After the Platinum Bishop of the Spirit Hall left, the members of the Heaven Dou royal family gathered together and held an emergency meeting, carrying Xue Qinghe, who was still recovering from his injuries.

Although Xue Qinghe, as the Crown Prince of Heaven Dou, concealed his identity to approach the Holy Maiden of the rival Spirit Hall, and their clandestine affair could be considered treason, the Heaven Dou Empire is currently facing a crisis where all its powerful backers are crumbling...

The old foxes of the royal family thought it over carefully. If the Crown Prince could really marry the Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall in this precarious situation, it would not only protect the Heaven Dou Empire, but also serve as a warning to the Star Luo Empire, which was eyeing the Heaven Dou Empire covetously. It would be a win-win situation.

Sometimes, in-law relationships are more solid than written agreements or exchanges of benefits.

If the two eventually get together and have children... the Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall is the definite next Pope. Even if she doesn't succeed to the throne, she will still be the second most powerful person after the Pope.

In other words, as long as they successfully get together, the Spirit Hall will absolutely not attack the Heaven Dou Empire again, and they will even turn their attention to the Star Luo Empire.

Once someone develops a romantic mindset, isn't it easy to control them?

First, let the severely weakened Heaven Dou Empire recover. Then, use the Spirit Hall's connections and resources to strengthen themselves. Finally... if the Spirit Hall develops any disloyal intentions, they will have the resources to deal with them!

Moreover, there is a saintess who is already of one mind with them.

This is a win-win situation; we absolutely must capture the Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall!

Thinking of this, the members of the royal family could no longer sit still. They immediately sent their trusted confidants to deliver a message to Xue Qinghe, who was recuperating in his palace, and summoned other experienced subordinates to contribute various methods to win the heart of the Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall.

The trusted confidant sent to be the target: "..."

He painstakingly crafted his words to subtly convey the royal family's intentions, then reassured the Crown Prince, who might be in a forced or subservient position in this marriage alliance. He used a barrage of platitudes and flattery, emphasizing the importance of the bigger picture, and began to guide Xue Qinghe, showering him with promises like, "Actually, you do have feelings for that Holy Maiden, but you're still young and don't know your true feelings. I was the same way at that age, young and unaware of the value of what I had, blah blah blah," and painting a rosy picture of a bright future for the two of them if they were to get together.

It has to be said that his trusted confidant is quite adept at deceiving people.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have become a member of the high nobility of the Heavenly Dou royal family.

During this time, His Highness the Crown Prince, who had become much thinner, sat on a soft chair, covering the twitching at the corner of his lips with a light cough, and said wearily and hoarsely that he understood and would think about it carefully before dismissing the confidant who had delivered the message.

After sensing his confidant's presence leave the palace, Xue Qinghe, pale-faced, stopped feigning a cough and rubbed his forehead, saying, "Really... I shouldn't have agreed to Yuelong's offer. In the next few days, those old guys will probably keep sending people to disturb my peace."

In a split second, space distorted, and a tall, dark figure silently appeared in the room, his voice tinged with laughter: "The Holy Maiden is doing this so that you can better control the Heaven Dou Empire. With this 'marriage' relationship established, even those stubborn members of the Heaven Dou royal family will turn a blind eye to you until the Heaven Dou Empire, mired in internal strife, stabilizes."

“But in that case, even if Xue Qinghe and Qian Yuelong eventually separate due to discord in their relationship, there will still be other people on the continent who remember this past relationship. If Yuelong’s future lover finds out… no,” Xue Qinghe’s tone shifted, a hint of coldness appearing between his brows, “if he finds out, he finds out. If he can’t even accept this, then he doesn’t deserve to be with Yuelong.”

"Besides, Yuelong is still young, and the path of cultivation is long and uncertain, so she should focus even more."

Serpent Spear Douluo nodded in agreement.

Their holy maiden is so outstanding, she should focus on cultivation!

Having figured things out, Xue Qinghe turned to the side, looked at her pale face in the mirror, and said to the Serpent Spear Douluo, "Have someone bring two more jars of cosmetics. The one I have is almost empty."

I must say, the rouge and face powder that Yuelong's subordinates made were much better than the crude white face powder they used before. They were delicate and adhered well to the face, and you couldn't tell that they were painted on at all.

......

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. The members of the imperial family who had sent people to keep an eye on the Crown Prince's palace were eagerly waiting for the Crown Prince to leave.

After the passing of Emperor Xueye, the members of the royal family, who had been anxiously awaiting his death, felt somewhat relieved.

It doesn't matter.

If we can't track down the Crown Prince, then we can't track him down.

No matter how cunning or ruthless this crown prince may be, he is ultimately a member of the Tiandou royal family and will not stand by and watch his years of scheming for the throne end in vain.

Qian Yuelong and Xue Qinghe are exchanging intelligence at their "old haunt".

After Tang San and his companions were rescued from prison, the students and teachers of Shrek Academy who were willing to live and die with the academy fled to the territory of the Star Luo Empire along with the remaining disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School and the remnants of the Tang Sect.

Thanks to Dai Mubai, who had already been named the Crown Prince of Xingluo, Tang San and his companions were warmly welcomed by Emperor Dai Hao of Xingluo.

A powerful force delivered to our door for free, especially a large group of them with their families, and one that's locked in a life-or-death struggle with the Spirit Hall—that's definitely welcome!

Xue Qinghe put down the information related to Tang San and his group, still feeling unsatisfied: "It's a pity we couldn't kill all of Tang San and his group while they were on the run."

Although he knew that a mere cage could not hold Tang San and his companions, he still dispatched powerful Soul Masters to intercept and kill them during their escape.

Tang San and his group suffered heavy losses, but they still managed to escape.

“Normal. This kid’s luck has always been ridiculously good.” Qian Yuelong was used to it. After sorting out the pile of intelligence letters in front of her, she looked at Xue Qinghe.

"Grandpa's idea is to strike while the iron is hot and take this opportunity to replace all the important personnel in the Heaven Dou Empire with our people. My idea is that you go back to the Spirit Hall to see Grandpa and take the divine assessment by His Holiness the Angel God. Leave the affairs of the Heaven Dou Empire to me."

Xue Qinghe paused, then frowned and said, "How can this be? The angelic soul bone with the ability to disguise itself has already fused with me. Even if I can use the cosmetics your subordinates concoct to disguise myself, 'Xue Qinghe' is still a man. How are you going to fool others?"

"Normally, I can have someone disguise themselves as 'Xue Qinghe' and stay in Tiandou to handle the complicated matters. If it's an important occasion that requires 'Xue Qinghe' to personally take action, then I'll be notified. Anyway, my soul bone also has the ability to disguise itself. Besides, it's not like 'Xue Qinghe' needs to be in charge of everything, and there's no need to meet those princes and nobles every day. I can leave it to my stand-in 'Xue Qinghe' on ordinary days."

When faced with indecision, one loses all sense of decency.

Qian Yuelong used it very skillfully.

"Brother, your soul power is currently at level 79, and you'll be at level 80 soon. If you take the Divine Trial now, you can obtain a Divine Soul Ring. With your talent, you're sure to get a 100,000-year soul ring. That's the most important thing!"