Aside from being cunning, the First Princess also has a strong competitive spirit… Xu Qi An analyzed her personality through behavioral psychology and deduced her dominant traits.
Wait… why do I feel like it’s looking at me?!
The Spirit Dragon’s eyes were not fierce vertical pupils but black pearl-like orbs, reminiscent of a pet dog he had seen in his past life, with eyes like bright black buttons.
Thus, it appeared very docile.
But that wasn’t the main point; Xu Qi An had a strange feeling that the Spirit Dragon was waiting for him.
Sure enough, when the First Princess approached the Spirit Dragon, an unexpected scene unfolded.
It suddenly displayed a violent and aggressive side, letting out a hoarse growl that threatened her to stay away.
The First Princess frowned and took a few steps back.
The spirit beast then fell silent, resting its head on the bank, still in that “come ride me” posture.
“Hey, the Spirit Dragon won’t let Huaiqing up.”
“What’s going on? Is the Spirit Dragon in a bad mood today?”
“No, that posture means it’s waiting for someone to ride it…”
The princes began to discuss among themselves.
Xu Qi An couldn’t hear their murmurs, but he knew they couldn’t remain in a stalemate. Just imagine, a spirit beast that feeds on purple qi refusing to acknowledge a princess, yet spreading its legs waiting for someone to ride it.
This was not a good sign!
Xu Qi An guessed that it was his strange luck causing this situation, but he would rather explore slowly, even if it was in vain than have the secret exposed.
In this world, the rules of survival wouldn’t absolve one of guilt just because they were unaware!
“First Princess, this creature is very dangerous. We should leave quickly.”
Taking advantage of the First Princess not connecting the dots with him, Xu Qi An quickly positioned himself in front of her, overlapping with the Spirit Dragon’s gaze, making the First Princess aware that the dragon was in a troubled mood.
The First Princess frowned, staring at the Spirit Dragon for a moment before reluctantly nodding: “Let’s go.”
Xu Qi An pretended to lag, allowing the First Princess to lead the way. After walking a few dozen meters, he heard the Spirit Dragon emit a plaintive whine behind him.
…
Xu Qi An and Huaiqing returned to the Four Directions Platform, where the Second Princess Linan had already been fished out of the water, drenched and wrapped in a thick cloak, her arms crossed, shivering from the cold, her lips turning purple.
She pointed at Huaiqing, crying: “I will tell Father Emperor! Huaiqing, this isn’t over between us!”
The First Princess replied indifferently: “What does this have to do with me? It was the Spirit Dragon’s mood that was volatile today, leading to this incident.”
Linan’s repeated failures had long since become a familiar image, and the princes and princesses were used to it, discussing the Spirit Dragon’s unusual behavior.
“The Spirit Dragon is acting strange; it went wild just now, which is odd.”
“Why is it still by the bank? It’s staring over here…”
“It sounds quite aggrieved…”
As the eldest brother, the Crown Prince felt a pang of sympathy for his sister for two seconds before happily joining the discussion: “Perhaps it’s in a bad mood. The Spirit Dragon isn’t an ordinary beast; it naturally has its temper.”
However, beasts are still beasts; their thoughts are inscrutable. After a brief discussion, the princes lost interest.
Due to the Second Princess’s fall into the water and the fear of catching a chill, the banquet was adjourned early. The noble princes and princesses returned in carriages, leaving the servants to clean up the mess.
The First Princess took Xu Qi An and turned towards the East Huamen, arriving outside the Wenyuan Pavilion.
The Wenyuan Pavilion was the royal repository of books, consisting of seven pavilions filled with a vast collection of texts.
Xu Qi An and the First Princess immersed themselves in ancient scrolls, searching for over an hour, and found much information related to the first-generation Jianzheng.
This person had created a system of sorcery but had a mysterious background, assisting the first emperor in establishing a great legacy, and should have been honored in the ancestral temple.
However, records about him abruptly ceased five hundred years ago.
It was clear that someone had erased him from history. The one who did so was undoubtedly Emperor Wuzong.
In the third book tower of the Wenyuan Pavilion, on the second floor by the window, the First Princess bathed in sunlight, her fair face seemingly glowing, with even the fine hairs on her face visible.
She said: “If Emperor Wuzong erased the records of the first-generation Jianzheng, then we wouldn’t be able to find any relevant information in the Wenyuan Pavilion.”
Seeing Xu Qi An’s disappointed expression, the First Princess pointed out: “Didn’t you say you found Buddhist inscriptions in the stone pillars? We can try to find a breakthrough from there.”
After more than an hour of reading, she appeared somewhat fatigued, unconsciously leaning closer to the desk, causing her ample bosom to rest on the table.
This woman has depth… Xu Qi An glanced out of the corner of his eye but chose not to focus on it. After all, when you stare into the abyss, the abyss might also be staring back at you.
And this abyss was something Xu Qi An dared not provoke at the moment. Unless he could make the abyss shy away in the future.
After shifting his thoughts, he indeed made some progress.
“I reviewed the ‘Da Feng: Geography Records’ and found that at the beginning of the Da Feng dynasty, there were no Buddhist temples in the capital, nor were there any monks preaching. But five hundred years ago, a temple suddenly appeared, called Baota Temple.” The First Princess, being a top student, was much better at researching than the uneducated Xu Qi An.
Her long eyelashes fluttered, her eyes showing fatigue yet melting the coldness of her gaze. At that moment, she seemed to come alive.
The First Princess was delighted by this discovery: “At its peak, Baota Temple had countless worshippers daily, with officials and nobles coming and going. A single temple even bought nearly a hundred acres of good farmland.
“But soon after, the court launched a campaign to eradicate Buddhism, and Baota Temple gradually declined. The major Buddhist temples in the capital now have no connection to Baota Temple.
“Well, one lineage has been preserved, renamed Qinglong Temple, located at Baifeng Mountain in the western suburbs… Hey, are you listening?”