Dai Weisi let out a high-pitched, terrified scream as he stared down at his own body. He did not recognize the person he saw in the reflection of his mind, and he completely broke down in the middle of the arena.
The Royal Training Ground was deathly silent. Every pair of eyes was locked onto the figure standing in the center of the ring. This was the man who had once been the proud and arrogant First Prince of the Star Luo Empire. Now, he had transformed into a frightened, slender woman. She collapsed onto the hard ground, unable to find even a single spark of spirit power within her body. This strange sight was something no one there could truly understand.
"No... this can't be real! This isn't me!" the former prince cried out.
Should the world call her Davis now? She looked at her fair, delicate hands and let out a desperate cry. Her mind was right on the edge of a total collapse.
Dai Mubai slowly recovered from his own shock. His eyes were full of many different feelings as he looked at his older brother. He had defeated his rival in a way that was more humiliating than he ever imagined. Instead of feeling happy or satisfied, he felt a strange sense of confusion. Deep down, he even felt a weird stir of emotion that he couldn't quite explain.
Dai Mubai looked at the new Davis and licked his lips. He took a deep breath and began to walk toward her, one step at a time.
"You... what do you think you're doing? Get away from me!" Davis screamed, her voice trembling as she tried to crawl away in fear.
Dai Mubai's expression was hard to read. He spoke in a low, serious voice. "Big Brother, these are the ancient rules of our Imperial Family duel. The person who loses must give up everything they own. You belong to me now!"
His voice was not very loud, but it reached every corner of the silent training ground. Davis looked up at him, her beautiful eyes filled with pure terror.
"No! Please, Mubai! I am your older brother! You can't do this to me!" she pleaded.
For a second, Dai Mubai seemed to struggle with his choice. However, that look was quickly replaced by a cold determination. In the fight for the Star Luo throne, there was no such thing as family. The winner became the king, and the loser was treated like a common criminal. This was a lesson he had learned since he was a young child.
Without another word, he reached down and picked up Davis in a princess carry. As he walked away, no one in the crowd dared to say a word to stop him.
The Star Luo Emperor sat high up on his golden throne. His face looked pale and angry, and his lips were pressed together tightly. In the end, he said nothing. He simply watched and accepted what was happening. The pride of the Imperial Family was very important, but the old rules of the duel could not be broken so easily. Besides, after the way Dai Weisi had performed today, he was now completely worthless to the empire.
The duel ended in a way that no one could have ever guessed. The news of what happened moved through the Star Luo Capital like a fast-moving storm, and it soon spread to every part of the continent.
"Did you hear the news? The First Prince, His Royal Highness Dai Weisi, turned into a woman!" people whispered in the streets.
"It's true! He lost the duel to the Second Prince, Dai Mubai. Now, he's just a prize of war for the younger brother. Can you believe it?"
"Good heavens! This story is even more crazy than the books I read to my kids!" another person added.
"The Star Luo Imperial Family has no dignity left after this scandal. I wonder what Prince Dai Mubai will do with her now?"
In every small street and dark alley, people were talking about the royal scandal. The name of Dai Weisi became a big joke and a ghost story. At the same time, the reputation of Dai Mubai grew very quickly, though in a very strange way. People respected his power as a Spirit Master, but they were mostly curious about what would happen next to Davis.
Zhu Zhuyun heard about the horrible events at the training ground almost immediately. The teacup she was holding fell and smashed into tiny pieces on the floor. She stood there as if she had been struck by a bolt of lightning. All the color left her face, leaving her feeling nothing but shock and fear.
Dai Weisi turned into a woman? And now he is Dai Mubai's prisoner? she thought to herself.
Even though she had already planned to leave Dai Weisi for Ye Yin, she never thought her former partner would suffer such a terrible fate. If she had not listened to the advice of Earl Ye, what would have happened to her? She realized she would probably be in an even worse position than Davis right now.
A cold feeling ran down her spine, but it was soon replaced by a feeling of relief. She knew for sure that Dai Weisi's time was over, and his fall was very ugly. Her only way to survive—and maybe even get more power—was to stay close to the powerful Earl Ye. Her respect and need for the Earl reached a new high at that moment. Any old love she had for Dai Weisi was completely gone.
She thought back to what happened between her and the Earl that night, and her face turned a bright shade of red.
[Resentment from Zhu Zhuyun +66!]
She stood up quickly and spoke to her favorite maid. "Go and get the carriage ready right now!"
She wanted to show her loyalty to the Earl and make sure she was safe by his side. She was even hoping for a more "special" kind of treatment from him.
In a different room, Zhu Zhuyu had a completely different reaction to the news. At first, she was just stunned. Then, her body began to shake and tears started to fall from her eyes. But these were not tears of sadness. They were tears of joy because she finally had her revenge. It was a release for all the pain she had felt for many years.
"Wuwu..." she sobbed into her hands.
"This is karma! This is truly what you deserve, Dai Weisi! Your day has finally come!"
She remembered her kind and handsome fiancé, the Second Prince who had died a long time ago. Dai Weisi had killed him when they were young. He had been the only person who was nice to her in the cold Zhu family, and Dai Weisi had taken him away. She had kept that hatred hidden in her heart for a long time. Now, seeing her enemy suffer a fate worse than death made her feel like a heavy weight had been lifted from her soul.
She jumped up and ran out of the room. She wanted to find the person who had changed everything for her. She found Earl Ye walking slowly down the hallway.
"Earl... Earl Ye!" she cried out.
Zhu Zhuyu ran to him and fell to her knees, crying hard. "Thank you so much! Thank you for getting revenge for me! Thank you!"
She was so excited that she could hardly speak clearly. Earl Ye looked a bit surprised, but he gently reached down to help her stand up.
"Miss Zhuyu, you don't need to do that. Dai Weisi did many bad things, and the world has a way of fixing those wrongs. I didn't really do anything special," he said kindly.
His kind words made her feel even more thankful. She looked up at him with wet eyes. He was handsome, powerful, and yet he was so nice to her. Her heart started to beat very fast. He was the one who saved her from the Zhu family. He was the one who helped avenge her dead fiancé. He was the one who gave her a new life and freedom.
All these feelings came together, and she felt like she really needed to be near him. Her face was red and she felt very shy as she whispered, "Maybe it was easy for you, but for me... it is like being born again. I have no way to pay you back, but I can offer..."
Before she could finish what she was saying, she saw her sister, Zhu Zhuqing, standing at the end of the hall. Zhu Zhuqing was watching them quietly.
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