I Truly Consider You My Son-in-Law

Ye Qingshuang came to her senses as well. "I never expected that trash's scheming to run so deep. He actually secretly won Yan Ji over to his side."

"Eldest Sister was right. That trash is a venomous-hearted man, with every thought in his heart and every glance in his eyes fixed on the position of Heir Apparent!" Ye Qingxuan's gaze was icy, brimming with killing intent.

But the next moment, both women froze where they stood.

They saw Yan Ji walk over to the unconscious Ye Yu and raise his foot to kick Ye Yu's face. After confirming that he had completely passed out—

He took a pure white spirit fruit from his robes. Seeing that no one was around, he hurriedly rubbed it against Ye Yu's blood before leaving.

"This... is a White Spirit Fruit?" Ye Qingshuang recognized the fruit in the image at once.

Her expression immediately changed as a memory surfaced in her mind.

About half a year ago, Ye Qingshuang had returned to Great Flame because Ye Xuan was about to undergo Foundation Establishment, and she had come back to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill for him.

The White Spirit Fruit was precisely the main ingredient of the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The White Spirit Fruit was born with divine properties and could not be tainted by blood aura. Once contaminated, not only would its medicinal effects diminish greatly, but even successfully forming the pill would become incomparably difficult.

That time, Ye Qingshuang had failed her refinement because she used a White Spirit Fruit stained with blood aura, nearly causing the furnace to explode.

Later, they discovered that the blood aura on the White Spirit Fruit had come from Ye Yu. Thus, they threw Ye Yu into the Imperial Prison and tortured him for half a month. In the end, it was only because Ye Xuan pleaded for him that he was released.

But judging by things now, what had really happened?

Ye Qingshuang was utterly dumbfounded.

Not just Ye Qingshuang—even Ye Qingxuan stood rooted to the spot, her face full of disbelief. Yan Ji was Ye Xuan's man!

And judging from Yan Ji's actions toward Ye Yu, it did not look like an act at all!

Could it be that Xiao Xuan had directed and performed this whole affair himself to frame Ye Yu?! No... impossible! Xiao Xuan was so kind. He could never do something like that! Absolutely impossible!

"S-Second Sister, should we keep watching?" Ye Qingshuang was not stupid. She had easily arrived at the same suspicion as Ye Qingxuan.

Yet now, she was somewhat afraid to continue watching.

First, there had been the matter of rescuing their Fourth Sister, Ye Qingqing. Now, the truth behind the White Spirit Fruit had also come to light. Who knew what else they would see if they kept watching?

The images within the Memory Stone could not be forged.

"Go back. We'll watch it with Eldest Sister." After pondering for a while, Ye Qingxuan made her decision. The truth was right before her eyes. It was not that she refused to believe it—she simply did not dare believe it was real.

Solving the blood poison was no longer the priority.

"Alright!" Ye Qingshuang nodded absentmindedly.

Meanwhile, Ye Yu returned to the Great Qin imperial palace and went back to his residence to refine pills. Yet before he could begin, Qin Wushuang summoned him.

Inside Xianyang Palace, besides Qin Wushuang, there was another person.

Qin Han, the Crown Prince of Great Qin, was at the early Golden Core Stage.

Ye Yu glanced at Qin Han, his brows slightly furrowing. In his previous life, Qin Han had colluded with Ye Xuan and handed over more than half of Great Qin's territory. If Qin Ruoxian had not risen so powerfully and taken control of the situation, Great Qin would have long become something in Ye Xuan's pocket.

At the same time, Qin Han was also looking at Ye Yu, the hostility in his eyes completely undisguised.

Both were Crown Princes. Just as Ye Qingxuan and Qin Ruoxian were often compared, the two of them were frequently placed side by side as well.

The result was that Qin Han suffered a crushing defeat. He was inferior to Ye Yu in every respect. Even Qin Wushuang spared no praise for Ye Yu, while he was excessively harsh toward Qin Han.

"Father Emperor, we are formulating national policy. Why call an outsider here?" Qin Han said blandly, though his tone carried no shortage of contempt. His relationship with Ye Xuan was not bad—one could even say they recognized each other as kindred spirits.

Qin Wushuang frowned at those words and shot Qin Han a glare, but he did not rebuke him. After all, Qin Han was the Heir Apparent, and he needed to be given some face.

Qin Wushuang then asked Ye Yu, "I've received word that Great Qin is preparing to implement a curfew. What do you think?"

"A curfew?" Ye Yu was taken aback. It was not as though no one had proposed this to him when he was still Crown Prince, but he had rejected every suggestion. "I don't think it will work."

"It won't work? Heh, how short-sighted. Do you know how many benefits a curfew has?" The curfew had been proposed by Ye Xuan, who sent word to Qin Han that very day. After hearing Ye Xuan's reasoning, Qin Han found it highly sensible and proposed it to Qin Wushuang.

"Oh? I would like to hear the details." Ye Yu smiled.

"If we implement a curfew, first, public safety will improve drastically, preventing spies from other nations and even Demonic Cultivators from fishing in troubled waters."

"Second, the population. With a curfew in place, the common people will have nothing to do at night, naturally increasing childbirth."

"Third, the reserve of cultivators. Once the population rises, the number of mortals with spirit roots will also increase greatly. Over time, it will inevitably form a vast body of cultivators."

Qin Han spoke eloquently. Qin Wushuang, seated above, nodded repeatedly as he listened, finding the argument quite reasonable. He then looked toward Ye Yu.

Ye Yu merely smiled indifferently. "How is the income of Great Flame's common people now?"

The moment he heard this, Qin Wushuang understood. He nodded again and again, the admiration in his eyes for Ye Yu growing even less concealed. That single sentence had struck straight at the heart of the matter.

But Qin Han was completely bewildered. He asked, "What does that have to do with income?"

"Take Great Flame as an example. An ordinary family can sustain enough food for four people. Add one more, and it becomes difficult. Add two more, and they will have to go hungry."

"Blindly encouraging the people to have children while ignoring their livelihoods may indeed produce results in the short term. But over time, corpses will cover the ground from starvation. By then, forget increasing the number of cultivators—even maintaining the existing number will be impossible."

Ye Yu explained.

This was why Ye Yu had rejected the implementation of a curfew in Great Flame back then. At the time, Great Flame had been even worse off than Great Qin was now.

Qin Han's face turned pale. He was not stupid. He clearly knew that what Ye Yu said could come true.

He who has no distant worries is bound to have near troubles. The same was true of being Heir Apparent.

"That's enough, Han'er. You may leave first. I still have matters to discuss with Ye Yu. As for the curfew, we can discuss it another day," Qin Wushuang said with a wave of his hand.

Qin Han glared resentfully at Ye Yu before turning and leaving.

"Sorry you had to see that." After Qin Han left, Qin Wushuang smiled at Ye Yu.

"Not at all. Such an idea is normal enough, and it can indeed increase national strength in the short term," Ye Yu said.

"Alright, let's leave this matter here. How goes the matter of the secret realm? When are you planning to set out? I've received word that people from the Yun and Lei Provinces have already arrived," Qin Wushuang asked.

Ye Yu thought for a moment. "In a few days. If we go now, we'll only suffer for it."

The emergence of a secret realm would inevitably trigger spatial storms, especially in the early stages. If they approached blindly, let alone them—even mighty cultivators at the Nascent Soul Late Stage might be ground to death on the spot by the storms.

"Mm. In any case, make your own arrangements. There's no need to be so restrained. If you need anything, tell me directly. After all, I truly consider you my son-in-law!" Qin Wushuang chuckled and patted Ye Yu on the shoulder.

After bidding farewell to Qin Wushuang, Ye Yu returned to his chambers. He had just sat down when Xue Li's voice rang out in his mind.

"Master, this is bad. Something happened!"