After paying her redemption fee and leaving the Moon Beck Pavilion with Ni Xue, Bai Xiaofei headed straight to the Yun residence.

  The Imperial Guard had left with the princes the previous day. Moreover, they no longer needed any guidance from Bai Xiaofei. What they needed was time to grow.

  Meanwhile, Bai Xiaofei had something to do at the moment.

  “You still know how to come back?!”


  Tan Xin’s furious voice echoed from the distance as soon as Bai Xiaofei approached the entrance. However, when she rushed out to see him, her anger instantly became disgust.

  “Don’t you dare tell me she was bestowed to you by the emperor!” Tan Xin glanced at Ni Xue before shooting Bai Xiaofei a fiery glare.

  “Well… if I say yes, will you believe it?” Bai Xiaofei stuttered and awkwardly scratched his head.

  “You guess?” Tan Xin coldly uttered, her tone already giving him the answer.

  “Little sister, you are so cute! You must be very close with Xiaofei. Yes, the emperor bestowed me to him as a bribe. Don’t mind me, I definitely won’t affect your relationship. Besides, I can see that you haven’t done ‘that’ with Xiaofei yet, right? Maybe I can help you!” Ni Xue enthusiastically came up to Tan Xin with a barrage of temptation.

  Tan Xin froze. Indeed, her progress with Bai Xiaofei was a bit slow. If it weren’t for her thick face, high morale, and strong aura, she wouldn’t have been able to stay with him.

  “Don’t worry, as a woman, I know. I’ll teach you a few tricks and you’ll get him!” Ni Xue whispered to Tan Xin’s ear when she saw the latter look persuaded.

  They only just met! Seeing them getting close so quickly, Bai Xiaofei nearly fell on his knees. The world of women is so complicated!

  After half a day of silence, Tan Xin finally said, “Humph! The old man has been waiting for you for a while now!” With that, she turned around and walked ahead.

  Meanwhile, Ni Xue winked at Bai Xiaofei. Her nifty manner had put a wry smile on his face. What a tormenting little devil!

  “Let’s go, don’t let the old man wait.” Bai Xiaofei followed Tan Xin.

  N Xue, who thought she would see a delighted reaction from him, pursed her lips in annoyance.

  “Lil’ Brother, here you are!”


  In the living room, the Yun clan’s management, including Yun Lan, were all present. Not only that, Lan He had brought his Lan family members over.

  Seeing this grand scene, Bai Xiaofei understood.

  “Big Bro, don’t tell me you’re all waiting for me…” He was really a little panicked. Among the crowd in the room, no one was younger than him. Moreover, he was followed by Tan Xin and Ni Xue, both of whom seemed out of place.

  “Otherwise? You’re currently in an unusual position. Imperial Guard Overseer, isn’t it? That’s completely unheard of.” Yun Tianhe patted Bai Xiaofei’s shoulder with a smile so bright that people would think he himself was the overseer instead.

  “Enough, Tianhe. We have business to discuss with Xiaofei,” Yun Lan stopped Yun Tianhe and motioned Bai Xiaofei to sit down at the main seat.

  “Xiaofei, just this morning, both of our clans received a meeting request from all the five princes. We have been discussing their situation for a while without reaching an agreement on whom to support. If it were you, who would you bet on?” asked Yun Lan.

  Bai Xiaofei guessed this would happen, but he didn’t expect the five princes to move so fast.

  “Clan head, in fact, you know better than me in your heart, don’t you?” Bai Xiaofei replied.

  Hearing this, many shook their heads and sighed with pity.

  “The Imperial Guard will not side with anyone, I can guarantee that,” Bai Xiaofei added.

  Everyone’s eyes immediately brightened. They thought Bai Xiaofei had reservations about their clans, which would put them in a tight spot because the support of the Imperial Guard was too important to ignore. However, if the Imperial Guard remained neutral, the two clans would be in the spotlight.

  Meanwhile, Yun Lan asked in disbelief, “Why not?!”


  In fact, he worried that Bai Xiaofei had other plans.

  “I’m not staying in Ethereal. As a passer-by, I don’t need what you need. I’m just fulfilling the responsibility entrusted to me. Besides, I have another matter to deal with and I need the help of the Imperial Guard.”


  Not everyone understood what he was mentioning, but since he had already explained up to this point, they couldn’t ask anything else.

  “Xiaofei, who would you support if you were in our shoes?”


  It was Lan Qiushuang who asked, and her soft voice made Bai Xiaofei unable to refuse. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke.

  “If I were you, I would choose a person who has already stood in the position of the emperor when he deals with matters. Only such a person can lead Ethereal to continue to prosper. I also believe that you know who I mean.”


  He still didn’t say a name. After all, revealing this much was already unfair as the rule-maker of the game.

  “Alright everyone, no more questions. Xiaofei, go back to rest. You must be very tired,” Yun Lan directly stopped those who wanted to ask further and even helped Bai Xiaofei excuse himself.

  “Thank you, senior, I’ll be retiring.” Bai Xiaofei was relieved at the bottom of his heart.

  After he left, Yun Lan became the focus of attention.

  “Clan Master, do you have an idea?” someone asked.

  Yun Lan’s expression grew serious. “I have decided. The Yun clan will be supporting the First Prince!” Discussions immediately erupted, especially among the Lan clan members. Obviously, they had a different idea.

  “Brother Yun Lan, although the First Prince is the eldest prince and the son-in-law of the Imperial Preceptor, the Imperial Preceptor has not participated in court affairs for a long time. Interpersonal relationships not maintained by interests surely won’t come in handy at a time like this.”


  The speaker was the current clan master of the Lan clan and also Lan He’s eldest son, Lan Mingtang. He had thought of everything he could before coming to this discussion but failed to come up with a concrete plan, finding it difficult to decide among the five princes.

  “I believe in Brother Bai. If he said the First Prince is the best choice, I also firmly believe that he is!” declared Yun Lan, seemingly prepared to argue to the end.

  “I agree with Yun Lan!” suddenly said Lan He, who had been quiet so far.

  Hearing this, the buzz in the room died down.

  “We aren’t only choosing for ourselves, but for the whole empire. From this angle, the First Prince is certainly the best choice!” Lan He elaborated.

  With that, no one raised any more objections. The relationship between Lan He and the emperor was no secret in the imperial city, so his words were easily understood as the thoughts of the emperor. However, like Yun Lan, Lan He only said so because he believed in Bai Xiaofei, and they both believed that they did not misunderstand his words.

  Little did they know that Bai Xiaofei had never implied a specific person!

  “Who would you actually choose?” Tan Xin asked curiously.

  Bai Xiaofei smiled bitterly. “Actually, I don’t know. The five princes all have their own strengths. Moreover, since they have already reached an agreement, Ethereal won’t collapse no matter who wins in the end. It’s at most a matter of who can do better. As for which, no one will ever know unless the five of them take turns to rule for a period of time.”


  Tan Xin was amazed. “Then, why did you say that to them?! Even I thought you had chosen someone, let alone them!”


  Having expected her reaction, he explained, “As far as the understanding of those princes is concerned, the two clans definitely are much better than me. I only gave a reason to choose who is more suitable to lead Ethereal. I believe that with their influence, it’s not hard to smoothly get a prince to that throne.”


  Tan Xin nodded.

  “Let’s go, we have work to do.” Passing the topic, Bai Xiaofei headed straight into the city.

  “What work?” Tan Xin was puzzled again.

  “Human puppets.” The reply came not from Bai Xiaofei, but Ni Xue, who had been quiet.

  “Human puppets?!” Tan Xin looked at Bai Xiaofei. She didn’t really believe Ni Xue’s words, but Bai Xiaofei affirmed it, which made her dejected.

  I actually know less than someone who’s just appeared around him!

  “But there’s been no breakthrough. Don’t tell me that you got news during the past few days in the palace,” said Tan Xin, who refused to lose.

  Bai Xiaofei shrugged and shook his head. “Nope. I came into contact with very few people there, and among them, I don’t think anyone has anything to do with the human puppet matter.”


  As soon as he finished speaking, Ni Xue indifferently added, “It’s unrealistic to solve this matter at the moment. However, what we must do is ensure that no human puppets will jump out to interfere with the competition. That is to say, we need to guard against them for now.”


  Tan Xin stared blankly at Ni Xue. She… really just met Bai Xiaofei?!

  “Well, time to get to work. It’s gonna be a big project!”


  Ignoring the strange atmosphere between the women, Bai Xiaofei took a deep breath as he entered a big street, where Blackie jumped off from his shoulder…