Chapter 36: A Maid Is Missing

"Yes, yes, I heard someone in the private room shouting 'Zhantai Lingwei.' I would stake my life on it—it is definitely the young lady from the General's Mansion," a sycophantic voice fawned repeatedly.

"I have always been curious about that good-for-nothing young lady of the General's Mansion. The Sixth Princess was the most beautiful woman in the world; the child she bore shouldn't be too bad. I happen to be lacking a maid—she shall be it." The voice, neither male nor female, was not only unpleasant but profoundly repulsive.

Upon hearing this dialogue, Xuanyuan Hongyu felt a wave of icy fury surge through him. He longed to strike both of these babbling fools dead with a single blow.

The innkeeper trembled, his strength drained, as he watched the door to the private room being pushed open. A short, obese man with a bloated face and a neck like a bull's waddled in, swinging a fan with an air of unearned arrogance. His dog-like eyes were fixed greedily on the flushed face of Zhantai Lingwei. Ignoring the murderous aura radiating from Xuanyuan Hongyu, he staggered toward the small child in the youth's arms, his greasy hands reaching out.

"Beautiful, truly beautiful. As beautiful as your mother—no, even more beautiful. Your mother died young, and I never got to play with her, so I shall play with her daughter instead," the man leered, spouting obscenities as if the child were already his plaything to crush or mold at will.

Xuanyuan Hongyu no longer suppressed his rage. This pig dared to be insolent toward his person right before his eyes? He was courting death!

With a flick of his hand, the obese man was sent hurtling down to the floor below. His servant, the owner of that sycophantic voice, followed him out of the room, crashing directly onto his master.

Fortunately, his master was fat enough to serve as a cushion, or he would have been killed by the fall. The servant struggled to crawl off his master, wailing theatrically, "Master! Master, what has happened to you? Oh, Master, that you should pass in the prime of your youth! I shall return to tell the master, and he will surely seek justice for you!"

"Wang Lazi, your young master is not dead yet! What are you doing? Holding a funeral? Get out! No, help me up! I am going to show that rude brat a thing or two!" the man grunted as he pulled himself up from the ground.

Xuanyuan Hongyu stood on the second-floor balcony, looking down with cold condescension at the two bickering fools.

"Hey, brat! What is your name? If you have any courage, state your name, and I might spare your life!" the man bellowed with all his might.

"Exactly! Do you even know who you are dealing with? This is the Imperial Uncle! If you want to keep your body intact, state your name at once!" The servant, emboldened by his master's status, pointed a finger at Xuanyuan Hongyu, cursing him with a display of borrowed authority.

"The Imperial Uncle? Is this the pathetic state of the Imperial Uncle of the Nanbao Kingdom? Hmph, you dare to be insolent toward my companion and then spout such nonsense?" Xuanyuan Hongyu had no desire to waste words on such trash, but he had to consider the little one; he could not provide others with a pretext to target the General's Mansion.

"You have truly grown a heart of a bear and the guts of a leopard! State your name! I shall let you die with clarity today so that when you reach the underworld and are asked, you will at least know how you perished." The servant shouted, relying on his master's power. He was well-versed in this routine; once the name of the Imperial Uncle was invoked, no one dared to utter a word of defiance.

Xuanyuan Hongyu flicked his sleeve without ceremony. The arrogant servant was sent flying against a large central pillar of the inn. After a few groans, bright red blood trickled from his mouth. He pointed a finger at Xuanyuan Hongyu, trying to scream, but only a strangled sound emerged. Finally, with a gasp, his head lolled to the side, and he fell completely silent.