Ye Qinglian gazed at the table full of delicious dishes, thought for a moment, then shook her head.
How could that be...
If eating could improve one's cultivation, then everyone in the world might as well stop cultivating and just eat like her every day. Keep eating, and they'd become the best in the world. There was no way anything could be that easy.
She gnawed on the rabbit head, still unable to figure it out.
Even if physical strength became more important in the later stages of cultivation, surely it couldn't be this important. Her cultivation was progressing far too quickly.
But she hadn't even been cultivating much!
Still, it was a good thing. She ought to look into it.
"What realm are you at now? Have you reached Subtlety?"
"Qinglian, your husband is an expert beyond the mortal world. Whether I've reached Subtlety or not really doesn't matter. Besides, what I want to reach isn't Subtlety..."
A piece of rabbit head was shoved straight into Chu Ning's mouth. Ye Qinglian glared at him, her face full of anger.
"So you haven't reached Subtlety yet. Then you should focus on your cultivation instead of always thinking about me and saying such weird things!"
Subtlety was, of course, a cultivation realm.
The lower three realms were Spiritual Agility, Subtlety, and Knowing Fate. Chu Ning could now wield sword energy with ease, which meant he had definitely reached the Spiritual Agility realm. Once he reached Knowing Fate, he would be able to extend his lifespan.
Unless something unexpected happened, it was best not to rely on pills to extend one's lifespan. It was better to do it through one's own cultivation. She didn't want her good-for-nothing husband to reach a point where he couldn't stay alive even with those pills...
But what had Chu Ning just said?
What did he want to reach?!
"Qinglian, you already bit into that..."
Ye Qinglian's expression didn't change. She picked up another piece as if she hadn't heard him.
But Chu Ning started buzzing in her ear again.
"Does that mean we've technically kissed indirectly...?"
Crack!
The chopsticks in Ye Qinglian's hand snapped in two.
"Are you going to eat or not? You've been trying to make me angry since first thing this morning!"
"Heh... I was just wondering if we might get more intimate in the future. Like feeding each other porridge, mouth to mouth..."
A flicker of bewilderment crossed Ye Qinglian's eyes, and she couldn't help shuddering.
"You can come up with something that disgusting? You're beyond saving!"
Chu Ning remained unfazed and continued, "Haven't you heard of sharing life's hardships? A couple trapped underground without water survive by sharing each other's spit until they're rescued. Kissing is pretty much the same thing—you're spitting into each other's mouths. Surely you know that?"
Ye Qinglian broke out in goosebumps.
"Could you stop talking about something so disgusting while I'm eating? You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
"No. I'm just stating a fact. But couples—especially couples in love—really enjoy doing things like that. You'll probably like it someday too..."
"Don't even bring up something so disgusting, let alone expect me to do it!"
She glared at Chu Ning, making her position perfectly clear. Chu Ning merely offered his assessment.
"You never know..."
"Chu Ning!"
Ye Qinglian stood up in a fury.
"No matter how good you are to me, you're only the father of my child. I haven't accepted you!"
"And something like that is even more out of the question!"
Her stance was firm and her resolve unshakable. There was no way she would ever do anything like that—not in this lifetime!
Chu Ning only smiled at her.
"Shall we keep eating, then?"
Ye Qinglian stressed, "Don't say anything that disgusting again, or how am I supposed to eat?!"
Then she sat back down and focused on her meal.
"Then eat a little more. Eating well is good for your health..."
"Heh."
Beyond the three palaces of the imperial palace stood the new Cabinet, now the Great Gan Dynasty's central governing body, second only to Mingde Hall.
Thousands of memorials were submitted each day. The Cabinet handled most of them itself. Under the design of this political system, every memorial and every official involved in handling it had to be recorded, especially matters that didn't require the emperor's personal attention.
If anything went wrong, everyone up and down the chain would share responsibility.
The Cabinet Grand Secretary, the former chancellor Qiu Zun, and two seasoned officials, both holding the rank of chancellor, managed its affairs together.
Beneath them were thirty-six cabinet members and one hundred and eight scholars, all working together to govern.
The Six Ministries—Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Works—handled matters first in their respective departments, then passed them on to the Cabinet.
It was an almost perfect political system, one that left no room for factional strife.
The imperial authority was too strong, and the emperor's power too great. No one had any desire to form factions; they were all focused on serving the nation.
The young woman entered the Cabinet and found Qiu Zun busy with government affairs. The other two chancellors, along with the Minister of Rites, who had been waiting there for some time, immediately handed her a sealed letter.
"Palace Official Ye, this memorial was rushed here in the early hours. The information hasn't been made public yet, so it isn't appropriate to bring it into the open for now."
The old man spoke gravely. "I don't know how to handle this either, but the other side has made an overture. Whether to accept is for Your Majesty to decide. No one can say whether it will be good or bad..."
"Please deliver this confidential letter to Your Majesty and let her make the decision herself. If she thinks the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, then perhaps we really will have to establish diplomatic relations and form an alliance between the two nations."
Xiao Bing accepted the letter, looking bewildered. The few people in the know, including the messenger who had delivered it, were all in the room.
She didn't read it, but she sensed that something was shifting. After thinking it over briefly, she immediately headed to Qianqing Palace.
Back in the Cabinet, Grand Secretary Qiu Zun drew a deep breath.
"Even with our Great Gan Dynasty's National Destiny surging and our Dragon Qi growing immensely, we surely haven't reached the point where the Great Zhou Dynasty would seek an alliance with us. I can't help feeling there's more to this than meets the eye..."
The Great Zhou Dynasty was a colossal power, and everyone knew it aimed to conquer the world.
The Five Great Dynasties maintained stability only on the surface. In truth, wars of all sizes were constantly breaking out across their territories. That was all.
Yet a dynasty that would be capable of conquering the entire world in a dozen years—or perhaps even less—was now humbling itself to establish diplomatic relations with Great Gan.
It really was humbling itself. The Great Zhou Dynasty had even offered half the resources in its national treasury as a gesture of goodwill, asking only for the two nations to be on friendly terms.
Even the strongest imperial dragon vein and its fortune shouldn't be enough to explain this...
A short while later, in Qianqing Palace, Ye Qinglian had just finished eating and was about to lie down and rest when she received the letter.
The sky was cool, and dawn was breaking.
Ye Qinglian stared blankly at the contents of the letter.
The Great Zhou Dynasty was willing to pay a price to establish diplomatic relations with Great Gan and remain friendly for generations!
And she wouldn't even have to pay anything in return. It would be a perfect outcome.
How could that be? Ying Dang was a ruler of the rarest caliber. He wouldn't make such a move without a reason...
No. No, something was wrong.
The Ye family was blessed by fortune, the dynasty's Dragon Qi had surged, her cultivation had advanced rapidly, and now even the mightiest of the Five Great Dynasties had taken the initiative to bow its head and seek an alliance with them. It was almost as if they were afraid of offending some powerful being...
There was no way every good thing could just fall into her lap. There had to be a reason...
She furrowed her brow and frantically recalled everything that had happened recently.
Where exactly was the problem...?
"Emperor Consort, that's Her Majesty's bed. You can't lie on it..."
"Shoo, shoo! I've given you so much good food, and now you're siding with outsiders. It's my wife's bed—why can't I lie on it? No one can stop me. I'm staying right here today!"
For a moment, Ye Qinglian wondered if Chu Ning could be the reason. After all, the surge in Dragon Qi seemed to have come from the three incense sticks Chu Ning had offered...
But maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe it was because of the child in her belly?
Then she saw Chu Ning acting shamelessly with her maid and immediately dismissed the suspicion.
Impossible. It absolutely couldn't be him.
He was just a shameless scoundrel who loved taking advantage of people.
Could it be... the Old Ancestor's blessing?
That had to be it.
Wait!
How had he gotten onto her bed?
And he was even using her blanket!
"Chu Ning!"
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