The Sixth Prince, the Seventh Princess, and the Eighth Princess are all alphas. Their levels and ages are not very different, and the competition among them is fierce—everything has to be fought over.
The Seventh Princess once expressed her fondness for Yan Qiongyu. The Sixth Prince and the Eighth Princess had likewise said similar things to Yan Qiongyu. As for whether it was genuine feeling or false intent, Yan Qiongyu knew it well in his heart.
No matter what they had thought before, when the news that he had helped Wang Luan enhance her mental power reached their ears, Yan Qiongyu believed that these two princes and princesses now both harbored thoughts of wanting to seize him.
In Yan Qiongyu’s original plan, he only wanted to obtain a sample from the Seventh Princess. But now such a good opportunity lay before him, with the other two esteemed highnesses delivering themselves to his door. He could only treat them equally.
The three princes and princesses exchanged verbal barbs, while Yan Qiongyu stood to the side, smiling.
He only needed to smile. After all, he was just an innocent, harmless omega. They wanted to fight over him—what did that have to do with him.
ততততততততততত
Wang Luan pressed her head as she sat up from the bed. She did not know how long she had slept. She only saw that the room was dim, silver-white moonlight pouring in through the wide-open window.
There was a figure sitting by the bed. This person was bathed in moonlight, hair still damp, bare ankles pale to the point of translucence.
He turned his head, revealing a butterfly he was toying with in his hand. The colorful butterfly’s wings fluttered lightly, making his hand appear even more elegant and fair.
“Ah.” Wang Luan hugged her head and let out a small sound, then fell back onto the soft bed again.
The figure sitting by the bed stood up and took something from beside it. Wang Luan heard a rustling sound, and then heard him say, “Open your mouth.”
Huh? Wang Luan opened her mouth in confusion, wanting to ask why, when something landed precisely inside her mouth.
It melted on contact, carrying a hint of sweetness, cool to the taste. That bit of coolness quickly spread to her head and through her limbs.
A dozen seconds later, Wang Luan felt the drunken headache and fogginess in her head swept clean away, leaving only a slight sluggishness in her limbs. This was probably a hangover remedy tablet.
Her hand felt itchy. Wang Luan lowered her head and saw a colorful butterfly resting on her hand—the very one Yan Qiongyu had been pinching and playing with just now.
She lifted it to take a look. The butterfly did not fly away. On the lower abdomen of the butterfly, there was a spot of metallic silver light.
“Isn’t this the modified butterfly I left in the workshop? When did you bring it out?”
“I brought it yesterday.” Yan Qiongyu propped one hand on the bed, his posture somewhat lazy.
Now that he was alone in front of her, he could no longer be bothered to put on airs. His speech and actions were much more casual.
Wang Luan did not press him on why he brought it. She loosened her hand and released the butterfly. It landed back in Yan Qiongyu’s hand, where he pinched it again.
This butterfly was the tool Yan Qiongyu used today to collect samples. Yesterday, under the pretext of inspecting the birthday banquet venue, he had already placed many such butterflies throughout the Sky Garden airship, mixed in with real butterflies, enough to pass for the real thing.
At first, it was Wang Luan who had made a mess of buying all sorts of things on the star network, among them small bird-shaped machines, mainly used for eavesdropping. Of course, Wang Luan had not intended to use them for eavesdropping—she was simply curious about many things and wanted to buy them to take apart and examine.
Inspired by her, Yan Qiongyu found these controllable little butterflies used for performances and decoration, and tried having Wang Luan help him make a small modification. Wang Luan did not say a word, but the level of completion exceeded Yan Qiongyu’s expectations, causing him to revise his original plan.
A miniature sampler was installed in the butterfly’s lower abdomen. While collecting samples, it would also inject an anesthetic—Yan Qiongyu’s own homemade anesthetic—ensuring that during sampling there would not even be the sensation of a mosquito bite.
This butterfly had already successfully completed its mission. The remaining butterflies had also been retrieved by Yan Qiongyu.
“Why are you still up so late, playing with butterflies?” Wang Luan rubbed her face.
“Waiting for the results.” Yan Qiongyu gestured for her to look at the device on the table to the side.
Wang Luan had seen him use such a device before—back on Snowfield Star—to test blood relations.
Rubbing her face, Wang Luan slowly recalled what had happened while she was drunk: “Did I force people to drink?”
Yan Qiongyu sat on the corner of her bed, one leg bent with an arm resting on it. “Yes. After Miss Wang Luan got drunk, she talked a lot more. I really must thank Miss Wang Luan for getting them all drunk—it made it convenient for me to do certain things.”
The Wang family’s treasured fine wine had been cellared for too long. Even after taking hangover medicine, a person’s reactions would still be slow and numb for a period of time. An alpha’s keen perception would be reduced, lowering the risk of the sampling butterflies being discovered.
“To show my thanks, I prepared a cake for Miss Wang Luan.” Yan Qiongyu stood up and brought over a palm-sized little cake.
He presented the cake to Wang Luan. “You drank so much and didn’t eat anything. You must be hungry. Hurry and try it.”
Wang Luan looked at the cake, then at Yan Qiongyu’s face full of sincere tenderness, and muttered, “Don’t say it like you made this cake yourself.”
Yan Qiongyu: “…………” Indeed, he had someone make the cake and send it over—but how had she seen through it?
Giving him some face, Wang Luan took a bite of the cake and asked, “So, you suddenly brought this out to coax me—what do you want me to do?”
Yan Qiongyu’s face was full of sincerity. “You misunderstand. There’s nothing I want you to do.”
Wang Luan: “Then why do you look like you’re showing concern for a critically ill patient?”
Yan Qiongyu was surprised by how well she understood him.
“All right.” Since she didn’t really need this kind of false comfort, he said it straight. “I heard some not-so-good news. The legendary fifth prince, said to kill without blinking and act with complete impunity, is about to return. He will very likely come looking for trouble with you.”
As he said this, he observed Wang Luan’s expression. Seeing no panic or fear on her face, he continued, “Just in case, Miss Wang Luan should stay properly at the Wang residence from now on and not go out. I think that even if the Fifth Prince is crazy, he wouldn’t go so far as to rush into the Wang family and… kill.”
The word kill, when he said it, made one’s scalp prickle.
Wang Luan had also heard of the Fifth Prince’s reputation. He had always been leading legions outside to suppress and eliminate rebel forces. She had never had real contact with him, so she didn’t feel much sense of crisis. But hearing Yan Qiongyu say this, she had an ominous feeling.
“Does this Fifth Prince like you too?” Wang Luan set down the cake she had only taken two bites of, having lost her appetite.
“Of course not. In those people’s eyes, I can only be considered a thing. They all want the best thing—only that can display their status.” Yan Qiongyu’s tone was casual as he took the cake from her hands and set it aside.
He didn’t care what those people regarded him as. After all, in his eyes, those people could also only be considered things.
Wang Luan looked at Yan Qiongyu, hesitating to speak. “Forget it. I’m already used to this feeling of being targeted.”
She felt like she was holding a martial arts manual in her arms—everyone coveted it and wanted to snatch it away.
Although she didn’t want to cultivate this “martial arts manual,” she couldn’t just throw it away. After all, this was a living person. She couldn’t really treat him as a thing and toss him aside just because he felt troublesome to hold.
Most importantly, she was becoming increasingly clear about what kind of person Yan Qiongyu was. On the surface, he looked gentle, but if you truly angered him, you probably wouldn’t even know how you died.
Others saw him as a fragile vase; she saw him as a poisonous beauty.
“I’ve caused Miss Wang Luan more trouble again.” On Yan Qiongyu’s face was an apology that looked sincere but didn’t reach his eyes.
Wang Luan, however, was genuinely sincere. “You’ve also helped me solve quite a few troubles.”
In her definition, they were strange companions who helped each other.
“Knock, knock, knock.” A burst of urgent knocking interrupted the conversation.
Yan Qiongyu pressed a button by the bed, and the voice of the personal butler outside came through. “Miss Luan, the Fifth Prince has arrived. Please come out quickly to receive him!”
“…………”
Wang Luan turned her head and asked Yan Qiongyu, “Is the Fifth Prince called Cao Cao?” Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives.
Yan Qiongyu didn’t know this famous figure. The lessons Wang Luan had given him hadn’t yet reached the Three Kingdoms, so he explained, “The Fifth Prince is called Qing Tuo.”
His gaze shifted to the analyzer on the table that was about to finish its work. He turned back and straightened Wang Luan’s collar. “Go. Be careful.”
“This isn’t something I can handle just by being careful.”
The personal butler was still outside, urging her on with a hint of anxiety. Wang Luan could only get up, muttering listlessly, “The wind sighs, the Yi River is cold; the hero goes forth, never to return!”
Wang Luan followed the personal butler to the main hall and found that there were actually quite a lot of people. A group of noble youths—boys and girls—had been gathered together, yet no one dared to speak.
At the front of this silent crowd stood a tall figure. Probably the tallest person Wang Luan had seen since coming to this world. He had short hair, sharp brows and eyes, a fierce gaze, and an aura of brutality even more intimidating than his looks.
At a glance, it was obvious he was the Fifth Prince. Behind him, he had brought over a hundred legion guards. These guards, spread out behind him, exuded the same smell of gunpowder smoke as the Fifth Prince. Their attire could hardly be called neat—some garments were even torn, as if they had just come straight from a battle.
This group was like a band of thugs who had barged in out of nowhere, in stark contrast to the nobles present.
“Your Highness, the Fifth Prince.” As the host, Wang Luan had no choice but to step forward and greet him.
The Fifth Prince looked down at her from on high. “Are you an alpha?” As he spoke, one hand reached out to grab Wang Luan by the neck.
Wang Luan’s eyelid twitched. Relying on reflexes honed through recent training, she retreated backward. The Wang family guards who had been standing by nervously immediately surrounded her.
“Fifth Brother, what are you doing? Why start losing your temper the moment you arrive?” The Seventh Princess walked over with her guards.
Seeing the Seventh Princess, the Fifth Prince did not restrain his attitude at all and cursed rudely, “Don’t put on an act. You sent me those messages—wasn’t it just because you wanted me to come?”
