"No, you can't go alone with this woman. She's dangerous," the Young Miss shook her head.

"I agree with this point too," Nangong Suxin also spoke up. Although she usually opposed the Young Miss, she wouldn't on this matter.

"I also think this is very problematic," Third Miss Nangong also spoke, showing these girls' concern about Hei Xue.

"What do you mean by this? Would I actually harm him?" Hei Xue was somewhat displeased. What was this supposed to mean?

"It's not like you haven't before," the Young Miss said directly.

"Well..." Hei Xue fell silent for a moment. Although those few times weren't really harmful, there were still some elements involved. Fortunately, Xiaoyao could solve the problems, otherwise they would have been quite troublesome.

Those who didn't know about Hei Xue now learned that this stunning woman beside Xiaoyao actually had such a complicated relationship with him, and yet the two could still be together as if nothing had happened.

"These are all past matters. I'm still here, aren't I? It's fine. Although she has such intentions, I can handle it," Xiaoyao said with a smile.

The first part of his statement made Hei Xue very happy and made others think Xiaoyao was perhaps too good-natured—having been harmed several times yet still saying it was nothing and even defending the other party. But the latter part immediately made Hei Xue's heart sink, realizing that Xiaoyao simply didn't care about her methods, not that he didn't care about her scheming behavior.

Although this sounded similar, it was completely different in nature.

"Better safe than sorry. It's better to be careful. How about this—we'll go to the Carefree Sect with you," the Young Miss said.

"That's unnecessary. You don't need to get involved with her—it's not good for you," Xiaoyao said. This statement was somewhat confusing. Xiaoyao's "her" naturally referred to Hei Xue. If getting involved with Hei Xue wasn't good, then why was it okay for him?

"We'll discuss this matter later. Let's talk about other topics," Xiaoyao said.

"Talk about what?"

This question should have been asked by the Young Miss and her companions, but someone else took the initiative. However, although it was the same question, when asked by different people, it had different implications.

The person asking was a young nobleman who had approached them. Xiaoyao seemed to have seen this person before—apparently from the Luo family with a high status and influential elders, one of the core family members.

Counting back, this person should be someone ennobled as a prince, who had been present when Xiaoyao was there. However, Xiaoyao had never spoken with him—rather, the other party had disdained to speak with Xiaoyao. Why was he approaching now?

"Looking for you?" Xiaoyao glanced at the girls beside him, somewhat puzzled. Except for seeking them out, there seemed to be no other reason. Perhaps during this year, they had become acquainted with this person.

"Of course not. We don't know him—he's probably here for you," Guxing and her companions shook their heads. None of them recognized the newcomer. Actually, they only interacted with people like Luo Yunqing and others in the military system. The Luo family didn't seem to have many people in the military system, especially not those at the prince level.

"Hei Xue..." Xiaoyao looked at Hei Xue.

"...I just arrived here. Do you think it's possible?" Hei Xue said irritably.

"It's possible. He might have come because he's taken a fancy to you and wants to pursue you. You know how charming you are," Xiaoyao said, then bit into some excellent braised pork, chewing loudly as if his words were the final conclusion and he didn't want to say more.

"Thank you for the compliment. This might be possible," Hei Xue smiled and accepted Xiaoyao's comment, making those around feel somewhat speechless.

Of course, everyone could sense this was just joking—no one really thought Hei Xue believed this person had come because he was interested in her.

"You're Xiaoyao, right? Congratulations on becoming Prince Xiaoyao," the young man said somewhat coldly, deliberately ignoring everyone's banter and addressing only Xiaoyao while drinking the wine in his hand, seemingly offering a toast.

"Thank you," Xiaoyao smiled, poured himself a cup of wine, and drank it. Proper etiquette was still necessary—he wasn't an impolite person. Since the other party had offered a toast, he should drink in return.

"I'm very curious why they would ennoble you as a prince, so I came over to take a look out of curiosity. Now I seem to understand—you have so many enviable female confidantes. Being ennobled isn't strange," the young man said with a smile, but this smile seemed very unfriendly, and his words were quite unpleasant.

Anyone could understand the implication—that Xiaoyao relied on women, that his princely title was only because of the women around him, not earned through his own abilities.

This might not be just his opinion alone. Most of these people didn't know about Xiaoyao's affairs. Although they knew Xiaoyao had sacrificed himself to save his father, that was all they knew. They considered this normal behavior, feeling they could do the same—this wasn't enough to warrant ennoblement.

Previously, everyone thought Xiaoyao was dead, so they didn't bother to argue about it. But now that Xiaoyao had appeared alive, some people weren't satisfied with this result. Although it couldn't be changed, they could still cause trouble for Xiaoyao and make sarcastic remarks.

The Young Miss was the first to get angry, but before she could explode, Xiaoyao had already said something that suddenly made her feel it wasn't necessary.

"Yes, I do have enviable female confidantes. Otherwise, why would you be standing here?" Xiaoyao smiled, replying very calmly.

The meaning of this statement was also obvious—it was equivalent to pointing at the other party and asking: Are you jealous?

"You..." The young man was immediately stuck. He hadn't expected Xiaoyao to respond this way, making his prepared words suddenly meaningless.

"I accept your toast and your jealousy, because that's normal. Now you can go back," Xiaoyao smiled with a kindly expression, but this kind smile made the other party grit his teeth in hatred.

When Xiaoyao made everything seem normal, everyone realized this matter could be viewed from a different angle. With this change of perspective, the young man looked like a ridiculous clown.

The young man felt this too, which was why he was so angry. But he had nowhere to vent this anger, since Xiaoyao had never said anything bad about him and was just agreeing with his own words.

Why was this happening? This felt so frustrating...

"Hmph, silver-tongued. No wonder you can deceive these women into being devoted to you," the young man said meaningless words in his speechlessness, with obvious hostility.

"Deceive? It would be strange if he could charm women. Watch this," the Young Miss glanced at Xiaoyao and continued: "Xiaoyao, charm me."

"Get lost!" Xiaoyao immediately responded with one word, very habitually.

"..." Everyone fell silent for a moment, especially the young man, who seemed to feel his words had been slapped back at him.

"Try a different approach," the Young Miss said with a smile.

"Go cool off somewhere else," Xiaoyao said directly.

"See? Would someone like him charm girls?" the Young Miss looked at the young man with disdain.

"Of course I would!"

The young man didn't speak, but Xiaoyao did, protesting the Young Miss's words. Who said I couldn't charm girls?

"With your attitude, you call that charming?" the Young Miss said contemptuously.

"Yes, I'd definitely charm my wife. You're not my wife—no, you're not even a woman," Xiaoyao said directly.

The Young Miss got angry and slammed the table: "Screw you! How am I not a woman? I have breasts and a butt. I'll even bear you a son to prove it!"

"..." Everyone was immediately speechless. Only the Young Miss dared say such bold words.

"We'll see about that then," Xiaoyao shrugged and worked on cracking open a crab, eating the roe inside...

At this moment, the young man couldn't help but feel jealous. He had actually considered pursuing the Young Miss and her companions because their current status was very different. If he gained their support, he might become the next family head.

But facts proved they were hard to approach. However, they treated everyone the same way, which made him feel this was actually okay—at least everyone was equal. But now seeing how well they treated Xiaoyao made him feel unbalanced.

What perhaps made him even more unbalanced was that Xiaoyao completely ignored him, not even glancing at him.

So this young man became angry—

"Xiaoyao, what do you mean by this?"

If this had come from the Young Miss, Xiaoyao would have chosen to ignore it. But since it came from the young man, out of politeness, he had to respond.

"What do you mean what do I mean?" Xiaoyao asked in confusion.

"What do you take me for?"

"I take you as someone who offered a toast, and also as a Luo family member. Besides that, what else could you be?" Xiaoyao asked back. Was this person's brain not working properly, still pestering like this?

He hadn't even introduced himself—how could I know who you are?

"I'm called Luo Junming. My father is..."

"Your father is Luo Yunkai, the Luo family's disciplinary elder. You don't need to introduce this—I've looked at some Luo family materials, afraid I might not recognize family members I encounter," Xiaoyao said.

"Big brother, now his father isn't just a simple disciplinary elder—he's also the Minister of Justice for Flowing Stone Kingdom," Lingling said from the side, seemingly reminding Xiaoyao to be careful.

"Oh, so he has additional real power. About the same. I wonder what Brother Junming wants? You didn't just come here to state your identity, did you?" Xiaoyao said carelessly. Flowing Stone Kingdom's officials weren't really important to him—he cared more about Luo family status.

(End of Chapter)