The Princess And The Lord

The startled Zhao Li Xin and Jin Hao shared a look of dismay. Jin Hao knew Zhao Li Xin ordered everyone to watch Lao Min Na's movements, and if he did not know his Lord was head over heels in love with Luo Ri Yi, he might have thought his Lord was interested in Lao Min Na. Jin Hao himself didn't have a high opinion of Lao Min Na as it was not like he had never seen any talented woman before. Someone like Lao Min Na was considered rare but she's not the only one, and she could not be compared to Luo Ri Yi...he was more interested in Luo Ri Yi.

"It seems like she knew about the curse, but I don't know how she knew this. I'm sure she deliberately put Li Mo Zhen under the curse and the hairpin is also with her," Lory was also puzzled by the situation.

"Mong Ki!" Zhao Li Xin called.

"Yes, Milord," Mong Ki entered the room and cupped his fist.

"Call Li Mo Zhen!" Zhao Li Xin commanded.

"Right away, Milord!" Mong Ki hastily left.

Lory stretched her arms upwards. Her limbs were sore from sleeping too much. She massaged her shoulders as she grumbled, "I underestimated her cruelty."

"Lao Min Na?" Zhao Li Xin asked as he helped massage her shoulders. "Didn't I tell you what she did to the young Prince of the Liu Yan Kingdom?"

"I remember. Although she hurt that prince, she eventually helped him, right? At least she didn't mean to kill him, so I never thought she would…wait a minute…" Lory tapped Zhao Li Xin's hand and gasped. "Do you think she was trying the same trick on Li Mo Zhen like she did to the young Prince?"

"It is not hard to guess, is it?" Zhao Li Xin said in a relaxed manner. He took out a hairbrush from his ring and began to brush her hair. Lory was too immersed in her thoughts to realize Zhao Li Xin's odd behavior. It was only Jin Hao who looked on with a frown. It seemed like his Lord was playing with a doll. It' was quite creepy…

"She wanted to be the Jiu Yun Sect's savior so that she could take advantage of them as she did with the White Moon Tower Sect?" The more Lory thought about it, the more she made sense of Lao Min Na's scheme. Zhao Li Xin was right, Lao Min Na was not satisfied with only becoming the Jiang Wei Kingdom's Empress - she wanted more…so much more.

"Is she doing this so she can go against you?" Lory turned to Zhao Li Xin but the man remained indifferent. He pushed Lory's face back to the front to braid half of her hair. Jin Hao's mouth twitched as he watched his Lord's new talent.

"She is gathering a lot of power to oppose me…" Zhao Li Xin answered calmly. He put a tiny hair clip on the first braid and turned her head to make another braid. "She's been working very hard…"

"But you cannot underestimate her! She's witty, smart, cruel, and capable. She might not match you now but we don't know what will happen in the future," Lory reminded him firmly.

"Is my princess doubting my ability?" Zhao Li Xin looked hurt as he put a big flower hairpiece with a string of pearls to adorn her braids.

"Of course not! I always believe in your capability… How the hell did you do my hair so fast?!" Lory used a hand mirror to see her hairstyle. She was amazed, shocked, and also slightly worried.

"But you still need to be careful…" Lory said sternly while she placed the hand mirror on the table, ignoring her boyfriend's weird talent.

Zhao Li Xin looked at her gently as he admired his own handiwork. He smiled weirdly, "Well maybe it's time to mess up some of that woman's plans."

Unbeknown to Lory, when Zhao Li Xin said to mess up, he wasn't thinking about Lao Min Na but about something PG-18 towards his beloved Princess. Lory's boyfriend had developed a weird fetish that involved her without her noticing.

"Uhm, okay…but do it fast!" She encouraged him.

Zhao Li Xin's smile deepened, "No, I like it slow…"

"Why?" Lory questioned.

"Huh?"

"..."

Jin Hao ignored them and sat by the corner table, drinking wine with crossed legs. He leisurely read a book as he developed immunity against whatever weird behavior his Lord developed since he met Luo Ri Yi. He was doing what people said, 'out of sight, out of mind!'

Li Mo Zhen entered the room with Yang Xi Ying carefully holding his arms a few minutes later. She was still worried about him yet her worry was unnecessary because of all the high medicine given by Jin Hao. Nonetheless, being taken care of by beauty was not a bad thing.

"Greetings, Lord Long Ming, Miss Luo," Li Mo Zhen said politely and Yang Xi Ying also bowed courteously.

"Master Li and Miss Yang, please have a seat," Lory invited them with a kind smile.

Lory didn't waste any time as she immediately went straight to the point, "Master Yang, you told me earlier you knew about the existence of the white sword from a rumor. Can you explain exactly how you got to know about it?"

Li Mo Zhen rubbed his chin and furrowed his eyebrows to remember what happened a few months before, "I was visiting the Fu Hua tea house at the time then I heard two men talking about the missing holy sword owned by the immortal swordmaster."

Lory, Zhao Li Xin, and Jin Hao looked at each other secretly when they heard about Fu Hua while Li Mo Zhen continued.

"Because I was interested in it, I asked them if they minded sharing the information with me. They didn't seem to mind so we talk for hour about the sword," Li Mo Zhen's face suddenly turned grim as he realized there was something wrong with his story.

In the cultivator world, everyone was naturally suspicious and greedy. How could they reveal information easily? Li Mo Zhen asked with a quiet voice. "Miss Luo, do you think someone deliberately wanted to hurt me?"

"But why? Does someone want to take down the Jiu Yun Sect?" Yang Xi Ying's nose flared with anger.

"Yes and no…" said Zhao Li Xin calmly. "The perpetrator didn't want to destroy the Jiu Yun Sect but she wanted to subdue it"

Li Mo Zhen's face turned dark and his voice became sharp, "How?"

"Inflict you with a weird illness that no one can cure, then come here as your savior," Zhao Li Xin said casually as if it was the most natural thing.

On contrary, Li Mo Zhen's face became stern. The plan would have worked because everyone would be in great debt if the perpetrator could save his life. He knew how desperate he was then. He thought of killing himself to end the pain more than once. The perpetrator was cruel and vicious yet he had to admit it was a very good plan.

"Who did this to me?" Li Mo Zhen's voice was filled with animosity.

"Lao Min Na," Lory answered shortly.

"Who is she?" Yang Xi Ying had never heard of the name before.

"The Third Prince of Jiang Wei Kingdom's fiancée. She is also the goddaughter of the leader of the White Moon Tower Pavilion and the leader of the Immortal Tower," Jin Hao answered with a mocking tone. Her accomplishments were not something to be brag about.

"The hairpin we need to calm the sword is also with her," Lory added.

Li Mo Zhen wanted to curse but held back because of Zhao Li Xin's presence. He clenched his fist so hard until it turned white. Yang Xi Ying's face also turned red as the past months were hellish for her. She, Li Mo Zhen and the elders thought it's an unfortunate accident but it turned out someone had deliberately put them in such a situation. She was furious.

"We will talk about revenge later. For now, we need to figure out how to get the hairpin because time is running out…" Lory reminded them.

"But it is gonna take some time to find Lao Min Na," Yang Xi Ying bit her lower lips with worry.

"Fret not!" Bei Li Yan suddenly entered the room with a bright and charming smile.

"Apologies to surprise you," Bei Li Yan added but his face showed otherwise.

"This master is…" Li Mo Zhen guessed the rude man was one of Zhao Li Xin's subordinates because no sane man dared to provoke Zhao Li Xin.

"This humble one's name is Bei Li Yan. I'm Milord's lowly subordinate and also the King of Red Vermillion Palace," He responded without being humble. He flaunted his red lavish robes that only royalty could wear it.

"Explained…" Zhao Li Xin ignored his subordinate antics.

"There is news spreading… Lao Min Na and her entourage are coming to cure Master Li," Bei Li Yan grinned widely to show his white perfect teeth.

"Is she already here…?" Lory was exhilarated.

"She would approximately be here in the next hour," Bei Li Yan answered unhurriedly.

"She really comes to make a fool of us" Li Mo Zhen was furious.

"But this is good," Lory smiled mischievously. "She must be coming with the hairpin."

"We can also figure out what her real purpose towards obtaining Jiu Yun Sect is," Zhao Li Xin poured some wine for himself.

"Let's smoke the hole and see what coming," Lory giggled with excitement.

Li Mo Zhen's anger dissipated when he heard Zhao Li Xin and Lory's conversation. They were right. There was no point getting angry now as it's a good thing for them to discover her plan earlier.

"I will talk with the elders and tell them what happened. You can inform us if you have any plan," Li Mo Zhen was back to his usual calm state.

Lory tilted her head and looked at Li Mo Zhen seriously, "Master Li, can you act?"

"...."