Chapter 9: Look, today, no one dares to invade Great Xia!

“What?” Si Fuqing closed her book and leaned in to take a look.

It was a Weibo post from a very large marketing account.

【@IndustryGossipV: Does anyone else not know about Si Fuqing taking advantage of the male trainees in private? Is she a female hooligan or something? [vomit emoji]】

Attached below was a screenshot of a Moments post, with the name displayed as Lu Yan's manager.

【I've truly had enough of a certain mentor. She can't do anything herself, single-handedly lowering the quality of the show, and she's still restless enough to get handsy with the trainees. If the show hadn't just started, who could stand this kind of nonsense!】

Although no names were mentioned, everyone knew who they were talking about.

In the idol survival show *Youthful Teens*, the mentor panel was extremely powerful, consisting of Heavenly Kings and trending superstars.

Only Si Fuqing had no discernible talent.

Meanwhile, Lu Yan was the top candidate to debut in the center position. Even though only one episode had aired, he already had five million fans.

As soon as this Weibo post went live, the fans went ballistic.

【Si Fuqing, get lost! Stay away from our baby! Look at yourself—where do you get the courage to use "casting couch" tactics on Brother Yan?】

【Si Fuqing, you're a joke. Do you even know Brother Yan's status? You've already been kicked out of the Zuo family; what kind of backing do you have left?】

【I just don't understand why she has to come and ruin a boy group survival show. This "resource queen" is driving me crazy!】

The fans of male idols cursed fiercely and crudely, using all sorts of profanity.

Feng San pursed his lips tightly. "Miss Si, these..."

Si Fuqing played with a strand of her hair. "It starts with a single picture, and they fabricate as much as possible. I'm used to it. Don't mind them."

"I'm more beautiful than them, have a better figure than them, and know more than them. They only know how to tap away on keyboards online; why should I bother arguing with them?"

Feng San: "..."

Fair enough. That was very Si Fuqing.

He searched for a photo of Lu Yan again and frowned. "Miss Si, why would you go to a boy group survival show to be a mentor? And wearing that kind of makeup? Do you like that type?"

If he hadn't already obtained her files, he truly wouldn't have believed that the person being called ugly was Si Fuqing.

Furthermore, with Si Fuqing's level of skill, could the entertainment industry even afford such a formidable figure?

"You look like a—" Si Fuqing looked up and sighed, "a gossip-mongering sociopath."

Feng San: "..."

Yu Xiheng tilted his head at that moment, speaking unhurriedly, "She does look quite similar."

Feng San felt a chill run down his spine. "Ninth Brother."

Yu Xiheng said nothing more and looked back out the window.

"You two keep chatting," Shen Junyun said with a smile. "I'll go ask the kitchen to prepare some food. Since Miss Si is Shi Yan's personal bodyguard, please stay and eat with us."

Si Fuqing was just wondering what to have for lunch. Hearing this, she replied decisively, "Okay."

She pulled a chair to the dining table and sat down, while Feng San stood behind Yu Xiheng.

"Oh, to answer your question, who would like him? I don't even know him. If I were to like someone, it would naturally be someone like my boss." Si Fuqing rested her chin on her hand. "Look at my boss: handsome, wealthy, great physique, and treats his subordinates well. Where else could you find someone as perfect as him?"

"My boss possesses the grace of a celestial being, a fallen immortal, a living emperor."

The last four words caused Yu Xiheng's fingers to pause slightly as he held his teacup.

If he weren't certain that certain things were impossible for others to know, he would have truly thought they had been exposed.

Yu Xiheng's expression remained unchanged, and he offered a slight smile. "You flatter me."

Si Fuqing paused, staring at him.

That's it?

He's not even going to give her a raise for that?

All that rainbow farts for nothing.

Feng San: "..."

He saw it now: this Miss Si's true love was actually money.

And his Ninth Brother was merely a stepping stone.

Lunch was prepared quickly. Si Fuqing took a pair of chopsticks and picked up a piece of braised pork.

"Miss Si is very fond of history?" Shen Junyun asked. "I noticed you've been reading it all through your free time today."

"I wouldn't say I'm fond of it; I can only say I never thought to read history in depth before." Si Fuqing smiled. "Now that I've read it, I feel deeply moved. I actually quite want to meet Emperor Yin."

"Oh? Meet Emperor Yin? Why?"

"I've discovered I have many things I want to say to him."

Before Shen Junyun could ask further, Yu Xiheng turned his head and looked at her deeply. "What do you want to say to him?"

"I want to tell him—" Si Fuqing said softly, "Look, today's Great Xia is a land where no one dares to invade."

Yu Xiheng's eyes darkened.

"Look, today, the hundreds of millions of citizens of our Great Xia—every stroke of every character—are the backbone of this nation."

"Look again, Great Xia stretches for tens of millions of miles, connecting to the Western Continent in the west and the East Ridge Sea in the east. The five continents of Great Xia that you protected with your life are now a land of prosperity."

"In our Great Xia, one can leap ninety thousand miles into the heavens or explore three thousand miles into the deep sea. Tell me, in this day and age, which principality in the Western Continent would dare to offend our Great Xia?"

"..."

The dining table fell into instant, dead silence.

Feng San was utterly stunned.

Even Yu Xiheng's gaze tightened.

Each sentence was delivered plainly, without intensity, yet it felt as if an electric current had passed through his fingertips, making his entire body tingle slightly.

In an instant, his mind was shaken and his soul felt as if it had drifted away.

He raised his hand, gently touching the place where his heart beat, and closed his eyes, feeling the heat there.

He hadn't felt this sensation in a very, very long time.

Si Fuqing remained silent for a long while before letting out a soft sigh. "It's a pity he won't be able to see it."

Many people wouldn't be able to see it.

She had learned from the books that Emperor Yin was only fourteen when he ascended the throne, left with a mountain of mess by the previous emperor.

Internal strife and external threats; he was attacked from all sides.

Everyone wanted to swallow the then-weak Great Xia. Smoke rose from the borderlands, people were displaced, and the land was drenched in blood.

Two years after his ascension, at the age of sixteen, he embarked on a path of ending war through war, and ending killing through killing.

With a flick of his fingers, eleven years passed, and until the day he died of illness, he was always on the battlefield.

The soldiers who followed him numbered in the millions.

How many had been sacrificed?

History books are merely lines of cold text; they cannot truly record the magnificence of those years.

But she truly wanted to meet him, to tell him that the Great Xia he dedicated his life to is, as he wished, prosperous and flourishing.

It is no longer invaded by foreign races, nor consumed by internal strife.

Shen Junyun felt his scalp tingle for the first time. He couldn't help but clap his hands in admiration. "Wonderful! Miss Si is only eighteen, yet to have such insights... I am humbled. A toast to Miss Si."

Hearing there was alcohol, Si Fuqing immediately snapped back to reality.

She licked her lips, her eyes brightening, and moved to take the glass, only to be blocked by another hand. The man's voice was cool and indifferent. "She has an injury on her hand; it is not suitable for her to drink."

Shen Junyun was stunned. "An injury?"

He had seen Si Fuqing easily take down the other applicants and hadn't noticed she was injured.

"A minor scratch, I accidentally cut it on a wine bottle." Si Fuqing's tone was casual as she waved it off. "But it's true that I shouldn't drink. Boss, I'm fine."

"You spoke very well." Yu Xiheng did not respond to her comment, but instead offered a slight smile. "In today's Great Xia, everyone should be like a dragon or a phoenix, ready to soar in the days to come."

"If Emperor Yin could see this, even if he only had twenty-seven years, he would have no regrets."

Si Fuqing looked up, squinting her fox-like eyes at him.