Senior sister, stop working and go home for dinner.

Chapter 450 I'll Watch You Jump

Feng Jin's heart skipped a beat.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found that her throat felt blocked by something, and she couldn't squeeze out a single word.

Yun Jiu still looked at her with a smile, his gaze as if he were looking at a lamb to the slaughter.

"I've heard that the princesses of the Great Qian Dynasty are all exceptionally talented and beautiful, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Especially the Third Princess, who, at the tender age of sixteen, possesses a stunningly beautiful face and her dancing skills are truly unparalleled." Yun Jiu picked up his wine cup, took a slow sip, and said, "With you two seniors here tonight, why not have the princesses perform a dance to add some color to the banquet?"

Feng Jin's face turned deathly pale instantly.

She subconsciously looked outside the pavilion.

The emperor stood there, his smile frozen.

The Empress lowered her eyes, her shoulders trembling slightly. The young princesses behind her did not understand what was happening; they were simply being held upright by their nannies.

The Third Princess stood beside the Emperor, dressed in a pale yellow palace gown, a small silk flower adorning her hair. She was sixteen, the prime of her life, her eyes still retaining a touch of childish innocence. At this moment, her head was bowed, obscuring her expression, but the way she clutched the hem of her dress betrayed her fear.

Feng Jin felt as if something had clenched his heart tightly.

She had lived for fifty-three years and seen far too much. She had seen how the Immortal Alliance treated mortals like ants, how the chosen women were taken away, and how those women never returned.

But she never imagined that one day, this knife would fall on her own granddaughter's head.

"Elder Yunjiu..."

Feng Jin's voice trembled, but she forced a smile, "Third Sister is still young, and her dancing skills are crude; I'm afraid she won't meet the standards of the two seniors. Perhaps..."

"Your Highness," Yun Jiu interrupted her, her smile unchanged, but her gaze turned cold, "I am here to entertain the two seniors, not to discuss matters with you."

Feng Jin's words stuck in his throat.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

The pavilion fell silent for a moment.

That silence was like a boulder, pressing down on everyone's heart.

Feng Jin lowered her eyes, staring at the cold tea in front of her. A thin layer of oil floated on the tea, reflecting the lamplight and her pale face.

She suddenly remembered what the late emperor had said to her before he died, holding her hand.

"Jin'er, this empire is entrusted to you."

She nodded and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty."

But she couldn't rest easy.

Over the years, she watched as the Immortal Alliance's appetite grew ever larger, as the royal family bowed lower and lower, and as those once proud descendants of the Feng family learned to bow their heads, to smile obsequiously, and to swallow all their grievances.

She thought she had gotten used to it.

But at that moment, when the knife fell on her granddaughter's head, she realized...

She wasn't used to it.

She just learned to pretend to get used to it.

"The Third Princess."

Yun Jiu's voice rang out again, tinged with impatience, "What are you still standing outside for? Come in."

The Third Princess's body trembled slightly.

She didn't move.

The emperor's hand clenched tighter. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but the empress grabbed his sleeve.

The empress shook her head at him, her eyes already red.

The third princess remained standing there, head bowed, motionless.

A breeze blew in from outside the garden, stirring her skirt and the small silk flower in her hair. The flower swayed gently in the night, as if it might be blown away at any moment.

Just then, Chen Anran slowly spoke, "Elder Yunjiu."

Yun Jiu quickly turned his head, his face instantly beaming with a smile: "What are your orders, Senior?"

Chen Anran looked at him, her gaze indifferent.

"Since you enjoy watching people dance so much," he said, "why don't you go up and perform a dance to entertain everyone?"

After he finished speaking, there was a moment of silence in the Peony Pavilion.

In that instant, Yun Jiu's smile froze.

He kept his mouth open, maintaining the same obsequious expression, but something in his eyes was undergoing a dramatic change.

From shock to disbelief, and then to an almost uncontrollable rage.

But he dared not retaliate.

He just stood there, his facial muscles twitching, managing to force a smile that looked worse than a grimace.

"S-Senior, you jest." His voice was dry. "How dare I, with my uncouth manner, make a fool of myself before you..."

"Are you joking?" Chen Anran picked up her teacup, lowered her head, and took a sip. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Yunjiu's words stuck in her throat.

The group of Nascent Soul deacons behind him exchanged glances, none daring to utter a sound. Some lowered their heads, some averted their gazes, and some quietly took a half-step back.

Feng Jin was also stunned. She stood there, looking at the young man in dark cloth at the head of the table, at his calm and expressionless face, and for a moment she did not know how to react.

She had lived for fifty-three years and seen countless immortals. But no immortal had ever dared to speak to an elder of the Immortal Alliance like that.

there has never been.

Feng Jin's heart was beating very fast.

She suddenly recalled the humble manner with which Yun Jiu bowed at the garden gate earlier. She had thought that was the limit.

But she only found out now.

That was just the beginning.

The emperor loosened his grip.

He stood there, gazing at everything in the pavilion, at the young man sitting in the main seat, and at Yun Jiu, who was frozen in place, his expression extremely complex.

The Empress loosened her grip on the handkerchief. She subconsciously looked at the Third Princess.

The third princess kept her head down, obscuring her expression. But her shoulders had stopped trembling.

Inside the pavilion.

Yun Jiu stood there, the smile on her face completely gone.

He looked at Chen Anran, at that excessively young face, at those calm and emotionless eyes, and a feeling of unprecedented humiliation welled up inside him.

Who is he?

He was an elder in charge of the Heavenly Pivot Hall, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, just one step away from becoming a Divine Transformation expert. He had been in the Immortal Alliance for over a thousand years and had seen countless important figures. Even the Hall Master of the Heavenly Pivot Hall treated him with utmost respect, and the Vice Leader of the Immortal Alliance had praised him for his efficient work.

But this young man who appeared out of nowhere actually asked him to dance?

Yunjiu clenched her fists tightly inside her sleeves.

But he dared not move.

He couldn't see through the young man's cultivation level.

No, it wasn't just this young man. He couldn't see through the smiling man in the blue robe behind him either.

Two people he couldn't understand.

Two unfathomable old monsters.

Yunjiu took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

He forced a smile.

That smile was even uglier than before, as if it had been forced out with a knife to its throat.

"Senior..." His voice trembled, but he forced himself to speak, "This junior is indeed not skilled in this art. If Senior wishes to see a dance, this junior will immediately send someone to the Immortal Alliance's headquarters to summon the best dancers."

"No need."

Chen Anran interrupted him, put down her teacup, and looked up at him.

That gaze remained calm, but Yun Jiu felt that something was hidden beneath that calm.

"I'll just watch you jump," Chen Anran said.