331: I've been in love with you for a long time

"Stop your wishful thinking. Everyone knows the Second Prince has been infatuated with her for a long time. If it weren't for King Xibei's poor health these past few years and Xun Yuanluo being unable to leave his side to care for him, the Second Prince would likely have visited King Haoyue's residence to propose marriage long ago!"

Zhang Bai grinned, full of defiance. "As long as there's no proposal, there's still a chance. I, Zhang Bai, might not necessarily lose to him!"

Feng Ming was surprised and quickly followed up, "King Xibei and King Haoyue are of the same generation; how old is his daughter? Others are old cows eating tender grass, but are you trying to be a young bull charging at old grass?"

Zhang Bai waved his hand in rebuttal. "Big Brother, you're speaking like an amateur. Cultivators can easily live for hundreds or thousands of years. So what if Xun Yuanluo is three hundred or five hundred years old? In the cultivation world, that age is no different from a girl of seventeen or eighteen!"

Feng Ming sighed helplessly. He still hadn't adapted to the age perspective of the cultivation world. In his previous life's mundane world, fifty was already the twilight of life; no one could live that long.

Jiang Bing suddenly laughed and offered an explanation. "You really guessed wrong. King Xibei suffered many lingering ailments from years of warfare and only had this daughter late in life. Xun Yuanluo is actually younger than me—she's only twenty-eight at most."

"But her strength is nothing to scoff at. Having received King Xibei's true inheritance, she is now at the Peak of the Eighth-grade Immortal King Realm, just a step away from the Ninth-grade Saint Realm!"

At those words, Zhang Bai's eyes instantly lit up with incredible intensity, as if he had seen a rare treasure. "Young, powerful, of noble birth, and beautiful... such a lady! This young bull is definitely going to graze on this 'fine grass'!"

"Uncle, you have some connection with the Prince's residence anyway. If we run into the Commandery Princess, you must take us to pay our respects!"

How could Jiang Bing not know what he was thinking? He said indifferently, "We can pay our respects, but whether you catch her eye depends entirely on yourself. I've heard this Commandery Princess Qin has a cold personality. The probability of you being noticed isn't very high."

Zhang Bai didn't care at all. "How will I know if I don't try? Opportunities are fought for!"

The people around him all began to advise him:

"Brother Bai, aren't you being a bit too proactive?"

"You are a Young Master of the Zhang family, after all. Your background isn't bad. Why the rush? You should show some restraint!"

Zhang Bai waved them off. "What do you know? The Commandery Princess has no marriage contract yet; this is the best time! As the old saying goes, if you don't take the initiative and I don't take the initiative, how can there be a follow-up?"

Feng Ming chuckled at this. "There's also a saying: 'A simp, a simp, in the end, the simp loses everything.' Brother Zhang Bai, you'd better take it easy."

"What 'simp'? That's too insulting!" Zhang Bai said, craning his neck. "Even if I am, being able to simp for someone like Commandery Princess Qin would be my honor!"

Feng Ming shook his head helplessly and said no more.

Jiang Bing couldn't win the argument, so he had to lead everyone down the mountain.

As they reached the Capital Boundary, everyone suddenly saw Xun Yuanluo's group stop. They dismounted one after another, intending to enter the city on foot.

Jiang Bing looked surprised. "Both King Xibei and King Haoyue have the right to fly into the city. I didn't expect the Commandery Princess to be so law-abiding. Indeed, the higher the position, the more one understands propriety."

Feng Ming nodded in agreement, but his mind was elsewhere. He asked, "Patriarch Jiang, you said earlier that the Second Prince likes her. Who exactly is this Second Prince?"

He was clearly more interested in the royal family's background than in Xun Yuanluo.

Jiang Bing explained, "The Second Prince is the current Crown Prince, Crown Prince. The First Prince died young. His birth mother, Consort Su, is King Haoyue's most favored concubine, so he naturally ascended to the position of Crown Prince."

Feng Ming realized. Just as he was about to ask for more details, several streaks of purple lightning suddenly flashed across the small path below. They were as fast as startled swans, heading straight for Xun Yuanluo's group!

Xun Yuanluo reacted extremely quickly. She drew the Red Sword at her waist and struck, directly severing the lightning aimed at her.

But the rest of the lightning crashed into the ground. When it reshaped, it turned into several Lightning Whips that instantly entangled her companions, pinning them to the spot, unable to move.

At the same time, over a dozen masked Men in Black suddenly appeared before Xun Yuanluo. Their auras were heavy and steady; clearly, they had been lying in wait for a long time, and their target was Xun Yuanluo.

Jiang Bing's expression changed, and he quickly whispered, "Hide, quickly! Those who can ambush the Commandery Princess must be quite strong. Let's not intervene rashly!"

Everyone hurriedly hid in the shadows, holding their breath and watching. But as they watched, they all felt something was wrong.

Lu Qianqian was the first to frown. "This isn't right. These ambushers only seem to be at the Nascent Soul Realm or Mahayana Stage. They're no match for the Commandery Princess at all. And look at her—she's just standing there, not attacking anymore!"

Looking closely, they saw that Xun Yuanluo was indeed standing still with her Red Sword in hand, showing no intention of fighting further.

"Could it be because of a Formation? Is there something mysterious about this lightning Formation?" Feng Ming asked.

Zhang Bai shook his head. "This is just an ordinary Lightning Lock Formation. The Commandery Princess broke it with one strike just now, so it's clearly useless against her. How strange, what's going on?"

Not only Feng Ming and Zhang Bai, but even Jiang Bing was full of doubt, unable to make sense of the situation.

Feng Ming's eyes suddenly flickered, and he whispered, "I say, could this be a setup?"

"A setup? What do you mean?" Zhang Bai asked quickly.

"Either these people were arranged by the Commandery Princess herself, and she's intentionally faking an attack to draw out the person behind the scenes, or it's a setup by someone else—not to actually kill her, but to achieve some other goal by using her 'attack' as a pretext," Feng Ming said solemnly.

Zhang Bai looked skeptical. "How could it be that complicated? Maybe it's just a group of blind bandits seeking death near the Imperial Capital, who happened to kick a steel plate like the Commandery Princess."

"Impossible," Feng Ming immediately denied. "The outskirts of the Imperial Capital are a Forbidden Ground. What bandit would dare to be so insolent here? Moreover, how could they not recognize King Xibei's Battle Flag?"

Hearing this, Zhang Bai also frowned. For a moment, everyone was in a dilemma—going down to help might invite trouble, but not going down would mean missing an opportunity.

Just then, Feng Ming suddenly smiled, a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes. "Hey, I've thought of a way to have the best of both worlds."

"What way?" Lu Qianqian asked curiously.

"No matter who set this up, if we go down now to 'rescue' her, we can leave a good impression on the Commandery Princess and get closer to her, right?" Feng Ming said. "Besides, the Commandery Princess can handle these people herself. We'd just be going out to put on a show. There's no danger at all. This is a favor for the taking—we can build a connection without paying any price!"

Hearing this, Lu Qianqian stared at Feng Ming and frowned. "Brother-in-law, you haven't taken a liking to the Commandery Princess too, have you? Do you want to use this opportunity to curry favor with her, or as you put it, 'simp' for her?"

"What are you talking about! Am I that kind of person?" Feng Ming quickly countered. "I'm just discussing the facts! Even if we go down to help, it's just to leave a good impression. Given the Commandery Princess's status, would my simping even work? Besides, the water in this setup is very deep. Even simping must be done carefully, otherwise..."

Before he could finish, Zhang Bai suddenly moved and charged straight out!

As he ran down the hill, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Thanks for the tip, Brother Feng! If you won't simp, I will! I'll go first to show my respect!"