38 Fortress City

"Your Royal Highness!"

After entering the gate of the city closest to the border between the Su and Wang Empire and getting off the carriage, Yusheng doesn't even a single glance at the respectful Guang kneeling on the ground.

Only turning around to gently offer his hand towards the carriage with an extremely gentle expression on his half-visible silver masked face.

"Young Master Li, please be careful getting off the carriage."

"... T-Thank You."

Ignoring the dark expressions of the important officers and soldiers who have come to welcome their arrival, Yusheng gently takes hold of the delicate hand placed on his palm, before carefully helping a delicate and slightly charming Wang Ling in disguise from getting off the carriage.

After making sure that the young man is alright, Yusheng finally turns his attention to the people suppressing their anger and contempt standing respectfully some distance away, obviously already having a bad impression from his act of ignoring their presence.

At the same time, showing an ambiguous attitude toward a supposedly romantic interest to a person that was just taken in the fortress city despite the ongoing war.

Hmm… Quick to make assumptions and judgemental…

Yusheng silently observes the one who is showing a hint of disrespect while he gently holds the hand of Wang Ling, openly showing a frivolous move without any hesitation and embarrassment on his face.

Of course, there are also some people with a calm face, having different opinions and ideas among the group of people.

Some are showing the attitude of wanting to observe for a bit longer while others are simply performing the military attitude toward a member of the Imperial Family no matter what kind of character the person is.

Just for that short observation, Yusheng gently gazes into Wang Ling's eyes, which appears as a loving gaze in the eyes of others, and yet, he is the only one who reads the 'I know' basically written on Wang Ling's pupils.

Just this sharp but hidden scrutiny already tells Yusheng that another repeat has definitely occurred again in this city, similar to the military barracks that he had stayed at, which is a problem relating to his reputation.

Of course, the ruthless and bloody action Yusheng had taken in the military barracks is also another reason for the 'unwelcome' vibe he noticed among the military officers and soldiers.

Well, I wasn't here to be nice to them.

Yusheng just needs to show his capability, because, in the end, there is nothing they can do against the Imperial Power aside from enduring what they personally think and feel about, especially when he is also a favored Prince, which is something that they can't just ignore.

They can only succumb to the honorable identity he is born with.

Of course, he still needs to watch out for the rebellious, indifferent, and ruthless people who won't stop even if he has an honorable identity.

Nonetheless, Yusheng dangerously squints his purple eyes at one of the military officers who is gazing at the disguised Wang Ling more than how normally he should be.

"Why are you looking at Li like that?"

Seeing the low loyalty of one of the military officers, Yusheng licks the corners of his lips before reaching over to the sword on his waist.

At the same time, he doesn't suppress his murderous intention that swiftly erupts from his body, causing the military officers and soldiers to become extremely alert, particularly the gloomy and hostile emotions swirling upon a piercing purple eye.

The people with important ranks in the army have already heard how many deaths this Second Imperial Prince had caused in one of the military barracks close to the border.

And now the harmless and clear atmosphere on the slender figure has suddenly turned bloody and violent, completely letting them know how extremely dangerous the person before them is. 

At the same time, showing how deserving of the reputation that is being spread around them.

"Your Royal Highness, please forgive his disrespectful attitude!"

Suddenly, one of the military officers has kneeled down, asking for pardon for whatever crime his friend has done. Of course, some people are only acting punctually and aren't really genuine with their actions after pleading to restrain his anger.

No matter the place or organization, there are always different types of people divided because of their opinions and ideas, especially when it depends on the attitude of the people they serve and follow.

"I don't want to be treated as an unreasonable person. You have to understand, the way he was looking at Young Master Li just now isn't normal. So I'm suspicious about his unusual action. You see... I can't let go of any danger that might harm the person who has saved my life."

Yusheng slowly removes his hand away from pulling the sword out while the dangerous atmosphere around him quickly disappears after feeling Wang Ling gently tugging his long sleeves and shaking his head.

He completely made a show of his unpredictable attitude and reactions, at the same time, showing how he extremely favors the person before him for others to see or observe.

"Alright, since that is what you want. However, Li, don't be too kind since it won't do you any good. Listen to me alright? I am not lying, since I learned not too long ago that it's not good to be thoughtful and kind because it will only harm yourself."

Yusheng gently takes Wang Ling's hand with the appearance of teaching a naive young man who doesn't know the world. At the same time, he completely ignores the surrounding people who are secretly listening to every word he is speaking.

"Fortunately, I am the one you met and not some ungrateful trash. Forget it… your kindness is what made you so good. Just as I said, I will protect you, so just stay by my side."

With his thoughtful words and gentle actions, Yusheng completely shows how he treasures and treats the young man with a special attitude. He is basically saying 'Look, this is my person, the one I greatly treasure and care about' or 'No one is allowed to bully him'.

After finishing the performance for other people to see just as what the two of them planned ahead of time, Yusheng finally turns his attention to the military officers who are still respectfully bowing their heads, patiently waiting for his forgiveness and commands.

"Which person do you serve under?"

"Your Royal Highness, I'm working under the Second Commander of the Great General Ji!"

The military officer who is in his thirties respectfully bows his head while cold sweat runs down his back. Nonetheless, with his head down, a wicked glint quickly flashes in his eyes.

Just as the report said, the Second Imperial Prince is completely infatuated!

"Oh."

Yusheng just lets out an uninterested sound, not showing any reaction after hearing that the military officer serves under the second person with the greatest authority in the army before finally waving his hand to dismiss the entire situation.

"Your Royal Highness, my name is Lu, and I will be taking you to the residence we prepared for your arrival. If there is anything else you need, just command us and we will do our best to fulfill it."

"State your rank."

Suddenly, a robust tall man with a proper respectful expression on his face stepped forward after the kneeling person that was forgiven went back to stand on his spot.

"Lieutenant under General Yu."

Yusheng quietly listened to the loyalties that echoed in his mind while carefully playing with the thin and delicate fingers of Wang Ling gently held in his hand.

"Where is Great General Ji?"

Regarding the person Yusheng mentioned, he is quite curious about what kind of a person the most supreme commander in the army really is since unfortunately, this supposedly respectable person who has been guarding and protecting the Su Empire had died from the supposedly simple war between the two Empires.

This was ironic and a great embarrassment to lost the Supreme Leader since the war between the Su and Wang Empire wasn't even a full-out war.

It was the usual skirmish in the border, basically only harassment and making small movements to slightly disturb the other Empire from getting stable or powerful.

Although, no one had ever thought that during this supposedly simple war there are countless movements hidden in the dark.

There are important people between the two Empires collaborating in secret.

Some people are secretly making their moves in the dark, trying to silently reach their hands over the military power.

Some people are also trying to stop the second Imperial Prince of the Su Empire from getting recognition and merits in the army.

There are also members in the Imperial families who want to pit Wang Ling and use the simple war as a chance to completely take him down.

There is also one of the bug soul mates, Kang's trying to fulfill his greed and ambition at the expense of the life of Wang Ling.

Basically, the supposedly simple war is full of conspiracy.

"There is a bit of trouble in the forefront of the war and Great General Ji had to personally handle it."

"Hmm… worthy of the Great General, always dedicated to protecting our Empire."

… So righteous and upright that he got pitted by the schemes and conspiracy of the people around him.

Yusheng doesn't know the full details about what occurred during this time since he had to leave after failing to mingle in the army.

However, based on the person who replaced the Great General in the previous life, there was no need for him to even guess that the Great General Ji had been plotted to his death.

Yusheng ironically smiles after thinking the thought of betrayal, which always doesn't fail to make his heart erupt with bloodthirst, completely wanting to behead the traitorous and disloyal people.

"Take us to our place."

Yusheng pulls the quiet beauty that has been standing obediently by his side and follows Lieutenant Lu to their designated residence.

At the same time, he has been quietly storing all the loyalty information from the people he met along the way, which he had begun to give level to numbers 1-5 to make it easy to label the people around him regarding their loyalty to the Su Empire.

Basically, levels 1 and 2 are the people that can easily sway since their loyalty isn't strong enough, neutral, and weak.

Level 3, is a sense of belonging and home, but the possibility of betrayal is still high, just a normal loyalty. The balance range of loyalty, 50% chance of betrayal.

Level 4, loyalty to the Empire because of responsibility, circumstances, greed, and ambition that is toward the Su Empire instead of other Empires, has a 30% chance of betrayal.

Level 5 is to serve the Empire without hesitation even at the cost of their lives. 1% of betrayal, which is caused by unforeseen circumstances that pushed them to betray.

So, Yusheng had been having the thought of Loyal 1, Loyal 4, Loyal 3, Loyal 1, and so on in his mind flashing as he bypassed the people around them.

Of course, there are also some traitors around leading to Loyalty 0, basically Negative in the label of loyalties which made Yusheng dangerously raise his lip with his purple eyes flashing with suppressed murderous intention.

These are the kind of people that wouldn't have an ounce of hesitation when killing me.

Let's see how they will deal with me in this war.

Although the assassination had stopped during their travel to the border, Yusheng understands that in the midst of battle, it was also the perfect reason to bury him to death. If not, then destroying his reputation or letting the people know how incompetent he was is also another method to deal with him.

Death, huh…

Yusheng hides the murderous intention in his purple eye, at the same time, skillfully suppressing his desire to slaughter from leaking out.

Heh… this time, I will not be the one dying...