The Xuanqing Empire, Sheng’an City, Imperial Capital.

Chang’an District, Chang’an Tower.

“Princess, we will take our leave.”

“Mm.”

As the doors of the reception room closed, Su Yuxi, who maintained her posture as a princess, immediately leaned back on the soft sofa.

“Finally done with the receptions.”

Upon arriving at Chang’an Tower, she had received without a moment’s rest the important figures from the Cabinet, the military, and those allied with Chang’an Kingdom from influential nobles and families.

Apart from discussing some Northern Territory matters with the Cabinet and military, interactions with others were just friendly ‘pleasantries.’

Her parents—Chang’an King and Queen—didn’t attend, and her brother was also absent. These were all responsibilities Su Yuxi had to handle.

No one would look down on her due to her young age. Everyone knew that five years ago, she, as a minor, began participating in and formulating numerous aspects of the North’s politics, economy, military, and more.

From naïve methods to seasoned expertise, her progress was evident to all.

The hardships she faced weren’t something for outsiders to know or for many to care about. Everyone only saw the outcome—Chang’an Kingdom’s Princess was an extraordinary young person.

In this remarkable world, there were many outstanding young individuals, and Su Yuxi was undeniably one of them.

Behind her, a maid dressed in a servant’s attire gently massaged her shoulders, whispering, “Five casualties from the ‘Cicada’ unit, sixteen wounded; twenty-eight casualties in the military, one hundred and fifteen wounded.”

This was the price paid for Su Yuxi’s safe arrival via a special aircraft in the capital, Sheng’an City.

“A total of four hundred and sixty-five executed. From the attack methods, they came from three different forces… All were zealots, and no useful intelligence was gathered.”

“Compensation for the deceased has been timely distributed, medical care for the wounded is ongoing, those severely injured and unable to fight have been assigned to logistics.”

“Understood.”

Su Yuxi stood and walked to the window, her gaze somewhat unfocused—this was a habit she developed following her brother, preferring to stand near windows when contemplating matters.

The maid, ‘Jingzhe’, followed Su Yuxi’s footsteps closely. She was the overall head of Su Yuxi’s security force and also the last line of defense for her protection.

Her pupils gradually focused, and Su Yuxi looked down at the bustling traffic below, where a large heart made of blooming red roses was laid out… She saw this scene every time she came to the capital.

As expected—

“Su Yuxi, please marry…”

The voice from the loudspeaker didn’t finish before the security personnel from Chang’an Tower ‘gently’ ended it.

Even though it was the young prince, Bai Xuanyuan, from the Southeast’s Cheng’en Family who confessed his love to the princess, what of it?

King Cheng’en might be wealthy, but did he have military power in his hands?

“In the past three years, King Cheng’en has been secretly hoarding nearly fifty thousand troops, most of whom have received specialized combat training overseas. In May this year, he established a covert partnership with Prince Ning…”

“The roses are really ugly. The flowers my brother gave me were much prettier…”

Su Yuxi murmured softly, and Jingzhe wisely stayed silent, pretending not to have heard anything.

“What about my brother?” Su Yuxi asked softly, “Was there any discovery of someone sneaking into the Sky City?”

“Yes!” Jingzhe replied succinctly. The Sky City held a special status, and infiltrating it from any side was incredibly challenging. But outside the Sky City, traces of infiltrators were always detected.

Su Yuxi was not surprised; the Xuanqing Empire faced internal and external troubles, and there were too many forces seeking to bring down the empire. Therefore, it was quite normal for the human strong nations coalition-managed Sky City to have some backdoors for certain individuals.

However, they dared only open backdoors and wouldn’t expose Su Yuchen’s relationship. Exposing the identity of the Crown Prince of Chang’an openly would require considering various influences and consequences before taking action against him.

Therefore, they wouldn’t expose Su Yuchen’s identity, allowing them to use excuses like “accidental killings” if they had to dispose of him.

“Bringing trouble upon oneself leaves no room for blame, right?” Su Yuxi snorted.

“Understood,” Jingzhe replied, knowing no one could harm the Crown Prince.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Come in!”

The maid ‘Xia Zhi,’ in charge of Su Yuxi’s daily life, entered, bowed, and softly spoke, “Princess, it’s time. You should freshen up and get ready to leave.”

“Mm.” Su Yuxi pursed her lips, excitement flashing in her eyes—not for the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet she was about to attend, but for the reward from her brother afterward. She was curious about what surprise reward he might give.

As for whether she would succeed at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet… hmph, with the buff of her brother’s surprise reward, failure was inconceivable.

…

“Junior Yuchen, this is the invitation. Don’t lose it.”

“Everyone has one. If it’s lost, even with Tia’s help, you won’t get in,” Phyllis scoffed.

“If it’s lost, then I won’t go,” Su Yuchen muttered under his breath. 

Phyllis’s eyes twitched. If he didn’t go, Tia probably wouldn’t come…

Damn it!

Her expression darkened slightly. To prevent this weak and fragile guy from messing things up by not attending, she decided to inform the gatekeeper in advance not to check this guy’s invitation.

“Junior Brother Yuchen isn’t so careless, right?” Kristia winked at him.

“Mm.” Su Yuchen nodded.

“Well then, see you tonight.” Kristia waved to him. After all, she had to go back and change into something a bit more formal.

“Senior Tia, see you tonight,” Su Yuchen showed an excited expression, adding a bit of eagerness in his tone.

“Mm, bye.”

“Hurry up, there’s time to chat later…” Phyllis pulled Tia away, wishing Tia was also a vampire. That way, she wouldn’t have an interest in this feeble guy.

Retracting his gaze, Su Yuchen breathed a sigh of relief, carrying his bought clothes and stuffing the invitation into his pocket, walking towards home.

The invitation might get lost—he was prepared for that. However, he wasn’t worried. Phyllis was so keen on having Tia attend the party that she wouldn’t prevent him from entering just because he lacked an invitation. Otherwise, her goal wouldn’t be achieved.

“The aristocratic Miss from the Xia clan doesn’t recognize Tia… There should be quite a few vampires tonight. Let’s see if I can find out which clan she’s from.”

Su Yuchen walked and pondered. The Newmoon Clan or the Nightfall Clan—which side was she from?