Invincible Divine Destiny Selection System
Chapter 43 - 43 All Must Have_1

"Let me do it? All right then."

Chu Xiaoniang's eyes sparkled when Chu Yuan told her to step forward and demonstrate her skills.

"Humph! He doesn't have the ability himself, so he's having someone else make a fool of themselves instead. He knows how to pass the buck, all right. In my opinion, this guy is nothing but a good-for-nothing dandy. If it weren't for the fairy here, I would refuse to share the stage with such a person."

Liu Xi disdained Chu Yuan's actions and sneered coldly.

"My brother is far stronger than me, and he disdains competing with you all. What makes you worthy of seeing my brother's archery skills? Not even achieving Nine Star Consecutive Shots, who gave you the guts to speak here?"

Chu Xiaoniang became indignant after hearing this, her voice sharp, and she scoffed, "Keep your eyes wide open and watch carefully who the real trifle is!"

"Dog eyes?" Liu Xi angrily retorted, "Fine, let see how capable you are."

"Give the bow to this gentleman." Mu Rou ordered.

At this point, Chu Xiaoniang took the bow, concentrating all her energy on the nine copper coins. She pulled the bow in her hand tight like a full moon, making a chain of nine sequential shots. Since martial arts were forbidden, it was purely about archery skills.

Whoosh! Her spirit completely merged with the arrows and at the very instant, a straight streak of arrow light pierced through.

A faint chirping of a phoenix echoed as everyone opened their eyes wide to see an arrow light passing through the holes, precisely hitting the bullseye behind the copper coins.

The nine copper coins seemed to freeze for a few seconds before they were fiercely whipped by a gust of wind.

"Excellent!"

Everybody was taken aback by Chu Xiaoniang's archery skills. Such a young gentleman with rosy lips and white teeth had astounding skill in archery, achieving Nine Star Consecutive Shots, something they had never managed to do.

"Who's the trifle now?"

Chu Xiaoniang's impressive record sharply slapped Liu Xi's face.

Although she was only thirteen, the Dawu royal family started learning martial arts from a young age. She had been learning martial arts from Zhu Fengfeng, a master of Divine Abilities, since she was four years old.

Among the eight leading figures of the Forbidden Army, Zhu Fengfeng's archery skills were the most advanced.

"You!"

Liu Xi was staring at Chu Xiaoniang incredulously. Despite the reality being right in front of him, he struggled to believe it.

"I've learned a great deal from this gentleman's archery skills."

Mu Rou smiled subtly, "It seems that even though Dawu is facing an unprecedented crisis, seeing the vigor of you young gentlemen, I can see the potential is there. Although I'm just a woman, I'm also interested in political affairs. What do you guys think about the future?"

"Oh? Fairy Mu Rou is also interested in national affairs?" someone joked.

"Of course, my Miao Yin Pavilion is located in the Imperial City. If there is turmoil and the army invades, wouldn't the whole city be doomed? I would have to close up the shop, which would mean all of you would not be able to come to Miao Yin Pavilion anymore. How could I not be concerned?"

Mu Rou's reasoning made perfect sense; after all, in times of war, all industries would collapse.

"In that case, allow me to offer my humble opinion."

Liu Xi, who just had his face slapped, jumped out again, saying, "Since the previous emperor deceased, Dawu's 300,000 divine warriors have been wiped out. I heard that the new emperor has assembled new divine warriors, but they're but a mere 30,000, far from enough. In addition, they haven't been battle-hardened and their combat capability is probably weak.

The four countries, led by Da Qian, will certainly not give Dawu a chance to recover. In my opinion, war may break out within one or two months, and these four countries will inevitably come at us with overwhelming force!"

"It makes sense." Mu Rou nodded.

"Dawu did have a chance to breathe. Not long ago, Da Qian sent an envoy to us, represented by Prince Lin Ye, demanding that Dawu cede three states and fifteen prefectures, pay reparations, and marry Princess Chenxi off for a political alliance, granting us a one-year respite."

Liu Xi sighed, "But our emperor, for the sake of his pride, disregarded the safety of his people, not only refused but also killed the envoy of Da Qian. This gives Da Qian the perfect excuse to declare war and avenge their prince."

"Wouldn't signing it be yielding sovereignty and humiliating our country?" asked Mu Rou.

"Ha, ha, is it more important to yield sovereignty and humiliate the country or to risk the destruction of the whole race? Da Qian has agreed, as long as their demands are met, there will be no wars within a year. With this breathing space, couldn't we stabilize the situation? If I were the emperor..."

Liu Xi stopped speaking suddenly.

"This man is courting death!"

The mirth in Chu Xiaoniang's eyes had disappeared, replaced by intense killing intent.

"And what if you were the Emperor?"

When Mu Rou's voice fell, it seemed to stir the desires in his heart, the place where greed lay.

"If I were the Emperor, I would sign this state document, to stabilize the political situation within this year. But this is just a metaphor, after all, our Emperor has already acted, and it's impossible to turn things around."

Hearing Mu Rou's questioning, Liu Xi's mind heated, and he gritted his teeth and said.

"Liu Xi, what you said is wrong. Our Dawu established its country by martial power, suppressing all, gaining strength day by day, and the people are proud of it. We all understand the Emperor's intentions. If Dawu's appetite grows bigger a year later, how do we deal with it? To cede land and pay compensation again? Apart from Princess Chenxi, there are no other princesses for marriage alliances."

Someone put forth a different opinion, "We should fight with dignity, even if it means death, it's better than sticking our necks out for someone else's slaughter."

"What's a little humiliation compared to the destruction of the country? The current situation is beyond our control. We simply have to bow our heads." Liu Xi snorted coldly.

"Young Master, what do you think the current Emperor of Dawu should do next?"

Mu Rou purposefully asked Chu Yuan.

"The Emperor's thoughts are as unfathomable as an abyss, but I believe it can be summarized in nine words." Chu Yuan said.

"Which nine words?" Upon hearing this, Mu Rou told her maid, "Honglian, go prepare paper and ink for the Young Master. I want to see these nine-word mantra and what kind of national salvation strategy they are."

With the paper and pen prepared, Chu Yuan lifted the pen and wrote down nine words.

"Offend our Dawu, no matter how far, we must punish!"

Mu Rou saw these nine words, sharp like a sword, filled with killing intent, as if for a moment her spirit was drawn into an ancient battlefield, full of soldiers on the march.

She spoke in a voice that only Chu Yuan could hear, "What a 'no matter how far, we must punish', full of killing intent, not conceding even an inch. If the Young Master were a general, you would surely be a pillar of the empire, but I see, the Young Master is no general!"

"Honglian, bring me the Spring Rain painting I made. Since the Young Master has given me these nine words today, I will gift him a calligraphy painting made by me."

Mu Rou's eyes were looking at Chu Yuan with a different color.

The Spring Rain painting was brought up, depicting a lady with a paper umbrella in a light rain in the spring season. The lady in the painting was Mu Rou herself, which could make anyone who saw it feel calm in their irritated hearts.

"This is my painting. I hope the Young Master will not mind." Mu Rou said.

"It's actually a handwritten painting by the fairy lady!"

"My god, he actually received a handwritten painting from the fairy lady!"

"Since the fairy lady came to the Imperial City, no one has ever been so treated."

.....

These young masters were filled with envy and jealousy, wishing they could snatch the painting away, especially Liu Xi, whose eyes had turned red.

"It's a good painting."

Chu Yuan put away the painting, "Let's go."

"Please stay, Young Master." Mu Rou said, "State power, city beauty, Mu Rou has heard that there were emperors who would forsake their state for a beauty, and there were Lords who would go against the world for a lady. Some people would even climb to the ninth heaven in their rage for a beauty.

I am very curious, if Young Master had to choose between a state and a city beauty, what would your choice be?"

"I want state power, and I want the beauty of the city, I naturally want everything. My choice will be, whoever ruins my state, whoever snatches my beauty, whether they will face a thousand cuts or a life worse than death."

Chu Yuan's voice was still echoing in Mu Rou's ears, but he and Chu Xiaoniang had already left Miaoyin Mansion.

"Is this your choice?" Mu Rou gazed at Chu Yuan's departing figure, deep in thought, "I want everything."