Chapter 186 - Paying the Be

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“Do you go outside of the mountain?”

“Rarely.”

“So you practice all day long?”

“Nope. I’ll take Little Daze for a walk in the morning then some other chores and studying. I practice in the afternoon and cultivate at night.”

“Little Daze?”

“A beast that I picked up. Looks a bit like a horse, and now it’s my mount.”

“I see….”

Hearing the laughter from the main seats, Jiayan bit harder into her food. What’s so funny? All she knows is studying and practicing. Is she a dummy? What does cousin see in her anyway?

Crack!

She bit into something hard and her teeth felt numb. “Ah!” She let out a shriek of pain.

“What happened?” This shriek attracted the attention of the queen and king.

State Master Jiayan spit out an item. Seeing that there was blood on it, she held her cheek and started crying.

“Sister bit the clam’s shell!” the prince turned back to his parents.

The king and queen smiled. The king of Yijun chided her, “You’re not young anymore, can’t you be more careful?”

“There are times where you just miss something.” The queen smiled and beckoned Ding Qingqing to come over. “Qingqing, help State Master take a look.”

“Yes.” Ding Qingqing smiled.

After ensuring that her teeth were alright, Jiayan heaved a sigh of relief. She then caressed her cheeks to sooth the pain. Seeing Lu Mingshu smiling, anger rushed up her heart and she shouted at her. “What are you laughing at?!”

Lu Mingshu looked over at her.

“What are you looking at? I’m talking about you! Am I that funny?”

“Jiayan!” The king of Yijun shouted at her. Doesn’t she know where she is right now? Even if you don’t like her, this is not an appropriate thing to do in front of the crowd!

“I only asked her a question!” Even father is on her side! Jiayan’s face turned red with anger, and she pointed at Lu Mingshu. “Speak up!”

Lu Mingshu gave her a thin smile before answering. “Nothing much, I’m just happy that I won the bet with State Master Jiayan.”

State Master Jiayan stared at her blankly for a moment.

“Has State Master forgotten?” Lu Mingshu looked at her. “On the opening day, State Master and I bet in front of the crowd about whether I could get into the New Generation Ranking.”

State Master Jiayan had really forgotten about it.

That day when she sent her servant girl to deliver medicine to Lu Mingshu and got exposed by Xie Lianzhen, she had been so upset that she skipped the competition for a few days. Now that Lu Mingshu spoke about it in front of everyone, shivers ran down her spine.

The bet! A hundred mystic crystals!

Her first reaction was to look over at her father, the king of Yijun.

“There’s such a thing?” The king of Yijun looked at Jiayan in shock.

Lu Mingshu answered before Jiayan could. “Your Majesty isn’t aware of it? That day, State Master and I made a bet; if I didn’t get into the New Generation Ranking, I’ll stop bothering her, and but I did, she’d have to pay me…”

Lu Mingshu didn’t complete the sentence, but people who knew State Master Jiayan personally would know roughly how much she bet.

The king of Yijun furrowed his eyebrows. “Jiayan, you have to concede defeat if you lost.”

“…yes, father.”

After a while, nothing happened. The king of Yijun looked at her oddly. “What are you doing then? Pay the bet!”

State Master Jiayan’s eyes brimmed with tears. Where am I supposed to get a hundred mystic crystals!?

Lu Mingshu continued to stare at her without any intention of saving her.

The king of Yijun sighed and spoke up. “Miss Lu, Jiayan’s been spoiled by me. I apologize on her behalf if she has offended you.”

Lu Mingshu shook her head. “Just a fair bet. It can’t be considered offending me.”

The king of Yijun smiled stiffly. Is this Miss Lu really that dense, or is she doing it on purpose?

With that, he looked at Lu Mingshu. “I’ll pay for Jiayan. How much is it?”

“Not much, only a hundred mystic crystals.”

The king of Yijun then turned to the servant next to him. “Go get a hundred… mystic crystals?” The last two words were significantly higher-pitched than his other words. He looked at Lu Mingshu oddly, and then turned to Jiayan

Jiayan didn’t even dare to raise her head. A hundred mystic crystals was something that even a Spirit Realm elder might not have. She may have a good life, but all her money had to pass through the king of Yijun before she could use it.

“Jiayan!” The king of Yijun looked at her in anger.

Jiayan didn’t even dare to look up.

“You…!” He was so angry that he started shaking. But he managed to calm himself down. This idiot, why are you so easy to fool? And this Lu Mingshu, even though Jiayan may have harassed you a bit, aren’t you taking things too far?

But Lu Mingshu didn’t seem to care what others thought of her and continued to enjoy herself.

The king of Yijun took a deep breath and beckoned his servant over. “Go get a hundred mystic crystals.”

The servant did as told.

In a short while, a pouch was in Lu Mingshu’s hand.

A hundred mystic crystals was not a small amount. The king of Yijun seemed to stare daggers at her. “Miss Lu, a hundred mystic crystals. Keep it well.”

Lu Mingshu didn’t count the crystals in front of the crowd, at least leaving him some face.

“Thank you.”

Seeing this, the queen gave the king of Yijun a stiff smile and glanced over at the king of Zhongzhou.

…who shook his head in response and sighed.

This girl is indeed very stubborn. She’s in this situation and yet she still dared to offend the king of Yijun? Perhaps she never planned to stay in the first place?

“Where’s Xing’er? Call him over.”

“Yes,” Ding Qingqing answered.

Lu Mingshu batted her eyelids. After what happened yesterday, she didn’t feel like seeing Xie Lianzhen. After hearing from Wei Chunqiu about Xie Lianzhen’s past, she didn’t know what to feel or do since her entire plan went down the drain.

But it was the queen’s order, so there was nothing she could do.

After a moment, Xie Zhanghui came over, pushing Xie Lianzhen.

“Elder brother!” The little prince went over happily.

Xie Lianzhen smiled and caressed his head.

It was a warm sight in the eyes of others, but not to Lu Mingshu.

Someone who sees nothing as important, how is he able to pretend that he cares and loves his younger brother?

“King. Queen.” Xie Lianzhen slightly bowed to them.

The king of Zhongzhou smiled at him. “Is there any improvement in your cultivation recently? Ah, this…! Are you preparing to break through to the Spirit Realm?”

Xie Lianzhen nodded. “I’ll have a try. If I fail, it will be easy to make adjustments.”

“That’s good. You’ve certainly trained enough.”

The queen then interrupted. “Of course you’ll succeed! The competition is about to start, Xing’er, come over.”

“Cousin, sit here!” State Master Jiayan hurriedly beckoned him to go over. “Watch it with us.”

“Yes.” The little prince nodded excitedly. “Sit with us, brother.”

The queen heaved a sigh of relief silently and plastered a smile on her face. “Ah, go ahead.”

Seeing that the queen had no comments, the servant girls prepared the seat for Xie Lianzhen.

At this moment, Xiahou Shan appeared on the rooftop.