What was the greatest problem standing before Qian Renxue right now?
Though she held the position of Crown Prince, there were increasing doubts about whether she was truly the best choice for succession. Many remained undecided, wavering in their support. And the root of all this did not lie in her capability or character, but in something far more… unusual.
She showed absolutely no interest in women.
As an undercover agent—someone relying on a Spirit Ability to disguise herself as the Crown Prince—Qian Renxue naturally could not indulge in pleasure or pursue romantic affairs. Yet to outsiders, this behavior appeared deeply abnormal.
It was one thing to not be particularly lustful—but to show no interest at all?
If you didn't like women, then liking men would still make sense. As long as you produced an heir, no one would care how you lived afterward. But here was someone who had grown up in the royal family, surrounded by luxury and exposed to every indulgence imaginable—yet even in his twenties, he had never touched either men or women.
Wasn't that… a problem?
The imperial throne was not just about power; it was about lineage. A Crown Prince incapable of producing heirs would be an immense disgrace. And Qian Renxue's behavior wasn't merely restrained—it was complete abstinence. Under such circumstances, it was only natural for people to suspect that "Xue Qinghe" might be… incapable.
This left Qian Renxue in an impossible position. She couldn't very well prove otherwise, and given her identity, any misstep—any sign of exposure or betrayal from those around her—could spell total disaster.
Over the past six months, Emperor Xue Ye's health had been steadily declining, which made him increasingly concerned about succession. He repeatedly urged "Xue Qinghe" to marry a Crown Princess and produce an heir, to prove there was no issue and to secure the future of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Qian Renxue had deflected again and again, but her evasiveness only deepened Xue Ye's suspicions. In the end, he secretly arranged for her to undergo a physical examination at the Nine Heart Begonia estate to determine whether there was truly a problem.
Naturally, Qian Renxue did not reveal everything. Speaking from Xue Qinghe's perspective, she simply emphasized that she was "devoted to state affairs and uninterested in romance, hence unwilling to marry."
Hearing this, Ye Renxin cast a somewhat peculiar glance at Chen Ming, who returned an equally odd look.
"Your Highness," Ye Renxin said carefully, "there may indeed be something wrong with your body. Just as Spirit Beasts have mating cycles, once a human body reaches a certain stage of development, it will naturally produce physiological urges. This is part of human reproduction—an instinct."
"Your Highness, your lack of desire… may indicate an underlying issue." He coughed lightly, then shot Chen Ming a meaningful glance.
Taking the hint, Chen Ming quietly left the room, closing the door behind him.
"Senior Ye, I really am not—"
"Your Highness, this is something I can treat."
"I truly am not—"
"But I truly can—"
With Chen Ming gone, Ye Renxin and "Xue Qinghe" fell into an increasingly awkward back-and-forth. Ye Renxin insisted that this was a minor condition and entirely treatable, while Qian Renxue could only repeatedly insist that there was nothing wrong with her in the first place.
Chen Ming sat on a stone bench in the courtyard for a full hour before "Xue Qinghe" finally emerged from the room, looking somewhat disheveled. Upon spotting him, she hesitated briefly before walking over and taking a seat beside him.
"Viscount Chen, it has been several months since we last met. I didn't expect that you would take Poison Douluo as your master, and even come here to study medicine under Senior Ye Renxin. During our earlier conversation, I also heard Senior Ye speak highly of your learning ability and medical skill."
"Word is spreading wildly throughout the city—people are saying that Viscount Chen is the most talented individual our Heaven Dou Empire has seen in the past hundred years."
"It seems that such claims are not without basis. Whether in terms of Spirit Power, Martial Soul cultivation, or other aspects, Viscount Chen's talent truly surpasses that of ordinary people."
As Qian Renxue looked at Chen Ming, her desire to recruit a genius like him quietly rekindled. Despite her earlier embarrassment, she still wanted to seize this opportunity to bring him into her fold.
"Thank you for Your Highness's recognition," Chen Ming replied politely, offering no denial of his talent whatsoever.
That response, however, left Qian Renxue slightly uncertain.
Under normal circumstances, wouldn't most people show at least a bit of humility? Could it be that he truly believed himself to be the greatest talent the Heaven Dou Empire had seen in a century?
…Then again, for a young genius, a bit of pride was only natural.
Born a commoner, and in just a few short years after awakening his Martial Soul, he had achieved what most people could never accomplish in a lifetime. With such accomplishments, some arrogance was to be expected.
"I wonder, Viscount Chen, have you made any new inventions or creations over these past few months? The power of the crossbow has already been proven in such a short time—troops of the Star Luo Empire have even suffered minor losses because of it."
"Unfortunately, due to poor discipline within our own military, crossbows were smuggled into the Star Luo Empire. Now their forces have begun equipping them as well…"
Qian Renxue had only intended to find a topic to continue the conversation, but once she started, her frustration surfaced uncontrollably.
The internal environment of the Heaven Dou Empire was simply too flawed. Although strict measures had been taken on the battlefield—destroying or recovering crossbows from fallen soldiers to prevent enemy study—the rot within the military had still found a way through.
Corrupt elements had sold the weapons at a "high price." Once the Star Luo Empire obtained prototypes, they sent them to Gengxin City to be dismantled by master blacksmiths, quickly beginning mass deployment of handheld crossbows among their troops.
The result was immediate. The Heaven Dou Empire, which had only just begun to gain a slight advantage in small-scale conflicts, was once again pushed back into a disadvantaged position.
And because handheld crossbows and siege crossbows shared similar underlying principles and structures, the Star Luo Empire had even begun manufacturing large-scale ballistae for military use, placing even greater pressure on Heaven Dou's forces.
"Your Highness," Chen Ming said calmly, "if your military cannot maintain secrecy, then no matter how sophisticated a device I create, it will eventually fall into the hands of the Star Luo Empire. Rather than strengthening your enemy by allowing them to replicate increasingly advanced weapons, it would be better to address the internal problems within your army."
"The issues within the military are not something that developed over mere decades—they are the result of centuries of accumulated problems. Now they've grown too entrenched to fix easily. What can I, as Crown Prince, possibly do?"
Qian Renxue had played the role of Xue Qinghe for so long that she had spent more years as him than as herself, the young master of the Spirit Hall. Even knowing it was all a disguise, she still felt a genuine frustration toward the state of the Heaven Dou Empire—a mix of sorrow for its misfortune and anger at its failures.
She had once tried to reform the military, but in doing so, she had threatened entrenched interests and was met with resistance from powerful military families. Even now, her relationship with Ge Long, the empire's highest-ranking general, remained tense.
With no better options, she could only work to win over regional forces and smaller military families, building her own support base.
"…I wonder, Viscount Chen, do you have any new inventions or ideas?"
"Yes," Chen Ming replied evenly. "I do."