"Darling, what do you think the identity of that immortal might be?" Mu Yuyan raised her phoenix-like eyes, suppressing a smile.


    "Huh?" Gu Lan''s heart skipped a beat.


    He nced at her cautiously, only to find his wife drawing circles on his chest with her beautiful fingers. Her expression was serene and her long eyshes were fluttering.


    It seemed like she was genuinely curious! Phew! Maybe I was just being overly suspicious...


    Gu Lan breathed a sigh of relief, then leisurely replied, "A hero, as you mentioned earlier... A hero is one who serves the country and the people!"


    Having heard her praising him, Gu Lan couldn''t deny that he felt a subtle sense of satisfaction. After all, who could resist the soft beauty of his charming wife''s starry eyes? This was precisely what a man sought in admiration!


    "Really? Did you know that he is from the Jing Nation?" Mu Yuyan looked at him with a hint of doubt, blinking her watery eyes.


    Hearing this, Gu Lan, who had been somewhat floating on air, suddenly grounded himself. He grinned and said, "Uh... of course, I don''t know. It''s just a guess!"


    Seeing him backtrack, Mu Yuyan remainedposed, already blooming with joy inside.


    "Cough, it''s gettingte. Let''s go to sleep, mydy!" Gu Lan quickly changed the subject.


    His wife was truly meticulous; he almost couldn''t escape the situation he almost fell into! Moreover, he couldn''t resist praising himself tonight, boasting about his extraordinary swordsmanship and being a hero...


    If one day his wife discovered his true identity, wouldn''t it be incredibly awkward?


    Better to stop while ahead. Preventing social death was crucial!


    Gu Lan had a strong sense of preemptive defense.


    Unexpectedly, at this moment, Mu Yuyan twisted her waist, sat up again, a trace of blush appearing on her exquisite face, her delicate hand supporting her chest.


    "Darling, I''m not sleepy. What should I do?"


    "Oh, really not sleeping?" Oveing numerous difficulties to enhance her cultivation, Mu Yuyan, who now held the initiative, nodded slightly, her face showing a shy smile.


    The room was illuminated again by candlelight.


    ...


    After several consecutive nights like this, the female Emperor''s cultivation had silently advanced to a level just one step away from the Holy Realm.


    Compared to before, when she was the youngest among the four sovereigns and had the lowest cultivation and heritage, she was now undoubtedly at the forefront.


    Thanks to Gu Lan''s guidance, Mu Yuyan found it much more convenient to return to the pce after Gu Residence moved to the capital. She only needed to go out for a short time to buy groceries before making a trip to the imperial city.


    Today, when Mu Yuyan arrived at the Yangxin Hall to handle state affairs, Sima Qin presented her with a national letter.


    "Your Majesty, a letter from the Lord of the Northern Ming," Sima Qin reported.


    "Northern Ming?" Mu Yuyan furrowed her brows slightly. The Great Jing and Northern Ming hadn''t had much contact for a long time, and their rtionship was neither warm nor cold. Why would a letter suddenly arrive?


    After scanning the contents quickly, it seemed that the Lord of Northern Ming''s younger sister had run away from home and was heading in the direction of the Great Jing. The letter expressed a hope that the female Emperor would take care of her.


    "Heh, the Lord of Northern Ming is probably talking about his troublesome little princess, right?" Mu Yuyan looked at the contents of the letter, understanding the distress the sender must be experiencing.


    She casually ced the letter on the dragon case and thought of the most famous princess in Northern Ming, Princess Anqiu, Luan Xiaoyao. She was quite renowned on the continent.


    Since childhood, she had joined the Souls Town, bing a closed-door apprentice of an entric old monster. Her strength and talent were outstanding. However, due to causing too much troubleter on, she became the only sister of a sovereign to be demoted from princess to county princess in the history of the imperial dynasty.


    It could be seen how much of the distress she was.


    "Perhaps... I heard that Princess Anqiu seems to being for the Expert Rankings." Sima Qin nodded.


    "Expert Rankings?" Mu Yuyan was momentarily stunned, then recalled that Tianji Pavilion seemed to have some grievances with Northern Ming''s imperial dynasty. The previous rankings did not include Northern Ming.


    "So... she''s afraid that, like thest time, she''ll be obscured, and people won''t know her true strength. That''s why she came here to prove herself?" Mu Yuyan raised an eyebrow.


    "Uh, probably." Sima Qin was embarrassed.


    "Heh, that''s quite a childish mentality." Mu Yuyan chuckled, waving her hand.


    "No matter, if she wants to meet the experts of the Great Jing, let here! The Expert Rankings are meant for the talented. If she''s truly powerful, it''s not a bad thing for the martial students in the capital to know that there are extraordinary individuals beyond the horizon."


    "Your Majesty is broad-minded!" Sima Qin bowed, taking his leave.


    "Then, I will go make arrangements and send someone to keep an eye on this county princess..."


    "Yes, go ahead!"


    ...


    Gu Residence.


    This afternoon, the study was empty. Around noon, someone came to deliver a letter to Gu Lan, a name card sent by the Jixia Literary Academy to examinees.


    In the future, schrs could freely enter and exit the literary academy with this name card, attending lectures from the teachers inside.


    Gu Lan initially had no interest in such matters. After all, in his past life, he often fell asleep during sses. This time, he only participated to avoid failing the exams.


    However, there was a literary meeting scheduled for today, and if he skipped it, it would be too conspicuous.


    In the afternoon, Gu Lan had Zhongren change into casual clothing and act as his book boy. Together, they headed to the Jixia Literary Academy.


    Liu Yexi bid him farewell at the Residence''s entrance, showing no concern upon hearing his destination. After all, it had been nned in Gu Lan''s schedule, and she had already checked it out.


    ...


    Passing through the slightly deste long street in the afternoon.


    After arriving in the northern part of the capital city.


    The pedestrians gradually increased, almost all of them students dressed in Confucian robes attending the academy in this area.


    Hmm, just like the university town in my past life... Gu Lan looked around at the teahouses and the few rare taverns. It brought back some nostalgic feelings.


    In his past life, it was the same. University towns had plenty of bubble tea shops and fewer bars. You needed to go a bit further to find them.


    They imed it was to create a study atmosphere. However, every night, Gu Lan saw the head-shaking and swaying school flowers inside, feeling that this atmosphere wasn''t very effective...


    When three tall buildings appeared in his field of vision.


    Gu Lan reined in his wandering thoughts.


    The three tall buildings werendmarks, each standing in the left, middle, and right building groups.


    The one on the left, grand and restored, was the renowned National University; the somewhat dpidated one on the right was the Tianqin Observatory, which had fallen into decline.


    And in the middle was where Gu Lan would go today—the Jixia Literary Academy!


    The Literary Academy was closer to the National University. Gu Lan, with his younger brother, entered through the side door on the left.


    Except for a few female students who were astonished by his appearance, he kept a very low profile.


    "Sir, pleasee this way!" The servant who often served tea and water here greeted Gu Lan with a smiling face, leading him to a stall with tea, water, and melons.


    "The literary meeting over there has already started. Sir, if you are interested, you can go take a look now," the servant kindly reminded.


    "I got it, you may go." Gu Lan took out a piece of broken silver from his pocket to reward the servant.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    With a thousand thanks, the servant left, and Gu Lan gazed at the literary meeting formed by several schrs in the distance.


    They were gathered in groups of three or five, each seemingly engaged in their own activities.


    ncing around, Gu Lan noticed that few schrs came to the stall where he was, and most of them were walking around, actively making new friends.


    After all, for future connections in the capital city, the friends they met now could be valuable contacts—a highly sought-aftermodity!


    At the moment, only Gu Lan and his little brother were quietly enjoying melons and free tea at the stall. They appeared somewhat aloof and awkward!


    "Ahem..."


    Gu Lan happened to be interested in one of the literary meetings and patted Zhongren, dressed as a young book boy. "Zhongren, let''s also go over there and take a look. It seems quite interesting."