On the Ark.

That was a...cat?

Ying Li was somewhat surprised that the people in the next room would bring a cat to the Heavenly Palace. Moreover, that cat had a very peculiar feel to it, which made Ying Li unable to help but stare at it for a full five minutes before she looked away with slight confusion.

"Strange, why am I staring at a cat?"

Ying Li murmured to herself, then took out her phone, glanced at the time, and gradually fell silent.

As the sun set, the orange sunlight shone on the fourth princess of the Yan Kingdom, casting her graceful figure on the ground, making her appear somewhat lonely.

She turned off her phone, looked up at the setting sun, and then said softly.

"Brother, Ying Li is getting married soon... Will you bless me?"

Chapter 546 If he didn't draw that sword

Los Angeles Airport.

Crown Prince Haoguang Zhuqing of the Eastern Kingdom greeted the airship bearing the insignia of the Yan Kingdom, which had just landed, with a broad smile.

"Your Highness Yingjie," Haoguang Zhuqing bowed to the Second Prince, who was surrounded by a crowd, "It's been a long time."

“Zhu Qing,” Ying Jie, the second prince of Yan Kingdom, replied with a smile, “I didn’t expect you to arrive before me. How rude of me.”

"No way," Hao Guangzhuqing said with a smile. "I just want to see Lili as soon as possible."

"Are you already so impatient?" Ying Jie patted Hao Guangzhuqing on the shoulder, then looked around, his brows furrowing slightly. "Where's Ying Li?"

The steward standing behind Ying Jie stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, the Fourth Princess said she is feeling unwell and wants to rest for a few days."

Ying Jie glanced at his butler and said, "Even though Prince Haoguang is already here, isn't she going to come and see him?"

The butler kept his head down and remained silent.

"Tsk, alright, you can all step back now." Ying Jie waved his hand and said, "Let me have a good chat with Zhu Qing."

"Yes."

The butler gave a signal to the guards around him, and they immediately dispersed, maintaining a distance of about ten meters from Ying Jie. Seeing this, Ying Jie said calmly, "My younger sister has been spoiled by me since she was little, and she always has a bit of a childish temper. Please forgive her."

"Of course," Hao Guangzhuqing replied. "After all, she is the fourth princess of the Great Yan Dynasty, so it's normal for her to be a little arrogant. Please rest assured that I will respect her after the marriage."

“She’s your wife now that she’s married to you. What’s the point of talking about respect or disrespect?” Ying Jie said. “Just don’t make things too ugly for her. Teach her what she needs to be taught. Don’t let her cause trouble in Dongguo. She’s just a woman. I’ll contact her first thing tomorrow morning and have her come to the palace to see me. She won’t dare disobey me. I’ll also let you two meet.”

Haoguang Zhuqing smiled: "I will follow Your Highness's teachings."

"Hmm." Ying Jie nodded and said, "Also, have you prepared everything I asked you to?"

"Of course," Hao Guangzhuqing said. "After the engagement ceremony, I will immediately go to Chang'an to meet the Emperor. I will tell His Majesty about Your Highness's achievements in the Eastern Kingdom. At the age of twenty-seven, you have obtained the permission to pass on your swordsmanship to all four major families in the Eastern Kingdom, making you the first person in history to do so."

Ying Jie nodded and then cautioned, "Remember not to flatter too much, lest it offend Father Emperor."

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, I know exactly what I'm doing."

“I’ve always trusted you with your work,” Ying Jie said in a low voice. “There are some things I won’t hide from you. Father is becoming increasingly dissatisfied with my older brother, thinking he’s too pedantic and inflexible, making Father feel that his son is not like his father. So right now, the debate in court about ‘choosing the eldest son or the most virtuous’ is getting louder and louder. Father is definitely considering it. If people in court speak up for me, he might think I’m forming a faction. But if you speak up for me and only talk about swordsmanship, without mentioning anything else, he won’t suspect anything, and he’ll pay more attention to me.”

“I understand,” Haoguang Zhuqing said again. “Please rest assured, Your Highness, I am also waiting for the day when Your Highness ascends the throne.”

Ying Jie laughed: "It's too early to say such things."

“Because I think it was bound to happen sooner or later,” Hao Guangzhuqing said with a smile. “By the way, Your Highness, there is another piece of good news.”

"what?"

"There's been news about the young lady from the Guigu family that you asked me to keep an eye on," Haoguang Zhuqing said. "I heard from the Guigu family that her strange illness has been cured."

"Really?" Ying Jie asked. "Then where is she now?"

"She was still in the West. The last time I saw her was at the port of Victoria. She was about to return to the East, but for some reason she was delayed," Hao Guangzhuqing said. "But she didn't know at the time that you had taken a liking to her. If she had known, she probably would have returned long ago. Moreover, the Guigu family is very supportive of this matter, saying that even if she cannot be made empress, taking her as a concubine would be excellent."

Ying Jie laughed: "The Guigu family is quite sensible. But from your description, that Miss Xuehui is also a very strong-willed person, somewhat similar to Ying Li."

“Yes, but isn’t your best skill in dealing with people like this?” Hao Guangzhuqing said with a smile. “Look at Lili, such a strong-willed little princess, how obedient she is to you now.”

“Educating my younger siblings is my responsibility as an older brother,” Ying Jie said calmly. “To be honest, I once had a younger brother, and I educated him in the same way I educated Ying Li.”

"Oh? This is the first time I've heard you mention it," Haoguang Zhuqing said with a smile. "And then what happened?"

"Later..." Ying Jie walked to the front of the car. The guard opened the door for him. After he stopped, he glanced at Hao Guangzhuqing and said slowly, "If he hadn't pulled out that sword, he would still be my good brother, just like Ying Li."

After saying that, he got into the car without waiting for Haoguang Zhuqing's response.

After the car door closed, Hao Guangzhuqing looked at his reflection in the car window and stiffened slightly.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but in Ying Jie's last words, he sensed a hint of ruthlessness and...threat.

……

"Ah, there's such delicious silver in this world, silver, what's the deal with silver?" Grani scratched his head.

"White fungus and lotus seed soup," Lin Ye said for her.

“Yes, yes, yes.” Grani nodded repeatedly. “Exactly, white fungus and lotus seed soup. Wow, I’ve never had anything like this in Victoria, it’s so delicious. I rave about it, I want to go back for it tomorrow. Today it was iced, tomorrow I want it hot.”

Lin Ye was puzzled: "Where is the hot stuff? Aren't they all ice?"

“No.” Grani pointed to Nian beside her. “Nian drank it hot. I saw it. It was still steaming.”

Lin Ye turned to look at Nian, who was also looking at him. Then Nian tilted her head, looking completely dazed, which made Lin Ye shake his head, unsure of how to explain it to Grani.

"White fungus and lotus seed soup is indeed the Starlight Hotel's signature dessert, but it's not their only signature dish," the Iron-Eating Beast exclaimed. "I'll take you guys to eat something else tomorrow!"

“Okay, okay.” Grani nodded excitedly.

Back in the suite, there was another burst of noise, probably from excitement (mainly from Iron Eater and Grani, and Nian who occasionally joined in the fun). By the time the three of them were tired, it was already 10 p.m.

Then everyone began to assign rooms.

Lin Ye naturally slept on the sofa, while Iron Eater, Grani, and Warfarin squeezed into the big bed. Skadi and Nian slept in another bed, since Skadi was the only one present who could keep an eye on Nian, and perhaps because Nian had been beaten up by Skadi, he was still somewhat afraid of her, so this arrangement was just right.

As for Messiah, Lin Ye carried him to the living room and placed him there.

Actually, none of them had had a proper rest these past few days. After all, they had experienced the New Year's Eve at Fubo Mountain, and the accommodations at Fubo Temple weren't great either. Now that they finally had a normal place, everyone was exhausted. So, after a bit of fuss, everyone went back to their rooms to sleep. Lin Ye, who had a mild case of obsessive-compulsive disorder, also turned off all the lights in the suite.

Just as he was lying on the sofa, preparing to go to sleep, he suddenly caught a glimpse of light flashing across the balcony out of the corner of his eye.

He looked over with some curiosity and found that it was the light from a cell phone, and the location was the suite next door.

Is the suite next door already occupied?

Lin Ye was somewhat puzzled.

Why didn't they turn on the lights? If they hadn't turned off the lights on their side, we wouldn't have known there was someone over there.

As Lin Ye lay on the sofa, his mind began to wander.

What is a person doing standing on the rooftop balcony without the lights on?

Lin Ye thought for a moment, then realized something was wrong.

This is either a horror movie or something else entirely.

With this thought in mind, Lin Ye inexplicably got off the sofa and then groped his way toward the faint light in the dark.

As he tiptoed onto his balcony, the person on the other side seemed to sense something and turned off their phone.

Lin Ye immediately stopped, and then said in a low voice, "Um, hello?"

There was a moment of silence.

A pleasant female voice rang out: "Hello."

Chapter 547 Lin Ye's Answer

After the other person replied, Lin Ye breathed a slight sigh of relief, thinking that no matter what the situation was, at least they were willing to communicate. At this moment, he and the other person were about four or five meters apart, with a door between them. Since neither of them had turned on the lights, they couldn't see each other's facial features at all, and could only barely make out the outline of the other person's body with the help of the neon lights of Los Angeles at night.

"Um, are you here to have fun too?" Lin Ye asked first.

"I guess so." The other person's tone was flat, revealing little emotion.

"Are you all alone?" Lin Ye asked.

The other party did not reply.

Then Lin Ye realized that his question was problematic. He wasn't a psychologist, and the other person wasn't his patient; they had no reason to answer such a question. After all, in the dark of night, no normal woman would answer a strange man's question like, "Are you alone at home?" let alone when they were separated only by a fragile glass door.

So he immediately explained, "Um, don't misunderstand. I didn't mean anything by it, I was just curious, since you didn't even turn on the light, just like that..."

"Are you curious if I'm planning to commit suicide?" Ying Li asked slowly. "I was afraid I might do something rash and jump off here, so I came here specifically to ask about the situation?"

Lin Ye's mouth dropped open slightly, thinking to himself, "What a clever woman."

Why does he always seem to encounter such intelligent women?

"Don't worry," Ying Li said. "I'm not that weak. I just came out for some fresh air. You don't need to worry about me. You can go back to sleep now."

Since the other party had already put it this way, Lin Ye really couldn't meddle any further. After all, as a professional psychologist, having his thoughts read so easily was utterly humiliating. Lin Ye decided it would be better to go back to sleep, so he turned around sheepishly, ready to leave, when the other party suddenly spoke again: "I'm getting married."

Lin Ye was stunned, then turned around to look at the figure not far away, but didn't notice anything different, and didn't know if the words just now were spoken to him.

In the darkness, Ying Li didn't know why she had suddenly uttered those words, just as she didn't know why she had initially agreed to speak to Lin Ye. She had always been aloof; because of her status, the more she spoke, the more mistakes she would make, and the Fourth Princess of Yan Kingdom was not allowed to make mistakes. Therefore, the moment he approached her, she should have turned and gone back inside, without saying a single word.

But she not only replied, but also blurted out what she wanted to say as she asked the other person to leave.

Why is this so?

Ying Li thought about it carefully.

Could it be because the other person's voice sounds a bit like...that person?

The one who had already died, the only person she was willing to call her brother.

Lin Ye wasn't sure if Ying Li was talking to him; after all, suddenly saying "I'm getting married" seemed rather absurd. So he waited for a while, wanting to see what else Ying Li intended to say. But after about a minute, Ying Li didn't speak again, as if she hadn't said anything at all.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Ye went back.

"Um," Lin Ye scratched his head and said, "Happy wedding?"

Ying Li was silent for a moment, then said, "Thank you."

"Hmm...it seems you're not very happy with your upcoming marriage."

Ying Li was somewhat surprised: "How did you know?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Ying Li regretted them. A royal princess cannot show any emotion to anyone, at any time. Her words just now were tantamount to admitting that her thoughts had been guessed. How could she allow that?