?


    nked by Attendant Rue and the other maidservant, Leonardo made his way through the manor''s hallways with the main guest hall as his destination.


    "You haven''t told me your name yet," Leonardo spoke softly as he turned his head and looked over at the maidservant.


    The woman was briefly stunned, responding, "You can call me Julie…"


    Leonardo nodded.


    As for Attendant Rue, she maintained her silence ever since Leonardo called her out from istion. Of course, thetter didn''t take the initiative in talking with the attendant as he wasn''t in a rush.


    She might have gotten inspired with her path forward but that was it; an inspiration. Without the guidance of a practiced master, it would be nigh-impossible for Attendant Rue to aplish anything in the near future.


    "You two can wait outside," When Leonardo noticed the group of elders and Vi''s cousin waiting by the entrance to the guest hall, he could somewhat guess what the woman had in mind. Thus, he instructed Attendant Rue and Maid Julie to wait with them.


    The two women obviously had no objections, especially Attendant Rue, since she could also deduce that herdy and Leonardo desired yet another private chat.


    "Attendant Ye, can you please grant me a minute of your timeter?" Vi''s cousin stepped out from the line of elders and bowed, his toneced with a bit of anxiety.


    Leonardo thought for a moment and nodded his head. "I''ll call for you when I''m done with your cousin."


    The young man was ecstatic, hurriedly bowing once again to disy his gratitude.


    Leonardo passed by him and entered the hall, and as soon as he did so, he spread his deste domain and isted sound and spiritual senses from leaving the room or invading it.


    "You had your fun?" Vi asked curiously as her bright eyes smiled at Leonardo. After her spin around the Skyre City, she realized that the rumors had mysteriously disappeared, no one was mentioning the incident between the Qing family and Emily anymore.


    If anything, most people discussed the new Ye Estate.


    "What did you want to discuss with me?" Leonardo ignored her stupid question and approached the high chair in the center of the hall, taking his seat while looking down on Vi from above.


    Vi pursued her lips. "I''ve thought things through and I made up my mind… If my half-sister is truly intent on establishing a powerful faction of her own, independent of the Qing family, I can provide some help from the shadows…"


    Leonardo cut her off. "You''re not helping her but you''re helping yourself— stop talking as though you''re selling us a favor. If you want to cooperate, that''s fine. However, don''t go about giving me some terms and conditions."


    Vi''s eyes flickered as she said, "Her situation aside, you wouldn''t be able to join the Interster Supreme Court''s expedition force without the help of my Qing family, not even the Renhuang family can help you with that since they''re not interested.


    "My Qing family is the weakest of the seven families and thus, they''re eager for merit. The imperial family knows this, and so does everyone else, which is a high motivation for the Qing family''s cultivators. Thus, the opportunity to join this expedition fell into thep of a select few, and my Qing family is one of them."


    Leonardo furrowed his brows. "That goes to say that if I wanted to help Emily collect her merits, I''d have to go through you first?"


    Even as Leonardo mulled this over, his eyes suddenly shed and he smiled. He might have another option avable to him.


    "These are my cards, Attendant Ye… As you can see, if you want to smoothly enter the expedition squad, my family has some connections to the Judicial Inquisitors, especially the ones responsible for this outing." Vi stated calmly, her sender fingersced together on her knees, even as her legs ovepped, one above the other.


    "What do you want in exchange for that pass?" Leonardo had his own thoughts but felt like inquiring nheless. Vi couldn''t be more pleased to find Leonardo taking the initiative with asking questions, and she said, "I want her to give you up as her attendant, and you can serve me for a thousand years instead."


    Leonardo was lost for words, a momentter, a smile split his face before he cackled up inughter, not believing his ears. "You really don''t get it, huh? Who said that Emily controls my freedom? What''s between her and I is no more than a deal; an equivalent exchange."


    Vi ttened her lips. "That exchange would surelye to an end if she gained the recognition of bing a non-Jin Marquee or a non-Jin Duchess to the imperial family after the expedition. I''m helping here forward with her ns, though I want to know if you want to take this opportunity and make another deal with me, another equivalent exchange."


    Leonardo was somewhat interested. "What can you offer to win my help for a thousand years? Honestly, you can offer me the entire Jin Dynasty on a te of copper yet I wouldn''t be interested to work for you for a hundred years, let alone a thousand."


    What sick joke was that?<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Be an attendant for a thousand years?


    Vi was stunned and horrified. "Watch your mouth! The walls have ears, have you gone mad?!"


    Although she was confident with her concealment and spirit istion methods, she wouldn''t dare take such risks so flippantly, let alone get herself involved with some crazy, suicidal attendant who doesn''t know the heights of the heavens or depths of the earth.


    Leonardoughed. "How adorable… Don''t worry, no one would bother to eavesdrop on this little chat between an attendant and a youngdy from the weakest house in the alliance. Even though I''m pretty sure I''ll refuse your offer, I''m still curious about what you have for me."


    …


    A whileter, Vi left the room, expressionless. "Let''s go"


    "Uh, I can''te with you, not yet…" Vi turned her head and saw that the speaker was her cousin. She furrowed her brows, but Leonardo''s voice drifted over as he said, "I invited him over for a chat, too. You can head out first, Lady Vi."


    Vi furrowed her brows even tighter, scoffed, and left without a word.


    Attendant Rue hesitated for a bit, sneaking a peek into the guest hall, only to find a pair of honey-brown eyes smiling back at her. Her body shuddered for a bit, and she immediately turned tail and rushed after herdy.


    Julie found this little interaction to be a little odd, but she didn''tment on the small episode. As for Vi''s cousin, he breathed easy and timidly stepped through the entrance into the guest hall.


    The doors closed with a thud, and the istion barrier formed silently.


    The man nervously bowed his head and said, "Attendant Ye, I came here for—..."


    Leonardo cut him off with a smile. "You must be from the ck Market, right?"


    The man froze, his words caught in his throat. Then, he chuckled dryly and spoke in a quivering voice, "Attendant Ye, you must be joking. How can I belong to such a dark organization? Yes, I might join their auctions once in a while, but bing an active member…"


    Leonardo shook his head and sighed. "You don''t have to make excuses, I have an ''innate'' talent to spot restrictions on people, and I can see the restrictions ced on your body and they seem very… familiar. Then again, not the first time I''ve seen them."


    Members of the ck Market with sensitive identities and with ess to valuable information would have these restrictions ced upon them. For example, Emily.


    Another example, is this cousin of Vi, though he was her rtive from her mother''s side, meaning he wasn''t rted to Emily or the main line of the Qing family in any other way than his connection to Lady Vi of the Qing.


    After a moment of being stunned, the manughed dryly and fixed his obsequious posture, slowly standing upright with a calm smile on his face.


    "Alright, you saw through me and this makes things easier. As it seems, you also know that yourdy, Commanding General Qing, is also a member of my ck Market. In fact, it was I who introduced her to the ck Market back in the day." As he spoke, he sighed, even as his shabby aura collected itself and grew firm, robust, and oppressive.


    It climbed and climbed, eventually settling at the 8th-tier, the inception realm.


    Leonardo didn''t as much as bat an eyelid. In fact, his eyes narrowedzy, as though he was watching some irrelevant show.


    The young man raised an eyebrow,menting lightly, "You seem awfully calm."


    Leonardo shook his head. "You might be stronger than me, but you can''t subdue me fast enough before City Lord Huang could interfere. Thus, using your cultivation to intimidate me is pointless; just get to the point…"


    The young man paused, smiled, and said, "Actually, we want to have you join our ranks andplete a mission for us."


    Leonardo raised his head. "I assume it rtes to the uing expedition that the imperial family''s Interster Supreme Court is preparing?"