The princess was ordained by Heaven.

"How could that be!" The Crown Prince quickly waved his hand in denial.

Realizing that his performance had been incredibly sloppy, he covered his eyes with a wry smile.

“Yuanjia, I am indeed not suitable to be the crown prince.”

He didn't seem to think that saying those words would cause much of a stir; in fact, he seemed relieved after saying them.

“Brother, you are Father’s eldest son, and the position of Crown Prince is yours by birth. Brother, you don’t need to belittle yourself. Father is a very good emperor. With his guidance, you will grow up quickly.”

"Yuan Jia's words are tactful." The Crown Prince understood her unspoken meaning: "Still needing to learn?" Doesn't that mean she's not suitable?

After all, he hadn't learned it even after studying for so many years.

If there hadn't been the threat of national annihilation, he might have had time to take his time, but the key issue is that there wasn't.

Zheng Xun did not respond.

What could she say? He probably wouldn't want to hear the truth anyway.

The Crown Prince didn't need her answer and said to himself, "Actually, my second brother is more suitable than me. He has always been decisive and can achieve great things on his own."

He didn't think businessmen were lowly; achieving success in anything was not easy, and he admired his second brother from the bottom of his heart.

Zheng Xun seemed somewhat uninterested: "Brother, you don't need to underestimate yourself."

The Crown Prince chuckled: "Forget it, there's no point in talking about this. There's no need to take the rumors outside to heart. Your elder brother isn't stupid enough to be led by the nose. You don't need to worry about the impact of the rumors either. No one will question you. If anyone does, your elder brother won't let them off the hook."

Anyone who knows the inside story knows that Zheng Xun is getting what she deserves, so those messy rumors can't stir up any trouble.

He was a kind but not decisive person, but he showed unexpected toughness when it came to protecting his sister.

Zheng Xun looked up at his serious and determined expression, and his nonchalant expression disappeared.

How ridiculous that she saw her brother's shadow in the crown prince at this time.

It's different. The royal family of Dayong is unlike any royal family she knows. It's incredible, especially since they grew up in wealth and privilege, and were born with wealth and power that others could only dream of.

She suddenly smiled and said, "Okay, I won't take it to heart."

"No one can sow discord between us siblings, Yuanjia, believe me."

Zheng Xun smiled and said, "Of course I believe in my elder brother."

She didn't know if he had noticed her wariness and defensiveness, but that didn't matter.

She has experienced the darkest hell, the collapse of morality and the loss of human ethics, and she cherishes all the hard-won kindness.

She suddenly reached out and gently hugged the prince: "Big brother, thank you."

The crown prince grinned; even though he was already a father, his smile still had a silly, boyish charm.

He didn't really know what he was happy about, but at that moment, he felt very, very close to his sister.

He patted Zheng Xun's head and looked into the distance: "Alright, your third brother has been waiting for you for a long time, I can't keep taking up your space forever."

Zheng Xun was slightly taken aback. Following his gaze, he saw the Third Prince smiling at them from afar.

"Go ahead, I'm leaving now."

The Crown Prince could tell they had something to say, so he simply greeted the Third Prince from a distance and left.

Zheng Xun watched him walk away, and then the Third Prince walked up to her.

Zheng Xun silently opened the system, only feeling relieved after confirming that he hadn't unlocked any scripts or side quests featuring the most popular characters.

"Third Brother, is there something you need from me?"

The Third Prince nodded slightly.

He took out a box: "This is for you."

Zheng Xun joked, "Why didn't you send me a dress? My older sisters have them, why is mine different?"

The third prince did not answer, but looked at her expectantly: "Open it and take a look first."

Zheng Xun opened the box, inside which was a soft cloth. In the middle of the cloth was a jade pendant of emerald green, with simple and unadorned carving, and the jade was translucent and had excellent clarity.

"so beautiful!"

Seeing her amazed expression, the Third Prince breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm glad you like it. I carved it myself. My skills aren't very good. I've been learning for so long but I still didn't dare to start easily. In the end, I could only make some minor adjustments to try and preserve the natural color of the jade."

Ever since Zheng Xun spoke up for him during his first court appearance, he had decided to send Zheng Xun a gift.

Especially since his second brother also gave gifts, and he was also an older brother, he prepared things for both Jiao Jiao and A Jin, so he couldn't show favoritism.

To find this piece of jade, he searched through his entire collection, met with many jade dealers, and practiced for a long time. It may not be a top-tier treasure, but he put his heart and soul into it.

"It's already very good; there's nothing better."

Zheng Xun reached out his hand, wanting to take out the jade pendant.

But the moment she touched it, the jade pendant moved, turned into a puddle of water, and entered her hand.

WTF?

She looked confused for a moment, and the Third Prince asked anxiously, "What's wrong?"

Zheng Xun slammed the box shut.

"It's nothing! I just like it so much that I want to keep it as a keepsake!"

The Third Prince breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm glad you like it."

[Oh no, oh no, where did the jade pendant go? How did it get inside my body? I thought I'd stumbled into a post-apocalyptic novel, but now this feels more like a fantasy novel!]

【Oh no! What am I going to say if my third brother asks?】

The Third Prince stared blankly as Zheng Xun, with that joyful face, uttered a heart-wrenching cry, feeling momentarily conflicted.

Without thinking, he blurted out, "Let me try it on and see if it fits."

Zheng Xun's thoughts abruptly stopped, and the natural expression on his face completely cracked.

The Third Prince was a little embarrassed, but seeing her finally unable to hold back her laughter, he couldn't help but want to laugh.

However, thinking that the jade pendant might also harm her, his smile gradually faded, and he solemnly pricked up his ears to continue listening to her thoughts.

[It won't wear down at all, what's going on with this jade pendant?]

Zheng Xun let out a long breath and quickly calmed down.

She carefully observed the changes in herself. There were some abnormalities, but they were not worse than better. Her supernatural abilities had become more abundant, although only slightly, but it was still enough to make her happy.

She immediately thought of using a jade pendant instead of a crystal core, but she quickly rejected the idea because jade pendants of this quality were extremely rare. It would be better for her to cultivate herself than to go through all the trouble of finding a jade pendant for such a small amount of superpower.

Why not find a similar one to disguise it? Otherwise, she won't be able to explain the whereabouts of the jade pendant.

With that in mind, she opened the system.

However, she only discovered the biggest change when she opened the system.

The system's originally ordinary interface became glittering with gold and shimmering light, just like the interface of a game where you've spent millions.

Zheng Xun: ? ? ?

That's it? So, such a beautiful jade pendant only got its appearance upgraded by the system?

Give her back her jade pendant!

Gritting his teeth, Zheng Xun continued his examination with a cold expression.

Then, she noticed a shield symbol in the upper right corner.

She frowned and clicked on the introduction, but the content made her suddenly stop.