Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Xia Qian was pacing around in the Crown Prince’s Hall. The emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty told him to go back to reflect and read a book to nurture his heart.
However, how could he remain calm in such a situation?
He really couldn’t figure out why the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty had canceled the marriage alliance with the Great Ze Dynasty so abruptly.
‘Is Father boycotting me too?’
That thought developed in Xia Qian’s mind.
He was responsible for the marriage alliance between the Great Xia Dynasty and Great Ze Dynasty. Once it was arranged, he would naturally have a greater say and gain more support.
Previously, the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty told him to reflect and had even seized his authority.
After that incident, all the royals began getting up to tricks.
If the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty canceled the marriage alliance between the Great Xia Dynasty and the Great Ze Dynasty this time, there would certainly be lots of gossip about him falling out of favor.
A myriad of thoughts appeared in Xia Qian’s mind while his face turned sullen.
“Your Highness.”
At this moment, Yan Shi walked into the hall and bowed respectfully.
“How is it?”
Xia Qian stopped thinking and asked.
As soon as he returned to the Crown Prince’s palace, he sent someone to check up on who the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty had met previously and if anything had happened to Xia Qingmo.
“Your Highness, I found out that before His Majesty ordered for the engagement between Qingmo and the prince of the Great Ze Dynasty to be canceled, Eunuch Li brought one person to see His Majesty in the Heart-Nurturing Palace. On the other hand, Princess Qingmo met Ye Ping.”
Yan Shi said.
When the crown prince of the Great Xia Dynasty heard his words, he froze in shock with a look of disbelief.
Xia Qian’s face immediately turned sullen and gloomy.
“Ye Ping.”
In an instant, Xia Qian understood why his father had canceled Xia Qingmo’s engagement.
Soon after Ye Ping appeared in the palace and met Xia Qingmo, his father canceled the marriage alliance between the Great Xia Dynasty and the Great Ze Dynasty.
It was obviously because of Ye Ping.
He would never believe that there was nothing between them.
‘No wonder.’
‘No wonder.’
‘No wonder when I went to ask Father about it, he reprimanded me without explaining anything to me at all.’
The jealousy and hatred in Xia Qian’s heart gushed out like a flood, causing his body to tremble.
“What is Ye Ping doing here!?!”
Xia Qian said in a cold tone.
He had received news today that Ye Ping had come to the capital of the Great Xia Dynasty after returning from the King’s Territory.
However, he didn’t expect Ye Ping to have appeared in the Great Xia Dynasty Palace in the blink of an eye.
When Yan Shi saw Xia Qian’s gloomy face and heard his furious tone, he couldn’t help but shiver and lower his head.
“According to my subordinates’ investigation, after Ye Ping and his Senior Brother arrived in the capital, they went directly to Chancellor Xuanji’s residence. In no time, His Majesty went out of the palace and brought the two of them back to the palace.”
Yan Shi lowered his head and said truthfully.
‘Father then brought him back to the palace.’
Hearing these words, Xia Qian’s body trembled even more and his eyes were bloodshot.
‘Indeed.’
‘This is… the Tenth Prince.’
‘He’s Father’s most cherished son.’
‘After arriving at the capital, he immediately went to Taishang Xuanji’s residence and Father brought him back to the palace.’
‘Father initially agreed to the marriage alliance, but because of the appearance of the Tenth Prince, he changed his mind and canceled the engagement.’
‘He even gave his least favored daughter the right to choose.’
‘How biased!’
‘Will Father also change his mind if the Tenth Prince wants to be the emperor?’
‘No matter how hard I work, what can I do in front of the Tenth Prince?’
Xia Qian recalled the time when the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty said, “Do you think I wouldn’t dare to replace the Crown Prince?”
Now that the emperor had brought the Tenth Prince back to the palace, it was obvious what was going on.
Xia Qian’s body trembled and he kept breathing heavily.
Immediately afterwards, a red pill appeared. It was the Mind-Calming Jade Pill that had the effect of helping one calm down.
However, Xia Qian’s expression turned menacing when he looked at the red pill. He then tossed it aside.
At this point, he obviously couldn’t calm down.
However, at this moment, Xia Qian’s face instantly turned sullen while he calmed down, and his gaze was deadpan.
“Okay, I know, stand down.”
Xia Qian’s voice was so calm that it was terrifying.
Yan Shi looked at Xia Qian who had suddenly calmed down, feeling rather dumbfounded.
He had never seen Xia Qian behaving in such a calm manner before. He was so composed that it made him feel terrified.
“Yes, excuse me.”
Yan Shi did not dare to say more and immediately retreated.
In the hall, Xia Qian was left alone, and after a moment of silence, he returned to his room and crushed a token. He then took out an ancient lamp and lit it up.
The next day.
Xia Qingmo came to Ye Ping’s residence.
After trying on her wedding gown yesterday, a eunuch told her that the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty was going to cancel her engagement to the third prince of the Great Ze Dynasty.
Xia Qingmo was dumbfounded after hearing that.
She was in disbelief.
She couldn’t help but think of what Ye Ping said when he left that day. “If you don’t want to get married, I’ll help you.”
She didn’t expect that there would be results so soon and that her father had canceled the engagement.
She was aware of the importance of this marriage alliance.
‘How did Ye Ping get Father to change his mind?’
If not for the fact that it was already dark, she would have gone to look for Ye Ping and thanked him directly.
This night, she stayed up all night, and just after dawn, she came to Ye Ping’s residence.
Ye Ping heard the guards informing him that someone was looking for him and thus he walked out of the hall.
A crisp voice sounded.
“Senior Brother Ye Ping!”
Xia Qingmo stood outside the hall, dressed in green, with her long hair draped by her waist. She looked really beautiful.
“Princess Qingmo, what brings you here?”
Ye Ping was smiling calmly as he didn’t expect that Princess Qingmo was there to see him.
‘That makes sense. Xia Qingmo is my only friend in the palace, no one would come to see me.”
“I’m here to thank you, Senior Brother.”
Xia Qingmo’s absolutely beautiful face was full of smiles as she said those words.
Yesterday, she had a look of melancholy on her face, but it had now vanished.
“You don’t have to stand on ceremony with me. Eldest Senior Brother was the one who got the matter done, I didn’t help much.”
Ye Ping shook his head.
This matter was entirely Su Changyu’s doing, he did not contribute at all.
“Senior Brother Changyu.”
Xia Qingmo was a little embarrassed.
She didn’t expect it to be Su Changyu who had helped solve her problem.
She remembered that Ye Ping said that he came to the palace because Su Changyu had something to do here.
‘No wonder he’s an expert who managed to scare the Marquis away.’
“Yes, let’s go in first.”
Ye Ping nodded. Since they were there, they would naturally go see Su Changyu.
‘Eldest Senior Brother has been troubled lately. He might be in a better mood after seeing Princess Qingmo who used to be his friend and is now his sister.’
“Eldest Senior Brother, Princess Qingmo is here.”
Ye Ping knocked on the door and said.
“Come in.”
Su Changyu replied in an indifferent voice.
In the next moment, Ye Ping pushed open the door and walked into Su Changyu’s room.
Su Changyu was standing by the window and looking at the sky with a composed and transcendent aura like an immortal.
“Eldest Senior Brother.”
Ye Ping said with a Dao salute.
“Thank you, Senior Brother Changyu.”
Xia Qingmo bowed to Su Changyu and said gratefully.
In the beginning, when she first met Su Changyu, she felt an indescribable sense of familiarity.
She couldn’t approach Su Changyu because he was too cold and aloof.
At this time, he looked even more cold, aloof, and extraordinary. However, she felt a sense of affection.
“You’re welcome.”
Su Changyu glanced at Xia Qingmo and said indifferently.
At this moment, a servant served up an exquisite and luxurious set of breakfast.
Xia Qingmo looked at the cutlery in front of her with some surprise.
She was clear about the specifications of the meals served in the palace, but after thinking about it, she felt that it made sense for Su Changyu to be served with extraordinary meals since he had the ability to make the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty cancel her engagement.
Just like that, the three of them began eating quietly.
After breakfast, Su Changyu stayed back in his room and let Ye Ping and Xia Qingmo go out for a stroll together.
The Great Xia Dynasty Palace was large and yesterday, Xia Qingmo brought Ye Ping to three or four attractions, so they wouldn’t finish seeing everything even after ten days.
After a day of strolling, Ye Ping felt a little exhausted.
For some reason, the Qi and Blood True Dragon that he had condensed contained the Ancient Godfiend Body, but after an entire day, he felt a little exhausted.
“Princess Qingmo, it’s getting a little late, you should go back early.”
Ye Ping said, seeing that the sun had already set.
“Yes.”
Xia Qingmo nodded with some reluctance within her. She then said with some faint shyness, “Senior Brother Ye Ping, just call me Qingmo. If you use any honorifics, it would make it seem like we are too distant.”
When she took Ye Ping on a tour around the palace to enjoy the scenery, she had been the one talking, but she felt that they had gotten closer.
When Ye Ping heard this, he immediately thought of the fact that Xia Qingmo was unfavored despite being the Tenth Princess. Hence, he thought that she must not like the title of princess much.
“Okay, Princess Qingmo.”
Ye Ping nodded and said.
They went back separately.
Ye Ping returned to his residence and saw Su Changyu in the hall.
“Eldest Senior Brother.”
Ye Ping bowed.
“Spare the formalities. How did things go with Princess Qingmo today?”
Su Changyu asked calmly.
“Not bad, it’s just a little tiring.”
Ye Ping said.
‘Tiring?’
Su Changyu was confused and wondered what they had done. He picked up the teacup on the table and poured some tea for Ye Ping.
“Ye Ping, I’ve thought about it.”
Su Changyu said calmly.
After thinking about life and calming himself down today, he had already made up his mind.
He couldn’t accept the emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty and his identity as the Tenth Prince of the Great Xia Dynasty, so he decided to give up the identity of the Tenth Prince and return to the Qingyun Dao Sect.
“You’ve made up your mind?”
Ye Ping was a little surprised. ‘As expected of Eldest Senior Brother, he made up his mind so soon.’
“Yes, I’m going to tell Old Xia tomorrow and leave the palace to go back to the Qingyun Dao Sect.”
Su Changyu’s tone was calm, without any slight fluctuations at all.
“Okay, I support you.”
Ye Ping did not say anything more. No matter what Su Changyu did, he would support him.
“Will you return to the sect with me or continue to stay in the palace?”
Su Changyu asked when he thought about the matter between Ye Ping and Xia Qingmo.
“Naturally, I will go to the sect with you, Eldest Senior Brother.”
Ye Ping was a little surprised that Su Changyu asked him that question.
“What about Princess Qingmo then?”
Su Changyu continued.
“I’ll meet her again in the future.”
Ye Ping answered after giving it some thought.
Su Changyu nodded and didn’t say anything more. If Ye Ping wanted to see Xia Qingmo again in the future, he would just help him with it.
2