C96 Trouble Detected

Zhan Tianming’s eyes twitched from jumbled nerves.

Well, this time, he had come here willingly. There was nothing standing between him and the door.

However, he would never admit it even if someone threatened to beat him to death.

He could see the current state of the wooden state, broken into many pieces. If he admitted things, he would end up with pretty much the same fate as the wooden stake.

Why should he admit it?

Although he was an honest person, now would be a very good time to use the time principle to make his problems go away.

He would not be swayed. Even if he was beaten to a bloody pulp, he would never admit it.

Humph! What exactly are you going to do with me anyhow?

After glancing through his thoughts, Zhan Tianming tried his best to protest, “County Princess Wanyou, what do you mean by peek? Don’t place the blame on me. I’ve always been an honorable man and would never steal a peek. Look at me. Aren’t I looking at you and you are looking back at me openly? If you don’t believe my words, you can take a good look at my eyes and see how truthful they are.”

“Hmph, stop looking at me like that.” Zongzheng Wanyou glared daggers at Zhan Tianming.

“Of course, one has to check the eyes. They say that the eyes are the window of the soul. Whether a person is deceitful or not, the eyes reflect that. See how bright my eyes are? How clear they are? Such eyes do not lie,” Zhan Tianming said while pointing two fingers to his eyes.

“Humph!” Zongzheng Wanyou scoffed haughtily, but she was too lazy to get a proper look.

When Zongzheng Wanyou couldn’t stand to look into his eyes any longer and turned away and walked back, Zhan Tianming was laughing in his heart. “Haha, so her skin is actually this thick? She seemed unfazed, unwilling to blush or look embarrassed even as I spoke this sort of nonsense in front of her. This shameless woman, her defense must be impenetrable.”

With a grin fixed on his face, Zhan Tianming walked over.

He believed that since Zongzheng Wanyou did not make a move earlier, she would not bother to make a move now.

Zongzheng Wanyou decided to ignore him, as she sat herself down on a stone bench in the courtyard and sipped out of her teacup.

She could care less about Zhan Tianming who was already seated opposite of her.

Humph! Who cares if he has something to drink or not? That was none of her business.

Suddenly, the memory of Zongzheng Wanyou sitting for the first time with Zhan Tianming flashed before her eyes, causing her jade-like hand that was holding the teacup to immediately freeze.

The thought of sharing a drink from the same bag of water as a man made her visibly cringe and lose all interest in her tea.

Bang!

Zongzheng Wanyou had just slammed the teacup down heavily onto the stone table.

The tea swooshed around the cup, spilling out onto the stone table.

After deciding for a long time, Zongzheng Wanyou said in a neutral tone, “Speak at once, what are you doing here? If you are here to beg for mercy, there is no need for that. But if you come here to laugh at me, then you’re definitely dead meat.”

Once she was finished speaking, Zongzheng Wanyou glared fiercely at Zhan Tianming, not taking her eyes off him.

Zhan Tianming was not moved by the violence of her words and said calmly, “I have no reason to laugh at County Princess Wanyou. Actually, I came here today to help you.”

“Help me?” Zongzheng Wanyou could not help sounding startled.

“Yes, I’m here to help you.” Zhan Tianming nodded his head.

“Help me with what?” Zongzheng Wanyou said.

“I’m helping you eliminate your worries.” Zhan Tianming chuckled, a bemused smile on his face.

Hearing his words, Zongzheng Wanyou stared straight at Zhan Tianming without blinking once, and said, “Are you saying you know of a way to get my father to cancel this marriage?”

The last thing she wanted to do was get married to Zhang Bao.

After hearing this, Zhan Tianming fell into deep thought.

Once he had entered the courtyard and seen Zongzheng Wanyou’s furious face, it had already confirmed his guesses. He knew that there was a high probability Zongzheng Wanyou objected to the marriage between her and Zhang Bao.

And now, this has all been verified.

This is too good to be true!

As long as Zongzheng Wanyou was not invested in her marriage to Zhang Bao, Zhan Tianming could go about his day with ease.

After all, this was the first woman he had laid eyes on in a foreign world, and it was undeniable she was a goddess at that.

She was so unattainable, what bastard would dare touch her without her permission?

You dare touch her?

You’ll be dead in a matter of minutes.

“Just what do you have in mind?” Seeing Zhan Tianming wordlessly smile, Zongzheng Wanyou could not help but prod him for an answer.

“County Princess Wanyou, no need for any anxiety. Please wait for my news.”

Having said that, Zhan Tianming stood up on his feet and left.

After his departure, Zhan Tianming called a few servants over to get a better feel about the situation in the Duke Palaces.

It was only then did he learn that the princess had been dead for many years already.

After the death of the princess, Zongzheng Qingxuan did not remarry but became even more protective of Zongzheng Wanyou. He was afraid of losing the one person who most reminded him of his wife, and he held on tightly, unwilling to let go.

After hearing this report, Zhan Tianming could make some guesses in his heart.

“Zongzheng Qingxuan dotes on his daughter so clearly that no matter the outcome, he would never bring it upon himself to push her into the fire pit.”

“Then…”

“The only explanation could only mean there must be a very important reason behind this and that it must be kept a secret from Zongzheng Wanyou.”

“What could this reason be?”

This, along with the matter of Zhang Bao concealing his cultivation level, Zhan Tianming felt all this had to do with the battle of interests between the County Princes.

Also, the matter with the man in black who was testing him earlier was most likely all related.

“Wait…”

“If that black-clothed man’s appearance factored into the equation, does this mean I am also involved?”

“Damn!”

Zhan Tianming felt very unhappy about this prospect.

Who would be happy once they find themselves being pulled into a huge and complex vortex of corruption?

To add to that, the current him was completely in the dark. He had no clue what was going on at all.

No!

This was a matter of his own life and death, so he had to clear up any misunderstandings.

The fastest way to unravel this mess was to find out the person who tried to test him earlier.

On that very same day, Zhan Tianming began to walk around the Duke’s Palace.

He even found a servant who then led him on a tour around the place, since he had made known his interest in exploring the grounds.

The scenery surrounding the palace wasn’t bad either.

According to the servant, many of the man-made mountain courtyards were designed and built by the master teachers of Linshang City, even inviting a special Feng Shui Master to visit the sights. Decorated in the courtyards were jade ornaments, some with dragons and phoenixes on them, some with green dragons coiled around them, and even some with white tigers roaring at the sky...

In short, the sights were breathtaking.

From time to time, Zhan Tianming would nod his head at these items.

Anyway, such things were over his head.

When he gave this some thought, in his previous life, successful businessmen showed a lot of interest in employing the skills of a Feng Shui Master to their business or home. It was also rumored that Feng Shui was very popular among the rich and powerful, with many Feng Shui Masters very heavily revered in these various countries.

He hadn’t thought that the princes of this world would show similar interests as well.

He just couldn’t wrap his mind around how this would work.

Forget it. Nobody cares.

Zhan Tianming tried reaching out towards Little Purple in the War Pet space and asked, “Bajie, did you find anything?”

“Nope. Nothing.” Little Purple shook its head.

Zhan Tianming was in no particular hurry, so he continued to let the servant show him around.

Finally, the voice of Little Purple sounded out.

“Master, I’ve detected their presence. That person is in the northern courtyard.”

Hearing this, Zhan Tianming felt overjoyed.

“Humph hmph, my calculations were correct. You really are hiding in the Prince’s Mansion.”

Following that, Zhan Tianming looked towards the servant who was preparing to lead the tour to the east side and said, “Wait, can you show me where the northern courtyard is?”

Hearing his inquiry, the servant respectfully replied, “Young Master Zhan, the northern courtyard is where Housekeeper Luo lives.”

Zhan Tianming’s face scrunched up into a frown.

“Housekeeper Luo?”