I Just Didn't Want Him to Be Threatened! (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)

Inside an antique, elegant room, Xue Qinghe sat gracefully before his desk. A sheet of paper lay spread across it, covered with verses whose ink had yet to dry.

This was his homework, meant to cultivate a more scholarly air about him. After all, an emperor was no warrior. Compared with fists, the brain was the organ used far more often.

Without sufficient cultural grounding, an emperor who cursed with every other word was obviously unqualified.

After finishing his homework, Xue Qinghe took out his Communication Stone.

Looking at the stone, which had not stirred once since he returned, he even began to wonder if he had remembered wrong. Had he actually given the other Communication Stone to Jiang Qianhai or not?

"No! I absolutely didn't remember wrong!"

After all, he only had one of these things left in his hand now. Surely he could not have accidentally lost the other one?

Besides, when a normal person got something like this, shouldn't they send a message first to confirm it?

Why was that Jiang Qianhai fellow acting like he was dead, not sending a single message at all?

Could it be that he didn't care about me, his friend, at all?

At the thought of that possibility, Xue Qinghe's expression darkened.

Although he knew it was unlikely, what if?

He immediately poured Soul Power into it and sent out a message.

Xue Qinghe: What are you doing?

To his surprise, a reply came from the other side at once.

Jiang Qianhai: Traveling. Looking at the scenery along the way.

Xue Qinghe narrowed his eyes and immediately asked whether Jiang Qianhai had forgotten about him, this "brother" of his, since he had not sent a single message for so long.

Jiang Qianhai gave a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Jiang Qianhai: Weren't you the one who said not to look for you unless there was something? I figured there really hasn't been anything lately.

The anger that had not yet fully risen in Xue Qinghe's heart was instantly doused like a basin of cold water had been poured over it.

Those words... had indeed been said by him, but wasn't that because he had been angered by the nonsense coming out of Jiang Qianhai's dog mouth?

Did angry words count?

Of course they did not!

In an instant, he became perfectly justified, didn't he?

Although he had become perfectly justified, he did not make an unreasonable fuss. He merely traded a few barbs with Jiang Qianhai as usual, then ended the conversation.

With the matter on his mind resolved, Xue Qinghe's mood immediately improved.

On a whim, he decided to halve the Old King's medicine today.

Although the accelerator was still on, at least it would let him walk a little more slowly.

The old emperor had truly benefited from Jiang Qianhai's good fortune.

If he knew, who knew whether he would say thanks to Jiang Qianhai?

And given Xue Qinghe and Jiang Qianhai's relationship, while it was not to the point of living and dying together, if a friend was in trouble, they would certainly lend each other a hand.

That had been his goal from the beginning.

He had merely reached that goal through another method.

He had authority, while Jiang Qianhai had strength. With the two of them helping each other, what problem could there be that they could not solve?

Do not think Jiang Qianhai was dispensable just because Xue Qinghe had many experts around him. In reality, battles nowadays were basically launched only after preparation, and most of them could be fought into a fifty-fifty situation.

Even if there was a gap, it would at most be sixty-forty, and even then, one still had to guard against the opponent's hidden moves.

So victory and defeat were truly very hard to predict.

But now that he had gained Jiang Qianhai, a secret combat force at the level of a Title Douluo, it was very possible that he would be enough to decide the victory or defeat of an entire battlefield!

Knock, knock, knock~

The sudden knocking interrupted Xue Qinghe's thoughts. He straightened his expression, returning to his usual refined elegance, before saying, "Come in."

The door opened, and the guard disguised by Porcupinefish Douluo walked in.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, the things you wanted have been delivered."

Xue Qinghe waved Porcupinefish Douluo away, then pulled the two sets of information on the desk in front of him.

This was the information on Jiang Qianhai he had ordered people to collect.

There were two sets of information. One had been compiled by his subordinates under his identity as Crown Prince, while the other had been obtained through Spirit Hall.

With a strange feeling, he opened the information from Heaven Dou's side.

It merely recorded some ordinary information about Jiang Qianhai in broad strokes, such as when he had come to Heaven Dou, when he had left, and what places he had gone to. The useful information was pitifully scarce.

It seems Heaven Dou's control over this aspect isn't enough.

Although it was only a small matter, he had noticed the key point within it. Heaven Dou was acceptable internally, but when it came to gathering information from outside the Heaven Dou Empire, it was simply a complete mess!

He opened the other set of information, and only after reading it did Xue Qinghe nod in satisfaction.

Spirit Hall did not disappoint him.

He had not sent anyone to dig up secret information like Jiang Qianhai's family background. Looking for that kind of information meant making an enemy. All he wanted were certain things he wished to know... Jiang Qianhai's life experiences.

"Born in the Star Luo Empire, just an ordinary person?"

When he saw the words ordinary person, the corner of Xue Qinghe's mouth twitched. But thinking of Jiang Qianhai's salted-fish personality, it seemed perfectly normal that others would not know his strength.

He could not blame Spirit Hall.

"Left Star Luo two months ago... with a girl?"

When Xue Qinghe saw this, his brows unconsciously furrowed.

"A girl? Could it be his younger sister?"

He continued flipping through it.

"Second Miss Zhu, Zhu Zhuqing?"

This time, Xue Qinghe bit his lip in displeasure.

Tch!

We're good friends, and you already have a sweetheart?

Ignoring the discomfort in his heart, he continued reading.

"Balak Kingdom, Suotuo City, hm? Shrek Academy? What kind of academy is this?"

"They only accept people who reach rank 21 before the age of twelve? They only take monsters..."

"That isn't important, but... Zhu Zhuqing has an engagement with the Third Prince of Star Luo?"

"Tch, why was it called off?"

The corners of his mouth, which had just been about to lift, instantly smoothed flat.

"The Third Prince of the Dai Family had one arm severed? Suspected to be Jiang Qianhai's doing?"

"He made an enemy and still didn't pull the weeds up by the roots? Isn't that just asking for trouble? Honestly..."

"Don't tell me he's never killed anyone?"

Xue Qinghe did not quite believe that someone could cultivate to Title Douluo without ever having killed anyone.

Oh, he was only twelve. Then never mind.

After that came what Spirit Hall had found out: Dai Mubai had secretly sent the information out, whereupon it reached Zhu Zhuyun's ears; she went to the Prince's Residence; and within less than a moment, two Royal Soul Saints left the Star Luo Imperial Capital.

As long as Spirit Hall wanted this kind of information, there was basically nothing it could not uncover.

After all, Spirit Hall had branch halls all across the continent, and with the connections it had accumulated from awakening martial souls for ordinary people, it was not strange for it to possess this level of information-gathering ability.

"That's what you get for not pulling the weeds up by the roots! See, the retaliation is coming, isn't it?"

Though he thought this, he still subconsciously took out the Communication Stone.

Suddenly, his body paused.

"Wait, Soul Saints? They're going after Second Miss Zhu, aren't they?"

"I don't even know her. What does it have to do with me if something happens to her?"

He rather disliked this Zhu Zhuqing. She already had an engagement, yet still got together with Jiang Qianhai. He felt heartbroken on behalf of his brother, even if that engagement had been called off.

The information ended there. With a wave of his hand, Xue Qinghe annihilated both sets of information, leaving not a single trace behind.

With nothing weighing on him, he felt light.

Thinking that there was nothing he needed to deal with today, he clenched his hand and suddenly felt an itch in his fingers.

Just as he rose, a flash of conflict passed across Xue Qinghe's face. If they used Zhu Zhuqing to threaten Jiang Qianhai...

In the end, he still gritted his teeth and infused a wisp of Soul Power into the Communication Stone.

"I just don't want that guy Jiang Qianhai to be threatened!"

"Otherwise, what does Zhu Zhuqing's life or death have to do with me? Hmph! I'm going fishing!"