Faced with the questioning, someone among the Omegas finally snapped out of it, taking two steps back into the shadows, not daring to utter another word.

Li Xiao looked toward Meng Jian. “Do you know why?”

Meng Jian was on the verge of exploding with rage.

Not only had trouble erupted continuously throughout the night—derailing all his plans—but Li Xiao had also seized on his shortcomings and relentlessly attacked him over them.

Song Jin walked slowly over to stand in front of those Omegas. “What a familiar scent—exactly like the fragrance I smelled earlier in the small parlor.”

Saying this, Song Jin looked at Meng Jian, speaking with a beaming smile, “Liking to light passion-arousing incense at the old master’s birthday banquet? As expected of a great noble, you certainly have romantic flair.”

The group of Omegas had stayed in the enclosed room for too long, and their clothes were thoroughly soaked in the smell of the spices. It was so potent it couldn’t be concealed at all, causing the guests nearby to wear subtle, awkward expressions.

Li Xiao had just flown into a rage because Song Jin was deceived, yet the Meng family still hadn’t given up, going so far as to arrange another group of Omegas to wait in the lounge.

Jiang Mu and a group of young companions stood silently in the crowd watching, unable to help cringing with second-hand embarrassment for the Meng family.

Although this tactic of drugging someone was common, it was completely low-class.

For the Meng family to actually degrade themselves to playing such petty tricks—had they truly run out of moves?

The critical point was that they had used the exact same trick twice, were exposed publicly both times, and were even dragged out and mocked by Song Jin.

The Omega wearing the white suit reacted the fastest, hastily explaining, “I’m sorry! We mistook Room 3 for Room 2! We didn’t intrude into His Highness’s lounge on purpose!”

Yi Lian interrogated in a rough voice, “Making a mistake in room numbers is understandable, but where did you get the keycard access permissions? Did the Meng family give you the wrong ones?!”

The Omega was scared out of his wits, desperately defending himself: “The door wasn’t locked at the time! W-We just pushed it open!”

Yi Lian said, “How could a lounge prepared for His Highness possibly be left unlocked?!”

Instead of helping, this explanation shifted the blame right back onto the Meng family’s head, only making things look progressively worse.

“Who allowed you to run around randomly?!”

Meng Jian roared furiously at the group of Omegas. “Who is responsible for the security of the lounge area? Bring him over here right now!”

The butler nearby hurriedly answered, “I’ll contact them immediately.”

Li Xiao asked, “Just that?”

Meng Jian softened his tone: “I will certainly upgrade the security level of the lounge area to guarantee Your Highness’s safety.”

Li Xiao spoke no further, tapping open his terminal to contact the Royal Guard: “I have been attacked in Lisha Castle. Come and arrest the perpetrators.”

The Royal Guard leader paused briefly: “Understood!”

That group of Omegas was scared senseless, desperately trying to run outside, only to be blocked by several officials who wouldn’t let them through.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

“Stay put and don’t move!”

“You harm the Second Prince and then think you can just run?”

Anyone who wasn’t blind could tell that Li Xiao intended to punish the Meng family tonight.

With such a prime opportunity, who wouldn’t want to perform well in front of Li Xiao and show their face? Perhaps they might be appointed to an important position in the future and soar to success in one leap.

In an instant, chaos broke out across the grand hall.

Seeing so many people stepping forward to help Li Xiao, Meng Jian said with a taut face, “Second Prince, what are you doing?”

Li Xiao ended the video call. “Since you lack the capability to handle this, I won’t force you. You can focus on investigating how your father fell instead.”

His tone was no different from usual, but to Meng Jian’s ears, it sounded exceptionally sarcastic.

Among those Omegas, many of their family members were also present on-site. If he couldn’t protect these people, it would inevitably affect the loyalty of those family members as well, which would then radiate out to other people standing on his side, triggering a chain reaction.

Meng Jian scanned the entire hall, his gaze lingering for an extra moment on Yi Yongning and his son; the hands behind his back tightened, loosened, then tightened again.

The entire Capital Planet’s defense and control were in Yi Yongning’s hands, and the military district was naturally no exception.

Tonight, rather than saying the Yi father and son came to attend the banquet, it was more accurate to say they came to escort and safeguard Li Xiao.

Making a move against Li Xiao here would yield no benefits whatsoever for him or the Meng family.

Suppressing his resentment, Meng Jian weighed his options repeatedly, unable to make a decision for a long time.

The lights in the grand hall suddenly flickered, and the chandelier overhead swayed back and forth without any wind.

“It’s happening again!” Having been psychologically traumatized, that group of Omegas screamed and huddled together.

Their reaction made everyone else feel uneasy, involuntarily growing tense as well.

Just as Meng Jian ordered his subordinates to check on the chandelier, it returned to normal.

Before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the lights flickered again, and the chandelier began to sway once more.

After repeating back and forth several times, it wasn’t just the Omegas anymore—even the other guests wanted to flee.

The officials who had held a small meeting with the Meng father and son earlier couldn’t help but recall Old Master Meng going mad, making their scalps go numb.

“There can’t really be ghosts, right?”

“What era are we in? You still believe in that?!”

“But didn’t Old Master Meng say he saw someone coming? He was so terrified he lost his mind.”

“Keep your voice down.”

However, their discussion was still overheard by those nearby, quickly spreading throughout the grand hall.

Gossip and news proliferated across various group chats. Even before the Royal Guard arrived, more than half of the power circle already knew that Lisha Castle was haunted, that Meng Shan had been scared into a mental breakdown, falling stark naked down the stairs, and that Meng Jian had attempted to throw the blame onto the Second Prince, only to fail miserably.

The Meng family had thoroughly lost face this time.

In the palace, Li Ji was working overtime to approve documents, feeling somewhat uneasy.

Although preparations had been made, letting Li Xiao and Song Jin enter the Meng family’s territory was still far too risky.

Lao Liu placed a cup of freshly brewed tea by his hand. “Your Majesty, news was just received that Her Highness the Crown Princess was targeted with passion-arousing incense at Lisha Castle.”

Li Ji had just picked up the teacup when his eyelid twitched upon hearing “passion-arousing incense.”

“What happened?”

Lao Liu reported everything that occurred at the banquet to him in detail. Just as he finished speaking, a sharp crack echoed as the teacup slammed onto the floor, shattering into pieces.

Lao Liu skillfully dodged the flying shards, thinking to himself that not a single sip had been taken from this cup yet.

Had he known, he would have waited another two minutes before reporting.

“Despicable!”

Enraged, Li Ji slapped the desk and stood up. “Using such dirty methods to deal with two kids who just reached adulthood—does he feel no shame?!”

Lao Liu said, “The Second Prince seems to have been affected, but fortunately, Her Highness the Crown Princess was by his side to keep him company.”

Just as Li Ji was about to nod, he suddenly felt something was off. Turning to look at Lao Liu, he asked, “Song Jin is an Alpha. Are you sure having him stay with Xiaoxiao won’t cause problems?”

Lao Liu choked.

Song Jin was far too beautiful, and usually so clingy with the Second Prince that it almost made him forget that both of them were Alphas.

At this thought, Lao Liu suddenly panicked a little: “Should I send someone over with suppressants?”

Li Ji was feeling irritable. His own terminal rang—it was a message sent from Li Xiao asking for suppressants. After thinking for a moment, he instructed Lao Liu, “Have the housekeeper of the side hall deliver the suppressants in person. And also—assemble the Royal Guard to stand by near Lisha Castle.”

Lao Liu’s expression shifted slightly: “How many people?”

Li Ji said, “Three thousand!”

Lisha Castle.

In less than five minutes, the Royal Guard escort unit arrived—even faster than Li Xiao had anticipated.

The expressions of Meng Jian and his son, Meng Zai, turned extremely ugly.

Even at top speed, coming from the palace should take ten minutes, which meant the escort unit had already been waiting nearby, and in considerable numbers.

If they had chosen to strike just now, they would likely have been taken down by the escort unit by now.

Li Xiao had the escort unit take away Meng Fei and those Omegas, not even sparing Meng Tao. Under the murderous gazes of the Meng father and son, he led Song Jin away.

Before walking out of the grand hall, Li Xiao suddenly remembered something. Turning to Meng Jian, he said, “Since tonight is so dangerous, it’s better to dismiss everyone early, lest someone loses their life.”

After Li Xiao and Song Jin left, Yi Yongning also set down his wine glass and motioned for a few juniors in his family to follow along.

As soon as Yi Yongning left, other officials successively bade farewell to Meng Jian and departed as well.

In the blink of an eye, no one was left in the entire grand hall except members of the Meng family itself.

The more Meng Jian thought about it, the angrier he became. Turning around, he violently threw a punch at Meng Zai. “A perfectly good birthday banquet ruined like this—look at what a great job you did!”

Meng Zai’s son had just been arrested, and now he himself had been struck. Holding his face, he felt extremely furious: “You can’t blame this on me!”

“If not you, who else?!”

Meng Jian was beside himself with rage. “Li Xiao’s reputation wasn’t harmed in the slightest, whereas all of the Meng family’s reputation has been completely ruined by you! How could I have trusted that you could get things done properly?!”

Being blamed, Meng Zai was full of anger. “If he were that easy to deal with, we wouldn’t have reached this point!”

Not wanting to look at him any longer, Meng Jian strode outside, preparing to go check on his father’s condition.

Judging from the old man’s external injuries, it indeed seemed possible that he fell, but it was far too suspicious.

In his rage, Meng Jian unconsciously quickened his pace. Stepping onto the overpass, just as his foot landed on the descending steps, he was suddenly tripped by something, losing his balance completely and tumbling down.

“Ugh!”

“Sir!” The assistant hastily rushed down to help him up.

Meng Jian came from a military officer background, so his physical foundation was still there. Falling down the slope didn’t cause him any major injuries, but his dignity and pride were completely shattered.

“Go check what was on the ground!”

“Yes!” The assistant ran back up again, turned on a flashlight, and swept a beam around, but didn’t find a single thing.

Meng Jian caught sight of a dark shadow flashing quickly past his eyes, and the sound of tap-tap-tap footsteps came from behind him. He whipped his head back toward the empty corridor, unconsciously recalling his father’s terrified face and the name “Wei Feng” he kept muttering.

Tonight’s events were far too strange!

The surveillance footage showed his father stripping off his clothes, walking out of his room on his own, and heading down the stairs in a bizarre, sleepwalking-like posture before accidentally falling down.

Meng Jian didn’t believe in ghosts or spirits, but what on earth was going on here?!

Arriving at Meng Shan’s lounge, Meng Jian smelled a slightly bitter scent of cigarette smoke, feeling as if his sole had stepped on something.

Moving his foot away, he saw a flattened cigarette butt lying on the carpet.

His father didn’t smoke—where did this cigarette butt come from?

In the car driving home, Zheng Kang’an’s heart felt exceptionally heavy.

With tonight’s setup, Li Xiao used hard facts to prove that the Meng family could never step over the Royal Family again.

Like boiling a frog in warm water, Li Xiao had reversed the situation step by step without anyone noticing, causing the Meng family to sink into a quagmire, unable to move.

When exactly did the shift begin?

Was it from that initial greeting with Meng Jian? Or was it from that box of pastries given only to Meng Jian?

No matter how strong an individual’s abilities were, they couldn’t single-handedly dictate the entire domestic situation. So had Li Xiao calculated their every move, using everyone to his advantage?

Just how much intelligence did one need to possess to pull this off?

And as for the matter of the cyborgs, how much did Li Xiao actually know?

In another car returning to the palace, Li Xiao watched the video recorded by 09 in his field of vision, listening to the conversation between Wei Feng and Meng Shan.

His shoulder suddenly felt heavy; Song Jin leaned over slightly to rest against him, his expression looking somewhat exhausted.

Li Xiao reached out to feel Song Jin’s forehead; he had a slight fever. “Feeling uncomfortable?”

Excessively strong pheromone stimulation took an immense toll on mental and physical strength. Song Jin’s voice sounded somewhat low and raspy: “I’ve never lost even when drinking against my brother, yet I didn’t expect to fall into your hands.”

Li Xiao: “…How old are you, drinking against your brother?”

Song Jin: “In Shengya Empire, you can drink after turning sixteen.”

Li Xiao: “Is that so?”

Song Jin: “After I ascend the throne, I’ll change it to sixteen here as well.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Thinking of what happened with Meng Fei earlier tonight, Song Jin took Li Xiao’s hand: “When we have free time later, I’ll find another suitable pet for you.”

Li Xiao held the hand that had actively slipped into his palm, interlocking their fingers: “No need. I already have the best one. If I get another, he’ll be angry.”

Song Jin asked deliberately, “How could there be such an unreasonable pet?”

Li Xiao: “Mhm, spoiled rotten.”

Song Jin raised an eyebrow: “It’s better to throw it away sooner and replace it with a gentle, sweet one that can take care of you.”

Li Xiao: “Won’t do.”

Before Song Jin could feel happy, he heard Li Xiao say with utmost seriousness: “I’m afraid he’d track his way back to scratch me.”

Song Jin: “…”

Li Xiao stroked his head: “But the way he scratches people is also very cute.”

Suppressing a smile, Song Jin took over the conversation: “Mine bites people randomly, which isn’t very cute.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Song Jin: “How do you think I should teach him to learn not to bite?”

“He probably won’t learn.”

Li Xiao said nonchalantly, “You’re the only person he wants to bite.”