The door closed, and Ye Qinru disappeared from everyone's sight.
Staring at the tightly shut door before him, Fang Xuan's gaze remained resolute.
Dugu Bo, standing nearby, sighed helplessly at the sight.
"Come on, Yanyan. Things have come to this, and there's nothing your grandpa can do to help."
He understood Ye Qinru's feelings very well. This terrible situation was probably the best possible outcome.
If it had been him, the other party probably wouldn't even have had the chance to kneel here.
Looking at her grandfather, then at Fang Xuan kneeling on the ground, Dugu Yan knew there was nothing she could do now.
With no other choice, she could only leave with her grandfather.
At the entrance to the Ye Family, Fang Xuan knelt there in silence.
He didn't move or make a sound. He only gazed resolutely at the tightly shut door.
Word of Fang Xuan kneeling at the door spread quickly.
At first, people didn't know what had happened and could only speculate among themselves.
It wasn't until the truth came out of Heaven Dou Royal Academy that everyone learned what had really happened.
Good news stayed indoors, while bad news traveled a thousand miles.
The story was so explosive that it spread at astonishing speed. Before long, the whole of Heaven Dou City was abuzz with it.
Quite a few people even came to see the spectacle for themselves, though they all watched from a distance.
After all, Dugu Bo was standing guard nearby, keeping the gawkers from disturbing Fang Xuan.
In fact, he was the one who had spread the news.
"Grandpa, why did you do that?"
Dugu Yan was confused. She remembered Fang Xuan's original plan had been to keep the impact of this matter to a minimum.
But what Dugu Bo had done was clearly the opposite. In this situation, even if she wanted to quiet things down, she couldn't.
"You're still young. There are some things you don't understand."
Seeing her grandfather put on airs of mystery, Dugu Yan simply reached out and grabbed his hair.
"Right, you're the old one. Is bullying a kid that much fun?"
"Hey, hey, Yanyan, let go! Stop pulling! You'll rip your grandpa's hair out, and I'll look terrible."
"Fine, I'll tell you, you little brat."
Only then did Dugu Yan let go. She sat quietly to the side and waited for Dugu Bo to explain, as if nothing had happened.
Dugu Bo could only laugh helplessly. Dugu Yan was the only one who dared treat him like that. Who else would?
"I'm building up the kid's momentum. His idea was a good one: to protect Ye Lingling's reputation as much as possible."
"But that was under ideal circumstances, assuming everything went smoothly and Ye Lingling married him."
"But with things as they are now, that clearly won't work. So the only option is to make a huge fuss, until everyone knows and there's no way to back out. That's what will benefit the kid most—and the bigger the fuss, the better."
Put simply, he was using this approach to force Ye Lingling and Fang Xuan together. Even if Ye Qinru wasn't willing and didn't care about all this, sooner or later, the weight of public opinion would wear her down.
It was like slicing flesh with a dull blade or boiling a frog in warm water. The tongues of the masses were the deadliest weapon. It was a little underhanded, but as long as it worked, that was all that mattered.
Dugu Bo hadn't planned to get involved in this matter at first, but he was simply too interested in the kid.
The fact that Fang Xuan had discovered Dugu Yan's poisoning was enough to show that he was no ordinary person.
What's more, he was a genius. What did it mean for an eighteen-year-old to be a Soul King?
Calling him a peerless genius wouldn't have been an exaggeration. And then there were his Martial Soul and Soul Skills.
Soul Skills that could be swapped out at will—after living this long, Dugu Bo had never seen or even heard of anything like that.
Most importantly, there was his Martial Soul: every seven days, it generated a random plant, whose effects were entirely unknown.
To other people, it might have seemed merely novel. But to Dugu Bo, it was practically an unexplored treasure trove in human form.
It wasn't impossible that one day it might produce a plant capable of curing the poison of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor.
Whatever the reason, he had cause to give Fang Xuan a hand.
"Just wait. If the kid can hold out for seven days, your grandpa will personally go to his house and ask for her hand."
Life had been dull for far too long. It was about time he found something fun to do.
Under Dugu Bo's arrangements, the matter even reached the ears of many people in the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
Of course, they knew full well that Dugu Bo had set the whole thing in motion, but none of them said anything about it.
As the only Titled Douluo in the Heaven Dou Empire who sided with the Imperial Family, Dugu Bo commanded considerable respect.
Emperor Xue Ye even personally ordered troops to cordon off the area around the Ye Family.
Issuing an imperial decree to arrange a marriage was out of the question. That would only encourage this sort of thing, and before long, not only the daughters of nobles but even imperial princesses could be victimized.
What they'd done was already the limit. Any further, and there would be a backlash.
Inside the palace, in the Crown Prince's chambers,
Xue Qinghe listened to the information brought back by a servant. A hint of amusement crossed his face.
"How interesting. But who is this Fang Xuan, that Dugu Bo would take such an interest in him?"
Xue Qinghe had no interest in the Ye Family's affairs, but when a Titled Douluo like Dugu Bo got personally involved, it was another matter entirely.
"Look into him. I want every detail about this person."
Xue Qinghe looked toward the shadow nearby and gave the order.
"Yes, Young Lady."
The shadow disappeared, and Xue Qinghe turned his gaze back to the window.
A while later, he got up and left.
The Ye Family.
Inside a room, Ye Qinru and her daughter, Ye Lingling, sat facing each other.
Ye Lingling's eyes were red and swollen. It looked as though she'd only just finished crying.
Ye Qinru's face was full of concern, but she still refused to back down.
She knew about the rumors outside, and she knew plenty of people were laughing at her family.
Ye Lingling's reputation was ruined for good, but so what?
Even if she died, she would never let her daughter follow in her footsteps.
Even if her daughter hated her for the rest of her life, she would have no regrets.
"Mom, I'm begging you. If you do this, he'll die."
Seven days, without even being allowed to use Soul Power.
She had never imagined her mother could be so ruthless. Seven whole days without food or water—it was practically a death sentence.
"I won't marry him. Let him go. I won't marry him."
Hearing her daughter's heart-wrenching sobs, Ye Qinru finally softened.
"He'll be fine if his feelings for you are genuine."
Ye Qinru had been keeping an eye on Fang Xuan's condition all along. If he reached his limit, she would step in immediately.
The seven days were merely an excuse to make him back down.
She didn't believe that a man could genuinely care for her daughter after knowing her for only a few days.
Put bluntly, he was just trying to force her hand with underhanded tactics she couldn't see.
Her daughter was still inexperienced. A little coaxing and deception would be enough to fool her, but it wouldn't work on Ye Qinru.
If Dugu Bo hadn't suddenly appeared, she might already have taken action.
For the sake of her daughter's reputation, she wouldn't have allowed Fang Xuan to live.
But everything had now spiraled completely out of control. The whole of Heaven Dou City knew about this.
The Imperial Family had even sent people to surround the place.
They claimed it was to prevent anyone from interfering, but in truth, they were only escalating the situation further. It was as if they'd already decided how things would end, and were simply waiting for her to give in.
Even if she chose to leave Heaven Dou City in the end, the damage would not fade.
"Dugu Bo, you're ruthless!"
Ye Qinru could naturally guess who was pulling the strings behind the scenes, but what could she do to Dugu Bo?
He was a Titled Douluo, while she was just a frail woman—a support-type Soul Master with virtually no combat ability.
The strongest person she could call on was, at best, a Soul Douluo. They were no match for Dugu Bo.
Even if he was the weakest Titled Douluo, he was still a Titled Douluo. A Soul Douluo or anyone of that level couldn't compare.
"Could it be that I really have no choice but to marry my daughter off?"
Ye Qinru's resolve wavered—not because of the pressure from outside, but because of Fang Xuan himself.
Ever since she'd left him with those words, he hadn't moved an inch from where he knelt.
Could he really be planning to kneel for seven days?