Nie Feiyan sighed and said, "Father, my feelings for Mr. Dongfang are simply that I like his singing and playing music; I have no other thoughts."

You haven't heard his music, so you wouldn't understand what we're thinking. As for the young talents you mentioned, I've certainly seen quite a few, but I always feel they're lacking something."

The emperor asked in surprise, "What's missing?"

Nie Feiyan said somewhat blankly, "I don't know either." After saying that, the words she had said to Ye Xiao that day when she was about to move out of the palace flashed through her mind.

She seemed to realize something; perhaps what these talented young people lacked was "self-reliance"!

In reality, this is the imperial palace. Faced with the emperor and her, the princess, how could those lower-ranking officials possibly show their own opinions? They are certainly people with their own opinions, but in front of the emperor, they would all act as if "the emperor's opinion is the subject's opinion."

The female lead hasn't figured this out yet. Once she does, she probably won't care about the lack of assertiveness shown by these young masters from noble families.

But at this point, the female protagonist has only just met these people, and the emperor asks her to choose one of them as her consort. She is bound to disappoint the emperor.

Although the emperor could not understand Nie Feiyan's feelings, he was determined to spoil his newly found child to the bone, so he said, "You don't need to rush, take your time looking, we'll talk about it when we find someone we like."

Seeing that he didn't force her, Nie Feiyan felt relieved and a touch of warmth welled up in her heart for this newly recognized father.

But she still hoped to find Mr. Dongfang and hear his music and singing again. If she were to say that she would never hear such a voice again in this life, she felt that the future was bleak.

Thinking of this, she got up to offer a toast to her royal uncle. Her royal uncle was her great-uncle, and she had met him before, so it was perfectly normal for her to offer him a toast.

After offering the toast, she whispered a few words to the Imperial Uncle. The Imperial Uncle didn't need to think to guess that she wanted to inquire about the Xuan Yuan Two Saints.

He was conflicted about this matter and didn't want to give up so easily. Frankly, he wasn't the emperor and wasn't qualified to enter the West Cave Abode. The only chance to cultivate there lay with the two Xuan Yuan Saints; otherwise, why would he be so fixated on them?

So, when the newly recognized little princess gestured, he immediately nodded and then got up to leave his seat. Nie Feiyan also casually found an excuse to leave the main hall and met him in a secluded corner outside the hall.

After Ye Xiao noticed that Nie Feiyan had finished toasting the Imperial Uncle, the two of them left the main hall one after the other, so he secretly followed them out. As a result, he overheard the old man and the young man discussing how to find the West Cave Villa.

The emperor wasn't the only one who knew where the West Cave Villa was. He had previously told Nie Feiyan that he would regularly send people to the West Cave Villa to deliver gifts, which reminded the imperial uncle of the fact that palace servants often went to the Sun Lake in the western suburbs of the capital to carry out secret imperial orders.

Previously, the Imperial Uncle didn't care about such things; was it strange for the Emperor to have secrets? But now, he strongly suspects that this matter is related to the West Cave Villa.

After listening to his guess, Nie Feiyan pondered and said, "So, the West Cave Villa might be near Sun Lake in the western suburbs." After thinking for a moment, she said, "Uncle, why don't we go to the western suburbs together tomorrow morning under the pretext of spring outing?"

"Good." The Imperial Uncle immediately raised both hands in welcome. Deep down, he was far more enthusiastic about this matter than Nie Feiyan—whether or not he could find the West Cave Villa was a matter of life and death for him.

Nie Feiyan said she wanted to go on an outing the next day. The Emperor did not suspect anything, thinking that she was in the prime of her youth and loved to play. She had been used to being free outside the palace, and now that she had been in the palace for several days without being able to leave, it was only natural that she would feel restless and want to go out and have some fun. So he ordered the eunuch in charge to make arrangements for her as soon as possible.

The Imperial Uncle's travel was much easier than Nie Feiyan's; for convenience, he even abandoned the carriage and rode a horse instead.

The two met in the suburbs. To avoid arousing suspicion, they pretended it was a chance encounter and both acted a little surprised.

Ye Xiao overheard their conversation last night, and before dawn this morning, he went to stake out the gate of the Prince of Xiang's mansion. He secretly followed the Imperial Uncle all the way to the western suburbs of the capital, only to find that the old man and the young boy were putting on an act in front of all the palace servants. He was both annoyed and amused.

What's funny is that one of them is an old lecher who, despite his age, is still restless and wants to find some secluded villa in the West Cave; the other is a woman of marriageable age who, instead of staying at home, is only thinking about going out to find wild men.

What infuriated him was that the woman he wanted to marry was the one he was looking for. Although he hadn't actually married her yet, he still felt like he was being cuckolded.

Everyone knew Sun Lake, and they arrived quickly. Passing through a sea of ​​sunflowers, they reached the lakeside. The scenery was indeed perfect for an outing, so none of the entourage accompanying the two noticed anything amiss.

Unfortunately, after wandering around the area, the two couldn't find any buildings that resembled a villa, only a few small pavilions in the rolling green hills across the lake.

Ye Xiao secretly observed them and felt they were very foolish.

Actually, after hearing about Xidong Villa, he also checked the family records. The Ye family ancestors had a habit of keeping a diary, recording everything that happened and what they encountered, as a form of experience for future generations.

Several ancestral records mention this West Cave Villa, which is said to be a place where one can cultivate immortality. Although cultivating profound energy to a high level can prolong life, no matter how strong one's profound energy is, one will ultimately not live past two hundred. However, those who cultivate in this West Cave Villa, upon reaching a certain level, are said to be able to live for a thousand years without dying.

Take, for example, the Two Saints of Xuan Yuan.

Ye Xiao examined the ancestral records and surprisingly found the title "Two Saints of Xuan Yuan" in the records of a predecessor from seven hundred years ago. This meant that the two white-robed youths had lived for over seven hundred years.

Therefore, he became exceptionally curious and longing for this West Cave Villa, not for anything else but for immortality. Otherwise, why would he get up early and go to the Prince of Xiang's mansion to stake out before dawn? Do you really think it was for Nie Feiyan?!

He had already guessed that the West Cave villa must be protected by a barrier. Since no one had found any villa nearby, it must be hidden by the barrier. They simply couldn't see it.

In truth, the Fifteenth Prince and Nie Feiyan weren't stupid; they suspected that the West Cave Villa might be hidden by some secret method. But how could they be content if they didn't search for it?

Finally, by evening, the attendants, unaware of the truth, advised the grandfather and grandson to stop playing and get some rest, as both of them showed obvious signs of exhaustion.