Along the way, clear and pleasant laughter like silver bells would occasionally ring out from inside the carriage.
Qian Renxue was telling stories to Princess Xue Ke, and she actually brought out those stories that Jiang Chen had told her before.
However, she did not tell the sad and touching ones, this little loli would definitely cry her eyes out.
Jiang Chen and the others walked on both sides of the carriage, while Zhao Hu sat in the coachman's position, driving the carriage.
Jiang Chen felt somewhat depressed. He seriously suspected that Qian Renxue was taking revenge on him; otherwise, that comfortable driving position would definitely have been his.
After fooling around with Qian Renxue earlier, they had left without even eating lunch.
With his lowly status, once he entered Xue Xing Prince's mansion, there would surely be nothing for him to eat.
He was destined to go hungry for the whole day.
Xue Xing's residence was not far from the imperial palace. In less than half an hour, the Crown Prince's carriage arrived outside Xue Xing's mansion.
The mansion steward responsible for welcoming guests at the entrance was very perceptive. He recognized the Crown Prince's carriage at a glance and hurriedly came forward to greet them.
Qian Renxue gracefully helped the princess down from the carriage. She glanced at Jiang Chen and said gently, "Number Nine, put away your blade and follow this palace inside to offer birthday congratulations to the Prince."
"Yes, Your Highness." Jiang Chen removed his long blade and handed it to Zhao Hu beside him, then followed behind Qian Renxue and Xue Ke as he stepped into Xue Xing's mansion.
The waist blade was merely a symbol of status. In battle, one would basically use their own martial soul.
Removing the blade before entering the mansion was also a sign of respect for the Prince.
After all, this was the Prince's birthday banquet. Qian Renxue could not possibly bring all her guards inside; that would be disrespectful to the Prince. Qian Renxue naturally would not make such a small mistake.
Therefore, she only brought Jiang Chen with her, and she even instructed him to remove his waist blade. Presumably, Xue Xing would not say anything after learning of this.
The other guests were all led into the banquet by beautiful maids, while Qian Renxue was personally guided by the head steward.
Almost all the guests who had come to offer congratulations had already arrived. Qian Renxue could be considered late.
When they arrived at the banquet hall, the steward loudly announced, "Crown Prince, Your Highness, and Princess Xue Ke have arrived!"
All the guests in the hall turned to look outside, then stood up in unison. Xue Xing Prince, who was seated in the main seat, also rose.
"His Highness the Crown Prince."
"His Highness the Crown Prince."
...
Whether they were high officials or low-ranking ones, or even some wealthy merchants fortunate enough to be here, they all cupped their hands and bowed, smiling obsequiously in greeting.
Qian Renxue had a gentle smile on her face as she held her princess sister's hand, nodding occasionally, and followed the steward to the seat that had been prepared for them in advance.
Qian Renxue offered a word of congratulations to Xue Xing above, then took Xue Ke and sat down.
The table was filled with all kinds of pastries and fruits, which made Jiang Chen's mouth water, but he could only pretend not to see them and stood obediently not far behind Qian Renxue.
Qian Renxue was not the only one who had brought guards inside. Those high-ranking and powerful ministers whose status was not below Xue Xing's had almost all brought guards with them.
She beckoned to Jiang Chen and took out her birthday gift from her soul tool. It was a precious painting scroll, which she handed to Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen held the painting scroll and presented it to the head steward standing beside Xue Xing, then returned to a spot several meters behind Qian Renxue and continued to act as his own invisible man.
Xue Xing's expression looked somewhat weary. He had truly been tormented and mentally exhausted by recent events.
He unrolled the painting scroll that Qian Renxue had given and glanced at it. A hint of pleasant surprise appeared on his face. This was an extremely valuable famous painting. He had not expected it to be in the Crown Prince's collection.
Xue Xing cupped his hands toward Qian Renxue and smiled, "Thank you, Crown Prince."
Qian Renxue returned a refined smile, "You are too polite, Uncle Wang."
Then she continued, "Uncle Wang, why have I not seen my worthless younger brother? Has he still not arrived?"
Xue Xing's smiling face stiffened for a moment, but he quickly covered it up. He carefully observed Qian Renxue's face for a moment, then swept his gaze across the others in the hall before looking back at Qian Renxue and saying,
"Xue Beng came to my mansion to play two days ago and is still staying here. His body is somewhat unwell, and it is inconvenient for him to come out."
Xue Xing was certain that the mastermind behind the surveillance on him and the rescue of those two guards was present at the scene.
After speaking, he swept his gaze across the room once more, but found no one acting strangely. He could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.
Qian Renxue's gentle smile faded slightly as she asked with concern, "Has Xue Beng fallen ill? As his imperial elder brother, I should at least visit him."
Xue Xing's heart skipped a beat. This was exactly what he feared. Although he appeared friendly toward Qian Renxue on the surface, he was extremely wary of her in his heart.
He had already concluded that Qian Renxue was a ruthless person who hid a knife behind her smile. How could he dare let Qian Renxue get close to Xue Beng?
His mind stirred as he thought, "Perhaps the person monitoring me could also be this Crown Prince."
Maintaining the smile on his face, Xue Xing said, "There is no need to trouble the Crown Prince. Xue Beng's body is somewhat exhausted. He may already be asleep."
Qian Renxue smiled and said nothing more.
Jiang Chen stood there with his head lowered, but part of his attention was already on the little black bird.
Number Two was monitoring Xue Beng, while the little black bird's task was to get some of the powder from the Snow-Colored Swan Kiss onto Xue Beng's body.
A small black bird flew to the bottom of Xue Beng's window and searched for food on the ground.
Several guards glanced back and then ignored it.
At this moment, a pot of great tonic soup was delivered to Xue Beng's room. The soup was filled with many invigorating ingredients for male vitality. Under the gentle care of two young maids, it was fed into Xue Beng's mouth.
Xue Beng drank the tonic soup with a very pleased expression on his face. In front of the old soul master, his two hands began wandering over the bodies of the two young maids.
The two young maids looked rather delicate and pretty. They felt deep disgust toward Xue Beng in their hearts, but they did not dare to dodge those hands.
They allowed Xue Beng to make their faces flush red.
The old soul master frowned and secretly spat in his heart, "Incorrigible!"
In the blink of an eye, a whole basin of tonic soup had been drunk by Xue Beng.
The two maids hurriedly got up and escaped from Xue Beng's clutches.
At that moment, a small black bird flew in and flapped around on Xue Beng's body.
"Where did this beast come from!" Xue Beng cursed loudly and slapped the little black bird away with one palm.
He reached up and touched his neck. It had been pecked several times just now.
Seeing the bloodstain on his hand, his anger flared up instantly. He had actually been pecked and had broken the skin by a small bird.
However, when he turned his head to look carefully, the small bird had already disappeared.
"Retribution!" the old soul master thought to himself.
Several guards rushed in upon hearing the commotion. After learning that it was just a small bird that had startled Xue Beng, they all felt somewhat contemptuous in their hearts.
At that moment, a sudden change occurred.
As if he had been suddenly electrocuted, Xue Beng's entire body arched up. His eyes bulged out, and his expression became ferocious.
Immediately afterward, a shrill and miserable scream rang out. His hands began tearing at the clothes on his body and scratching his skin.
Xue Beng screamed continuously as his body struggled on the bed, his hands constantly clawing at his skin.
The old soul master's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly stepped forward to check.
The guards stationed outside the door also rushed in upon hearing the noise.
At this time, Xue Beng's fingernails had already torn through quite a bit of skin, and blood was flowing out.
"Quickly hold him down! He's harming himself!" the old soul master shouted.
The several guards did not dare to hesitate. Enduring their fear of the red spots, they jumped onto the bed and pinned Xue Beng down.
Xue Beng's strength suddenly became incredibly great. It was nothing like his previous weak appearance. He struggled wildly.
However, the difference in strength was huge, and four guards had already secured his four limbs.
The old soul master's expression was grave as he stepped forward and pulled open Xue Beng's upper garment.
"Hiss..." Everyone present could not help but gasp in shock. Looking at Xue Beng's body, their scalps went numb.
The four guards were so frightened that they nearly let go and wanted to flee from the bed immediately.
The old soul master reacted and roared, "Use ropes to tie up his hands and feet!"
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Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"Don't forget there are chapters available on Patreon."
"From Douluo to Godhood by Defy 30 Advance chapters."
"Douluo: Far North Invincibledo 30 Advance chapters."
"Douluo Peerless: Living as an Evil Soul Master 40 Advance chapters."
"Douluo Dalu 2:Peerless Tang Sect Dawn of Sun and Moon 40 Advance chapters."
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