At the same time, Xie Xingyan was preparing to use her spiritual power to activate the recording function on her light-brain. She intended to leave behind evidence.
But though the function could be switched on, she soon discovered with dismay: it could not operate properly.
Once she realized this trick, her eyes flickered thoughtfully—clearly the old fox before her had already anticipated her move.
Of course. A man who had weathered the years like him wouldn't possibly leave such an obvious loophole for her to exploit.
"How now? That boy from the Li family has decent aptitude. If it weren't for your family background, you'd never have been considered for this marriage."
"Father, since he's so outstanding, and I'm not someone without self-awareness, naturally I don't deserve him. Besides, I'm not even of age yet. Shouldn't things like this wait until after my elder brother?"
"Your brother is not the same as you—"
"What's different? He's the same age as me. If there's such a good thing, shouldn't you think of big brother first? I think you ought to treat us equally, otherwise won't he just say you're playing favorites again?"
Well now. Xie's father hadn't expected this daughter of his to be so quick-tongued. His well-laid plans were all disrupted.
It seemed that, if he wanted to smoothly obtain the vast starcoin compensation promised by the Li family, he couldn't rush it.
Anyway, this daughter could never escape his palm. With her aptitude, she would never make it into the Legion.
As long as she couldn't enter, he would always have a way to control this girl.
Having thought things through, Xie's father smiled gently, the corners of his mouth curving as he added, "Just now Father was only telling you about it. If you're unwilling, that's fine—we won't rush this matter. Let's wait and see later."
"Good, I knew Father valued me too much to casually decide my marriage. Luckily you clarified at the end, or else I would've misunderstood. By the way, I still have training to do, so I won't disturb your work any longer."
Hmph. Training or not, her physical aptitude was still that low.
Still, if this daughter became more accomplished, he could demand more starcoins from the Li family.
Either way, he would profit without loss. If anyone was to blame, it was only this daughter's low-grade physique—of no nurturing value, unable to bring glory to the Xie royal family.
On the way back, Bi'er asked curiously, "Sister, why didn't you use your spiritual abilities just now to probe that human's true thoughts?"
"I couldn't. His external spiritual grade is S-level too. I can't act rashly, lest I alert him. Besides, I'm still just a child, unable to wield my full power. And we also don't yet know the exact strength of spiritual attacks in this world…"
Not that there was any need to probe. She could already guess—he would never give up the idea of a marriage alliance. At the root of it, the problem was her own lack of strength.
Just after the conversation ended, her father's personal terminal received a notification of a holographic call.
"Your Majesty, about what we discussed earlier—have you considered it? I've offered two planets' fifty years' worth of profits in starcoins to discuss this marriage. You can see how sincere I am."
"Patriarch Li, the children are still young. Let's wait and see…"
The two exchanged polite words for a few more minutes before ending the call.
Once the call was cut, Patriarch Li fumed, turning angrily to his son:
"What an old fox, using such a lousy excuse to stall. Who doesn't know he disdains that princess? He's clearly trying to drive up the price—greedy bastard."
"Father, there's no need to be so anxious. Perhaps one day my illness will recover."
But remembering the words of the best pharmacist in the Imperial Capital Star—Your son has been infected with the latest form of Zerg spiritual pollution. We cannot predict the exact consequences.
Li's father's heart ached for his once brilliant son. Forcing a smile, he replied:
"Fine. We won't rush. Let's wait and see."
In truth, in the previous lifetime, the Li family had not targeted the original host first—her aptitude was too poor to even be considered.
But in this lifetime, with the heroine's arrival and her relatively better talent, especially her high spiritual value, the Li family thought their children might inherit it. That was why Xie Xingyan became their first choice.