Douluo Continent: Dark Demon God Biao, inheriting the position of an evil god

That night.

The Empress arrived at the Princess's palace. As soon as she reached the door, she saw through the window that Xu Jiujiu was crying with tears streaming down her face. She looked so heartbroken.

She was still clutching a roughly made cloth doll, which was clearly shaped like a white tiger.

It was something her brother, Xu Jiawei, made by hand to amuse her when she was little, and it has been treasured ever since.

At this moment, the doll became a substitute for "Dai Yuntian," her neck being forcefully choked as she accused him with a thick nasal voice:
"Damn it, how dare you reject me in public? What's wrong with me, Xu Jiujiu? Am I not good enough for you even if I throw myself at you? Waaah... You bastard! You're blind!"

She looked nothing like the composed and dignified princess she was during the day; she was clearly just an ordinary young girl experiencing her first love but being cruelly rejected and heartbroken.

The Empress watched quietly from outside the door for a moment, feeling both amused and heartbroken.

She gently knocked on the door.

"Jiujiu, it's me. May I come in?"

A flurry of rustling sounds came from inside, followed by a long, choked-up reply, though the speaker tried to remain calm: "Come in, sister-in-law."

The Empress pushed open the door and entered. She saw that Xu Jiujiu had already hastily wiped her face with her sleeve and tried to turn her back, but her peach-red eyes and slightly trembling shoulders had already betrayed her.

The Empress walked to her side, not speaking immediately, but taking out a silk handkerchief and gently wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes: "Jiujiu, are you sad?"

"No!"

Xu Jiujiu immediately turned her head away like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her eyes reddening even more, but she stubbornly raised her chin: "How could I, the dignified Princess of Xingluo, be sad for a worthless man! I... I'm just angry! Yes, angry that he made us, the royal family, lose face in public!"

For a young girl in the prime of her life, being rejected like this is indeed very damaging to her self-esteem.

The Empress smiled gently and didn't point it out.

She gracefully sat down beside Xu Jiujiu and said softly, "Jiujiu, His Majesty just told me a lot. Would you like to listen?"

"elder brother?"

She was stunned for a moment, then seemed to realize something, her expression changed slightly, and she no longer cared about hiding her tears, she said urgently, "What did my brother say? Is he...is he going to take revenge on the Dai family? No! Sister-in-law, take me to see my brother!"

She knew her brother all too well.

He appears amiable, but in reality, he values ​​the royal family's reputation highly and dotes on his younger sister to the extreme.

After all, her parents died early, and her older brother raised her. As the eldest brother, he was like a father to her, and the relationship between the two siblings was no less than that between a father and son in other families.

She suffered such humiliation tonight, how could her brother possibly let it go?

But who is Dai Yuntian?

Those are the prodigies who may stand at the pinnacle of the continent in the future, or even touch the realm of gods!

Revenge against the Dai family?

Wouldn't that be planting the seeds of a huge disaster for the future Star Luo Empire?

Although she felt wronged and angry, she hadn't lost her temper. She immediately got up to find Xu Jiawei.

The Empress quickly reached out and pulled her back, saying gently, "Goodness, don't be anxious. Let your sister-in-law finish speaking. It's not revenge; on the contrary, it's a good thing. It could be a great thing for you and for the royal family."

"Good thing?"

After a long while, he was pulled back to his seat and looked at the Empress with suspicion, his tear-reddened eyes full of confusion.

Given what's happened tonight, what good things could possibly come of it?
The Empress began to speak slowly and deliberately: "Listen to me..."

After listening for a long time, her cheeks immediately burned: "Brother... he's being too... too reckless! Isn't he afraid of being criticized by historians and being called a tyrant?"

A law was enacted specifically for her; most people wouldn't even dare to dream of doing that.

The Empress looked at her, who was clearly moved yet worried, and secretly found it amusing.

Silly girl, your brother is probably grinning from ear to ear in the palace, and you're still worried about his reputation...

However, the Empress would never say these words aloud.

She just smiled gently and continued, "For you, your brother is willing to bear any infamy. Now, Jiu Jiu, the key lies with you. Tell your sister-in-law, after tonight, are you still willing to try to get close to Dai Yuntian again?"

A hint of hesitation appeared on her stunningly beautiful face after a long while: "I..."

From a purely intuitive perspective, she would be willing to get to know Dai Yuntian, after all, he is good-looking, talented, and has unparalleled strength.

Which woman wouldn't feel any attraction to him?
Otherwise, given her pride, how could she have acquiesced to her brother's arrangements, or even taken the initiative to curry favor at the banquet?

The problem was that the other party rejected her without any mercy, not giving her any face at all.

The embarrassment and shame I felt in public still sting my heart like needles when I think about it now.

How can you get her to set aside her princess pride and take the initiative to approach the man who rejected her again?

This……

The Empress saw her struggle, sighed softly, and spoke with the wisdom and comfort of someone who had been through it all: "Jiujiu, life only happens once, seizing the moment is more important than anything else..."

"The senior Bai Chenxiang from ten thousand years ago died alone and regretted his life because of a moment of anger."

That's right, according to the historical records of Douluo Continent itself.

Bai Chenxiang did not die of old age because Tang San was unwilling to take her to the God Realm.

Instead, it was deliberately changed to Bai Chenxiang having a conflict with Ma Hongjun, leaving in a huff for a while, and when she returned after her anger subsided, Ma Hongjun and the Shrek Seven Devils were no longer in Douluo Continent, but had gone to the God Realm.

Xu Jiujiu could understand what she meant, but she just couldn't get over it in her heart: "Sister-in-law...I..."

The Empress looked at her intently: "Life is full of regrets, like water flowing eastward forever. Some regrets are irreversible."

"Life's regrets flow endlessly like the eastward-flowing river..."

She repeated the words in a low voice for a long time, her delicate body trembling slightly.

She couldn't help but recall Dai Yuntian's composed expression at the banquet, and the fleeting tenderness in his eyes when he spoke of Zhu Lu.

I recalled his miraculous feat of turning water into ice without using soul power, and his composed quotations when refuting me...

How many men like him are there in this world? Is it really worth it to be embarrassed because of tonight?

So you give up completely, and then many years later, in the deep palace, listening to the legends of his fame that shook the continent and who might even ascend to the realm of gods, do you regret your stubbornness today?
Like that legendary white agarwood?
No… she hesitated for a long time, not wanting to do that.

But...should I take the initiative to...pursue him?

As a princess?
This……

Her inner pride and her yearning for the future were locked in a fierce battle, leaving her in turmoil.

"Emperor's sister-in-law..."

After a long while, she raised her head, her eyes brimming with tears, no longer tears of grievance, but of confusion and struggle: "I...I don't know...I need to think, to think carefully."

The Empress knew that she had said enough.

The seeds have been sown; whether they will sprout depends on Xu Jiujiu's own choice.

Pushing too hard may backfire.

She stood up and gently stroked the top of her head, which had been slumped over for a long time: "Alright, your sister-in-law won't pressure you. Think it over carefully, get some rest, and don't ruin your health. Whatever decision you make in the end, your brother and sister-in-law will always be on your side."

……

The next day, early in the morning.

Xu Jiujiu, disguised, appeared at the Duke of Youming's mansion.

She wanted to secretly observe Zhu Lu to see exactly where she had gone wrong.

I had no idea until I looked; I'd been following them all day.

After a long while, I returned home with a heavy heart.

She found the way Zhu Lu and Dai Yuntian got along to be quite peculiar.

She would be happy for half a day because of a candied hawthorn... that pure joy almost overflowed from her veil, infecting Xu Jiujiu in the distance.

She would also be upset because Dai Yuntian didn't get to eat the snacks she used to eat as a child...

Dai Yuntian would be overjoyed by the little cards Zhu Lu gave him, and occasionally he would show a troubled expression like an ordinary person, instead of the unapproachable, omnipotent genius he remembered from the banquet...

Their interactions were natural, intimate, and filled with small, genuine joys.

Without the constraints of royal rules, without the calculations and weighing of interests, there are only the most authentic selves of two young boys and girls.

These are things that I, who have lived in the seclusion of the palace since childhood, have never dared to think about.

So... this is what it means to like someone and be with them?
He returned home feeling utterly dejected and lost.

Without alerting anyone, she walked alone to the backyard of the princess's residence.

There, she and her brother Xu Jiawei planted a ginkgo tree when they were children.

Years have passed, and the saplings have grown tall and sturdy.

Just then, a cool autumn breeze swept by, and a ginkgo leaf with yellowed edges twirled and gently drifted down onto her shoulder.

She looked up and suddenly realized something.

She passed by here every day, never noticing that it had quietly blossomed.

At that moment, it was as if an invisible light had pierced through the fog and gloom in her heart.

Pick up flowers in the morning and evening.

Some things have changed and matured without you even noticing.

She stubbornly guarded her pride, calculating gains and losses, weighing the pros and cons, like guarding the most precious glass cup in the palace, afraid of even the slightest crack or imperfection.

But she forgot that feelings are not a transaction, and sincerity is not a calculation.

There is no such thing as true perfection in the world.

What Zhu Lu possesses is not a more noble status, not more profound knowledge, and perhaps not even a more beautiful face.

What Zhu Lu possesses is that unreserved and pure affection, the willingness to share the smallest joys, and the gaze that sees Dai Yuntian as "Dai Yuntian" rather than as a "peerless genius" or a "marriage partner."

And what about Xu Jiujiu?

From the very beginning, her "liking" was mixed with too many other things.

Royal responsibility, admiration for the strong, and even the desire to conquer.

What she wanted was the outcome of "Dai Yuntian becoming her consort," not "Dai Yuntian" himself.

No wonder... he refused so decisively.

He didn't hate her; he simply... clearly saw the impurities behind her "liking" her, and firmly protected his own pure "liking."

At that moment, the gloom on Xu Jiujiu's face seemed to be blown away by the autumn wind, and her eyes gradually became clear and enlightened, changing from confusion, loss, and resentment.

She gently picked up the fallen leaf from her shoulder, her voice firm:

"I don't want to regret it for the rest of my life like Senior Bai Chenxiang. I will never lower myself to the point of groveling and becoming a vase who only knows how to please him and loses herself!"

"What I want to do is be myself, the eldest princess of the Star Luo Empire, Xu Jiujiu. I want to make that 'like' as pure as the one between him and Zhu Lu, and not just about possession and weighing."

"Since you, Dai Yuntian, have rejected me today..."

She gently flicked the ginkgo leaf in her hand, watching it gracefully fall to the ground, a bright smile curving her lips.

"Then I'll make sure you think highly of me! You might even make you pursue me!"

"Not as Princess Xingluo, but as Xu Jiujiu."

PS: QReader says they'll collect it for a long time, and Qidian also has it, so I'll have to switch to collecting it. (End of Chapter)