Carrying Wine and Singing Long Songs

In short, after observing for these past few days, the person Bai Qiuran found most suspicious was actually Tang Ruowei. He had personally measured the development of this princess's secondary sexual characteristics, yet in his occasional observations, this girl always puffed out a pair of proud, towering mounds whenever she went out. Furthermore, Bai Qiuran had once used his Spiritual Sense to see the princess acting suspiciously in front of a bronze mirror inside her bedchamber; there was even a secret room hidden behind that mirror.

"A monarch's word is final; this is only natural." The Shangxuan Emperor replied indifferently: "Nowadays, our Shangxuan Kingdom frequently encounters natural disasters and Yao Mo, and our national fortune has suffered setbacks. We need to use this method to perform the sacrifice and alter our national fortune."

As the saying goes, all things in the world are connected by coincidence... but that's nonsense! It seemed everything had been prepared long ago; before he even returned, the Shangxuan Emperor had already arranged everything for Tang Ruowei. The less these people revealed their flaws, the heavier Bai Qiuran's suspicions grew.

"Ruowei!"

Among them, the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Demon Sect had once been beaten up by him after he sought him out for using him as a negative example to mock the slow progress and lack of future for righteous Cultivators. The previous Sect Master of the Blood God Sect had also died at the hands of Bai Qiuran.

Could it really be a misunderstanding? Was the Shangxuan Kingdom simply experiencing hard times due to poor national fortune? Did the Imperial Advisor really have some connection to a disciple of the Azure Nether Sword Sect? Was Tang Ruowei's hostility toward Cultivators merely a result of her subjective impressions, and were the large quantities of materials missing from the cultivation market simply bought by some Demonic Cultivator who happened to pass through the Shangxuan Kingdom?

"Minister Sima, are you willing to take Ruowei as your wife?" The Shangxuan Emperor smiled, and the next sentence truly sold his daughter out.

The Shangxuan Emperor replied with some annoyance: "Watch your tone. I don't want to talk to you about this right now."

"Very well." Thinking of this, Bai Qiuran reached out and pinched an arcane Magic Incantation.

He had been disguised as a child at the Venerable Mansion for three days. During these three days, he had been using his Spiritual Sense to monitor the actions of key figures like Sima Yingbo, the Shangxuan Emperor, the Crown Prince, and the Imperial Advisor Fu Qianqiu, but he had found nothing unusual.

Tang Ruowei's face turned black as she said angrily: "Is a dream achieved through one's children still a dream? Besides, how many generations has it been? I haven't seen myself inherit any of Mother's excellent genes!"

"Sit down first. With you acting like this, how can I rest easy in the future?" Sima Yingbo lowered his head.

"Ruowei, you are already so grown up, why are you still so reckless?" Tang Ruowei sat down beside her father and asked persistently.

The Shangxuan Emperor also replied in a low voice: "Minister Sima is handsome and dashing, with great talent; he is a hero of the country. And... well, I have checked his lineage; his mother's physique was very voluptuous."

"Don't talk to me about the future. You always tell me that the laws of our ancestors cannot be easily changed. Why then have you so rashly changed the Heaven Worship Ceremony of our Shangxuan Kingdom?"

"I asked you here today because there is something to discuss with you. Look, you are currently unmarried, and since Ruowei is of age, why don't I grant a marriage between you two and make you the Prince Consort of our Shangxuan Kingdom? What do you think?"

If he knew what Tang Ruowei truly looked like, Sima Yingbo probably wouldn't be smiling so happily. Because he was a disciple of the Imperial Advisor and a first-class Venerable, Sima Yingbo held a special status in the Shangxuan Kingdom, so he did not follow the same etiquette as others toward Tang Ruowei and the Shangxuan Emperor; he simply bowed with cupped hands without kneeling.

"What kind of ridiculous reason is that!"

If he believed in accidents, coincidences, and fate, Bai Qiuran would have exhausted his lifespan and entered the cycle of reincarnation three thousand years ago.

The Shangxuan Emperor would attend court on time as usual, process memorials, and at night, he would routinely flip the tablets to randomly favor one of the imperial concubines or the Empress. As an emperor, he wasn't outstanding, but he was at least steady and conventional.

The Shangxuan Emperor clapped his hands and laughed, his smile carrying a sense of triumph.

"The Imperial Advisor again?"

He looked at the physical clone he had left behind. The clone maintained the posture of a young child and returned to the small bed in the room to sit properly, while Bai Qiuran's true body grew taller, returning to his normal appearance. He then took a step forward and vanished from the room.

Tang Ruowei's face flushed red with anger, and she remained silent for a long time before squeezing out a single word...

Tang Ruowei shouted, but was stopped by the Shangxuan Emperor raising his hand.

The Shangxuan Emperor set down his teacup, sighed, and pointed to the seat beside him.

"Yes."

The Shangxuan Emperor was in such a hurry to sell her off partly because he feared she would continue to run wild, and partly because he knew what Tang Ruowei was hiding. Her chest was padded, and since the Shangxuan Kingdom valued voluptuousness as beauty, it would likely be difficult for Tang Ruowei to find a satisfactory husband in the country in the future. However, the Shangxuan Emperor did not want to marry his daughter off to a foreign land.

"Father Emperor."

The Shangxuan Emperor laughed heartily, very pleased. Sima Yingbo laughed along, also very pleased, while Tang Ruowei's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

Meanwhile, in the back garden of the Shangxuan Imperial Palace, Tang Ruowei, dressed in luxurious palace attire, lifted her skirt and found her father, who was drinking tea and admiring the flowers.

"Father Emperor, why are you pushing me onto Sima Yingbo?"

The Shangxuan Emperor asked again.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, may you both be blessed."

But the Shangxuan Emperor ignored her and looked at Sima Yingbo, who was standing to the side. He said loudly: "Someone, go and invite Minister Sima to me."

Seeing his daughter calm down a little, the Shangxuan Emperor continued: "It just so happens that I will arrange this for you today, so you won't run off to play wild in the future."

The Crown Prince was still young and was currently learning various knowledge and martial arts under the Crown Prince's Tutor arranged by the Emperor. Judging by his performance, he was just a rather intelligent young child.

If not for his belief in Tang Ruowei's character, and the fact that she truly only possessed a streak of stubbornness and righteousness, Bai Qiuran would have suspected that the mastermind behind all this was this princess who had once cross-dressed as a man.

Bai Qiuran did not believe that all of this was just a coincidence.

"Minister Sima, please rise."

And as for marrying the disciple of the Imperial Advisor—the person she hated most—she was naturally unwilling. Rather than marrying a hypocrite like Sima Yingbo, she would rather marry a martial artist from the pugilistic world.

"But since it is already decided, you must not go back on your word when the time comes. Even if you are a disciple of the Imperial Advisor, if you wrong Ruowei, I will hold you accountable along with the Imperial Advisor."

"You ran out of the palace again a while ago; I haven't settled that account with you yet."

I, Bai Qiuran, am stubborn; I will dig to the bottom of this and find the truth today! Since this path doesn't work, I'll just change to another one!

Hearing his words, a bad premonition suddenly welled up in Tang Ruowei's heart.

Bai Qiuran withdrew his Spiritual Sense, feeling surprised in his heart. He could see through the techniques of the Demonic Cultivators at a glance, let alone a Foundation Establishment Stage and an eighth or ninth-layer Qi Refining Stage cultivator.

Tang Ruowei hurriedly came to her father's side and asked in a low voice: "I don't like him at all!"

"I just heard, why did you temporarily change the rules and suddenly decide to take two hundred young boys and girls to participate in the Heaven Worship Ceremony?" Tang Ruowei's face showed some urgency.

Strange.

However, since the situation had developed to this point, she had already prepared herself internally. Once the Heaven Worship Ceremony was over, Tang Ruowei planned to sneak out of the palace, leave the Shangxuan Kingdom, and fly far away.

Sima Yingbo glanced at Tang Ruowei, his gaze sweeping very obscurely over her "towering" chest, and then he lowered his head: "This subject is willing."

"Father Emperor!" Tang Ruowei advised earnestly: "Instead of attributing these things to national fortune, why don't you try to govern diligently and make this country better through your own efforts?"

Every time she went in and came out, her figure would become curvaceous, and it was impossible for Tang Ruowei to be like him, having practiced physical supernatural powers to the point of perfection where she could change her body at will. Therefore, in Bai Qiuran's eyes, this sign was almost the same as those of the female Demonic Cultivators.

But since it was her father, the Emperor of the Shangxuan Kingdom, who had set this marriage contract, Tang Ruowei did not dare to oppose it directly.

"This is an adjustment made after I consulted with the Imperial Advisor."

"Ruowei..." Looking at his daughter, whose face was ashen, the Shangxuan Emperor said faintly: "Ruowei, our Shangxuan royal family has always been striving to change the fact that royal women have small chests by marrying men and women with voluptuous genes. This matter is not only a shame for you, but in the Shangxuan Kingdom, where voluptuousness is considered beauty, it is also a shame for the royal family. I know your dream, but that is an impossible fantasy. But look, if you unite with Minister Sima, your children might inherit his genes, and perhaps you can ensure your own descendants don't follow in your footsteps."

Not long after, Sima Yingbo followed the attendant to the back garden of the imperial palace.

The True Qi in his body turned into endless spiritual power and surged out. After a flash of light, Bai Qiuran stepped forward, while a physical phantom exactly like him remained in place.

Sima Yingbo and Fu Qianqiu had also acted like a standard Imperial Advisor and Venerable for these three days. Bai Qiuran had observed them practicing; Sima Yingbo used a set of the most basic fire-attribute techniques in the Cultivation World, and Fu Qianqiu's technique indeed carried a hint of the Azure Nether Sword Sect's breathing exercises.

With Bai Qiuran's discernment, he could basically confirm that these two had indeed not learned any Demonic Cultivator techniques. After all, he had met most of the experts from the major sects of the Demonic Path at least once.