From Cold Palace Princess to Celestial Empress Ch. 31
After settling the matter of the spiritual vein, Lin Zhengquan suddenly looked troubled, hesitating for a long time without saying a word.
Seeing this, Xiao Minghuang slightly furrowed her delicate brows and asked:
“If City Lord Lin has any difficulties, please feel free to speak.”
Hearing this, Lin Zhengquan seemed to have made up his mind and slowly began to speak.
“Recently, my daughter was trapped by evil cultivators while searching for spiritual herbs. If it weren’t for Your Highness’s rescue, she might have already been harmed.”
“As a father, how could I not understand my daughter’s feelings? So I wanted to take this opportunity to ask Your Highness a question.”
Lin Zhengquan composed himself, his expression extremely serious, and asked:
“May I ask if Your Highness is fond of my daughter?”
Xiao Minghuang had already prepared to bind Lin Wanqiu to herself and had no intention of letting her leave her side in the future, so she nodded and said:
“Wanqiu is very good, I like her very much.”
Hearing this, Lin Zhengquan was immediately overjoyed.
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
But before he could react, Xiao Minghuang continued:
“The marriage contract between Wanqiu and me was arranged by our elders, not by our own will. Since City Lord Lin has brought this up, I will speak plainly.”
Lin Zhengquan was puzzled. It seemed that she had some objections to the marriage contract?
But didn’t the Ninth Princess express great satisfaction with Lin Wanqiu?
Xiao Minghuang slowly spoke:
“The matter of the marriage contract is old, and few people know about it. Neither Wanqiu nor I value it. Let it drift away with the wind, and let us not mention it again.”
Hearing this, the joy on Lin Zhengquan’s face suddenly froze. After a moment, he reacted with shock:
“Your Highness means to annul the marriage contract!?”
Xiao Minghuang’s expression remained unchanged. She nodded calmly and said:
“That is correct.”
In an instant, Lin Zhengquan’s face turned grim. His lips twitched, and his eyes were filled with disbelief. After a long while, he took a deep breath to calm himself before slowly asking:
“Has my Lin Family committed some grave offense to incur Your Highness’s wrath?”
Hearing this, Xiao Minghuang slightly furrowed her brows, showing a puzzled expression. “Why would City Lord Lin say such a thing?”
Lin Zhengquan took a deep breath, trying to speak calmly.
“If my Lin Family has not offended Your Highness in any way, why would Your Highness cancel the marriage contract?”
Xiao Minghuang raised her delicate brows, confused:
“I thought the bond between Wanqiu and me could not be measured by a mere piece of paper.”
“Ah!”
Hearing this, Lin Zhengquan was greatly surprised. After a moment, he chuckled and said:
“Your Highness surely knows how to jest, you nearly scared me.”
Xiao Minghuang, however, did not think she was joking. She spoke earnestly:
“Every word I just said is true. The bond between Wanqiu and me truly cannot be measured by a piece of paper. I am not joking.”
“Yes, yes, I understand.”
Even though Lin Zhengquan had experienced the vicissitudes of life and was quite shrewd, hearing such deeply affectionate words still made his old face blush. Moreover, these words were directed at his daughter.
He finally understood why his daughter had been so captivated by the Ninth Princess after their first meeting.
After thanking Xiao Minghuang once more, Lin Zhengquan hurriedly left the courtyard.
As Lin Zhengquan walked out of the courtyard gate and turned a corner, he smiled and softly said:
“Wanqiu, did you hear what Her Highness just said?”
As soon as he finished speaking.
Lin Wanqiu emerged from the corner of the wall. The pendant in her arms was a low-grade Yellow-tier magical artifact bestowed by the Emperor, capable of concealing her aura. Even those with much higher cultivation levels would find it difficult to detect her.
Therefore, the words spoken by Xiao Minghuang earlier were not influenced by her but were sincere and not merely for show.
Lin Wanqiu’s cheeks flushed slightly as she lowered her head and spoke softly:
“I have heard everything clearly.”
…
After Lin Zhengquan left, the courtyard returned to its peaceful state.
Earlier, Xiao Minghuang had spoken those words because she had already made up her mind to form a contract with Lin Wanqiu.
Once she became her contracted partner, Lin Wanqiu would never be able to leave her side. That was why Xiao Minghuang had said that the relationship between them was far beyond what a mere marriage contract could measure.
The reason she agreed to the martial competition was not out of greed for spirit stones but because, as her cultivation level continued to grow, the amount of spirit stones required for her cultivation had increased significantly.
The spirit stones and elixirs previously bestowed by the Emperor had long been exhausted. Even though she had just received over eight thousand spirit stones, combined with the previous two thousand five hundred, the total was only a little over ten thousand.
As for the storage bag of the Chen Family head, it was completely empty, likely because all its contents had been consumed in the final battle.
Gifting such a large number of spirit stones at once would not yield a high compensation multiplier. At best, it might only increase tenfold.
A mere hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones would, at most, allow her to break through a single minor realm.
Moreover, low-grade spirit stones contained more impurities, requiring more time to absorb.
If she could not secure a long-term source of spirit stones, her cultivation progress would inevitably slow down.
Furthermore, she was not only responsible for her own cultivation progress but also for Ye Ruoshui and Lin Wanqiu.
Therefore, she needed a vast amount of spirit stones and elixirs—the more, the better.
As her thoughts flowed, Xiao Minghuang murmured to herself:
“It seems I should focus on nurturing Ruoshui’s alchemy talent.”
Ye Ruoshui’s alchemy talent was exceptionally high. On her first attempt, she had successfully refined an elixir with eighty percent purity. Given time, she was sure to become a master alchemist.
If Ye Ruoshui could consistently produce elixirs, the resources needed for their cultivation would naturally not be a problem.
The spirit stones that could be obtained from selling elixirs alone would be an enormous sum, not to mention the existence of her system, which allowed for multiplied compensation.
Simply multiplying the refined elixirs by ten would result in a considerable profit.
Next, Xiao Minghuang took stock of all the resources she had.
“Over ten thousand spirit stones, more than three hundred low, medium, and high-grade Yellow-tier elixirs, fifteen spiritual herbs, one Spirit Nurturing Pill, one Vitality Restoration Pill, one medium-grade Yellow-tier longsword, and several low-grade Yellow-tier martial arts manuals.”
Among these, apart from the fifteen spiritual herbs, which were system-compensated items, everything else could be gifted to Ye Ruoshui for compensation.
But now, in addition to Ye Ruoshui, she could also form a contract with a second girl.
“It’s time to contract Lin Wanqiu.”
Xiao Minghuang murmured to herself, then walked out of the courtyard and headed straight for Lin Wanqiu’s residence.
Knock knock knock!
Lin Wanqiu sat under the corridor, resting her chin on her hand as she gazed at the flowers and plants in the distance. Thinking of the words Xiao Minghuang had spoken earlier, she occasionally let out a few silly giggles.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of knocking and went to open the door.
Seeing the girl in bright yellow attire standing before her, with fair skin, delicate features, and an air of elegance and nobility, Lin Wanqiu was reminded of the words she had heard earlier, and her cheeks flushed once more.
Noticing Lin Wanqiu’s reddened face, Xiao Minghuang asked with concern:
“Why is your face so red? Are you feeling unwell?”
“N-no, it’s nothing. This humble girl greets the Ninth Princess!”
Lin Wanqiu took a light breath, gathered her thoughts, slightly bent her knees, and respectfully bowed.
Seeing this, Xiao Minghuang’s delicate brows furrowed slightly, feeling displeased. She still preferred the Lin Wanqiu from that day in the cave, who was intimate and close with her.
Or the confident Lin Wanqiu who wouldn’t yield an inch in conversation.
Or the Lin Wanqiu from last night’s banquet, who dazzled the entire room in her splendid attire.
A confident girl always looks even more beautiful.
“Why stand on ceremony between us? Just be natural.”
If they could be even closer, Lin Wanqiu would naturally welcome it. She smiled charmingly, her demeanor lively and coquettish, as she said in a sweet voice:
“Then, Your Highness, don’t say I’m being disrespectful!”
Seeing Lin Wanqiu’s smile, Xiao Minghuang also smiled, gently squeezing the other’s soft hand, and said warmly:
“Don’t be reserved; that’s the greatest respect you can show me. We’ll be together for a long time, so why bother with such formalities?”
Suddenly hearing the words “be together for a long time,” Lin Wanqiu’s heart fluttered, and a blush spread across her cheeks.
Your Highness is just too straightforward! How can she keep saying such embarrassing things? It’s making me feel so shy!
After a moment, Lin Wanqiu thought of Ye Ruoshui, the seemingly difficult little maid, and cautiously asked:
“Your Highness, if Miss Ye hears you saying such things to me, won’t she be upset?”
Hearing this, Xiao Minghuang’s eyes showed a mix of confusion and surprise as she asked:
“Why would she be upset?”
Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Ruu
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