In Douluo Continent, I am the mastermind behind the scenes.

Chapter 89. Orange realized the problem.

Xu Ming glanced in Dai Yueheng's direction, his gaze growing increasingly cold. He didn't mind the White Tiger Duke's Mansion cooperating with the Tang Clan, but he couldn't tolerate Dai Yueheng joining the Tang Clan. What? The Star Luo Empire isn't even destroyed yet, and your White Tiger lineage has already found a new home?

All traitors deserve to die!

After ordering his trusted confidants to escort Xuanzi away, Xu Ming regained his composure. He stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting towards Jing Hongchen and the others, and said with a smile, "I apologize for the commotion, friends from the Sun Moon Empire. Now... the troublesome person has been removed, and the competition can continue."

Upon hearing this, Jing Hongchen's face twitched several times. He had witnessed the subtle interactions between Xuanzi and a certain titled Douluo, and at this moment, he was somewhat unsure of what Xu Ming was plotting.

A distant source of water cannot quench an immediate thirst. If the Star Luo Empire were to mobilize its army and spare no effort to encircle and kill them, they might truly be buried in a foreign land.

Even if he was confident that the Xu family of Xingguan would not do something so self-destructive, with that old man Xuanzi stirring things up, the situation became uncontrollable.

Thinking of this, Jing Hongchen said solemnly, "Senior Xu, the Soul Master Competition has lost its original meaning. It doesn't matter whether we continue or not. Two months from now, the Spirit Hall will be officially established, and at that time... a grand opening ceremony will be held in Mingdu. Invitations will be sent to you all later."

After saying that, Jing Hongchen led a group of soul masters from the Sun Moon Empire away from Star Luo Square, leaving without a trace.

On the way, Orange, lying on the stretcher, had tears streaming down her face. She kept touching her belly and muttering "Han'er" over and over again.

Just then, Ye Xian stepped forward quickly, smiling, and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry, the little prince is fine and alive. I set up three barriers around the house where the little prince lives. Each time a barrier is broken, it will simulate signs of a miscarriage to interfere with the other side's judgment."

what?

Upon hearing this, Ju Zi immediately stood up from the stretcher, grabbed Ye Xian's collar, and shook her repeatedly.

"Why didn't you say so sooner? I cried like an idiot for so long, it was so embarrassing!"

Ju Zi wasn't the kind of woman who was unreasonable. After swaying around for a while, her anger subsided, and she lay back down on the stretcher, turning her head to the side and deliberately pretending to be angry.

With a soul over a hundred years old and a body only sixteen, Orange often displays somewhat childish behavior to conceal her identity as a reborn person.

Strangely enough, having been reborn, Ju Zi finds it hard to understand some of her previous actions. Given Xu Tianran's control over the Sun Moon Empire, even if he were impotent, he could still select one or more eligible members from the royal family to be adopted into their names as candidates for the crown prince of the Sun Moon Empire.

Xu Tianran, however, did not do that. Instead, he let Ju Zi conceive and have offspring. Perhaps... for a woman, a woman who is not a Soul Master, having a child of her own is such a happy thing.

What Xu Tianran thought in his past life is unknown. The Xu Tianran of the past life and the present life are completely different people. Ju Zi can't possibly ask the Xu Tianran of this life, "If you can't have sex, will you let her have a child through artificial insemination after you ascend the throne?"

That would be too embarrassing; Xu Tianran would probably think he's mentally ill.

She didn't want to know the truth behind this series of events; even if she did, it would be meaningless. She just couldn't understand why she, in her past life, would take Huo Yuhao's seed to replace the bloodline of the Sun Moon Royal Family and bear offspring.

Does she like Huo Yuhao?

Like? She wouldn't say she liked him that much. He was just a friend she got along with fairly well… no, not even a close friend. She couldn't understand why she, in her past life, had become friends with Huo Yuhao, a silly boy who would turn red in the eyes and pant like a bull when he encountered an enemy, and who was also from Shrek Academy. Would she risk getting herself involved… to be friends with a silly boy from Shrek Academy?

At first, Ju Zi couldn't understand her behavior in her past life. Later... she accidentally came across a storybook where most of the male protagonists were "naturally charming," automatically attracting beautiful female supporting characters...

Perhaps... Huo Yuhao is the so-called protagonist of a certain storybook, and the entire Douluo world is just a storybook world.

……

Meanwhile, in a dungeon in Xingluo City.

Xu Ming and Xuan Zi were drinking and chatting in the jailer's office. As the old gatekeeper of the Sea God Pavilion, he never gave face to the high-ranking officials of the three great empires, but Xu Ming was an exception. Among the well-known and powerful figures in the human world, apart from the Snow Empress, who was seven hundred thousand years old, Xu Ming was the most senior. Even Mu En and Long Xiaoyao would respectfully address him as a senior.

Xuanzi may disregard Xu Ming's feelings, but he has no choice but to give face to Mu En and Long Xiaoyao.

Even so, Xuanzi still expressed his dissatisfaction upon learning that the Star Luo Empire had not intercepted Jing Hongchen and the others. "Senior Xu, why didn't you intercept and kill Xiao Hongchen, Ma Rulong, Lin Yue, Qian Xunhuan, and the others? Do you know that even killing just one of them would have reduced the pressure on us on the battlefield in the future?"

Xu Ming said expressionlessly, "According to reliable sources, Jing Hongchen possesses a spatial magic artifact that seems capable of teleporting a group of people a certain distance. The Sun Moon Empire's Azure Wolf Legion is stationed on the border. If we rashly attempt to intercept them, regardless of success or failure, the Azure Wolf Legion will march eastward. Now is not the best time to start a war!"

"War is not child's play. As you can see, the Star Luo Empire is currently facing a generational gap. Can a man over three hundred years old and a young man in his fifties be expected to take charge of the overall situation with equal results?"

"I am old. If I were to come out of seclusion and personally lead the troops into battle, the world would only think that the Star Luo Empire is already in decline and can't even find a young man who can take charge."

"What if Jiu Jiu could stand alone, don armor, and lead the Star Luo Empire's army to resist the Sun Moon Empire's invasion?"

"Young people symbolize vitality, and also the hope of a nation and a power. In this world, there has never been a shortage of opportunists, all wanting to gain merit by joining the cause. Only when the younger generation of the three great empires grows up and lets them lead the direction of the war, while we old guys stay behind the scenes, will this war... have any hope of winning. Killing one Qian Chongxin will only result in thousands upon thousands more Qian Chongxin; simple interception is meaningless."

(End of this chapter)