Douluo Continent: My name is Yang Jian, and I achieved sainthood through my physical body

The two people's footsteps echoed on the stairs a dozen times before disappearing.

Then came two soft sounds as the second-floor door opened and closed.

Yang Jian walked towards the stairs, her steps neither hurried nor slow.

Qian Renxue followed behind him, her steps light and natural, like a cat following its master.

Xiao Wu sat on the steps under the osmanthus tree, holding in her hand the carrot she had been munching on for a long time. Only a small piece remained, its surface pitted and uneven from being chewed.

She looked up as the two figures went upstairs one after the other. The one in white and the one in dark disappeared into the light of the second-floor corridor at the corner of the stairs.

She looked down at the carrot in her hand that was almost completely gnawed on, took another bite, and continued chewing.

The clicking sound was exceptionally clear in the quiet courtyard, like a tiny metronome in the night air.

……

After returning to the bedroom, Yang Jian took off his coat and hung it on the clothes rack by the bed, then sat down on the edge of the bed.

His posture was casual and natural, his back slightly leaning against the headboard, his gaze fixed on Qian Renxue: "Tell me your thoughts, how do you plan to arrange things?"

His tone was direct and concise, like someone receiving information and waiting for the other party to say everything they needed to say.

Qian Renxue sat down beside him, naturally turned to the side, and rested her head on his shoulder.

Her hair brushed against his neck, carrying a faint, pleasant fragrance.

Her voice carried a hint of languor and a clear intention to delay: "Let's talk about it later, let me lean on it for a bit."

"I stood on the carriage for the entire afternoon today. The courtiers bowed hundreds of times, and I returned at least two hundred smiles. I feel like the muscles in my face are stiff."

Her voice was muffled, and she tried to use this coquettish tone to occupy a few more breaths of this quiet time.

Yang Jian didn't speak, but simply tilted his shoulder slightly.

The movement was so small it was almost imperceptible, but the direction was clear: either speak now or go out.

Chapter 232 You'll be able to marry me then.

Qian Renxue sensed the change in the direction of his shoulder and helplessly straightened up and sat up straight.

Her movements were somewhat reluctant, as if she were crawling out of a warm quilt: "Fine, fine, I told you so. You really don't know how to be gentle with women at all."

She paused, cleared her throat, and switched her tone from languid to formal and focused, each word carrying the certainty that comes from careful consideration.

"I have already ascended the throne, and in the coming period, I will conduct a systematic purge as the new emperor."

"There are still many old ministers in the court of the Heavenly Dou Empire who are former officials from the time of Emperor Xue Ye. They have been working in the court for decades, and their protégés and former subordinates are spread throughout various departments."

“Some people hold military power, some control the financial approval channels, some control the personnel appointment and dismissal system, and some secretly maintain contact with the remaining forces of the Star Luo Empire.”

"Although the Star Luo Empire has been destroyed, the chain of interests between them has not been completely severed."

Her voice was steady and calm: “These people cannot be kept alive; keeping them alive will only create hidden dangers. I have already made a list, dividing people into three categories: who should be killed, who should be imprisoned, and who should be exiled. Each category will be dealt with differently.”

"The action will be carried out in batches, by department and by region. First, personnel will be replaced in key positions, and then the periphery will be gradually cleared. This will not trigger everyone at once, so as to avoid causing major fluctuations and backlash."

"It should take about half a month to complete. By then, all the power nodes of the Heaven Dou Empire will be under our control."

She turned her head to look at Yang Jian, her eyes reflecting light spots in the dim lamplight, and her voice softened.

"At that time, I will officially issue an edict to the entire continent in my capacity as the emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, announcing the Heaven Dou Empire's submission to the Spirit Hall."

"Then the whole continent will know that you have unified this land."

Her voice lowered slightly at the last sentence, as if those words had been swirling in her mind before she uttered them.

"Then... you can marry me too."

After she finished speaking, she reached up and wiped her face. The moment her fingertips brushed across her cheek, a flash of golden light appeared.

The handsome male face disappeared, revealing Qian Renxue's original stunning beauty.

Her long, golden hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall, her features were delicate and three-dimensional, and her golden eyes sparkled as she gazed at Yang Jian under the light.

Her lips were slightly pursed, as if she was waiting for something, and a faint blush rose on her cheeks.

After listening to her plan, Yang Jian nodded, his tone so calm it was impossible to detect any emotion: "Okay, we'll do it your way."

He glanced at Qian Renxue casually, lay down, adjusted the pillow to a comfortable position, and closed his eyes.

Qian Renxue sat beside him, stunned for a few moments, then looked down at him.

The profile picture had its eyes closed, and its breathing was as steady as if nothing had happened.

A complex emotion welled up in her heart, indescribable and inexplicable, like a feather gently brushing against her chest and then leaving.

She lay down next to him, turned to her side, her gaze fixed on his profile.

His eyelashes cast fine shadows under the light, and his breathing was even and long, like a quiet stone statue.

She extended her right hand and gently touched the back of his hand with the pad of her index finger.

no respond.

She touched him again, her fingertips tracing a short distance across the back of his hand.

Still no response.

Her fingers slowly slid down the lines of the back of his hand to his wrist, and she could feel the steady pulse beating under his skin with her fingertips, one beat after another, the rhythm as even as a clock.

The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, her smile carrying a hint of cunning and playfulness, as if she were plotting some little scheme.

Just as she was about to continue exploring along that line, she suddenly heard a faint sound coming from the corridor.

The footsteps were extremely light, as if someone was walking barefoot on the wooden floor, each step deliberately light, as if afraid of disturbing something.

Qian Renxue's eyebrows twitched slightly, and she perked up her ears, tilting her head to listen.

Then they heard a second and a third set of footsteps, both extremely soft, like three nocturnal cats cautiously approaching a door.

She could distinguish the different weights and rhythms of the footsteps; the one in front was the lightest and fastest, the one in the middle was the steadyest and heaviest, and the one at the back was the most chaotic and scattered.

Her eyes lit up in the dim light, and a hint of cunning appeared in her smile.

She turned slightly to the side, her gaze falling on Yang Jian's profile. Her voice was low, so low that only the two of them could hear it, as if she were telling a little secret.

"What's your relationship like with that girl named Zhu Zhuqing? How far has it progressed?"

Her eyes gleamed in the dim light, as if waiting for some interesting response.

Yang Jian did not open her eyes or answer. Her breathing remained steady and unchanged, as if she were completely asleep, without even moving her eyelashes.

Qian Renxue tilted her head and looked at him for a while, then added with a knowing smile in her voice: "The way she looked at me tonight was quite interesting."

"That kind of look... I've seen it on too many people's faces too many times."

Yang Jian still did not respond, her breathing remaining perfectly steady.

Seeing that he was ignoring her, Qian Renxue felt a little bored, but then a new idea popped into her head, and the corners of her mouth turned up even higher.

She withdrew her hand, lay back down, and stared at the shadows on the ceiling, not bothering him any further.

Outside the door, three figures were pressed against the door panel.

Zhu Zhuqing squatted at the front, her bare feet on the wooden floor of the corridor, her toes slightly curled, one hand on her knee for balance, the other hand pressed against the door, her ear almost touching the crack in the door.

Yang Jiao stood to her left rear, half-bent over, his body leaning slightly forward.

He deliberately kept his breathing very light and shallow, and his shoulders were slightly hunched, as if afraid that any unnecessary movement would alert the person inside the door.

Yang Chan crouched to Zhu Zhuqing's right rear, with his hands on his knees and his body leaning slightly forward, like a kitten quietly approaching its target.

The night was very, very dark, and there were no lights on in the corridor.

Only moonlight streamed through the glass of the window at the end of the corridor, spreading a long, silvery-white rectangular patch of light across the floor, as if someone had placed a carpet of light on the dark floor.

The three of them held their breath, barely daring to exhale, and even blinked more slowly than usual.

The door was very thick, and the sounds coming from inside became muffled, with only a few fragmented words occasionally catching the ear.

The terms "submission," "cleanup," and "list" sounded like a serious discussion, and the tone was calm with no emotional fluctuations.

Chapter 233 Zhu Zhuqing Who Didn't Sleep Well

Occasionally, a soft laugh would drift through the door of the room.

The smile was light and brief, quite different from the official, gentle smile they usually heard Qian Renxue give when she spoke. It carried a relaxed and casual quality that only existed in private spaces.

When Zhu Zhuqing heard that soft laugh, her eyebrows twitched slightly, and her gaze fell on the wood grain of the door panel, as if she were looking at the intersecting lines, searching for some answer.

Yang Jiao's expression was not very clear in the moonlight, but you could feel that his breathing rhythm changed slightly before returning to normal.

Yang Chan blinked, then turned her head to look at Zhu Zhuqing and then at Yang Jiao, as if asking something with her eyes, but no one answered her.

The three of them just squatted, bent over, and stood against the wall, none of them speaking first, none of them getting up and leaving first, as if waiting for a signal that would never come.

The moonlight slowly moved from one side of the window at the end of the corridor to the other, dragging a long, silvery-white strip of light across the floor.

……

The next morning, Yang Jian sat by the window, holding a cup of tea in his hand.

The tea in the cup had cooled down a bit, with tiny bubbles forming on the surface, as if time had been sealed away overnight.

He looked out the window at the long, slanted shadow cast by the osmanthus tree in the morning light.

The shadow stretched out from the tree roots, diagonally spreading across the bluestone ground, its edges trembling softly and blurring in the breeze.

He sat up all night, his eyes closed, but he didn't actually fall asleep.

That state between wakefulness and rest kept his mind in a balance between neither fatigue nor excitement.

He finished the last sip of tea, placed the empty cup on the windowsill, and the bottom of the glass made a soft sound as it touched the wooden windowsill.

Then he stood up and glanced at Qian Renxue, who was still fast asleep on the bed.

She lay on her side, the blanket pulled up to her shoulders, her long golden hair spread out on the pillow, shimmering with a soft, pale golden glow in the morning light.

Her sleeping posture was peaceful and serene, her eyelashes casting a fine shadow beneath her eyelids, her lips slightly pursed, conveying a sense of relaxation after letting go of all defenses.

Her breathing was steady and long, each breath causing the surface of the blanket to ripple slightly.

He withdrew his gaze, walked over, pushed open the door, and stepped into the corridor.