Mecha Chapter 173: Intent

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Lhachril

 

The news that the Imperial Capital’s only prince had fallen into a grey hole was released and the nation was in an uproar. The reason why their Prince and Prince Consort fell into the grey hole together was not known, but rumor had it that the Prince Consort was abducted by an alien bandit on his wedding day, and the prince had an accident and fell into the grey hole when going after him.

While people were extremely distraught, they also began to fear for the future of the Empire. Everyone knew that no one had ever come back from a grey hole, and they may have lost their prince. Although His Highness Yuan Xi had performed many miracles, could he really escape from the mouth of the God of Death?

If His Highness Yuan Xi didn’t return, who would be the new heir? While the Imperial Capital was in a state of grief, many nobles quietly began to inquire about His Highness Yuan Nuo’s situation. Although His Highness Yuan Nuo had not reached the age of eighteen and was not granted a title, he could still be granted the right of succession to the throne, and some people already started to show their affection to the King’s only nephew.

Of course, there was also speculation that the King and Queen could have another heir to the throne.

The Imperial Capital was in a state of flux, but neither the King or Queen had come out to reassure the people on the issue of an heir, for there was a more serious crisis in the Empire.

The people, who had been living happily in peace for more than a decade, were horrified to discover that the prince’s disappearance seemed to be an omen, and the curtain closing off human disaster was reopened.

First there were massive particle storms in many places, some planets even had sudden earthquakes and celestial collisions, and Red Alerts spread throughout the Empire.

And the worst event of all was to the southeast of the Imperial Capital. A planet had become completely unreachable, and it was the closest planet next to Robi’s Star. This began to raise suspicions that the octopi hadn’t been very restful lately. Besides, the last time Yuan Xi and the others had been on a trial mission they had encountered the sneaky Robi Star octopi at Castle Louis.

The octopus who was captured alive blew himself up during the transport, and although no evidence was obtained, Yuan Lie still ordered to strengthen the surveillance on Robi Star.

After receiving the report from the Military Department, Yuan Lie personally went to the front line as it was important to learn whether the Fifth Cosmic War would break out again. He entrusted many matters of government and military affairs to the Associate Minister and Five Star Admiral Qi Sen respectively.

His Majesty Feng JiaLing, on the other hand, was never seen again after the day Yuan Xi disappeared. Many people speculated that with His Majesty’s fiery personality, the Queen might have chased him into the grey hole.

Rod resigned himself to staring at the door of the Prince’s cousin, His Highness Yuan Nuo’s house. Anyway, after lying to His Majesty the Queen and King to conceal the truth for the missing prince – Your Highness, come back soon, I can’t take it anymore! -And after all the events such as the secret investigation behind the back of the extremely powerful disguise, there was nothing to fear from him anymore.

Could it get any worse? He even refused Miss Su Lan’s order to mobilize the guards two days ago, which was like offending Miss Su Lan’s cousin, Lord Yue Shang, who was now very much in the eyes of His Majesty Yuan Lie, at the same time.

He actually took it upon himself to keep an eye on His Highness Yuan Nuo’s residence for His Highness Yuan Xi, which couldn’t be blamed on his paranoia, after numerous dignitaries visited His Highness Yuan Nuo, Yue Shang brought a few people into the prince’s palace this morning.

In the past, Yue Shang and Yuan Nuo were incompatible. Why would His Highness receive Yue Shang now?

Rod’s heart lifted as he thought of the succession battle Imperial Capital was talking about. He trusted Yuan Nuo, but not His Majesty’s adopted son, Yue Shang, which was also a hint given to him by Yuan Xi.

Not until later in the evening, did Yue Shang lead people out of the Prince’s Palace. Yue Shang, who was walking in front, had a smile on his face, a confident and proud smile that he rarely showed in front of others.

Rod frowned while keeping a more careful watch until Yue Shang led the men into the Five Star General Qi Sen’s residence.

Qi Sen was different from Yuan Nuo, he seemed to have always been nice to Yue Shang. There was definitely something wrong here. Rod took a silent glance and turned around to leave.

The next day, His Highness Yuan Nuo suddenly openly invited Imperial Capital’s various dignitaries to attend a banquet at the palace.

The Imperial Capital, which was already in turmoil, stirred up another round of turbulence, but in the prince’s palace, there was a scene of a joyful feast. Even the co-chancellor and five-star General Qi Sen attended. But the highlight of the evening was Lord Yue Shang, who had just turned eighteen this year.

People seemed to have just noticed that King’s adopted son, Lord Yue Shang, who had recently been knighted, was also very outstanding, even more outstanding than the young His Highness Yuan Nuo.

At twelve o’clock, Yuan Nuo was dressed in a white gown, carrying a glass of wine to the stage. He was too young to be smiling with his liquor, but he looked like a dude.

People’s voices lowered unconsciously as Yuan Nuo stood up there and looked around.

Yuan Nuo gave a smile, then cleared his throat and said, “I’ve asked everyone to come here today because I have a big announcement to make.”

Yue Shang, who was standing under the stage, looked at the handsome deputy who had been following him, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Yuan Nuo looked at the crowd and slowly said, “That is, about-“

At that moment, a quiet, but clearly audible voice sounded, “Nuo, your uncle and I are not here, nor is your cousin. What are you going to declare?”

Hearing this voice, the people in the hall turned pale at the same time, and all the voices that had been whispering disappeared.

Everyone looked towards the door, and a tall, thin but familiar figure was standing there, looking in coldly. It was magnificent and imposing. Behind him stood a young and handsome officer. The rank of Major General, but it was Qi Mo, the son of five-star General Qi Sen.

If Luo XiaoLou had been there, he would have recognized that this Major General Qi Mo was also the second place winner of the mecha competition.

“Your Majesty, Feng JiaLing!” An old man lost his voice and shouted.

“You’re back!”

On the stage, Yuan Nuo suddenly frowned, the wine cup in his hand fell down, murmured, “Auntie -” lost consciousness, and slowly rolled down the stairs.

Due to His Highness Yuan Nuo’s sudden fainting, the people left quietly after expressing their concern. Yue Shang was one of the first to leave, and the handsome deputy by his side was never seen again once Feng JiaLing appeared.

Feng JiaLing took Yuan Nuo back to the palace, and the unspoken statement remained a mystery.

Feng JiaLing’s return was like a reassurance to the Vice Minister and General Qi Sen, and Imperial Capital’s heartbeat was restored.

However, the first person to consult His Majesty Feng JiaLing was neither the Associate Minister nor the Five Star Admiral, but Mr. Butler.

“Prince Consort’s relatives?” Feng JiaLing raised an eyebrow and lifted the black tea at hand.

Mr. Butler bowed and nodded, “Yes, they claim their last name is Jin and say they are Prince Consort’s nephews on his mother’s side.”

Feng JiaLing looked unchanged and said quietly, “Oh? Last name Jin?”

Feng JiaLing took another gentle sip of tea and said, “In that case, watch the arrangements.”

Mr. Butler quietly retreated again, and he had to walk through half of the palace to get to the palace meeting room. Seeing him enter, the two young men inside immediately stood up.

The younger of them, with a flattering smile, was about to speak when he was pulled back by the older one. The older young man scowled and said, “What took you so long? Have you reported to His Majesty the Queen? When does he intend to see us?”

Faced with such a rude question, Mr. Butler still gave a decent smile and said, “Mr. Jin, our majesty is busy, and presently the country’s important matters need to be taken care of by his majesty, so he has no time to see you yet. You two come with me first. I will be in charge of receiving you both in the next few days.”

The older young man was obviously not very satisfied, but as much as he put on airs, he didn’t dare to offend anyone too much, in case His Majesty Feng JiaLing really got angry, then all their plans would be foiled.

As they walked outside with the butler, the younger man asked, “Butler, don’t we live in the palace?”

Mr. Butler’s mouth trembled and said, “Mr. Jin, that is not allowed. However, you and Mr. Jin Ke can stay in the reception area of the palace.”

When Young Master Jin heard that, even though he wasn’t satisfied, he still asked, “How are the conditions there?”

The butler coughed and said, “VIPs from other planets live there as well.”

Young Master Jin was pleased, and had a look of yearning on his face. Jin Ke, on the other hand, glared angrily at his no-good brother. Shouldn’t he be asking more important questions? Jin Ke squeezed past his brother and walked beside the butler, inquiring, “I heard – our cousin, your Prince Consort, fell into a grey hole and won’t come back?”

The steward’s face changed. He glanced at Jin Ke without a trace and said in a serious tone, “You can’t say that nonsense.”

Jin Ke was shocked by the steward’s sudden outburst, then he grunted and whispered in a hard voice, “Isn’t what I said the truth?”

The steward didn’t pay any attention to Jin Ke and led the way on his own.

Jin Ke endured for a few seconds, but still asked the topic of greatest concern, “That – I heard that our cousin has an estate of his own? And is quite wealthy?”

As soon as Jin Ze heard this, he immediately supported his brother beside him and said, “Then if our cousin does not come back, those would have be given to us, right? We’re two of his closest relatives.”

Mr. Butler completely disregarded the brothers. Were they Prince Consort’s relatives? They may be some kind of relative, but he didn’t think there was the slightest resemblance between His Highness Prince Consort and these two.

“I’m not sure about that either. You two can wait until later to consult the relevant part of the palace about the authenticity and legality of the estate inheritance. In the meantime, it’s also recommended that you both make a declaration of property as well. In case something happens to you two, your estate will presumably belong to His Royal Highness Prince Consort, who is closest to you, right?”

The brother’s face turned black and shouted, “How is this possible?”

Jin Ke, on the other hand, grunted and began to make other plans. The fact that the steward didn’t object showed indeed the real existence of those supposedly well-remunerated properties of Luo XiaoLou. Plus, if they handled it right, they might even get the palace to make further compensation.

Inside the royal palace lounge, Yuan Nuo looked at Feng JiaLing and asked worriedly, “Auntie, will nothing happen to my brother?”

Feng JiaLing shook his head, “Yuan Lie has already sent someone over to try to figure out what to do. All I know is that Yuan Xi is still alive, and Luo XiaoLou should be fine.”

……

The Prince, who was being missed by many, was now lying on the ground gasping for air. After a while he sat up, wiping away his sweat and stared at the two animals in front of him with a mean face, “What’s going on?”

Luo XiaoLou gestured, and 125 guilty looked around for a moment, stammering and explaining, “I- I woke up, and I came here with Luo XiaoLou to tell you the good news.”

Yuan Xi and Luo XiaoLou both looked at 125, one flat, the other shocked.

125’s head spun around a few times quickly and said begrudgingly, “Ah, we’ve just solved the food problem! My fosterer left the house with a full six months of nutrition pills. That’s what we came here to report to you about!”

After saying that, he looked at Yuan Xi with a gesture of seeking praise, and Yuan Xi glanced at Luo XiaoLou viciously then held out his hand to 125.

Saying, “Give it all to me.”

125 didn’t wait for Luo XiaoLou to say anything, and obediently and attentively piled several boxes of nutritional pills all in front of Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi looked at them, and put them all into Cloudy Sky’s space button.

 

Then he reached out, and lifted Luo XiaoLou up by his collar, looking at Luo XiaoLou with a slight smile, “That’s plenty of food in reserve. How long were you planning to run?”