This time, Chen Chu reached the island by way of a winding, secluded path that led straight to a quiet pavilion.
“Ninth Prince, Miss Liuli lives here. Her room is on the second floor… easy to find. Just don’t meet Miss Liuli and forget about Yueyao.”
“Miss Yueyao is not only very beautiful, but also so lively and adorable. How could I bear to be fickle?”
“Hehe~ I’ll wait for Your Highness by the shore.”
“Good.”
Chen Chu walked alone through the archway, entered the pavilion, and went straight up to the second floor.
As soon as he stepped inside, the first thing that came into view was a screen painted with a phoenix motif.
Behind the screen, a remarkably graceful figure could be vaguely seen. Even without seeing her true face, Chen Chu could tell that the woman behind it was a peerless beauty.
But…
Chen Chu chuckled. “I came to Heavenly Palace twice by invitation from Miss Liuli, yet both times I couldn’t see Miss Liuli. What does that mean?”
Chen Chu said it bluntly.
The woman behind the screen was undoubtedly a great beauty of unrivaled elegance, but Chen Chu did not believe she was the Heavenly Palace courtesan, Shangguan Liuli.
Why?
Because this woman’s aura was so restrained it was almost imperceptible, her breathing steady and orderly, as if she had fused with heaven and earth, reaching the level of natural harmony with the Dao.
The woman behind the screen was very likely already at the Fifteenth Grade of the Land Immortal Realm, and in terms of realm, she might even have been stronger than Chen Qing and Yu Chenghua.
By this point, Chen Chu had already guessed who she was.
“Liuli suddenly got her period and needs quiet rest, and we couldn’t let the Ninth Prince come all this way for nothing, so she asked me to attend to Your Highness. Please rest assured, Your Highness… in terms of looks, I am definitely no worse than Liuli. And I understand men better.”
The woman’s voice was seductive, extremely capable of stirring a man’s primal impulses.
But Chen Chu did not dare to think of touching her, and he could not afford to do so now either.
He did not move at all.
“Is Your Highness afraid I won’t serve you well?”
Every word the woman spoke seemed to carry limitless allure.
She even extended a jade-like arm from behind the screen, twisting it as though boneless…
A blatant seduction.
Yet Chen Chu’s mind was utterly calm, without the slightest ripple.
He was like a piece of wood that knew nothing of romance.
However, just as Chen Chu was wondering what other methods the woman might use to tempt him, his gaze was suddenly drawn to the densely packed writing beneath the phoenix pattern on the screen, as if by magic, and he could no longer look away.
A rare look of solemnity and thought appeared between his brows.
The characters were extremely small, which was why Chen Chu had overlooked them at first.
Now, he could not help but read them aloud.
It was a poem, and a very long one at that, unsigned.
“The emperor, obsessed with beauty that could topple a kingdom, sought her for years without success. A daughter of the Yang family had just come of age, raised deep in the boudoir and unknown to the world. Born with a natural beauty that could not be concealed, she was one day chosen to stand by the ruler’s side. A single glance back, a smile, and a hundred charms bloomed; all the powdered ladies of the six palaces lost their color. In the spring chill she was granted a bath in Huaqing Pool, where the warm spring water washed over her creamy skin…”
It was precisely because Chen Chu recited this long poem that the woman immediately stepped out from behind the screen, revealing a face so beautiful it could captivate a city with one smile and a nation with the next.
She wore a thin gauze skirt, her skin fair as snow. A pink three-petal flower adorned the center of her brow, and a silver hairpin rested in her hair, as if she had stepped out of a painting.
The woman’s pupils were silver, giving her a very eerie appearance.
“Ninth Prince, have you heard this poem before?”
Yet at this moment, the woman’s expression was as cold as ten thousand years of ice.
Chen Chu pulled his mind back from the poem, met the woman’s silver, unusual eyes with calm indifference, and shook his head. “No, I haven’t. I just thought the poem was written too well, so I couldn’t help reciting it. Could it be that this poem has some special meaning for you, Miss?”
“You really haven’t heard it?”
“Should I have?”
The woman stared at Chen Chu for a long while, then finally shook her head and chose to believe him.
That was true enough. How many coincidences could there possibly be in this world?
She was like a thousand-faced enchantress; her gaze suddenly turned captivating again, and in a gust of wind she leaned into Chen Chu’s arms, her jade fingers playing with a strand of his hair. “Your Highness, a fleeting night of pleasure…”
Chen Chu remained unmoved in the face of her seduction and said calmly, “Chen Banruo, do you know that by seniority, I am your nephew?”
The next second, Chen Banruo rose from Chen Chu’s embrace. Her seductive aura vanished, and she let out a cold laugh. “How did you guess my identity?”
If it were someone who had never met Chen Banruo, they would absolutely not have dared to guess it was her.
After all, Chen Banruo was already over forty. No matter how well she preserved herself, time should still have left some trace on her face.
Yet the Chen Banruo before him, the mistress of Heavenly Palace and the Tianchen Grand Princess personally conferred by Chen Qing, looked more like a stunning maiden of sixteen or seventeen.
“Realm!”
“I can sense that the Grand Princess is now at the Fifteenth Grade realm, so it’s easy to guess. There are only so many Fifteenth Grade experts in the imperial city. If you’re not Grand Princess Chen Banruo, then who else could you be?”
Chen Banruo nodded and said with genuine admiration, “The Immortal’s Tome really is extraordinary!”
Even Chen Qing could not see through her realm.
Chen Chu gave no answer.
The Immortal’s Tome was indisputably the number one wondrous book in Tianzhou.
Chen Chu was also the only person who had successfully cultivated the Immortal’s Tome.
But if he were to fight Chen Banruo right now, without using some of his hidden trump cards, he might not be guaranteed to win.
The Ancestor’s final advice suddenly surfaced in Chen Chu’s mind:
Your realm now stands at the peak, but it is not yet the summit.
Within the Tianchen court, he had merely never known defeat.
Of course, if things got serious, Chen Banruo would certainly die. But Chen Chu had not come tonight to fight Chen Banruo.
At first, he had been curious why Shangguan Liuli had invited him and hinted at him twice.
Now the fog had cleared… the one who truly wanted to see him was Chen Banruo, the one person in the Tianchen Dynasty whose danger level exceeded everyone else’s.
Chen Banruo sat down gracefully, tilted her head back, hooked a wine flask with her fingers, and drank deeply and freely. Then she looked at Chen Chu with interest. “As expected of the son of Chen Qing and Luo Xue… you really are stunning. There probably isn’t a man in this world more handsome than you.”
Chen Chu remained unmoved. “So what?”
“I like you!”
Chen Banruo said bluntly and unabashedly, “Although I am the Grand Princess conferred by Chen Qing, I actually do not have royal blood in my veins. So there is no obstacle between us. In terms of realm, I already stand at the peak of the Land Immortal Realm. In terms of appearance, I will certainly not lose to that little girl Xu Zhaoyue. In terms of support, I am ten times stronger than Xu Zhaoyue.”
“And we are both unique, aren’t we exactly a match made in heaven?”
“How about considering giving up Xu Zhaoyue and choosing to marry me instead? As long as you agree, I will handle every obstacle.”
Chen Chu smiled. “There’s one thing you haven’t compared.”
Chen Banruo frowned slightly. “What?”
“Xu Zhaoyue is much younger than you. Youth means vitality, and that is what men like most. Chen Banruo, no matter how beautiful you are, you are still old.”
In that instant, Chen Banruo’s face turned extremely dark.
No woman with even a little age on her would like hearing someone say she is old.
Chen Banruo was no exception.