“Your Highness, please don’t twist the facts. Even if you favor her, without the Emperor’s decree, she’s nothing more than a maid—at best a concubine.
How could insulting her be considered as insulting the future princess consort?”
Now that he was certain Qiu An was still a cripple, Chen Peng regained his composure.
“And what you did yesterday was a true insult to our families. Don’t you think you owe us an explanation?”
“Heh… You think I humiliated you all just because you believe Xue’er isn’t as good as the daughters of your five families?”
Qiu An coldly swept his gaze across Chen Peng and the others.
“Well then, if I can prove that Xue’er is better than the women from your five families, wouldn’t that so-called humiliation no longer exist?”
“Your Highness, surely you jest?”
Chen Peng looked at Qiu An in disbelief.
“In terms of family status, we’re all from aristocratic backgrounds. Our fathers all hold third-rank official positions.”
“In terms of ability, the women from our five families are at least mid-stage Martial Masters, with the strongest already at the early Martial Lord stage.”
“As for appearance…”
Chen Peng glanced at Guo Xue’s figure and compared it with the five women beside him.
He secretly admitted that if not for the scars on her face, he might have chosen Guo Xue too. But of course, he wouldn’t say that out loud.
So instead, he changed the subject and said,
“Her face has two long scars—it’s disfigured. How could she possibly compare to the women from our families?”
“Heh.”
Qiu An chuckled coldly and countered sharply:
“In terms of family, can any of you compare to the Zhenbian Prince’s household? Does this prince need a wife’s family background to prove anything?”
“In terms of appearance—do you truly think their figures compare to my princess consort’s?”
“As for those two scars—do you think I can’t ask the Divine Doctor Shangguan to heal them?”
“And ability…”
“Heh.”
Qiu An smirked again.
“How can you be so sure she’s inferior to your people without even testing her in a real fight?”
Guo Xue stared blankly at Qiu An, feeling like she was seeing him in a new light.
When he was with her, he was like a scoundrel—soft and always yielding to her.
But facing others, he was full of authority, sharp-tongued, and completely uncompromising.
She quietly thought to herself,
“Maybe… spending a lifetime with him wouldn’t be so bad after all.”
Hearing Qiu An propose letting a maid duel against them, Chen Peng burst out laughing.
“Hahaha!”
“Your Highness, are you seriously joking right now? Are you trying to insult us by making a maid fight against us? Do you really think she’s worthy?”
Chen Peng pointed at Guo Xue mockingly.
“What’s the matter? Afraid?”
Qiu An looked at Chen Peng with utter contempt, then cast the same disdainful glance toward the others.
Unable to endure Qiu An’s mockery any longer, Zhao Yi was the first to speak up.
“Fine! I’ll fight her—but I won’t be responsible for her life or death.”
Seeing Zhao Yi agree, Chen Peng was also about to speak, but he wasn’t going to make it that easy. He had his own plan.
“Your Highness, we can agree to the duel. But you must accept one condition. And we’re not going to guarantee her safety—it’s easy to lose control in a real fight.”
“Fine. Speak your condition.”
Qiu An nodded without hesitation.
He wasn’t worried about the risk to Guo Xue at all. Since they now shared their cultivation through the system, Guo Xue had the strength of a peak Martial King.
Even if she couldn’t win, he was willing to expose his own power to protect her.
“Heh…”
Chen Peng grinned maliciously at Qiu An.
“If she loses, you must kneel before the five women from our families and apologize to them.”
Qiu An didn’t even pause before replying,
“Alright. This prince—”
Before he could finish, Qiu Jian interjected.
“Your Highness, no! They—”
Qiu Jian didn’t believe Guo Xue could defeat someone as strong as Chen Peng, and he didn’t want Qiu An to be humiliated.
But before he could finish, Qiu An cut him off with a wave of his hand and an unhappy expression.
“If you doubt this prince again, get out.”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
Seeing Qiu An’s displeased face, Qiu Jian could only lower his head and obey.
Qiu An turned back to Chen Peng.
“If you want me to agree to your condition, then you must agree to mine.”
“Very well. What is it?”
Chen Peng nodded.
“If you lose, every one of you must apologize to my consort, Xue’er.”
Qiu An’s voice was solemn and full of authority.
“No way. How could we possibly apologize to her?”
Chen Peng rejected it immediately.
“Oh? So you’re admitting you’re not as good as this prince’s consort?”
Qiu An mocked, staring at Chen Peng.
“You—!”
Chen Peng was momentarily speechless with anger, but then realized that if he won, not only would he avoid apologizing, but he’d get to publicly humiliate Qiu An.
So he nodded.
“Fine. I agree.”
“What about the rest of you?”
Qiu An looked around the room.
Seeing that Chen Peng had agreed, and confident they wouldn’t lose, the others nodded in agreement as well.
“I agree.”
“I agree.”
…
Once everyone had agreed, Qiu An revealed a strange smile and turned to Qiu Jian.
“Take them to the training ground.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Qiu Jian bowed and led Chen Peng and the others away.
Once they were gone, Qiu An turned to Guo Xue—only to find her staring at him with a dreamy look and a smile on her face.
He waved his hand in front of her eyes.
“My lady, what are you thinking about? Why are you smiling like that?”
“Nothing.”
Qiu An’s voice brought Guo Xue back to reality.
She blushed as she recalled her thoughts, and quickly turned away, not daring to meet his gaze.
Seeing she didn’t want to say more, Qiu An didn’t press her.
That’s when Guo Xue realized they were the only two left in the hall. She turned to him, confused.
“Where did everyone go? Is it over?”
Qiu An shook his head.
“Not yet—but almost. There’s just one thing left to do.”
“What is it?”
“You just need to win the fight.”
“I can’t do it.”
Guo Xue shook her head. She knew she wasn’t strong enough to win.
Still, she added,
“Even though I can’t win, I’m willing to fight for you.”
She was prepared to take the fall just to settle things for Qiu An, forgetting that Chen Peng had said he wouldn’t hold back.
“My dear wife, do you think I’d let you fight if I wasn’t absolutely sure you could win?”
“If you beat them, not only will it shut them up, it’ll shut up my mother as well—and she’ll have to accept you as my consort.”
Qiu An looked at her with gentle affection.
“But I’m only at the peak of the Martial Master level. How could I possibly beat them? Some of them are already peak Martial Lords—an entire realm above me.”
Guo Xue looked discouraged.
This was the second time she’d felt her lack of strength.
She longed to be strong enough to win and earn the Princess Consort’s approval.
But since she couldn’t rely on strength, her only hope was to move her through sympathy.
“Heh… My dear wife, if you had the strength of a peak Martial King, would you be confident then?”
“If I had that kind of power, I’d beat them so hard even their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them,” she replied, clenching her fists.
Then she sighed and relaxed her hands.
“But that’s just a dream. How could it be possible?”
“My dear wife…” Qiu An grinned mysteriously.
“I have a way to give you the strength of a peak Martial King.”
“You—what?”
Guo Xue stared at him with disbelief.
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