Chapter 303: Are you the future Empress of Eastern Continent, or am I?
“Sales are pretty good.”
Bai Feng may not have raked in sales from the Image Retainer, but judging from the forum’s user growth, he’s seen enough to know that upgrades and purchases are coming in non-stop. Meanwhile, the number of registered message pigeons has been climbing steadily.
A few more days of observation, and everything should be ready to spread to other cities.
Suddenly, the Image Retainer buzzed with a voice. Bai Feng picked it up and saw it was a message from Gu Yue Qing.
Gu Yue Qing: Congrats, Junior Brother Bai, on the big sale of your Image Retainer! I even saw the line snaking down the street outside the shop.
Bai Feng: Well, that’s thanks to Sister Gu helping out with the ads.
Gu Yue Qing: By the way, Junior Brother Bai, wanna see the line of people queued at Yu Ling Long’s door?
Bai Feng: I’d be pretty interested. If Sister Gu is nearby, maybe snap a quick pic for me?
Gu Yue Qing: OK.jpg
A sly smile tugged at her lips—this “message pigeon” feature was really quite handy. Before, she’d have to write a letter to get in touch with Bai Feng; now, just a few keystrokes and it’s done.
She also understood why, after video call functions became available, Bai Feng still made a text chat feature. If it were a video call, she’d feel a bit awkward disturbing him; but with message pigeons, that awkwardness was barely present—or maybe just very faint.
She pondered for a moment; perhaps it was because even if the other person was busy and couldn’t reply immediately, the message wouldn’t vanish. No rush, no intrusion—just wait until they had the time.
Shaking off her thoughts, she raised the Image Retainer and aimed it at the long queue downstairs—but didn’t snap the photo right away. Instead, she shifted her position, sitting by the window, then aimed the device at herself and the line, and finally pressed the capture button.
Gu Yue Qing: Picture.jpg
Bai Feng received the photo from Gu Yue Qing. He clicked it open to see her in a fitted black-blue qipao, sitting beside a window with a small tray of sweets on a table. Her eyes were a bit shy, not directly looking at the camera.
Outside the window, the sign of Yu Ling Long could be seen, along with two long queues below.
He stroked his chin—didn’t expect Sister Gu to take photos like this. Could it be that she’s actually more into selfies than he thought?
After a few seconds of thinking, he decided to compliment her. Gu Yue Qing had helped him sh**t several ads, all of which turned out excellent. Naturally, he couldn’t hold back a few words of praise—maybe she’d continue helping with ads in the future.
Bai Feng: Your outfit looks great—actually quite different from how Sister Gu usually dresses.
Gu Yue Qing: This dress was recommended by Yu Yao. It’s the first time I’ve worn something like this; I’m still getting used to it.
Bai Feng: Sister Yu Yao has a good eye. Sometimes she’s a bit unreliable, but when it comes to picking clothes, she’s spot on. The outfit you wore in prior ads looked fantastic, too. Sadly, I didn’t have time to visit Xuan Guang City; would’ve loved to snap more photos for you.
Gu Yue Qing: Don’t say that, you’re making me blushing.
She lowered the Image Retainer slightly, then reached out to gently massage her always-pouting little face. She wasn’t quite sure why she always ended up in the photos herself—just suddenly thought of it, then did it.
Picking up the Image Retainer again, she looked at Bai Feng’s replies, and thoughts drifted back to that white dress she wore during the ad sh**t.
Maybe next time, she thought, she’d wear that dress again and sh**t a few more photos for Bai Feng to see.
Her heart secretly muttered.
…
“Finally, a lead.”
Shui Xi Yu looked at the latest message, a rare smile breaking across her usually calm face.
She had just received intelligence: Recently, the Black Dragon Chancellor had ordered several mountains blocked off, with soldiers patrolling the perimeter.
Officially, it was said that a man-eating demon beast had appeared on the mountain, but that was a flimsy excuse to fool villagers who definitely didn’t know better. She didn’t believe the Black Dragon Chancellor, a man like him, would bother wasting troops over such a creature.
Flashbacks to Bai Feng’s earlier clues surfaced—Divine Monarch of the Demon Path’s people might be hunting something. And from the measures taken to seal off Tian Yan Holy Land, which were evidently about something related to immortals…
The actions of the Black Dragon Chancellor confirmed her teacher’s guess—they were indeed searching for something.
But how should she interfere and stir trouble?
Shui Xi Yu thought for a few seconds. She decided to casually mention this intel to her two elder brothers, pretending to be surprised. That way, they’d believe her without suspicion.
Once they heard the news, with their hot tempers, they’d likely be unable to contain themselves—especially since they’d recently taken a beating from her and lost some troops. Now was the perfect time for them to crave power even more.
But she wasn’t planning to just sit by and watch the chaos unfold. Before leading her brothers into the fray, she wanted to gather more info.
Thank goodness her modified Image Retainer was perfect for this.
“Oh, and let the teacher know too, get his opinion.”
A few minutes later, Bai Feng stared at the question from Shui Xi Yu, mulling over why even Little Princess Shui’s questions had suddenly turned serious—after all, Water Miao Miao’s frequent inquiries he could understand, but now even she was asking about such matters? Is she really the future Empress of Eastern Continent, or am I?
Bai Feng sighed and finally replied:
‘Your plan sounds pretty good. You can give it a shot—if you don’t find out what the Black Dragon Chancellor is up to, at least you can stir the waters a bit and cause some trouble for him. Just don’t get reckless, be extra careful. And remember: you don’t need my approval for decisions—you’re capable.’
‘Thank you, teacher, for your guidance.’
Shui Xi Yu pretended not to see the last part. After getting the affirmation, she started preparing for her plan.
Coincidentally, she’d noticed the two princes had been placing spies nearby recently. She could exploit this by leaking some clues, making the spies believe she had uncovered something. The more they investigated, the more they’d believe her fabricated info.
Additionally, she planned to use her enhanced and array-embedded Image Retainer to secretly infiltrate the forest for intelligence—it’s highly discreet, and the device’s prodigious output meant even if it was all destroyed, it wouldn’t sting too much. Perfect for risky missions like this.
