"Wasn't he the one who proposed this battlefield in the first place? Don't tell me he's duped us at the last moment..." He snorted.
At this moment, a familiar voice answered from outside the tent:
"You insult me by thinking I'd go back on my word."
Hearing the voice, Princess Fanrong's tensed expression turned into that of excitement and ecstasy.
Meanwhile, Lang Zhen hurriedly suggested, "Lord Cheng Tao, hurry and apologize."
Lang Zhen had seen Ashen's threatening aura, knowing full well that if he were to hold a grudge against him, Cheng Tao would definitely suffer greatly.
"Huh? Why are you acting , Lord Lang Zhen?"
Cheng Tao was bewildered by Lang Zhen's unusual behavior.
Lang Zhen was one of the supreme elders of the Beast King Sect; for him to act , there must be a reason.
Cheng Tao knew that Lang Zhen was one of the wisest in the tribe; his suggestion shouldn't be ignored.
Soon, Ashen entered into the tent, taking a note of the number of people present.
Cheng Tao, cupping his hands, bowed to Ashen and spoke respectfully:
"Lord Huan Tian. Forgive me for my earlier offense. I spoke out of tension and wariness..."
"I understand." Ashen nodded before suggesting with a kind smile, "Why don't we first introduce ourselves?"
"Yes. Let me begin." Cheng Tao spoke humbly: "I'm one of the southern prefecture's King realm prefecture lord, Cheng Tao."
"Hmm, and why did you join the princess instead of the prince?" Ashen asked plainly.
"When I got the offer to join, almost all the prefecture lords had sided with the Prince. I assessed that I won't be making much of a difference by joining the prince. Moreover, since killing Prefecture Lords was prohibited, I thought, "Why not join the Princess's side?"
Cheng Tao answered honestly, glancing at Lang Zhen before continuing:
"Another reason was Lord Lang Zhen. I know of his intellect. There was no way he would join a losing side. There must be a reason that others could not see. I simply followed him."
There were two more prefecture lords who had joined the princess's side. They introduced themselves next.
After Ashen was familiar with the ones present in the tent, he analyzed the situation internally:
So the princess could only get three prefecture lords to join her side.
Well, this much was obvious.
The two most powerful of the supreme elders joined the prince's side.
She must've looked like the losing side to the onlooker.
If I calculate our manpower, then we have four king realm cultivators, excluding me.
He glanced at Lang Zhen and asked, "Are there any prefecture lords who have remained neutral and didn't choose any side?"
Lang Zhen hesitated a bit, shaking his head in response.
Sigh... So that means all the remaining eleven prefecture lords joined the prince.
The result of this battle would've been obvious if I wasn't present on the princess's side.
Even though this will be a difficult battle, I suppose it's doable.
However, he didn't show it on his face that there was a chance they could win.
Bearing a grim expression, he requested of Fanrong,
"Princess, will you please come outside the tent? I need to talk to you in private."
The princess immediately agreed, understanding the urgency of the situation. There might be something that concerned her victory.
She followed him outside, and once they were alone, she asked worriedly,
"What's wrong, Lord Huan Tian? Is it not possible to win?"
Ashen shook his head: "No, it's not related to that."
He then asked, raising his eyebrows, "Princess, have you met Ni Yan?"
"Yes." She replied solemnly. "She told me she was your lover."
Even though Fanrong had more to complain about, she remained silent.
Ni Yan had been pestering her all this time, meddling in everything as if she owned the place.
Fanrong wondered how anyone could like someone like Ni Yan.
She didn't have anything worthy of Ashen except for her beauty; however, there were many as beautiful as her in the tribe.
Ashen, noticing her solemn expression, understood her inner thoughts:
"You didn't like her, right?" He asked playfully.
"Ah, it's not like that." Fanrong answered hurriedly. "Did she complain to you?"
"No. I haven't met her yet. I simply asked by reading your expression. When you talked about her, you had this disappointed and annoyed expression."
"Oh... Can I be honest with you, Lord Huan Tian?" Fanrong questioned.
Ashen nodded, giving his permission.
Fanrong, opening up, released her frustrated opinions:
"I think she's just trying to take advantage of your status. From what I've heard, she's merely your villager who you liked in your childhood. I can't understand what you see in her. When you weren't around, she kept meddling in everything. It was only after I forbade her from accompanying me that she finally stopped pestering. But then, she began harassing the servants—making unreasonable demands. She even asked for jewelry so expensive that even I wouldn't dare buy it. Worse yet, she started eyeing my belongings and even had the audacity to ask if she could have this ring—one that was gifted to me by my mother."
Woah... Even I didn't think she would be this bad... Ashen thought internally.
"Hmm..." Ashen agreed. "This is indeed bad."
"Right?" Fanrong spoke excitedly. "You should leave her. She is not worthy of you."
"Then how about you help me leave her?"
"Me?" Fanrong asked with widened eyes. "How can I help you in this?"
"It's simple, princess." Ashen said before explaining. "As you know, I made a promise to her when she left the village. If I leave her without any reason, I'd be breaking my promise. However, if you, the princess, were to become my fiancée, she won't be able to protest."
"Fiancée??" Fanrong was taken aback.
Ashen nodded. "We only have to act like lovers in front of her. It shouldn't be too difficult." Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs novel•fire.net
Fanrong's mind went blank.
To be honest, she had been having a doubt as to why Ashen was helping her so much. She couldn't find anything that would make him so loyal to her.
She thought that Ashen might like her; however, with the appearance of Ni Yan, she was only left disappointed.
Now this sudden development left her guessing again; however, with the Conqueror's Battlefield so close, she couldn't afford to deny any request from Ashen.
"Alright. I'll act like your lover." She agreed.
She decided she would think about whether her decision was right or wrong after this battlefield was over.
"Phew, with this settled, we should go back and discuss our strategy to win this battle." Ashen suggests with a bright smile.
Fanrong, not knowing what just happened, simply nodded in response.
Returning to the tent, Ashen announced:
"Listen to me, everyone. I will now be telling you our plan to victory..."
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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)