"Kid, don't say I didn't give you a chance. If you really can win A Zhui's heart, I won't stand in your way.
But if you can't, then that's on you. So, do your best!"
With that, Angel Yan teased him with a smile.
As one of Angel Yan's personal guard angels, A Zhui served directly under her, so Angel Yan certainly had the right to say that.
Looking at Angel Yan, Ye Chen couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile. Angel Yan really was just as mischievous as she was in the story.
Angel Yan then gave Angel Mo Yi a look, before patting A Zhui meaningfully on the shoulder. "We'll be waiting outside Blue Star!"
With that, Angel Yan left Qiankun Hall with Angel Mo Yi.
Only Ye Chen, A Zhui, and Secretary-General Yuan Lan remained in the hall. Yuan Lan's face was expressionless, but her eyes were full of curiosity.
"Ahem!"
The hall's sudden, awkward silence made Ye Chen feel a little uncomfortable.
As a lifelong bachelor who'd lived for over two hundred years, he still wasn't used to this sort of thing.
Looking at Yuan Lan, Ye Chen said, "Yuan Lan, you're no longer needed here. Wait outside."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Yuan Lan looked a little disappointed. This was, after all, a matter concerning the Emperor's marriage. It was such a shame she couldn't stay and witness it.
After Yuan Lan left, only the two of them remained in the hall.
Now that they were alone, A Zhui finally let out a breath of relief. In her thousands of years as a warrior, this was a first for her. She had no idea what to do.
Especially with Angel Yan running her mouth like that—it had left her all flustered.
Her thoughts in turmoil, A Zhui forced herself to look calm and casually sat down in a chair.
"We haven't seen each other in a hundred years. You look more and more like an emperor now."
Seeing her like this, Ye Chen didn't call out her act. He sat down beside her too, and they chatted like old friends.
As time passed, the two gradually grew more comfortable with each other.
It was funny, really. They had known each other for two hundred years, but even counting this meeting, they'd only met three times.
And each time, a century had passed in between. Seeing each other was harder than it was for the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
An hour later.
Blue Star, outer space.
A Zhui emerged from Blue Star with a smile on her lips and flew over to Angel Yan and Angel Mo Yi.
"Looks like my A Zhui had a great time chatting with that guy. Come on, tell us what secret you two talked about that you didn't want us to know. You even blocked the Dark Data so we couldn't see!"
Seeing A Zhui looking like a lovestruck girl, Angel Yan knew she was really falling for him. That kid was quite the flirt, after all.
Faced with the pair's gossipy expressions, A Zhui's cheeks reddened. "Sister Yan, I still have to scout the next planet, so I'm heading out."
With that, A Zhui gave her wings a light beat and shot away like a streak of light, heading beyond the Solar System.
Behind her, Angel Yan and Angel Mo Yi watched A Zhui flee and burst out laughing.
"Mo Yi, I'll have to ask the queen for another guard angel. There's no keeping A Zhui around now."
"Sister Yan, it's a good thing A Zhui found her destined man. For thousands of years, every time I've seen one of our angel sisters fall in battle—"
Angel Mo Yi's words made Angel Yan nod. The long war between the Angel Civilization and the demons had cost them far too many sisters.
Now that A Zhui had found her destined man and could leave the front lines, Angel Yan was happy for her.
What she didn't know was that, several hundred years later, Blue Star would become the central battlefield where the universe's great super-civilizations converged.
Carl's plan a thousand years earlier to set up a Great Wormhole Bridge on Blue Star and Pluto had already made it inevitable that Blue Star would be dragged into the conflict centuries later.
"Come on, let's catch up with A Zhui. I'm dying to know what they talked about that was so secret they had to block the Dark Data."
Angel Yan gave her wings a light beat and shot off after A Zhui.
Mo Yi smiled and shook her head, then followed.
She might have been steady and quiet by nature, but that didn't mean she wasn't curious about gossip.
Qiankun Hall.
After seeing A Zhui off, Ye Chen's smile faded. He looked at the vast map of the world behind him and spread his hand as if he held the entire world in his grasp.
After chatting with A Zhui, especially with their feelings being mutual, it was no wonder that a pure-hearted Battle Angel like her was no match for Ye Chen.
Ye Chen turned around and said in a low voice, "Yuan Lan, Long Ye, come in."
Long Ye was the younger-generation successor of Long Yu, the former head of the Black Dragon Guard. He had taken over from Long Yu.
Ye Chen had always treated Long Yu and Yuan Long, who had served him for over a hundred years, with great affection.
Even when the two grew old, he had them each recommend a younger member of their family to take over their position.
Two hundred years as an emperor had made Ye Chen a mature ruler, though at times he still acted otherwise.
That was because sometimes his emotions got the better of him.
After all, no other emperor would let one family hold such powerful positions as personal secretary-general and head of the personal guard indefinitely.
Of course, other emperors hadn't lived as long as he had. And as the founder of the empire, Ye Chen was confident that as long as he remained alive, no one would dare rebel against it.
Ye Chen had once been called a tyrant.
The old generation in the empire had all died by now, and no one remembered that when Ye Chen founded the nation, he had left bodies piled high and rivers of blood in his wake.
Outside the hall.
Yuan Lan and Long Ye heard Ye Chen's voice and immediately entered.
"Your Majesty!"
"Yuan Lan, summon the civil and military officials to the hall. We're holding a Grand Court. This order must be carried out without fail."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Yuan Lan and Long Ye were startled by Ye Chen's words.
They knew that if Ye Chen was summoning the officials in the middle of the night to hold a Grand Court, he must have something major in mind.
After receiving Ye Chen's order, Yuan Lan hurried off to notify the civil and military officials.
Ye Chen then turned to Long Ye. "Long Ye, your father, Long Yu, was the person I trusted most. When he retired, he recommended you to me. Tell me, can I trust you?"
"I'm willing to die for Your Majesty!"
"Good. Very good. The Long Family has been loyal to the empire since its founding, two hundred years ago. I've seen it all. I now intend to establish the Kunpeng Force to guard Yanhuang Airspace and point our swords at the world. Can you take on this responsibility?"
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