“The Wu Emperor is incompetent and unworthy. Would you be willing to take his place?”
In the courtyard, Wu Yanhan held the letter in her hand, glanced at the words written on it, then chuckled lightly and tossed it aside.
Last night, after receiving the letter, Xu Ming had specially gone around searching for the person who delivered it, but unsurprisingly, he found nothing. In the end, he brought the letter to the Princess’s residence to show it to Wu Yanhan.
However, to be precise, this residence was no longer the Princess’s Manor—it was now the Prince Qin’s Manor.
“I will investigate this letter thoroughly,” Wu Yanhan said slowly, “but don’t get your hopes up too much. For something , the other party would have already covered their tracks and won’t leave any evidence behind.”
“I understand,” Xu Ming nodded, taking a sip of tea. “But what I want to ask is—do you think it’s necessary to present this letter to His Majesty?”
Wu Yanhan shook her head.
“Although giving this letter to my father would show your integrity, not everything should be reported to him. Have you considered that while he may praise you upfront, what happens afterward? He will definitely start overthinking it.
“That makes sense,” Xu Ming agreed with Wu Yanhan’s reasoning.
“Speaking of which, regarding Prince Qi’s attempt on my life, are there still remnants of his faction?” Xu Ming changed the topic.
He had been wanting to ask this for a while, but yesterday, he simply hadn’t found the time.
Wu Yanhan sighed. “In my opinion, there are definitely remnants left, but there is no evidence to be found. Without proof, there’s no way to pursue it further—sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing to me?” Xu Ming chuckled. “I’ve already heard that you turned the entire court upside down because of this. Now, quite a few officials tremble in fear at the sight of you. If we can’t investigate further, it just means the matter is too deeply entangled.
If they’ve truly given up, then I won’t concern myself with it. But if they still harbor ill intentions toward me, then they can’t blame me for personally hunting them down.”
Wu Yanhan looked at Xu Ming and smiled. “Now that you, Commander Xu, have the Imperial Sword, you seem much more confident.”
“It’s nothing much,” Xu Ming replied with a smile. “Compared to Your Highness, my authority as a commander is still insignificant. Besides, this sword belongs to the imperial family.”
Wu Yanhan tilted her head slightly. “I’m part of the imperial family, so does that mean it’s my sword?”
Xu Ming nodded. “Of course, it’s your sword.”
Hearing his words, Wu Yanhan’s cheeks turned slightly red. She turned her head away and mumbled softly, “And yet you were off enjoying yourself in Beihai (North Sea).”
“What did you just say, Yanhan?” Xu Ming didn’t catch her words.
“I was asking—was that Eternal Dragon Empress beautiful?” Wu Yanhan smiled, her tone carrying a hint of jealousy.
“Not as beautiful as you!” Xu Ming answered seriously.
If the Dragon Empress had asked, he would have said she was the most beautiful. If Yanhan asked, then Yanhan was the most beautiful.
No matter who asked, they were always the most beautiful—fairness was key.
“Hmph.” Wu Yanhan turned her head again, but Xu Ming caught the faint smile at the corner of her lips.
“By the way, where is Shengsheng? I haven’t seen her,” Xu Ming asked.
Before leaving for Beihai, he had entrusted Shengsheng to Wu Yanhan’s care.
Wu Yanhan had indeed taken a liking to Shengsheng.
But now that he was back, she hadn’t come to see him, which was unusual. Normally, upon hearing of his return, she would have happily come running.
“Shengsheng has gone into seclusion,” Wu Yanhan replied.
“Seclusion?” Xu Ming was momentarily stunned. Shengsheng can enter seclusion? What for?
“After you left Beihai, Shengsheng kept complaining about dizziness. Eventually, I sought out a healer at the Immortal Realm to examine her. After diagnosing her, the healer suspected that Shengsheng might be approaching a critical point of evolution.”
As she spoke, Wu Yanhan’s expression grew more serious.
“For cultivators, there is realm-breaking—each breakthrough in cultivation brings a significant increase in strength. The same applies to warriors, demon cultivators, and even magical beasts.
However, for magical beasts, this process is described as evolution. Each evolution drastically enhances their strength, while also altering their appearance and form.”
Xu Ming understood Wu Yanhan’s explanation completely, but what puzzled him was—Shengsheng needed to evolve?
“But Shengsheng has human blood in her veins,” Xu Ming questioned. “When I left, wasn’t her human bloodline fully suppressing her magical beast bloodline?”
Wu Yanhan sighed. “Before you left, it’s true that her human bloodline was suppressing her magical beast bloodline. But Xu Ming, half of the blood flowing in Shengsheng’s veins belongs to a magical beast!
And not just any magical beast—it’s an incredibly domineering and powerful lineage. As Shengsheng grows, no one can guarantee that her human blood will always be able to suppress her magical beast bloodline.”
As she spoke, Wu Yanhan stood up, turned her back to Xu Ming, and loosened her belt.
As her garments slipped down to her waist, Xu Ming clearly saw a scar on her smooth, pale back.
The scar resembled the claw marks of a ferocious beast.
Xu Ming was stunned. “This… was Shengsheng the one who did this?”
Wu Yanhan redressed herself, turned to face him, and nodded. “At that time, Shengsheng lost control. When I subdued her, I got injured in the process. This scar isn’t a big deal—I can erase it completely in two months with Xue Ning Balm.
But when Shengsheng regained consciousness, she was overwhelmed with guilt.
She felt incredibly sorry for me. She was terrified of seeing you, afraid that you would scold her, and even more afraid that you would witness her loss of control.
So she locked herself in her room and refused to come out.
However, the more she sank into despair, the more her magical beast bloodline took over.
At that time, she was already on the verge of evolving.
In the end, to prevent herself from hurting me again, Shengsheng chose to enter deep slumber and evolve willingly.
After she evolves, there will be two possible outcomes.
One—her magical beast bloodline will fully take over, turning her into a beast with only remnants of human consciousness.
The other—she will overcome this ordeal with her own willpower and regain her sanity.”
Xu Ming fell silent for a long time.
Finally, he lifted his gaze and asked Wu Yanhan, “How much longer until we know the result?”
Wu Yanhan looked directly into his eyes. “Within this month.”