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"Is that Siao Mingxue?"

When several wet nurses saw Siao Mingxue come out dressed in the Hundred Birds Phoenix Robe, their mood of finding amusement in her plight was gone; they had not anticipated that this girl, who just turned sixteen today, could actually carry the weight of this dress!

It was not just a matter of carrying the weight; the nobility in her every movement gave the impression that she was the spitting image of Siao Mingyue wearing this dress years ago...

"Those eyes of the girl..." one of the red-dressed wet nurses said, almost in disbelief.

The other wet nurses too rubbed their eyes hard. As old servants of the Siao Family, they of course knew... what this represented!

The dazzling golden glint in Siao Mingxue’s eyes now, only one woman had owned in the past hundred years, it was no fluke...

"Quick..." The lead wet nurse was the first to react and commanded the two behind her: "Go immediately to notify the Empress Dowager, Siao Mingxue... she has awakened the Golden Crow Bloodline!"

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"What did you say?"

Inside the Cining Palace, the old woman, who had been almost indifferent to any affairs for the past half year, was so shocked this time that the wine cup in her hand could not be held steady and crashed to the floor, made of liuli, a tribute from Jiangnan with the peculiar function of chilling alcoholic drinks, highly sought after by the ladies of Capital City, almost priceless, but now, the Empress Dowager almost did not want to look at the liuli cup on the floor that she had treasured like a jewel.

"Empress Dowager, it’s true. We four old servants stared carefully for a full quarter of an hour, the aura is unmistakable, although not yet as prominent as Princess Mingyue, that girl, she absolutely has the same bloodline as Princess Mingyue..."

The Empress Dowager stared at her, and it took a long time before she swallowed and sat down in the chair in a panic.

"Empress Dowager?"

"Quick..." The Empress Dowager’s voice was almost trembling: "Help me up, stop that girl right now, no one is allowed to take her away, not even the Emperor!!!!"

She almost shouted these words!

"Yes!!"

One of the old wet nurses moved swiftly, almost disappearing in an instant, while another hurried forward to help the Empress Dowager up: "Please be at ease, Your Highness, I will take you there right now."

"Heaven has not forsaken our Siao Family..." The voice of the old Empress Dowager was nearly choked!

Back in the day... Siao Family’s Mingyue awakened her bloodline at the age of ten, with an exceptionally pure lineage, far surpassing her peers, and regarded as the rightful heir by all the elders of the Siao Family back then, whom she also always believed was the most suited to lead the Siao Family as the true Family Head.

However, this prediction was preempted by Siao Yan, who took an unthinkable and sinister path, with absolute strength, forced the remaining elders to agree to change the choice of Family Head.

Although afterwards, under his leadership, the Siao Family became an Emperor’s family, it always stuck in her craw.

Just as expected, the Siao Family bloodline began to decline with his next generation, and over the years, only a deposed Crown Prince succeeded in inheriting the bloodline, and it was obviously weak. In her eyes, it was nowhere near as outstanding as Fei Jun, whom Siao Mingyue had born.

She even considered, if Siao Yan died abruptly, she might even support Siao Mingyue as Empress and change Fei Jun’s surname to Siao, annihilating the Fei Family completely, restoring legitimacy to its rightful place.

But all of this shattered half a year ago, Siao Mingyue died, Fei Jun disappeared, even that deposed Crown Prince was gone, and the Siao Family... was left with nothing.

There were only those who could not inherit the bloodline, the worthless, and that member of the Siao Family who was yet again delving into some crooked and unusual subject...

When he came to request that she issue an imperial edict to marry off Siao Mingxue to the Southern Barbarians, she had already numbed.

If her own daughter was willing to ruin herself in this way, this man.

.. never took the bloodline seriously at all.

He and her had the same thought: he had never considered strengthening the Siao Family and had always been chasing the same longevity dream as before.

Hah... she issued the imperial edict; she had no intention of managing anything anymore.

The Siao Family had lost its bloodline, and she planned to just wait for death in the palace.

In fact, she, this old woman, should have died when the news of her daughter’s death reached her half a year ago.

Every day she was in a daze, barely indulging in those new wares from Jiangnan, losing interest in everything else, whether it was the death of a concubine in the harem or a princess dying mysteriously.

What did it have to do with her?

But not this time, no one would do!

The Empress Dowager walked quickly, her eyes bloodshot.

This time, if anyone dared to mishandle her granddaughter, she would fight them to the death!

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"Princess Mingxue enters the hall!"

On the other side, Siao Mingxue was not stopped, but entered the hall directly as commanded, while the wet nurse who was originally sent to stop her stood there puzzled.

Of course, she had heard the Empress Dowager’s command, but she had not been able to stop her.

It was not a matter of martial force; although the girl had awakened her bloodline, she had never been trained and could not possibly suppress her, a Third Rank martial expert.

She could not stop her simply because of the girl’s gaze and her few indifferent words.

"Can the Empress Dowager protect me from Father Emperor?"

"Of course she can..."

"She can’t!" the young girl’s eyes were cold, but they held a firm resolve: "In this Imperial Palace, no one can defy that man, at least not the Empress Dowager... You know that better than anyone in your heart."

"But Your Highness..."

"There’s no ’but’... Step aside!"

"Your Highness..."

"Thank Grandmother for her kind intentions, but please tell her that I, Siao Mingxue, will walk my own path!"

Atop the great hall, everyone looked on in astonishment at Siao Mingxue, who was dressed in an extravagant white phoenix robe, including Wutu Gu, who initially hadn’t taken the princess seriously. Now, even he was staring with wide eyes.

He had never had a high regard for women from the Central Plains.

In his view, those delicate Central Plains women—how could they compare to the robust beauties of the Southern Barbarians?

They lacked any muscular strength; their pelvic bones seemed as if they could be shattered with the slightest force.

They weren’t pleasant to look at or to make use of, even their dancing lacked vigor, not to mention they had no chew when eaten.

Had it not been for her status as a princess of the Central Plains, he wouldn’t have been interested at all.

But now, as he looked at the woman before him, for the first time, he thought he was wrong.

Such a noble woman could not possibly emerge in a place like the Southern Barbarians.

She was truly a phoenix!

"Mingxue greets Father Emperor!"

Below the great hall, the court officials stood rigid, their faces filled with disbelief.

The nanny who had followed Mingxue into the hall saw the surprised looks on the civil and military ministers’ faces and couldn’t help but smile.

The scene... wasn’t it remarkably similar to the one where Siao Mingyue had shone brightly during the family trials, stunning all the elders speechless?

Who would have thought that, after that princess’s departure, the Siao Family... could produce another phoenix!

"Interesting..." The Emperor looked at Siao Mingxue and smiled lightly. Unlike the other shocked civil and military ministers, he seemed to be not too interested in Siao Mingxue’s suddenly awakened bloodline.

Or rather, he had lost interest in the so-called Golden Crow Bloodline a long time ago.

"Chen Qing!"

As the Emperor spoke softly, Siao Mingxue’s body involuntary stiffened. She was already tolerant, but at this moment, she truly couldn’t hold back.

Was he... already here?

"What is your purpose for coming to Capital City?" the Emperor asked straightforwardly.

"I am here to welcome my wife and to complete our marriage in Jiangnan!"

Siao Mingxue bit her lip. It was the scholar’s voice, still so gentle, but for some reason, it felt... somewhat different from before?

"Do you still remember this marriage arrangement?"

"This was bestowed by Your Majesty; and upon meeting the princess that day, this humble official was captivated at first sight, naturally, I could not forget."

"If that’s so, why haven’t you come to claim your bride in three years?"

"Considering the princess’s precious status, she should not be exposed to any risks. Over these three years, the situation in Jiangnan has been unstable, and this humble official could not allow Her Highness to venture there recklessly."

"So you’re saying you had your difficulties," said the Emperor with a smile. "But now, I have decreed a new marriage for Mingxue. How do you plan to proceed?"

The court officials looked at their Emperor, speechless. Those words... why did they sound so provocative?

They then turned their gaze toward Chen Qing, wishing to know how he would respond.

Siao Mingyue kept her head down, not turning to look at Chen Qing, but she was all ears.

"What does Your Majesty wish for this humble official to do?" Chen Qing raised his head, seemingly without any fear of the sovereign.

The Emperor smiled but did not answer directly. Instead, he turned to Wutu Gu, who sat to the left, looking impatient: "What does the Second Prince think?"

Wutu Gu sneered and stepped forward to speak, "I don’t know what the rules are in the Central Plains, but in my Southern Barbarians, if two men both desire the same woman and insist on not sharing her, there’s only one way: settle it with fists.

The dead man... naturally cannot marry the princess, can he? "

"The Second Prince speaks too far," the Emperor said with a smile. "We in Great Jin also respect martial spirit. If a matter is to be settled by martial ability, it is not a bad solution, but to speak of death... that’s too exaggerated."

"Is Your Majesty joking?" Wutu Gu sneered.

"If there is to be a fight, why talk of sparring?

How can victory be determined if we stop at mere contact?

In the Southern Barbarians, there is no concept of sparring.

In the duel arena, only the victor lives.

.." As he spoke, he patted the bone ornament at his waist: "In this collection, is my father, the ruler of the previous generation Wutu Gu, whom you are all familiar with. I didn’t kill him to usurp the throne; I have no interest in that crown. I simply desired one of his women."

"He refused me, so I had no choice but to challenge him to a duel. The outcome... you all know. In the greatest dueling arena of Wutu Gu, I twisted off his head!"

People: "...."

"Once a duel is accepted, there’s no discussion of sparring. In our Southern Barbarians, it’s the same for father and son, brothers, and ruler and subject. The victor is not to be blamed, even if the opponent is a sovereign. As long as he accepts the duel, if he loses, he must die!"

Such insolence!

In the midst of the great hall, the noble warriors watched the Barbarian making such outrageous claims, their faces turning dark with anger.

The Emperor, however, continued to smile gently at this, nodded, and turned to Chen Qing: "And you, King of Qin, what do you have to say?"