Chapter 87: Your Highness, When Will You Take Me as Your Prince Consort?

Xue Chen took in all her embarrassment.

Hearing her words, he didn’t move.

“Whoever took them off should put them back on. Does Your Highness really intend to take full advantage and not take responsibility?”

“Xue Wuyin, you…”

She gritted her teeth and slowly looked up. At a glance, she saw the chest beneath his messy outer robe; it was different from the bony frame she had imagined. The muscle lines were smooth and firm, shedding the rawness of youth, yet not as exaggerated as a body cultivator’s. Lean, but hiding resilience.

It was exactly her type.

She grabbed the brocade quilt haphazardly and wrapped it around him.

“Done.”

The young man’s eyelashes trembled. “And then?”

And then what?

“And then I’m leaving first.”

She gave two dry laughs and bent down, trying to flee.

Xue Chen’s eyelid twitched. He wouldn’t stop until he achieved his goal. “Your Highness, when will you take me as your prince consort?”

“Ah, this…”

“Didn’t we not do anything?”

Xue Chen pulled open his inner robe, revealing the “marks” he had prepared. “Why don’t you take a look? What are these?”

Ning Shengsheng pinched herself. How could she go so crazy when drunk, hey!

“I…”

“I understand.” Xue Chen gathered his inner robe, got out of bed, and scooped up the outer robe from the ground to put on. “This subject can only petition His Majesty to make the decision.”

“?”

“Don’t! We can talk this out, let’s discuss it properly…” Ning Shengsheng jumped down and blocked him.

“This subject’s reputation is ruined. The only path left is to marry Your Highness. If the Princess tries to shirk responsibility or escape, I can only ask His Majesty and the court officials to seek justice for me.”

“I’ll take responsibility! I’ll take responsibility!”

Her head felt twice its size. At this moment, Ning Shengsheng was as helpless as a scumbag man caught in the act.

“Good…” Xue Chen curled his lips into a smile, hiding the calculation in his eyes even deeper.

“Your Highness isn’t in the peach forest.”

“We’ve looked everywhere except Hostage Prince Xue’s room.”

Outside the courtyard, Songgao and Zaoni’s voices rang out.

Oh no.

She comforted him: “This princess will definitely take responsibility, but first, help me fool Songgao and Zaoni into leaving.”

Xue Chen raised an eyebrow: “That works.”

Ning Shengsheng just let out a sigh of relief. The person opposite asked, “What’s the benefit? Your Highness isn’t thinking of getting this for free too, right?”

“Xue Wuyin, are you crazy?”

“Oh, I understand. Your Highness isn’t willing to promise anything, just like last night when you gnawed and bit me…”

“I’ll give it! I’ll give it!”

She glared at him. No matter how she looked at it, she felt that guy’s innocent face was hiding a belly full of bad intentions.

“Good, then you owe me.” Xue Chen smiled and turned towards the door.

Just then, a knock sounded.

“Hostage Prince Xue, do you know where our princess went?”

“She had a few drinks last night. Her Highness went towards Miss Yun’s courtyard. You should go look over there.”

“Alright, thank you, Hostage Prince Xue.”

Xue Chen turned back just in time to see Ning Shengsheng jumping out the window and running away. At first, he laughed quietly, but thinking of her panicked, desperate escape just now, his shoulders shook slightly. Seemingly unable to hold it in, a few hearty laughs escaped his thin lips.

Ning Shengsheng ran back to her own room. She hurriedly changed her clothes.

Sitting at the tea table, she pretended she had just returned from outside, cupping her chin with a face full of regret.

“Ning Shengsheng, oh, Ning Shengsheng. You gnawed and bit him, so how can you not remember a single thing?”

“What a waste of an opportunity.”

“If I get that drunk again, I should just beat myself to death.”

The system in her sea of consciousness hesitated to speak. It could interfere with Ning Shengsheng, but it couldn’t reveal what Xue Chen, the mission target, had done.

【Ding, you have a new email.】

A letter from headquarters?

It hurriedly opened the email. Inside was a short, terrifying line of text.

【Hello, System 666. After inquiry, the mission target you have accepted has been upgraded to S-rank. Danger warning!】

???

Before the system could howl at the heavens, another email arrived.

【The mission target has mutated on their own. Headquarters cannot interfere. Here is a lucky charm. We wish you a safe return.】

“…”

Its fate was as bitter as Ning Shengsheng’s. Two unlucky souls!

Ning Shengsheng didn’t know the system in her sea of consciousness had received such thunderous news. Besides, she didn’t have time to care.

She asked with trembling lips, “Sys…tem, are you there?”

The system was even more depressed than she was. 【I’m here.】

“Um, well… can I marry Xue Chen?” she asked cautiously.

The system glanced at the villain’s favorability, which had reached 300%, and Xue Chen’s side quest at 99%.

It glanced again at the plot mission in the top right corner.

It was covered by a massive red exclamation mark.

Damn it!

What is going on now? It’s all a mess anyway. Just leave it to fate and if we die, we die!

【Host, just do as you see fit.】

Ning Shengsheng: “?”

“Little System, you’re acting strange. What’s wrong?”

【Nothing.】

The system didn’t know what counted as completing the mission now, or even if it could return safely.

The key to the problem lay with Xue Chen.

Very few people accepted S-rank missions because they had no specific mission flow. Life and death were uncertain.

It was just a newly developed junior system. How did it run into this kind of thing?

“If something’s wrong, you can tell me. I’ll help you figure it out,” Ning Shengsheng comforted.

【I… I’ll organize my thoughts and tell you…】

The system had a headache. It couldn’t exactly say: Hello Host, our mission target has mutated, and our lives are hanging in the balance.

It wasn’t as heartless as headquarters.

“Okay, then figure it out and tell me.”

Before long, Songgao and Zaoni returned. “Your Highness, where did you go? We looked everywhere for you.”

Ning Shengsheng guiltily picked up her teacup and took a sip. “I got drunk last night and slept in the alchemy room.” She lied through her teeth.

After being served lunch, Ning Shengsheng relaxed under the willow tree in the courtyard.

“Junior Sister Ning~”

“Senior Sister Yun? Why are you here? Is Valley Master Yun alright?”

“Mm, fortunately Mother only lost some vitality. Shen Qinghe still had a shred of humanity.”

Yun Huaiyue sat on the reclining chair next to her. “Mother says we’re holding a banquet tonight to celebrate Hundred Herb Valley surviving this calamity. I came specifically to tell you.”

“Great!”

“Junior Sister Ning, I…” Ning Shengsheng looked sideways and saw sorrow in her eyes. “What’s wrong? Tell me about it.”

“Sigh…” Yun Huaiyue let out a long sigh. “Before, Hundred Herb Valley had Grandfather and Mother holding it up, and I had Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother protecting me. Every day, apart from refining pills, I had nothing to worry about.”

“Last night, while taking care of Mother…”

“I only found out that Grandfather failed his advancement five years ago and has passed away. Mother kept the news strictly secret, fearing that if word got out, cultivators blinded by greed would attack Hundred Herb Valley en masse. I never thought Shen Qinghe actually knew Grandfather was gone, which is why he dared to do so many evil things.”

“Now, Mother’s vitality is greatly damaged. I have to hold up Hundred Herb Valley and protect everyone.”

“But I…” Yun Huaiyue smiled bitterly. How could she do it?

“You can do it!”

The girl’s crisp voice was full of certainty. Yun Huaiyue opened her mouth in surprise. “An’an, why do you believe in me so much?”

“Senior Sister, you are already a 7th-rank alchemist at such a young age.”

“If you’re afraid Hundred Herb Valley lacks martial strength, you can cooperate with Great Ning and the Qingling Sect!”

“Hundred Herb Valley excels at alchemy, Great Ning at weapon refining, and Qingling Sect has the advantage in sword arts and formations.”

“We can benefit each other and stand together.”

“Who would dare cause trouble then?”

“You’re right. Due to the scarcity of spiritual energy, the major sects have clung to their own advantages and stagnated. If we act as mentors to each other like in the past and learn from each other’s strengths…”

“It might be possible for the cultivation world to return to a flourishing state.”

Yun Huaiyue’s eyes shone brilliantly. She hugged Ning Shengsheng and kissed her on the cheek. “An’an, thank you~”

After saying that, she ran out impatiently. Ning Shengsheng touched the cheek that had been kissed and giggled.

Under the shadow of the eaves, Xue Chen stared fixedly at the cheek Yun Huaiyue had kissed.

Those silent eyes shifted. Only when the girl turned around did he lower his eyes, his fingertips rubbing against the sharp thorns on the soft whip.

It hurt, but it was exciting. Ning Shengsheng seemed to sense something.

She turned back, only to see the red mole between the young man’s brows looking like poison-dipped rouge in the dim light.