The Attack of the Wastrel

“Didn’t Lingzhi enrol in the Royal School without taking the examination?” Lin Yue-er retorted to Ye Fei in an unpleasant tone.

“That’s because as the most outstanding student of the Royal School in a hundred years, the Third Prince was allocated three spots to recommend exceptional talents to enrol in the school. That’s how Gu Lingzhi managed to enter without going through the normal procedures.” Ye Fei ridiculed her, “If you don’t want to queue, you can request the Third Prince to recommend Gu Linglong instead. It just so happens that he still has one spot left, why don’t you go ahead and try?”

Lin Yue-er’s face darkened immediately. Gu Linglong was equally unhappy and she looked at Ye Fei as though she wanted to eat her.

Just a few days ago, Gu Linglong had just been warned by the Third Prince to never appear in front of him again. Why would he use up a slot to recommend her to enrol into the Royal School? If he had that intention, he would have recommended her long ago, together with Gu Lingzhi.

“Lingzhi, is this how your friends speak to an elder? It’s better if you didn’t have such rude friends.” Unable to refute Ye Fei, Lin Yue-er targeted Gu Lingzhi instead.

Gu Lingzhi raised her head slightly and glanced at both Ye Fei and Lin Yue-er. She hid her smile and softly said, “Mother, what Ye Fei said is the truth. Why would you get angry? I truly do not have the power or authority to let the teacher in-charge give preferential treatment to any participant.”

“You…” Lin Yue-er never imagined that Gu Lingzhi would embarrass her in front of Gu Rong. In a moment of anger, she had wanted to reprimand Gu Lingzhi but she suddenly felt her back go cold, as though she had been targeted by a ferocious animal. As she turned her head, she met a pair of seemingly harmless eyes.

“Madam Gu, elders who bully the young will be met with retribution...” Qin Xinran blinked innocently and looked completely harmless. Lin Yue-er was stunned by the boundless killing intent she felt from Qin Xinran. She was so frightened that she forgot about reprimanding Gu Lingzhi. She turned her head away after she glanced at Qin Xinran and felt a flutter in her heart.

Why? Isn’t she just a small, insignificant Martial Student? How can she feel as though her life was in danger at the very moment? Could it be that… the mysterious person helping Gu Lingzhi is somehow related to this girl?

The more Lin Yue-er thought about it, the more frightened she felt. She no longer dared to create trouble with Gu Lingzhi. Gu Lingzhi waited calmly and peacefully among the large crowd people.

“Gu Lingzhi, what is the meaning of this? Do you think you can do anything you want now that you’ve arrived in the Royal School? How can you treat my mother like this?” Gu Linglong had wanted to let her mother save herself from the embarrassment but instead saw her quietly accepting the ridicule. Unable to hold herself back, Gu Linglong ignored that she was currently in the queue and rushed out to question Gu Lingzhi.

Gu Lingzhi learned from Qin Xinran and blinked her eyes, she turned towards Gu Rong innocently.

“Father, did I do something disrespectful?”

Gu Rong could not think of anything that Gu Lingzhi had done that could have been disrespectful. He could only wave his hands dismissively and asked Gu Linglong to return to the queue in an annoyed tone, “Have some self-control. You are in public now, yet you are still behaving like this.”

Gu Linglong pressed her lips together and gave Gu Lingzhi a glare before returning to the queue.

However, the people who had occupied Gu Linglong’s position in the queue refused to let her return to her original spot. They knitted their brows and derided her coldly, “Go to the back and queue up. Didn’t you see that there is no more place for you?”

“How could you be like this?” Gu Linglong was stunned silly, “I was obviously queueing up in front of you earlier.”

The youth who had taken her spot looked at her with disdain, “Didn’t you know that leaving the queue means you are giving up? Don’t tell me that if you happened to leave for a week, or a month, then the many people behind you will have to wait for your return before we can continue taking the examination?”

The youth’s words incited laughter from the people who had all been queueing up behind Gu Linglong. Evidently, they all shared the same thoughts as the youth.

“Don’t you know who my father is?” Gu Linglong couldn’t help but mention Gu Rong. However, she never imagined that the youths would all look at her with disdain instead.

“No matter who your father is, those who wish to enter the Royal School have to follow the rules here.” Everyone here were geniuses amongst their peers. Like Gu Linglong, they were also the focus of their respective clans and backgrounds. Gu Linglong utilising her father in such a futile move only made them despise her.

“You!” Gu Linglong was furious. She stretched out her hand and wanted to push the youth. Before her hand could even touch him, she was forcefully stopped.

“Clan Leader Gu, I didn’t think that after half a year, the discipline in your family would still be so outstanding.”

Who else could this light and playful tone belong to if not Rong Yuan?

Gu Lingzhi’s heart stopped. She had wanted to go into hiding, but she remembered that she was currently not the Black Thorn and therefore did not need to hide. She stood straight and looked at him calmly. With an even tone, she greeted him, “Your Highness.”

Other than greeting him, Gu Lingzhi said nothing else. It caused Rong Yuan who had been missing her like crazy to become depressed and almost unable to maintain his playful expression anymore.

“Ah, the First Mistress of the Gu Clan, long time no see.”

For some unknown reasons, Gu Lingzhi felt as though this sentence had been forced out through gnashed teeth. She looked at him and felt that it was just her guilty conscience that made her overthink, hence she simply responded with a simple sentence, “Long time no see.”

At her simple and short response, Rong Yuan’s smile wavered a little. He used a great deal of effort to stop himself from rashly holding Gu Lingzhi in his arms to teach her a lesson. Instead, he looked towards Gu Linglong who was still stunned.

“If you don’t wish to withdraw from the examination, you had better head to the back now and start queueing. The Royal School does not lack any talented students. Naturally, the school will not accept stupid people who use their fathers as a shield.”

This sentence was obviously meant for Gu Linglong who had been about to mention Gu Rong.

“Third Prince… don’t you feel even a little semblance of friendship towards me at all?” Gu Linglong’s face turned red. Rong Yuan’s expression caused her to feel lost.

“Lady Gu, I hope you can be clear about it. There was never anything between us, where is this friendship supposed to come from?” Rong Yuan looked meaningfully at Gu Lingzhi then walked off.

At this moment, several people realised that a group of well-trained soldiers had been following behind Rong Yuan to patrol during the examination.

“I never thought that the one in charge of patrolling and maintaining order this time would be the Third Prince. They are using such great talents for such menial tasks. It is really overly excessive,” Ye Fei sighed. She then raised her voice on purpose, “Lingzhi, let us go to the back first in case your sister stirs up more trouble and causes the Third Prince to come over again. If we are implicated, we won’t be able to handle the consequences.”

She did not bother with Gu Linglong any further and pulled Gu Lingzhi towards the back of the queue. She took pleasure in Gu Linglong’s misfortune as she snickered, “The first round was only allocated a day’s worth of time. Those who didn’t get their turns before the skies turn dark can only wait until the next year. It is unknown whether or not your sister will be able to make it before it turns dark.”

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