Relationships Between You and Ninth Royal Uncle

After Serena Feng finished redeeming the supplies she needed, Jada Tang and Spring came over. Serena tossed the backpack to Jada, then went to bathe.

It’s not that she’s being fussy, insisting on a bath before a journey. She’d just finished treating Nightleaf, and had no idea how many germs were on her. Once she’s on the road, always rushing and unable to bathe, her immune system will weaken—so she must get herself thoroughly cleaned before leaving, to avoid falling ill along the way.

While Serena enjoyed her hot bath, researchers at a certain institute in China were wide-eyed and excitedly inspecting their instruments.

"It really is a detox pill! My god, the preservation is incredible—the medicine’s effects haven’t faded at all. Can we really not trace where this pill came from?"

"No, we can’t. This pill was found by a cleaner while taking out the trash. He accidentally broke the bottle, and the scent leaked out... Oh, the fragments of that bottle were shown to a historian, who said it’s at least a thousand-year-old antique. But from the markings, we can’t tell which dynasty it’s from."

"Over a thousand years old... I really don’t know how it was preserved. It’s incredible. Too bad the bottle broke—otherwise we could figure out how our ancestors kept this medicine safe."

"It is a pity, but we can still publish a paper. Let’s call it ‘A Thousand-Year-Old Pill: Tracing the History of Chinese Medicine.’"

"Great idea! Start writing—I’ll contact the journal and get them to save us a spot. Let everyone see that Chinese medicine belongs to us, and let it be clear that the Diaoyu Islands are part of China."

......

Before leaving, Serena placed a letter in her study. She knew Nolan’s men would deliver it, but how they managed to evade the shadow guards and retrieve the letter—Serena neither knew nor cared.

Of course, it's also possible that Ninth Royal Uncle and Lance Quinn are on the same side. Otherwise, how could both be so familiar with Vincent Su? Whenever General Warren Yu needs grain, he goes to Ninth Royal Uncle, who then sends him to Vincent Su. And now, it's Vincent Su procuring grain on Ninth Royal Uncle's behalf.

Eastlyn Nine, Lance Quinn—if they're allies, is their relationship cooperative, or does one command the other?

If they're cooperating, sooner or later they'll clash—both are too strong. When two powerful people fall out, neither will submit to the other.

But if it's a superior–subordinate relationship? Serena Feng still can't figure out who's above and who's below. Whether it's Ninth Royal Uncle or Lance Quinn, neither seem like people who'd take orders.

As Serena pondered this, she hadn't reached a conclusion when a guard led over a jet-black, powerfully built horse. Serena's eyes lit up instantly—her attention was drawn to the stallion.

"Blackcloud Stallion? Dominic Zhai actually got me such a fine horse—he really went all out." With this horse, Serena was confident she could shake off any pursuers in a single night.

"Miss Serena, here are your imperial token and travel passes. With these, you can enter any city at any time."

"Thank you." Serena felt a bit guilty—she'd almost forgotten such an important detail.

In ancient times, you couldn't just go wherever you wanted. Entering or leaving a city required official registration, and to travel to other towns you needed government-issued road passes.

The guard was a bit confused—why did Serena thank him for something that was his duty? But he didn't say much, just handed over the reins and withdrew.

That night, with the streets nearly empty, Serena mounted her horse and galloped away. In just the blink of an eye, she vanished into the darkness...

Hidden in the shadows, the shadow guards were nearly gnawing their lips in frustration. The moment Blackcloud Stallion appeared, they knew they were in trouble. Even this elite batch of shadow guards would have to go back for retraining.

Blackcloud Stallion—there was no way they could keep up. Once again, they’d lost track of her, and they dreaded what kind of punishment awaited them back at headquarters.

Wuwuwu... Being Miss Serena’s shadow guard was no easy job. Not long ago, they’d been mocking the previous batch—now, it was their turn to be laughed at.

And then there was the poor guard who’d fought off countless others and gone through all sorts of trouble just to win the job of delivering Serena’s letter to Ninth Royal Uncle. He was even more miserable.

Seriously, what a bunch of tricksters—they totally set me up!

They’d told him that every time Ninth Royal Uncle received a letter from Miss Serena, he’d be in a fantastic mood and even smile—a sight as rare as a blue moon.

They said when Ninth Royal Uncle smiled, it was like winter snow melting and a hundred flowers blooming.

So why was he seeing nothing but storm clouds and driving rain?

Such a chilling aura, such overwhelming pressure!

Wuwuwu... The pressure was overwhelming. If this kept up, he'd collapse—and what a humiliation that would be.

Finally, just as the shadow guard was about to drop, Ninth Royal Uncle spoke: "Before Serena left, who visited the West District courtyard?"

Nolan was certain Serena wouldn't have left the city in such a rush unless something serious had happened.

"Young Lord Caleb Wang." The shadow guard bit his tongue hard to stay conscious and answer Nolan's question.

"Mm. Leave." Though Nolan was furious, he didn't vent it on the guard. He simply crushed the letter in his hand into a ball, his deep eyes burning with anger.

Serena Feng, what exactly do you take me for? You never tell me anything, just leave whenever you want—don't you know I'll worry?

Later, Nolan deeply regretted it. Even if he disliked the letter's content, it was still a letter Serena had written to him—how could he have crumpled it?

It took him a long time to smooth the paper out and put it back in its box.

......

Dressed in black, wearing a silver mask, Lance Quinn appeared in the secret chamber of the Su residence.

Vincent Su rushed in, sweating and out of breath, leaning against the wall as he gasped, "Lance, didn't you just leave? Why are you back already—did something happen?"

At the same time, he quickly ran through a mental checklist of recent major events.

Storm Cloud Bu had returned to Heaven's First Consortium; Bella had been sent away; Reid was still unconscious; Prince Damien was busy with war; the Crown Prince and Prince Rowan were fighting for power; Su Wan was nearly ruined.

Prince Terrence Valen was hiding in Tranquil Autumn Garden after the beast-garden scandal; Owen Yuan had retreated under Old Master Yan's protection; General Warren Yu had enough grain; the House of Duke Zhen was stripped bare. All the usual troublemakers were busy—there shouldn't be anything big happening.

Seeing Lance Quinn remain silent for so long, Vincent Su's worry deepened. Could something earth-shattering have happened in such a short time?

Suppressing his anger, Lance Quinn finally spoke just as Vincent was about to break down: "Where is William Wang Jinling now?"

The chill in the air was enough to freeze a man. Vincent Su stepped back, hardly able to believe what he'd heard.

Seriously? Lance Quinn had rushed back just for William Wang Jinling? Judging by his tone, was he concerned for William—or about to devour him?

Vincent Su figured the latter was more likely.

"You're looking for him?" Vincent Su asked cautiously. When had Lance Quinn ever cared about William Wang Jinling's fate? In their eyes, William was one of the 'unusable' types—not worth the effort.

"Mm." Sort of. He wouldn't, but Serena would.

"If my information's correct, he should be trapped in Taroko Grand Canyon. By my count, he's been stuck there for at least a month—maybe already dead." Vincent Su's sharp mind spun quickly.

Lance Quinn usually didn't care about William Wang Jinling unless it affected their interests. The only reason he'd tracked William's movements was because of Serena.

Everyone in the Capital knew Serena and William Wang Jinling were close, so he'd paid attention—but only just. William's fate didn't concern him. Besides...

William Wang Jinling's death would only help them, not hurt. Without him, the Wang Clan would decline within ten years.