At the height of the war between the two nations, Qian Renxue could still get an audience while wearing Xue Qinghe's face.
What was more, she had wiped thirty billion off the reparations and territorial concessions. From that moment on, Qian Renxue could tell just how extraordinary the relationship between Xue Qinghe and Xu Nian'an was.
That was thirty billion, after all. Who knew whether the entire continent even had that many Gold Soul Coins combined?
Xu Nian'an had simply waived it.
Ever since that meaningful look last night, the other man's attitude toward her had changed completely.
A night had passed since the assassination attempt.
Her guards hadn't returned all night. And they were two Titled Douluo.
They hadn't come back, nor had they reported whether the assassination had succeeded. The meaning behind that was already painfully clear.
Probably... most likely...
"General, sorry for the trouble, but could you go speak to His Majesty the Great Ming Emperor again?"
"Just tell him..."
Qian Renxue's mind raced as she desperately tried to think of what Xu Nian'an liked.
Unfortunately, Xu Nian'an had revealed very little about his preferences in front of her.
She thought and thought, but couldn't figure out what he liked.
Just as Qian Renxue was about to give up, a group of palace maids in sheer robes passed by her.
Their attire was quite unusual. In particular, every one of them had a curvaceous figure, and they all had pure, lovely features.
Wait, hadn't she seen these people somewhere before?
Before long, Qian Renxue found the memory in her mind.
They were the palace maids who had waited outside when Xue Qinghe had gone to Great Ming to acknowledge Xu Nian'an as family and bathe with him.
Thinking of that, Qian Renxue couldn't help remembering that Xu Nian'an seemed to have taken a liking to her back when she was posing as a palace maid.
He'd even wanted her.
A flash of inspiration struck her.
"Tell him that there's news about the Xiao Xue he was looking for."
The Dragon Guard was utterly bewildered by Qian Renxue's words.
What Xiao Xue?
But seeing how serious she looked, he hesitated.
"General, please help me out."
Seeing him struggle with the decision, Qian Renxue decisively pulled a bag of Gold Soul Coins from her clothes.
Ten minutes later, the Dragon Guard brought the message Qian Renxue wanted to deliver, along with the Gold Soul Coins, to Xu Nian'an.
"Your Majesty, that's what happened."
Xu Nian'an glanced at the money pouch on the table.
"Keep the money as a reward."
"Bring her in."
As he spoke, the corner of Xu Nian'an's mouth curled into a smile.
Xiao Xue?
Was she selling herself out?
Xu Nian'an couldn't help getting curious. He wanted to see what she was up to.
She must be panicking now, right?
Thinking of the two people the Holy Spirit Cult had caught last night, Xu Nian'an couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from lifting.
Ten minutes later, Qian Renxue—no, she should be called Xue Qinghe now—was brought in.
"May I ask what brings the Heaven Dou Crown Prince to see me so early in the morning?"
Hearing Xu Nian'an's words and seeing the cold, deliberately distant look in his eyes, Qian Renxue's heart sank.
So it had happened. Something had gone wrong after all.
When the two of them had been close, they'd called each other cousins. Sometimes, they'd even called each other "old cousin."
But now...
He was addressing her by the name of her enemy nation. It was clear that Xu Nian'an truly wanted to distance himself from her and sever their ties.
Qian Renxue couldn't help panicking.
No.
He hadn't been like this before.
If Xu Nian'an had wanted to make a clean break with her in the past, Qian Renxue would have welcomed it.
That way, she could avoid the risk of being exposed.
But she couldn't afford that now.
Xu Nian'an seemed to have learned something. And the two assassins she'd sent to kill him last night, Pufferfish and Snake Lance Douluo, still hadn't returned.
If they'd been caught and revealed anything about her, then she—and the Spirit Hall behind her—would be in trouble.
"Heh... Why so formal, cousin? No matter what, we share blood, don't we..."
Xu Nian'an didn't respond to Qian Renxue. He simply looked down at the document in his hand, not even raising his head.
Feeling Xu Nian'an's coldness, Qian Renxue's body began to grow cold.
But she couldn't let herself lose face. She could only grit her teeth and play along.
"I was wondering if you slept well last night, cousin. I came today to ask, and also to tell you that I've gotten the latest news about the palace maid Xiao Xue you liked..."
Before she could finish, Xu Nian'an looked up coldly.
"Whether I slept well last night... wouldn't you know better than anyone?"
At that, Qian Renxue stiffened.
Xu Nian'an ignored her and continued speaking to himself.
"Last night, the Holy Spirit Cult of my Great Ming Nation-Protecting Divine Sect caught two rats who tried to assassinate me. And with a special technique, we extracted a few little things from their brains..."
Now it wasn't just Qian Renxue's body that stiffened. The smile on her face froze, too.
Xu Nian'an rose to his feet.
He slowly came to stand beside her.
"To be honest, I don't care about the Heaven Dou Empire. I care even less about who rules the Heaven Dou Imperial Family in the future."
There was something strangely compelling in Xu Nian'an's voice as it slowly reached Qian Renxue's ears.
At some point, the entire imperial camp had emptied out, leaving only the two of them.
But Qian Renxue could clearly sense countless eyes fixed on her from every direction.
"Cousin and I are as close as brothers. I just wanted to ask you something. You don't have to answer."
"Where has my cousin gone?"
Whoosh—!
Qian Renxue's expression changed drastically. In the end, she couldn't hold it together anymore and abruptly raised her hand.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"If you do, then everything you've worked so hard for will... vanish into thin air."
"I'll say it again: I don't care about the Heaven Dou Empire, and I care even less about who rules it in the future."
There was one more thing Xu Nian'an hadn't said: no matter what happened, the continent would belong to him in the future.
The hand facing Xu Nian'an finally came to rest against Qian Renxue's face.
Whoosh—!
Golden hair spilled down, revealing her peerlessly beautiful features.
"Now that's more like it!"
Xu Nian'an reached out, gripped her chin, and looked at her face. An unprecedented urge suddenly welled up inside him.
"I'll help you take the position you want. Before the world, you'll still be the Heaven Dou Crown Prince, then the Heaven Dou Crown Prince Apparent, the heir to the throne, and the Heaven Dou Emperor!"
"But in front of me, you'd better be a good Xiao Xue!"
"I'm in a terrible mood right now."
After feeling the astonishing touch of those perfect jade feet, Xu Nian'an reached out again, took hold of her golden hair, and slowly pressed her down.
Qian Renxue's entire body turned red—not from shyness, but from anger. This was her humiliation.
She wanted to fight back, but suddenly realized that under a powerful pressure, she couldn't even summon her Soul Power. She knew what that meant.
She could only submit to preserve her bottom line, and Xu Nian'an never crossed [that line].
Qian Renxue suffered a humiliation unlike anything she'd endured from the day she was born until now.
She wanted to fight back, but she was afraid of Xu Nian'an.
Toward the man in front of her, who was even younger than she was, she felt both hatred and fear.
Compared with what she stood to lose right now, her mission mattered more.
More than the humiliation her body was being made to endure, she couldn't bear to let... [that woman] find out she'd failed and look down on her.
She couldn't lose. She absolutely couldn't fail!
"Xu Nian'an, one day you'll pay back a hundredfold for everything you've made me endure today. I'll trample you beneath my feet!"
Xu Nian'an didn't rush to take everything. If the other side decided to fight to the death, it could all go wrong. He only took a taste, then stopped.
By late morning, Qian Renxue had returned to Xue Qinghe's appearance. She left the place where the Daming Army was stationed, accompanied by the two badly wounded Titled Douluo.
"Young Master, how did you get him to let us go..."
Before Pufferfish Douluo could finish, Qian Renxue snapped at him, her face dark.
"Shut up!!!"
Feeling the numbness in her legs and the swelling of her lips, Qian Renxue was burning with murderous rage.
Meanwhile, Xu Nian'an set off for the next round of negotiations, feeling refreshed and invigorated.