<h4>Chapter 774 ring Competition</h4>


    Unexpectedly, Xiaoyu acted so quickly that he convinced Wanyan Lie to tell her the whole thing within a few days.


    Fortunately, even if she did not get out of the imperial pce today, Madame Jingrou was going to stay in the Fengyu Court all day. After packing up a few things, she followed Xiaoyu to the pce gate stealthily.


    Although people were bustling about in the imperial pce, few of them dared to approach the pce gate.


    As a prince, now Xiaoyu could take her out of the imperial pce without attracting attention.


    What was more, even the guards in the imperial pce were nervously checking on the preparation for receiving the high priest and the other priests.


    Seeing this, Lin Mengya could somewhat understand why the Emperor was so utterly fatigued both mentally and physically.


    Two tigers could not live on the same mountain. Although the Chief Elder of the Pavilion of Herbs, as merely a spiritual symbol of the Nation of Lintian, was not above Lin Mengya’s cousin, her cousin was not magnanimous enough to tolerate the Chief Elder, let alone the Emperor in the Lieyun Empire where those aristocratic families possessed not only real power, but also forces and influence that could not be ignored.


    It would be extremely difficult to get rid of them and take back their power.


    It was hard to imagine how the Emperor and Madame Jingrou kept fighting with them for power in the past few decades.


    At the same time, she was aware that without the Emperor and Madame Jingrou’s painstaking efforts over the years, it would be difficult for her to turn the situation no matter how capable she was.


    “Humph! Priests? They’re just some people full of wild ambitions,” after getting out of the imperial pce, Xiaoyu said in a low voice with a sneer as he nced at the guards who were sweeping the road.


    “Indeed, leaving them here will only cause more trouble in the future. Nevertheless, a good show is going to be on this time,” Lin Mengya said with an amicable smile that was actually as cold as Xiaoyu’s sneer.


    “This is not a good ce to talk. Sister,e with me,” Xiaoyu said.


    In the past half a year, he, who had grown from an antisocial youth to the young master at the helm of a force, became not only more scheming and tactical, but also too steady for his age.


    After putting on a cloak that could hide most of her appearance and figure, Lin Mengya nimbly passed through the streets outside the imperial pce with Xiaoyu. After secretly contacting several people, the two of them got into a courtyard surrounded by high walls after taking a circuitous route.


    Seeing Xiaoyu act so cautiously, Lin Mengya felt gratified.


    Now she did not have to remind him in all respects. Being forced to grow up was notpletely a bad thing.


    “Who is it?” As soon as the two of them got in, they heard a voice and were stopped by a strong man.


    However, as soon as Xiaoyu noddedposedly at the man, the man made way for them respectfully and said in a low voice, “Young Master! Go and inform the chiefmander that Young Master is here!”


    Lin Mengya nced at the man for a moment, and then looked away in confusion.


    Although the man was dressed in ck clothes, he, who was a little inappropriately proportioned with extremely well-developed limbs, looked like a strong chimpanzee.


    Moreover, she smelled a very familiar scent from the man.


    When those copper ves’ arms were burnt by fire, they gave off a very strong scent. Now she smelled a simr scent from the man.


    The only difference was that the copper ves were walking corpses that were incapable of thinking and had lost all human characteristics, but the man was as clear-minded as normal people despite his slightly abnormal limbs.


    Why did Xiaoyu use this kind of person created by the Candle Dragon Cult in a crooked way?


    As soon as Lin Mengya got in, she was full of doubts, but she had to suppress her worries and follow Xiaoyu into the courtyard.


    The courtyard was not big, but Lin Mengya, who was keen, could sense that there seemed to be plenty of people hiding in the dark.


    Despite her keen sight and observation ability, she could hardly discover them at a nce.


    She could not help but secretly marvel at their professional skill of covering up their tracks. They werepletely different from those who worked as spies without qualifications in the Capital City of the Jin State.


    Perhaps it was because any negligence could lead to their total defeat.


    The turmoil and internal strife over the years not only put the civilians in a state of extreme nervousness, but also made these people as mentally tough and capable as soldiers.


    Compared with the Lieyun Empire, although there was a fight between the Crown Prince’s force and the royalists in the Jin State, it generally involved politics and economy at present.


    Apart from the force led by Lin Mengya’s father that could go through sanguinary battles, the other forces probably had lost their morale and be merely paper tigers long before.


    The possession of military power was the most assuring thing during the fight for the throne and power.


    In the past few decades, if it were not for the fact that the surrounding countries were upied with all kinds of internal strife so that they had no time to invade the Jin State, the army of the Jin State probably would have been wiped out long before.


    A nation, whose army had lost its fighting capacity, was like a herd of sheep targeted by a pack of hungry wolves.


    The Jin State had been peaceful for too long. As a sleeping lion, it could either wake up and howl into the sky or be reced by another lion.


    Lin Mengya sighed with deep feeling so that she was unconsciously led by Xiaoyu into an extremely well-hidden chamber.


    When she realized it, she found herself standing in a chamber with imprable walls.


    She looked around and found they should be surrounded by very thick stone walls which could even inste the chamber from the sounds of a hailstorm outside, not to mention prevent their conversation from being heard by eavesdroppers.


    Although it was early summer in the Lieyun Empire, Lin Mengya could still feel a chill in the air.


    It was only at this moment that she realized that Xiaoyu, who had prepared a cloak for her beforeing, was quite foresighted.


    “This is the ce where I usually discuss important affairs with Uncle Lie. The walls outside are all made of seven-foot-thick rocks. It will be absolutely safe to have a talk here,” Xiaoyu raised his eyebrows and spoke casually with a hint of pride in his tone.


    Lin Mengya reached out and touched Xiaoyu’s head with deep feeling.


    He had changed a lot when she was not around.


    If she did not make progress, she would be surpassed by her younger brother sooner orter.


    She did not seek to prevail over Xiaoyu, but was just aware that if she did not go forward, she would hold back those she cared about sooner orter.


    In any case, she could not lose.


    “What’s wrong?” Xiaoyu asked.


    Although he enjoyed her caressing his head with her gentle hand, he found her a little strange at the moment.


    “Nothing. I just marveled at how time flies and that you have grown up. As your sister, I seem to be a little useless,” Lin Mengya said and stared at her silly brother with a smile, while pinching his tender face wickedly.


    But she found his face not as smooth as before.


    Although Xiaoyu was thin back then, his face was as smooth as that of a child.


    She wondered what he had fed on here so that although his face became chubby, it became a little solid at the same time.


    Taking a closer look, she discovered that the young man’s immature face had be a little angr without being noticed.


    Xiaoyu frowned slightly, but still let her continue pinching his face.


    It was not until a quiet cough came from behind that Lin Mengya stopped her mischievous movement. When she turned around, the smile on her face had been reced by a very polite look.


    “Long time no see. How are you doing, Lord Nanshao?” She said.


    Wanyan Lie looked serious. He was a general, in front of whom women could only tremble, but he had never seen a woman who spoke impertinently like her.


    He could tolerate her the first time she did that. After all, she had saved his young master.


    But now, she was out of line.


    He snorted with a hint of murderous intent in his sharp eyes.


    However, the intimidating air he seemed to have formed in the hell did not seem to work on her.


    With a smile, Lin Mengya gained the initiative and sat down in the chamber.


    She fixed her eyes on Wanyan Lie, Lord Nanshao, indifferently, and gave him a bigger smile with a cold look in her eyes.


    Then she said, “Your Excellency, you seem to be as fine as before. I can see why. Anyway, you are not the one who has to feed his flesh and blood to venomous insects and suffer the pain of his heart bitten by tens of thousands of them. Of course, you don’t have to feel bad, do you?”


    Lin Mengya sat in a chair, while fixing her eyes on Wanyan Lie.


    They made invisible eye contact.


    One was decisive and gave out an oppressive air, while the other was aloof, lofty and aggressive.


    They were evenly matched in this invisible battle, and it was difficult to tell who would win.


    After a long while, the two of them tacitly softened their eyes at the same time.


    However,pared with Lin Mengya who was nonchnt andposed, Wanyan Lie was astonished.


    He only knew that Lin Mengya came from a family of military officers, and he had thought she was just a girl a little more mentally tough than ordinary girls. Unexpectedly, she was not overwhelmed by his intimidating air at all.


    Wanyan Lie would feel honored if he was confronting her well-known father at the moment.


    However, why did she, just a girl under the age of 20, have such a strong will?


    Lin Mengya, who seemed to be aware of what he was thinking, rubbed her sore eyes with her fingers.


    This ringpetition was really exhausting.


    Nevertheless, her father and brother had told her since she was a child that she should never be overwhelmed by her opponent’s air in a confrontation.


    Even if she could not defeat her opponent, she could at least frighten her opponent. Otherwise, she would not be treated as an evenly matched opponent.


    As the saying went, never admit defeat even at a disadvantage!


    “Uncle Lie, please sit down and have a talk,” Xiaoyu said.


    Sensing the strong hostility between the two of them, he felt a little embarrassed.


    He should take his sister’s side without hesitation, but Uncle Lie had risked his life to protect him since he came back.


    He could definitely not forget Uncle Lie’s kindness.


    As ast resort, he could onlye out to smooth things over when they stopped ring at each other for the time being.