Daji Enters Chaoge, Di Xin's Wait

"My child, your nature is gentle and weak. You don't understand the dangers of the palace. How could you possibly agree to this!"

In the rear courtyard, the family of four gathered in Daji's room. Su Hu paced back and forth, wanting to scold his daughter. But when he looked up and saw her pitiful eyes, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Sigh! Quanzhong!"

"Father!"

"Take two chests of jewels to the courier station. Fei Zhong is greedy for wealth. Give him the jewels and have him forget about today's events. Di Xin probably wants to win me over, and I'll side with Chaoge! But we can't let your sister jump into a fiery pit for this."

"Alright, I'll go now!"

Su Quanzhong also loved his sister dearly and turned to leave without a second word, but Daji's soft call stopped him.

"Brother, wait a moment."

After stopping Su Quanzhong, Daji looked at her mother, a blush suddenly appearing on her fair cheeks.

"Father, Mother, Brother, actually, actually I also dreamed of Di Xin..."

"What?"

"What!"

"What!"

Su Mu was astonished, while Su Hu and his son shouted even louder than each other.

Seeing their shocked expressions, Daji covered her face with her sleeve, revealing only her clear, bright eyes:

"About two months ago, I suddenly had a dream. In the dream, a woman stood on the ramparts of my Jizhou city, looking at a majestic man with a giant black bird above his head. He drew his bow and shot an arrow westward, bringing down a colorful phoenix.

I didn't know then that it was the current Great King. It was only that day when the Colorful Phoenix cried out, and its powerful voice echoed in my mind again.

Only then did I realize that I had already fallen in love with the Great King at first sight.

Until today, I felt a premonition and went to the front courtyard. Hearing that the Great King had also dreamed of me, my heart was filled with joy, but this is also destiny."

"Is that so?"

Su Hu looked at his daughter with a strange expression, scrutinizing her from head to toe, but he couldn't find anything amiss.

"Then prepare yourself well. Your mother, brother, and I will go and prepare your dowry."

After they left the backyard, Su Quanzhong suddenly leaned closer to Su Hu:

"Father, Daji, she...?"

"Hush!"

Su Hu glanced at his wife, sighed softly, and walked directly towards the storeroom.

After Su Hu and the other two left, the originally gentle Daji suddenly grinned and waved her hand. The doors and windows instantly closed, and the entire room became much darker.

Su Daji turned and sat in front of her dressing table. One hand greedily stroked her cheek. Her flawless skin would show a red mark with the slightest touch, but it would disappear in two to three seconds.

"Su Daji, oh Su Daji, you actually have a trace of my Tushan bloodline. It's perfect for me to possess your body and fulfill Niang Niang's sacred will. This is my destiny, Tushan Qiong's fortune, hahaha!"

"Damn demon, leave my body! You won't succeed!"

"Don't cause trouble. I've barely managed to restrain myself from devouring you. If you keep making a fuss, then I... hehehe."

"Demon, if you have the guts, then devour me completely! Otherwise, otherwise, otherwise I will never let you go."

"If Niang Niang didn't forbid me from creating unnecessary bloodshed, do you think I would still keep your soul? Be good, or I'll get unhappy."

Tushan Qiong smiled charmingly and lightly brushed the bronze mirror with her right hand. The "her" in the mirror, with tear streaks on her face and a panicked expression, instantly disappeared.

No unnecessary bloodshed? What a joke!

If it weren't for the sudden panic in her heart while devouring Su Daji's soul, Su Daji's soul would have already merged with hers!

However, Di Xin dreaming of Su Daji, was it a coincidence, or Niang Niang's arrangement?

Three days later, during an auspicious day.

"Marquis Su, can we set off?"

Fei Zhong rubbed his hands together. The matter had been resolved so smoothly; his head was safe this time.

Su Hu looked back at the imperial carriage, guarded by three hundred cavalry. His daughter was within those heavy curtains, and she would remain within them forever.

"Giddy up!"

"Set off!"

--Clip-clop!

Chaoge

After Di Xin vented his excess energy on the training grounds, he left a clone in the royal palace to deal with the resentful concubines. His true body, accompanied by a slightly plumper E Lai, openly slipped out of the palace.

"It's still more lively out here. These steamed buns are good, but a pity they're vegetarian. E Lai, want some?"

Di Xin used two dao coins to buy six wild vegetable buns, throwing four to E Lai and eating them with relish.

E Lai took the buns and ate them one after another, grinning. With his physique, the temperature of the buns naturally wouldn't scald his mouth.

"Dao coins are ultimately inconvenient. If only they could be made smaller and given different denominations to exert different purchasing power. E Lai, do you think there's potential in this?"

Di Xin fiddled with the dao coin in his hand. Bored and full of energy, he was finally going to extend his greedy grasp into the pockets of his people.

"Young Master, you can ask me to go to battle, but leave the governance of the nation to someone else."

E Lai shook his head. He went back and bought twenty more steamed buns. Fighting Di Xin had already consumed a tremendous amount of energy, and now recovering his body required even more. His stomach was already empty.

Even though these buns were vegetarian, it was still better than starving.

"Don't rush the war. When the Grand Tutor returns, I'll hand the army over to you. How about you take Western Qi for me?"

Di Xin said, half-jokingly, half-seriously.

Western Qi was a thorn in his side! A constant irritation! He felt like he was sitting on pins and needles! If Western Qi wasn't destroyed, he would feel restricted in everything he did.

"A mere Western Qi? I can flatten it with a hundred thousand troops!"

"Hahaha, good! The Western Qi I shot down has already been delivered. Let's divide it up before Kong Xuan returns. Whether it's cooked well or not will depend on your skills."

Di Xin laughed heartily and walked slowly with E Lai to a courtyard covering about two mu. As he pushed open the gate, the sound of children's voices flooded in:

"When youth is wise, the nation is wise; when youth is prosperous, the nation is prosperous... When youth surpasses the eight directions, the nation surpasses the eight directions; when youth is mighty in the nine provinces, the nation is mighty in the nine provinces..."

"Hahaha, these little ones haven't been slacking off."

Di Xin strode in and stopped outside, looking through the window at the five little ones inside:

His eldest son, Yin Hong; his second son, Yin Jiao; his eldest disciple, Mo Xuan; Huang Feihu's second son, Huang Tianlu; and E Lai's child, Fang.

"There are still too few people. If thousands of children were sitting here, how strong would my Yin Shang be in ten years?"

"With the Great King here, it won't take ten years for Yin Shang to become incredibly strong!"

E Lai's eyes showed admiration as he looked at Di Xin as if he were a god.

"E Lai, time waits for no man!"

Di Xin sighed, then his fighting spirit surged again:

"However, I haven't been waiting either. The Grand Tutor has already sent news of victory and is about to return to the court. My Star-Gathering Pavilion will finally begin to target the stars scattered in the wilderness."

Standing in the courtyard and gazing into the distance, a pavilion covering a thousand mu was already beginning to show its grandeur. "Ants" shuttled back and forth, transporting their own hopes.