Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 143 - 63: The Princess’s Lessons

Chapter 143: Chapter 63: The Princess’s Lessons

As a researcher of Fox Demons, Duan Mingyuan felt that Fox Demons seemed to be born superstars.

Charming looks, captivating voices, and innate performing skills are all fundamental prerequisites for becoming a star.

Through Cai Die’s narration, the three of them learned about the huge changes that had occurred in the Imperial Court over the years.

The Third Prince had no interest in the fight for the throne but instead single-handedly established his own entertainment empire. He extensively studied the Extraterrestrials’ technology, assimilated their strengths, and gradually transformed the dull and boring Imperial Court into what it is now.

Over the years, Cai Die was also promoted to one of the heads of internal affairs, primarily responsible for managing and training servants. Besides that, she was often called to shoot various commercials, becoming one of the hottest models in the Imperial Court due to her versatile image.

"Cai Die, you’re actually praising the Third Prince."

Ning Ruyue was somewhat surprised. When she was in the Imperial Court, she seldom interacted with this younger brother and only had a vague impression of him, none of which were particularly favorable.

The unfavorable impression mainly came from the servants’ gossip, saying that the Third Prince at such a young age was slippery with words, frivolous to the point of not resembling the heir to the throne at all, which indirectly led Ning Ruyue to have a negative opinion of the Third Prince as well.

"A lot has happened during the years you’ve been gone, you should rest for a while, I have some internal affairs to take care of."

Subsequently, Cai Die arranged for Duan Mingyuan and Jiuyue to stay in a guest room.

The decor style in the guest room was starkly different from the vintage design of the palace, complete with all sorts of electronic devices, and even included an artificial intelligence housekeeping system that he had only seen online; compared to Yunhai Academy, it felt like suddenly stepping from the past into the future world.

Cai Die said that these guest rooms were prepared for visitors from beyond the stars.

Jiuyue took an immediate liking to the hairdryer in the guest room. She had the AI adjust it to cool air, then stretched her big tail in front of the air outlet and squinted her eyes in comfort.

Duan Mingyuan sat on the sofa, pondering about the Third Prince’s affairs.

From Cai Die’s narrative, he picked up on some implied messages and understood why the servants’ attitude toward the Third Prince had changed.

The emergence of the entertainment empire had subtly altered the structure of the Imperial Court, and the biggest beneficiaries were undoubtedly the servants.

In the era within Ning Ruyue’s memory, servants in the Imperial Court were treated as having neither personality nor dignity, their status akin to that of slaves. It was for this reason that the kindness shown by the Elder Princess was treasured by them.

Considering the Second Prince’s way of doing things, the Imperial Court’s servants could not even expect to be treated equally; a slight mistake could even cost them their lives.

According to Cai Die, maidservants had now become a regular profession.

They needed training, standardized professional skills, and if they had special talents, they even had the opportunity to be recommended to work for advertising and film companies. One of Cai Die’s tasks was to scout for promising newcomers for the Third Prince’s entertainment ventures during maid training.

This was also why she had extended an invitation to Jiuyue.

The Third Prince had actually changed many of the Imperial Court’s traditional perceptions in a subtle and imperceptible way.

At that moment, Ning Ruyue sent a text message.

"Ning Ruyue would like to invite us to the swordsmanship class, do you want to go?"

asked Duan Mingyuan.

"Eh? Does the princess have to attend classes too?"

Jiuyue asked in confusion. She disliked sitting in classrooms unless the teacher was Mr. Mingyuan. "Shouldn’t a princess do whatever she wants?"

"Who taught you that?"

"That’s how it was when I was in the mountains."

Jiuyue said proudly, "I went wherever I wanted and never listened to the elders’ advice."

The elders advised her not to leave the mountain, but she packed her bags and ran away overnight.

It turned out to be the right decision. If she had stayed in the mountains, she would never have met Mr. Mingyuan, nor would she have become the youngest high-ranking award winner and Evil Spirit Queen.

Certainly, being a queen had much more clout than being an elder, and she could return to the mountains with her head held high.

She had made a name for herself alone in the big city, a feat of substantial value.

If the elders in her tribe nagged her again, she could assertively ask them "What kind of king are you?" just like those people on the internet.

Duan Mingyuan was at a loss for words for a moment, having forgotten that this little Fox Demon had indeed once been a princess. On the other hand, he, a commoner, was presumptuously discussing the princess’s behavior; if this conversation took place during the era when Ning Ruyue left, it would likely be a capital offense.

"So, are you going?"

Duan Mingyuan, who had never been a princess, refrained from passing judgment on domains unfamiliar to him.

"Yes!"

Jiuyue said.

She didn’t like attending classes, but she enjoyed watching others fight.

Swordsmanship Class sounded like a course made for fighting; before leaving, she didn’t forget to take out a pack of popcorn chicken from her suitcase.

The popcorn chicken was brought down from the Peach Blossom ship; after all, the food was free of charge.

The two followed behind Ning Ruyue, listening to her recount the interesting stories from her childhood in the Imperial Court.

The courses for the princess were completely different from theirs, with a main curriculum consisting of "Etiquette Class," "Swordsmanship Class," "Cosmic Structure," and "Art of People Control"—a 3+1 course load. Although it sounded substantial, the pressure was much less than what the children of today faced, with no ranking exams and no homework to do after going home; it all depended on personal interest.

As Duan Mingyuan who had gone through this entire process, to say he didn’t feel any envy would be unrealistic.

For the royal heirs, there would never be a situation like "Your total score is 502 points, ranking you 184th among all the city’s princesses."

The city wouldn’t have that many princesses; even if they failed every subject, they would still rank among the top five scholarly elites in the city.

"Now that I think about it, I am somewhat envious of the Third Prince,"

Ning Ruyue said, "If one had no interest in inheriting the throne from the beginning, they could have lived a carefree and joyful life."

The pressure on heirs mostly came from their followers and themselves. If she hadn’t harbored ambitions to succeed the throne and change the Imperial Court, she wouldn’t have ended up fleeing for her life.

"Swordsmanship Class was my favorite back then because the Sword Control Technique was a symbol of the Prime Monarch’s bloodline."

"Then you must be very proficient at the Sword Control Technique, right?"

Jiuyue blurted out.

Yet, this sentence struck Ning Ruyue’s heart like a sharp sword; her expression stiffened, and she replied vaguely, "It’s, it’s okay, I guess."

Clearly, that was a lie.

And Duan Mingyuan saw right through it.

When they first met, Ning Ruyue’s Life Energy was at 31, not even at the stage of constructing a Barrier, leading him to think that the youth of today had fallen from the standards of the past.

However, after meeting the Second Prince, he realized that the problem might have been with Ning Ruyue herself.

The Second Prince was a year younger than Ning Ruyue but had already completed the construction of his Barrier. In an Indiscriminate Combat under the pretense of martial morality, Ning Ruyue was no match for the Second Prince.

The battle at the academy proved that Duan Mingyuan’s "Indiscriminate Combat" skills were superior by a notch.

"Ying Tian!"

As they approached the classroom, they heard a stern voice filled with anger, "How many times do I have to tell you, don’t nap during class!"

They just arrived at the back door of the classroom, inside which was a massive combat practice arena. The young man known as Ying Tian was hugging a dummy, fast asleep.

As it turns out, if there are only three students in a classroom, sleeping is absolutely going to be noticed.

"I’m not sleeping, I’m just practicing Red Star Wrestling, a combat skill mastered by the people of Red Star."

Ying Tian’s eyes cracked open slightly, showing no intention of getting off the dummy.

"You are a descendant of the Prime Monarch, not a Red Star person!"

"I believe being stuck in one’s ways is no longer suitable for the development of this era. We live in a time of diversified development, and the Sword Control Technique should be the same. It’s said that having a broad range of skills is advantageous, and that’s exactly what I mean."

"Where on earth did you hear these misguided and heretical ideas?"

"Facts are more convincing than eloquence."

With that, Ying Tian slowly closed his eyes again, completely ignoring the increasingly heated old teacher.

What else can be said?

This is the might of the Royal Family’s bloodline.

If it had been a normal school, those two sentences would be enough to have young Ying Tian stay for observation. Back when Duan Mingyuan was in high school, he’d never dared to talk back to any teacher.

"This is preposterous!"

"Teacher, let it go."

Before falling asleep again, Ying Tian couldn’t resist adding another jab, "Your favorite student, Ying Xin, was thrashed by the Elder Princess you didn’t favor. He’s so ashamed that he doesn’t even have the face to come to class anymore."