A Mother Meeting Her Daughter?

As dusk settled,

Naruto frowned and looked away from the tightly shut East Palace gates.

More and more carriages filled the street, countless pedestrians hurried past, and the traffic stretched all the way to the end of the road. Yet the luxurious carriage he was waiting for still hadn't appeared.

Things were a little different from what Naruto had heard, but he wasn't in a hurry. All he had to do was wait patiently.

Naruto could still keep his cool, but someone else was growing more and more anxious. She even rose from her seat and paced back and forth through the empty, dead-silent Sealing Space.

Naruto's consciousness slipped inside. Sitting on the shabby chair, he listened to the crisp footsteps echoing incessantly beside him and frowned, about to say something. But the tense-looking Pope suddenly turned around and spoke first.

"Should I prepare a gift for Xiao Xue?"

"Uh..."

Naruto pondered for a moment.

A parent's heart was always with their child. He swallowed the sarcastic remark on the tip of his tongue, then seemed to remember something. With a strange look, he studied Dong Trumpet before tentatively asking, "This might sound a little harsh, but do you know what Xiao Xue likes?"

"..."

"How could I not know!?" Bibi Dong's face instantly flushed. "Of course I... know!"

"What does she like?"

Quick, answer!

Naruto straightened up and pressed her for an answer!

Bibi Dong's mind raced. She lowered her eyes and muttered, "Little accessories and things like that... The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect sells all kinds of jewelry, and it does very well."

"There are quite a few female Spirit Masters in Spirit Hall who've secretly worn them behind my back. Yue Guan even showed me a few sets of jewelry in private. Xiao Xue will definitely like them!"

As she spoke, Bibi Dong's eyes lit up, and she grew more animated. She spread her hands, and Soul Power twisted and changed in her palms, taking the shape of the jewelry in her memory.

My dear Pope...

That doesn't mean Xiao Xue likes them, does it!?

Naruto shook his head slightly. Dong Trumpet really had no idea what Xiao Xue liked.

All those reasons boiled down to this: she'd seen girls Xiao Xue's age liking those things (why was there a strange one among those girls?) and assumed Xiao Xue might like them too.

Of course, there was another possibility...

Watching the light in Bibi Dong's eyes, Naruto couldn't help smiling. Perhaps she simply thought Xiao Xue would look pretty wearing the jewelry.

This clumsy mother was using this method to express her feelings.

That was a good thing.

But now, Naruto turned dark and evil. He had to shatter this beautiful fantasy!

"Ahem!" Naruto lowered his head and cleared his throat to get Bibi Dong's attention, then slowly said, "Your Holiness, how much do you think the cheapest jewelry like that would cost?"

"It's not much, just a few thousand Gold Soul Coins..."

Bibi Dong answered offhandedly, then immediately realized what she'd said. Her eyes slowly widened as she lowered her gaze. Naruto had a stony expression as he pulled out his empty pockets!

Boom!

A torrent of resentment surged up from Bibi Dong!

At that moment, Bibi Dong looked at Naruto with contempt and disdain. Her icy words echoed through the Sealing Space, low and heavy.

"How can you be so poor!?"

"Is it my fault I'm poor?"

Naruto spread his hands, utterly speechless.

Dong Trumpet knew perfectly well how little money he had left. She was asking him to give a gift worth thousands of Gold Soul Coins right out of the gate. Wasn't that highway robbery?

Besides,

"At least I've still got a few dozen Gold Soul Coins on me. A certain Pope has exactly zero!"

"I..."

Bibi Dong's words caught in her throat. She bit them back. There was no point bringing that up now, so she anxiously paced back and forth in front of Naruto. After thinking briefly, she turned to him again.

"What about the Pope Decree? Make another one and go get some money from Spirit Hall's vault!"

"Hell! We just fleeced Spirit Hall once, and now you want to do it again? Aren't you afraid your old Title Douluo subordinates will come after us as a group and beat us to a pulp?"

Naruto tilted his head and looked at Bibi Dong as if she were an idiot.

Forging an imperial decree was a beheading-level move. You could only use it once!

Try it again and you really would be asking to get your head chopped off.

Bibi Dong must have been so furious she'd come up with such a terrible plan.

She realized how foolish it was herself. Pressing her lips together, Bibi Dong shook her head, then said, deeply reluctant, "But... what about Xiao Xue's gift? What if we don't get caught?"

"Huh?"

Naruto was even more dumbfounded.

Well, Haji-Dong! Was his life really worth less than Xiao Xue's jewelry? What had happened to their revolutionary friendship, forged together over all these years of resisting God King Tang's tyranny?

He clutched his chest, heartbroken. Then, in the corner of Naruto's eye in the outside world, a snow-white carriage lavishly adorned with gold appeared at the end of the street, escorted by a hundred Tiandou Royal Guards.

He quickly withdrew his consciousness and called out to Bibi Dong, who was still fretting in the Sealing Space.

"Time to go!"

Only then did Bibi Dong snap back to reality and notice Qian Renxue's arrival.

She had no time to prepare. Outside, Naruto had already reached out, braced himself against the window frame, and vaulted out of the second-floor teahouse.

"Hey! Wait! I'm not ready!"

"When has life ever waited for you to be ready before it began?"

Naruto ignored her, landed lightly, and headed straight for the East Palace gates.

Creak,

The luxurious carriage came to a slow stop in front of the gates.

The carriage door opened. Dressed in splendid noble attire, the Empire's Crown Prince, Xue Qinghe, stepped down. His short blond hair framed a refined, easygoing face, and deep weariness showed between his brows.

Xue Qinghe had refused the Imperial Forbidden Army escort and brought only a small retinue. Now he had returned to his Crown Prince Mansion.

On this land that belonged entirely to him, he could finally relax a little and catch his breath.

His thoughts returned to what had happened earlier.

The moment Salas, the Platinum Bishop of Spirit Hall, had left without a care,

the banquet hall symbolizing the imperial court had erupted into a raging storm.

The current Tiandou Emperor had savagely hurled countless exquisite porcelain pieces and works of art to the floor, where they shattered. They clattered like a downpour.

"This is a national disgrace! A national disgrace!"

The Tiandou Emperor roared furiously, panting for breath. The ministers around him fell silent in terror and could only turn pleading eyes toward Xue Qinghe.

Xue Qinghe remained standing calmly to one side, quietly waiting for his "father" to finish his tantrum.

"Do they think this is Spirit City? They can come and go as they please? Do they have any regard for me, the Tiandou Emperor!?"

In the eyes of the Tiandou Empire, Spirit Hall's actions were tantamount to a declaration of war.

What angered the Tiandou Emperor even more was the sudden realization that there seemed to be nothing he could do except denounce Spirit Hall for declaring war. Even a mere Platinum Bishop dared to openly show him such contempt.

After raging impotently for a long while, his anger finally began to subside. Only then did Xue Qinghe step forward to comfort him, which was why she had only just gotten home.

How could someone so useless, so foolish, become the ruler of a nation?

The sight of the Tiandou Empire's rotten carriage made Xue Qinghe sick with irritation. Even though she had never intended to take control of it, just sitting in that carriage made her feel disgusted.

That wasn't all. What had really irritated Xue Qinghe today was—

What on earth was that crazy woman doing?

She kept making trouble for her!

As if finishing a daily routine, Xue Qinghe silently cursed that person a few times. The corners of her lips lifted slightly, and she felt much lighter all over. Even her steps grew more buoyant.

Seeing that His Highness the Crown Prince seemed to be in a good mood, the steward following behind him cupped his hands and spoke.

"Your Highness, a guest seeking to enter your service came by earlier. He'd like to meet you."

"I'm tired today. I won't see him."

Xue Qinghe answered casually, but the steward seemed to have more to say.

"Speak."

"He has Innate Full Soul Power."

Xue Qinghe stopped and glanced back. She blinked, and when the steward nodded to confirm, her interest was piqued. "Oh? Then I should certainly meet him."

Spirit Masters needed to eat, too!

It was perfectly common for Spirit Masters who graduated from advanced Soul Master Academies to seek the patronage of wealthy nobles, especially a Crown Prince as renowned for his virtue as Xue Qinghe.

Xue Qinghe had long been used to this sort of thing, but this was her first time meeting someone with Innate Full Soul Power. After all, even the three good-for-nothings known as the Spirit Hall Golden Generation didn't have Innate Full Soul Power. And today, she'd actually run into someone who did?

She quickened her pace, panting slightly to show how much she valued talent.

She dabbed a little sweat on her forehead as well. Now ready, Xue Qinghe wore a gentle, warm smile while the steward in front of her pushed open the reception room doors.

She was about to open with her usual greeting,

but Xue Qinghe suddenly froze in place, her pupils contracting!

The young man pacing inside the room heard the commotion and turned around in a hurry. Fading purple tips in his hair, deep violet eyes, a familiar face.

That crazy woman!

No!

The savage hatred in Xue Qinghe's eyes flashed for barely an instant before her reason quickly suppressed and concealed it. This person only looked very much like that crazy woman. He wasn't her!

Reminding herself of this, Xue Qinghe had no time to think it through. She tried to laugh apologetically and say something to ease the awkwardness, but then froze again.

Huh...

How could he...

How could he...

look at her like that?