Phoenix Destiny

Chapter 321: Interesting

The crucial difference between a man and a woman wasn’t what they looked like, but their posture.

This “Prince Jiang” obviously had done some painstaking work to masculinize her body language, but no matter how well one tried to hide it, there were some things that would be hard to change. For example, the way women walk; when a woman walks, they had a lower center of gravity, thus the hips would naturally sway.

Hearing Lu Mingshu, Yan Wugui observed for a moment and nodded. “With what you said, whether it’s a male dressed as a female or a female dressed as a male, we can tell at a glance!”

“Yeah, and it’s not a problem of habit,” Lu Mingshu said. “It’s the difference of our bodies by birth. Unless one changes it with magic or something, anyone who’s observant enough can easily tell.”

“What is ‘Prince Jiang’ after? What’s her aim for pretending to be a guy?”

“Resources, or some other reason and she has no choice.”

“But she’s talented! The Jiang Family would surely nurture her well, why is there a need to pretend?”

“Valuing males and belittling females, what’s new?” Lu Mingshu shrugged. Especially in a world where one’s status was dependent on your family and bloodline, it was hard to escape such problems. Even if a daughter could recruit a son-in-law, they were still not as desired as a son.

“The Floating Cloud young master, he’s here!”

Lu Mingshu and Yan Wugui turned after hearing someone shout. They saw a couple walking up the hillside. The man looked ice-cold like an iceberg, but he was handsome. The woman had large almond eyes, creamy smooth skin, and cherry-red lips. She was dainty and, standing beside the Floating Cloud young master, they looked like a lovely young couple that many envied.

“That’s the Nie Family’s eldest miss? She’s gorgeous!”

“I know, right?”

The crowd stared at them, drooling in envy and feeling depressed because of the fact that “the man Miss Nie loves isn’t me!”

“He indeed does not have a seal!” Yan Wugui muttered.

When the couple appeared, the Floating Cloud young master’s face was clear, and they couldn’t see any trace of the seal.

“Do you believe the rumors?”

“Huh?”

“His seal is special, that’s why…”

“What did you find out this time around?”

Lu Mingshu shook her head. “Nothing.” I’m just saying because I’m good at noticing special things.

“Should be real. Many have seen him fight. And if it was fake, he wouldn’t dare to be that arrogant. The more eye-catching he is, the more danger he would face.”

“Let’s get closer.” Lu Mingshu pulled him. “To hear what they say.”

…

“Brother Qin, Brother Chu.” Eldest Miss Nie giggled and waved.

Prince Qin and Prince Chu both turned back. Prince Qin nodded, but Prince Chu, Chu Zhengyan, smiled widely and waved back. “Sister Nie, you came!”

Eldest Miss Nie eyed the Floating Cloud young master next to her and smiled shyly. “To accompany my husband.”

After that, the Floating Cloud young master bowed to the three princes.

He seemed to be someone who did not have many words. He stood by the side after greeting all of them.

Eldest Miss Nie seemed to know Prince Qin and Prince Chu very well; they started chattering away. On the other hand, Prince Jiang, Jiang Yuan, who arrived earlier stood by the side quietly.

“Oh, she has beef with Prince Jiang!” Yan Wugui muttered.

“Nie, Qin, and Chu are big aristocratic families in Yunjing. It’s normal that Eldest Miss Nie and the two others are close. They are from the same generation too.”

On the other hand, Prince Jiang only became famous recently. Even though the Jiang Family wasn’t small, she was an illegitimate child. It was normal that she was not close to the Nie Family’s eldest miss.

“But Eldest Miss Nie hasn’t even greeted Prince Jiang. Even if they aren’t close, such a huge aristocratic family would not make things ugly for no reason.”

Lu Mingshu blinked. She might’ve been very observant and smart, but growing up in Green Jade Valley, she was somewhat ignorant about the ways of the world.

“What beef could they have?” Lu Mingshu looked at Yan Wugui weirdly. Prince Jiang is an illegitimate child. She should not have had any interaction with Eldest Miss Nie.

“Who knows? Let’s see.”

Meanwhile, Eldest Miss Nie was still chatting with Prince Chu and Prince Qin. “Sister Nie, it’s too risky for you to be here this time around,” Prince Chu said.

Eldest Miss Nie giggled and whined. “Brother Chu and Brother Qin are here, so why can’t I be here? Don’t look down on me!”

“I’m worried for you and yet you’re hurting me like this!” Chu Zhengyan laughed.

“Hmph! I don’t care. I will come since you two came!”

Chu Zhengyan chuckled and pretended to apologize. “Anything Miss Nie says!”

Qin Jun looked over and smiled. “It’s good that Sister Nie is here to experience things, but it’s better not to meddle. Brother Yun should be here for the top three, right? If he has to worry about you too, you will only drag him down.”

Eldest Miss Nie nodded. “I have discussed with my husband. I will stop after reaching the lake. He’ll do the rest on his own.”

Qin Jun nodded and looked at her seriously. “That’s good. It’s safe outside. With Brother Yun here, you will surely be safe.” (note: Yun is cloud in Chinese.)

Eldest Miss Nie looked at Floating Cloud young master with dreamy eyes and acted coquettishly. “You guys are so competitive! Is the emperor’s order that valuable…?”

“Rufei!” the Floating Cloud young master snapped.

Eldest Miss Nie seemed to know she said something wrong and immediately kept her mouth shut.

Prince Qin looked at this scene expressionlessly, while Chu was laughing hard. “When we were younger, I always thought that nothing could hold Sister Nie down! But now, look! The best example for the idiom, ‘One object beats another object, everything has a weakness!'”

“Brother Chu!” Eldest Miss Nie sulked and stomped.

This sent Chu Zhengyan into more laughter, and Qin Jun smiled. Jiang Yuan stood there as if it was none of her business, and the Floating Cloud young master was still like an iceberg.

On the other hand, Yan Wugui repeated what they said; “Emperor’s order? Is there some ulterior motive behind this debate?”

Lu Mingshu also thought so. Based on what she heard from Yunjing’s citizens, it was surprising that the four princes would participate in the debate together. Qin Jun coming was reasonable and Jiang Yuan may just be here to prove her worth, but Chu Zhengyan and the Floating Cloud young master really had no reason to participate this year.

“Even if there is, it’s none of our business.” Lu Mingshu shrugged. “We are already suspicious enough, so it’s not a good idea to meddle in things that will create problems.”

“True.” Yan Wugui sighed.

Neither of them had an actual seal, and if this was found out, they would be in deep trouble.

After a while, Yan Wugui burst out in laughter. “Don’t you find it funny? Prince Qin from a grand bloodline, Prince Chu from a famous master, Prince Jiang fighting as a man, and a Floating Cloud young master from who-knows-where. With this Eldest Miss Nie too, it’s going to be an interesting show.”

As he finished talking, they heard the bell. The participants all stopped what they were doing and looked over in that direction.

They saw a few cultivators fly over.

The first one to step out was an elder in the Freezing Spirit Realm. He looked at the crowd sternly and announced, “Everybody, I guess you are already aware of the rules and regulations, right? There’s no need for me to repeat, then. I’ll open up the barrier soon, and you will be on your own. All the best.”

The elder was clear-cut. After he finished, he indicated for the three Purity Soul Realm cultivators to step out. They took out a badge and activated it together. Light could be seen shining from the badge, and slowly, the curtain disappeared.