"I thought at least you’d be angry or upset."

Tianyan looked at his calm eyes, somewhat displeased, and said, "Your reaction is really uninteresting."

Xu Yuan exhaled a breath, helplessly asked:

"So you threatened the entire delegation not to report it and instructed Bai Zhao not to mention it, just to make me anxious?"

Tianyan closed his eyes and turned away, his long eyelashes trembling:

"Humph."

"...."

Xu Yuan opened his mouth but then closed it, speechlessly watching the young girl.

Silence fell over this side.

On the other side, Bai Zhao, who was kneeling, began to sweat profusely.

Even though he had the excuse of the mistress’s request for explanation, at this point, any reason was just an impotent excuse.

The crime of deceiving the monarch is no joke, especially such a cover-up involving an assassination attempt on a delegation.

After much hesitation, Bai Zhao chose silence.

If the lord were to settle this, explanations wouldn’t matter, and if he wasn’t, then it didn’t need to be mentioned.

Thinking optimistically,

In a way, being part of the lord and mistress’s play could be seen as a sign of favor?

In the silence, Bai Zhao heard a breath, followed closely by Xu Yuan’s characterization of the entire incident:

"Though there are reasons, it is also true that there was no report, punishable by a year’s salary as a warning."

Xu Yuan knew this was Tianyan’s fault.

Neither Li Qingyan nor Ran Qingmo would make such a mistake, but precisely for this reason, she was Tianyan.

Thud.

Bai Zhao heavily touched his head to the ground:

"Thank you, young master."

"Go on."

"Yes."

"..."

Bai Zhao left, the door closed, leaving only the two of them in the elegant room.

Xu Yuan also stood up from behind the desk, teasing in a mocking tone:

"See, because of you, people worked for nothing for a year. In the future, don’t do this again; Bai Zhao has it tough too."

Tianyan pouted, still turned away, with no intention of admitting fault in her words:

"Isn’t this the punishment you gave?"

Xu Yuan walked over, sighing:

"Now you’re practically a half-ruler of Jiatiange, if the subordinates lie about big matters, shouldn’t they be punished? If I don’t punish him, should I punish you?"

Tianyan’s golden eyes glanced sideways at him, her voice slightly lowered:

"Tch, whatever you say, after all, you’re Lord Han King now, do you want to punish a common woman? Can’t she only accept?"

"Oh?"

So that’s where she was waiting for him.

Xu Yuan realized.

Thinking about it, it’s been nearly a year since they last met.

This Washboard Saintess’s hobby seems never to have changed.

Walking closer, Xu Yuan slightly bent down, hooked his arms around the leg dangling in the air, using a bit of force to lift her up horizontally.

Tianyan’s beautiful eyes widened slightly, starting to struggle in his arms, her bare toes slightly curling, shaking constantly:

"It’s still daytime, what are you doing?!"

The struggling was intense, causing the smoke column from the incense burner in the corner of the elegant room to sway, had it been the Soul Condensation period, he might have died, but now.....

With a little force in his hands, Xu Yuan effortlessly held down the girl’s struggles, walking towards the inner room while laughing:

"Have we done so few lustful things in the daytime? Today, I just happen to have time."

As his words fell,

filaments of blood-colored fungus mats silently seeped from the ground, covering the windows and doors, moments later the entire elegant room was sealed airtight, with only the sound of the girl coming continuously from the inner room.

"Get off me, Xu Changtian!"

"Don’t say that, I didn’t mean that at all...."

"I said I don’t want to!"

"Don’t... don’t tear my clothes, I’ll do it myself."

"Are you crazy, I said I’d take them off myself!"

"Be gentle.."

"Ah..."

"Mhm~"

"Wait... wait a minute, aren’t these fungus mats on the wall your spellcraft?"

"Why do you need to cultivate?"

"Wait.. wait..wait! Xu Changtian, what are these ’muscle tendrils’?!"

"Sealed... mhm.. mhm...."

"..."

"..."

"..."

An hour later, the battle ended.

The girl’s face, flushed, lay prone on the bed, burying her face into a pillow without uttering a word, occasionally glancing sideways at the young man leaning against the bedhead, browsing documents.

Finally,

Xu Yuan couldn’t stand this "sneak peeking" anymore, turning his eyes sideways and chuckling as he asked:

"What’s the matter?"

Tianyan sat up, pulling the silk around her jade-like skin, glaring disdainfully at him:

"Nothing, just never realized you were such a pervert before."

Xu Yuan smiled, put down the documents, leaned close to her ear, seeing her earlobe instantly flush crimson.

Still sensitive.

Amused, Xu Yuan whispered:

"If I’m a pervert, what does that make you enjoying it?"

Tianyan’s petite body trembled slightly, curling her legs up, burying her head in them, muffledly said:

"...who enjoyed it, isn’t it because you forced me."

"Alright, alright, it’s me, it’s me."

Xu Yuan chuckled, creating a bit of space, cleared his throat, and asked seriously:

"Okay, I have something serious to discuss with you."

Tianyan let out a small sigh of relief in her heart, looking up at his serious expression, asking:

"What is it?"

"Next time, don’t suddenly enter the State of Divine Nothingness halfway through."

"...."

In the first second, her eyes appeared dazed, as if not understanding.

In the second second, her eyes widened slightly, shame and anger spread, a rosy red quickly engulfing her entire face starting from her earlobe.

In the third second,

She kicked Xu Yuan’s face.

After crashing through a wall, Xu Yuan crawled up from the ground looking somewhat disheveled, and rubbed his cheek while coughing lightly.

Through the hole in the wall,

Tianyan glared with her beautiful eyes, speaking each word with emphasis:

"You, pervert."

Xu Yuan’s stern expression didn’t change:

"So what is your answer?"

Thud!

The pillow smashed into his face.

Then came the memorial he had just put down, an incense burner, a nightstand, and the bed...

...

...

After the commotion, the two dressed tidily and left Mo Ying Pavilion heading toward the Inner Courtyard.

Xu Yuan walked expressionless in front.

Tianyan followed with a cold face.

The surrounding people knelt and saluted when they saw the two of them.

Xu Yuan tried to break the silence, but he seemed to have pushed her too far earlier, and Tianyan did not respond to him.

However, it did not affect his good mood.

Since assuming power, he had not been this happy before, as if he were a normal young man engaging in romantic banter rather than a machine dealing with national affairs.

But happiness is always fleeting.

Xu Yuan still brought the topic back to business:

"Can you tell me the details of the assassination?"

Tianyan finally responded.

Though she was sulking, it was different when it came to official matters. Her words remained cold, spoken in the tone of Bing Touzi:

"It was done by the Sect Alliance."

"The Sect Alliance...."

Xu Yuan pondered for a moment and then asked, "Could it be the Heavenly Master Mansion?"

"It shouldn’t be; I know the person, the Valley Master of Sealed Fire Valley in Jingzhou. The Heavenly Master Mansion should be trustworthy."

"I see, thank you."

With that, the two fell silent again.

The rebuilt Prime Minister’s Mansion was not much different from before, the large lake in front of the Inner Courtyard remained still, as they walked by, leaving two trails of footprints on the snow by the lake.

The breeze brushed past, the world was vast, ripples arose on the lake, and the footprints were soon covered by snow and vanished.

He brushed away the white snow from the young girl’s hair, pushed open the door, and walked into the Inner Courtyard, which was not desolate but lacked the usual bustle.

Xu Changge and Xu Xinyao had moved out in small half a year ago.

Bi Wang, the elder brother, as usual, left with a sentence "I’m going to stay at the Sword Pavilion" and never returned to the Inner Courtyard.

He spent all day at the Sword Sect practicing swordsmanship with his uncle, though Xu Yuan probed and estimated Bi Wang secretly went to the Heavenly Master Mansion several times.

Little Four didn’t explicitly state moving out, occasionally returning, but mostly stayed at the Sky Science Mansion.

Oh, the merger of Geometry Institute and Tian’an Martial Hall was completed, and the resulting institution was named Heavenly Craft Mansion.

Xu Xinyao is now presiding over three major projects, including the Soul Ring, there, and it is unknown if she would return home after finishing them.

The two walked like this.

Suddenly,

Tianyan broke the silence with seemingly out of place words:

"I heard from Ran Qingmo."

"Heard what?" Xu Yuan asked.

Tianyan lowered her gaze onto the snow beneath her feet:

"About you helping him, your promise to him, and... your actions at the Sword Surrender Sect."

Xu Yuan pondered for a moment and then said softly:

"If it were you, I also....."

"I am not as foolish as Ran Qingmo, such words are useless on me."

Xu Yuan: "..."

Only that, not cute at all.

She was too familiar with his tactics.

Tianyan snorted lightly, then spoke in a low voice:

"I don’t understand why you did that, your lifespan approaches infinity. Agreeing to the Sword Sect’s conditions would clearly benefit the world more."

Xu Yuan was silent.

He knew what she meant.

Accepting the Sword Sect’s surrender conditions to end the war quickly made sense, his words in the Sword Sect’s hall had flaws.

The Sect Alliance is not an entity but a union of thousands of sects, when the Imperial Court’s iron cavalry knocks at the Xiang family door, each sect’s surrender conditions could differ.

Moreover, this is war, even if the defeated side cannot be completely liquidated, it would surely pay a heavy price.

By then, the Imperial Court would have too many means to restrain the Sect Alliance, being in an absolute advantageous position. So many things could be done.

Not to mention the most crucial point,

The leader of the Imperial Court,

Xu Yuan,

his lifespan approaches infinity.

His power and prestige would accumulate over time.

By then, as long as he is there, amid the internal struggles of power, the Sect Alliance would inevitably disappear in the river of history— in a milder way, in a way without innocent lives sacrificed.

Seeing he said no more, Tianyan inexplicably felt a bit of heartache, murmuring:

"If you don’t want to talk....."

"There’s nothing I can’t share with you, I.. just don’t want to become the next Tian."

In her gaze of astonishment, Xu Yuan smiled and said:

"Don’t look at me like that, I’m not a Saint. It’s just my selfishness, not becoming a being like Him, I can only implement my path in a more extreme way, and such a path can only be quickly realized in war."

Tianyan listened carefully, pursed her lips, and said:

"This path of yours should... not only realize the unification of the world."

Xu Yuan raised his eyes to the sky, where the dark clouds whirled and white snow descended:

"I personally refused to become His successor and ended the order He created, so naturally I must provide a new order to keep the world moving forward."

In the silence, they walked a distance,

Xu Yuan suddenly noticed his arm was being linked.

Tianyan hooked onto his arm, leaning her head, and said softly:

"Hmph, seeing you have it tough, I’ll forgive you this time."

Xu Yuan turned his head with a smile, suppressing the urge to say something cheeky, enjoying this warmth as they walked forward.

The two walked past the study,

past the corridor,

into his courtyard,

Then,

He saw Ran Qingmo and Tian Ye sitting in the yard.