Are you really trying to cultivate immortality? Something feels off.

Now it was Xie Weixing's turn to be stunned, his usually charming eyes unusually stiff: "Huh?"

Tan Suiting's eyelashes fluttered slightly, his tone cold yet carrying a hint of youthful bewilderment: "Kunkun, I'm willing for you to say that."

The two of them squatted together in the corner, completely unaware of what the others were doing.

Xie Weixing's heart skipped a beat, and he stared at the little dragon with the eyes of a wolf eyeing its prey: "Really?"

Tan Suiting's ears turned so red they looked like they were about to bleed. He lowered his head, feeling like his ears were ringing and he couldn't hear anything except what his senior brother was saying.

He nodded quickly and roughly, then lowered his head deeply, pressing his arm against the back of his neck—a posture of self-protection.

Crown Princess.

The Crown Princess is different from her senior brother, and different from her friends.

The Crown Princess is someone you can hold hands with and hug, someone you can sleep in the same bed with, someone you can spend your whole life with.

Thinking of this, Tan Suiting frowned slightly.

But he and his senior brother had already done these things, and they were planning to do them together for life.

What's the difference between the senior brother and the crown princess?

His eyelashes fluttered, his mind seemed to be fogged up, and he couldn't understand.

Seeing that the little dragon was almost ripe, Xie Weixing knew that teasing it any longer would lead to trouble, so he reached out and put his arm around it, saying, "Alright, alright, why are you so shy? Let's chat."

System: Heh, bullying a minor, look what you've done to them! Come on, turn on the electricity right away!

Xie Weixing said confidently: I'll say it again, Tan Suiting is not a minor in a world with a civil code. He is indeed a minor in the Dragon Clan, but the Dragon Clan does not have a civil code.

The system was silent for a moment, then roared: I was blind to have met a host like you... You even had the heart to harm an underage dragon. As the system, I utterly despise you!

Xie Weixing: Oh, what's wrong with a baby dragon? I'm still a lion cub.

The system chuckled coldly: Putting aside the fact that you're a mixed breed, the Azure Water Lion doesn't have any rule that you have to be twenty-five to become an adult. And you, an adult lion, are trying to seduce a young dragon. They're not even the same species. Aren't you ashamed?

Xie Weixing, like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water: If love between two people lasts forever, why should they be confined to the categories of kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, and genus?

system:?

[Dude, I just bet on Xiaolong's confession. What do you mean by "now you've figured it out"? You better memorize that law protecting minors!]

[Sorry everyone, I bet on the Emperor, old father, if you're not going to marry He Liao, hurry up and confess your love to him!!!!]

[Isn't Xiaolong's hint obvious enough? If you give him just a little more hint, he'll definitely get it!]

[Your brother Xie must be feeling sorry for Xiaolong because his face is so red. He's the best at raising dragons. When are you going to change the name of this observation room to "Master of Dragon Raising"?]

[Bring it on, Dragon Trapped! I can take it even if you kiss me right in front of me.]

Nie Qingyi slowly raised her eyes, her gaze falling on the remaining elders who had just knelt down. Her voice was cold and indifferent: "The Ten Thousand Poisons Cave abuses its power through private punishment, frames its direct descendants, and harms its clansmen."

"Elders, you are becoming more and more capable."

His calm tone carried a chilling undercurrent, and the entire Nie mansion felt utterly cold.

"Patriarch... Patriarch," an elder immediately knelt down, "We were just following our husband's instructions. He said that the spiritual energy in Qifeng Hall was fluctuating and that your inner strength might be affected. Also, the young lady has not been home for a long time, so he stepped forward to take charge of the situation. We didn't mean anything else."

"You don't need to rush to shift the blame to A Yuan," Nie Qingyi said coldly. "I won't let him go, and you will die too."

Shen Yuan rose and knelt down, his eyes lowered: "I await my wife's punishment."

He was weakened by long-term illness, his shoulders and back were thin and frail. A loose, moon-white brocade robe covered his body, the fabric hanging down, which made his frame look even more slender. It was as if a strong wind could blow him off balance. His shoulder line was elegant, and every inch of his features was soft.

Nie Zhao snorted coldly and, without hesitation, raised his sword and slit the elder's neck.

"And you," she turned to the remaining people and said coldly, "whether you give yourselves a quick death or I'll do it myself."

A moment later, only a few corpses and boundless silence remained in the main hall of the Nie family mansion.

"And him," Nie Zhao glanced coldly at Shen Yuan, "he is the mastermind behind it all. If he hadn't taken advantage of your seclusion in Qifeng Hall to desperately seize power all these years, how could so many female elders have been harmed, and how could the right-wing forces in the Nie family have risen to prominence?"

Nie Qingyi coldly raised her eyes: "He is your father, you have no right to speak here."

"Mother," Nie Zhao stepped forward, staring intently at her, his eyes reddening, "You've protected him, have you ever thought about the people of Nanchuan who have died, have you ever thought about those in the Nie family who have been persecuted to death, have you ever thought about A-Yun!"

Nie Shiyun leaned against Shen Chunri, her chin trembling slightly as she moved her fingers.

"Enough," Nie Qingyi said coldly. "I haven't settled accounts with you for fighting in the Nie residence yet. Now, take your people and get out."

Nie Zhao stared intently at her, his brows furrowed deeply, his voice hoarse: "Mother, don't you care about my sister at all? Don't you care about me at all?"

"Bang--!"

Nie Qingyi slammed the teacup at her, her phoenix eyes wide: "I told you to get out!"

Nie Shiyun shuddered. The awe and even fear she felt towards her mother in her childhood, which had lingered in her heart for many years, was still unbearable.

She staggered to her feet, her body ravaged, and grasped Nie Zhao's wrist, her voice hoarse: "Sister, let's go... Mother is angry..."

"Why should I leave!" Nie Zhao grabbed Nie Shiyun's hand and looked coldly at Nie Qingyi. "I am the Phoenix Maiden of this lineage."

Nie Shiyun opened her eyes wide in shock, feeling a faint tearing pain all around her skin.

No one dared to speak to her mother like that; she had never seen it before.

Even after more than a decade of seclusion, everyone who mentions Nie Qingyi must respectfully address her as the head of the family, and dare not even call her by her given name.

Nie Qingyi looked at her, and after a long while, she sneered: "Is that so? My Nan Chuan Chi Di lineage has finally produced a phoenix maiden, raised with a noble status since childhood, and now, she doesn't even have me, her mother, in her eyes anymore, is that right?"

"You raised me?" Nie Zhao laughed as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world. "From childhood to adulthood, besides beating me, scolding me, punishing me by making me kneel in the ancestral hall to reflect on my actions, and saying that I am not worthy to be the Phoenix Maiden of this lineage, what else have you taught me?"

Nie Shiyun immediately knelt down, the wound on her knees burning with pain, her voice trembling: "Mother, my sister was just too heartbroken, that's why..."

"Don't kneel before her!" Nie Zhao pulled the person back.

"Have you ever treated me like a mother?" She glared at Nie Qingyi, who held a high position. "Have you ever had a normal meal with me and Ayun, or gone to a temple fair with me? Have you ever spoken to me like a normal mother and daughter? No!"

Nie Zhao's eyes were red, and she forced herself not to let the tears fall: "I was raised by my master and senior uncles. This is the first time I've eaten food cooked by my elders, the first time I've been sick and someone has taken care of me, the first time I've been able to listen to stories before bed. All of this was done by others, not by you, not by you."