Chapter 9: Chapter 458: Princess Wan Playing Dumb

Bu Feichen smiled helplessly at Ye Jinxu's words, which were spoken without a single thought. He reached out to grasp her small fist, which was still suspended in mid-air. "I'm afraid Xi Liangyi will indeed have trouble in the Kingdom of Xiliang."

Speaking of serious matters, Ye Jinxu also became solemn.

"Indeed. Otherwise, he would certainly have prevented his foolish sister from coming to Great Qin."

At the thought of that stunningly beautiful face in the small town back then, Ye Jinxu couldn't help but feel regret. What kind of person was Bu Feichen? Even the world-renowned Zhu Xuanji could not draw his gaze, let alone her?

Compared to Zhu Xuanji, Princess Wan was simply the difference between an egg and a stone; it was a trend of total defeat!

It was truly too cruel, too cruel!

Lost in her lamentations, Ye Jinxu failed to notice that the corners of her mouth were slowly curling upward. Her level of gloating had already reached a state of consummate perfection...

"My lady is so... clever. Do you know exactly what happened?"

Completely immersed in her gloating, Ye Jinxu didn't hear the emphasis Bu Feichen placed on the word "clever." Before she knew it, a handsome face appeared before her eyes, and her entire body was lifted into the air!

"My lady, the longer the night, the more dreams there are..."

...

"What? Princess Wan fell into the water?!"

"It's fine, it's fine, she just caught a cold..."

"What? Princess Wan fell from a horse again? She just caught a cold, why did she go riding again?"

"Um... she just sprained her ankle..."

"She went to tour the lake again? Didn't she say she couldn't swim and had a sprained ankle?"

"So... she fell into the lake and drank a lot of lake water..."

"..."

In just three short days, Ye Jinxu had heard of three shocking feats involving Princess Wan.

Based on this, she had formed a preliminary definition of Princess Wan: she was definitely a pure little white flower—though, of course, a little white flower that could kill people.

Why a little white flower? One only had to look at the person below, who was laughing so hard they couldn't breathe...

"Hahahaha... Cousin, you have no idea! That Princess Wan is too stupid. She fell for my tricks time and time again. It's killing me! You wouldn't believe it—I intentionally let her drink a bit more lake water before saving her, and she was actually moved to tears of gratitude. It's hilarious..."

Jun Mo was clutching his stomach without any regard for his image, laughing so hard he was tumbling about in the hall...

Ye Jinxu looked at the gloating Jun Mo with utter disdain; the source of all three incidents came from him.

*Pfft...*

Ye Meng, sitting at the head of the table, was drinking tea and accidentally sprayed it out.

Ye Jinxu looked at Ye Meng with extreme pity. Fortunately, she had known about all this beforehand; otherwise, she might have been the one spraying tea today.

Ye Meng, on the other hand, stared at Jun Mo with wide eyes, thinking to himself: *So, people from the Jun residence are this brutal when it comes to tormenting others? How did I not realize Wan Su had such a hobby?*

However, just as his thought surfaced, he saw Jun Wansu calmly set down her tea, look up at Jun Mo, and say nonchalantly, "It's good that you know your limits. They were just minor injuries; she didn't lose half her life."

Jun Mo had been unrestrained and uninhibited since childhood, always maintaining the image of a playboy. He was capable of all sorts of mischief and eccentricities. Having seen it so often, Jun Wansu had grown used to it, which was why she spoke that way.

But to Ye Meng's ears, those words were like a bolt from the blue. *So the tradition of the Jun residence is this violent?!*

In the past, he had often made Jun Wansu sad or angry, yet she had never harmed him. Ye Meng was instantly moved to tears.

Ye Jinxu glanced at Jun Mo. "That Princess Wan is indeed quite dim-witted. To fall for even your tricks, she likely lacks any experience in the martial world."

"Yeah!" Jun Mo nodded in agreement, but then felt that something about the sentence was slightly off, though he couldn't figure out what the problem was.

Immediately after, Ye Jinxu added, "However, whether she is truly dim-witted or just pretending to be, it's still hard to say."

Truly dim-witted, or pretending?

Jun Mo frowned slightly. Princess Wan didn't seem like such a brainless person; it was quite possible she was faking it to fall for his tricks.

But if Princess Wan was faking it and he actually believed her, wouldn't the stupid one end up being him?!

...

The Kingdom of Xiliang, Imperial Palace.

The imperial study was filled with silence and a massive sense of oppression that made it hard to breathe.

Behind the desk sat a figure. That figure was no longer upright but somewhat hunched; even the brush held in his hand trembled slightly. His entire face was covered in wrinkles, and his bright yellow dragon robe proclaimed his status.

The candlelight on the desk flickered gently, yet it could not dispel the chill within the study.

In front of the desk stood a young figure, straight and resilient, forming a sharp contrast to the Emperor's old age.

It was unknown how long he had been standing there. He was waiting for the Emperor's reply, and because of this question, the Emperor's hand had never stopped trembling. The character he wrote was always the same, and it grew more chaotic with every stroke: "Win."

"Imperial Father, why do you not answer?" Standing before the desk, Xi Liangyi finally lost his patience and spoke.

The Emperor's hand jerked, and the character "Win" instantly smeared.

He frowned and finally set down his brush, lifting a pair of weary, weathered eyes to look at Xi Liangyi—the son he liked the least, yet who was the most capable.

He disliked him because he was born of a lowly maid. He disliked him because, from a young age, he had gone to study at the Xue Sang Sword Sect, a place inhabited only by women. He disliked him because he was naturally heartless...

There were too many reasons for his dislike, but he never realized that the reason he disliked him was simply because he disliked him.

However, this most disliked son's abilities were too outstanding. He had once tried to use his other sons to suppress Xi Liangyi's momentum, but unexpectedly, his other sons had all died one by one, while Xi Liangyi remained perfectly alive, looking at him with a gaze of contempt. This made him extremely furious.

"What do you want me to answer?" Facing Xi Liangyi's interrogation, the Emperor suppressed his anger and looked up.

"Heh..." At the Emperor's attitude, Xi Liangyi let out a cold laugh.

When dealing with him, the Emperor always had this expression of annoyance and this tone of voice. He had long since grown used to it, but he still found it ironic.

"What I want Imperial Father to answer, I presume, Imperial Father should already know." Xi Liangyi's face remained icy, devoid of even a hint of warmth.

*Imperial Father?*

The Emperor loathed the way Xi Liangyi gripped the paper covered in the word "Win." Every time he heard Xi Liangyi use this title for him, he felt endless anger and agitation, wishing he could kill this filthy bastard before him!

"Do not call me 'Imperial Father'!"

The words seemed to be squeezed through his teeth, sounding exceptionally cold to the ear.

The corners of Xi Liangyi's mouth curled up involuntarily. Making this man angry to the point of madness was his long-standing pleasure.

"Imperial Father, are you sure you want to plot with a tiger?" As if he hadn't heard the Emperor's words, Xi Liangyi continued to ask.

Knowing that his words were useless against him, the Emperor felt somewhat dejected, but upon hearing the latter part of the sentence, his cloudy eyes fell upon Xi Liangyi.

"Plot with a tiger? The world is in turmoil right now. If we do not strike boldly at this moment, my Eastern Liang Kingdom will forever remain a small nation! When will we ever be able to compare to Great Qin and Tianqi?!"

The Emperor's furious roar made the eunuchs guarding outside the door tremble. Every time the Crown Prince came to the study, the Emperor would fly into a rage, and then, blood would inevitably flow in the palace...

"Great Qin, Tianqi? Imperial Father is so old, yet your ambitions have still not been laid to rest," Xi Liangyi spoke indifferently.

To the Emperor's ears, this sentence sounded purely sarcastic.

*Slap!*

The Emperor slammed the table and stood up, his whole body swaying from the sudden movement, nearly falling back into his seat.

Xi Liangyi gave the Emperor a cold glance. "Imperial Father, do not be angry. Regardless, you should still take care of your health."

The usually taciturn Xi Liangyi, in front of the Emperor, did not hold back a single word, and the sarcasm within them was exceptionally thick.

"You—!"

The Emperor pointed a finger at Xi Liangyi and then began to cough. "Cough, cough... cough... Are you just waiting to anger me to death so you can ascend the throne, is that it? Don't even think about it!"

Hearing this, Xi Liangyi curled his lips, revealing a rare, faint smile. "To prevent me from ascending the throne, Imperial Father sent Xi Liangxue to Great Qin to bring Bu Feichen back to Xiliang to be a prince consort, and then I would inherit your throne?"

After saying this, Xi Liangyi burst into laughter, "Hahahaha..."

The Emperor's throat tightened. He had indeed thought that way; Xi Liangyi had hit the mark. What was even more unbelievable to him was that he had never seen this emotionless Xi Liangyi suddenly burst into laughter like this.

The laughter stopped abruptly, and Xi Liangyi's cold eyes fixed on the Emperor. "Bu Feichen doesn't even want the throne of Great Qin; how could he possibly care for your tiny throne of the Xiliang Kingdom?!"

"Hmph!" The Emperor was choked by Xi Liangyi's words, but upon hearing that sentence, he couldn't help but snort coldly. "A tiny Xiliang Kingdom? Don't you also want the throne of this tiny Xiliang Kingdom?"

Xi Liangyi's peach-blossom eyes flickered with endless coldness as he walked toward the Emperor. "Who said I wanted the throne of Xiliang?"

Seeing Xi Liangyi approaching him, the Emperor's heart instantly panicked. He hurriedly took a step back, only to be blocked by the dragon throne behind him. He fell back into the throne, his cloudy eyes filled with terror. "You! What do you want to do? Don't think that because you control the entire military force of Xiliang, you can do whatever you want! If you kill me and bear the crime of patricide, you can forget about ever obtaining the throne of Xiliang!"

Xi Liangyi stopped his steps, looking at the trembling Emperor with disdain, and sneered, "You are right, I will not kill you. I do not want the throne of Xiliang; I only want you to see with your own eyes as your Xiliang Kingdom is destroyed by me!"

*Boom!*

The Emperor felt as if he had been struck by divine lightning. His hands trembled as he pointed at Xi Liangyi, unable to speak for a long time. "You... you... rebellious son..."

Xi Liangyi's laugh was extremely chilling. He spoke slowly, "However... it seems I won't even need to make a move now. You have already pushed Xiliang to the edge of a blade yourself. It's just a pity that it won't be me who destroys it."

With that, Xi Liangyi walked out of the imperial study, laughing loudly.

As for the eunuchs at the door of the study, they watched Xi Liangyi's retreating figure as if they were looking at the Grim Reaper...