Dai Huabin

In her view, this statement of "if it is beneficial, why not do it" was a sign of Xia Linyuan being extremely irresponsible toward himself. To treat himself as a bargaining chip for a transaction at such a young age—what would he be like when he grew up?

Not only that, but marriage was a major life event. Even if it were only as a concubine, to ruin himself and the future of a young girl for such petty gains—if this wasn't reckless, what was?

Looking at Xia Linyuan, Xia Yanqing could not help but sigh inwardly. To have such an evil, profit-oriented nature at such a young age meant that if he entered the officialdom, he would surely achieve great things. However, this same mercenary nature that allowed him to climb high could also cause him to fall just as hard.

Over the past hundred years, while the Xia Family had maintained its title, its influence among the many families and sects of the Star Luo Empire had gradually waned. Furthermore, because he and Yihan had been unable to conceive a child for many years and had designated Linyuan as the heir to the Xia Family, the clan elders already had many grievances. If they could use this opportunity to marry into the Dai Family to stabilize their foundation, he believed the dissent within the clan would diminish.

As for that daughter of Dai Hao...

Zhu Yu had an extreme personality and was too power-hungry. To be willing to go to such lengths to marry off a concubine-born daughter to the Xia Family just to secure an alliance, he feared that this girl was someone she envied and hated.

If that were the case, the girl marrying Linyuan, even as a concubine, would be better than staying in the White Tiger Duke Mansion and being targeted by a jealous woman like Zhu Yu.

Thinking this way, Xia Yanqing began to form his own plan.

"Let's do this," Xia Yanqing said calmly. "In three days, I will take Linyuan to the Duke Mansion to discuss the details of the marriage with your mistress."

The man was overjoyed.

After sending the man away, Zou Yihan could no longer hold back and shouted angrily, "Qing! It's one thing for Linyuan to be reckless, but why are you following along with his nonsense!"

Xia Yanqing smiled bitterly. "My lady, will you listen to my explanation? That is not what I meant."

Zou Yihan had already been blinded by anger. "If that's not what you meant, then what could it possibly mean? Do you have any idea how much this will affect Linyuan's future development? You are indulging him! You are indulging his evil nature!"

Xia Yanqing felt ashamed and quickly signaled for the servants to take Xia Linyuan away, while he continued to appease the furious Zou Yihan. "My lady, I truly did not mean it that way!"

"Then tell me exactly what you mean!"

Xia Linyuan, who had been led away from the reception hall by the servants, glanced back at the room behind him, a strange smile suddenly appearing on his face.

Although he had just said "if it is beneficial, why not do it," the actual decision-making power still rested with Xia Yanqing and his wife.

While he certainly had the authority to decide whether this political marriage would proceed, in the eyes of Xia Yanqing and his wife, he was still just a six-year-old child. His voice did not carry as much weight as theirs, so he still had to wait for their final decision.

As for if they truly decided to go through with the marriage, he could simply alter the memories of the relevant people when the time came, or once all matters regarding the Douluo Continent were concluded, he could simply retract all his presence on the continent. With his strength, altering memories and retracting his presence were not difficult tasks.

As for going to the White Tiger Duke Mansion in three days, he would just treat it as an outing. If he happened to run into Huo Yuhao, he wouldn't mind planting a seed called "hatred" in Huo Yuhao's heart.

Three days passed quickly; it felt as if one had only blinked.

The Molong Duke Mansion was located one hundred kilometers southeast of the Star Luo Empire's capital, Star Luo City, while the White Tiger Duke Mansion was located twenty-five kilometers northwest of the city. The straight-line distance between the two mansions was about one hundred and twenty-five kilometers.

Early in the morning, Zou Yihan personally woke Xia Linyuan up and tidied him up neatly.

If not for the sake of interests, Xia Linyuan did not have the habit of eavesdropping on others' private conversations, nor did he know what had been said between Xia Yanqing and his wife that caused Zou Yihan, who had been extremely resistant to the marriage, to personally groom him today.

Xia Linyuan was like a puppet; aside from brushing his teeth and washing his face, his hairstyle and clothing choices were all handled by Zou Yihan. He only needed to do as she said.

After all this was done, Xia Linyuan boarded the carriage prepared for the trip to the White Tiger Duke Mansion.

Although the Peerless Tang Sect era already possessed flying Soul Tools, only a small portion of Spirit Masters could afford them. Ordinary people still relied on ancient modes of transportation like carriages.

The marriage was considered a major event between the two Duke Mansions. Although it was uncertain if it would succeed, and the bride could only enter the Molong Duke Mansion as a concubine, appearances still had to be maintained.

It was hard to imagine that in the ten thousand years between the era of Tang San and the current Peerless Tang Sect era, the Douluo Continent still relied on carriages for travel; the pace of technological development was far too slow.

With Xia Yanqing's strength, a distance of over a hundred kilometers would take only a few minutes, but to show respect, he chose to ride his Tianlin Horse, which had been through life and death with him several times, to the White Tiger Duke Mansion.

The group of over a dozen people traveled together; besides Xia Linyuan in the carriage, everyone else traveled on horseback.

When they reached the Star Luo Imperial City, the capital of the Star Luo Empire, someone claiming to be from the Xingluo Emperor arrived to find Xia Yanqing, ordering him to the palace to meet the Xingluo Emperor.

Xia Yanqing took two trusted aides with him, while the others continued to be responsible for escorting Xia Linyuan to the White Tiger Duke Mansion.

After about an hour or two, the carriage suddenly came to a halt.

"What's going on?" Xia Linyuan asked.

Someone immediately replied, "Reporting to the Young Master, the second son of the White Tiger Duke, Dai Huabin, is currently disciplining a servant."

"Oh?" Xia Linyuan raised an eyebrow, a strange smile suddenly appearing on his face.

He lifted the carriage curtain and stepped out. The first thing he saw was Dai Huabin, dressed in fine robes, standing imposingly with several subordinates before a girl who was slumped on the ground, with a pile of clothes overturned to the side.

"Dai Huabin, it's been a year, and you still love bullying others with your status," Xia Linyuan said with a smile.

A year ago, the Xingluo Emperor had hosted a banquet for the empire's officials and their families.

At the banquet, just because a maid had accidentally bumped into Dai Huabin, he had made things difficult for her in every way. At that time, Xia Linyuan had teased this petty little cutie, causing Dai Huabin to lose all face. It was from that moment that the two had been at odds—or rather, Dai Huabin had been at odds with him unilaterally, and he would only "respond" to the former's various petty actions when he was in a good mood.

Dai Huabin naturally saw Xia Linyuan as well, and his expression turned somewhat ugly.