Chapter 152 The Li Family Yes, the Li family also has an eldest son. ...

When she left the palace, she placed the glass bottle in the palace and went to the court council hall with Li Mengbai, leaving Jia Yue to leave on her own.

The merman's figure appeared in the void, his blue eyes fixed on her. "You didn't tell me that your marriage was just a political alliance."

He could now be certain that Jiang Yuhuo had no feelings for Li Mengbai; she only wanted revenge.

"You were following me?"

Jia Yue remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement. He concealed his form and aura; unless he made contact, no one here could detect his presence, including Jiang Yuhuo and Li Mengbai. When Li Mengbai was about to break down the door outside the bathhouse, he took out the glass bottle, not because he couldn't become invisible, but simply because he wanted to evoke some fond memories of their past together in Jiang Yuhuo.

He heard and understood every word of the conversation in the court. These worldly affairs were not usually his concern, but after several trips to Liyue Village to search for his memories, he learned that it was the Crown Prince of Yong who commanded the army to raze this place to the ground, changing the ownership of Liyue Village.

Jiang Yuhuo hated that person, which was only natural.

He never imagined that one day she would marry someone else in order to seek revenge, dragging herself into responsibilities that were not hers at all.

The reason for her severe injuries that night became clear. The words of the civil official in the court were imprinted in his mind—to personally risk her life to assassinate the Qin traitor, no cultivator would be unaware of the price of such an action. To have gone this far could only mean that she had no other choice.

Jia Yue lowered her eyes, concealing the emotions within them. "It is indeed not easy for you to kill the emperor of the human world, but you don't have to force yourself to be with someone you don't like."

Jiang Yuhuo's eyes flickered slightly, and she shook her head. "It's not so much coercion as it is. I chose this path myself, and it's the only path I can take."

She couldn't kill Qin Yuqi. Although the people of Zhou only wanted to protect themselves, Zhou was still the best weapon against Yong and Qin Yuqi.

"What if... I help you?"

The merman looked up, his expression earnest and sincere.

Jiang Yuhuo looked into the merman's eyes and suddenly smiled softly.

"If you wanted to help, you would have done so back then. It's too late to say this now."

She spoke casually, yet it made the merman freeze. His handsome face instantly drained of color, his pupils constricted in pain, and he stood frozen in place, not daring to approach any closer.

Seeing his expression, Jiang Yuhuo felt no pleasure. A vague sense of dullness settled over her. She shook her head and said, "There's no need to feel guilty, and there's no need to get involved. Jia Yue, these things have nothing to do with you."

"You saved me once in the Moyu River. I have no way to repay you, not even with the mermaid pearl. I already owe you."

She lowered her head, looking somewhat troubled. "But... I'm now engaged to Li Mengbai. He's naturally suspicious and narrow-minded. As you saw today, it will probably be very inconvenient to transfer qi to him in the future."

She listed all of Li Mengbai's shortcomings, but Jia Yue listened and realized that she was considering Li Mengbai's interests in every way.

It's just a marriage alliance. So what if Li Mengbai sees them kissing? It's just a contract. Does she really have to treat that person with all her heart?

His heart was breaking, and the pain in his chest made him cough lightly, covering his face with his sleeve.

He wiped the blood from his lips and asked her with a smile, "So, what should we do?"

He coughed up blood again. Jiang Yuhuo unconsciously frowned and moved closer, pointing to the bloodstains on his lips that hadn't been wiped clean. But Jia Yue pressed her hand down, making her wipe it off for her.

Jiang Yuhuo withdrew her hand, thought for a while, and then said, "Let's agree on a time limit and meet every now and then. That way, I can go to a secluded place in advance."

She imposed various restrictions on him, simply to avoid upsetting another man.

The merman's long eyelashes drooped slightly, concealing the jealousy in her eyes. "It seems that this is the only way."

Jiang Yuhuo then asked, "How about seven days?"

It takes seven days for her to circulate her energy once in a cycle, and she felt that it was just right to transfer her energy once every seven days.

The merman smiled but didn't say anything.

"If one day you find a way to retrieve the Life Bead, you can come to me anytime to get it."

Transferring life force is not a long-term solution; she will eventually have to return the Life Pearl to Jia Yue.

"We'll talk about the future later."

The person in front of him leaned in slightly, "May I take it today?"

Jiang Yuhuo was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. When she looked up, she saw that Jia Yue's eyes were deep and fixed on her face.

Realizing what he meant, Jiang Yuhuo hadn't even had time to agree when the person in front of her leaned down and pressed a pair of cool lips against hers, carrying a slightly chilly, sweet, and metallic scent of blood. His tongue deftly pried open her lips and teeth, touching her gently but not so forcefully as it had the night before, only tenderly and obediently accepting the life essence she had transferred.

After resting, Jia Yue affectionately pressed her lips together.

"Seven days is too long. I will come to find you in three days."

*

Less than three days later, Jiang Yuhuo left Xidu City.

Li Mengbai received a letter from the Li family, saying that a group of demonic creatures had appeared outside Yanling City, their origins unknown, but they were exceptionally ferocious, and he was ordered to return to the city immediately to deal with them. Considering that he had already made a pact with the princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty, he was also instructed to bring the princess back to the city this time so that she could meet with the elders of his clan.

The two sides had not yet finalized their major policies for Yong State, but one side's leader wanted to leave first, which was a bad sign for the alliance. However, since something had happened to the Li family, the Zhou people could not force them to stay.

Li Mengbai was also reluctant to leave so soon. He wanted to spend a few more days of undisturbed bliss with Jiang Yuhuo, but since those despicable women from Yanling were so eager to be sent to him to die, he didn't need to wait any longer.

Li Mengbai left a few trusted men in Xidu City and returned to Yanling with Jiang Yuhuo.

Jiang Yuhuo stepped into the Li family's stronghold in Xidu City. As soon as the teleportation array was activated, the world changed almost instantly.

As the light array descended, the area outside was neither the city outskirts where demons were causing trouble, nor Li Mengbai's villa, but rather the Li family's residence.

After the great war between immortals and demons a century ago, the number of demons in the world decreased significantly. Most of the remaining ones hibernated in secret places, and even when they occasionally appeared, they acted alone, rarely appearing in groups. Now, a large number of demons have suddenly appeared, which must be suspicious. When Jiang Yuhuo heard about this, her first reaction was to go and see for herself. Therefore, when Li Mengbai suggested going with her, she agreed without much thought.

I thought Li Mengbai would go to suppress the demons first, but I didn't expect that his first stop after returning to Yanling would be here.

Why not go to the outskirts of the city?

The towering, dark building, its pillars adorned with intricate and elaborate gold-threaded chrysanthemum emblems, caused Jiang Yuhuo to unconsciously furrow her brow as she looked at it.

She didn't like this place. The empty palace made her feel trapped. There were hardly any people around, yet it made her feel uneasy, as if many eyes were watching her, and a damp, icy atmosphere emanated from it.

"The elders want to see you."

Li Mengbai's tone was indifferent.

Upon arriving at the Li family's house, he let go of the hand he had been holding the whole way, and the two kept a distance from each other, appearing polite yet distant.

A beautiful maid emerged from the dark hall, bowed respectfully to the two, and spoke with her eyes lowered. "Young Master, Your Highness, I have informed the head of the family and the elders. They will be here shortly. Please follow me into the side hall to wait."

Although the maids were more disciplined in their words and actions than the palace servants, their tone left no room for refusal.

Incense burned in the side hall. Jiang Yuhuo watched as the incense stick burned down to the bottom. No elders appeared. In the entire side hall, apart from her and Li Mengbai, only the maid waited motionless.

Li Mengbai sipped his tea leisurely, remaining silent and completely at ease.

The eyes that had been watching from the darkness never stopped. Jiang Yuhuo understood the Li family's intentions. Whether it was a test or a probing, she had no desire to wait any longer.

Jiang Yuhuo got up to leave, but the maid who had been standing still blocked her way almost as soon as she realized her intention. "The head of the family will be here soon. Please wait patiently, Princess."

"I won't wait any longer. By the time your patriarch has time, I won't be available."

The maid lowered her gaze but stood in front of Jiang Yuhuo, repeating, "Please return to your seat and wait, Princess."

His attitude was both respectful and firm.

Jiang Yuhuo involuntarily took two steps back.

The maid thought Jiang Yuhuo had changed her mind, but suddenly, a powerful spiritual force came out of nowhere and rushed straight to her face, forcing the maid to involuntarily retreat.

Then a sharp pain shot through the back of her neck, and a hint of panic finally appeared on the maid's usually composed face. For the first time, she looked directly at the woman in black approaching her. The woman followed her backward steps, walking step by step towards the exit of the hall. She wanted to stop but couldn't, until one of her feet tripped on the threshold, and she was about to fall backward.

Jiang Yuhuo grabbed her arm and pulled her aside, frowning as she said, "I told you, I'm busy."

The maid was so overwhelmed by the spiritual energy that she couldn't breathe and couldn't utter a single word. She could only let Jiang Yuhuo leave the palace. But Jiang Yuhuo stopped at the palace gate, turned her head slightly, and said to the people inside, "Aren't you leaving? If not, I'll go first."

Li Mengbai couldn't help but chuckle, his peach blossom eyes sparkling with laughter. He put down his teacup, not replying to Jiang Yuhuo's words, but instead saying to the maid, "Bixiao, I forgot to tell you, she's impatient and can't stand waiting. Please tell Father that if we're going to meet in the future, he should arrange the time in advance."

He shrugged and said, "Otherwise, there's nothing I can do."

The maid named Bixiao had no answer and could only watch helplessly as the two figures disappeared behind the buildings.

"You can't detect her cultivation level?"

In another hall, a person stood with his back to the end of the hall, wearing a wide black silk robe that hung to the ground like flowing ink, with a golden chrysanthemum embroidered on his lapel.

"Yes, before I could even probe out my spiritual energy, it was completely suppressed, and even..." The kneeling maid, Bi Xiao, lowered her head, "and even had her spiritual meridians pinched."

Recalling that person's clear, bright eyes, Bi Xiao's face flushed red and then turned pale. That person seemed to look down on her spiritual power, and when he pinched her spiritual meridians, he only told her to move aside, without taking any of her spiritual power.

"She's only in her twenties, how could she possess such profound cultivation?"

Inside the main hall, another man sitting at the lower end of the table raised a question.

Bi Xiao is already one of the best among the Li family's subordinates. If she is powerless to resist this person, then there will be very few people in the Li family who can be her rivals.

The person speaking was also dressed in clothes embroidered with gold chrysanthemums; he was an elder of the Li family.

"The bloodline of the Ji family is different from that of ordinary people."

"Strange, aren't the people in the Ji family who have better innate talent the shorter their lifespan?"

"It is said that he died once, but later somehow had a miraculous encounter and went to Kunlun. He only returned recently, just in time for the Great Zhou to form a marriage alliance with the immortal sects, so he took the place of the little princess who was originally to be married off."

"Ha, Meng Bai does have a good eye. He was unwilling at first, but when he saw that someone else had taken his place, he eagerly went to him. He didn't even invite anyone from the clan before he impatiently signed the contract. If his brother hadn't sent him back to deal with the demonic chaos, I think he would have forgotten who he was representing when he went out to arrange the marriage."

"Tsk, so sour. Don't you even know how old you are? That princess is so young. Even if you were to marry her off, would she even be interested in you? Don't forget, the Ji family has sent invitations to all three major families. Putting everything else aside, your face can't hold up the other families."

"Li Ruowei! Don't make false accusations! When did I ever say I wanted a marriage alliance?"

"Oh, that's good. Meng Bai is now the son-in-law of the Great Zhou Dynasty and has gained a powerful wife. In the future, he might even receive divine blessings from his wife's family. I advise certain people to give up their thoughts as soon as possible, lest they be so jealous that they can't sleep at night and feel like they've been robbed. You must know that even if Meng Bai doesn't go through with the marriage alliance, it's not up to certain people to pick up the pieces."

"you!"

"Tch, what is the Great Zhou anyway..."

The people in the hall were arguing amongst themselves, none of them the elders who hadn't appeared in the front hall. Although they were elders, they all looked young and had the handsome appearance typical of the Li family.

"Enough!" The man in the black robe at the head of the table turned around, his majestic gaze sweeping over the group of people in the hall.

Upon hearing the rebuke from above, the hall fell silent for a moment.

One busybody asked the man in black robes at the head of the table with a smile, "Brother, from now on, the Li family will be Mengbai, right?"

Hearing the conversation begin to veer towards the heir, Bi Xiao stood up and prepared to leave.

The person at the head of the table suddenly gestured for her to stay. Bi Xiao was taken aback, wondering what the head of the family meant by this.

But then Li Shichuan said, "Bixiao, go and tell Zhan'er to come back."

Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent.

Yes, the Li family also has an eldest son.

That child, born with a sword-like spirit, should have been the undisputed heir in a powerful and prestigious immortal family.

Li Shichuan held the teacup, tapping it with his fingers. "He's been letting himself run wild for so many years, it's about time he had enough fun."