Chapter 52 - An Olive Branch from the Royal Palace

The Attack of the Wastrel

In front of Tianfeng Wei stood her roommate, who was also one of her best friends, Ding Rou. Though her name suggests a gentle personality, Ding Rou was in fact a strong-headed girl. Ding Rou was not a local to the Xia Kingdom -- she came from the Ding Family in the neighboring North Qiu Kingdom. She had wanted to attend the Royal School and hence, travelled over a thousand miles to get here.

“Ding Rou,” Tianfeng Wei pursed her lips, “Whether it is for my personal interest or for the clan, I cannot let Gu Lingzhi continue to grow. There’s already Beicheng Haoyue from the Beicheng Clan and I cannot let anyone from the Gu Clan rise in power”

“Isn’t the solution easy?” Ding Rou sneered, “Just find a chance to get rid of her.”

Their thoughts were so similar it was no wonder they were good friends. They exchanged glances, understanding each other’s intentions.

Unfortunately, it was not only Ding Rou who shared similar intentions with Tianfeng Wei. Several people started to pay attention to Gu Lingzhi after they heard about her extraordinary talent.

However, when Gu Lingzhi decided to accept the challenges, she had already expected this. With every opportunity, there would always be a risk. If she hid just because she was scared, she would lose her purpose of coming to the Royal School which was to become stronger.

She would only have the opportunity to learn from them when she allowed others to discover her potential.

As Gu Lingzhi finished her last challenge, she returned to her dorm only to see Rong Yuan sitting on a chair.

“Third Prince, why are you here again?” Gu Lingzhi felt her head hurt as she looked at him. The only reason why she had received so many challenges was all because of him.

“You don’t seem…to be happy to see me,” Rong Yuan raised his eyebrows as he felt his ego take a hit.

“I am guessing that you already know that your challenges caused a great deal of buzz. Many people have been taking note of you recently. Father has requested for me to ask you if you have any interest in working for the Royal Palace after you graduate, where you will be a guest official for the Royal Family.”

This was very obviously an olive branch extended to her by the Royal Palace. Gu Lingzhi did foresee that there will be people trying to rope her in, but never thought that the first ones to do so would be the Royal Family. After her initial shock, she smiled sincerely, “To be thought of highly by the Royal Family is my honour, how can I not be willing? But what is the reason behind this?”

The Guest Official position that the Third Prince mentioned had a lot of freedom and whoever who filled the position did not have to be completely devoted to the Royal Family.

The role of the Guest Official was only to provide assistance when needed, but he or she was not obligated to do anything. As such, when asking for assistance from the Guest Official, there is a need to comply to the requests of the Guest Official and make a deal so that both parties can be satisfied. This would then count a lot on the level of trust and sincerity of both parties.

Seeing as Gu Lingzhi has agreed, Rong Yuan smiled, “You don’t have to do anything now, just concentrate on improving yourself. What the Royal Family is investing in is your future abilities. For now, if you need anything, as long as it is reasonable, we will always be happy to help.”

“I understand.” Gu Lingzhi nodded, “Please send a message to the King on my behalf that my only request now is to have a peaceful environment to study. I do not wish to face random challenges from students all the time because it hinders my progress.”

Was she warning him not to create trouble for her?

Understanding what Gu Lingzhi meant, Rong Yuan could not help but burst out laughing. She was interesting, very interesting!

This was the first time a girl had so obviously shown her disinterest in him. His efforts to be the one to personally tell the news to Gu Lingzhi were wasted. However, now he knew that…the undefeatable charm he thought he had, had no effect on Gu Lingzhi.

In the next few days, Gu Lingzhi did not receive any other offers. She thought that maybe the news of the Third Prince seeking her out had spread, causing her to involuntarily sigh at the power and influence of the Royal Family.

“When are you going to stop following me?” Holding onto her lunchbox, Gu Lingzhi grumbled impatiently as she turned to face the person that was shadowing her like a tail.

Ever since the challenges had ended, Qin Xinran has been following her like a shadow and went wherever she did.

The students that were collecting their lunches around them understood what was going on and subtly retreated, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire. They however, continued to eavesdrop on the conversation about to happen.

“I don’t remember being very close to you. I don’t have anything that you want as well. Miss Qin, if you are looking for someone to toy with, please go find someone else. I am very busy and have no time for games.”

As she spent more time in the Royal School, Gu Lingzhi started hearing more about Qin Xinran’s past.

It was exactly as Ye Fei said -- Qin Xinran was a complete nutcase. Not only did she like to pretend to be weak, she was also very hot-tempered and everyone close to her seemed to die in a disaster.

The only reason why the school was unable to expel her was because they are unable to find a direct link between her and the unnatural deaths.

Qin Xinran felt her throat constrict as she heard the cold tone Gu Lingzhi gave her, seemingly stunned by her behavior. Her eyes seemed to cloud over as she said indignantly, “I just wanted to help you because they were all so mean. Did you forget how I helped you when you were being challenged by others?”

How could she forget? Gu Lingzhi had to credit a portion of her unbeatable run to Qin Xinran. If she had not challenged everyone who challenged Gu Lingzhi and beat them all half to death, how could Gu Lingzhi have won so easily? This was also the reason why Gu Lingzhi had put up with Qin Xinran shadowing her these past few days.

“I have never asked you to do what you did,” Gu Lingzhi declared fiercely upon seeing the deceiving nature of Qin Xinran. As she said this, Qin Xinran’s eyes turned red and tears swelled into her eyes. It was like if she blinked, tears would stream out onto her face.

“I know the reason why you are distancing yourself from me is because of the rumours you have heard. I don’t blame you.”

A snort came from the crowd, disappearing in a second. However, Qin Xinran could very clearly pinpoint the origin of the sound and her pitiful expression quickly turned into a murderous one. Without waiting for anyone to react, she shot towards the person who had snorted, knocking him out in a single blow.

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