The Thirteenth Princess's Gambit! The Boomerang

The Thirteenth Princess's residence.

Su Changge really wanted to report this to the authorities right now.

He wanted to grab Qian Renxue—who was currently masquerading as Xue Qinghe—and demand to know exactly what she was playing at.

But the moment he remembered that the entire empire bore the surname Xue, and felt the presence of the Title Douluo standing behind him, Su Changge knelt down once again.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, it's not that I'm playing you; it's that you're playing me!"

"Just tell me, what exactly do you want?"

"Even if you do want something, I'm just a mere Great Soul Master. I can't help you with anything. I'm more likely to ruin your grand plans while trying to be helpful..."

"I beg of you, just let me go?"

Su Changge no longer cared about his dignity as a man.

Staying alive was the only thing that mattered.

Besides, there were no acquaintances of his nearby, so he didn't have to worry about the shame of social suicide.

Seeing Su Changge kneel so smoothly, Xue Qinghe's irritation suddenly vanished.

Right! This was how it should be.

If only he had been this sensible from the start.

"Su Changge, you, a man from a tiny earldom, dared to come seeking the Thirteenth Princess, who has neither backing nor pawns. You must have thought of a way to persuade Princess Rose before you arrived."

"As long as you can convince Princess Rose to participate in the struggle for the throne, I, the Crown Prince, can let you off this time... How about it?"

Xue Qinghe didn't give Su Changge a chance to argue. Once he had made his point, he sat back in his original seat.

The Thirteenth Princess, meanwhile, immediately met Su Changge's gaze.

"Um... Lord Changge, although Rose sympathizes with you, I cannot agree."

"Struggling for the throne and such... I'm just not cut out for it."

Rose waved her hands, her chest heaving with the motion.

But Su Changge was clearly in no mood to appreciate the scenery!

"Princess Rose, I understand what you mean."

"It is only natural for a beauty like you—so kind-hearted and compassionate—to be unwilling to participate in the bloody, filthy struggle for the throne."

"However, as a princess, there are some things you cannot avoid simply because you do not wish to do them!"

"The struggle for the throne is a giant millstone. Whether you want to or not, you will be dragged into it."

Su Changge looked at Rose's naive eyes and sighed, his tone taking on a note of pity for the world.

"Princess Rose, the struggle for the throne is essentially a power reshuffle within the kingdom and the royal family. The winner takes all, while the loser... is either kept as a dog by the victor, used to maximize profit, or... they simply vanish from this world entirely."

"So, Princess Rose, which of these do you think your fate will be?"

Su Changge's tone was hollow, and a heavy pressure bore down on her, causing the Thirteenth Princess's face to turn deathly pale in an instant.

"No... that won't happen. Whether it's the eldest brother, the third brother, or the seventh sister who takes that position, no matter how cruel they are, they wouldn't lay a hand on their own blood kin. Even if it really came to that, surely someone would..."

The Thirteenth Princess's voice trailed off. If it truly came to that, who would dare to stand up for her?

The answer was no one.

"Ahem, Princess Rose, let's not scare ourselves just yet."

Seeing the Thirteenth Princess trembling like a leaf, Su Changge stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders.

Soft and supple; the tactile sensation was quite nice.

Better than Murong Ruyan or Astin Gullier.

However, Su Changge failed to notice that the moment he extended those wandering hands, Xue Qinghe's gaze turned sharply piercing.

"Princess Rose, in my opinion, a peerless beauty like you would not be killed!"

"But you wouldn't be kept as a dog by the new king either. After all, aside from your beauty, you have nothing that could assist the new monarch."

"Therefore... I believe your fate will likely be to serve as a tool for the new king to forge political marriages with the kingdom's nobility."

"Although I haven't been in this kingdom for many years, I have heard plenty of rumors. No noble could resist a peerless beauty like you, who looks just like a porcelain doll."

"After all, the title of 'Princess' carries an inherent desire for conquest for men; it stimulates a man's lust to its absolute limit!"

"Analyzing the age composition of the heads of the various noble families in the kingdom, your future marriage partner would most likely be some old geezer in his seventies or eighties..."

"No!!! No, I beg you, stop, please stop talking."

The Thirteenth Princess let out a shrill wail. Her mind had already conjured images of herself being used as a marriage tool, handed over to those disgusting, ugly old nobles, and being toyed with, humiliated, and ravaged by them in every conceivable way!

Until she lost all dignity, reduced to nothing more than an object for venting and a tool for childbearing.

"Princess Rose..."

Hearing the Thirteenth Princess's wail, the many maids and guards of the residence rushed over, but before they could even show their faces, they were knocked unconscious by a terrifying burst of soul power.

Feeling that fleeting, terrifying ripple of soul power behind him, Su Changge's legs... went weak again.

"Lord Su Changge, since you see through all of this and came to find Rose, you must have thought of a solution, right?"

"I beg you, please save Rose. Whatever you want, Rose can give it to you!"

In a state of endless panic, the Thirteenth Princess clung tightly to Su Changge's leg, her eyes brimming with tears as she pinned all her hopes on him.

At this moment, Su Changge could even clearly perceive the soft movement against his leg caused by the rise and fall of the Thirteenth Princess's breathing.

"Princess Rose, you have misunderstood one thing. The one who can save you... has never been an outsider, but yourself!"

"If you want to take control of your own destiny and reverse that pathetic, laughable ending, then go fight for the throne."

"When you sit upon that seat, at the very least, no one in the entire kingdom will be able to bully or trample upon you ever again!!!"

Su Changge's words echoed in the Thirteenth Princess's ears like the whispers of a devil.

That delicate, flawless body, after a brief moment of collapse, finally tensed up.

In this instant!

The Thirteenth Princess, Rose, decided to change that damned "fate."

"Lord Su Changge, Rose understands what you mean."

The Thirteenth Princess pulled herself up by holding onto Su Changge, then turned to look at Xue Qinghe.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, I ask for your assistance!"

"Once Rose sits upon the throne, the entire Haagen-Dazs Kingdom shall follow your lead, Your Highness."

Seeing the Thirteenth Princess change her mind after just a few words from Su Changge, Xue Qinghe's gaze toward Su Changge held a hint of scrutiny.

This kind of person's grasp of the human heart and human nature had reached its peak.

Even if he failed to become a high-level Spirit Master in the future, he would certainly not remain obscure.

"Rest assured, Princess Rose. With my support, the throne will be yours."

"Ahem... well, Your Highness the Crown Prince, Princess Rose, since you have both come to an agreement, there is nothing left for me to do."

"I have other matters to attend to, so I shall take my leave for now."

Seeing Xue Qinghe and the Thirteenth Princess hitting it off, Su Changge decided to leave quickly and escape this place of trouble.

If it came down to it, he would just abandon the earldom.

He would find a new place and start over on a new map.

However, Su Changge had clearly overestimated Xue Qinghe's magnanimity.

"Lord Su, since you are now privy to the conspiracy between myself and Princess Rose, how could I possibly let you just walk away!"

"Either stay and serve me and Princess Rose, or... die!"

"Make your choice! It is time to decide your fate, Lord Su!"

The very methods Su Changge had used to manipulate the Thirteenth Princess had now boomeranged, striking him in his own chest.