[In the end, it was my own failure to discipline my son that caused me to lose him in my old age.]
[From then on, I took great care in raising my granddaughter, teaching her never to follow in her father's footsteps.]
[Xue'er's talent was indeed exceptional, but because of that woman, she developed a desire to prove herself.]
[And so, Xue'er volunteered to carry out the Nation-Stealing Plan.]
[I couldn't change the child's mind, so in the end, I agreed.]
[Considering the risks involved in carrying out the Nation-Stealing Plan, I also arranged for two Titled Douluo to stay by her side and protect her.]
[Unfortunately, the Nation-Stealing Plan ultimately failed.]
[It was ruined by a Soul Master named Su Ming and his friends.]
[Of course, what distressed me most was that Xue'er actually fell in love with him.]
[Most importantly, his identity was too troublesome and his origins too unusual. Even as a Peerless Douluo of the present age, I could hardly come up with a solution.]
"What?! I actually fell in love with the culprit behind the Nation-Stealing Plan's failure?!"
Staring at the Heavenly Screen, Qian Renxue, who had only just managed to calm herself down, was utterly dumbfounded.
Was she that cheap?
He had ruined the Nation-Stealing Plan she had worked on for more than ten years, yet instead of thinking about getting rid of him, she had fallen in love with him.
What a joke!
"Impossible, impossible..." Qian Renxue's head was spinning.
Just a moment ago, she had been relieved that the Heavenly Screen had only revealed the name of the Nation-Stealing Plan. Neither the country it targeted nor the identity she had assumed had been exposed.
That meant she could continue disguising herself as Xue Qinghe and carry on with the original plan.
At most, the old fellow Xue Ye would be on guard because of it, making things more difficult, but she would still have a chance.
But in the very next moment, the Heavenly Screen revealed that her Nation-Stealing Plan had ultimately failed.
As if that weren't enough, while she was still reeling from the blow, the Heavenly Screen revealed that she had also fallen in love with the man who ruined the Nation-Stealing Plan.
Moreover, judging from the information the Heavenly Screen had provided, that man was no ordinary person.
How is this Grandpa's personal monologue? It's clearly a trial ground for me, with one blow after another.
After pulling herself together, Qian Renxue gritted her teeth and said, "Su Ming, was it? If I can still fall in love with you after this, I'm a dog!"
As she saw it, since she knew all this in advance, she would certainly make changes.
The Nation-Stealing Plan failed? Then she would keep working at it and make sure it succeeded this time.
She fell in love with a man named Su Ming who ruined the Nation-Stealing Plan? Then she'd beat up anyone named Su Ming she met.
The young mistress is so pitiful... Not far away, Ci Xue looked at Qian Renxue with some sympathy.
It was clearly the Great Enshrined's personal monologue, yet the young mistress had ended up taking blow after blow.
Inside a study in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
"Spirit Hall really does have the heart of a wolf," Emperor Xue Ye said, staring furiously at the Heavenly Screen.
He had never imagined that Spirit Hall would be so outrageously bold.
They actually wanted to steal a country, and the person carrying out the plan was the current Pope's daughter and a Peerless Douluo's granddaughter.
"I just don't know which country Spirit Hall has set its sights on." Xue Ye then sank into thought.
Besides the two great empires, there were also numerous kingdoms and duchies.
That made it impossible to be certain which country Spirit Hall wanted to steal.
Surely it can't be my Heaven Dou Empire?
In Xue Ye's view, what difference would it make if a child carrying out the Nation-Stealing Plan had two Titled Douluo accompanying her?
They ought to target the small countries first, those with weak national power and few experts.
Only then could nothing go wrong.
Of course, another reason Xue Ye made this judgment was the reaction of the person carrying out the Nation-Stealing Plan after it failed.
Not only had she not blamed the culprit, she had fallen in love with him instead.
That showed that the Nation-Stealing Plan did not carry much weight within Spirit Hall.
Combined with what the Heavenly Screen had revealed earlier, it was very likely a willful scheme she had devised to prove her abilities to Bibi Dong.
Qian Daoliu had agreed because he doted on her, so he had chosen a small country where his granddaughter could "play" without worry.
One could only say that Emperor Xue Ye was still too young and didn't understand just how much weight the phrase "Romance Continent" carried.
Even so, I should still investigate.
Although that was Xue Ye's reasoning, he still needed to take a good look within the Heaven Dou Empire, just in case.
"Attendants, summon the crown prince..."
That was right. Emperor Xue Ye intended to entrust this matter to his crown prince.
The Star Luo Imperial Palace in the Star Luo Empire.
"Attendants, summon the fifth prince..."
Dai Heng, the Star Luo Emperor, likewise did not believe that Spirit Hall had chosen their Star Luo Empire as the target of its plan to steal a country.
Part of his reasoning was similar to Emperor Xue Ye's, but there was another, more crucial reason.
That was his fifth son, Dai Xuanyu.
On the day of his Martial Soul Awakening ceremony, he had awakened the legendary Evil Eye Holy King and received the Holy King's inheritance.
He was a monarch destined to lead the Star Luo Empire and unite the entire Douluo Continent in the future.
As long as Dai Xuanyu was within the empire, no scoundrel would have anywhere to hide.
If the Evil Eye Holy King's inheritance had not been such a momentous matter that it needed to be kept secret, Dai Heng would have made Dai Xuanyu the crown prince long ago.
As for the so-called cruel rules of succession that the imperial family had maintained for thousands of years...
Sorry, they could all be disregarded before the Evil Eye Holy King's inheritor.
Besides the two great empires, the various kingdoms and duchies also reacted intensely.
They, too, had followed that line of thought.
The two great empires were too powerful, making the Nation-Stealing Plan difficult and highly dangerous to carry out against them.
In that case, wasn't one of them the target?
And so, the royal families of these countries began investigating themselves.
Of course, there was another matter that countless people were concerned about.
That was the person she loved, the mysterious man who had ruined the Nation-Stealing Plan: Su Ming.
Who exactly was Su Ming?
Not only had he made her fall in love with him, but his identity was also enough to trouble a Peerless Douluo like Qian Daoliu.
Meanwhile, in a luxurious suite at the Crystal Orchid Hotel in Suotuo City.
Su Ming himself, the subject of countless people's speculation, was being questioned by Xiao Wu.
"Brother, tell me. Are you the Su Ming from the Heavenly Screen?"
Xiao Wu questioned him with a serious expression, her voice carrying a nervousness that even she hadn't noticed.
They had already spent six years together, and after that time they had been completely open with each other, their feelings had grown warmer still.
Without realizing it, Xiao Wu had long since fallen in love with Su Ming.
That was why she was so nervous.
"Xiao Wu, think about it. Even Qian Daoliu finds the background of the Su Ming on the Heavenly Screen troublesome. Do you think your brother has a background like that?"
Of course, Su Ming would not admit it now. After all, it wasn't time yet.