Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 189 : Making Amends

The spectators were not sure whether they should be disappointed or delighted.

The greatest uproar came afterward, with Li Haochen being surrounded by a bunch of people who demanded their money.

"I placed a bet on the Crown Prince!" A burly alpha who lost to Zhang Fengxi in one of the initial rounds exclaimed. "The Crown Prince won, so I should receive my money!"

"No, no, you need to properly read the terms of the bet. It says, ’when the Crown Prince wins’, but the Crown Prince did not win. Zhang Fengxi retreated from the competition," Li Haochen explained.

"What the hell? You are a scammer!!!" Another alpha cried out. "Give us our money or we will throw you into the biggest lake in the Human Realm during wintertime!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, please! I do not have the money! Someone had accurately guessed that Zhang Fengxi would renounce the throne, so he naturally won almost all the money in the gambling pool!"

"And which idiot would bet on such an impossible outcome???" Another alpha shouted.

Li Haochen quietly murmured, "Uh. It was Zhang Fengxi himself."

"..."

"..."

"..."

It turned out that Zhang Fengxi had planned the outcome of the competition before he even fought in the first round.

"Where is Zhang Fengxi?"

"Get Zhang Fengxi!"

"That scoundrel cost us our money!"

Having predicted that a bunch of angry gamblers might be tempted to serve his head on a silver platter, said idiot escaped with his money a long time ago.

Inside a cloud carriage that headed toward the Longjing Palace, Zhang Zhiyuan, Lady Song, and Zhang Fengxi sat in a relaxed manner.

"I am glad that I only bet on you for ten rounds," Zhang Zhiyuan said. "I heard that Song Weiyang lost a lot of money. Hehe."

Lady Song was all smiles.

"Oh, I knew that Fengxi would do the right thing. It was proper to bend your knee in front of your bride."

Flustered, Zhang Fengxi stared at his mother.

"Mother, what are you talking about?"

Lady Song clicked with her tongue.

"Aiyah. Fengxi, do you need to be embarrassed in front of your mother? Now that the competition is over and the Crown Prince gets to keep his throne, it is time for you two to tie the knot properly."

Zhang Zhiyuan cleared his throat.

"I don’t think that it would be easy. A lot of alphas -- males and females -- desire the Crown Prince."

Lady Song shrugged. She spread her peacock fan and fanned herself with a nonchalant expression.

"And did they all enter the final round to face the Crown Prince? No, they didn’t."

Lady Song closed her fan and smacked her son’s arm with it. "Zhang Zhiyuan, stop belittling your son. He already has enough flaws as he is. Before the Crown Prince finds out Fengxi’s flawful nature, I shall beat him into shape!"

While Lady Song was busy making plans to woo Xie Jianyu, Zhang Fengxi had another important matter to settle. As soon as their cloud carriage arrived at Longjing Palace, he left for Shuiran Palace without a moment of delay. The person he sought to meet was none other than the Palace Mistress, Xie Jianshen.

"Why, Prince Zhang Fengxi, what a pleasant surprise," the omega remarked when the alpha made his appearance in front of him.

Xie Jianshen still remembered Zhang Fengxi’s help when Jiang Muchen got poisoned, so his level of animosity decreased a great deal.

"Shuiran Palace Mistress, it is very nice to see you again."

Zhang Fengxi cupped his hands in front of his senior. Xie Jianshen gave him an acknowledging nod.

"How can I assist you, Prince?"

Zhang Fengxi knew that Xie Jianshen was a direct person, so he did not waste his time going around the main topic.

"I am here to make amends."

"Oh?"

Xie Jianshen squinted at the alpha in front of him.

"Pray tell, what exactly did you do wrong?"

Zhang Fengxi took a deep breath before he made his long-due confession.

"On the day we found out about the Demonic Realm’s involvement, I found out something else separately."

"Which is?"

"That is, the involvement of my then betrothed, Liu Wenyuan, in the Crown Prince’s kidnapping case," Zhang Fengxi said with full determination.

A fierce expression spread on Xie Jianshen’s face.

"Liu Wenyuan colluded with the First Demon King to kidnap Xie Jianyu. I knew it. I knew it!"

Xie Jianshen punched his own palm in fury. "Little Yu did not want to tell me anything, but I knew that Liu Wenyuan had a part in the kidnapping!"

"Yes, you were right. I extorted a confession from him right before I rushed to the Demonic Realm to save Xie Jianyu."

"Wow."

Xie Jianshen gritted his teeth.

"I have been trying to drag him back into prison after his fake pregnancy lie was unveiled, but I did not have enough proof and witnesses. Why did you not step forward with this confession back then?"

"The timing was poor," Zhang Fengxi pointed out. "After Xie Jianyu was recovered safely, the revelation of his gender took the spotlight. All nine clans were focused on the one-in-a-lifetime chance to install one of their own as the next Crown Prince. Liu Wenyuan’s detainment was at the bottom of everyone’s list."

Xie Jianshen glared at him.

"And what if he escaped in the meantime?"

Thankfully, Zhang Fengxi thought about that as well.

"I put my men on him to monitor his movement. Liu Wenyuan is still at Wuyang Palace as we speak."

"Oho."

Xie Jianshen was not easily impressed, but this Zhang Fengxi was not as stupid as he thought.

"Now that the competition is over and Xie Jianyu retains his Crown Prince position, it is the right time to drag Liu Wenyuan to the court of justice."

Xie Jianshen observed Zhang Fengxi with an amused expression.

"I never thought that you were such a vengeful person, Prince Zhang Fengxi. Are you doing this just because Liu Wenyuan lied to you about the baby?"

"No, that is not it. I have protected Liu Wenyuan enough, and hurt Xie Jianyu a lot in the process."

"..."

Whenever Zhang Fengxi recounted all the horrible things he did and said to Xie Jianyu in the name of love for Liu Wenyuan, the alpha was quickly overcome by shame.

A person who did not mend his ways was not worth a penny. He did not know how to apologize to Xie Jianyu for all the wrong he did, and for all the pain that he caused the omega.

"That’s why I need to make things right."