"You don't have to continue dressing like a palace maid, Lunyi."
"Impossible! I've heard that men love to have sex with palace maids, Young Hero. Therefore, I'm going to continue dressing like this until you invite me to serve you."
Shaking his head and no longer bothering himself with Lunyi since she herself was fine with throwing her status away, Yang Shen looked around the huge hall which was filled with a jovial and fun environment.
Powerful cultivators sharing their adventures, beautiful ladies looking for a man to wed, lustful men discreetly eyeing the curvy women, and the bunch who preferred eating over everything else.
But in the end, all of this was an act. Excluding the few naive ones who didn't know what was happening here, every single one whose status allowed them to attend this banquet knew that right now they were in the real calm before the storm and everyone was doing their best to find out as much information as they could about others.
The royal family, the disciples from the Great Sects, the descendants of the Great Clans that existed inside the Song Kingdom, everyone was conducting reconnaissance to determine who should be classified as a threat and who they should make allies with.
And Yang Shen himself due to his fame wasn't spared from the countless people who tried to probe his intentions and find out whom he was going to support since they didn't want to become enemies with him.
After all, everyone believed that it was already decided how he was going to become the next Sect Master of the Mystic Pill Sect due to his talent.
Thus, as beings who needed Alchemy Pills for all sorts of things, who would not want to become his ally and rather become his enemy?
Due to this, despite Yang Shen wanting to maintain a low profile and secretly find out the information about the others was forcibly pushed into the limelight.
And to make things worse, the Grand Chancellor's daughter was dressed as a palace maid and could be seen serving him like an obedient servant due to which not even the various Princes could maintain their lofty statuses and came running to become acquainted with him as soon as possible.
"Hahahahaha, you are like the brother I've never had Yang Shen. If there's anything you ever want, don't feel the slightest bit hesitant in asking me."
Leaving while continuing to laugh loud, Song Yu left Yang Shen a little speechless at how someone like him could say such things in public with a straight face.
After all, he was the Fifth Queen Chen Yue's oldest son, and had a younger brother.
Not to mention how the same brother was not too far away from them and could clearly hear every word he uttered.
"Don't worry about it Brother Shen, I'm used to him saying such things. In fact, I'm sure that if he obtains the chance, he wouldn't hesitate the slightest bit in killing me."
Ending his words with a weary sigh, Song Sun, Chen Yue's younger son left the banquet while thinking if his pitiful act managed to move Yang Shen's heart.
The answer, it didn't.
While Yang Shen maintained the same warm look on his face since the moment he entered the hall, on the inside he was completely expressionless and looked towards everything with a cold heart.
He was no longer the happy go lucky kind of boy who'd do something on a whim.
While he still intended to live a happy and fun life, this didn't mean that he was going to ignore the big picture.
Everything he does should be for his own benefit, and there should be a proper reason and purpose supporting his actions.
Due to this, regardless of the countless ways the princes tried to sway his thoughts and make him support them, by even going as far as to offer their own mother to him, Yang Shen continued to remain calm, cool, and collected.
Seeing this, Lunyi felt even more sure that her original thoughts were true and that she had to become his lover at all cost.
After all, someone like him was bound to achieve great things in the future and at the same time guarantee her living the life she always wanted.
"Doesn't this banquet feel a little rushed, Lunyi?"
"What do you mean, Young Hero?"
Not answering her question, Yang Shen asked, "Who is the host of this banquet?"
"The host? It's the Sixth Queen Tan Xue."
'Her again.'
Looking towards the one known as Tan Xue, Yang Shen felt even more sure that she wasn't who she seemed to be.
Hosting such a grand banquet and sitting at the head of the main table without looking the slightest bit overwhelmed by the prestigious guests attending it, such a thing was impossible to achieve for someone that didn't come from a notable background.
"How's the king's condition, Lunyi?"
"There's been no new change in His Majesty's condition, Young Hero. His health is continuing to deteriorate at the same pace as before."
Nodding his head, Yang Shen asked, "How long do the royal doctors think he has to live?"
Looking around after she heard the question, Lunyi walked closer to Yang Shen and began whispering near his ear.
"This news has not been made public yet, but the doctors think the King at most has a month to live."
"A month?"
Looking towards Tan Xue who sat there at the head of the table, Yang Shen said, "If my thoughts are true, he's going to die in less than a week."
"What?! A week?! But the doctors are all very confident that nothing is going to happen to His Majesty unless…"
"Unless his illness flares up and turns his already grave situation even worse?"
"...Yes… But how did Young Hero… Does the Young Hero know about the mysterious illness His Majesty is suffering from?!"
Shaking his head, Yang Shen didn't claim that he knew anything about it since he didn't even see the King until now due to which it was impossible for him to know what the illness he was suffering from was.
All he had right now was a gut feeling that everything that was happening to the king was in one way or the other related to this woman who had a kid despite being a virgin.