Qin Shiyue Makes Her Move
The Imperial Guards were all dumbfounded.
Was the young man following beside the Third Princess really this fierce?
"Daring to openly assassinate the commander of the Imperial Guards—kill them without mercy! Kill!"
The Imperial Guards drew their swords and charged at An Bulang.
An Bulang likewise shouted, "Daring to suddenly attack and assassinate the princess—kill them without mercy! Kill!"
Then, he slapped down toward the empty air.
Spiritual energy surged, transforming into an enormous palm that came crashing down.
Bang!!!
Dozens of Imperial Guards were all pinned to the ground, howling miserably. Some spat blood, others were left paralyzed; every last one of them had lost the ability to fight.
One move, instant defeat!
"Hmph, with the likes of you, you think you can assassinate the princess?" An Bulang roared at the Imperial Guards sprawled on the ground. "Speak! Did Ji Wuye send you to assassinate the princess?!"
The Imperial Guards were all dumbfounded.
Beating them up was one thing, but he was actually turning around and accusing them instead?!
The commotion from the fight alerted those in the royal palace, and another group of Imperial Guards protecting the palace began drawing near.
Ji Hongxue got into character as well, immediately shouting, "Guards! These people actually dared to assassinate this princess in the royal palace! Arrest every one of them!"
The charging Imperial Guards were startled, but unable to make sense of the situation, they could only obey orders and take away all the Imperial Guards lying on the ground.
Ji Hongxue grabbed An Bulang and headed for her bedchamber.
"Won't we be making too big a fuss by doing this?" Ji Hongxue asked softly.
"What's there to fear? When dealing with unreasonable people, you can only be even more unreasonable than they are! At the end of the day, this is a clash between the top powers of a nation. Who's going to sit down and reason things out with you? It all comes down to whose fist is harder." An Bulang laughed heartily.
Ji Hongxue's fair cheeks flushed slightly with excitement, and her breathing came a little quicker. "This is way too thrilling!"
For some reason, she did not dislike this feeling at all.
Meanwhile, at Tongtian Tower in the southeastern part of the royal palace.
A breathtakingly handsome man in violet robes, with a golden silk sash around his waist, stood by the railing and looked down below.
There, one figure in red and one in white were swiftly making their way toward Yongyang Courtyard.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, your little sister has returned. Aren't you going to welcome her?" a beautiful woman wearing a short white goose-feather dress asked with a light smile, her round, slender legs left bare.
"Grand Princess Qin Shiyue, you know this already. My sister does not have much longer to live. Seeing her would only waste my time," Ji Wuye said indifferently, without the slightest hesitation in his tone.
"How many times have I told you? Just call me Shiyue." The woman extended her jade-white arms and rested them crossed upon the railing. Her eyes shimmered like autumn waters as she smiled faintly. "But the cultivator beside Ji Hongxue is quite troublesome."
Ji Wuye smiled. "What is there to worry about? Could the Grand Princess of the Soaring Dragon Empire really fear a lone cultivator?"
"All under heaven bustle for profit; all under heaven jostle for gain. He is with Ji Hongxue most likely for spirit stones as well. The robbery of the spirit stones from Prince De's Estate was their doing. Since that is the case, I'll offer a higher price than Ji Hongxue does and give him benefits tempting enough to move his heart. Then we can turn an enemy into a friend. Lone cultivators like him, who have never seen what true treasures are, are the easiest to lure with profit."
Qin Shiyue nodded at this, letting out a sweet laugh. "That's true. Our Soaring Dragon Empire has deep foundations. How could a lone cultivator so poor that he can only cultivate by robbing spirit stones resist such temptation? Perhaps I might even recruit a great general for the imperial house."
The Soaring Dragon Empire was different from the Azure Kingdom. The Soaring Dragon Empire stood not only at the pinnacle of mortal imperial power, but was also a top cultivation sect. It controlled absolute military might and vast resources. Precisely because of this, its ambitions had grown ever greater, and it had already begun planning to annex the surrounding nations and further expand imperial authority.
The corners of Ji Wuye's lips rose. "Once he leaves Ji Hongxue, won't Ji Hongxue be at the mercy of others? So what if she has evidence that I intend to rebel? She won't be able to stir up any waves at all."
"Then let Shiyue handle this matter?" Qin Shiyue asked softly.
Ji Wuye nodded. "Very well."
The sun sank into the earth.
The stars glittered brilliantly across the night sky.
An Bulang and Ji Hongxue happily feasted on lavish palace dishes in a side hall of Yongyang Palace.
Several young maidservants curiously studied the handsome young man. It was their first time seeing the princess bring an unfamiliar man into Yongyang Palace.
An Bulang wolfed down the dishes on the table and praised them repeatedly. "The palace chefs make some pretty good food. Not only does it taste absolutely incredible, but it's arranged all gaudy and dazzling too. It's fun to look at."
Ji Hongxue was speechless. "Gaudy and dazzling? Are you sure that's a compliment?"
An Bulang ate with gusto and laughed. "Of course it's a compliment! The food my mother makes is the gaudiest and most dazzling food in the world today. Not only are there all kinds of phenomena filling heaven and earth, there are sacred melodies curling through the air, artistic realms taking shape, and you can even immerse yourself in a whole lifetime of experience..."
Ji Hongxue opened her little mouth wide and muttered, "Did you eat something and start hallucinating?"
"Haha... Just treat it as me hallucinating." An Bulang raised his cup of flower wine, clinked it against Ji Hongxue's, and drained it in one gulp. With a look of deep satisfaction, he said, "Whatever realm you're in, enjoy the life that belongs to that realm. Only then is it real, and only then is it joyful!"
Ji Hongxue laughed along with him. "You're just a sixteen-year-old little brat. Where did you get so many old-fashioned principles?"
The two finished dinner.
Ji Hongxue went into her own room, carried out a heavy chest, and set it down on the floor with a thud. It was clearly no light weight.
Only after dismissing all the maidservants did she slowly open the chest.
An Bulang's eyes lit up. "The princess has quite a nice stash!"
Ji Hongxue pursed her lips. "This is the wealth I accumulated over more than ten years. Because I had to conceal my cultivation and keep a trump card hidden, I could only secretly squirrel away spirit stones one by one like a hamster. I spent quite a lot of resources before gathering one hundred and fifty spirit stones..."
As she spoke, she pushed the chest before An Bulang. "These spirit stones are all yours now!"
An Bulang happily collected every spirit stone, then picked one up and tossed it to the Woman in Red in front of him, saying with a smile, "Take it. This is my reward for you. Go cultivate with it."
Ji Hongxue: "..."
"You accepted them that readily..."
"Of course. My fee for taking action isn't cheap."
An Bulang calculated that with these spirit stones, he could break through to the Body Refinement Seventh Level.
As one's realm rose, each breakthrough required more energy. That was unavoidable.
Just as they finished handing over the spirit stones, a maidservant cried out in alarm from outside.
"Third Princess, Grand Princess Qin Shiyue of the Soaring Dragon Empire requests an audience!"
From the panic and excitement in the maidservant's voice, it was clear that the visitor's status was extraordinarily distinguished.
An Bulang frowned slightly. Wasn't the Soaring Dragon Empire the great empire bordering the Azure Kingdom? He had heard that the two nations were not even on the same level in terms of national strength, and Ji Wuye's rebellion had the most direct connection to the Soaring Dragon Empire.
Ji Hongxue's expression changed slightly as well. Then she said, "Have her wait in the reception hall."
"I'll go with you." An Bulang was somewhat excited.
Yongyang Palace Reception Hall.
When Qin Shiyue saw Ji Hongxue and An Bulang arrive, she rose to her feet. Smiling warmly, she gave a gracious salute. "Shiyue greets Sister Hongxue. Has Sister Hongxue been well lately?"
Ji Hongxue had little interest and said coldly, "No. My second brother was killed by villains, and I'm grieving right now. If you have no important business, then forgive me for not being in the mood to receive you."
Qin Shiyue's smile almost could not hold. Your second brother was killed by which villain? Don't you know perfectly well?