"A Young Prince acting sneakily as a commoner, who knows what his intentions are..." Young Master Dong muttered at this moment. Although he no longer dared to directly confront Xiaoyao, he still criticized from the sidelines.
"I'm truly sorry, but I don't have any intentions. Besides, I simply didn't reveal my identity. Since Princess Wen Ya doesn't need status, why the unnecessary trouble?" Xiaoyao said.
"..."
"Since my identity has been discovered, you can handle the rest. I'll be going first," Xiaoyao prepared to escape, leaving the mess to those officials.
The official understood Xiaoyao's meaning and could only shake his head helplessly. His task was to help Xiaoyao handle all other matters, this was his duty. Back in the Great Tang Empire, Ning Zhiyuan had made this very clear.
At the same time, Ning Zhiyuan had also said that Xiaoyao didn't want to handle anything, they had to settle everything. The marriage proposal wasn't important; disrupting the Greedy Wolf Empire's affairs was most important.
In other words, these officials knew what Xiaoyao came to do. They knew Xiaoyao had no intention of marrying Princess Wen Ya, so next, they would use diplomatic means to discuss this matter and resolve it satisfactorily.
How to resolve it had nothing to do with Xiaoyao, and he wouldn't concern himself with it.
...
...
This time Xiaoyao's mission was completed very thoroughly, he had disrupted the Greedy Wolf Empire's good fortune and prevented them from obtaining the Peerless Sword. However, the headache was that he had actually caught Princess Wen Ya's eye. Fortunately, this headache wasn't Xiaoyao's to worry about.
"You can't leave. This matter needs to be clarified, regardless of whether your status is that of an ordinary commoner or a noble Young Prince," Princess Wen Ya blocked Xiaoyao's departure.
"What needs to be clarified about this matter? Your standards are too strange, such standards make me question your character. Plus, your birth date and eight characters don't match well with mine, so we don't seem very compatible," Xiaoyao said slowly.
"..." Princess Wen Ya fell silent, as did everyone else, including those from the Great Tang Empire.
This Young Prince was too interesting, actually using this reason to refuse. Birth dates and eight characters don't match well, how could you say that.
But speaking of it, generally marriages between two countries would match birth dates and eight characters, this was also a custom. If they truly didn't match, it would indeed be a good reason.
Although generally in such marriage competitions, this wouldn't be considered, if one really wanted to be particular about it, it was possible.
Xiaoyao didn't say much more and directly took his leave. The remaining matters would be resolved by the diplomatic officials, and Princess Wen Ya no longer questioned Xiaoyao because she knew that even if they continued talking, the result would be the same. She couldn't force Xiaoyao to marry her.
Although Princess Wen Ya had some favorable feelings toward Xiaoyao, these feelings weren't enough to make her disregard everything and abandon her dignity to pursue him. The degree was still far from sufficient.
Marriage competitions were like this, you choose me, I choose you. Even a princess could be rejected because the other party might be more noble than the princess and didn't come here for marriage.
Xiaoyao was such a person. However, he wasn't rejecting her but simply had never considered it. Since he had never considered it, how could there be rejection.
Regarding Xiaoyao's refusal, Baiyue Kingdom wouldn't hold any resentment toward the Great Tang Empire, not only because the Great Tang Empire was countless times more powerful than Baiyue Kingdom, but also because the Great Tang Empire's officials would resolve this matter. They would privately negotiate good conditions and minimize the impact of this affair.
Perhaps the Great Tang Empire would even provide some compensation to Baiyue Kingdom, though of course it wouldn't be free. This was diplomacy, something that appeared unpleasant on the surface could be very pleasant privately for both parties, while sometimes things that appeared pleasant on the surface were very unpleasant privately.
After this, Princess Wen Ya didn't select a replacement either, only announcing that this marriage competition was temporarily suspended because the Peerless Sword being stolen was somewhat inauspicious.
This reason was quite ridiculous to those who understood the situation, but to those who didn't know the details, it was very adequate and could explain everything.
After this, Princess Wen Ya seemed to never hold another marriage competition. Perhaps she wanted to let things happen naturally. Anyway, given her situation, marrying wouldn't be difficult if she wished. The Great Tang Empire would immediately welcome her, though of course the person marrying her definitely wouldn't be Xiaoyao.
Not to mention that Xiaoyao wouldn't be in the Great Tang Empire for a period afterward, even if he were, he couldn't possibly agree to this marriage.
Perhaps political matters could force some people to submit, but Xiaoyao wasn't in this category. First, his roots in the Great Tang Empire weren't deep, he couldn't even be considered a Great Tang person.
Second, the Eldest Princess's level of doting on Xiaoyao would absolutely not let Xiaoyao do anything he didn't want to do, and the Eldest Princess's capabilities were unquestionable. Therefore, no one could force Xiaoyao.
Regardless, this matter had no further developments afterward, because after this day, Xiaoyao disappeared. When Princess Wen Ya "casually" inquired, she received an answer, Xiaoyao had left early the next morning, alone, with no one knowing his destination.
This wasn't an evasive answer but fact. Indeed, the Great Tang Empire officials didn't know where Xiaoyao was. Xiaoyao hadn't said, and from the beginning they knew Xiaoyao would separate from them here. Where he went was not their concern.
However, before leaving, Xiaoyao left something for them to bring back to Ning Zhiyuan. What was inside was said to be secret, they shouldn't open it.
Thus, the Great Tang Empire's group returned with this item. Along the way, they didn't take it seriously, casually throwing it among the group's luggage, because when Xiaoyao gave it to them, he didn't seem to attach much importance to it. He only said not to open it and to bring it back to Ning Zhiyuan, nothing else was said.
Because of this, everyone didn't think much of it, only considering it a gift Xiaoyao was sending to Ning Zhiyuan, not taking it seriously.
Perhaps because they didn't take it seriously, nothing problematic occurred along the way. No one knew that what Xiaoyao casually gave would be so important. Only when the official finally handed it to Ning Zhiyuan did they realize this item's importance. They all felt scared afterward, if something had gone wrong, they would have lost their positions.
After learning Xiaoyao had brought something back, Ning Zhiyuan immediately protected that item carefully and even gave the officials considerable rewards. This attitude made the officials realize that what they had brought seemed very important.
What this item was, the officials didn't know, because afterward Ning Zhiyuan protected it so no one had a chance to see what was inside.
If they knew what was inside, they would definitely cry out in shock—
The Peerless Sword!
That's right, what Xiaoyao brought to Ning Zhiyuan was precisely the Peerless Sword.
Hadn't the Peerless Sword been stolen by Tian He? Why was it in Xiaoyao's hands? Could Xiaoyao have cooperated with Tian He to steal the Peerless Sword?
Of course not. Xiaoyao hadn't cooperated with Tian He. Before Tian He suddenly revealed his true face, Xiaoyao didn't know Tian He's identity, they had only met a few times, just an ordinary chance encounter.
If that was the case, then why would the Peerless Sword stolen by Tian He appear here?
Very simple, what Tian He stole wasn't the real Peerless Sword at all, but Xiaoyao's replica. Xiaoyao had already switched it beforehand, right under everyone's watchful eyes.
Even if the Peerless Sword's substitution was discovered, Xiaoyao wouldn't be suspected, because Xiaoyao only had two opportunities to touch the Peerless Sword, once in front of Princess Wen Ya, once under many people's gaze. In either case, no one would think he had the opportunity.
Furthermore, Xiaoyao couldn't possibly have brought a replica with him. No one would believe this replica was made on-site, this seemed even more incredible and no one would choose to believe it.
So many impossibilities allowed Xiaoyao to be eliminated from suspicion, but in fact, he had used less than half a month to create a replica almost identical to the Peerless Sword, and in front of everyone, using some sleight of hand, he had switched the Peerless Sword.
Xiaoyao's replica, though called a replica, was also a rare treasured sword. As long as one didn't use this sword to clash with divine weapon-class weapons, no problems would be detected.
Now Tian He had stolen the replica, eliminating even the last possibility of recognition. Even if discovered, he could righteously claim ignorance and completely deny the Peerless Sword's existence.
For such matters, the Great Tang Empire had probably done this countless times. Under these circumstances, the Peerless Sword was impossible to return unless Baiyue Kingdom offered good conditions.
Regarding this matter, Xiaoyao might not see the outcome, and Ning Zhiyuan wouldn't concern himself with it now either. What he needed to do now was crack the secrets within the Peerless Sword. If he didn't know the Peerless Sword contained secrets, why would he care about it? With the Great Tang Empire's national power, obtaining several swords of the Peerless Sword's level would be easy.
Ning Zhiyuan somehow obtained this information, knowing the Peerless Sword contained a shocking mystery that, if solved, could command the world!
Of course, this was unverified information. Now he needed to find a way to unlock this secret...
(End of Chapter)