After settling the matter of the spirit vein, Lin Zhengquan suddenly looked troubled, hesitating for a long time without saying a word.
Seeing this, Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly and asked, “If City Lord Lin has any difficulties, just say it.”
Hearing this, Lin Zhengquan seemed to have made up his mind and slowly spoke.
“The other day, my daughter was searching for spirit herbs and was trapped by an evil cultivator.
If not for Your Highness’s help, she might have been harmed.”
“As a father, how could I not understand my daughter’s feelings? So I wanted to take this opportunity to ask Your Highness a question.”
Lin Zhengquan steadied himself, his expression extremely serious, and asked, “May I ask if Your Highness is fond of my daughter?”
Xiao Minghuang had already planned to contract Lin Wanqiu and didn’t intend to let her leave her side in the future, so she nodded.
“Wanqiu is wonderful.
I like her very much.”
Hearing this, Lin Zhengquan was immediately overjoyed.
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
But before he could react, Xiao Minghuang continued, “The engagement between Wanqiu and me was arranged by our elders, not by our own wishes.
Since City Lord Lin brought it up, I’ll be frank.”
Lin Zhengquan was confused.
Did this mean she had an issue with the engagement? But wasn’t the Ninth Princess very satisfied with Lin Wanqiu?
Xiao Minghuang spoke slowly, “The engagement has been around for years, and few people know about it.
Neither Wanqiu nor I care much for it.
Let’s just let it go and never mention it again.”
Hearing this, the joy on Lin Zhengquan’s face suddenly froze.
After a moment, he realized what she meant and said in shock, “Your Highness means to annul the engagement?!”
Xiao Minghuang’s expression was calm as she nodded and said, “That’s right.”
In an instant, Lin Zhengquan’s face turned ugly, his mouth twitching, his eyes full of disbelief.
After a long while, he took a deep breath to calm himself before slowly asking, “Did my Lin family do something so disrespectful as to anger Your Highness?”
Xiao Minghuang frowned, looking puzzled.
“Why would City Lord Lin say that?”
Lin Zhengquan took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice steady.
“If my Lin family hadn’t offended Your Highness, why would you cancel the engagement?”
But Xiao Minghuang just raised her eyebrows, confused.
“I think the feelings between Wanqiu and me can’t be measured by a mere engagement contract.”
“Ah!” Hearing this, Lin Zhengquan was shocked, then laughed awkwardly.
“Your Highness really knows how to joke.
You almost scared me.”
But Xiao Minghuang didn’t think she was joking and said seriously, “Everything I just said is true.
The feelings between Wanqiu and me really can’t be measured by a piece of paper.
I’m not joking.”
“Yes, yes, I understand.”
Even though Lin Zhengquan was a seasoned man with deep experience, hearing such heartfelt words made his old face flush, not to mention these words were meant for his daughter.
He finally understood why his daughter couldn’t forget the Ninth Princess after meeting her just once.
After thanking Xiao Minghuang again, Lin Zhengquan hurriedly left the courtyard.
After leaving the courtyard and turning a corner, Lin Zhengquan smiled and said softly, “Wanqiu, did you hear everything Her Highness just said?”
As he finished speaking, Lin Wanqiu stepped out from the corner.
The pendant in her arms was a low-grade yellow-tier magic treasure bestowed by the Xia Emperor, able to conceal her presence so well that even those much stronger than her would have trouble noticing.
So, everything Xiao Minghuang said just now was from the heart, not influenced by her presence, and definitely not just for show.
Lin Wanqiu’s cheeks were slightly red.
She lowered her head and said softly, “I heard everything, Father.”
…
After Lin Zhengquan left, the courtyard returned to its calm.
Earlier, the reason Xiao Minghuang said those things was because she had already decided to contract Lin Wanqiu.
Once she became her contractor, she would never be able to leave her side, so she said that her relationship with Lin Wanqiu was far beyond what a mere engagement could define.
The reason she agreed to the martial arts competition wasn’t for the spirit stones, but because as her cultivation increased, the amount of spirit stones she needed for training grew rapidly.
The spirit stones and pills previously rewarded by the Xia Emperor had long been used up.
Even with the eight thousand she just received, plus the previous two thousand five hundred, it was just over ten thousand in total.
As for the Chen family head’s storage pouch, it was completely empty, probably used up in the last battle.
Such a number of spirit stones, if given away at once, wouldn’t yield much compensation.
If she could get ten times the amount, that would already be good.
A mere hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones would at most help her break through a minor realm.
And low-grade spirit stones had more impurities, so absorbing them would take even more time.
If she couldn’t secure a long-term source of spirit stones, her cultivation progress would definitely slow down.
What’s more, she wasn’t the only one who needed resources for cultivation—Ye Ruoshui and Lin Wanqiu also depended on her.
So, she needed a huge amount of spirit stones and pills—the more, the better.
As her thoughts turned, Xiao Minghuang muttered to herself, “Looks like I need to focus on nurturing Ruoshui’s alchemy talent.”
Ye Ruoshui had exceptional talent in alchemy.
On her first try, she could already refine pills with eighty percent purity.
Given time, she would surely become a master alchemist.
If Ye Ruoshui could produce pills steadily over the long term, then the resources they needed for cultivation would no longer be a problem.
Just the spirit stones earned from selling pills would be a massive sum, not to mention she had the system, which could double her compensation.
If she casually multiplied the pills she refined by ten, it would be a considerable profit.
Next, Xiao Minghuang took stock of all her resources.
“Just over ten thousand spirit stones, more than three hundred yellow-tier high, mid, and low-grade pills, fifteen spirit herbs, one Spirit-Nurturing Pill, one Essence-Replenishing Pill, a mid-grade yellow-tier long blade, and a few low-grade yellow-tier martial arts manuals.”
Among these, only the fifteen spirit herbs were system compensation; the rest could be given to Ye Ruoshui for compensation.
But now, besides Ye Ruoshui, she could contract a second girl.
“It’s time to contract Lin Wanqiu.”
Xiao Minghuang murmured to herself, then left the courtyard and headed straight for Lin Wanqiu’s place.
Knock, knock, knock!
Lin Wanqiu was sitting under the veranda, resting her chin on her hand as she gazed at the flowers and plants nearby.
Thinking of what Xiao Minghuang had just said, she couldn’t help but giggle foolishly from time to time.
Suddenly, she heard a knock at the door and went to open it.
Seeing the girl in front of her, dressed in bright yellow, with fair skin, beautiful features, and an elegant, noble air, Lin Wanqiu immediately thought of what she’d just heard and blushed.
Seeing Lin Wanqiu’s flushed face, Xiao Minghuang asked with concern, “Why is your face red? Are you feeling unwell?”
“N-no, it’s nothing.
Greetings, Your Highness!” Lin Wanqiu took a deep breath, composed herself, and curtsied respectfully.
Seeing this, Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly, feeling a bit displeased.
She still preferred the Lin Wanqiu from the cave on Tianshan, the one who was close and intimate with her.
Or the one who was full of confidence and never backed down in conversation.
Or maybe it was at last night’s banquet, when she appeared in a stunning dress and amazed everyone.
A confident girl always looks even more beautiful.
“Why be so formal with me? Just relax.”
If they could get closer, Lin Wanqiu would be more than happy.
She smiled sweetly, her charm on full display, and said in a coy voice, “Then Your Highness, don’t say I’m being disrespectful!”
Seeing Lin Wanqiu’s smile, Xiao Minghuang smiled too.
She squeezed the other’s soft little hand and said gently, “Not being so stiff with me is the greatest respect you can show.
We’ll be together for a long time, so why bother with all those formalities?”
Hearing the words “together for a long time” all of a sudden, Lin Wanqiu’s heart fluttered and her cheeks flushed red.
Her Highness was just too straightforward.
She kept saying such embarrassing things—how was anyone supposed to handle that?
After a moment, Lin Wanqiu thought of Ye Ruoshui, the little maid who seemed hard to deal with, and asked cautiously, “Your Highness, if you say things like this to me, won’t Miss Ye get upset?”
Hearing that, Xiao Minghuang looked a little puzzled and a lot surprised.
She asked, “Why would she be upset?”
