Chapter 1284: A Familiar Scent

Upon realizing the identity of the person who had arrived, Wang Jianqiang secretly frowned.

He wore a look of panic on his face and bowed tremblingly to Mingchen, "Tianyu of the Black Scale Lineage, pays respects to Your Highness the Prince."

Mingchen looked at Wang Jianqiang indifferently. A moment later, a voice filled with both majesty and coldness rang out, "I hear you frequently visit Lianyin's mansion?"

Lianyin was the name of the Mermaid Princess, which Wang Jianqiang naturally knew.

However, within the Mermaid Clan, apart from the high-level members and a small number of Cultivators from the Purple Scale Lineage, not many knew this name.

In Tianyu's memories, this name did not exist.

Upon hearing Mingchen's words, Wang Jianqiang displayed a look of confusion.

"Lianyin?"

Seeing this, Mingchen frowned, "Lianyin is the Princess's name."

Wang Jianqiang realized, nodded, and said, "Replying to Your Highness the Prince, that is indeed the case."

"You actually dare to admit it so readily; you certainly have a lot of nerve~"

Hearing Wang Jianqiang's words, Mingchen let out a cold snort.

The cold Qi within Wang Jianqiang's body instantly became a bit more intense.

Wang Jianqiang felt as if he had been struck by a heavy blow, let out a muffled groan, and collapsed to the ground.

"Do you think that this Prince has too good a temper and won't kill you?"

Just at this moment, Mingchen's voice reached Wang Jianqiang's ears once again.

Wang Jianqiang immediately showed a look of terror and exclaimed in a panic, "Your Highness the Prince, please forgive me. I do not know what Tianyu did wrong to anger Your Highness the Prince; I will change it immediately."

Hearing Wang Jianqiang's words, Mingchen's expression softened.

He said indifferently, "Lianyin is pure and chaste. Within the Princess Mansion, there has never been a male servant. Even this Prince has never entered the Princess Mansion."

"You actually dare to enter and exit the Princess Mansion, staining the holy name of the Princess Mansion."

"Do you still not know your crime?"

Hearing Mingchen's words, Wang Jianqiang's heart stirred.

He seemed to...

smell a familiar scent.

That was...

the scent of a simp.

He kept his head lowered, and while Mingchen was not paying attention, a flash of light crossed his eyes.

As the only son of the Mermaid Empress, would this Mingchen hold the method to enter the Phantom Spirit Realm?

If he could obtain the method to enter the Phantom Spirit Realm from him...

Originally, he had been thinking of going through the Mermaid Princess to have the Mermaid Empress open the Phantom Spirit Realm so he could enter and search for the Ocean Heart.

Now it seemed that a method that might allow him to obtain the Ocean Heart as quickly as possible had appeared.

As for whether he could persuade the Mermaid Prince.

He was full of confidence.

To deal with a simp, he had long ago summarized a perfect practical process over these many years.

It could be said to be easy to handle.

Thoughts flickered in his mind.

Yet it did not delay his outward performance.

After the Mermaid Prince Mingchen's voice fell, he plopped to his knees, "Your Highness the Prince, this small one knows his crime."

"This small one will never go to the Princess Mansion again; this small one will resign from the position of Zither Attendant to the Princess right now."

Seeing "Tianyu's" sensible attitude, Mingchen showed a look of satisfaction.

Immediately following.

When he heard the two words "Zither Attendant," he could not help but be stunned.

He frowned and looked at "Tianyu," "Wait, Zither Attendant? What Zither Attendant?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jianqiang explained cautiously, "Reporting to Your Highness, during the operation where Elder Qingyun led a team to search for the Mermaid Tear, this small one was a member of that team."

"Afterward, the team was attacked by the Octopus Clan. This small one luckily escaped back and happened to encounter Her Highness the Princess, who had just left the city to rescue Elder Qingyun, and was then conscripted by Her Highness the Princess to guide the way for Her Highness the Princess."

"During that time, Her Highness the Princess discovered that this small one had some talent in Qin Music, so she took this small one as a Zither Attendant to teach this small one the way of Qin Music."

"The few times this small one entered the Princess Mansion, it was to seek instruction from Her Highness the Princess on the way of Qin Music."

Hearing Wang Jianqiang's explanation, Mingchen's expression, which had originally been extremely cold, gradually eased.

He felt somewhat stunned in his heart.

To think...

it was like this!

As the Mermaid Prince, he naturally paid close attention to the Mermaid Princess, his future Dao Companion.

With his status, his intelligence-gathering ability was naturally beyond doubt.

From Lianyin leaving the city to support Qingyun to encountering Tianyu outside Huanling City and letting Tianyu enter the White Jade Sedan.

To later when Lianyin returned, and Tianyu entered the Princess Mansion and was granted an audience.

And then to Tianyu being schemed against, and Lianyin specifically standing up for him, using Deterrence against Elder Kuteng, and punishing Haishan and the others.

He had already obtained detailed intelligence on every detail of these various events.

In his memory, Lianyin had never cared so much about anyone before.

Especially since the other party was also a male Cultivator.

With a male Cultivator receiving such special treatment from the Princess, how could he, the future Dao Companion of the Princess, not develop special thoughts?

His first reaction was that this lowly Cultivator was harboring ulterior motives toward Lianyin, and had used some unknown special means to gain her trust.

Thus, he had angrily sought out Tianyu.

And then the scene from before occurred.

He had considered the worst-case scenario, but he never expected that this fellow was actually being treated specially because of the path of Qin Music.

In that case...

The situation was completely different.

Lianyin had always attached great importance to the path of Qin Music, and at the same time, she very much hoped for the path of Qin Music to flourish.

Alas.

People with talent in the path of Qin Music were far too rare.

She had never once encountered a second Cultivator capable of stepping onto the path of Qin Music.

Now that she had finally encountered one, it was only natural for her to pay more attention to them.

It seems...

He had misunderstood.

Immediately following this, as if he had thought of something, his expression shifted.

He hurriedly stepped forward to help Wang Jianqiang up, "Brother Tianyu, are you alright? I was a bit impulsive just now; I shouldn't have dealt such a heavy hand against you. My apologies."

"Your Highness the Prince, you..."

Wang Jianqiang was momentarily overwhelmed by the favor, his eyes still revealing a trace of terror.

It was as if he feared that Mingchen's change in attitude contained a hidden trap.

Mingchen saw through "Tianyu's" worry at a glance and hurriedly reassured him, "You need not worry; this Prince is sincerely admitting his mistake."

As he spoke, he waved his palm.

The intense cold energy within Wang Jianqiang's body instantly dissipated.

A bit of color returned to his pale face, and his body, which had been frozen stiff, gradually regained its warmth.

"Many thanks to Your Highness the Prince for your mercy."

"Tianyu will send a voice transmission to Her Highness the Princess immediately; I will no longer serve as Her Highness's Zither Attendant, and from this day forth, I shall stay far away from the Princess Mansion."

He let out a long sigh of relief, his eyes revealing lingering fear and dread, and as he bowed to Mingchen, he spoke with determination.

Mingchen's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, "No, absolutely not!"

Wang Jianqiang was stunned and looked at Mingchen in confusion.

Mingchen gave a dry cough, "Brother Tianyu, just pretend that today's events never happened; you must not resign from your position as Zither Attendant."

"Furthermore... you must never mention today's events to Lianyin."

He understood Lianyin's personality very well.

Although Lianyin appeared elegant and easygoing in her daily life, deep down she was full of pride and stubbornness.

There was no foundation of affection between them to begin with.

If she were to find out that he had interfered in her affairs.

She would certainly harbor resentment because of it.

This was not what he wanted to see.