Chapter 110

The fact that Chen Jieyu and Lu Yaoguang were actually sisters was something Xue Jin'an had never expected; it was a possibility he had never considered before today.

In the original text of "I Want to Become Emperor", there is only one line about Consort Chen. It is when the fourth prince shows his dislike for the tenth prince because of the issue of birth order. After all, he once had a younger brother who was ranked tenth. The new tenth prince directly replaced the old tenth prince. The child who died young could not be registered in the royal ordination certificate. The only proof of his existence was "enemy".

However, by then, the Fourth Prince had already left the palace, established his own residence, and married a princess. He had matured considerably, and there was a significant age gap between him and the Tenth Prince. He wouldn't react with the same intensity and extreme behavior he had towards the Seventh Prince when they were children; he would simply express dislike. The original text mentions around this time that the Tenth Prince's birth mother was a concubine surnamed Chen, who was unfavored and unpopular.

Xue Jin'an reviewed what Consort Chen had done recently and felt that the original text was somewhat embellished and euphemistic: "It's not that she has bad interpersonal relationships, it's that she has very bad interpersonal relationships and has offended many high-ranking concubines."

After Consort Chen's death, those high-ranking concubines wouldn't do anything to an infant, but they certainly wouldn't be kind enough to repay evil with good either; they would mostly just ignore it... Presumably, the Tenth Prince's life in the palace was similar to that of the Eighth Prince. However, perhaps due to the repulsion between like-minded people, the Tenth Prince's relationship with the Eighth Prince was so-so, while he had the best relationship with the kind-hearted Sixth Prince.

Speaking of which, among all the princes, the Eighth Prince had the lowest birth. His birth mother was just a palace maid, and he had no maternal clan that could provide him with any help. He was able to survive in the palace by serving as a lackey and echoing the Third Prince, so that he wouldn't be bullied too much by the palace servants who fawned over him.

His background also destined that his princess consort's status would not be too high. While other princes were engaged at the age of fifteen or sixteen, and even if they did not marry a principal wife, they would definitely have a concubine. However, the eighth prince did not choose a princess consort until he reached the age of twenty, along with the ninth and tenth princes.

Lu Yaoguang's status was not high, in fact, only compared to other princes' consorts. Her father was a border prefect and her mother was a royal merchant. Both of them died due to the plundering by the Rong and Di tribes. She came to the capital to participate in this special selection of consorts in order to prevent her mother's vast business from being swallowed up by her relatives.

Lu Yaoguang needed a powerful backer to bolster her reputation, while the Eighth Prince needed substantial financial backing to support his ambitions. The two hit it off immediately, a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Xue Jin'an has already grasped the logical conflict in the setting that Chen Jieyu and Lu Yaoguang are sisters. Chen Jieyu's actions are too short-sighted and her rank is too low. She is obviously not worthy of the status of the daughter of a prefect. Even if she really comes from an official family, she can only be a county magistrate at most.

So, Lu Yaoguang lied about her identity? Xue Jin'an frowned slightly. There was too little information about Chen Jieyu to support his argument.

Even someone as knowledgeable as Code Life had to admit that the original background information in "I Want to Become Emperor" was too well hidden. He didn't know whether the connection between the two was a hidden setting in the original text or a patch added to the world to keep the story running.

Xue Jin'an asked without much hope, "What's Chen Jieyu's sister's name?"

"Huh?" Fu Lu was taken aback. He quickly looked down at the note in his hand, read the information on it again, and shook his head to confirm, "I don't know, no one has asked."

As expected. This answer was exactly what Xue Jin'an had anticipated. Lu Yaoguang had already left the palace with the coffin, and there was no way he could catch up with her now.

Xue Jin'an highlighted the relevant memories of "Chen Jieyu's death" in red, waiting for the next explanation.

Because of this unexpected event, Xue Jin'an, who originally did not want to attend the Tenth Prince's full moon banquet, surprisingly wanted to go and see what was going on. In just a few breaths, he had already quickly sketched out several "outbound routes" in his mind.

However, these routes were ultimately not used, and he eventually walked out through the main gate in a straightforward manner.

On the day of the tenth prince's full moon celebration, the Empress Dowager's carriage stopped at the entrance of Zhaoyang Palace, and Su Mama smiled and personally went in to bring him out.

"It must be quite uncomfortable to be cooped up in one place, right? It's good to come out and get some fresh air." As she spoke, she unabashedly stuffed a jade pendant into Xue Jin'an's hand. It was exquisite and small, no bigger than the palm of his hand, but it was a token that allowed him to leave the palace.

Xue Jin'an immediately realized that his secret departure from Zhaoyang Palace had been discovered. It seemed that the Emperor had been holding back his actions after learning about this, and the Empress Dowager had also played a role in it.

"Thank you, Ancestor." Xue Jin'an didn't have much of an obsession with leaving or staying in the palace, but he accepted the jade pendant without hesitation.

Consort Chen's death did not cause much of a stir in the palace, and even those outside the palace were unaware that a concubine had died. The tenth prince's full moon celebration proceeded as planned, though it was not a large-scale event. Perhaps to dispel the bad luck associated with the bloodshed, or for some other reason, all the princes and princesses who could attend came, and those who could not attend sent gifts.

—This mainly refers to the eldest and second princes, who, presumably afraid of running into the mad third prince, tacitly hid in their respective courtyards and did not come out.

Finally, when the tenth prince's name was being registered in the imperial register, the emperor also arrived and personally fastened the jade pendant engraved with his name to his body.

Whether they were genuinely happy or not, everyone in the room wore smiles. Only the Fourth Prince, hiding in a corner where no one paid attention, watched everything with a numb expression. At one point, he seemed to feel Xue Jin'an's gaze on him, looked up and met his eyes. His emotions struggled for a moment on his lifeless face, but then quickly subsided.

The fourth prince withdrew his gaze without saying a word and turned his head away.

And so, the tenth prince was replaced, and a concubine of low status quietly disappeared. Few people cared about them, and soon the palace was decorated with lanterns and filled with excitement.

Helian Cheng escorted the Russian delegation to Beijing just before the Emperor's birthday. Soon after, a grand banquet was held in the palace, the curfew was lifted, and the whole country celebrated.

The Ministry of Rites may have wanted to cover up the failure of the palace banquet, so this year's birthday celebration was more grand and lively than ever before. The flowers used to decorate the main hall alone almost emptied the greenhouses of all the major estates in the capital.

There was no other way. Although it was springtime, the chill hadn't completely dissipated, and it wasn't yet the season for all flowers to bloom. The palace had a limited number of flower rooms, so he had to source flowers from outside. Luckily, the capital city was full of wealthy and powerful people, and the atmosphere of extravagance and debauchery was very strong; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to find a place to get flowers if he wanted to.

The seating arrangement at this grand banquet was quite different from the last one. In addition to the emperor, the Empress Dowager and Consort Min sat on either side of him. The seats below were not divided into small areas by screens. Instead, the stage was left in the middle with the emperor's position as the central axis, and the seats were arranged on the left and right.

The first row on the left, apart from Grand Secretary Jiang Wen, Helian Cheng, and Grand Tutor Li, consists of Prince An, the eldest princess, the first prince, the second prince, the third prince, and the seventh prince. The other court officials, princes, and princesses are in the second and third rows behind.

The seats on the right were occupied by foreign envoys. The first seat was undoubtedly occupied by the envoy from the Russian Empire, followed by envoys from countries with a high degree of goodwill towards the Great Qi. The Rongdi were placed at the very end of the first row, only because of their relatively high national strength; otherwise, they would have been relegated to some obscure corner.

It is worth mentioning that the Rongdi envoy was Weng Tianxin. He changed out of his awkward Confucian robe and into their country's attire. The young prince Galdan sat silently behind him, his face still bearing some bruises. His eyes were sharp as he looked at Prince An, and he was very angry. Clearly, he had been having a very exciting time.

Xue Jin'an sat down with everyone else without making any sudden moves, but from the moment he entered, he was constantly being looked at.

Xue Jin'an only glanced back at the three people whose emotions were the strongest.

The faint, indistinct presence, tinged with doubt and inquiry, came from Helian City; the strange and complex, discreetly scrutinizing yet wary, came from Prince An; and the cold and chilling presence, as unsettling as a venomous snake coiling around its prey, came from Galdan.

Helian Cheng's doubts stemmed from the fact that Xue Jin'an's consciousness, while in the Northwest Army Camp, was always fully dressed, equipped with rattan armor, helmet, and weapons.

Given his physical age and short stature, he had to look up to see everyone, which to some extent obscured his face. In addition, Helian Cheng and Doctor Chang still believed that Xue Jin'an's species was a ghost, so it was normal that they couldn't recognize him at first. He just felt that this person looked unusually familiar.

Helian Cheng had already learned the arrangements for the entire Emperor's birthday celebration from the Ministry of Rites officials, and knew who was sitting in that position: the Seventh Prince.

The court officials all wanted to use a pseudonym to refer to him. Was the seventh prince, who was called "Shura," really like that? Helian Cheng couldn't quite understand. He silently looked at Xue Jin'an with what he thought was a subtle gaze, but was caught red-handed.

When those beautifully shaped peach blossom eyes looked over, and met those dark, deep pupils, Helian Cheng was slightly taken aback. The image of the Seventh Prince that he had just constructed in his mind completely collapsed, and only those dark pupils seemed to be engraved in his mind and could not be erased.

Xue Jin'an nodded slightly and took his seat.

He still felt a sense of familiarity. Helian Cheng slowly withdrew his gaze, pondering whether he had seen this prince somewhere before.

However, it didn't happen.

In fact, he had been stationed at the border for many years and had little contact with the empresses and princes in the palace. The only person who would say something like, "I even held you when you were little," would be the eldest princess.

As for Galdan, the moment he saw Xue Jin'an, if Weng Tianxin hadn't reacted quickly and held him back, he would have jumped up from his seat and rushed over to fight him to the death.

Xue Jin'an left such a deep impression on him that he couldn't help but remember him. He even blamed everything that had happened to him recently on Xue Jin'an, without showing any intention of self-reflection.

Galdan had considered taking revenge on Xue Jin'an, but the man had not appeared since that day. His men searched the entire capital but could not find him. He had guessed his identity and, after careful logical reasoning, concluded that he should be the heir of Prince An.

—If he weren't the heir apparent of Prince An, what would Prince An be if he suddenly jumped out and attacked people? A hero who fought against the Rong and Di tribes? A national warrior?

Galdan firmly believed in his judgment, persuaded Weng Tianxin, and arranged a series of attacks and retaliations against Prince An, waiting only for time to ferment. However!

That annoying brat really wasn't the Prince of An's heir after all! He finally understood what gave the other party the audacity to hit him—the Emperor of Daqi's most beloved son, huh—

Looking again at the undisguised wariness in Prince An's eyes as he looked at Xue Jin'an, he understood everything.

"You despicable and shameless people of Daqi! You actually schemed against me to eliminate your rivals! Very well! I, Galdan, will remember this humiliation!" Galdan shouted angrily in his heart.

Xue Jin'an completely ignored him, glancing at him casually before looking away. He didn't even bother to make eye contact and simply continued walking forward.

How dare they ignore me! That's an even bigger crime! Galdan almost ground his jaw to powder.

Weng Tianxin was also surprised. He had never met Xue Jin'an, but he guessed from Galdan's reaction that the other party was the one who made the move at Jiu Tian Yi.

Weng Tianxin had been inquiring about the Daqi royal family for a long time. Money often paved the way and he was always successful, but whenever the emperor's most beloved seventh prince was mentioned, people would have strange expressions and remain silent, eventually just shaking their heads.

Weng Tianxin felt that it might be a complicated matter, but now he was observing the reaction of the people of Daqi without making a sound. To his surprise, the court officials actually regarded this seventh prince with awe.

The fact that a seven-year-old child is revered, regardless of the reason, is something to be wary of. Weng Tianxin raised his guard to the highest level and decided to avoid him as much as possible later.

Fortunately, based on his observations, the Seventh Prince was a lone wolf with a rather solitary personality, so as long as he didn't provoke him, there probably wouldn't be any problems.

Weng Tianxin felt a little relieved.

Besides, the most eye-catching thing is that the envoy representative of the Russian Empire was their princess, with blonde hair and blue eyes, a very beautiful exotic face, named Irina. Although she looked very mature, she was actually only seventeen years old.

It wasn't until she stood up and introduced herself that everyone learned that the Great Empire had already had two monarchs. After the death of the previous queen, her son ascended the throne, but less than a year later he was deposed by his own queen and made a "canary" in the palace. Thus, the Great Empire was once again ruled by a queen.

"Hmm, there's an 83% chance this story is a world correction," Xue Jin'an thought to himself.

After all, although the great empires appeared in the original text, they were not described in much detail. The world was filled in by the author's observations.

Xue Jin'an realized through data calculation that the Rongdi would definitely make some moves during the Emperor's birthday celebration. When he went to the banquet, he brought Lingzhi and Cui Zui with him for convenience. In order not to be abrupt, Cui Zui wore a guard's uniform, which was directly taken from one of the Imperial Guards who was on duty at the gate of Zhaoyang Palace today.

In addition to the palace maids and eunuchs serving him, there were also guards standing guard by the pillars in Qianyuan Palace. Cui Zui blended in among them without any sense of incongruity.

The Ministry of Rites really put a lot of effort into this banquet. It wasn't just a song and dance performance; they also put on many small talent shows, such as pitch-pot and archery. Cui Zui was itching to try his hand at it, so he pretended to be a demonstrator and went to the hall to play a couple of rounds. He hit the target every time.

The two guards who were also demonstrating found it a bit strange, wondering when a third person had been arranged. However, since the occasion was inappropriate, they swallowed their doubts and didn't ask, tacitly smoothing things over.

Cui Zui's throws were so easy that it made the spectators think they could do it too, so everyone went up to try. In the end, only two or three out of ten throws were successful, and there were very few people who could actually make it. Irina was one of them. After throwing all the ones she could, she stepped back, seemingly not caring about the result.

The game ended quickly, followed by another round of song and dance performances and toasts. Then it was time for the envoys from various countries to present their gifts. Normally, smaller countries would present their gifts first, with the more powerful ones bringing up the rear. However, Irina spoke up directly in the Imperial language, saying, "I've heard that General Helian is unparalleled in his abilities. I haven't witnessed it along the way. Why don't you show me a thing or two?"

The imperial diplomat's heart skipped a beat, and a fleeting look of astonishment crossed his face. He clearly hadn't expected this. However, this change in expression was only momentary, and only the eldest princess, who had been watching closely, and Xue Jin'an, who was wearing a high-definition camera, noticed it. The imperial diplomat's expression quickly returned to normal.

He rose from his seat at the back, preparing to step forward to translate for the princess, when he was interrupted by a soft and fluent native language.

He stared in surprise at the princess speaking the imperial language for a long while before his mind slowly began to process what she meant.

The eldest princess smiled gently and softly, and replied in the gentlest voice, "Princess Irina, I'm sorry, but we have to refuse your request. General Helian is the most respected warrior in our country. He is not a gladiator and does not need to make a spectacle of himself to prove his worth."

“If you want to understand his strength, I think your neighbors should know very well, after all, they are eager to make a move but have not yet crossed the border.” The princess looked at the Rongdi envoy representative.

Irina looked over as well, and the two exchanged interesting glances.

Having spent half his life studying the culture of the Central Plains and completely unfamiliar with the imperial language, Weng Tianxin's brow twitched inexplicably: "..." He felt that they were thinking of something very impolite.

Weng Tianxin wasn't the only one who couldn't understand; in fact, very few people at the scene knew the Imperial language. If the Ministry of Rites hadn't prepared in advance and arranged for a translator to stand next to the emperor, the emperor would have looked completely bewildered.

After switching languages, Xue Jin'an easily understood the exchange between them.

Weng Tianxin hesitated, wanting to say something, but both princesses silently withdrew their gazes. He paused, and the words stuck in his throat.

Princess vs. Princess, the first round ends in a draw, and the world is achieved with only the Rongdi envoy injured.

Irina withdrew her gaze and raised her glass to the princess, laughing heartily: "Haha, your wine is interesting, and you people are interesting too. What's your name?"

"Although it was a bit rude, as a princess of the Celestial Empire, I am willing to forgive an ally's arrogance once. This is a common problem among our great nations." The princess's smile and tone remained unchanged, but her words were exceptionally arrogant, causing the Ministry of Rites official who was translating for the emperor to break out in a sweat.

Xue Jin'an realized that Irina was deliberately asking for the name; she was provoking the princess.

Even if Irina didn't really care about the princess, their diplomats would still have seriously explained the relationship between the royal family members to her. Ninety percent of the time, she asked the question to deliberately provoke the princess, who was not to be outdone and responded with arrogance, emphasizing the alliance between the two countries.

The fifty-year alliance between the Great Qi and the Great Empire is quite fragile and could be torn up at any time, but since it hasn't been torn up yet, this plastic relationship has to be maintained.

The Ministry of Rites official was inwardly groaning, fearing that the princess might invalidate the alliance with a single word and start a fight with the imperial princess. Whether the princess would be punished or not was another matter, but he would certainly not be able to save his life.

Fortunately, the princess only stabbed her with that one sentence before introducing herself in the same tone, "My name is Xue Mu."

When the eldest princess referred to herself and her sisters in private, she never used the character "Yun".

Just by looking at the two of them smiling, an uninformed person would think they were having a very pleasant conversation.

“Shania,” Irina immediately gave her a foreign name, saying rather self-righteously, “It’s a very nice name.”

Just when the Ministry of Rites officials thought this part was about to end, they heard Irina change the subject and return to Helian Cheng. She said in fluent Daqi official language, "However, I still want to see General Helian's bravery. I want to experience the sacred majesty of Daqi warriors and see if it is truly so inviolable."

When people talk about the warriors of the Great Revelation, they are actually referring to the Great Revelation itself.

Those who understood the implied meaning all turned to look at her, but Irina pretended not to understand and asked, "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

“You explained it very clearly, we all understood, Your Highness the Imperial Princess.” The eldest princess also switched back to the official language of Daqi.

"That's great." Irina smiled, seemingly completely unaware of the ambiguity in her words or what nerve she had touched.

Having said all that, Helian Cheng would be looked down upon if he didn't accept the challenge. He immediately knelt down and bowed to the emperor, saying in a low voice, "Helian Cheng presents the sword technique 'Purple Qi Comes from the East' to wish Your Majesty a long life and protection from all evil."

“Since it’s a sword technique, it’s more visually appealing and entertaining to see someone actually sparring with you.” Irina’s eyes swept across the arena and landed on Cui Zui. “You’re the one. You’re pretty good at pitch-pot, hitting exactly where you aim. Your martial arts must be pretty good too, and you can put up a good fight.”

"You Central Plains people call this a 'fighting ring,' right? You absolutely can't hold back!" Irina said playfully, winking.

Cui Zui: "..." Huh? I went easy on Helian Cheng? Really? I wouldn't even dare to dream of something this big.

No matter how unwilling Cui Zui was, he had to pick up his weapon and stand in front of Helian Cheng. He regretted not being able to resist the urge to show off his skills earlier. Now, he was being used as a target.

When they communicated in the language of the Tsarist Russian Empire, Cui Zui didn't understand a single word. But with the rest of the conversation as a foundation, and being no fool, he was able to roughly guess the situation by combining the information.

Before going up, Cui Zui secretly winked at Xue Jin'an: Master, what should we do!

He sighed. General Helian's strength was never in fighting alone, but in troop deployment. To ask such a big shot to give up his best skill in close combat... he just felt that this foreign princess was really making things difficult for him.

But there was no way around it. This foreign princess came for this very reason. He was even more passive than Helian Cheng. He had no choice at all. This time, when he fought against Helian Cheng, he had to lose gracefully and without making a sound. Of all people, why give this job to someone like him who couldn't act at all?

What a tragedy! Cui Zui sighed inwardly.

The two men bowed to the emperor at the head of the table, and Helian Cheng asked him, "Are you ready? Draw your swords."

...

As it turns out, Cui Zui was overthinking things. General Helian was General Helian; he didn't need to worry about whether he wanted to lose gracefully.

Helian Cheng gave him three moves. After those three moves, a continuous barrage of sharp sword light blocked his path. While he was still stunned and dazed, the sword lightly landed on his neck.

Helian Cheng's sword light was too fast; no one knew how he swung it except for himself and Xue Jin'an.

Xue Jin'an's high-definition camera recorded the entire scene. He didn't even need to analyze the slow-motion footage to understand the sword technique. He opened his notes app and added the newly learned skill to his notes.

"I lost." Cui Zui lowered his head, completely convinced of his defeat.

"Your calluses on your fingers and the area between your thumb and forefinger are quite thick, and your swordsmanship is rather clumsy, but your footwork is agile. You should be more skilled with long-range weapons like bows and crossbows... If we're talking about archery, I'm not as good as you," Helian Cheng commented with an appreciative tone.

"Thank you for your mercy, General." Cui Zui chuckled as he retreated.

"General Helian's bravery is indeed well-deserved." Irina smiled and let the matter drop.

Xue Jin'an had a strange intuition that this matter was not over yet.

Sure enough, when it was the Rongdi people's turn to present their congratulatory gifts, Weng Tianxin clapped his hands, and a sound like footsteps hitting the floor could be heard, making the ground seem to shake.

Everyone looked up in alarm, and someone couldn't help but let out a shout that was out of control.

A figure, nine zhang tall and resembling a tower, walked over with an earth-shaking tremor.

"This is Prince Batuna of the Rongdi people. What I offer to Your Majesty is the power of the warriors of the Rongdi people!"

This undisguised arrogance and provocation enraged the court officials, and even the emperor's face darkened.

Weng Tianxin smiled calmly, "Batu is the most powerful prince of our Rongdi tribe. I've heard that the Third Prince of the Celestial Dynasty is also known for his bravery. I wonder if we could have a contest?"

The third prince raised his eyebrows and looked over with a sinister expression, letting out a cold laugh.

Rong Di had been in the capital for so long; he couldn't possibly be unaware that Rong Di's leg was crippled. This was a deliberate attempt to humiliate him.

Did they think that just because he lost a leg, he was a helpless bastard?

A violent surge of energy welled up within him, his eyes flashed with a chilling light, and a smirk spread across his face as he gripped the table, ready to flip it over: "Fine—"

Before the last syllable of "okay" could be finished, a rather weak voice behind him interrupted, "Who is my third brother? How could he possibly deal with someone like this? Why don't you call me to have a go at you?"

The fifth prince walked out listlessly, and after taking two steps, he seemed exhausted and slumped to the side.

Listening to his steady and powerful heartbeat, Xue Jin'an placed his palm on the side of the table and silently pushed, catching the swaying Fifth Prince firmly.

"Ugh, cough cough—" The Fifth Prince groaned, clutching his waist, and lay on the table for a while before straightening up. "I'm sorry, I've been in poor health since childhood. I hope you can see how I've made this."

Weng Tianxin: "..." Is your Great Qi prince's attempt to stage an accident so blatantly?

Weng Tianxin refused decisively: "Find another opponent."

"Am I really not good enough?" The Fifth Prince looked at him pitifully.

Weng Tianxin shook his head, took a step back, afraid of being framed, and began calling out names, "The First Prince..."

The Fifth Prince blurted out, "My eldest brother has suffered internal injuries and hasn't recovered yet. Look at his gaunt face and exhausted expression. It wouldn't be fair to beat him." — This was the result of being cornered twice by the Third Prince and starving for three days by eating only steamed buns.

Weng Tianxin turned his gaze to the side: "That Second Prince..."

The Fifth Prince blatantly lied: "My Second Brother suffered a stroke while practicing his martial arts, and now he has almost no internal strength left, making it difficult for him to even maintain consciousness." — He was so angry at the Third Prince's latest outburst that he had nightmares all night long, and was just too tired to do anything else.

"Those four..."

"My fourth brother is so weak that he can't even kill a chicken."

"six……"

"My sixth brother would die if you touched him."

All eyes silently turned to the Seventh Prince.

Weng Tianxin: "..."

Weng Tianxin has decided to relax the requirements a bit and not be so strict about the princes; the heir apparent is also acceptable, such as the heir apparent of Prince An.

However, before he could speak, the Fifth Prince quickly interrupted him: "Seventh Brother, he wants you to go up and compete with this Ba something-tu for me."

Xue Jin'an knew, of course, that the Fifth Prince was setting a trap, but the target was the Rongdi people, so he cooperated by slightly raising his eyes: "Hmm?"

Weng Tianxin, locked in by those dark, deep eyes: "..." I didn't do it, I didn't do it! How can you, Daqi, be so forceful in your sales?!