Chapter 53: 1409670292 National Kingdom Heir

Outside the Red Rose Brothel.

“My identity must not be revealed for now—do not spread it.”

Xia Mingyu instructed the women who had seen his identity blessing.

“My Lord, I swear by the gods that if any of us reveals your identity, we shall all spend our lives forever as prostitutes.” They swore in unison.

Was the harshest curse a woman could make to become a prostitute for life?

That was truly hellish.

Xia Mingyu couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

Tap-tap-tap.

At that moment, Sergeant Jonah led a group of soldiers out of the Red Rose Brothel.

They dragged three terrified men and carried a heavy chest.

“My Lord, as ordered, I’ve brought out everyone still alive from the brothel. The corpses are piled inside for the corpse-bearers to collect later. We also found a small amount of coin—surely it’s what you accidentally lost inside.”

Jonah’s face was plastered with a smile, his rugged features practically carved with the words “flattery.”

“Are all of them people from the brothel?”

Xia Mingyu asked the women behind him.

“Yes, My Lord,” one woman replied.

“Then kill them all,” Xia Mingyu said coldly.

At these words, the three captured men instantly turned pale with terror.

“My Lord, spare me! I have a wife and children!”

“I—I never did anything wrong!”

They begged frantically, but the soldiers quickly gagged them and dragged them away to be executed.

After all, they couldn’t dirty the eyes of such a high-ranking noble.

“My Lord, the two on the sides are enforcers, but the man in the middle is the Red Rose’s florist—he truly never did anything wrong.”

At that moment, one woman hesitantly spoke up.

“Yes, My Lord, he once brought me medicine for my wounds.”

“I’ve seen him constantly bullied by the other two enforcers!”

“The red roses he cultivated were beautiful—I sometimes felt better just by looking at them when I had nothing left.”

Several women pleaded for his life.

“Release the one in the middle. Execute the rest,” Xia Mingyu agreed.

He was no murderer—only after witnessing that hellish scene did he wish only for the guilty to die.

“Thank you, thank you!”

The rescued florist bowed his head wildly to the women, tears streaming down his face.

He never imagined that a single act of compassion would make him the sole survivor of the entire Red Rose Brothel.

“Open the chest,” Sergeant Jonah ordered.

Two soldiers opened the chest carried out from the brothel, revealing a dazzling silver glow.

It was the hypnotic shimmer of hundreds of silver sols piled together.

The sight made the surrounding soldiers swallow hard, their eyes burning with greed.

“My Lord, please accept these coins you lost.”

Jonah glanced reluctantly at the coins in the chest, then stepped forward to bow respectfully before Xia Mingyu.

Though he longed to snatch the chest and run, as town sergeant he knew what he could take—and what he couldn’t.

No matter how good the money, you needed life to spend it.

“No wonder brothels have never been banned throughout history—what insane profits!”

Xia Mingyu stared at the chest filled with silver coins and sighed inwardly.

He remembered that the entire year’s tax revenue from Guolan Village was only twenty-one silver sols.

Yet just this one brothel held hundreds of silver sols—imagine how much it earned.

Xia Mingyu grabbed a handful of silver coins from the chest and distributed them to the women behind him.

One silver sol each; the homeless women received two.

This was returning what was theirs—not because he couldn’t give more, but because too much money would bring danger to them.

"Send the rest of the money to Kallen," Xia Mingyu said calmly.

Sergeant Jonah stared blankly for a long moment before realizing Kallen was the lord’s name.

“Yes, My Lord!” Jonah bowed sharply.

He just called the lord by his name!

The sergeant screamed silently in his mind—he was now certain this black-haired youth was a figure of status even above the lord himself.

After all, his lord was the famously arrogant “Howling Wolf”—how could he tolerate someone beneath him addressing him by name?

“Also, assign guards to escort these women home. For those without homes who remain in Stone Town, I do not wish to hear any bad news about them in the future—or else.”

As he spoke the last words, Xia Mingyu’s tone carried a hint of threat.

He knew that frightening the sergeant a little more now would make life easier for Wu Li and the others later.

“Yes, My Lord! I’ll protect them as if they were my own mother!”

The sergeant shouted loudly, utterly ignoring the stunned stares of his men behind him.

Xia Mingyu fell silent.

This man was ruthless.

“Prepare a carriage. Take us back to Black Wolf Keep.”

Dusk approached; misty twilight painted the horizon, where occasional birds flew home, their wings slicing the sky like scissors.

A black carriage raced past, wheels crunching over gravel with a creaking sound.

Inside the carriage.

Xia Mingyu leaned his head against the hard carriage wall, the impact giving him a dull ache at the back of his skull.

This was a hastily acquired ordinary carriage—nowhere near as luxurious as the one Kallen had sent to fetch him, with its soft sofa.

“My Lord, are you well?”

Beside him, Boge watched his listless master with concern.

Since resolving the Red Rose Brothel matter and boarding the carriage, Xia Mingyu had remained this way—drained, like a candle burned to its end.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” Xia Mingyu shook his head, signaling his attendant to relax.

“But… Boge, is the entire Sosia Kingdom like Black Wolf Domain?” Xia Mingyu asked hesitantly.

“What are you thinking? That’s impossible,” Boge exclaimed.

Hearing this, Xia Mingyu breathed a slight sigh of relief—so the horrors of the Red Rose Brothel were likely an isolated case.

“Other regions of the kingdom are far worse than Black Wolf Domain!” Boge continued.

Xia Mingyu: “...”

“Lord Kallen is already known as a benevolent lord, and Black Wolf Domain has the lowest taxes in the entire southern kingdom. You didn’t know, did you? In the domain where I used to live, they taxed you just for breathing.”

Boge was venting indignantly, but seeing Xia Mingyu’s face grow darker, he wisely fell silent.

“My Lord, try thinking of something happy—like how your identity blessing has advanced. Surely you’ve gained an incredible ability?”

Xia Mingyu, lost in gloom, froze.

“What did you say?”

“Ah, your identity blessing has advanced—you didn’t know? Oh, I forgot—you can’t see your own blessing without the Reflection.” Boge awkwardly scratched his head.

“Water, Frost Rune.”

Xia Mingyu quickly drew two runes and layered them to cast the spell.

Shhh.

The sound of frost spreading—clear ice formed on the carriage floor.

Xia Mingyu looked up instantly: the long string of white text above his head had turned emerald green—“1409670292 National Kingdom Heir.”

From 1.4 billion to a more specific number?

Xia Mingyu’s heart jolted—and at once, a flood of information flowed into his mind.

A single spark can start a prairie fire: You may issue a call across the world, drawing those who share your will to you across space and time.

Who says we have no armor? Let us share the same robe: You may change the identity blessing of one sentient being to become your comrade. They will awaken a unique, personal boon based on their potential and will. You may borrow their boon with their permission.

Dear readers, please vote for monthly tickets—this is the final week on the new book chart. Help me reach fifth place. o(╥﹏╥)o

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(End of Chapter)