The elder appeared to have thought of everything beforehand. Maybe, his real intention to meet Song Yun was to involve that outcast Church, all along.
Song Mu continued to explain, "Lu Zhen has a beast Emperor in its infant stage. Church of Nuwa appears to think that beast emperors bring calamities to the region they were in like the Great Dungeon break, three decades ago.
If we can convince the Ji Clan and give a little bit of push, the church of Nuwa might be roped in.
And here's something that you would love even more. According to Shen Qiu who ruled as Shen Niu for the past decade, Lu Zhen had killed an elder of the Church of Doom in the process of reinstating Shen Niu as the King once again. It was hard for us to contact them directly but at the very least, we can expect that they are furious.
The only problem is that the members of both organizations aren't allowed to step inside the Imperial City. So, they have to be smuggled inside the city without alerting anyone."
Song Yun seriously considered his plan and even was excited for a moment but there's also one thought that lingered in his mind. What if it fails? Song Clan might even become extinct for real. After all, this will incite the anger from the Emperor.
As he voiced his thoughts, Elder Song Mu only told him that the risk have to be faced by Song Yun alone and the clan cannot be involved in his personal feud. However, Song Mu assured of providing assistance behind the scenes.
Song Yun, who was driven by revenge, agreed to the plan. With only three days till the engagement ceremony, he felt like there was little time and prepared for his travel.
Meanwhile, at Lin Mansion, Allen arrived with the invitation.
Surprisingly, the guards welcomed him politely and took him to the Minister of Personnel. Lin Xue was also with him. She was more than happy to see him after three days. However, at the moment, she stood silently behind her father.
"So, you are the sparring partner of my daughter?" asked Lin Wuying as he attempted to sense Allen's cultivation, facing a failure. This is the first time they met each other in person. Allen's handsome features brought displeasure to Lin Wuying as he was worried that his daughter will fall in love with him. He doesn't want the whole Mark-Song Clan saga to repeat with him with Allen.
Allen responded without a change in his expression, "Yes. It was my master's order."
Lin Wuying then asked, "Where are you from, Allen?"
If it was the previous him, he would give an answer like he's from Genesis Store but now, he was more aware of how to answer questions like these. As a result, he replied, "That's classified."
"Classified?" Lin Wuying naturally was surprised. He probed into his origins further, "Your name sounds too different and so was your haircut. I heard that you are from faraway islands. Do people there have similar names as you?"
"That's classified," replied Allen once again.
"What is your exact realm?"
"That's classified."
"Why is your surname in the end?"
"That's classified."
"How do you know Lu Zhen?"
"That's classified."
"Who is Lu Zhen's master?"
"That's classified."
"Who is your weapon's manufacturer?"
"That's classified."
As Allen continued to give the same answer to the questions, which are restricted ones in his opinion, Lin Wuying started to get annoyed.
In the end, he thought carefully and asked, "What about that woman? Both of you have the same last name. Are you siblings?"
"That's classi…" Allen almost gave the same answer before he paused and corrected himself, "Yes, she's my younger sister."
"You…" As Lin Wuying was ticked off by Allen's tongue slip, Lin Xue grinned behind her father. In fact, she was the one who taught him to utter those words to any question that is difficult to answer because it might displease his master.
Seeing that Allen was completely refusing to answer any questions that Lin Wuying couldn't find it using his resources, the latter no longer cared about it and extended his hand, "Give it."
As Allen handed him the invitation, Lin Wuying said, "Give your master my reply. Due to the complex political circumstances, the Lin Clan would like to stay away from this matter until things cool down. So, we wouldn't personally attend the engagement ceremony, and neither would Lin Xue visit the store for sparring sessions.
But, we would sure send an attendant with a gift and our blessings. Tell him to not take it as an offense and understand our position."
Allen appeared to be a bit surprised at first, not because of their rejection of the invitation but at the thought of not getting to spar with her or even see her for a while. However, he didn't ask for any explanation of these complex political circumstances and nodded in understanding.
Soon, he said goodbye to Lin Xue and proceeded to return to the store not being aware that Lin Xue was only keeping a facade in her father's presence. Inside, she was frustrated to be restricted by some situation. But, for the sake of the clan, she had to endure it.
At the same time, the situation is somewhat different in the Imperial Palace, where Alina made a visit with the invitation to present it to the Emperor, the second Queen Consort, and their two kids. Usually, an engagement/wedding invitation would be for the family but here, it was quite selective.
Honestly, he would rather not invite them of all the people but he gave his words when Lan Jingyi told him that they would surely attend for Song Yue's sake. He was fine with no one to come for him but at the very least, Mark wanted Song Yue to be happy.
Following the rules, Alina stated her reason to the guards, who informed their superiors, who then passed the information to their superiors, eventually, leading her to enter the palace and wait in one of the meeting chambers.
Surprisingly, the crown prince entered the chamber instead of the Emperor whom she requested to meet.
As the crown prince saw her, his eyes lit up and lust could be seen in his eyes as he greeted her, "Hello there, beautiful lady. I apologize for letting you wait. I must say that your beauty exceeds what I heard from the rumors."
As a higher-ranking Android, Alina has more human expressions and thinking than Allen. She frowned in response to his greeting, "I don't remember requesting a meeting with you, Prince Zexi."
"I'm the crown prince of the Phoenix Empire and also its future Emperor, Lady Alina. Meeting me is the same as meeting my father." Shang Zexi flaunted his status to her and then, suddenly changed the topic as he walked toward her, "by the way, I'm really curious about something. How does a perfect beauty with great strength like you end up a servant for Lu Zhen? Even nobles and princes would queue up before you to marry you."
His intentions were pretty clear to Alina but the fact that he was bold in the first meeting even after he was being punished by the Emperor just a while ago shows the arrogance that came from his crown prince status. Alina had little patience, to begin with.
Feeling that he was wasting her time, she spoke coldly, "My master gave me the task to deliver the invitation to either the Emperor or Queen Consort Lan or Princess Jiao. You are neither of them and I don't have any time to chitchat with other parties. Either you can go and bring one of them or I will find them on my own."
"You are really like a wild cat, huh," commented the Crown Prince who is above forty and looks older than his age but still in an illusion that he can charm any lady that he wants, especially if the lady is someone without any powerful background.
And Alina finally snapped. She disappeared from her spot and appeared behind the crown prince, taking him by surprise with a dagger pressing on his throat.
"You, what are you doing?" Shang Zexi's eyes were widened by her response. He felt like he didn't say anything that she can take offense to her heart.
Alina then gave a warning, "Learn to control your tongue, or else, you might find it missing all of sudden as you wake up in the morning."
The crown prince was in a 6-circle realm but at the moment, he couldn't even muster up his strength to resist her. In the end, he just nodded and apologized, "Sorry…"
Alina retracted her dagger and left the room, eventually teleporting to Shang Jiao's room and giving her the invitation.
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