"Mengmeng, step outside for a bit. I want to have a private word with Qian Ran." Jing Hongchen's experienced gaze swept over Qian Ran. If Mengmeng stayed, he feared his temper might get the better of him.
After all, the precious granddaughter he had raised with great care had been effortlessly won over by someone else. Even though Qian Ran might be the most outstanding young man on the continent, Jing Hongchen couldn't help but feel a twinge of resentment.
Mengmeng had always been proud and hard to please, so why did she turn into such a lovestruck fool around Qian Ran?
"You wait for me outside," Qian Ran said, giving Mengmeng a light squeeze on her shapely backside.
"Alright… but Grandpa, don't bully Qian Ran," Mengmeng pouted before reluctantly leaving the room. She could ignore her grandfather's orders, but not Qian Ran's.
"Hmph." Jing Hongchen exhaled a frustrated breath. This girl—always siding with Qian Ran? Bully him? Could he even dare?
Even Xu Tianran had been outmaneuvered by Qian Ran. As for himself…
Jing Hongchen was acutely aware of the precariousness of his position as the head of Mingde Hall. With other Rank 9 soul engineers lurking within the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, and with Qian Ran's backers subtly applying pressure, his authority was far from secure.
"What are your intentions toward Mengmeng?"
"I'll marry her. But not now—we're still too young."
"Oh?" Jing Hongchen's eyebrows lifted in surprise. For the first time, he found himself reassessing Qian Ran. He had assumed Qian Ran was nothing more than a shameless playboy, and had mentally prepared for Mengmeng to be relegated to the role of a lifelong concubine. He hadn't expected Qian Ran to propose a proper marriage.
Though it might seem like a mere title, on the Douluo Continent, titles carried tremendous weight.
"You mean to make Mengmeng your legal wife?" Jing Hongchen felt a flicker of approval toward Qian Ran. With his talent and resources, Qian Ran's wealth and influence would require heirs. If Mengmeng became his wife, she would stand to inherit a great deal.
"Yes, Mengmeng will be one of my wives."
Qian Ran had no intention of ranking his partners into rigid hierarchies.
Of course, the grand inheritance Jing Hongchen imagined was unlikely to materialize. Qian Ran fully expected to secure a god position someday—he wouldn't die, so what legacy would there be to pass on?
"Hmph. At least you have a sense of responsibility," Jing Hongchen muttered begrudgingly.
Though the phrase "one of my wives" was hard for him to swallow, considering Qian Ran's circumstances, it was likely the best outcome.
Had Qian Ran decided to assign his women into strict tiers of importance, Mengmeng might have struggled to even qualify as a concubine. Jing Hongchen held no illusions about his granddaughter's place among Qian Ran's companions; many of them were far more exceptional than Mengmeng.
To be honest, even the other women around Qian Ran seemed unable to truly hold his heart.
"In addition to marrying her, I'll help Mengmeng reach the rank of Titled Douluo within ten years." Qian Ran initially considered promising she'd become a Super Douluo but lowered his claims, aware that the Sun Moon Empire's political climate might make it sound like an idle boast.
Even so, Jing Hongchen was left speechless with shock.
If he hadn't personally witnessed the rapid progress of Mengmeng, Juzi, and Keke over the past few months, he might have dismissed Qian Ran's words as arrogant exaggeration.
Qian Ran had a knack for showing off, but everything he bragged about eventually came true.
Jing Hongchen himself had only reached the rank of Titled Douluo after turning 100. If Mengmeng truly advanced to that level within a decade, she would break the Hongchen family's historical record and become its youngest-ever Titled Douluo.
While Jing Hongchen was thrilled, he also felt slightly disheartened.
He had planned to scold Qian Ran harshly, both to knock him down a peg and restore some dignity to the Hongchen family. Despite their high status, they were essentially offering up their most promising granddaughter to a notorious playboy—didn't the family deserve some face in return?
But if Qian Ran genuinely intended to marry Mengmeng, provide her with resources, and guide her cultivation, it seemed Mengmeng was the one benefiting most.
Such a man was a rare find.
"Fine. You've passed the test when it comes to Mengmeng. But if you ever mistreat her, I won't let you off lightly," Jing Hongchen said, his tone begrudging but resigned.
As much as he wanted to press for more assurances, he feared coming across as overly greedy. Giving Qian Ran such an impression could make things harder for Mengmeng in the long run.
"You won't regret this decision," Qian Ran replied with a faint smile. While Jing Hongchen wielded significant power within the Sun Moon Empire, he posed no threat to Qian Ran's principles or ambitions. Avoiding unnecessary conflicts with the elder was in everyone's best interest.
With Mengmeng officially entrusted to him, Jing Hongchen felt a strange sense of relief.
At least he could be certain that Qian Ran was far superior to the so-called noble heirs of the Sun Moon Empire. Apart from his penchant for chasing women, Qian Ran really had no other flaws.
In fact, in a place like the Douluo Continent, a man's ability to attract multiple women wasn't necessarily viewed as a negative. It symbolized vitality and the potential to expand a family's lineage—a trait valued in the grand scheme of legacy and prosperity.
Having made peace with the situation, Jing Hongchen now considered Qian Ran part of the family.
"Qian Ran, what's your opinion of the current crown prince?" Jing Hongchen asked, gesturing for Qian Ran to sit beside him.
"Xu Tianran? He's a piece of trash," Qian Ran said dismissively.
Had Xu Tianran simply been a mediocre prince, Qian Ran might not have thought so little of him. But the man had sunk to such lows that Qian Ran could only sneer.
Someone who could issue a decree to lock his crown princess and royal relatives in a room together? Qian Ran found such depravity beneath contempt.
Though Qian Ran might indulge in his own brand of mischief, he had no interest in cuckolding himself.
"Trash?" Jing Hongchen twitched at the insult.
He hadn't expected Qian Ran to show Xu Tianran such complete disdain.
Could someone as cunning and ruthless as Xu Tianran—a man who had crippled his rivals one by one while bound to a wheelchair—truly be called trash?
Even if Jing Hongchen's opinion of Xu Tianran had declined, he couldn't deny the man's past achievements. There was even a time when he had entertained the idea of matching Mengmeng with Xu Tianran.
"I mean it literally. Xu Tianran is impotent," Qian Ran said with a smirk.
A man unable to perform the basic duties of masculinity—it was a tragic fate. Had such misfortune befallen Qian Ran, he might have gone mad.
But as the saying goes, humanity's joys and sorrows are not shared.
Jing Hongchen was stunned, nearly coughing up blood.
He had never heard about Xu Tianran's… incapacity.
(End of Chapter)