The Foolish Xue Beng

The victory banquet ended smoothly, with no unpleasant incidents.

No conflict arose between Marquis White Robe Luo Li and Emperor Xue Ye of Heaven Dou. Luo Li was even granted the title of King over newly allotted lands and betrothed to the Princess, leaping from Marquis White Robe to the sole Prince of Different Surname.

This greatly disappointed many who had hoped for their relationship to fracture so they could profit from it.

Moreover, they had to reconsider what measures to take next.

After all, Luo Li's status was now completely different from before.

After Emperor Xue Ye departed, the ministers also left one after another.

What happened today would surely affect them all to varying degrees, and they needed to make preparations.

Luo Li set down his wine cup and rose to his feet.

Xue Ke, who had been watching his every move from the other side, hurriedly stood and approached him in small steps.

"Brother Luo!"

Xue Ke came before Luo Li, lowered her head shyly, and tightly clutched the hem of her skirt with her small hands.

Having just become engaged made the Princess far less composed than usual when facing Luo Li.

"Xiao Ke." Luo Li smiled faintly, entirely at ease. He showed no unusual reaction because of their engagement.

As usual, he reached out and rubbed Xue Ke's little head. This made the already bashful Xue Ke blush even more deeply, her pretty face as red as a tomato.

Her toes rubbed against the floor, and her beautiful eyes seemed to turn into spirals.

"Brother Luo, congratulations."

Qian Renxue walked over from the side, breaking the strange atmosphere between them.

Xue Ke felt somewhat conflicted about this.

She was relieved that Qian Renxue's words spared her from continuing to be so embarrassed, yet she also regretted the disappearance of that feeling.

Luo Li merely nodded at Qian Renxue's congratulations, still maintaining that neither warm nor cold, distant manner.

In the entire Heaven Dou Empire, she was the only one he found troublesome.

Even before this, it had been the same.

Emperor Xue Ye caused Luo Li less than a tenth as much trouble as Qian Renxue.

The moment he saw this woman come over, Luo Li felt a headache coming on.

Seeing Luo Li's indifferent demeanor, Qian Renxue could not help feeling irritated.

Was she really that bad?

Why was Luo Li so gentle with Xue Ke, yet so cold toward her?

If Luo Li knew what Qian Renxue was thinking, he would surely roll his eyes speechlessly.

Come on, lady, do you even know what you look like right now?

Wouldn't it be strange if I treated Qian Renxue the same way I treat Xue Ke?!

Besides, Xue Ke isn't even half as troublesome as you, is she?

Luo Li could interact with Xue Ke without reservations precisely because of that.

But he could not interact with Qian Renxue without reservations.

That was why, although he knew Qian Renxue's identity, his attitude toward her was worlds apart from how he treated Xue Ke.

"Big Brother, it seems King Frost Extreme doesn't want to pay any attention to you?"

Xue Beng's gloating voice rang out.

He had witnessed the entire scene just now.

Compared to that, Xue Beng could only say that he was in high spirits.

Even he understood Luo Li's immense influence in the Heaven Dou Empire now.

If Luo Li was uninterested in Xue Qinghe, wasn't that wonderful news for him?

After all, Xue Beng believed Luo Li would definitely support one of the Princes.

Now, aside from Xue Qinghe, only he remained.

If Luo Li did not support Xue Qinghe, then wouldn't that mean he supported Xue Beng?

With the support of the Empire's God of War and sole Prince of Different Surname, what did it matter how outstanding Xue Qinghe was?

He still would not be a match for Xue Beng!

Xue Beng looked at Luo Li, a somewhat fawning smile appearing on his face, while he also shot Qian Renxue a provocative look.

"Brother Luo, isn't that right? My big brother looks unbearably hypocritical."

Luo Li did not respond to Xue Beng's words. He merely gave him a disgusted look.

Toward Qian Renxue, Luo Li kept his distance because he did not want trouble. Toward Xue Beng, however, he simply felt disgust.

Although part of Xue Beng's playboy behavior was meant to deceive Qian Renxue, another part was simply the release of his nature.

No matter what, he had truly done all those debauched things.

Quite a few of them had been particularly vile.

By comparison, at least Qian Renxue had never done such things.

Thus, Luo Li was not merely distant toward Xue Beng. He despised him.

Naturally, Luo Li showed no pleasant expression in response to Xue Beng's fawning.

Idiot!

When Qian Renxue saw Xue Beng acting that way, she could not help cursing inwardly.

Did he really think Luo Li had to choose a Prince to support?

Qian Renxue was now completely speechless toward this so-called younger brother of hers who shared no blood relation with her.

Was Emperor Xue Ye's behavior not obvious enough?

He had granted Luo Li land and the title of King, and he had even married off their imperial sister, Princess Xue Ke. The meaning could not have been clearer.

He was plainly acquiescing to Luo Li joining the struggle for Heaven Dou's power as well!

And yet Xue Beng could still feel smug, thinking that because Luo Li treated her distantly, he could only support Xue Beng.

Luo Li did not have to support anyone. He could participate himself!

Xue Ke also felt rather helpless.

Though she had not thought as deeply as Qian Renxue, she knew that Brother Luo had never held a favorable impression of her playboy brother.

Yet this brother of hers had actually shamelessly come forward. It really was...

Luo Li's disgusted glance made the smile on Xue Beng's face stiffen at once.

This... wasn't right, was it?

Xue Beng was somewhat bewildered.

Logically speaking, since Luo Li was neither warm nor cold toward Xue Qinghe, shouldn't he be supporting him instead?

Why was this different from what he had expected?

Prince Xue Xing, who had arrived, took in the entire scene.

He was also deeply helpless regarding this nephew of his.

But there was no helping it. The other Princes were all dead, leaving only Xue Beng alive.

If he did not support Xue Qinghe, then he had no choice other than Xue Beng.

No matter how foolish Xue Beng was, he could only endure it and continue supporting him.

"Xue Beng, let's go!"

Prince Xue Xing forcibly dragged Xue Beng away without further explanation.

Luo Li clearly had no favorable impression of Xue Beng.

If they stayed here any longer, they could forget about winning Luo Li over. They might even annoy him.

If Luo Li and Xue Qinghe ended up joining forces and chose to deal with Xue Beng first, that would be real trouble.

After all, as things stood now, Xue Beng was no match for either of them.

He was the weakest one.

Being the weakest was one thing, but being the weakest while drawing hatred was simply absurd.

Even as Prince Xue Xing dragged him away, Xue Beng had yet to figure out what was going on.

"Uncle, what exactly does Luo Li mean?"

"He doesn't treat Xue Qinghe well, and he doesn't treat me well either. What does he want?"

Xue Beng complained in confusion, suspecting that Luo Li had suffered some damage to his brain from fighting wars.

Prince Xue Xing glared at him in exasperation.

"Why do you think His Majesty proposed Luo Li's marriage to Xue Ke after granting him the title of King?"

Xue Beng froze. "Could it be that Father wants to..."

"Do you understand now?" Prince Xue Xing sighed softly. At least he was not beyond saving.

Once Xue Beng realized it, his face filled with bitterness.

One Xue Qinghe was already enough—why had King Frost Extreme appeared too?!