She detested Gu Yu for walking all over Chu Li by humiliating and hara.s.sing him when he was without martial arts. This guy should be killed. Just a few words of apology would not cut it. 

Chu Li let out a gentle cough. "Consort, let it go. We can't really kill him."

Xiao s.h.i.+ snorted. "I just can't let him get away with it!"

Chu Li suggested after thinking it through. "Then we'll make him pay for it?"

"Yes!" Xiao s.h.i.+ said. 

Chu Li proposed, "How about Green Deer Cliff's Primary Heaven Pill?"

"Mmm, that's a good idea." Xiao s.h.i.+ nodded. 

Chu Li turned to look at Gu Yu. 

Gu Yu shook his head with a dulled expression. "I'm afraid I'm in no position to decide this. Primary Heaven Pill is a rare medicine unique to Green Deer Cliff with only a few left. It's said that the required Spirit Medicines no longer exist so it can't be produced anymore. It's impossible to obtain a Primary Heaven Pill without a long-standing relations.h.i.+p."

"Then you should return," Xiao s.h.i.+ listlessly remarked. 

Gu Yu asked, "Why does Consort Xiao want to put me in a difficult position?"

"Did you forget the position you put us in in the first place?" Xiao s.h.i.+ angrily refuted. "So you can make things difficult for us but we can't do the same?"

"Sigh..." Gu Yu breathed out heavily before he motioned a fist salute. "Consort, I would gift the Primary Heaven Pill if I'm able to but this is out of my hands. Please pardon me for that!"

"Cut the nonsense and get lost." Xiao s.h.i.+ impatiently waved her arm. 

Gu Yu's face went ashen and the hair on his head erected for the humiliation he had never experienced in his entire life. It was intolerable. 

Xiao s.h.i.+ took a sip of tea without sparing him a glance. 

Just as Gu Yu was on the verge of exploding, Xiao Qi opened her mouth to utter, "It's fine, don't push him any further. He really can't get his hands on one."

"Yes, thank you Madam Chu." Gu Yu took a deep breath in to suppress his raging anger before he expressed his grat.i.tude with a fist salute. 

Xiao Qi added, "I hope you discipline your subordinates well and refrain from disrupting the peace in King An's Imperial Residence."

"Of course!" Gu Yu immediately chimed in. 

"Only you would show mercy!" Xiao s.h.i.+ glared at Xiao Qi with frustration. 

Chu Li chuckled. 

The trio had coordinated well with each other. It was as though their minds were in sync. 

If they did not put Gu Yu in a spot, he would surely continue to harbor ill intentions. During then, Gu Yu may resort to underhand methods for payback that would be troublesome for King An's Imperial Residence to detect. 

Proposing an unduly request that Gu Yu could not fulfill while Xiao Qi and Xiao s.h.i.+ played good cop bad cop would more or less force Gu Yu to abandon the idea. 

With that, Gu Yu scrambled out of King An's Imperial Residence. 

… 

It was in the evening when Chu Li practiced his sword in the back garden. 

Leng Qiu, dressed in an emerald outfit, entered. 

Carrying a long sword, Leng Qiu was in low spirits with her beautiful face tensed up. She stood still beside Chu Li, seemingly wanting to express something. 

Turning to look at her, Chu Li stopped his practice. 

Leng Qiu said, "Head Chief, tomorrow is the Hunting Ceremony!"

Chu Li nodded and smiled. "Don't you love the Hunting Ceremony? Why the sad face?"

Although he had killed King An, he did not feel guilty about Leng Qiu. In fact, he could face her with an open mind. 

He had never considered Leng Qiu and King An in the same vein. 

King An deserved to die but Leng Qiu and Leng Qing did not share any relations.h.i.+p with King An. Although they were father and daughters, they rarely met. Even if there was an encounter, it was only a slight exchange of formalities as though as they were strangers. 

"I love the Hunting Ceremony but they didn't invite us!" Leng Qiu unhappily swung her sword. 

Chu Li raised an eyebrow, "You're not invited?"

"Yes, they left us out!" Leng Qiu snorted. "This is too much!"

Chu Li frowned. "Who is in charge of hosting it this time?"

"I think Granduncle Bao's busy with something so Uncle King w.a.n.g's in charge," Leng Qiu said. "It's must be the doing of Leng Tao that b*stard!" 

Chu Li fell deep into his thoughts. "Admission must be by invitation?"

"Yes." Leng Qiu helplessly nodded. 

Chu Li answered, "He must think that it's not a suitable time for our Imperial Residence to partic.i.p.ate in the Hunting Ceremony just after the death of His Royal Highness."

"Hmph, they don't have the best of intentions. They must think that our Imperial Residence's going downhill and that we're unworthy!" Leng Qiu wielded her sword with detestation. 

Chu Li shook his head and burst into laughter. "You're overthinking."

"It must be so! They've crossed the line!" Leng Qiu snorted. 

Chu Li said, "It's okay not to partic.i.p.ate this time. Just go to the next one. You'll be the center of gossip if you go!"

If they were to partic.i.p.ate in the upcoming Hunting Ceremony, they would be greeted by gazes of sympathy. There would even be those who would stir trouble just to get a kick out of it. 

"I was thinking for mother and Consort to have a change of scenery," Leng Qiu replied. "Mother has been feeling depressed."

"Everything will be alright after a while," Chu Li comforted. "Consort Xue shared a deep bond with His Royal Highness?"

"It's not a deep bond but she's feeling unsettled without a manly figure in this household." Leng Qiu curled her lips. "Well, in fact, life still goes on without a man. There's nothing to it. Mother's too weak!"

Chu Li retorted, "Consort Xue isn't wrong to think that way. A lot of things have become inconvenient without His Royal Highness... Forget about the Hunting Ceremony. You always have next time."

"Alright," Leng Qiu unwillingly responded. 

Chu Li shook his head. "Where's Miss Qing?"

"She's working on her swordsmans.h.i.+p," Leng Qiu answered, "in preparation to kick Leng Tao's b.u.t.t the next time they meet!"

"Yes, teach him a lesson." Chu Li smiled. "He still hasn't learned his lesson after being beaten up that many times?

"He's really a rascal, seeking vengeance every chance he gets." Leng Qiu coldly snorted. "He must be casting us aside because father isn't around!"

"Mm..." Chu Li thought about it before he shook his head. "You'll know when you two meet."

Chu Li thought otherwise. Leng Tao was trying to get to Leng Qiu's good side. It did not look like the relations.h.i.+p between a man and a woman but a relations.h.i.+p built from constant fights. 

However, Chu Li could not be bothered with these trifling matters. 

Leng Tao may be a rascal and at times, played the bully towards King An's Imperial Residence but it was just a child's play. Leng Tao was not worth Chu Li's time. 

After an exchange with Leng Qiu, he returned to Tianshu Courtyard and he found Consort Xue, as well as Consort Song, present there. 

They did not remain in the Imperial Residence and had stayed in their parents' home for a while. Since their return, they had been speaking to Xiao s.h.i.+ all day. 

Without King An around, Xiao s.h.i.+ became in charge and she had the final say in the Imperial Residence. It was only right by status, after all. 

Moreover, they felt unsettled but Xiao s.h.i.+ remained confident. On top of that, Xiao s.h.i.+'s status also left them a sense of a.s.surance to remain in Tianshu Courtyard. 

Upon noticing Chu Li, the two Consorts nodded in greeting. 

Consort Xue grinned. "Head Chief, you came at the right time. We were just discussing."

Chu Li smiled. "What was Consort Xue discussing about?"

"I think it's time for the young prince to return," Consort Xue said. 

Chu Li paused. "Xu An?"

"Yes," Consort Xue replied. "We're getting bullied because there's no male figure in the Imperial Residence. If Xu An were to return, even if he's still a child, it'll be perfectly justified!"

"Xu An is in Isolated Cultivation in t.i.tanium Temple," Chu Li muttered. "He can't return now as he's at his crucial point in cultivation."

Consort Xue continued, "Cultivation can be done anywhere. We have a Cultivation Courtyard in the Imperial Residence."

Consort Song nodded. "It's said that the Imperial Residence's Cultivation Courtyard can enhance cultivation speed. Why don't Head Chief cultivate there?"

Chu Li shook his head and smiled. "That's His Royal Highness' courtyard. I can't simply overstep my boundaries."

"His Royal Highness isn't here anymore. It's vacant anyway," Consort Song answered. 

Chu Li shook his head. 

He would definitely hanker after the Cultivation Courtyard if he did not master the Concentration Talisman. With the Concentration Talisman, the Cultivation Courtyard was obsolete to him. He was only a Head Chief after all and not a prince. The Emperor may lose his temper if he went in there.

Consort Xue rolled her eyes at him. "Well, aren't you stuck in your ways? So you're saying, the young prince can't return?"

Chu Li frowned and shook his head. "He can't return now but you can ask him when he's done with Isolated Cultivation... t.i.tanium Temple won't let him go now."

"Sigh..." Consort Song lamented. "We orphans and widows are in a vulnerable spot. Head Chief, it's really unsettling that you've lost your martial arts too!"