Prince Nolan may be stationed at the Night City frontier, but news from all over keeps pouring in, and his orders are issued one after another. Even when he's not present, he can still remotely control the affairs of the city.
None of the reactions from Liancastle’s people escaped Prince Nolan’s notice—except for news about Aunt Evelyn, which his network couldn’t uncover at all.
"She’s hidden herself well." The more this was so, the more vigilant Prince Nolan became toward her, quietly ordering his men to watch her closely and report any news about her immediately.
The reactions of Liancastle’s people were all within Prince Nolan’s expectations. As for the tirade cursing him, he didn’t care in the slightest—this was only the beginning. His arrangements weren’t just about abandoning Liancastle; when dealing with enemies, he never holds back, even if that enemy was once an ally.
Before staging Lance Quinn’s “death,” Prince Nolan had already ordered his loyalists in Liancastle to withdraw, taking everything of value with them. Whatever couldn’t be carried away was burned—he would never leave Liancastle a single thing worth keeping.
Even though the Lord of Liancastle instantly suspected Prince Nolan had another trick up his sleeve upon hearing news of Lance Quinn’s death, Nolan’s plans were always a step ahead. No matter how fast Liancastle reacted, they couldn’t outpace his people.
When the Lord of Liancastle sent people to inspect the weapon forges, medicine gardens, and other key sites Prince Nolan had established in the city, they found everything had already been emptied—items scattered and in disarray. Before they even reached the granary, they saw a fire lighting up half the sky.
Gone. Everything was gone.
No one knew exactly when Prince Nolan’s people had slipped away. If not for the empty facilities, the whole city would have been oblivious. In fact, over the past half month, the number of people leaving Liancastle’s towns had surged—and once they left, none ever returned.
Lock down the city… search every corner. The Lord of Liancastle ordered that no suspicious person was allowed to leave. For a time, panic swept through Liancastle, erupting into unprecedented chaos. Even sealing the city couldn’t stop people from escaping—one after another, they grabbed whatever they could and fought with the city guards. By the time Liancastle’s main army arrived, all they saw was Nolan’s people meeting up with outside reinforcements, riding off on warhorses without a trace.
"After them, quick!" Liancastle’s generals shouted, spurring their horses in pursuit. They chased for dozens of kilometers, but didn’t catch a glimpse. Only those familiar with horses noticed from the hoofprints that these were Westlyn warhorses—their own skinny mounts stood no chance of catching up.
"Back!" The Liancastle general snapped his whip, leaving a deep mark in the ground. The soldiers’ faces were equally grim.
They didn’t know exactly what had happened, but after witnessing the chaos in Liancastle these past two days, it was obvious something serious had gone wrong.
This didn’t happen just once—Prince Nolan’s people withdrew from Liancastle one after another, and every time Liancastle’s forces were a step too late. The Lord of Liancastle was so furious he smashed a pearwood table to pieces.
"I refuse to believe his people can always stay ahead of mine! Mobilize the troops from Xingluo Town—search every last one of them, don’t let a single person slip through. Disobey, and you’ll be executed!" The masks were off now; no matter his regrets, the Lord of Liancastle had to stand with his city and fight Prince Nolan’s methods with everything he had.
"Yes, sir." The Lord of Liancastle’s personal attendant went to deliver the orders, only to run into Jason Lan and Princess Royal Evelyn. The attendant was about to bow when Princess Evelyn stopped him: "No need for formalities."
He hadn’t even had time to thank her before Princess Evelyn declared, "Well? Aren’t you going to seize this traitor?"
"Yes, Your Highness." The guards behind Princess Evelyn immediately stepped forward. Seeing the situation turn, the attendant fought back—making it clear he really was a traitor.
Princess Evelyn was clearly prepared this time. The four guards behind her were highly skilled; in less than half a stick of incense, they subdued the Lord of Liancastle’s attendant and dragged him before the Lord.
"What is the meaning of this, Your Highness?" The Lord of Liancastle was deeply displeased by Princess Evelyn’s actions. He was the city’s master, after all—she had no right to interfere in Liancastle’s affairs.
Princess Evelyn ignored him, walking past the Lord of Liancastle to take the main seat. Jason Lan stood behind her, and at her signal, stepped forward to explain the attendant’s identity and background.
Jason Lan stated that the Lord of Liancastle’s attendant had long ago been bought off by Prince Nolan—he was Nolan’s plant, buried at the Lord’s side. This man had been leaking secrets from the city lord’s residence, which was why every time the Lord ordered a roundup of Nolan’s people, they managed to escape.
The Lord of Liancastle refused to believe it—the attendant had been trained from childhood and couldn’t possibly be bought. He was about to interrogate the attendant when, taking advantage of a distraction, the attendant bit down on poison and died instantly, gasping, "City Lord, I’ve let you down."
It was a blood-sealing poison—death came instantly.
With the traitor dead and no way to verify the truth, Princess Evelyn and Jason Lan looked grim, while the Lord of Liancastle was hit even harder. At that moment, Liancastle’s civil and military officials arrived. After clarifying what had happened, they questioned the Lord’s ability to control the city, arguing he was too old and lacked the energy to govern. They demanded he hand over the city lord’s position to a younger successor, lest another disaster destroy Liancastle’s foundation.
There was no need to name the successor—everyone knew it could only be Jason Lan. The Lord himself admitted Jason was the Young Lord of Liancastle, so it was only natural for him to inherit the City Lord’s Edict.
Faced with their demands and the betrayal of his own generals, the Lord of Liancastle coughed up blood and glared at Princess Evelyn. "Your Highness, you… you planned this from the start."
Princess Evelyn merely frowned, saying nothing, her dignity impeccable. Others spoke up in her defense. Under mounting pressure, the Lord handed the City Lord’s Edict to Jason Lan, blood still in his mouth.
"I hope the Young Lord can hold onto it." The Lord’s words were a double entendre. Jason Lan pretended not to understand: "Rest assured, City Lord. I won’t let you down."
"I hope so too, and I’ll be watching." The Lord glanced at Princess Evelyn, then—under everyone’s gaze—left the hall in defeat, his steps faltering. Jason Lan remained, full of confidence, promising the crowd he would live up to the role of City Lord.
At this moment, Jason Lan was the brightest figure in the hall—everyone’s eyes were on him. Only Princess Evelyn seemed distracted, lost in thought as she watched the Lord of Liancastle’s retreating back.
The City Lord’s Edict wasn’t truly decisive—the real power lay with the Nine Provinces Token. But that token was in Nolan Dongling’s hands. Even after erasing Lance Quinn’s presence, Nolan hadn’t surrendered the Nine Provinces Token.
Yet none of them seemed to realize this. The people of Liancastle were stubborn to the core, and Jason Lan… it seemed he’d never even considered it.
The Nine Provinces Token was the true symbol of the Lan heir. Back then, to reassure Nolan Dongling, they’d given him the token—now, in hindsight, it was a disaster.
Outside the hall, the Lord of Liancastle was met by several old supporters of Prince Nolan. Seeing him, they showed no surprise and simply patted his shoulder: "Let’s go. We’re old now."
Those words captured all their bitterness and helplessness. The Lord glanced back at the main hall of the city lord’s residence, his eyes more clouded than ever.
So this is what it means to invite a wolf into your house.
Jason Lan didn’t realize that his and Princess Evelyn’s so-called careful plan to seize power amid the chaos was, in fact, orchestrated behind the scenes by Prince Nolan.
Prince Nolan’s roots in Liancastle ran far deeper than either Princess Evelyn or Jason Lan had imagined. If not for his hidden influence, neither Jason nor Evelyn could have taken Liancastle so quickly or so smoothly…