Do You Like Me That Much? Miss Villainess

In the worldview of the game "Destiny" non-human races weren't limited to just the demons.

Under the vast heavens, myriad forms existed—countless species possessed intelligence.

However, for humans.

They typically classified non-human races into only three categories.

Demons, devils, and ghosts.

Each occupied one transcendent path.

The demon clan were mostly beast spirits with powerful physical strength and often inherited bloodline divine abilities; the ghost clan were formed after death and didn't interact with the mortal world.

As for the devil clan, they were skilled with fire and full of evil.

Trapped in the far north, they were brutal by nature, attacking the northern garrison armies every year, causing heavy casualties among Great Xia's military and civilians.

Yet such a brutal non-human race was now sitting in the Crown Prince's study, smiling across from Great Xia's heir?

"Your Highness, the devil clan..."

Eunuch Meng said worriedly.

The Crown Prince shook his head: "Mr. Tu is merely at sixth rank peak. After cultivating concealment techniques, he won't be discovered by Heyang's patrols."

"But..."

"I have my own judgment. You may go."

The Crown Prince waved his hand.

Eunuch Meng could only obey, retreating with a worried expression, leaving only a document behind.

Crown Prince Jiang Ge grabbed the document and glanced at it, his face immediately darkening.

"Excellent methods... Six Bureaus..."

The entire Skyreach Tower, except for a few people out on missions, had all been captured!

Although he still had branch bases and maintained some death warriors, the quality of these death warriors compared to those assassins carefully cultivated by Skyreach Tower was worthless!

"Great Xia has been unjust to Your Highness. This is the perfect time to use us."

The black-robed figure chuckled coldly.

The Crown Prince shook his head: "You are non-humans after all. If I allow you to commit some shocking crime in the city and His Majesty investigates thoroughly, I won't escape either."

"Our blood evil aura is strong and difficult to hide. Are you worried about just a few sixth and seventh ranks?"

"Who knows?"

"Moreover, Your Highness has suffered consecutive setbacks recently. You probably need something to draw the Six Bureaus and court's attention, don't you?"

"Speak first."

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Ge swept the document from the table into the wastebasket.

Along with it went his last shred of integrity as Great Xia's heir.

The black-robed figure grinned:

"I heard that in a few days, it will be Heyang's biannual Hundred Flowers Banquet for talented youth? This time, it seems your ninth sister will also attend."

Jiang Ge frowned: "Indeed so. What do you plan?"

"Kill!"

"Kill whom?"

"Jiang He!"

"Why kill her?" Jiang Ge was puzzled.

The black-robed figure glanced at him, his grinning mouth revealing chilling malice:

"Because she has an innate water-element destiny trait that restrains us. Once she grows up, she might become another Northern King Xu Mengran or National Advisor Ning Shuyu! No, she might be even stronger! That's an innate water-element destiny trait..."

"This..."

The Crown Prince hesitated.

Not because of deep sibling affection—they weren't from the same mother and rarely met, so what affection could there be?

He was hesitating whether this was worth it.

Ninth Imperial Princess Jiang He was truly the royal family's foremost genius, Great Xia's future pillar. With her innate destiny trait, she would definitely become a second-rank pillar in the future, perhaps even beyond what ordinary second-ranks could contend with.

Such a pillar...

"Not enough." The Crown Prince shook his head.

"What else does Your Highness command?" The black-clad man's gaze was steady. "The previously promised resources and favors still count. If Your Highness has any commands, you may tell Tu now."

"I want you to kill one more person..."

○

After the black-clad man left, Meng Fangyuan entered the study.

"Your Highness, you called for me?"

The Crown Prince leaned back in his chair: "I've sent people to secretly investigate the Hundred Flowers Banquet's guest list."

"The Hundred Flowers Banquet? Could it be the devil clan's target is our Great Xia's young talents? No, wait—this time's Hundred Flowers Banquet, is it the Ninth Imperial Princess?!"

"Yes."

"Your Highness, if something happens to the Ninth Imperial Princess and His Majesty rages, I fear it won't benefit you." Meng Fangyuan was terrified.

"Whether he rages or not, I'm already in a bad position. It's a desperate gamble." The Crown Prince shook his head: "Besides, I've seen him swear by the Devil Ancestor."

Meng Fangyuan said no more. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by Nove1Fire.net

The Crown Prince stood and rolled up the Hundred Flowers Banquet security layout map on the table.

"Have trustworthy people make a copy. Don't let it be traced back to the Eastern Palace." The Crown Prince said flatly.

"Yes."

Outside the window, the weather was slightly cool, with occasional raindrops rolling down from the eaves and splashing on the blue bricks below.

'Hundred Flowers Banquet, Great Xia's pillars?'

"As long as I remain, Great Xia shall not fall..."

The Crown Prince looked up at the sky, murmuring to himself.

○

Several days later.

Prince Qi's Mansion.

North Garden, dungeon.

The dark, secluded dungeon was filled with a thick bloody smell that lingered persistently.

More than ten servants cleaned up corpses in the dungeon, repeatedly checking to ensure not an inch of their skin concealed anything.

"Miss," a shadow attendant approached, "we've found the underground cellar outside the city and guards who know fire magic. Once these corpses are loaded onto carts and disguised, they can be dragged to the outdoor cellar for burning."

"Good, well done. Don't forget to give them reward money."

Mu Qinglan didn't look behind her at all, saying flatly.

The shadow attendant hesitated slightly.

"What? Are you also curious why I don't just dump this group at some mass grave outside the city instead of insisting on finding a place to cremate and bury them?" Mu Qinglan asked.

Hearing this, the shadow attendant shook her head slightly.

"The Six Bureaus said these rebels were beheaded and cremated after interrogation. Miss is careful not to give others cause for gossip. Shadow One naturally wouldn't dare question this, but..."

"But?"

"Why did you insist on personally killing these criminals?"

Shadow One truly couldn't understand this point.

Honestly, having served as a shadow attendant by the young lady's side for several years and being exposed to considerable information, she should have been unflappable about most things.

But even she didn't quite understand why the young lady insisted on transferring these prisoners caught by the Six Bureaus to their own dungeon, letting them stay in the dungeon for one night, then personally going in to kill them the next day.

"These petty criminals—with one word from you, all the mansion's guards could serve you."

Shadow One said:

"Why did you need to..."

Serve?

One word and all the mansion's guards come steal my experience, right?

Mu Qinglan rolled her eyes but couldn't easily explain her actions.

So after pondering for a moment, Mu Qinglan looked at her and flatly uttered one word:

"Hobby. I like doing things personally."

Shadow One was speechless. After respectfully bowing, she left to supervise other matters.

Watching Shadow One's retreating figure, Mu Qinglan knew she had misunderstood something but was too lazy to explain. She simply silently called up the system panel in her mind.

[Name: Mu Qinglan]

[Level: Eighth Rank (Magician), Ninth Rank (Mechanist)]

[Destiny Traits: Fate Puppeteer (Gold): You have crossed the cycle of life and death once

Crystal Wit (Gold): You possess vast soul power and are more intelligent than ordinary people. As a price, your physical body is extremely fragile

Shadow Affinity (Purple): Your shadow affinity has greatly increased]

[Skills: Light Wisp lv2, Essence Infusion lv2, Shadow Pierce lv2, Mechanist Arts lv1]

'The experience needed to reach seventh rank seems sufficient.'

Sitting in her wheelchair, Mu Qinglan was still savoring the wonderful feeling of harvesting these Skyreach Tower assassins and Constable Sun.

'Ninety-three experience points total. Sun Zhu alone provided fifty-seven points.'

'Mm, less than the previous two fifth-ranks. It should be because his current state is half-dead, even more pathetic than those two fifth-ranks who were at others' mercy.'

'The others combined gave thirty-six points, which is acceptable…'

Originally, her experience needed for leveling up was somewhat tight.

But now she had struck it rich.

Even with some excess!

Previously, even after completing September's monthly mission and using a Heavenly Flower Pill, Mu Qinglan was still some distance from the experience needed for seventh rank. But now, she probably had enough even for the skills needed to unlock seventh rank!

'Eighty-four plus ninety-three makes... one hundred seventy-seven. Minus the hundred for breakthrough leaves seventy-seven.'

'Indeed enough to unlock slots, but not enough to raise proficiency.'

Still poor!

Mu Qinglan sighed for a moment and patted her bulging chest.

The next instant, a black cat head emerged from her collar, shaking her head.

"Ah Qi reached seventh rank?"

Mu Qinglan asked knowingly.

"Seventh rank!"

Ah Qi's eyes lit up. She placed her paw pads on Mu Qinglan's shoulder and pushed lightly with her hind legs against the girl's arm, immediately leaping onto the white-haired girl's shoulder.

Looking quite majestic.

Mu Qinglan held the cat's little belly, took her down, laid her flat, and petted her:

"Can seventh-rank Ah Qi protect mama well?"

"Of course." The cat squinted and said.

"Then Ah Qi should sleep for a while. After absorbing so much spiritual power, I think Ah Qi needs to digest it." Mu Qinglan said.

Hearing this, Ah Qi turned around, burrowed into the girl's embrace, and disappeared.

Mu Qinglan's expression twitched slightly.

Although she knew Ah Qi had entered the shadows, still... she'd need to have a good talk with Ah Qi next time.

Thinking this, the girl returned to her bedroom, only to find that for some reason, little Bai had come over today and was sitting on her bed.

"Why did you come?"

Bai Yuyu frowned: "Why do you seem unhappy?"

Mu Qinglan shook her head, pushing the shock from Ah Qi's strange behavior out of her mind, and smiled:

"Little Bai hasn't come to see me for two days. I'm angry. Isn't that allowed?"

Bai Yuyu puffed up her cheeks, thinking Mu Mu was truly awful.

She was clearly the one who had told Shen Yao so many things the day before yesterday, making herself extremely busy with no time to visit, yet now she was turning the tables and questioning her first?

"I should be the angry one!"

Bai Yuyu irritably pinched her waist, making the bad woman laugh and beg for mercy.

"Senior Sister has been swamped with so much work because of you. She probably won't have time to go out for half a month. You'd better take responsibility!"

"Responsibility?"

"You know about the Hundred Flowers Banquet, right? That gathering held twice a year to showcase Great Xia's talents to the world."

"I know it. What about it?"

"Senior Sister has been so busy because of your meddling that she definitely can't go. Mu Mu, come with me instead. I remember you've never participated in these activities before. Now that your health is better, want to try?"

Bai Yuyu asked with concern.

Mu Qinglan thought for a while and felt that although her body was weak, attending such an event shouldn't be a big problem.

She nodded: "That's possible. Does little Bai have a schedule?"

Seeing her agree, Bai Yuyu's eyes brightened slightly as she straightened up:

"The night banquet is the day after tomorrow evening, then the formal Hundred Flowers Banquet is the next day. Can Mu Mu come with me?"

But Mu Qinglan wasn't fooled and only asked:

"What do you do there?"

Little Bai pouted, complaining in her heart that Mu Mu wasn't as cute as before, but still answered honestly:

"The night banquet has evening entertainment, songs, dances, and lantern boat tours. The main banquet has the Hundred Flowers Ceremony and imperial decree presentations."

"I'll go to the night banquet."

"What's fun about the night banquet? It's just food and performances. Mu Mu should come to the main banquet to see my handsome figure, ah..."

Little Bai stopped mid-sentence, covering her mouth, knowing she'd misspoken.

"See you?"

Mu Qinglan's tone was suspicious. Her mind turned and she guessed the situation:

"Could it be that little Bai is also one of the young talents at the Hundred Flowers Banquet? How impressive."

She said with a smile.

Being praised by Mu Qinglan, little Bai swelled up like a pufferfish being inflated, humming twice.

She didn't care when others praised her, but compliments from good friends made little Bai very happy.

"Hmph, you figured it out. I'm in the top ten of this year's Hundred Flowers Banquet!"

"Then I absolutely must go see."

Mu Qinglan smiled.

Her smile was sweet and charming, as if genuinely celebrating for her friend.

However, after little Bai happily turned around, her eyes dropped indifferently, deep as an abyss.

I remember the Hundred Flowers Night Banquet had an assassination incident, right? Jiang He was lightly injured, and it was the devil clan behind it?'

'The incident wasn't major, and the assassins weren't high-level.'

But regardless, it's better to be well-prepared.

'I need to bring Ah Qi, and I should break through to seventh rank during these two days of leisure. Mm, neither should be difficult…'