Ninety-Seven: The Game of Rights [Part Two]

In just two seconds, Yin Chan and Ming Tian were both captured.

Facing this situation, Ming Tian realized that something was terribly wrong. Why would this man in the mask want to capture us?

"Brother De, why are you capturing the Lord Consort?" Zhao Yu was clearly panicked. She never imagined that the man she admired most would seize Ming Tian. She rushed over, grabbing De Yi’ao’s sleeve, desperate for an explanation.

Feng Mowang, the boy, clearly hadn't expected this turn of events. He clutched his blade, looking dazed and helpless in the face of the scene unfolding before him.

"Hey, you surnamed De." Given the circumstances, Ming Tian had no heart left for witty banter. A cold, stern expression, one he had not worn in a long time, returned to his face. "If this is a joke, isn't it going a bit too far?"

Behind him, two burly men held blades crossed against his neck. Ming Tian feared that the slightest movement would result in his head being sheared off like a pair of scissors.

"Brother De, what is going on? Please, say something." Tears streamed down Zhao Yu's face as she tugged incessantly at De Yi’ao’s sleeve.

However…

"Shut up!"

*Slap!*

With a lift of his hand, he struck her across the face.

Zhao Yu was sent sprawling to the ground by the sudden blow. Her beautiful face flushed red and began to swell, her eyes filled with utter disbelief.

"Why… why, Brother De?" Zhao Yu looked up at De Yi’ao in shock, unable to believe that the man before her was the same one she had adored for three years.

De Yi’ao felt not a shred of guilt. Instead, he looked at Ming Tian, wearing an ugly smile that clashed hideously with his handsome features.

"Three years! I have waited three years for this opportunity! I have endured hardship and humiliation, acting like a dog, waiting until this very day. Finally, the opportunity has arrived!"

De Yi’ao was trembling with excitement. The gaze he leveled at Ming Tian was not one of hatred, but that of a fisherman looking at a lure capable of hooking a massive prize.

"What do you mean?" Ming Tian swallowed hard. "I shouldn't have known you three years ago, right? What do you mean by waiting for this opportunity?"

De Yi’ao let out a cold snort and reached out to pinch Ming Tian’s face. His slender fingers were incredibly strong; Ming Tian felt as though his face was being crushed, his mouth forced into an 'O' shape.

"Hmph, who said I wanted you? You are merely bait! It is the Jiangmen Princess, Xiao Xinzhu, that I want, you idiot!"

"The Princess?" Zhao Yu, listening from the side, turned deathly pale. "De… Brother De, what are you saying?"

De Yi’ao released his grip and glanced sideways at Zhao Yu, laughing maniacally. "Do you still not understand? Three years ago, I recruited you into my organization precisely because I had my eye on your connection to the Princess! But honestly, Zhao Yu, you are so useless. For three years, if not for the appearance of this foolish Lord Consort, I don't know how much longer I would have had to wait to get to the Princess."

As he spoke, De Yi’ao seemed proud to reveal the truth behind his actions.

Four years ago, the resistance organization was formed and launched an uprising against Xiao Yaoguang. However, Xiao Yaoguang’s forces were far too powerful. In the blink of an eye, over a thousand members were killed, leaving only a hundred survivors.

Afterward, forced by circumstances, De Yi’ao took the organization underground and continued to expand its ranks. But due to the need to resist the attacks of the Chaos Rippers, the expansion was extremely slow, and to this day, it had only recovered to three or four hundred people.

Three years ago, the Princess once visited Yangzhou. When De Yi’ao learned her identity, he realized that if Xiao Yaoguang possessed the power of the Jie tribe, then the only way to oppose him was to obtain the power of the Di tribe, another of the Five Barbarians!

However, given his status, De Yi’ao could not make his organization public to seek the Princess's help. Thus, he approached Zhao Yu, the Princess’s personal maid.

De Yi’ao’s honeyed words and handsome looks had left the young Zhao Yu completely infatuated. She had thought this would bring her closer to the Princess, but unfortunately…

"Useless woman! I asked you several times to help me meet the Princess, but you kept making excuses. You have the nerve to nag me?" With that, De Yi’ao raised his leg and kicked Zhao Yu in the abdomen.

The force of the blow was immense. Caught off guard, Zhao Yu turned blue and collapsed, vomiting bile onto the floor.

"De… Brother De… you are… you are joking, right?" Zhao Yu still could not believe the reality. She reached out to grab his trouser leg, her tears soaking her cheeks.

De Yi’ao, however, gave her a cold look, spat out the word "trash," and shook off her weak hand.

In that second, Zhao Yu’s eyes were filled with despair.

"Zhao Yu!" Seeing this, anger surged in Ming Tian’s heart. "Then what about when you asked me to assassinate Xiao Yaoguang? What was that about?"

"Assassination? You have the ability to assassinate anyone?"

De Yi’ao glanced at Ming Tian with contempt and laughed. "The news of Xiao Yaoguang returning to Yangzhou was something I fabricated! I just received word yesterday that Xiao Yaoguang has died in Jiankang! Heaven truly helps me! Now, as long as I gain the Princess's trust and join forces with the Di tribe to wipe out Xiao Yaoguang’s remnants and the Chaos Rippers, Yangzhou will be mine! With Yangzhou, taking the State of Qi is not impossible!"

"Do you think the Princess will help you?"

"Of course. I only need to say that you were all killed by the Jie tribe and that we arrived a step too late. The Princess will certainly assist me to avenge you!"

"Do you think such a flimsy lie will work?"

"Will it not? Even if it doesn't, it doesn't matter." The man in the mask pulled his lips back until they nearly reached his ears. "I am not killing you precisely to ensure that if I cannot deceive the Princess… I can use you to threaten her into cooperating!"

How despicable!

Ming Tian finally understood. This handsome man named De Yi’ao was actually no different from Qian Shenduo in the imperial palace.

No, his intellect was even higher. If it weren't, he couldn't have deceived Zhao Yu for three whole years. If it weren't, Ming Tian wouldn't have failed to notice a single flaw over the past few days.

Poor Zhao Yu was now lying on the ground, clutching her stomach, her beautiful eyes as hollow as if she had lost her soul.

"One last question. Since you know I am a transmigrator, can you understand what 'transmigrator' means?"

De Yi’ao looked at Ming Tian with disdain and shook his head, as if mocking his stupidity. "I indeed do not understand exactly what a transmigrator is, but I know you are people from the future, which is why you possess such abnormally advanced technology. However, that technology is now in my possession. My soldiers and my disciples are already very strong, so you are no longer useful!"

Hearing this, An Luo looked at Ming Tian in confusion; moreover, Zhao Yu, in her despair, began to examine herself in bewilderment.

Ming Tian had no mood to explain to them. He simply said coldly, "How did you find out?"

"That question…"

De Yi’ao turned around, no longer looking at Ming Tian, but his voice was chillingly vile. "Once you reach my secret dungeon, you will naturally know how I found out. Guards! Take Ming Tian, Yin Chan, An Luo, and this useless woman to the dungeon!"

At these words, the burly men holding the four of them moved in unison, forcing them toward a hidden door in the corner of the room.

"Brother De! No! Brother De!" Zhao Yu still would not give up, struggling with all her might.

But how could a young woman compete with the strength of two burly men? No matter how she struggled, it was of no use.

As the hidden door opened, just before entering the dungeon, Ming Tian glanced at Feng Mowang in the corner, then back at De Yi’ao, who was laughing hysterically at how perfectly his soldiers had been trained.

The rage of being betrayed erupted!

Before the door closed, Ming Tian let out one final roar.

"You won this round! I admit I was played by you, but you surnamed De, mark my words… you will regret this!!!"