Trading Resumes

This upheaval in Southern Li came suddenly and ended just as quickly.

When Li Qingjun lost the will to restore her kingdom, all that remained for those concerned was to help the people of Southern Li deal with the rampant monsters. After Li Duanxuan and Ye Ling Qin Yi eliminated most of the monsters, the remaining few minor demons were manageable for the people of Southern Li.

At this point, Southern Li became a no-man's-land.

The Nanli King family has existed for a thousand years, and due to the tradition of its rulers navigating the world independently, few of its kings have been incompetent. Apart from Li Qingjun's father, who caused public resentment, the other kings have generally been competent, and many have even been quite capable rulers. Even Li Qingjun's victory over the Western Wasteland earned her unparalleled prestige in the court and among the people. This national calamity can only be attributed to natural disaster; it is truly not her fault. The people of Southern Li generally still hold the Li family in high regard.

Li Qingjun has passed away with the immortals, and the Little King is not at home. At this time, there is no other person in Southern Li who can be respected and lead the country. The old people of the Western Wasteland have started to rebel again, and the entire Southern Border is in chaos.

At this critical juncture, the Nanli Kingdom Teacher, along with the Little King, offered territory to the Great Qian Dynasty, providing the Da Qian Emperor with the best legal justification. The border army marched south in force, engaging in almost no fighting; the various prefectures were pacified with mere proclamations. The Great Qian Dynasty easily subdued the chaotic Southern Border Da Qian Kingdoms, Southern Border completely under its control.

The already clueless Da Qian Emperor has now truly become a "sage ruler" who expands the territory.

Before the army was even dispatched, the Da Qian Emperor held a grand banquet for his officials and solemnly announced that he had adopted Li Wuxian as his goddaughter and bestowed upon her the title of "Xianning Princess".

Everything went as Qin Yi had predicted, without any unexpected incidents.

The Da Qian Emperor adopted a goddaughter for the sake of ruling the country, and it was not something that others could interfere with. The Great Joy Temple obviously did not take this two-year-old child seriously. Why would they bother to stop such a thing?

Seeing the Da Qian Emperor lifting Li Wuxian around with obvious delight, Qin Yi smiled slightly, his meaning enigmatic.

The title "Xianning" seems to overlap with that of a Ming Dynasty Princess in Qin Yi's world, but here, the significance of this title is much greater. Qin Yi's experience has long since changed, and he immediately recognizes the value of this title in this world.

The Da Qian National Title originated from. "Great is Qian Yuan, the origin of all things, which governs the heavens." And at the end of this sentence is "First to emerge from all things, all nations are at peace."

In other words, Li Wuxian's title and the Da Qian National Title come from the same source.

This practically binds Li Wuxian to the Great Qian Dynasty. The very act of bestowing fortune inherently involves this connection; even without any spellcasting, the Da Qian Kingdom is already intertwined with Li Wuxian. In other words, if she were to acquire the Great Qian's fortune, she wouldn't feel any resistance, as they are of the same origin.

This is not superstition; this is the world of Immortal Dao, where everything has a cause and effect, and is guided by the Unseen.

Li Wuxian was placed in the inner palace, where she received the same treatment as a real Princess, and even slightly better treatment... because she had been a "king," and some of the regulations were based on the standards of a "king," to show respect for her former status.

Qin Yi stood outside the palace, watching a group of old nannies and young palace maids taking care of the girl. He thought to himself that perhaps such a childhood was much happier than sitting on the Dragon Throne every day, holding in his urine and fulfilling his duties as "king." Southern Li's burden should not have been placed on this kind of child in the first place.

As for whether she would be bullied in the palace in the future... Qin Yi pondered to himself.

First, the threat posed by Great Joy Temple must be eliminated.

Otherwise, this is a girl, and just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.

The Great Qian Palace had been infiltrated by the Great Joy Temple, but "infiltration" did not mean "occupation." In reality, the number of people infiltrating was small, and the majority were still ordinary palace staff. Qin Yi stared at the sieve, making sure that no cultivators had slipped in before he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Next... we should find Meng Qingying and restart the deal that was previously abandoned.

Unexpectedly, the deal that Mingming and Meng Qingying had reached a dead end and could not proceed took a different turn due to the sudden changes in Southern Li.

A fragrant breeze wafted by.

A deliberately coquettish voice said from behind, "Oh my, how long have you been staring at a two-year-old like a door god outside the hall? Could she really be your daughter?"

"Why use that affected, coquettish voice? It doesn't suit you." As Qin Yi said this, Cheng Cheng's voice suddenly came to mind. That natural, alluring charm seeped into his bones, permeated his heart, impossible to conceal, to the point that one had to pretend to be mute...

Meng Qingying is not the seductive type at all; in fact, a cold and indifferent attitude suits her better. However, she usually uses her feminine advantages and a charming smile to hide the coldness and murderous intent in her bones.

He turned around, and sure enough, Meng Qingying was behind him, dressed in a palace maid's outfit, smiling as she stood there and said, "I'm a very lively and adorable young girl, why isn't I suitable for her?"

"You, lively and cute, and coquettish—these three are from different worlds." Qin Yi glanced at her clothes and said seriously, "But these clothes suit you very well."

The implication was clear: Meng Qingying was only fit to be a palace maid. Meng Qingying's face stiffened for a moment, then she smiled and said, "That's right, it can't compare to some people whose illegitimate daughters can become both kings and Princess. They have such good fortune."

Qin Yi said very seriously, "Please don't fabricate this kind of relationship."

Meng Qingying laughed and said, "Why? Are you afraid that the Da Qian Emperor will have something to say? He doesn't care whose blood this child is; all he cares about is the law."

"Because her father is my friend, it's fine to find her a godfather, but to fabricate stories about her biological father is disrespectful to my friend."

"Tsk..." Meng Qingying looked at him strangely for a while, then shook her head and said, "Friend... what a boring word."

Qin Yi didn't bother arguing about that and asked, "You mentioned fate yourself, was that just something you said casually, or do you really believe it?"

"That's true, this girl has a really good destiny... but there's something strange and confusing about it, it's hard to see clearly... maybe your Minghe can understand it a bit better."

Qin Yi said, "If someone can discern a noble destiny simply by casually practicing a little bit of physiognomy and fortune-telling, wouldn't she be in great danger?"

"That's unreasonable," Meng Qingying said. "Destiny only represents a person's suitable path or the upper limit of development, but it doesn't mean that they can definitely go in that direction, much less that they can succeed. Who's going to waste their time dealing with that?"

He paused, then pointed to the faintly visible Luck Dragon in the sky. "If fate can determine everything, what's the point of destiny? Even with destiny, it's not enough; there's much more... For example, diligently cultivating oneself instead of wasting one's days, understand? Besides, people are climbing the Immortal Dao, competing with heaven for longevity; isn't that already changing one's destiny?"

Qin Yi understood. This kind of physiognomy didn't mean he could see a person's future; it only provided a general trend or upper limit to her development. You could nurture her in that direction, but as for how she would develop, there were countless influencing factors, far more than just the few Meng Qingying had casually mentioned.

Moreover, fate can be changed; it is not immutable.

No wonder Liusu didn't learn such a terrible skill.

Therefore, Li Duanxuan didn't take the possibility of "sole supremacy in the Immortal Dao" seriously. Otherwise, even if the Sword Pavilion wouldn't accept her, it would be worthwhile to find other cultivation methods to support her. But since destiny can't determine everything, Li Duanxuan naturally wouldn't care too much. Perhaps among the people he's seen, there are many with the appearance of a true dragon, Li Qinglin is one, Li Qingjun is one, and he himself might even be one when he looks in the mirror.

This is just a way of fooling myself into taking on this burden... The significance of fate isn't as great as I imagined, so it's impossible to just sit back and watch her become Empress... There will be a lot of trouble to deal with in the future.

Qin Yi showed no remorse, shook his head, and casually asked, "Then what is my destiny?"

Meng Qingying looked at him strangely for a long time before saying, "I can't see anything except peach blossoms... Maybe there are other things, but they're all blocked by the peach blossoms."

A mocking laugh came from Liusu in his Sea of Consciousness, and Qin Yi almost choked on his own saliva.

"Alright, let's leave this small talk here," Meng Qingying said leisurely. "Seeing this girl enter the palace, I know our deal can be restarted, right?"

Qin Yi said, "Yes."

Meng Qingying smiled mysteriously, "But Great Joy Temple just agreed to my deal, so who do you think I should choose?"