Chapter 71: The Saintess Enters the City

Su Nanxing couldn’t help but laugh. “You call this few? Wait until you socialize with those noble ladies of the imperial city—then you’ll understand what it means to be adorned from head to toe in jewels.”

Tao Ming felt her head growing heavier and, pouting, pleaded, “Good husband, just leave two as a token, take off the rest, please!”

Su Nanxing’s heart tingled at her words. He took off all but a pair of flower hairpins and placed them gently on Ruanyuan’s head. Ruanyuan shook her head curiously. “It feels like my hair’s going to fall off.”

Still dissatisfied, Tao Ming reached up to remove them herself, but Su Nanxing hurried to stop her. “Let me do it, let me do it—if you pull at them, your hair will come loose.”

In the end, only two hairpins, a dangling ornament, and a pair of exquisitely crafted hairpieces remained on Tao Ming’s head.

Once everything was tidied up, Ruanyuan hugged Nuonuo, and together they stepped down from the carriage.

The Seventh Prince stood before the carriage, bored and idle, but when Tao Ming descended, his attention was instantly riveted. Su Nanxing, displeased, blocked his view and said, “It’s almost dark. Let’s hurry and enter the city!”

Tao Ming was stunned as she stepped down. The grand procession and the dense crowds made her palms sweat. Ruanyuan pressed close, whispering, “Mama, so many people!”

Tao Ming took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, and asked softly, “Do we have to enter the city in front of all these people?”

Su Nanxing soothed her, “It’s just a few more people than usual.”

Tao Ming’s lips twitched. “The last time I stood before a crowd was when I spoke under the national flag in elementary school. That was maybe a few hundred people!”

Su Nanxing gently stroked her back. “Think of what you have to do. You’ll have to get used to these grand occasions.”

Tao Ming felt her heart settle. Yes, if she faltered at a crowd, how could she rebel someday?

Once she had sorted herself out, she picked up Ruanyuan and walked toward the flower sedan.

After Tao Ming boarded the flower sedan, Su Nanxing and the Seventh Prince each rode a dragon horse, accompanying her on either side.

Su Nanxing encouraged her softly, “You can do this. I’ll always be at your side.”

The Seventh Prince, eyes straight ahead, murmured, “I’m here too.”

Tao Ming glanced left and right. “Where did Uncle Five and Longlin go?”

The Seventh Prince replied, “They’ve gone back to report.”

Tao Ming nodded, seating Ruanyuan to her left and herself to the right. “All right.”

The Seventh Prince announced, “Enter the city.”

Li Xiuran, who had been waiting by the flower sedan for some time, shouted loudly, “The Holy Maiden departs!”

Thirty-six female cultivators slowly pulled the flower sedan. The crowd’s excitement surged—after waiting all day, they could finally catch a glimpse of the Holy Maiden!

Tao Ming sat as upright as she could, eyes ahead, but it wasn’t long before her back ached, her seat grew uncomfortable, and nothing about her posture felt right.

Ruanyuan, hugging Nuonuo tightly, whispered with a trembling voice, “Mama, there are so many people, I’m so scared!”

Tao Ming wrapped an arm around her, comforting softly, “They’re all here because they like you, just like you want to see Sister Xiaoling.”

Ruanyuan thought for a moment. “I don’t feel as scared now.”

No matter how slowly the flower sedan moved, it drew ever closer to the South Gate of the imperial city.

A sharp-eyed citizen spotted Ruanyuan atop the sedan and exclaimed, “The Holy Maiden is truly majestic!”

If Tao Ming had heard, she would have rolled her eyes and retorted, “Ruanyuan just looks tense and expressionless!”

The flower sedan passed through the South Gate, and Tao Ming felt countless gazes from above. She discreetly glanced at the high windows on either side—every tavern and teahouse had its windows wide open, packed with spectators.

The deeper into the city they went, the denser the crowd became—the roar of voices was overwhelming.

“The Holy Maiden is so adorable!”

“The creature in her arms must be the Sacred Beast!”

“I wish I could have a daughter as cute as the Holy Maiden!”

A man exclaimed, “The Holy Maiden’s mother is truly elegant, a beauty beyond compare!”

Someone beside him chimed in, “No words can describe her charm!”

“A peerless beauty, truly peerless!”

A few of these remarks reached Su Nanxing’s ears. He glared and memorized the faces, planning to teach them a lesson someday.

Among the crowd, young girls kept batting their lashes at Su Nanxing and the Seventh Prince.

Especially the Seventh Prince, who drew a throng of infatuated girls, laughing and screaming, tossing handkerchiefs and sachets at him. He dodged left and right, but amid the chaos, a silk sash thrown by a girl looped around his arm.

The girl who threw the sash squealed, as if she’d won the lottery.

The Seventh Prince resisted the urge to toss the sash back at her face. He removed it and dropped it to the ground. The girl shrieked again, trembling as if the prince himself had touched her.

Tao Ming caught this scene out of the corner of her eye and couldn’t hold back her laughter. The men lining the street fell silent, dazed.

After a moment, someone sighed, “If I could kiss such beauty, fifty years off my life would be worth it!”

“A glance a million times, a smile worth a thousand pieces of gold!”

Su Nanxing’s temper flared ever hotter. He whispered to Tao Ming, “Stop laughing! Look at those men—they wish they could carry you home!”

Tao Ming didn’t quite catch what he said, so she turned to him, wide-eyed. “What did you say?”

The men on this side of the street were once again dumbfounded.

After traversing the long avenue, they finally reached the plaza before the palace gates.

As they neared the end of the avenue, Tao Ming felt uneasy, as if a fierce gaze was boring into her.

She looked up in the direction she felt it and saw, on the third floor of a tavern near the palace, the window thrown open. Three men and a woman stood there; the woman was the source of the gaze.

At that moment, a man in white called out loudly, “Nanxing, look here!”

Su Nanxing glanced up, and the woman’s face instantly softened, her eyes seductive.

Tao Ming thought, So this is one of Su Nanxing’s romantic entanglements!

With a flicker in her star-bright eyes, Tao Ming smiled radiantly toward that window. Instantly, every man in the building felt their spirits lift.

Su Nanxing, seeing the reaction of the crowd, turned and caught Tao Ming’s dazzling smile. His anger burned brighter; he frowned and snapped, “Stop smiling!”

Tao Ming’s smile remained brilliant. She whispered, “It’s not bad to entice a few handsome men as backup.”

Su Nanxing glanced back at the window and quickly clarified, “I don’t know that woman at all!”

Yao Pianpian, standing behind the window, saw Su Nanxing’s furrowed brow as he spoke to Tao Ming and was strangely elated. She said, “Seems Nanxing doesn’t care much for her!”

Dong Yuxuan replied coolly, “If my wife were as striking as that, and every man on the street coveted her, I’d frown too.”

Liu Ange agreed, “Well said! That smile just now—it was enchanting, utterly disarming!”

Yao Pianpian’s expression changed; she protested, “Second Brother, see what they’re saying!”

Even if Yao Ruifeng wanted to defend his sister, he couldn’t bring himself to claim Tao Ming was less beautiful than Yao Pianpian.

Seeing his silence, Yao Pianpian’s tears fell. “You’re all bewitched by her!”

Liu Ange was still lost in the memory of Tao Ming’s smile and sighed, “Even if that’s true, I’d accept it gladly!”

Dong Yuxuan patted Liu Ange’s shoulder. “Keep dreaming!”

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