Manipulation and Pacification of House Zhan

The one who stepped in just in time to save Serena was Left Bank.

Due to Master Adrian Wren's death, Prince Nolan worried there were still dangers lurking in the shadows, so he had Left Bank secretly protect Serena. Originally, Left Bank planned to disappear for a while upon seeing Prince Nolan present, but unexpectedly, he turned around and witnessed the whole scene.

Left Bank was a true gentleman. Once Serena had regained her footing, he vanished, wisely leaving space for Prince Nolan and Serena to talk alone.

Prince Nolan needed to give Serena a proper explanation for what had just happened.

Seeing that Serena was unharmed, Prince Nolan regained his composure. "What just happened was a momentary slip on my part," he said coolly.

Serena was truly shaken. If Left Bank hadn’t intervened, she would have been injured for sure. She had just calmed down when Prince Nolan’s nonchalant words made her snap back, unable to resist a bit of sarcasm: "Are you sure it was just a slip?"

She had clearly seen rejection and disgust in Prince Nolan’s eyes.

She knew Prince Nolan disliked physical contact with women. When they first met, he had shown clear aversion toward her. Only after they interacted more did things begin to change.

After all this time, Serena had almost forgotten that Prince Nolan could still look at her that way.

"I lost focus for a moment," Prince Nolan said, a touch of frustration in his voice. He truly had been stunned by Serena’s effortless charm, but he hadn’t expected his own reflexes to hurt her.

"Have you been especially busy lately?" Serena didn’t press further about whether he’d truly lost focus. She knew Prince Nolan’s will was ironclad—he’d never just space out for no reason.

Prince Nolan nodded without hesitation. "Very busy," he replied.

"Who have you seen recently?" Serena asked, worry written all over her face. Prince Nolan was initially resistant to her probing, but remembering he’d nearly hurt her, he relented and listed everyone he'd met.

Only his aides and shadow guards—people who’d been with him for over five years. The only ‘outsider’ he’d seen was William Wang.

"How about your food? Has anything changed from usual?" Serena pressed on, unwilling to let it go.

Prince Nolan thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Serena, what exactly are you suspecting? I just lost focus for a moment." At least, he himself hadn’t noticed anything strange.

"You were acting really strange just now. The moment you flung me away, your eyes showed aversion and rejection—exactly the way you look at other women." It had flashed by, but in that instant, Serena’s heart ached.

Anyone would be hurt seeing that look from the man they loved, even if it lasted only a second. But more than heartbreak, Serena was worried that something was wrong with Prince Nolan.

"Impossible." Prince Nolan denied it instantly. Serena was different to him—how could he ever look at her that way?

"I wouldn’t lie to you about this. If you can, I hope you’ll check everyone and everything around you. You were spaced out for way too long." Even in bed, Prince Nolan always kept part of his mind cool and alert—how could he suddenly lose focus for so long and nearly hurt her?

Before Prince Nolan could answer, Serena turned and walked away.

The shock and scare had really rattled her—her heart was still pounding.

"Where are you going?" Prince Nolan reached out to grab Serena, unwilling to let her leave before things were resolved.

"Ah—!" Serena cried out in pain, shaking off Prince Nolan’s grip. "Let go."

"What’s wrong?" Prince Nolan didn’t let go; instead, he held Serena’s hand and saw the bruise on her wrist. His face was full of shock: "Did I do this just now?"

"Let go," Serena frowned. If it didn’t hurt so much, she wouldn’t have said anything.

Prince Nolan released her hand, but his gaze stayed glued to the bruise on Serena’s wrist, murmuring, "How is this possible?"

"What’s impossible about it? My hand is injured, that’s a fact. You’d better check the people and things around you—I suspect someone’s tampered with you." Serena saw that Prince Nolan still didn’t believe her and grew angry, leaving those words behind as she walked away.

She still needed to treat her hand with medicine.

Prince Nolan took Serena’s words to heart, but he was busier than ever lately. Checking everyone and everything around him wasn’t something he could do in just a day or two—right now, he simply didn’t have the time.

After parting ways with Serena, Prince Nolan kept turning over recent events in his mind, but no matter how many times he replayed them, he couldn’t spot anything out of the ordinary. By the time he snapped out of it, House Zhan had arrived again.

Another hard battle was ahead, so Prince Nolan put the matter aside and focused on dealing with House Zhan.

House Zhan truly lived up to their scholarly reputation—even if they wished Prince Nolan dead, they never resorted to harsh words. But their attitude...

It was honestly impressive.

Prince Nolan had never imagined there would come a day when someone would look at him with such arrogance and disdain, treating him like he was beneath them. He really couldn’t figure out where House Zhan got their confidence.

Even though House Zhan was based in Southlyn and he was a prince of Eastlyn, he was still royalty. He truly didn’t see how House Zhan had any right to look down on him.

Prince Nolan shook his head. House Zhan still hadn’t realized that Master Adrian Wren’s death meant more than losing a family member—it had stripped them of their dignity and status.

Without Master Adrian Wren, even the royal family—or any decent noble house—wouldn’t bother giving House Zhan face. Their downfall was right in front of them; it really wasn’t worth William Wang’s effort to shield them.

Prince Nolan wasn’t a glutton for punishment. If not for Master Adrian Wren’s sake, he wouldn’t bother with House Zhan at all. He went through the motions: arranged for them to view Adrian’s corpse and let Yana meet with them.

Yana’s reunion with her family was a flood of tears—she threw herself into her grandmother’s arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Knowing certain things, Prince Nolan deliberately watched her a little longer.

Yana’s grandmother held her close, murmuring, "My child, you’ve suffered. You’ve been wronged." But her eyes were cold, even carrying a hint of murderous intent.

A whole family full of filthy business.

Prince Nolan didn’t want to deal with House Zhan any longer, so he pushed William Wang forward to handle them. He also had Three-Inch and his confession sent to William Wang.

With Three-Inch’s help, it was easy for Prince Nolan to fabricate evidence that a certain great scholar had hired a killer. Of course, Three-Inch hadn’t revealed who had ordered the hit—just a vague lead for House Zhan to follow up on.

House Zhan was proud and self-righteous, convinced they were in the right, so they felt it was only natural to boss Prince Nolan around.

When Prince Nolan actually handed them off to William Wang, Yana’s uncle couldn’t take it. He barged past the guards into the study and shouted at Prince Nolan, "Your Highness, what’s the meaning of this? My sixth brother died on your watch, and you act like you don’t care. Just because you’re royalty, you think you can kill anyone you want?"

He was putting the blame for Master Adrian Wren’s death squarely on Prince Nolan.

"Your Highness." The guard’s face went pale as he bowed and admitted fault.

House Zhan—they didn’t dare go too far.

"This isn’t your concern. Leave." Prince Nolan wasn’t angry; he just stared coldly at Yana’s uncle.

A moment ago, Yana’s uncle had been full of bluster. Now he shrank back, forcing out, "You, what are you planning to do?"

"I don’t plan to do anything. I was willing to let House Zhan keep a shred of dignity, but you spat on the gesture." Prince Nolan pulled out the intel he’d shown William Wang before and tossed it in Yana’s uncle’s face. "Take a good look before you come talk to me again."