en stands by the side, ready to pour wine!騰！！The minister immediately stood up, then held the wine cup with both hands in a show of respect, accepting Daoxiao's pouring. This at least indicated that h...Chapter 268 Idle Life 2

"Haha, let's go back!" The eldest Miss found it more and more amusing. Going back would be like returning in glory.

"Let’s go then," Southern Palace Su Xin said. "I want to see how things are."

"Then we'll return. We’ll leave these matters to others for now. There isn’t anything particularly urgent here, and it's already quite peaceful around us!" Third Miss of the Southern Palace said.

They didn't have any thoughts about Commander Ning Ziyuan’s orders. If it were anyone else, they might think that His Majesty wanted to take their command away and that they should do something in preparation for such an eventuality.

But the Southern Palace Misses did not think so. They had no interest in military power from the start; their purpose was simply cultivation. Now that they’d achieved their goal, even if Commander Ning Ziyuan were to revoke their authority now, they wouldn’t mind because it didn’t matter to them.

Commander Ning knew what they thought and so trusted them more with military power than he would people with ambition. Because of this, he had no intention to take away their command. He just wanted the eldest Misses to have something to do; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to bear the consequences of their boredom.

Although in less than two years, the three eldest Misses had conquered several countries and expanded the Tang Empire’s territory once again, it was a problem that digesting these nations would also be troublesome. He didn’t have the capability yet to completely absorb all these new territories; he could only do so gradually.

That’s why Ning Ziyuan did not want the eldest Misses to continue expanding his empire. The bigger wasn't always better, as it depended on one's ability. When conditions were ripe, they should expand.

The Tang Empire might lack the capability to conquer all under heaven, but swallowing up nearby countries would be easy enough. But they had never done so because even annexing a small country would come with costs. Of course, this wasn’t about simply conquering; it was about completely subjugating and ruling.

Simply taking over was relatively easy, something that anyone strong enough could do. However, fully controlling and digesting the conquered territories was an enormous undertaking.

This is what people refer to as "it’s easier to conquer a country than it is to rule one!"

If the annexation were simple, there might be indigestion, leading to latent dangers that the Tang Empire didn’t want to see.

The recent conquests by the eldest Misses would take some time for the Tang Empire to digest. Though it couldn't be done immediately, it was just a matter of time.

It had been quite a while since the Tang Empire had expanded; this could also be seen as an opportunity. The eldest Misses were fulfilling the empire's needs and pleased Ning Ziyuan immensely. Furthermore, these annexed countries were all inimical to them, giving them justifiable reasons for conquest and avoiding other nations' suspicions.

Ning Ziyuan was originally considering which ones to conquer, but he didn't expect the eldest Misses to make that decision with minimal loss and substantial gain.

But continuing like this would be unwise. So Ning Ziyuan had the three eldest Misses take a break while arranging for them to attend an international military exchange conference held in Skywind Kingdom.

This was an inter-empire meeting, but usually empires would have some conflicts with each other. They chose to hold it in another kingdom; however, such conferences weren’t particularly important, mostly just a venue for bickering and had little practical significance.

True cooperation was hard to come by—hardly any instances of such collaboration every hundred years or so—and there would certainly be none during this period. So attending the conference would only be a formal gesture without much substance.

The reason for not immediately telling them to attend but instead allowing them to return home first was that the meeting wouldn’t take place until half a year later, and even if they walked slowly, they’d need several months of waiting before it started.

So Ning Ziyuan sent them home in glory and had them casually attend the conference afterward.

"Then we’ll start preparations," Third Miss of the Southern Palace said. "Should we ask for Guxing’s company" Guxing was also from Skywind Kingdom; it wouldn’t be bad to go back with him.

“... Let's not bother,” Eldest Miss sighed, feeling that her grandfather had been foolish about this matter, but she could do nothing and could not oppose. She would still acknowledge Guxing as a sister regardless of what happened, and the only person Guxing acknowledged was Eldest Miss.

“It is very unwise to treat one’s granddaughter like that because of fate,” Third Miss said.

“Little Servant also once mentioned this. Fate can be shaped by people themselves sometimes!” Su Xin added.

"No matter how you look at it, refusing Guxing was a grave mistake," Third Miss said. "I wonder if he regrets his decision now that Guxing has reached the peak of the Imperial realm!"

Southern Palace Su Xin spoke up: “Guxing wasn’t the worst decision; rejecting Xiao Yao the little servant was worse! He’s a miracle! But it's for the best. Neither of them is in the Mo Family now, which means they don't need their family support to become peak existences. This way, they're even more free!”

"Hmm, this is also good for the other families as well, including our Nan Gong family. Otherwise, the Mo Family will rise in power. With only one Mo Yu now, it's not enough! Mo Yu, why aren't you speaking" said Lady Third Miss of the Nan Gong family. At that moment, Miss Third thought that the eldest miss was feeling sentimental.

However, the eldest miss spoke with no conscience and said, "I'm thinking about whether I should demolish the Eight Treasures Building in Qingyun City; they diluted their wine there... Where do you think Xianyao is now" The eldest miss's thoughts jumped around as she spoke.

"Don't know. He disappeared after Medicine Sage Hill. Those who were guarding him didn’t even know how he left, and it wasn’t until a few days later that they realized there was no longer any trace of Xianyao on the hill." Said Lady Third Miss of the Nan Gong family.

Everyone wanted to know where Xianyao was, but nobody could find out anything.

"Never mind, he might show up at some point!" The eldest miss said with a lack of concern.

"That's right. He always shows himself when we learn something about him; if he doesn't want to be found, no one will ever find him. We can only wait for him to show up." Said Lady Third Miss of the Nan Gong family.

Though what she said was mostly correct, there was one thing wrong: Xianyao's movements were known by someone — Guxing.

And where exactly is Xianyao

In a desolate wilderness in the southern part of the continent. There were no villages or towns around, and it was here that Xianyao walked alone with only Xiao Xi to accompany him, without even his mount.

It was nighttime now, but the sky was filled with stars. However, Xianyao wasn’t walking under them for their beauty; he had a reason:

"You little glutton, you’ve delayed us this long. Looks like we’ll have to either walk at night or camp out in this wilderness."

Xianyao originally planned to reach the village ahead before sunset, but Xiao Xi ran off mid-way and couldn’t be called back when he found a place full of wild fruit.

Although after that, Xiao Xi brought some wild fruit as an offering to Xianyao, it didn't change their delayed schedule.

Xianyao could have left Xiao Xi behind, but recently, Xiao Xi seemed abnormal. He would suddenly fall into a deep sleep and sometimes worry Xianyao. He did not want Xiao Xi too far from him.

"Xiao Xi…" Xiao Xi looked miserable, and to please Xianyao licked his face.

"Stop pretending; find us somewhere we can camp." Said Xianyao impatiently.

“Xiao Xi!” Xiao Xi hopped on Xianyao’s shoulder.

"Alright, I won't blame you. But please don’t cause so much trouble…" Xianyao smiled, but didn’t mind his antics.

"Xiao Xi!!" Xiao Xi continued to call out, seemingly not just playing with Xianyao but perhaps trying to tell him something else.

“What’s the matter Have you found something to eat” Seeing this, Xianyao asked curiously. When Xiao Xi discovered something, it was usually food, though sometimes useful medicinal herbs or treasures as well.

Xianyao suspected that Xiao Xi might have a treasure-hunting skill and be a treasure-seeking beast.

"Xiao Xi…" As usual, Xiao Xi darted off and indicated for Xianyao to follow him.

"Could there really be something Sigh, whatever, if it’s food then let him eat." Xianyao shrugged and followed quickly using his body techniques.

Even though Xianyao was only a Knight Rank, his skill level with movement techniques was very high. Generally, even King or Emperor Rank would struggle to catch up; however, Xiao Xi was still slightly faster and more elusive.

Xianyao occasionally used this difference to practice his own skills, chasing Xiao Xi around the world to keep him running while complaining that it burned too much energy and demanding food in return.

Following Xiao Xi for about half an hour, Xianyao understood why he acted like this. A small courtyard appeared before him, hidden among the trees. Without Xiao Xi leading him there, Xianyao would have had a hard time spotting it.

The courtyard seemed to be inhabited; there was light inside.

“…” Xianyao halted and looked around carefully. He then slowly approached the courtyard wall, touching it and studying its construction (To Be Continued).uldn't it be the Azurefeng Sword""Dumbass, I said it's a divine weapon, the Qinghong Sword is the first among divine armaments... A small fraction of people left, which isn't significant in terms of n...