Chapter 893: Ninth Prince, Long Time No See! (First Update, Requesting All)

The one speaking was Li Haoqiong; clearly, he had also heard the commotion.

Li Changsheng could not help but glance at his second uncle, his eyes carrying a hint of inquiry.

Li Haoqiong continued to shout, "I'll give you one minute! After that, I won't wait!"

The two of them waited quietly outside, listening to the movement within.

A few seconds later, Li Changsheng heard noisy sounds; clearly, those guarding the Huang Jia Nei Ku were having a dispute.

By the half-minute mark, a shrill scream rang out, followed immediately by the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.

Crack— crack—

Only then did the gates of the Huang Jia Nei Ku slowly swing open.

First to come into view was a pale-faced middle-aged man, and not far away, an old man lying in a pool of blood.

The old man had already breathed his last, his eyes wide open, filled with disbelief.

A blood-stained dagger was still plunged into the old man's back; judging by the position, it had pierced his heart directly, killing him in one blow.

Li Changsheng's gaze immediately fell upon the middle-aged man's right hand, which was stained with blood; clearly, the middle-aged man had successfully stabbed the old man.

If nothing went wrong, the middle-aged man was of the surrender faction, while the old man was of the stubborn faction.

The middle-aged man was a Sixth-tier Beastmaster, and at this moment, he was wearing a fawning smile as he said, "As long as you two are willing to spare my life, I will certainly tell you everything about the inner treasury!"

Clap, clap, clap—

Just as Li Haoqiong was about to agree, the sound of clapping rang out; it was Li Changsheng applauding, and he was watching the middle-aged man with an appreciative gaze.

"A very good performance! If we hadn't known the truth, we might have really fallen into your trap. Unfortunately, I already know all of your schemes!"

As Li Changsheng's voice rose, the middle-aged man's expression changed abruptly; thinking their scheme had been exposed, he subconsciously pulled out a token.

This token could control the Forbidden Array within the inner treasury and could be activated using Mental Power.

"Idiot, I was bluffing you!"

Li Changsheng wore a look of surprise; he had only been testing him subconsciously, but he hadn't expected the middle-aged man's reaction to be so intense.

Clearly, things were not as simple as they appeared on the surface.

Boom—

Before the middle-aged man could activate the token, a sharp pain shot through his wrist; Li Changsheng had struck his wrist with a hand-blade, and while the bones in his hand fractured, the token in his hand was also sent flying high into the air.

The middle-aged man endured the pain and tried to grab the token, but unfortunately, his movements were too slow; Li Changsheng grabbed the token a step ahead and took the opportunity to kick the middle-aged man heavily to the ground.

Li Changsheng placed a foot on the middle-aged man's back, making it impossible for him to stand up.

The middle-aged man did not attempt to struggle, nor did he summon a Demon Pet—he knew clearly that these were futile efforts—instead, he looked at the old man's corpse and shouted, "Father, your child is foolish and caused your plan to fail; I shall accompany you to the underworld now!"

Li Changsheng was too late to stop him; the middle-aged man was already bleeding from his seven orifices and had breathed his last, having used his Mental Power to turn his brain into mush.

Li Haoqiong asked curiously, "Changsheng, how did you know?"

"I already said just now, I was bluffing him; I didn't expect him to be so easily deceived."

Li Changsheng shrugged; judging by the middle-aged man's final words, the middle-aged man and the old man were father and son, and their dispute was clearly staged specifically for Li Changsheng and Li Haoqiong to hear, with the old man ultimately sacrificing himself to gain the trust of the two, only to gradually lead them into a pre-set trap.

Unfortunately, the middle-aged man was perhaps too nervous; Li Changsheng had only tested him slightly, and he had easily shown his flaws.

After taking the two men's belongings, Li Changsheng flipped the token he had obtained from the middle-aged man's hand.

The front of the token was engraved with the appearance of the Taiwei Hall, while the back bore the character 'Li'; it was clearly a control token for the Huang Jia Nei Ku.

Li Changsheng tentatively channeled his Mental Power into the token, but the token showed no reaction at all.

This token had clearly been placed under certain restrictions, which Li Changsheng did not find surprising; after all, the Huang Jia Nei Ku was extremely important to the Imperial Family, so it naturally possessed various restrictions.

"Perhaps it requires Imperial Family bloodline; Second Uncle, help me catch an Imperial Family member."

"Understood!"

After Li Haoqiong left, Li Changsheng did not remain idle and began to examine the items belonging to the father and son.

In the old man's Space Ring, Li Changsheng also discovered a nearly identical token.

However, the colors of the two were different—one gold, one silver—and he did not know what the difference was.

It was possible the gold token had higher Authority, or it was equally possible that the two tokens possessed different authorities; these would have to be tested later.

As for the rest of their items, Li Changsheng did not take a fancy to a single one.

In less than five minutes, Li Haoqiong flew over, clutching a youth with a face full of jowls.

Li Changsheng took a steady look and was stunned to discover it was the Ninth Prince, Dou Yuansheng; his luck was truly terrible.

Dou Yuansheng's luck was very poor; after the massive commotion in the Imperial Palace, he had come to the palace alone, wanting to improve his father the Emperor's impression of him so he could contend for the throne.

Upon discovering it was Li Changsheng and the others, Dou Yuansheng knew he was no match and subsequently left the palace to seek aid, eventually inviting a Pseudo-King over.

But just as they arrived at the palace, Dou Zhangsheng died, the Pseudo-King abandoned Dou Yuansheng and fled, and Dou Yuansheng also wanted to run, but due to a series of accidents, he was forced to hide in the palace, eventually being discovered by Li Haoqiong and, after some resistance, being captured by Li Haoqiong and brought here.

It could be said that Dou Yuansheng was the unluckiest of all the princes.

Among the many princes, some did not dare to leave their homes, and some went to the palace just like Dou Yuansheng, but they were not as unlucky as him and managed to escape safely in the end.

"Ninth Prince, long time no see!"

Li Changsheng greeted Dou Yuansheng with a smile; once upon a time, the status of the two could be described as worlds apart, but now their positions had been reversed.

"Li Changsheng, as long as you spare my life, I will agree to anything you want!"

Dou Yuansheng cherished his life and immediately began to beg for mercy, without any intention of resisting.

"As long as you satisfy me, I will spare your life!"

As Li Changsheng spoke, he cast a meaningful glance at Li Haoqiong to the side.

Dou Yuansheng seemed to recall something and hurriedly pointed at Li Haoqiong, saying, "Li Changsheng, don't play word games; I don't want to be killed by him afterwards!"

Li Changsheng felt a bit of regret; just as Dou Yuansheng had said, he had originally intended to have Li Haoqiong kill him afterwards.

"Li Changsheng, I guess you want me to provide information about the Huang Jia Nei Ku? Don't even think about replacing me with someone else, because only an Imperial Family member with a pure bloodline can close the Forbidden Array here. Besides, I came to the Huang Jia Nei Ku last year and know a lot of information about this place; it will certainly be of great use to you."

Dou Yuansheng began to increase his bargaining chips; he knew clearly that the more useful he was, the less likely Li Changsheng would be to kill him.

(End of chapter)