Xue Beng swaggered into Xue Ke's room, several guards following behind him.
He had heard that his younger sister had brought a commoner back. He would never pass up such a fine opportunity to show off his spoiled, dissolute ways.
"Do you know what offense you've committed?"
Xue Beng walked up to Su Ling, assuming the air of a superior.
"Xue Beng, I'm warning you! This is the person treating Father's injuries, an honored guest of our Heaven Dou Empire! Don't try anything!"
Xue Ke hurriedly spoke up, afraid Xue Beng might actually do something out of line.
"Oh?"
Xue Beng looked at his younger sister with interest. She had even made up a lie like that to fool him.
"Do you take me for an idiot?"
With that, Xue Beng gave the men behind him a meaningful look.
They immediately surrounded Su Ling, drawing the wooden clubs they had prepared from their waists.
"Beat him! Beat him half to death and throw him out of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace!"
"Yes!"
The men were about to strike when Xue Qinghe arrived just in time and shouted them down.
"All of you, stop!"
Then Xue Qinghe walked up to Xue Beng and landed a heavy slap across his face.
"Xue Beng! You've gone too far!"
"You! You actually dared to hit me!"
Xue Beng glared at Xue Qinghe furiously. Although he had been keeping himself in check all this time, even he showed murderous intent after taking a blow like that.
"This is Father's order. Are you going to defy him?"
Seeing Xue Qinghe invoke Emperor Xue Ye, Xue Beng lost all his earlier arrogance.
"My young friend Su Ling, so this is where you were."
After bathing, Xue Ye had begun searching all over the palace for Su Ling. Hearing a commotion here, he had hurried over.
From the handprint on Xue Beng's cheek and the murderous intent in his eyes, Emperor Xue Ye roughly understood what had happened.
"Father!"
"Father!"
Xue Qinghe and Xue Beng hurriedly bowed to Emperor Xue Ye. The guards behind Xue Beng were so frightened that they fell to their knees, not daring to move a muscle.
"Xue Beng! How dare you!"
Emperor Xue Ye's voice rang like a great bell, without a trace of his earlier weakness.
Xue Beng's legs went weak with fright, and he dropped to his knees, not daring to move.
"You men! Take Xue Beng away and confine him for a year!"
"Yes!"
The guards felt as though a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders. Fortunately, Emperor Xue Ye had directed the punishment at Xue Beng. This alone showed how much weight Su Ling carried in Emperor Xue Ye's heart.
For an ordinary honored guest, he would at most have killed all the guards.
On the surface, that seemed more severe than confining Xue Beng for a year, but in reality, it was merely finding scapegoats.
It was like the surrendering side in a war between two nations killing its own best fighter.
"Please don't take offense, my young friend Su Ling. Xue Beng is unruly by nature."
Su Ling indicated that it was all right.
Dealing with these nobles really did still feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Su Ling had intended to bid them farewell, but Emperor Xue Ye and Xue Qinghe did everything they could to persuade him to stay, saying they would hold a state banquet in a few days to thank him.
Emperor Xue Ye arranged separate accommodations for Su Ling, but his guide was Xue Ke.
After a few turns left and right, they were back at Xue Ke's chambers.
"Brother Su Ling, just stay with me!"
"Father has already granted us a marriage! We can live together!"
"Brother Su Ling, I'll only touch!"
Xue Ke pestered Su Ling until well past midnight before he finally fell into a deep sleep.
As for who suffered the most, it had to be Xue Qinghe.
Years of progress had instantly been reset to zero, even though she had increased the dosage.
With Su Ling's warning, Xue Ye no longer ate things indiscriminately, leaving Xue Qinghe no opportunity to poison him at all.
The next day, Su Ling moved aside the arm Xue Ke had draped over him.
He left Xue Ke's chambers early.
As he walked, he ran straight into Emperor Xue Ye.
"My young friend Su Ling, well, do you have any way of identifying that poison?"
Xue Ye had not eaten a single bite since yesterday, afraid of ingesting it by mistake.
"I really have no way to do that."
The testing technology of his previous life did not exist here, but avoiding it actually would not be difficult.
"However, I have a plan that can keep Your Majesty from being poisoned."
"Oh?"
Although he had not received the answer he wanted, having a solution was good too.
"What method?"
"Your Majesty only needs to have your subordinates capture live Soul Beasts every day from now on, then personally oversee the entire process."
Although it was somewhat troublesome, it was indeed a fairly reliable method.
"What about water?"
Food was taken care of, but water was indispensable too.
"That's simple as well. Your Majesty can secretly have a well dug at your residence. More importantly, you mustn't let anyone know, not even the princes."
"Oh?"
Emperor Xue Ye seemed to have understood what Su Ling meant.
"Are you saying that one of the princes administered the poison, my young friend?"
"I didn't say that."
If Qian Renxue's identity were exposed, it would cause a considerable butterfly effect, and there would only be more trouble then.
"By the way, my young friend, Poison Douluo, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and other prominent figures of the Heaven Dou Empire will all be coming tomorrow. You must do me the honor of letting me properly thank you!"
"Of course, of course."
How could Su Ling not know what Emperor Xue Ye was scheming?
He would try to win Su Ling over at tomorrow's banquet and put his talent on display.
That way, quite a few people would place their bets on him, and the Heaven Dou Empire would be the first to benefit.
After dealing with Emperor Xue Ye, Su Ling left the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, planning to stroll around Heaven Dou City while it was still early.
Before long, an unusual sight drew him over.
"Boohoo, please take pity on me."
Dugu Yan had found a spot with few people and laid an ambush along the route she had calculated Su Ling would have to take.
Ye Lingling lay on a piece of cloth, with another white cloth covering her.
"My life is so miserable. Please take pity on me."
Although Dugu Yan was calling out indiscriminately, Su Ling was the only person anywhere close to her.
Su Ling did not immediately recognize her as Dugu Yan either.
"My parents died when I was very young, leaving my younger sister and me with only each other to depend on. Now my younger sister has died of illness, but I have no money to bury her. If you're willing to give me one Gold Soul Coin to help bury my sister, I'll be your servant for the rest of my life and serve you forever."
"Uh..."
Carried away by her performance, Dugu Yan actually squeezed tears from her eyes.
"Boohoo!"
Just then, the same scene played out not far from Dugu Yan.
Holding a little fox in her arms, Na'er sobbed.
"Please take pity on me. My parents died when I was very young, leaving my younger sister and me with only each other to depend on. Now my older sister has died of illness, but I have no money to bury her. If you're willing to give me one Gold Soul Coin to help bury my older sister, I'll be your younger sister."
Lying beneath the white cloth, Gu Yue was pleased with herself. How could this fail to win Su Ling over?
This was a plan she had spent several days devising with her own world-shaking wisdom.
Dugu Yan was instantly speechless. She already had competition?
Before you continue