Princess Xiyao stood with two maids behind her. One held a horsetail whisk, the other a jade casket. Both kept their eyes lowered and their auras restrained.
Chen Qing withdrew his gaze and stepped through the door. His pace faltered slightly as three gazes struck him at once—
The one directly ahead came from the gray-robed old man beside the princess. The gaunt elder had seemed half asleep, but the instant Chen Qing entered, his eyes snapped open, sharp as steel knives scraping bone.
The one to the left came from seven or eight cultivators in plain robes, men and women alike. They were likely, like Chen Qing, talented candidates summoned for evaluation. Seeing Lord Dingbo personally usher him inside, they exchanged startled glances.
And on the right, a young man in splendid clothes lounged in a sandalwood chair, toying with a folding fan made of jade. A red-jade pendant at his waist shimmered with fiery light. Four attendants stood behind him: three wore dark, fitted garb and carried heavy auras, while the fourth wore scholar's robes and bore himself with refined elegance.
The young man in splendid clothes looked Chen Qing over as if inspecting merchandise, then let out a meaningful chuckle.
Lord Dingbo stepped forward and bowed. "Your Highness, Chen Xu has arrived."
Princess Xiyao gave a slight nod. Her voice was as cool as a spring. "Chen Xu, I hear you completed the cultivation formula for the Yellow Court Realm?" She got straight to the point.
The people on the left erupted in astonishment, and their gazes toward Chen Qing grew more reverent.
Chen Qing cupped his hands in greeting, still humble as ever. "Your Highness, I have made a little progress."
"Oh?" Before the princess could speak, the young man on the right snapped his folding fan shut. "I hear this Daoist friend Chen had his Spiritual Bone crippled and spent many years locked up in the Mysterious Prison. He's been out for only a few years, yet he's already grasped the mysteries of the Yellow Court. That's truly..." He paused, tapping the fan's ribs against his chin. "...surprising."
His tone was mild, his words polite, but he placed the faintest stress on "surprising," his final note rising with a hint of insinuation.
As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the hall abruptly tightened.
Lord Dingbo furrowed his brows. The gray-robed elder kept his eyes closed, but cold light flashed in the eyes of the two maids behind the princess as they glared at the young man.
Who the hell are you?
Chen Qing frowned, displeased, and quickly guessed that this man was one of the other factions Xu Zhaoying had mentioned. But hadn't the princess summoned them to privately test the cultivators under her command? Why had an outsider been allowed to attend?
Was it because of the sudden assassination attempt?
But this man had provoked him the moment they met, acting as if he were in a hurry to get slapped down. How could he be the princess's honored guest?
Since Chen Qing was in a dream, he certainly wasn't going to humor the man. He was about to fire back on the spot.
"Whoosh!"
When the young man saw Chen Qing remain silent, he flicked open his folding fan, ready to speak again.
"Young Marquis Lu."
The princess's cool voice rang out like a frosty blade leaving its sheath. "Chen Xu doesn't yet know who you are. If he has shown you any discourtesy, I hope you'll forgive him. He has genuine talent and a pure heart, devoted to the Great Dao. You should put away those tricks of yours."
Young Marquis?
Chen Qing instantly understood. This man must be a scion of the Immortal Dynasty. No wonder he was so arrogant! But what surprised him was that the princess had defended him in public.
"Very well." The Young Marquis folded his fan, his tone suddenly turning familiar. "You've only recently opened your estate, little sister Xiyao. You have to suppress the backlash of immortal blood in your veins and reconcile the conflicting bloodlines of the Hundred Races. How could you have the time to select worthy talent?"
He gently waved his fan, his gaze sweeping over the crowd as he calmly appraised them. "Lord Dingbo and Lord Zhengshuang are both deeply cultivated, but they know nothing of government. As for these..." The tip of his fan passed over the cultivators who had excelled in their evaluations, then came to rest on Chen Qing. "So-called prodigies—if they were truly capable, how would they have ended up here?"
Before he had even finished speaking, the air in the hall turned rigid.
Chen Qing's frown deepened. From the corner of his eye, he saw Lord Dingbo's five fingers curl into claws inside his sleeve, while Lord Zhengshuang's white brows twitched. The evaluated cultivators were red in the face, yet dared neither speak nor act.
The Young Marquis acted as if he noticed nothing. Suddenly leaning toward the princess, he said, "How can these fools pass the Holy Emperor's test?" His voice dropped abruptly, but every word rang clear. "My Lu Manor is teeming with talent. You can command them as you please..."
A feverish glint flashed in his eyes.
"Just agree to marry me, and we'll cultivate the Great Dao together!"
Boom—
The entire hall shuddered violently. A towering pressure burst from the princess, extinguishing every candle and dimming the crane-shaped lamps and luminous pearls.
Chen Qing felt as if a mountain had smashed into his chest, and a metallic sweetness surged into his throat.
As her veil fluttered, a glimpse of her ice-jade chin appeared.
"Lu Qiyuan, you've overstepped."
Those brief words were like ice frozen for ten thousand years. Frost instantly spread three feet across the hall!
Chen Qing noticed the Young Marquis's attendants tense their muscles. One had already drawn three inches of his sword, but the man dressed as a scholar only smiled.
The Young Marquis straightened leisurely and tapped his fan against his palm, still smiling. "Why get angry, little sister Xiyao?" A strange glint passed through his eyes. "You're burdened with great responsibilities and eager to break through. You were injured in the Heavenly Treasure Ruins, and with all that pressure and agitation, the restlessness of your Qingqiu bloodline must be growing stronger by the day. Without a suitable dual-cultivation method to harmonize it..."
"Impudent!"
Lord Dingbo gave a low shout, and pale-blue ripples surged outward. The ground shook violently, sending several cultivators stumbling to the floor.
Chen Qing suppressed the roiling blood in his chest, inwardly astonished. Just what kind of background did this Young Marquis have? His behavior could only be called utterly unscrupulous!
Lord Dingbo's expression darkened. "If the Young Marquis sincerely wishes to help, we will of course be grateful. Her Highness summoned the talented people under her command today to demonstrate their cultivation and learning, all to put her mind at ease. But if you have other intentions—" His sleeves stirred without a breeze. "Then all the agreements made earlier are void!"
"Ha!" The Young Marquis snapped open his fan. "As far as I know, the First Prince, Second Prince, Fifth Princess, and the other highly esteemed children of the Holy Emperor never let their subordinates meddle in matters of state. Yet here, with little sister Xiyao..." He shot Lord Dingbo a sidelong glance. "You're letting your servants make decisions for you?"
Lord Dingbo's beard and hair bristled, fury nearly bursting from his eyes.
"Enough." The Young Marquis gently waved his fan and sneered. "I never expected these talent testers to have any real insight. But since the princess thinks so highly of you, I may as well let you know what kind of crisis your liege faces!"
He stepped forward, and his pressure surged, silencing everyone. "Half a year ago, rebels rose in the Northern Territory, captured ten cities, and slaughtered fifty thousand people. Blood Refining Evil Arts also surfaced. So the Second Prince led an army north, crushed the rebels, and captured a hundred thousand criminals! The Holy Emperor was delighted when he heard the news and immediately ordered his ministers to come up with a way to turn the criminals into citizens. The Sixth Prince used a ploy at court to shove the problem onto the Tenth Princess, so the Holy Emperor ordered the princess to reform the hundred thousand criminals within five years. Now all the factions at court are waiting to laugh at your liege!"
With that, he looked around at the crowd, who had fallen silent as cicadas in winter.
"What? When you discuss the Dao, you're all supposed to be silver-tongued, aren't you? Is that how you managed to fool little sister Xiyao into thinking a few honeyed words meant you were gifted? Now that trouble has arrived, you've all gone mute? Any ideas?"
Someone couldn't help saying, "They could remain imprisoned, or be enlisted in the army and given a chance to atone for their crimes. Or they could be settled in separate places..."
"These hundred thousand criminals are a mixed lot: prisoners of war, rogue cultivators, descendants of condemned officials, and even Northern Cold Foreign Races!" The Young Marquis paced slowly, his voice low. "Release them outright? That would be arming the enemy! Keep them imprisoned? The daily cost would be enough to drag down an entire city! Enlist them in the army? Can you guarantee they won't turn against us in the middle of battle? Settle them in separate places? One careless move, and flames of war will spring up everywhere!"
With every sentence he spoke, the faces in the hall grew grimmer.
After a pause, the Young Marquis smiled meaningfully. "Little sister Xiyao, you may dislike government affairs, but this matter will determine how the Holy Emperor judges you. If you can't produce a decent plan, then all your efforts to prove yourself will have been for nothing."
The hall fell silent.
Some of the outstanding candidates had cold sweat beading on their foreheads, clearly cowed by the tangled situation. They usually studied cultivation arts and refined their inner energy. When had they ever dealt with this sort of political maneuvering?
For a moment, not one of them dared speak carelessly.
Chen Qing fell into thought, wondering if this might be a perfect opportunity to glimpse the Immortal Dynasty's power structure. After all, he knew little about this era of the Immortal Dynasty and ought to gather as much information as he could.
Besides, what the Young Marquis had described reminded him of his past life, when he'd played Paradox grand strategy games as a war criminal and argued about them online. He could just about call himself experienced; he wasn't entirely at a loss for an answer.
"Does no one dare speak?" The Young Marquis looked around and shook his head. "The princess's estate truly is full of mediocrities."
"I do have a plan."
Just then, a clear, resonant voice came from behind the Young Marquis.
Everyone turned in surprise, only to see the man in scholar's robes behind the Young Marquis walking forward.
He had a gentle face, and a steady air between his brows.
Lord Dingbo furrowed his brows, about to order the man away, but the Young Marquis raised a hand to stop him. Smiling, he said, "This is my close friend, Zhou Renjing. I once traveled the land in disguise and happened upon Brother Zhou. I heard his insightful words and was deeply impressed, so we became sworn friends. He once met the princess, which is why I brought him along this time. If we can get him to offer a plan, that'll be a rare blessing. You should be thanking your lucky stars!"
Then his tone shifted, and he looked at Zhou Renjing with a half-smile. "With Brother Zhou's ability, anything he says is bound to be a brilliant plan. But if the princess gets his advice and then handles the matter herself, wouldn't that spoil my plans?"
"This palace has never left a favor unpaid." Princess Xiyao's gaze shifted slightly as her jade fingers tapped the armrest. Looking past the Young Marquis, she asked, "You said you and I were acquainted?"
Zhou Renjing bowed deeply. "At the battle of Dragon Quelling Mountain, I was the scholar you saved after slaying the demon!" When he raised his head, starlight shimmered in his eyes. "Back then, I was a scholar with no weapon in hand. Now... I can finally contribute, however little."
Chen Qing immediately saw what was going on. He kept the strategy he'd just pieced together to himself, ready to watch how things unfolded.
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