The Chen Clan's Speculation

"Wan Youqing, is there anything else?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this humble minister has nothing further."

"Then withdraw. I am already weary."

"Yes."

Wan Youqing exchanged a few quiet pleasantries with Feng Dabao before slowly taking his leave.

After stepping out of Qianqing Palace, Wan Youqing cast a meaningful glance at the bedchamber behind him.

His Majesty seemed to have rather poor kidneys.

In the end, he was still an ordinary man, one who had not cultivated Martial Dao.

At that thought, he could not help letting out a long sigh.

The Imperial Family beneath heaven was truly pitiable, like golden songbirds locked inside cages.

Though they could indulge in inexhaustible wealth and splendor, their Divine Souls were trapped within small shells of flesh, only to turn into a mound of yellow earth within a few short decades.

In the previous Great Zhou Dynasty, there had even been an anecdote of a Prime Minister assisting ten successive emperors.

At the time, the Son of Heaven of Zhou had been almost completely stripped of power, utterly reduced to a "meat chicken" that produced Wish Stones.

No matter what Imperial Governance Arts one possessed, they seemed somewhat pale and powerless before the passage of time.

Great Wei had stood for over two hundred years, and there were already signs that imperial power had fallen into other hands.

It was time to make more plans for himself.

The next day, in the study of the Chen Residence.

Chen Cheng'an, the eldest young master of the Chen Clan, walked into the study, casually picked a chair, and sat down. "Father, what does that old emperor mean by this? He gave my eldest sister a passage token and even allows her to stay overnight. Is he planning to have her drowning herself in the Fifth Prince's place every day? My sister may practice martial arts, but she is still an unmarried maiden. What kind of propriety is this?"

Chen Mou, the Minister of Works, shot him a glare. "What old emperor? Watch your mouth. That is His Majesty of our Great Wei."

"Oh! They're all about the same." Chen Cheng'an did not care in the slightest. Looking nervous, he said, "Father, do you think the old em—do you think His Majesty might want my sister to marry the Fifth Prince?"

Hearing this, Chen Mou could not quite make heads or tails of it either. Ambiguously, he said, "That possibility cannot be ruled out."

"That won't do! The Fifth Prince has neither the support of an imperial mother nor any talent in his belly. Strip off that prince's skin, and he's nothing at all. How could someone like that be worthy of my exceptionally gifted eldest sister?"

Chen Cheng'an added fuel to the flames. "Besides, if my sister marries into the Imperial Family, all her cultivation will be ruined."

After hearing Chen Cheng'an's description, Chen Mou's brows furrowed into the shape of a river.

The mere thought of the daughter he had painstakingly raised marrying someone in the future made his heart feel as though someone had squeezed it hard, stopping it from beating.

Still, Chen Mou knew his son's usual nature. He glanced at him and said, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"I knew I couldn't hide it from my old man."

"Speak if you have something to say, fart if you have something to fart!"

Chen Cheng'an smiled ingratiatingly. "I have a close friend, a born martial arts talent. He's only fifteen and already at Ninth Grade Meridian Opening. He can be called peerlessly gifted, and his family is no small matter either—practically as rich as an Enemy Country. I think he and my sister are the perfect match. Father, how about I bring him to the residence in a few days so he can meet my sister? You can look him over from the side."

"You're talking about the Third Young Master of the Li Family, aren't you?" Chen Mou said, lifting his teacup for a sip.

"Yes, yes, that's him."

"Your sister won't agree."

"Why?"

"She's already behind you, and she hates you to the bone."

"Ah?"

Chen Cheng'an turned around and saw that Chen Xuerong, who had entered at some unknown time, had her eyes widened like bronze bells.

Suddenly, she swept out with a kick, striking Chen Cheng'an.

Chen Cheng'an let out a miserable cry and flew straight out of the study together with his chair. The sandalwood chair beneath him instantly shattered into four pieces and five fragments.

"Sis, what are you doing?!"

"You took a fancy to that family's money and want to marry your sister off to them. You really have your wishful calculations all lined up." Chen Xuerong said with a smile that was not quite a smile. "And let me tell you this: I would rather marry the Fifth Prince than marry that Third Young Master of the Li Family of yours."

"Why?"

"The Fifth Prince is handsome and has a good figure. As for the Third Young Master of the Li Family, his face must have hit the ground first when he was born. He's ugly in such an original way. The difference between them is obvious at a glance."

"But he's already at Ninth Grade Meridian Opening. He's a Martial Dao Genius."

"When I choose your brother-in-law, I definitely won't look at his cultivation or talent. In any case, neither will be higher than your sister's."

Chen Cheng'an was left speechless.

"Enough, stop fooling around." Chen Mou stepped in at the right moment and changed the subject. "Rong'er, what do you think His Majesty is considering by doing this?"

Chen Xuerong's flippant expression vanished, and she said seriously, "It's actually not as complicated as we think. Father, don't you know quite clearly about the frequent appearances of Han Country assassins in the palace lately?"

Prompted by his daughter, Chen Mou immediately thought of a possibility. "You mean His Majesty wants you to protect the Fifth Prince, but it would not be appropriate to say so openly, so he came up with this compromise?"

"That should be eight or nine times out of ten. The Fifth Prince is all alone. Not only does he have no faction supporting him in court, even the forces of his own imperial mother have turned to ashes and become tales of the past."

"Yet he has the status of a prince. The palace guards vary greatly in strength. If an Enemy Country finds a loophole and something happens to him, then it will be Great Wei's face that is lost, easily bringing other negative consequences. The situation is tense right now; such a mistake cannot be allowed."

Chen Mou nodded. "What you say makes a great deal of sense. You can stay at the Fifth Prince's side under the name of teaching Martial Arts. That way, you can protect the Fifth Prince while also silencing the factions of the other princes."

"I feel there is a deeper intention, but I cannot see through it for the moment," Chen Xuerong said thoughtfully.

Chen Mou suddenly said anxiously, "A deeper intention? It can't be that he wants the two of you to develop feelings over time and truly have you marry the Fifth Prince, can it?"

At the thought of his daughter marrying that prince, his heart hurt even more.

"I don't know."

Hearing Chen Xuerong's answer, Chen Mou's heart clenched even tighter.

Outside the door, Chen Cheng'an held a piece of sandalwood board as he walked and rubbed his backside. "What are you all talking about? Eldest Sister, are you really going to marry some Fifth Prince?"

"Get lost!"

A few days later.

Clear Breeze Pavilion, rear courtyard.

Zhao Hongming and Chen Xuerong stood facing each other, each holding a wooden saber.

During this time, under the Jian'an Emperor's arrangements, Chen Xuerong came over almost every day. Sometimes, she even stayed overnight at Zhao Hongming's place.

For a while, it had left even him somewhat unaccustomed to it.

"Fifth Prince, Martial Skills are honed by diligence and wasted by play. They require frequent sparring. Your Highness has practiced the Heaven and Earth Severing Slash for over a month now, so you should have grasped it initially. What remains is frequent sparring to reinforce it."

Chen Xuerong stood before Zhao Hongming, speaking earnestly with the wooden saber in her hand.

"During the sparring to come, Your Highness may attack with your full strength. There is no need to hold back."

Hearing that, Zhao Hongming could not help smiling.

If I don't hold back, I'm afraid you won't be able to take it.

Please keep reading and send recommendations! The final section has been updated.