In the face of the throne of the vast Star Luo Empire, what did Zhu Zhuqing amount to?
Dai Mubai had never been a devoted person.
This was perhaps why for almost the same quest,
when placed on Tang San, the difficulty level was Nightmare,
but when placed on Dai Mubai, the difficulty level was only Hard.
Moreover, with Meng Bei's power, even if he gave nothing at all, Dai Mubai had no recourse.
Thinking of this, Dai Mubai quickly put away the spirit bone, as if afraid Meng Bei would go back on his word.
After securing the spirit bone,
Dai Mubai's face completely relaxed into a smile, and he cupped his hands toward Meng Bei, saying:
"Xiao Bei, nothing else to say—good brother, you're loyal!"
"Well, if there's nothing else, I'll be going. Don't worry about my sister-in-law—I'm a man of principles. I guarantee I won't touch her again in the future. I'm off! I'll treat you to dinner next time!"
With that, Dai Mubai strode away.
[Ding, side quest "Team Unity Crisis" completed. Rewards obtained: 50,000-year Dark Nether Demon Lion torso bone, 50,000-year Black Wing Blood Bat skull spirit bone.]
On the other side, after leaving Meng Bei's room, Dai Mubai suddenly felt his body relax, a surge of extreme comfort washing over him. His perception of the heaven and earth energy around him became extremely sharp, and his cultivation speed had actually doubled.
"This, this is!"
Dai Mubai felt as if he had opened the door to a new world.
Perhaps out of guilt, for the next few days after learning that Dai Mubai had returned, Zhu Zhuqing kept avoiding Meng Bei, not daring to have contact with him.
This made Meng Bei quite distressed.
How could the little kitten he'd bought with a whole spirit bone just go to waste like this?
So on this day, when Zhu Zhuqing was practicing alone at the training ground, Meng Bei blocked her path in advance.
Seeking excitement, Meng Bei deliberately didn't tell Zhu Zhuqing that he had bought off Dai Mubai.
This made Zhu Zhuqing very nervous.
"Don't, don't do this. Mubai has returned!"
Zhu Zhuqing said cautiously.
Meng Bei showed no concern, step by step blocking all of Zhu Zhuqing's escape routes. Under her nervous expression, he caught her in his arms.
Gently embracing her slender waist, Meng Bei's hand restlessly grasped her cat tail.
Zhu Zhuqing's face flushed red, and immediately her whole body curled powerlessly into Meng Bei's embrace like a little kitten.
"Don't, don't touch there!"
Zhu Zhuqing protested in a voice as faint as a mosquito.
Unfortunately, it was useless.
Meng Bei held Zhu Zhuqing's tail, pinching and rubbing it, unable to put it down.
It was much longer than Xiao Wu's, so it felt even better.
Meng Bei secretly evaluated in his heart.
Little did he know that Zhu Zhuqing at this moment was already trembling all over with shyness.
"Don't... don't touch it anymore~"
Zhu Zhuqing's voice trembled. Her large eyes like crystal grapes shimmered with moisture, her eyelashes fluttering lightly, making one unable to resist kissing her.
"Sister Zhuqing, your body is so soft—it feels so comfortable to hold you!"
Meng Bei praised.
Zhu Zhuqing's skin was as tender as a little girl's. Among all the girls Meng Bei knew, only Xiao Wu's skin was like Zhu Zhuqing's.
However, Xiao Wu differed from Zhu Zhuqing—Zhu Zhuqing was simply tender, while Xiao Wu was moist.
Although Qian Renxue's skin was as white as snow, it wasn't as tender as Zhu Zhuqing's.
Meng Bei always felt that with just a light suck, he could directly create a hickey.
It was precisely because of this tenderness that Zhu Zhuqing felt so comfortable to hold.
Leather clothing was normally a rather stiff material, but worn on Zhu Zhuqing's body, when Meng Bei pressed and rubbed through the leather, it actually highlighted Zhu Zhuqing's soft physique even more.
"Can we go back?"
Zhu Zhuqing said with pleading eyes.
Her two small hands tightly clutched the clothes on Meng Bei's chest, her whole person appearing pitiful, like a bullied little girl.
Meng Bei said: "No!"
He added:
"Sister Zhuqing has actually liked me for a long time, right?"
Zhu Zhuqing shook her head.
"No, before I only had some favorable impression—it couldn't be called liking!"
"Then what about now?"
"Now... mmm~"
Halfway through her words, her mouth was blocked again.
Zhu Zhuqing at this moment was really worried about being discovered by others.
But she had to admit, this was very exciting.
Suddenly, Zhu Zhuqing felt a coolness at her feet.
Meng Bei had taken off her shoes again,
capturing a pair of slender jade feet in his hands.
After a long while, their lips parted.
Zhu Zhuqing's eyes were hazy.
She carefully leaned against Meng Bei's chest.
"Your feet are so small!"
Meng Bei praised.
Zhu Zhuqing's face grew even redder. Blushing, she asked:
"Why do you like touching my feet so much?"
Meng Bei: "I like you, so I like everything about you."
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing was immediately deeply moved.
If it were Xiao Wu, she would have already been serving her lord by now.
However, the little kitten had a tsundere personality, so even though she was happy, she only kept it in her heart.
On the surface, she pretended to tease:
"Hmph, bad person, you used this same line to trick Rongrong, didn't you!"
Meng Bei smiled and said: "It was Rongrong who pursued me."
Zhu Zhuqing rolled her eyes. "I don't believe it."
Meng Bei said: "Really, do you remember? On the first day we teamed up for the two-person spirit fighting, actually at that time I already had a good impression of you. It's just that Sister Zhuqing seemed so aloof at the time, I didn't dare approach easily. Then on the way back after that battle, Rongrong stopped me and confessed to me directly."
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing was silent for a long time.
"If I had been the first to confess to you back then, would you marry me like you're marrying Rongrong?"
Zhu Zhuqing suddenly asked.
Hearing this, Meng Bei smiled and stroked Zhu Zhuqing's smooth black hair, saying:
"My silly kitty, even if you weren't the first to confess to me, I would still marry you just like I'm marrying Rongrong. Just give me some time—at most five years. I will definitely marry you witnessed by the entire continent."
"I believe you!"
This time, Zhu Zhuqing took the initiative to kiss him.
Meng Bei then picked up Zhu Zhuqing and walked toward his room.
Compared to Xiao Wu and Rongrong, Zhuqing surpassed them by far.
Oh right, the shoes—he needed to bring the shoes.
Time passed.
Of the three months until Meng Bei's originally scheduled wedding date, one month had already passed.
On this day, the imperial court was filled with intrigue and undercurrents.
Since Marshal Ge Long's death, a new imperial marshal had yet to be selected.
The reason for this was the powerful rise of the Crown Prince's faction.
Previously, due to Emperor Xue Ye's suppression, Xue Qinghe as Crown Prince had no participation in governance, no military command, and no marriage alliances. He had the title of Crown Prince but not the substance, and naturally there was no Crown Prince faction to speak of.
But after Meng Bei appeared, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect became deeply bound to Xue Qinghe. Around the matter of establishing Ning Rongrong as princess, a large number of nobles and officials who were already close to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect gathered, successfully forming the initial Crown Prince faction.
And with Marshal Ge Long's death and Emperor Xue Ye's loss of power, the various nobles and officials realized that Emperor Xue Ye was about to fall.
Moreover, Emperor Xue Ye was already advanced in years and didn't have many years left to live, so these noble officials naturally had to look out for themselves.
Thus, they all chose to pledge allegiance to the Crown Prince faction, and the Crown Prince's faction rapidly grew in power.
And without military authority, Emperor Xue Ye simply couldn't suppress this momentum.
Once this momentum began, it quickly became unstoppable. Even Ning Fengzhi was somewhat worried that Xue Qinghe's power was growing too fast and would no longer heed the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's orders.
It was Meng Bei who overruled all objections and strongly supported Xue Qinghe, preventing the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect from engaging in internal strife with him due to fear of Xue Qinghe's rapidly growing power.
And with Xue Qinghe's rapid growth in power, the matter of establishing Ning Rongrong as princess was put on the court agenda.
Now this matter of establishing a princess was no longer simply an internal problem of the royal family.
At a deeper level, it represented a power confrontation between the newly formed Crown Prince faction and the old emperor.
If the Crown Prince lost, it didn't matter—the Crown Prince was still young, with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect supporting him from behind. There would be plenty of opportunities to regroup in the future.
If Emperor Xue Ye lost, that was it.
Defeat would be like a landslide.
All those currently in ambiguous positions would quickly align themselves with the Crown Prince's side, and all that would await the old emperor was a slow death.
(End of Chapter)