Chapter 1448

"Then I'll trouble Qin-jie!"

"No trouble at all. Soon we'll be one family!"

"..."

Next, Qin Longyun personally presented the rewards to the top three of the Qin family martial competition. True to his reputation as a Divine-tier Beast Tamer, he produced three Emperor-tier fierce beast eggs in one go.

Su Yang glanced at the data from afar. The quality wasn't bad—he just didn't know whether these three youngsters could handle them. But if they weren't confident, leaving them aside for a few decades would also work!

After the awards were presented, Qin Longyun and Gong Qin returned to the study.

"Empress, is that Qin Xiaoxiao's background really clean?"

"Should be fine. She is indeed of Qin bloodline."

Qin Longyun asked again, "That Miss is quite pretty, surely she has no sweetheart?"

Qin Longyun attached great importance to the marriage alliance.

He didn't want a perfectly good marriage alliance to become a laughingstock!

"The second brother asked the clan leader of Qin Xiaoxiao's branch. He said there isn't one!"

As a prodigy of that branch, Qin Xiaoxiao had actually been under strict protection in secret.

"Still, let Keyun make a trip. I don't want any mishaps!"

"That works too!"

"Qin Ningyun!"

Soon, an Emperor-tier Beast Tamer walked in.

If Su Yang were present, he would surely recognize this Beast Tamer. When they had gone to Green Cloud Prefecture earlier, this Beast Tamer had been one of Qin Longyun's trusted confidants.

"Your Majesty!"

Qin Longyun said in a low voice, "You're clear on the matter of the marriage alliance with General Su. You lead a team to Qin Xiaoxiao's clan, hypnotize every member of her family, and make sure there's nothing wrong with Qin Xiaoxiao!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Qin Xiaoxiao's clan lived in Qingluan City. Half an hour later, Qin Ningyun returned and reported to Qin Longyun about Qin Xiaoxiao.

Qin Xiaoxiao's mother, Yun Ji, held a lowly position. After conceiving Qin Xiaoxiao, her father Qin Ninghao hadn't treated her mother too badly—he had even elevated her to concubine.

Though not deeply favored, she was still provided for in fine clothes and good food!

After Qin Xiaoxiao's Beast Tamer talent awakened, Qin Ninghao would occasionally stay overnight at Yun Ji's place and treated her quite well.

Yun Ji was very satisfied with her current situation and quite grateful to the Qin family.

Perhaps because of her lowly birth, Yun Ji was extremely strict with her daughter, even somewhat harsh.

From the age of three, she began Qin Xiaoxiao's early education, teaching her to read and write, and imparted all her own dancing and musical instrument skills to her daughter—all so that Qin Xiaoxiao would master at least one skill, ensuring she would have some respectable talent to show, even if she never awakened a Beast Tamer ability.

It wasn't until Qin Xiaoxiao awakened her Beast Tamer talent that Yun Ji gave up on the artistic instruction.

Qin Xiaoxiao's reputation was decent, though she occasionally neglected her proper pursuits, sometimes sneaking off to practice dancing and music...

The branch clan leader had warned her to focus on raising her strength, but she still followed her whims, clinging to those hobbies... In the end, even the branch clan leader gave up.

"A slightly stubborn little girl—good!" Qin Longyun nodded. "Empress, have the second brother go ask her, see if she has any secret affairs or the like. He may lightly hypnotize her, but don't touch anything else... If there isn't any, just tell her directly about the marriage alliance. As a Qin, she should be prepared!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Seeing Gong Qin leave, Qin Longyun leaned back in his chair and laughed, "I seem to have been overly cautious lately... having to poke my nose into every trivial matter!"

Qin Ningyun smiled, "There's no helping it. After all, that General Su... truly has boundless prospects. Your Majesty is doing it for the greater good of the Qin family!"

Qin Ningyun was also a member of the royal family!

"Indeed!" Qin Longyun said helplessly, "We can't kill him, and he's too close. So this is the only way. A powerful ally is better than a powerful enemy, after all!"

"Your Majesty speaks wisely!"

"Fortunately, this General Su is still a relatively pure Beast Tamer, uninterested in power, and the Beast Tamer world is vast enough. Otherwise, the Huaxia Federation on the border of Qingluan Kingdom would truly be troublesome!" Qin Longyun rubbed his forehead. "I really don't know how a small world like that could produce such an absolute prodigy. It's damn unreasonable. Once we make contact with the Federation, let's see if we can find a few more great families of the Huaxia Federation to arrange marriage alliances with!"

Su Yang probably didn't know that his dislike of power had already reached Qin Longyun's ears, let alone Qin Longyun's other plans...

But even if he knew, he wouldn't care—he might even approve.

Mutual marriage alliances were actually beneficial to the Huaxia Federation, which was still very weak at this point.

Marriages among the upper echelons, integration among the common folk, mutual exchange—the Huaxia Federation could take the chance to learn this world's Beast Tamer knowledge.

Closed-door isolationism was absolutely out of the question!

"Xiaoxiao, what's wrong?" Qin Ningshuang stood at the door of her own Ceng Zu's residence, watching Qin Xiaoxiao walk out of the courtyard with a heavy heart, and asked with some concern, "You look weighed down. Could it be that Ceng Zu my lord is dissatisfied with your performance?"

Gong Qin's second son, Qin Ningshuang and Qin Xiaoxiao's Ceng Zu had just called over the young men and women whose clan competition rankings placed them in the top fifty, and in the end kept only Qin Xiaoxiao behind.

Qin Ningshuang didn't leave directly, but waited here for Qin Xiaoxiao.

"No, Ceng Zu was very kind... it's just..."

"Just what?"

Qin Xiaoxiao threw her arms around Qin Ningshuang, buried her head in her chest, and sobbed, "Ceng Zu told me, old man that he is, that my marriage has already been decided. In three days, I'll be marrying someone surnamed Su!"

Qin Ningshuang exclaimed, "Three days? How could it be so soon?"

Generally speaking, once a wedding date was set, there was at least a month before the actual marriage, and sometimes one even had to wait several years.

A three-day marriage was truly extremely rare!

"I say, Ningshuang-jie, are you focusing on the wrong thing?" Qin Xiaoxiao looked up, aggrieved, and said, "I haven't even met the man, don't know what he looks like, how old he is, how many wives and children he has... He might even be some wretched old man over a hundred years old. In our branch, there's a cousin like that. I've even met her and talked to her..."

Royal marriages valued benefit above all!

It wasn't unheard of for a twenty-year-old royal maiden to marry a Beast Tamer of a hundred or two hundred years...

Enjoying royal treatment also meant bearing royal mission and responsibility!

Only true geniuses had the chance to decide for themselves in marriage.

And even that was only a chance!

Qin Ningshuang said sympathetically, "I told you to cultivate properly, but you wouldn't. Now look where that's gotten you!"

If she were a true female beast-tamer genius, even royalty would be reluctant to marry her off unless absolutely necessary.

They would much rather take a son-in-law, keeping the outstanding bloodline in the family!

The imperial clan would also show some respect for their opinions!

"Ningshuang sis, look at the state I'm in, and you're still making light of it!"

Qin Ningshuang asked again, "Didn't you ask Ceng Zu what that person surnamed Su is like?"

Qin Xiaoxiao wiped her tears and said softly, "How would I dare ask? I was nervous to death. The moment I saw Ceng Zu, I felt an enormous amount of pressure!"

"Then did Ceng Zu ask you whether you were willing to be married off?"

"He did ask…" Qin Xiaoxiao nodded. "But could I really say no?"

"Sigh!"

Qin Ningshuang let out a heavy sigh.

"Who decided your marriage?"

"Uh… it seems to be His Majesty!"

Qin Ningshuang was mildly surprised. "That's not so bad, then. At least anyone His Majesty takes a liking to won't be ordinary — either a young genius, or someone of high rank!"

"Is there any famous genius surnamed Su in our Qingluan Kingdom? I don't think so, is there?"

"Indeed there isn't…"

There were indeed a few geniuses surnamed Su, but none of them were well-known.

Their talent would certainly not be valued by Qingluan Kingdom's Emperor Qin Longyun enough for him to personally bestow a marriage!

Qin Xiaoxiao said softly, "I think that person is probably no spring chicken — already has a houseful of wives and concubines, children and grandchildren. Maybe the moment I go there I'll already be a grandmother…"

"Can't you be a little more optimistic?"

"Ningshuang sis, that's really hard!"

"Any other information? Maybe I can help you figure out who it is!"

"Oh, right!" Qin Xiaoxiao slapped her forehead. "Ceng Zu called that person General Su! Do we have a general surnamed Su in our Qingluan Kingdom? One who has His Majesty's favor…"

At this point, Qin Xiaoxiao lowered her head again.

General Su — just hearing the name sounds like a hundred-year-old grandpa…

After all, in Qingluan Kingdom, to become a General one generally needs the strength of an Imperial-grade beast-tamer!

It's entirely possible the other party is over a hundred years old!

"General Su?" Ningshuang murmured the title, carefully recalling any famous generals surnamed Su in Qingluan Kingdom…

"Ningshuang sis, did you think of someone?"

"I did think of one…"

"Who!"