Capítulo 845: Chapter 842: The Ever Forbearing Emperor Xue Ye_1
Time flew by, and Xu Ran had been back in Tiandou City for three days already.
Bringing so many people back with him, naturally, Zhu Qing and the others gave him an earful.
However, after Xu Ran shared some of his experiences on Sea God's Island, including fighting the Sea God and Tang San, killing the Sea God, and beating back Tang San, their grievances towards him dissipated upon hearing his story, leaving only deep concern.
Xu Ran's standing had become something they could no longer even imagine.
Now, Xu Ran's enemies were the lofty gods themselves.
Facing the oppression of the Divine Realm, Xu Ran had to tread on thin ice every single day.
Thinking of this, they were filled with nothing but endless affection and pity for Xu Ran, and no longer blamed him for his dalliances outside.
In truth, they all knew Xu Ran's character. He was not the type to sit still. To really expect Xu Ran not to indulge in flirtations outside was impossible; they could not control him, and even if they were unhappy, that was just how things were. Better to be happy about it than not.
Besides, Xu Ran had brought them all back with him.
The identities and appearances of those people were not inferior to theirs.
They should focus on increasing their own competitive edge. They couldn't let others take Xu Ran from them.
During the time Xu Ran was away, a lot had happened on the Continent.
Perhaps the most significant event was Emperor Xue Ye recognizing the impostor Xue Qinghe, prompting the Soul Hall to voluntarily withdraw its forces from the imperial palace of the Tiandou Empire.
And what surprised Xu Ran even more was...
Emperor Xue Ye had actually known for a while that Qian Renxue was impersonating Xue Qinghe. It's just that at that time Emperor Xue Ye intentionally turned a blind eye.
If he had directly captured Qian Renxue, it would have provoked an immediate retaliation from the Spirit Hall against them. The Tiandou Empire would have been suppressed as surely as a bird that sticks its head out.
Therefore, Emperor Xue Ye pretended to be oblivious while knowing full well, even forcibly swallowing the poison that Qian Renxue had prepared for him. He did all this to avoid exposing the situation and followed the plans of the Spirit Hall, enabling them to continuously delay.
Because if they knew they couldn't undermine the Tiandou Empire from within and easily bring it down internally, Spirit Hall would prefer to unify the Continent sooner and proceed with overt force.
At least this way, they could keep dragging things out.
When Xu Ran found out about all of this, he was stunned.
Fully aware that the Spirit Hall was administering a slow-acting poison to him every day, Emperor Xue Ye did not hesitate and swallowed it down.
Such boldness, as a sovereign of a nation, truly was awe-inspiring.
At least, Xu Ran felt that he definitely could not face all of this with the same equanimity.
However, Emperor Xue Ye did indeed hold out until an opportunity arose. In the original story, he waited until Tang San rose up, causing the Spirit Hall's plans to unify the Continent to crumble.
And now, Emperor Xue Ye was waiting for Xu Ran to confirm his relationship with Xue Ke.
After Xu Ran and Xue Ke confirmed their relationship, Emperor Xue Ye revealed everything and drove all the people placed by the Spirit Hall in the imperial palace of the Tiandou Empire away.
Xu Ran felt like this was straight out of those ancient costume melodrama TV shows.
Art often imitates life.
For Emperor Xue Ye, he truly did the best he could. Otherwise, if he had just turned against Spirit Hall outright, Bi Bidong's plan to unify the Continent would have been accelerated, and at a time when there were no gods on the Continent, unity under the Spirit Hall would have been inevitable.
"Indeed, these struggles between family and state are truly terrifying. Full of cunning and intrigue," Xu Ran thought to himself, expressing his helplessness.
Xu Ran had had limited contact with such intrigues all along.
His approach had always been to break all spells with sheer force.
No matter how much scheming there is, it is all worthless in the face of raw power.
But how many people are like Xu Ran? Most people have limited talents, and to gain greater power, they need to engage in deception and struggle.
"Xu Ran, did you know all along about Soul Hall planting undercover agents in the Tiandou Empire?" Zhu Zhuqing looked at Xu Ran, recalling how he often hadn't returned home at night, using the excuse of discussing national affairs with Xue Qinghe.
Back then, she had some doubts; how could Xu Ran so readily go off to discuss state affairs?
Xu Ran definitely wasn't the kind of person who worried about the Continent's situation.
Now she understood.
Xu Ran must have gone off to mingle with the person impersonating Qing He.
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing's scrutinizing gaze, Xu Ran felt a bit guilty and offered a sheepish smile. Thankfully, Zhu Qing and the others didn't scold her for being fickle-hearted.
"The person who impersonated Qing He was Qian Renxue. At that time, I was going to find Qian Renxue," Xu Ran said. Although Zhu Qing and the others had already begun to suspect, he had yet to formally introduce them to his relationship with Qian Renxue and the others.
Now was a good opportunity to sort it out for them.
"Ah? The Young Master of the Spirit Hall, Qian Renxue?" Zhu Zhuqing's black eyes widened.
At that moment, she understood.
No wonder Xu Ran was so happy back then, as if he had forgotten all his troubles.
A Young Master of the Spirit Hall had a status and beauty that was somewhat higher than theirs.
"Right. But compared to our Zhu Qing, Qian Renxue is far inferior. In my eyes, Zhu Qing, you are the most beautiful," Xu Ran said and didn't forget to throw in some flattery.
"Don't start with that. Don't think I don't know you. There's not a word of truth in your mouth. Especially these compliments, I don't believe them at all," Zhu Zhuqing retorted with a blush, taking Xu Ran's words with a pinch of salt.
But deep down, she liked it when Xu Ran spoke like this.
"So, at that time, you were together with Qian Renxue?"
"And then when we went to Spirit City to compete in the academy contest, you got to know Hulena and Bi Bidong. I'm right, aren't I?" Zhu Zhuqing was smiling brightly as she looked at Xu Ran.
They knew about Xu Ran's relationship with Bi Bidong and the others after the academy contest.
They weren't surprised by this outcome.
In fact, they weren't just not dissatisfied; they were actually relieved.
Although the Spirit Hall had deep-seated enmity with many powers on the Continent, no one knew what the outcome would be if they were enemies with the Spirit Hall.
If they could achieve peace on the Continent, it would be a good outcome for everyone there.
The truth was, the situation on the Continent had been stable for thousands of years, and everyone had grown accustomed to this stability, losing their drive for progression.
Characters like Bi Bidong, who wanted to unify the Continent, were ultimately in the minority.
The majority only wished for peace on the Continent.
This also aligned with Xu Ran's thought. Xu Ran wanted to establish a federative nation, which wouldn't greatly impact the layout of the major powers.
"Stinky Xu Ran. You've done one good deed. If you can achieve peace on the Continent, we'll let your philandering slide," Zhu Zhuqing said, wrinkling her delicate nose. Achieving peace on the Continent was a meritorious deed that would stand the test of time.
Moreover, Xu Ran had the ability to bring different major powers together, setting aside past grievances.
In time, everyone on the Continent would sing praises of Xu Ran's merits.
"I pursue women only for the peace of all humanity," Xu Ran said with a laugh.
"You're just full of yourself!"
"By the way, when are we going back to Xingluo City? Now that you don't need to take the Dai family's forces into consideration, you can't continue to neglect sister," Zhu Zhuqing said with a chuckle.
She wanted to bring sister over. That way, she wasn't afraid of combinations like Xiaowu and Ah Rou anymore.
If they liked to fight with combo moves, she naturally needed to call her sister to help out.
Hmph, they were the first two to fall in love with Xu Ran. She didn't believe they were inferior to anyone else. Together, they would certainly carry more weight than the others.
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