black cat's neck.
...
At that same time, inside a lavish residence in Shangyang City.
A young man with a face as fair as jade, dressed in feathered robes, reclined on a soft couch, surrounded by a group of maids massaging his legs and shoulders and feeding him wine and fruit.
Before long, the figure of an elderly man drifted in from outside the room, immediately bowed low in an apology, and said, "Your servant failed to keep watch on the Princess of Grand Bloom, and she slipped away from the residence in secret. I await your punishment."
At those words, the young man did not look at the elder who had arrived, and only asked in a flat voice, "The only thing I want to know right now is where Li Yuanling went."
The elder raised his eyes to glance at the young man, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "If your servant is not mistaken, the Princess of Grand Bloom should have gone to the Tianjin Guards headquarters."
"The Tianjin Guards headquarters?"
The young man slowly sat upright, waved the maids to stop, and said, "If I recall correctly, Great Li's Eighth Prince, who has been drawing so much attention of late, is staying there."
At those words, the elder gave a nod and said, "Indeed, Your Highness. As far as I know, the Princess of Grand Bloom and that Eighth Prince are sworn elder brother and sister, and by all appearances they are on good terms. This time the Princess left the residence, she was most likely going to see that Eighth Prince."
The young man finally turned to look at the elder, then fell quiet for a moment, before saying, "One has to give Emperor Yuanwu of Great Li credit for producing exceptional children. Not only did he produce a supreme martial genius like that Eighth Prince, but also someone as interesting as Li Yuanling."
At those words, the elder hesitated for a moment, but in the end carefully reminded him, "Your Highness, the Princess of Grand Bloom is not Emperor Yuanwu's biological daughter."
At those words, the young man immediately fixed the elder with a cold look, "I asked you to say that?"
Then he waved a hand dismissively, "Regardless of anything else, Li Yuanling is the person I have decided on. I will have her no matter what."
The elder's expression immediately shifted, but he still steeled himself and said, "Your Highness, we are in the Great Li imperial capital. We truly have no ability to lay hands on a princess and walk away unscathed, let alone one who has an elder brother like that..."
But before the elder could finish, the young man raised a hand to cut him off, saying coldly, "Did I say anything about taking her by force?"
As he spoke, he rose from the couch and looked in the direction of the Great Li imperial palace within the city, saying, "Since Li Yuanling is a Great Li princess, how could we commit such a coarse and disgraceful act as seizing her? Naturally we will go about this properly and openly, and take her as a wife through a formal and official proposal."
At those words, the elder's face showed a look of puzzlement, and he then looked at the young man with some hesitation, asking uncertainly, "Your Highness, do you mean to say you wish Great Chu and Great Li to be joined in marriage?"
The young man did not deny it, giving a slight nod, "Of course. I am a prince of Great Chu taking a princess of Great Li as my wife. What could be more fitting and appropriate?"
The elder said nothing, only deeply furrowing his brow.
In principle, there was nothing inherently wrong with a marriage alliance between Great Li and Great Chu.
But the trouble lay precisely in Great Li's current situation, which was difficult to put into words.
Ever since Li Musheng destroyed Falling God Peak, Great Li's court had won a significant victory and demonstrated its might.
But the consequences were already beginning to show. Through their spies in the Great Li capital, their Chu agents had already received intelligence that the three great sects of the Great Li martial world had formed the Martial World League and were rallying every sect in the Great Li martial world to oppose the court together.
With that development, there was no question that internal upheaval had taken root within Great Li. Going forward, the court would have to devote the vast majority of its resources to dealing with these martial factions.
And the four nations surrounding Great Li, namely Great Wu, Great Zhou, Great Chu, and Great Xuan, could not possibly stand by and ignore a situation like this.
For the four nations, this was not only a rare and golden opportunity, but they could also absolutely not allow Great Li to easily resolve its internal martial world troubles and become the first dynasty to bring the martial world under its control.
Without the restraint of the martial world factions, Great Li would inevitably grow stronger and more prosperous with time, rising above all four nations as the supreme power.
Furthermore, Great Li had now produced a martial genius of the Eighth Prince's caliber, and the four nations could even less afford to sit by and watch Great Li grow stronger.
And beyond all of this, Great Li's long-standing rival Great Zhou would never pass up an opportunity like this either, and would surely spare no effort to strike while Great Li was weakened and bring the dynasty down.
In a situation like this, Great Chu would naturally also be standing in opposition to Great Li, and under those circumstances, a marriage alliance between Great Chu and Great Li was nearly out of the question.
At that moment, the young man glanced at the elder, narrowed his eyes slightly, and shook his head, saying, "I know what you are thinking."
"You think that in the days to come, Great Chu and Great Li could absolutely never be joined in marriage, and that there is no way for me to marry Li Yuanling."
At those words, the elder was quiet for a moment, but still bent forward and gave a gentle nod.
Seeing this, the young man looked at him, and then suddenly broke into a laugh, saying, "Foolish. In this case, you have got it completely wrong."
Then the young man clasped his hands behind his back, and a meaningful gleam appeared in his eyes, "In the past, if Great Chu had proposed to Great Li and asked for Li Yuanling, Great Li might have agreed."
"But it also very well might not have. After all, Li Yuanling is the daughter of a meritorious subject, and Emperor Yuanwu, to protect his own reputation, would likely not want to make her a sacrifice for political gain and face criticism behind his back."
As he said this, the young man let out a cold laugh, then shifted his tone, "But now things are different. Great Li will inevitably find itself in the position of dealing with internal upheaval in the martial world while the four surrounding nations eye it greedily and move to carve away at its territory."
"In that situation, Great Li will be besieged on all sides. One could even say that every nation and every martial faction in the world will be Great Li's enemy."
At that point, the young man suddenly turned to look at the elder and said, "Tell me, in a situation like that, if Great Chu were to suddenly extend a gesture of goodwill and propose a marriage alliance, would Emperor Yuanwu not be overjoyed? He would hand Li Yuanling over without hardly needing to think about it."
At those words, the elder was momentarily taken aback, staring in surprise at the young prince of Great Chu who had come to Great Li in disguise.
His expression then went through a series of rapid changes, and he asked with a furrowed brow, "But in that case, Great Chu would be placing itself in opposition to the other three nations. Would that not invite trouble for no reason?"
The young man gave the elder an inscrutable look, then shook his head, "Relations between great powers are full of shifting currents and calculated moves, and everything comes down to interest and opportunity."
"Do you truly think that if Great Chu and Great Li enter a marriage alliance, they become allies who will stand and fall together forever? Do you think Great Li would never drive a knife into Great Chu's back, or that Great Chu would never drive one into Great Li's?"
As he said this, the corner of the young man's mouth curved into a faint smile, "Besides satisfying my personal desire, this proposal is also a move, a move that Great Li cannot refuse."
"What others fear, I find exciting. What others chase after, I step away from."
"How much benefit Great Chu draws when the four nations come to divide up Great Li depends entirely on whether we can see ahead and seize the advantage. As for this so-called marriage alliance, it is nothing more than a piece of paper that can be discarded whenever convenient. Once Great Li falls, who will care about it? What power will Great Li have to force Great Chu to honor the agreement?"
"An alliance only holds between parties of equal strength. If one side weakens, they become nothing more than a subordinate to be handled at will."