"Father."
The clear voice of a girl disrupted the chaos in the hall. Jingan was unbothered by the ruckus, remaining calm as she held up the book that landed on her table. She gently flipped through the ancient book from Lizhe Kingdom with her pretty fingers. Her eyes gleamed with curiosity similarly to a young girl with her interest piqued.
"Jing'er has studied foreign languages to an extent and has read some foreign books. What is this book about?"
Before the Emperor could scold Jin Wangsun for his inappropriateness, the Emperor needed to quickly direct his attention to Jingan. "Jing'er, don't look! Don't look!"
Even Princess Hongzhuang stopped her, albeit with a bright red face. "Sister, you cannot look inside!"
"Huh? Why not?" asked Jingan, expression pure, yet beautiful as flowers in boom. She titled her head. "I saw this book in your room, as well, Sister."
Jingan's statement was literally a pebble that stirred up a sky-high wave. The entire hall fell dead silent.
"The Princess likes to read Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng? What sort of preference is that?" wondered the audience.
The Emperor's expression obviously took a turn for the worse. As soon as he looked to the two girls, Hongzhuang, who sat next to Jingan, jumped to her feet as soon as Jingan was about to read it out loud. "Huh?!!! Wh-Wh-Why did you enter my room, Sister?!"
"Why else?" rhetorically asked Jingan. She covered her mouth and giggled. "A few days ago, I went to see you, but couldn't find you. I figured you must've left the palace, so I went to your palace to see if you left a notice for me, telling me where you went. Who would've known?"
Jingan poked Hongzhuang's supple skin in similar to fashion when lecturing a young girl and feeling unhappy.
"You didn't leave any notices for me. You knew I came back to the capital, yet didn't leave a single message. Don't you think you're too naughty?"
Hongzhuang's face turned red thanks to Jingan's poking. Hongzhuang always had a tomboy side to her. She, in fact, was pretty much as unrestrained and frank as a boy. Therefore, she was powerless against her elder sister who was the epitome of femininity. Hongzhuang wasn't afraid of challenges or fighting, but her sister's soft voice and elegant speech rendered her powerless.
"I-I… I am sorry, Sister. I was not aware you had returned at the time."
Jingan stopped Hongzhuang's overreaction and picked up the "Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng" book again. She turned back to face the Emperor. "I did not take a close look back then, though. It seems that I missed out on a treasure. I was unaware that this was an ancient book, Father."
Despite being well-aware of his daughter's feelings for Lord San Shen, the Emperor couldn't tell everyone present, including his own relatives, that Princess Hongzhuang liked a leader in the Demon Sect. As such, he had to force himself to fight the urge and look unfettered. "I took a look at the book just now. It's actually… an ordinary book on religion. It's nothing valuable by any account. It just so happens to be that the sincerity is undeniable, as it was brought back from Lizhe Kingdom, which is thousands of miles away."
In his mind, however, the Emperor exclaimed, "Jing'er, Jing'er, the ignorant may be innocent, but you have completely ruined your father!"
All of the Emperor's relatives laughed with him. The Emperor knew that his claim was ridiculous. Having said that, they did partially believe him.
"Wow," remarked Jingan. "So, that means that Master Jin gave you a big gift, Sister. The book in your room was the exact same. I guess you're both in sync."
Hongzhuang stroked her lower jaw as if she had a tooth ache. "Y-Yeah… I-I guess it is not too shabby for a gift."
"That's fantastic, Sister. You and Master Jin are fated for each other."
"Y-Y-Yeah, fated, fated."
Hongzhuang wanted to just climb into a hole; she could no longer even look at her sister. She had read the book in her room countless times, but didn't leave any traces behind. Her sister's mention of the book in her father and relatives' presence was akin to being caught reading porn. Being sensitive as she was, Hongzhuang couldn't help being fidgety due to the embarrassment.
Wanting to change the subject as fast as possible, the Emperor said, "Wangsun's item is hereby considered submitted. All right, Constable Tang!"
"Present."
"Submit your gift now. I shall personally examine it."
Tang Ye's eyes drifted back and forth. Hesitant, he said, "Uhh, umm, th-the gift we have… the gift we have for Her Highn-"
"Don't fret, Young Tang. Geniuses have genius ideas. Trust me on it," interjected Hongjiu, in a muffled tone after coughing.
Without giving Tang Ye any time to think, Hongjiu took a step forward and handed up the gift on behalf of Ming Feizhen. "Your Majesty, this is the gift Ming Feizhen asked your subject to give you."
After taking it off Hongjiu and taking a look, the Emperor nearly passed out due to anger.
The cover was the same. The paper felt the same. The only difference was the number after "part". Even the text were the same. It was clearly from the same series.
"'Lord San Shen X Ximen Chuideng' again?! And previous chapter?!" The Emperor hurled the book at Tang Ye's face and thundered, "Are you two here to sell me porn books today?!"
The entire audience couldn't help instantly bursting out in laughter! The Emperor realised how embarrassed he was. Unfortunately, he didn't know what to do about the two walking bizarre individuals.
Jing Wangsun, on the other hand, was surprised. He thought, "Oh? They could import such a rare item, as well?"
Jingan didn't realise she wore a smile on her face. Princess Hongzhuang was the only who covered her face while peeking out the gaps between her fingers. She thought to herself, "There's a previous chapter of god's work?! Where do they sell it?! Leave me the third book! I need it for collection and reading purposes!"
========
Long Zaitian guarded the palace doors with a stern expression. After boasting as if he was without equal, he found him thirsty. Hence, he opened a canteen to drink.
"With my skill and visual prowess, if I make one mistake, I'll eat a table made from stone live…"
As soon as Long Zaitian leaned his head back, he jerked his body and sprayed a mouthful of water on the guards' faces!
"Motherfucker, show yourself, you fiend!!" exclaimed Long Zaitian, with his sabre pointed to the sky!
He saw a golden ball zip through the night sky again, but there wasn't a single person in sight.
The two guards wiped their faces… They stepped back to put some space between them and Long Zaitian. Albeit not planning it, they spoke up in unison. "Baihu Long, please start eating the table."
Long Zaitian touched his chin. "Today must be a cursed day. Once a fluke, but twice?! Could deities actually exist?!"
========
After finding a place for Young Shiyi to settle, I headed back to the palace by utilising qinggong. On my way back in, that clown Long Zaitian… almost made me fall off the wall again.
Obviously I was worried due to leaving for so long. Hence, I took off running toward Wuying Hall. When I returned and apologised to His Majesty with a mischievous smile, he looked white as a sheet. One might suspect he was exhausted. "No matter, no matter. Your skills are inferior to his; suffering an injury is, therefore, normal. Don't mind it too much. It's a question of talent and luck; you can't force yourself. Have a good rest and prepare for the third round."
'Injury? Wait. There's a third round?!'
I grabbed the two little bastards who were facing the ceiling and whistling as if to say, "It had nothing to do with me."
"How did we still end up losing? And why is this still here?" I asked, as I tapped the container. "Didn't I tell you to hand this to His Majesty?!"
The quick-witted Hongjiu quickly passed the blame, running as if he was going for a stroll while speaking. "Senior Brother, you can' blame Young Tang. While he took it upon himself to make the decision, he did it for your sake."
Before I could wrap my head around what happened, Princess Hongzhuang, who wasn't too far away, suddenly communicated with me using Voice Transmission. "Ming Feizhen!"
"Huh? What is the matter, Your Highness?"
"Umm… umm… do you have any more of those books?"
"Huh? What book?"
'Eh? Hold up. What's that book sitting on His Majesty's table? That name… Oh, shit! Why are Old Bastard Ximen and I painted in each other's arms?! Is that a porno?!!'
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