Chapter 230: Anna Feng, I Am the True Divine Female

Chapter 230: Chapter 230: Anna Feng, I Am the True Divine Female

A figure in white staggered and fell before Queen Jelena.

Her hem was caked with mud, and a vicious scar was visible through a tear in her sleeve.

It was the Eldest Princess, Anna Feng, unseen for so long!

Su An’an’s pupils constricted as she stared intently at her Eldest Imperial Sister.

Five years ago, Anna Feng had worn the Monarch Butterfly coronet.

On the eve of her coronation, she had declared she was going to find true love and vanished into the stellar mists with a Beastman of unknown origin.

The same Eldest Princess who had once proudly proclaimed the glory of the Empire to be above all else now groveled on the floor like a stray dog.

The crowd of onlookers erupted like a disturbed beehive.

The din of the nobles whispering amongst themselves nearly blew the roof off the dome.

"It really is the Eldest Princess! Didn’t she die in an interstellar storm?"

"Shh! Back then, the Royal Family only announced she was missing. It was actually an elopement scandal."

"But her Monarch Butterfly bloodline is purer. She’s always had a top-tier Double S Constitution. The Third Princess barely managed to grow from useless to Double S, and that was only by piggybacking on the Divine Fetus..."

Su An’an’s ears twitched slightly. She took in all the whispers, but her face revealed nothing.

"Mother, I was wrong! I was ignorant back then. I suffered a great deal before I finally understood your good intentions for me."

"I beg you, give me a chance to turn over a new leaf."

When Anna Feng looked up, tears streamed down her face, washing away the blood and grime to reveal deep blue pupils identical to the Queen’s.

Empress Jelena slammed the edict down on the table, the golden patterns on it shimmering with a shattered light.

"Anan gave birth to the Divine Fetus. That is destiny! Her coming here to cause a scene is useless!"

"Mother, you are wrong."

Anna Feng suddenly raised her voice and pulled a yellowed, ancient animal hide scroll from her robes.

When the hide was unrolled, it made a faint, brittle sound, a clear sign of its great age.

"The *Beast Oracle* clearly records,"

she recited word by word, her fingertips gently caressing the faded text, "Only the awakened Divine Female can save the world."

Her finger suddenly pointed toward Su An’an, her voice rising sharply.

"And my dear sister doesn’t even have the most basic Divine Pattern!"

The elderly Priest fell to his knees, trembling, his cloudy eyes fixed on the animal hide.

"Your Majesty, this is indeed an authentic ancient text."

Su An’an’s gaze, however, fell upon the tiny, almost imperceptible holes along the edge of the hide.

They were traces of corrosion from some kind of potion.

"She’s not the Divine Female, so are you?"

Seville retorted with a cold smile, his Golden Wings spreading slightly to shield the two cubs behind him.

"That’s right. I am."

Anna Feng suddenly tore open her collar, revealing a Divine Pattern with golden markings on a black base at her collarbone.

Under the hall’s lights, the Divine Pattern flowed with a strange glow, emitting an undeniable sacred aura.

The entire hall instantly erupted!

"Heavens, it’s really a Divine Pattern!"

"If the Eldest Princess is the true Divine Female..."

"Then the position of Crown Princess..."

Queen Jelena’s pupils constricted abruptly.

She shot up from her throne. "The investiture ceremony is suspended! Anna, you will come with me."

"Yes, Mother."

Anna Feng curtsied gracefully, not forgetting to shoot Su An’an a victorious glance as she rose.

Only then did she follow the Queen out of the great hall.

"Looks like the succession to the throne is about to get turbulent again."

"If the Eldest Princess is truly the Divine Female, then the position of Crown Princess should be hers."

"Her Divine Pattern is..."

Ying Jiuyao had just started to speak when a look from Su An’an stopped him.

"We’ll talk when we get back," Su An’an said in a low voice.

Seville had already picked up the two cubs, his Golden Wings slightly unfurled. "Let’s go!"

The three of them quickly left the great hall with the cubs, heading toward Moonlight Palace.

Behind them, the voices of the courtiers and nobles rose and fell in a tide of discussion.

They buzzed like a startled swarm of bees.

「In Moonlight Palace」

Su An’an settled the two cubs down, then went to the meeting room with Ying Jiuyao and Seville.

"Anna Feng was gone for so long. For her to return at this exact moment, there’s definitely something wrong," Su An’an said with a frown.

Ying Jiuyao ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Didn’t she elope with that Hong Chengtian? For her to show up now, she’s definitely up to no good!"

Seville, holding a sleeping cub, calmly analyzed, "Hong Chengtian is the Black Priest who can control the Destiny Snake."

"It’s highly likely her return was at his instruction."

"Exactly."

Su An’an nodded, her fingertips tapping lightly on the tabletop.

"Her entanglement with Hong Chengtian was never truly severed."

"Should we tell the Queen?" Ying Jiuyao suggested, his tiger tail twitching restlessly behind him.

Su An’an shook her head.

"We have no solid evidence right now, so telling her would be useless. However,"

A sharp glint flashed in her eyes. "Anna Feng’s return has, on the contrary, given us an opportunity."

"What do you mean?" Ying Jiuyao asked, confused, his tiger ears tilting slightly forward.

"There’s something wrong with the Divine Pattern she showed today,"

Su An’an explained, tapping a finger on the table.

"A real Divine Pattern wouldn’t glow so deliberately. And the skin on her collarbone shows traces of having been treated with a potion."

"If we can find proof that it’s a fake, we might be able to follow the trail and uncover Hong Chengtian’s secret for creating the Divine Medicine."

Seville’s Golden Wings twitched slightly.

"I’ll have the shadow guards investigate her movements over the past five years, as well as Hong Chengtian’s recent activities."

Ying Jiuyao immediately chimed in.

"I’ll tail the old Priest. The way that old man looked at the hide earlier was suspicious. He might have been in cahoots with Anna Feng from the start!"

Su An’an nodded. "Let’s split up. Remember not to alert the enemy."

"The Queen still has lingering feelings for her. We must get hard evidence to completely expose their scheme."

It was midnight by the time Anna Feng finished speaking with Queen Jelena and returned to her former bedchambers.

The moment the door closed, the composure she had fought to maintain crumbled. Leaning against the door, she gently traced the still-damp tear tracks on her face, then activated the communicator on her wrist.

"Chengtian."

Her voice still held a sob, and the Divine Pattern on her collarbone glowed faintly in the dim light.

"Mother has agreed to convene the Cabinet."

"As long as I can prove I’m the Divine Female, she will reconsider the investiture."

In the holographic projection, Hong Chengtian was lounging lazily on the Crimson Throne.

His long, silver-white hair cascaded over his shoulders as he toyed with a Bone Ring.

A faint, almost imperceptible smile played on his lips. "Is my little butterfly finally flying back to her throne?"

An obsessed look appeared on Anna Feng’s face, her fingers unconsciously caressing the edge of the communicator.

"I will take back the position of Crown Princess. For you, and for us."

"Good girl."

Hong Chengtian’s voice was as thick as honey, laced with an almost imperceptible desire for control.

"Remember our agreement, hmm?"

After the call ended, Hong Chengtian casually tossed the communicator aside.

His slender fingers picked up an ancient book from the small table, and he began flipping through it carelessly.

Under the light, the gilt-stamped title on the cover flashed by:

*A Manual on Taming Females: From Genetic Matching to Mental Subjugation*

His fingertips paused on the shocking inscription on the title page:

"True taming is making her willingly wear the collar you give her."

Hong Chengtian let out a low chuckle and closed the book.

Outside the window, a blood moon hung high in the sky, illuminating his handsome, androgynous face and reflecting in a pair of bottomless eyes.

Within his eerie purple pupils, a crimson light swirled, the same color as the moon.