245: Chapter 245 External Crisis: Neighboring Prince Forces Marriage

"Forced marriage? Kidnapping?"

Xu Chen chewed on these two words, the cold sneer on his lips becoming increasingly evident.

He turned to look at Princess Wu Weiyang, who wore a wronged expression beside him, and reached out to neaten the sideburns she had messed up earlier in the rockery. "Don't worry, Great-Grandfather is here. Even if the sky falls, it won't be anyone else's turn to snatch my... good granddaughter."

Upon hearing the words "good granddaughter," Princess Wu Weiyang felt a flutter in her heart, and was subsequently deeply captivated by the protective dominance Xu Chen displayed.

She nodded vigorously, clutching Xu Chen's sleeve tightly, her eyes slightly red. "Great-Grandfather, you must severely punish that prince of the Great Chu Dynasty! I heard he is a pervert who takes pleasure in torturing female cultivators; I absolutely do not want to marry such a person!"

"Let's go, to the council hall."

Xu Chen waved his sleeve and strode forward. "I want to see who has such audacity to cause trouble for me at such a critical juncture."

...

Inside the Imperial Palace's council hall, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt as if it could drip water.

Emperor Wu Tiandao sat below, covered in sweat, holding the blood-stained, urgent 800-li battle report, his hands trembling slightly.

Meanwhile, Wu Mingkong, sitting on the Dragon Throne in the main seat, appeared calm, but the latent Killing Intent between her brows caused the temperature of the entire council hall to drop to freezing.

Having just purged the court last night, they encountered an invasion by a foreign enemy today; this was clearly targeting the vulnerable weakness of the Great Xia Dynasty's internal emptiness.

"They have gone too far!"

Wu Mingkong slammed the teacup in her hand onto the table, and the thousand-year-old rosewood table, capable of withstanding a strike from a Saint, instantly turned into powder.

"The Great Chu Dynasty, taking advantage of my recent Awakening and the instability within Great Xia, actually dares to march troops to the city gates and use this to threaten me? Do they really think I can no longer wield a blade?"

"Old Ancestor, please calm your anger!"

Emperor Wu Tiandao hurriedly knelt, his voice extremely bitter. "The Great Chu Dynasty has been planning this for a long time. The Great Chu prince leading the team this time, Chu Wudi, although young, is already at the Peak of the Dragon Transformation Realm. There are even rumors that he has awakened some kind of ancient battle body, and is fiercely unmatched. Furthermore..."

He paused, stole a glance at Wu Mingkong's expression, and swallowed hard. "And according to reports from scouts, the Great Chu Dynasty has an Old Ancestor at the Quasi-Emperor Realm personally overseeing the campaign this time!"

"Quasi-Emperor?!"

Hearing these two words, the faces of the few trusted ministers below turned instantly pale, as if they had lost their parents.

A Quasi-Emperor!

That is an existence second only to the Great Emperor, sufficient to suppress the Luck of a nation.

Although their own Old Ancestor, Wu Mingkong, is also a Quasi-Emperor, she has only just awakened after sleeping for three thousand years, and both her Divine Soul and Physical Body have not yet fully recovered to their Peak state.

If two Quasi-Emperors were to truly clash at the border, even if they could win, the terrifying aftermath of the battle would be enough to annihilate the hundreds of millions of citizens on the Great Xia border.

Just as everyone was filled with panic, a lazy voice came from outside the door.

"So what if it's a Quasi-Emperor? Is it very strong?"

Everyone turned to look, only to see Xu Chen walking in with leisurely steps, followed by a puffed-up Princess Wu Weiyang.

"Husband."

Seeing Xu Chen, Wu Mingkong's originally cold expression instantly softened. She actually rose directly from the Dragon Throne, walked quickly to meet him, and naturally took Xu Chen's arm.

This scene made the eyelids of Emperor Wu Tiandao and the ministers below twitch uncontrollably.

Although they had witnessed the ruthlessness of this "Great-Grandfather" last night, every time they saw their decisive Old Ancestor acting like a delicate, dependent woman, they still felt their worldview receiving a massive shock.

"Why did you come? Didn't you want to sleep a bit more?" Wu Mingkong asked softly, her tone filled with doting.

"I was having a pleasant time walking in the Imperial Garden, but the mood was ruined by a fly."

Xu Chen squeezed her palm, his gaze sweeping over the battle report on the table. "I heard someone wants to snatch our family's Princess?"

"It's the Great Chu Dynasty."

Wu Mingkong snorted coldly, cold light flashing in her phoenix eyes. "They want to rob us while we are in trouble. If I were in my prime, I would have personally led an expedition to trample their Great Chu Imperial Capital. But with this current body..."

She frowned slightly, not continuing further.

Great Xia had just experienced a purge, and the morale of the army was unstable. Moreover, if she were to forcibly go to war with a Quasi-Emperor of the same level at this time, it would very likely affect her newly repaired Divine Soul Origin. The Great Chu Dynasty had targeted exactly this point, which is why they dared to be so arrogant.

"Old Ancestor, how about... how about letting the Princess go to marry for peace?"

An old minister with white hair and beard stood out tremblingly, hardening his scalp to speak. "That Great Chu prince, Chu Wudi, has specifically named that he wants to marry the Princess. As long as Princess Weiyang marries over, the two countries will be united by marriage, which can resolve this calamity of war and buy Great Xia time to catch its breath and reorganize the court!"

"Yes, Old Ancestor, although Princess Weiyang is precious, for the safety of the hundreds of millions of Great Xia citizens, suffering a little grievance is worth it..."

"Bullshit!"

Before Wu Mingkong could get angry, Princess Wu Weiyang completely exploded.

She pointed at the old minister's nose, cursing without any Princess demeanor. "Old man Li, this is selling out the country for glory! This Princess is a human, not a bargaining chip for you to cling to life! Making me marry that tyrant Chu Wudi, that pervert who is cruel by nature, I'd rather just jump off this city tower!"

"Princess, watch your words! This is also for the big picture..." The old minister wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still trying to use moral kidnapping.

"What kind of bullshit big picture!"

Princess Wu Weiyang was so angry her eyes turned red, tears welling up in her eyes.

She turned to look at Xu Chen, hugging his arm tightly with both hands. "Great-Grandfather, look at them! They are teaming up to bully me! They want to push me into a fire pit!"

Xu Chen patted the back of her hand, signaling her to calm down.

Subsequently, he turned around, his gaze looking calmly at the old minister who proposed the marriage alliance.

"What is your name?"

"The... the old minister is Li Zhong." The old minister felt his heart go numb from Xu Chen's calm, waveless gaze, his legs trembling slightly. The image of this lord snapping his fingers to crush a Saint last night was still vivid in his mind.

"Li Zhong? I think you are blindly loyal, or even a treacherous sycophant."

Xu Chen spoke lightly, his tone devoid of any warmth. "Using the women of your own country to trade for the enemy's charity? Is this the backbone of you Great Xia men? If a country's peace needs to be bought by sacrificing a woman's purity, then what is the point of this country's existence?"

These words were spoken with conviction.

Like a loud slap, it struck the faces of all the ministers present, making them blush with shame, wishing they could crawl into a crack in the ground.

"But... the opponent has a Quasi-Emperor overseeing them!"

Li Zhong was still making a final struggle. "If we go to war, the people will suffer, who will bear this Karma..."

"So what if it's a Quasi-Emperor?"

Xu Chen chuckled and slowly took a step forward.

Boom!

An arrogant Aura that looked down on the world and viewed all things as mere grass, erupted from his seemingly slender body.

"Don't say it's just a Quasi-Emperor who is about to enter the coffin; even if a true Great Emperor came, if they dare to touch my Xu Family's people, or dare to have designs on my great-granddaughter, I will still slaughter them all the same!"

The whole hall was dead silent.

Everyone was shocked, their scalps tingling from Xu Chen's boundlessly arrogant words.

Slaughter a Great Emperor?!

Where exactly did this young "Great-Grandfather" get his confidence from? Could he also be a Quasi-Emperor? No, there is no such young Quasi-Emperor in this world!

"Husband..."

Wu Mingkong looked at Xu Chen's broad and upright back, her beautiful eyes shimmering with brilliance.

She certainly knew Xu Chen had this confidence. As the Young Master of the Imperial Clan, the trump cards he possessed were enough to sweep across a great world. But what she was more fascinated by was this unreasonable protectiveness and dominance Xu Chen displayed right now.

This was the man capable of conquering her, the Empress of the Ages.

"Where is that Great Chu prince now?" Xu Chen retracted his Aura and asked lightly.

"Reporting to Great-Grandfather, the million-strong army of Great Chu has already pressed to the border's 'Town Dragon Pass,' only three thousand li away from the Imperial Capital. That Chu Wudi is clamoring in front of the formation, saying that if he doesn't see the Princess come out of the pass for the marriage alliance before sunset today, he will start a massacre and leave no one alive." Emperor Wu Tiandao hurriedly knelt on the ground to answer.

"Before sunset?"

Xu Chen looked up at the sky outside the hall. "It's just past noon, there is still plenty of time."

He turned the Storage Ring on his finger, and a heart-palpitating cold light flashed in his deep eyes.

"Since they have brought their faces to our doorstep, if we don't slap them hard, wouldn't it make us Great Xia look like we don't understand the way of hospitality?"

Xu Chen looked at Wu Mingkong, his gaze instantly becoming gentle.

"You have slept for three thousand years, your Divine Soul still needs to be properly nourished, and you should not get angry. Leave this rough work of killing and fighting to me. I will go help you swat these annoying flies to death; consider it as loosening up Great Xia's muscles for you."

Hearing these considerate words, a touch of tenderness appeared on Wu Mingkong's stunningly beautiful face. She cast him a charming, flirtatious glance and responded softly, "Then take care of yourself, go and return early."

"Great-Grandfather, you are going alone?"

Princess Wu Weiyang was incredibly moved to hear that Xu Chen was going to stand up for her, but she was also full of worry.

"It's just dealing with a few barking mongrels, does it really require a grand display?"

Xu Chen reached out and rubbed Princess Wu Weiyang's head, taking the opportunity to feel her soft, long hair. "Wait for me obediently in the Bedchamber. As long as I don't make a move, no one in this world can think of touching my territory, let alone touching my people."

After saying this, Xu Chen turned and walked out of the hall.

Clad in white, spotless and pure.

Watching his gradually receding back, Princess Wu Weiyang only felt her heart beating more violently than ever before, as if it were about to jump out of her chest.