"And, I will be opening a Protestant church later, so I will probably be staying in the main city for a long time."

"...This is no easy task. The Vatican will certainly not stand idly by. You need to be prepared."

Cheng Gujian pondered for a moment and said, "Of course, if you need any help, I will certainly not be stingy."

As mentioned before, he was too lazy to care about Xu Shi's family affairs, and as long as it sounded reasonable, there seemed to be no reason for him to interfere.

But opening a church is a different matter. Everyone knows that this would be a complete declaration of war against the Papacy, and the pressure on the royal family would naturally be immense.

In fact, he had considered similar things before. It was indeed a good way to check or even eliminate the Papacy... but the Papacy was already deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. It was easy to say but not so easy to do.

Now that Xu Shi, this outsider, has brought it up, it's actually a good thing for him. If it doesn't work out, the blame can be shifted entirely to him, and the royal family won't have to bear too much pressure.

No matter how you look at it, it's a win-win situation.

"Then thank you very much, Brother Cheng."

Xu Shi politely declined, then parted ways with him outside the palace gate.

He didn't really care about the other person's attitude; he just wanted to do his own thing first.

"...My husband must be overjoyed."

As soon as they separated, Xie Qingyan's sincerity diminished considerably, and she instead squeezed Xu Shi's hand with a hint of teasing, "So, tell me, what did you do to that little empress?"

"Hmph..."

Xu Shi was naturally honest with his own people, and whispered a few words in her ear.

"I knew it."

The woman, however, was not surprised at all and gave him a disdainful look.

Actually, she was somewhat relieved, because if Xu Shi hadn't done that, she would have become the one who had the seed planted... Just listening to his "brief lesson" today, even the proud and arrogant Chairman Xie was a little taken aback, it was just too much.

But she was also unhappy. Although Xu Shi did this for her sake, it was obvious what would happen next.

Besides treating my illness, I'm afraid these two will also need treatment... Thinking about it still makes me unhappy, humph.

"There's no other way; I have to give my family an explanation."

Xu Shi shamelessly replied, "Who told me to make such a promise? Since that's the case, I have to do it no matter how hard or tiring it is."

I guess I'll just have to suffer myself.

"Is this the first time Aunt Xie has met Dad?"

Xia Ke'an, always eager for a good show, guessed what was going on even though she hadn't heard it. "I'm more curious about what you plan to do with this so-called Protestant church, Dad."

"Well..."

Just as Xu was about to share his plans, he saw a group of people approaching from not far away.

The one leading them was also an old acquaintance, Lu Baiyan, a Templar Knight of the Holy See.

"Mr. Xu."

The other party gave a standard knightly salute. "Does Your Excellency have some free time now? Would you be willing to come to the Holy See for a short chat?"

(End of this chapter)