Qian Renxue pulled Long Yue's hand off her shoulder again. "Brother Long, actually-"
"Xuezi, just call me Brother Long."
Long Yue waved the hand she had lowered, smiling like a fox. "Calling me 'little brother' makes us sound like strangers, doesn't it? Come on, how close are we?"
"..." Qian Renxue was speechless.
Exactly! Don't you have any idea yourself? How close are we, really?! Not only are you calling me Xuezi, you want me to call you Brother Long? What kind of mental state are you in?!
A vein bulged on Qian Renxue's forehead, and her hand clenched into a fist.
Long Yue might have had a god-level martial soul, but he was certainly a god-tier oddball, too.
"Alas... people's hearts aren't what they used to be." Long Yue clasped his hands behind his back and walked ahead like an old man. "Your Highness, First Prince, I'll go have fun on my own, then. I don't need you anymore."
"You!"
Only then did Qian Renxue remember that her purpose was to spend more time with Long Yue and ask about his martial soul.
She hadn't even started yet. How had Long Yue already swept her out the door?
"Little Brother Long. Where would you like to go?"
Qian Renxue caught up and called out to him, but Long Yue turned his head away and kept walking.
"Little Brother Long..." Qian Renxue faltered, her mouth opening and closing. She simply couldn't swallow her pride and call a boy younger than herself "Brother Long."
Who does that?! Isn't this just bullying?
Seeing Long Yue leave, Snake Lance Douluo moved close to Qian Renxue and transmitted his voice. "Miss. He's already gone quite a way. Perhaps we should leave it for today."
Instead, those words stirred Qian Renxue's rebellious streak.
Ever since she was little, who had ever been able to stop Qian Renxue from doing what she wanted?
Even with something as unbelievable as infiltrating the Heaven Dou Empire as a prince, no one in Spirit Hall had stopped her. Qian Daoliu had even sent two Titled Douluo to stay by her side and protect her.
"No!"
Qian Renxue was so furious she nearly ground her teeth to pieces.
"Once the Divine Realm Empire's Diplomatic Mission leaves Heaven Dou City, how am I supposed to find an opportunity to ask Long Yue about his martial soul? Am I supposed to follow him to the Spirit Ice Continent?"
"Miss..." Snake Lance Douluo struggled for a long while without finding anything to say.
The task the Great Enshrined had entrusted to him and Pufferfish was to ensure Qian Renxue's safety.
Whatever Qian Renxue wanted to do, the two of them had to cooperate. They could only offer suggestions, not objections.
Thus, this Titled Douluo of Spirit Hall could only say stiffly, "I will certainly support you, Miss."
Qian Renxue hurried after him and spotted Long Yue standing at a snack stall, gesturing animatedly to the vendor as he bought Glutinous Rice Mochi.
"Brother Long..."
Qian Renxue ran countless sayings through her mind, such as "a little impatience can ruin a grand plan," "those who achieve great things do not fuss over trifles," and "patience means seeing past it and holding firm."
Finally, she managed to force the words out.
"Brother Long. You-"
"Xuezi, you're here?" Chuckling, Long Yue put the box of mochi into Qian Renxue's hand. "I just heard magpies calling again. Have some."
Qian Renxue accepted the mochi instinctively, her mind going blank as she listened to Long Yue.
What am I doing? What is this fellow Long Yue saying now? Why... this feels so strange.
Qian Renxue had never encountered anyone as abnormal as Long Yue before.
Qian Daoliu was kindly toward her, the pope was cold toward her, and everyone else was respectful.
Only this abnormal fellow, Long Yue, seemed to truly treat her as... a companion his own age?
A companion? Qian Renxue found it unbelievable. Why would she have such a thought? She murmured to herself, "Do I need something like a companion? Is he worthy?"
"What are you mumbling about? If you don't want it, forget it."
Snatching food from the tiger's jaws, Long Yue seized the box of mochi from Qian Renxue's hand and started eating it with a skewer.
"Haha. Young Long, your brother has such a fine face." The old man selling Glutinous Rice Mochi chuckled.
Because of his Mountain Dragon King martial soul, Long Yue was even half a head taller than Xue Qinghe. No wonder the old man selling Glutinous Rice Mochi had mistaken them for brothers.
"You bet!"
Holding the mochi box in his left hand, Long Yue hooked his right arm around Xue Qinghe's neck and pulled him close.
"With a face like his, he's destined to become a high official. Tsk, tsk, tsk. A supreme commander, even."
"A supreme commander?" The old man looked utterly puzzled.
"Never mind, never mind. Keep up the good work, old man! May your business flourish and wealth pour in, may you enjoy good health, and may your children and grandchildren be blessed."
A stream of auspicious wishes rolled off Long Yue's tongue, and he left the snack stall with his arm still around Qian Renxue's neck.
"Can you let go of me now?" The hold was making Qian Renxue very uncomfortable. She said in a subdued voice, "I am a prince, after all. If people see us..."
Long Yue released Qian Renxue and shook his head at her with a rather regretful look. "Xuezi. What are you worried about? Just because hanging around me disgraces your refined image, would the emperor really refuse to make you crown prince?"
So you do know you're a disgrace to refinement! Qian Renxue thought.
Long Yue held up four fingers in front of Qian Renxue. "I know about your Heaven Dou Imperial Family. Emperor Xue Ye originally had four princes. Two died."
Long Yue lowered two fingers.
"That leaves only you and the youngest, the Fourth Prince... uh, if Emperor Xue Ye can't produce another prince, the Heaven Dou Empire's crown prince can only be chosen from the two of you."
Qian Renxue's gaze sharpened. Had the people of the Divine Realm Empire already guessed the truth?
No, at most, they only suspect it.
After all, the person who had benefited most from the deaths of the Second Prince and Third Prince was the First Prince.
Following the trail of who benefited, it was perfectly normal for the people of the Divine Realm Empire to suspect her. But they had no evidence, after all, and couldn't prove that she was the real murderer.
Qian Renxue's heart settled. "And?"
"The Fourth Prince is only ten, right?" Long Yue counted on his fingers. "What does a child know about governing a country? If Emperor Xue Ye doesn't want to become the ruler of a fallen nation, the position of crown prince can only be yours."
"Little Brother Long, that's alarmist talk. Father is still in the prime of his life-hey, what are you doing?"
Qian Renxue watched Long Yue turn and walk away without mercy before she had even finished the official platitudes meant to display her princely virtue.
"What did you call me?" Long Yue asked, tilting his head.
"...Brother Long." Qian Renxue sighed as though resigning herself to her fate, finally lowering her head. "Brother Long. Father is still in the prime of his life..."
Long Yue turned around and listened to Qian Renxue's lengthy stream of official platitudes with his head tilted and a smile on his face, looking very patient.
She's already called me Brother Long. Listening to this nonsense can count as her reward.
That was right. Long Yue knew everything.
Even his deliberate use of "Xuezi" wasn't because of the "Xue" in Xue Qinghe, but because of the "Xue" in Qian Renxue.
From the moment he had left today and Qian Renxue had met him by "such a coincidence," Long Yue had begun to wonder whether she had something up her sleeve.
Was this chance encounter really a coincidence?
Did Qian Renxue have nothing better to do? Instead of pursuing her grand scheme to usurp the empire, she came running over to meet me so conveniently?
In any case, Long Yue didn't believe it.
As for making Qian Renxue call him "Brother Long," that was another of Long Yue's mischievous little amusements at her expense.
Long Yue thought, Oh my, oh my~ Big Sister Qian is clearly the older-woman type, yet she has to call me her older brother. What a naughty big sister.
"Brother Long." Now that Qian Renxue had grown used to saying it, she no longer cared. "As for the sights in Heaven Dou City, there are only the usual ones. I can't think of anything interesting at the moment. Why not come with me to the Moonlight Pavilion?"
She came looking for me just to go to the Moonlight Pavilion?
Does Qian Renxue really have that much time on her hands?
Long Yue mulled it over, but still slung an arm around Qian Renxue's shoulders. "Hey, Xuezi, you've already called me Brother Long. What else can I say? Let's go!"
Before you continue