Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

Qian Renxue put down the memorial in her hand, stood up, walked to the tea table next to her, and personally poured two cups of tea.

"Please sit down, teacher."

Ning Fengzhi did not stand on ceremony and sat down at the tea table.

Gu Rong stood behind him, without sitting down.

Qian Renxue glanced at Gu Rong, said nothing, and pushed the teacup in front of Ning Fengzhi.

"Teacher, you've come to the palace today to discuss the matter of choosing an empress, haven't you?"

She got straight to the point, without beating around the bush.

Ning Fengzhi picked up the teacup, took a small sip, and then put it down.

"Since Your Majesty already knows, then I won't beat around the bush."

He looked at Qian Renxue with a calm and serious gaze.

"Your Majesty, it is inappropriate to make Queen Eva your queen."

Qian Renxue leaned back in her chair, her hands folded on her knees, and looked at him.

Why is it inappropriate?

Ning Fengzhi was silent for a moment before slowly speaking: "Your Majesty, Queen Eva is the widow of the late Emperor. If Your Majesty makes her Empress, what will the court officials think? What will the people of the world think? How will future generations evaluate Your Majesty in the annals of history?"

Qian Renxue's expression remained unchanged: "Teacher, I have said before that I have no blood relation with Queen Eva."

“But she is His Majesty’s mother.” Ning Fengzhi’s voice remained calm, yet carried an undeniable firmness. “Her status has been established, and the established moral order has been maintained. What His Majesty wants to change is not just a title, but the perception of the people.”

He paused, then continued, "Your Majesty has just ascended the throne; stabilizing the people's hearts should be your priority. This incident has shaken the court and caused widespread anxiety. Isn't Your Majesty afraid that someone might take this opportunity to cause trouble?"

Qian Renxue looked at him and remained silent for a moment.

Then she smiled.

The smile was faint, yet it carried an undeniable composure.

"Teacher, I know what I am doing."

She stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.

The afternoon sunlight streamed in, bathing her figure in a golden glow.

"I want to make Eva my queen, not for personal gain."

She turned around and looked at Ning Fengzhi, her gaze clear and firm.

"I want to tell the world that I will not be bound by so-called ethics and morality. What I want to do is break these rules and regulations and lead the Heavenly Dou Empire into a new era."

Looking at the young emperor before him, Ning Fengzhi felt a complex mix of emotions.

He knew he couldn't persuade Xue Qinghe anymore.

Qian Renxue looked at him, her smile deepening.

"Teacher, I know you are doing this for my own good."

Her voice was soft, yet it carried an undeniable power.

"But I have already made up my mind about this matter."

Ning Fengzhi remained silent for a long time.

Finally, he sighed softly and stood up.

"Since Your Majesty has made up your mind, I have nothing more to say."

He bowed deeply to Qian Renxue.

"I only hope that Your Majesty will... reconsider."

Qian Renxue looked at him without saying a word.

Ning Fengzhi straightened up, turned around and walked towards the door.

Gu Rong followed behind him, and the two walked out of the Imperial Study one after the other.

The moment the door closed behind him, Ning Fengzhi stopped and turned to look at the tightly shut door.

"Fengzhi," Gu Rong's voice came from behind, "Is this all you're going to let it go?"

Ning Fengzhi shook his head. "What can we do if we forget about it?"

He turned around and walked along the corridor toward the palace gate.

The sunlight cast long shadows on him.

"Qinghe... is no longer the child he was back then."

His voice was very soft, so soft it sounded like he was talking to himself.

"He has his own ideas and his own path to follow. As his teacher, all I can do is offer a reminder."

The ancient banyan tree remained silent, not uttering a word.

The two walked out of the palace, one after the other.

Behind them, the majestic palace gleamed golden in the sunlight, like a silent behemoth overlooking the ancient city.

Inside the Imperial Study, Qian Renxue still stood by the window, watching Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong's figures disappear outside the palace gates.

A slow smile crept onto her lips.

The smile was faint, yet it carried a sense of composure, as if everything was under control.

She turned around, walked back to her desk, and picked up the unfinished memorial again.

……

deep sea.

Inside the Fishbone Cave, the cold seawater surged silently.

Ursula leaned back on the throne forged from millennia-old coral and deep-sea iron, her pale fingers gently stroking the dark blue gem at the tip of her staff.

A slow smile crept onto her lips.

The smile was faint, yet it carried the satisfaction of a hunter who had waited a long time for his prey to step into the trap.

"It's finally here."

Her voice echoed in the empty cave, low and hoarse, like the sobbing of an underwater current.

It was worth all the planning she had done for so long.

For this moment, she left enough marks on Lan Fuzi. Those marks would go unnoticed, but were enough for the Deep Sea Demon Whale King to track his daughter's scent all the way here.

For this moment, she spared no effort, setting up layers upon layers of formations in this sea area. Each layer was carefully designed so that it would not alert the prey to anything unusual, yet could be used at the crucial moment.

Ursula raised her hand and lightly touched the air with her fingertips.

A water mirror appeared before her, reflecting the scene of the sea.

The dark seawater, the jagged rocks, and the two figures in the deep sea, their expressions respectful yet tinged with tension.

Hu Shan. Jia Shan.

Two ancient creatures that she had painstakingly carried from ten-thousand-year-old eels to a hundred-thousand-year-old creature.

Ursula looked at the two figures in the water mirror, and the smile on her lips deepened.

Don't let me down.

Her voice was very soft, so soft it was as if she were talking to herself.

……

at the same time.

A hundred miles away.

The seawater was trembling.

It wasn't an earthquake, nor a tsunami, but a primal tremor that came from the depths of the soul.

All marine life within a hundred miles, from the lowest planktonic creatures to the ancient soul beasts that had entrenched themselves in their domains for millennia, felt the terrifying, suffocating pressure at that moment.

That was an irresistible oppression from the top of the food chain.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King.

A massive shadow slowly emerged from the dark sea.

It was a colossal whale of terrifying size, its entire body covered in dark blue scales, each scale the size of a millstone, gleaming with a cold, chilling light in the deep sea.

His eyes, like two dark moons, coldly swept across what lay ahead.

With each flick of his tail fin, the seawater within a radius of a hundred miles surged, as if the entire ocean was making way for him.

He wasn't fast.

But every step carries an unquestionable, absolute sense of control.

Starting from the Demon Whale Sea, following the scent left by Blue Buddha in the ocean, he hardly stopped along the way.

The scent was very faint.

So faint that it almost disappears into the endless sea.

After tracking a certain distance, he had to stop, re-perceive the surroundings, and reconfirm his direction before he could continue.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's brows were furrowed tightly.

Not right.

Lan Fuzi's aura shouldn't be so faint.

She is his daughter, the bloodline successor of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, and her presence should be as bright as a lighthouse in the darkness of this ocean.

But now, that aura is so thin it seems it could disappear at any moment.

A thought flashed through the Deep Sea Demon Whale King's mind, a thought that coiled around his heart like a venomous snake, causing extremely complex emotions to appear in his eyes.

Worry.

anger.