Three days later.
Early morning.
In the back garden of the Crown Prince's Palace.
Golden Crown's whole body emitted a faint glimmer.
He faced the pond filled with lotuses.
His movements were as soft as rolling clouds; as his left hand drew a circle, his right palm pushed gently.
It was as if he were parting the clouds and mist.
It seemed simple and unadorned.
In reality.
Every move alternated between void and substance.
Concealing the principle that movement leads to separation, while stillness leads to union.
And this was Tai Chi!
Of course.
Golden Crown wouldn't stand by the pond practicing Tai Chi for no reason.
As the final movement was completed.
The system notification for task completion sounded in his mind.
[Detected that the Host has finished a full set of Tai Chi by the pond in the back garden of the Tiandou Empire's Crown Prince's Palace. Check-in successful! Congratulations to the Host for receiving the reward: Martial Soul Golden Crocodile King's quality increased by 5%!]
[Next check-in location: Five Element Academies!]
[Task progress: 0/5]
"These tasks are being released really quickly."
"Just finished one, and another one comes."
"Five academies?"
"Fine, I'll just treat it as a visit."
"However, I just defeated those guys, so it might not be easy to enter normally."
Not far away.
Seeing that Golden Crown had finished his practice, Ye Lingling approached.
Holding a handkerchief, she walked forward with small, quick steps.
She gently wiped Golden Crown's face.
"Thanks, Lingling," Golden Crown said with a gentle smile.
Ye Lingling blinked and said, "It's alright, this is what Lingling should do."
It just so happened that this scene...
...was witnessed by Qian Renxue, who had just returned from the morning meeting.
Although she had already accepted Ye Lingling...
...she still felt a bit uncomfortable seeing the two of them acting so intimately.
"What are you doing?" Qian Renxue asked, slightly jealous.
Seeing that Qian Renxue had returned, Golden Crown said, "You're back. I just finished practicing, and Lingling was wiping some sweat off me."
"By the way, are you tired after a whole day of morning meetings?"
"Do you want me to massage your legs?"
Hearing Golden Crown being so considerate of her...
...Qian Renxue's jealousy instantly vanished.
It was replaced by self-reproach.
She blamed herself for being too narrow-minded.
Just because their actions were a bit intimate, she had become jealous.
Then in the future, when these two were in bed together...
...how would she handle it?
However, after a few seconds, Qian Renxue quickly shook her head.
What on earth was she thinking?
This dog man was flirting around while she was away.
Why was she sympathizing with him?
No!
This kind of thought must be eliminated early.
"No need, I'm not tired," Qian Renxue said and prepared to leave.
But she had only turned around and taken a few steps...
...when she felt her body become light.
Looking again, she found herself held in Golden Crown's arms.
This made her face turn red, and she tapped Golden Crown's chest, saying, "What are you doing! This isn't the Secret Chamber; there are many eyes and ears around."
"Besides, my current identity is the Crown Prince."
"If people see two grown men hugging and embracing, what kind of decorum is that?"
"If word gets out, it will definitely cause unnecessary misunderstandings!"
The two princes who posed the greatest threat to her current position...
...had already been dealt with.
Logically speaking...
...she had no reason to worry about this.
But after hearing Golden Crown say that Xue Beng's playboy act was a facade...
...she had immediately sent people to investigate.
Unexpectedly, she really did find some clues.
After the morning court session today, Xue Beng went to a pleasure house again.
Qian Renxue ordered Yu Long to follow him in secret.
After a while, Yu Long returned, and the information he gathered shocked her.
On the surface, Xue Beng appeared profligate and useless, like mud that couldn't stick to a wall.
In private, he had actually begun to suspect if she was truly Xue Qinghe.
Furthermore, he was conspiring with Prince Xue Xing.
They had long since begun a secret investigation into her identity.
This gave Qian Renxue a sudden chill of fear.
She hadn't expected that a moment of soft-heartedness would leave such a hidden danger behind.
Fortunately, she had always been cautious during her infiltration and never left any clues related to her identity.
Fortunately, Golden Crown had reminded her in time.
Only then could she discover Xue Beng's true face so early.
Qian Renxue dared not delay and hurried back to the Crown Prince's Palace.
She wanted to discuss a strategy with Golden Crown.
Hearing from the servants that Golden Crown and Ye Lingling were by the pond...
...she hurried over, which led to the scene just now.
Seeing Qian Renxue's fearful look...
...Golden Crown didn't put her down; instead, he held her even tighter.
He said in a soft tone, "Don't worry, I've already sent away all the irrelevant people."
"Besides the three of us and this pond of koi, there's no one else."
"Of course, if you're still worried, I'll just poison all the koi in the pond."
Hearing this...
...Qian Renxue couldn't help but feel relieved.
"Don't let it happen again."
Although she was scolding him on the surface, she was actually enjoying the current situation very much.
Even her tone carried a hint of acting spoiled.
Seeing this woman's duplicity...
...Golden Crown felt like playing a prank.
While speaking, he pretended to put Qian Renxue down.
"Fine, since you don't want me to hold you, then forget it."
Seeing that this dog man really was going to put her down...
...Qian Renxue said angrily, "You dare!"
"Carry me back, and don't let anyone see."
To this...
...Golden Crown only wanted to say one thing.
"Heh! Women."
Without further nonsense, he carried Qian Renxue toward the palace interior.
Ye Lingling followed behind with a light chuckle.
Facing this scene...
...she didn't feel jealous at all.
After all, back at Spirit Hall Academy, Golden Crown had often held her like this.
It was lucky that there weren't many servants in the Crown Prince's Palace.
There was also no one inside the palace.
Only then did no one else discover their actions.
On the way...
Qian Renxue told Golden Crown about Xue Beng.
After entering the Secret Chamber...
...she shed her disguise.
Golden Crown sat on the sofa, still holding Qian Renxue in his arms.
Ye Lingling obediently went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
"How about it? Should I just kill Xue Beng right now?"
"Anyway, he's usually such a profligate person; even if he dies, the Emperor probably won't suspect anything."
Qian Renxue was intent on killing.
Golden Crown thought for a moment and rejected it: "The Fourth Prince is just a boor; there's no need to worry about him."
"If he wants to investigate, let him."
"Not only that, you should also appropriately reveal some flaws to let him think he's found important evidence."
"Then he'll run to Xue Ye to complain."
"Then you can debunk the evidence he worked so hard to find one by one."
"Finally, let Xue Ye teach him a lesson."
"Why is that? Wouldn't killing Xue Beng end it once and for all?" Qian Renxue was puzzled.
Golden Crown gave a playful smile: "Where's the fun in killing him directly?"
"You have to give him a bit of hope, let him be self-righteous, and finally crush that hope; that's when it gets interesting."
"You're really wicked," Qian Renxue understood.
Golden Crown leaned his face closer: "As the saying goes, if a man isn't a little bad, a woman won't love him."
"Nonsense!" Qian Renxue turned her head away.
But after a few seconds, she turned back and said, "By the way, I forgot to tell you something."
...
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