The Domineering Master Falls for the Naive Sweetheart from a Neighboring Country!

It had been several days since Petrovna arrived in Great Ming, and she had been waiting for a response from Great Ming the entire time.

Yet before the response came, a battle broke out at the place where she was staying.

The girl had naturally sensed that fleeting, heart-pounding aura just now. To be honest, in Petrovna’s perception, its owner was even stronger than her mother, Catherine.

Her mother was a Hall of Fame Card Master, not some nobody off the street.

There was no doubt that the one who had acted was someone on the same level as her mother.

Fortunately, the aura had come quickly and vanished just as quickly, and the imperial palace soon returned to calm.

That was, provided one ignored a collapsed palace somewhere and the black smoke still drifting into the sky.

Faced with such an unexpected situation, the best choice for the envoys from other countries within the palace—regardless of how close their nations were to Great Ming—was to secretly observe how matters developed and avoid getting involved in the conflict between Great Ming and the Mughal Empire.

First, there was no need to offend either of these two major powers. Helping Great Ming or helping the Mughal Empire would undoubtedly offend the other side.

Second, they were merely guests invited to attend Ye Zhou’s funeral. They still had to show Great Ming the most basic respect.

In this situation, they only needed to act as though nothing had happened and leave the matter to Great Ming.

The Tsardom of Russia was naturally no exception.

Even if Petrovna could not understand the intricacies involved, the ministers around her would remind her.

But she still came.

The ministers naturally tried their best to dissuade the heir apparent, but in the end, they could not overcome her stubborn temperament and could only let her do as she wished.

There was no helping it. She had the capital to be willful. Her mother was both the supreme emperor of the Tsardom of Russia and its only Hall of Fame Card Master. Combined with her own exceptional talent, there were only a handful on Blue Star with stronger backing than hers.

Of course, this was not without benefits. At the very least, it could bring them closer to Great Ming. It was not as if they had never read the intelligence on Lu Su.

As for Motiān—

The Tsardom of Russia’s empress was also a Hall of Fame Card Master. Did he really think they were afraid of him?

Thus, they ultimately followed Petrovna to the scene.

Thinking of this, several Tsardom of Russia envoys revealed faint smiles and began making friendly conversation with the Great Ming Card Masters around the site of the incident.

Meanwhile.

After Lu Su and the others reached an agreement with Zhu Zhongjing, they prepared to deal with the aftermath.

After all, the commotion had not been small. They still needed to offer the envoys from various countries a slight explanation, and the reason would naturally be the "sparring match" Zhu Zhongjing had mentioned.

However, Petrovna’s arrival interrupted their actions.

Upon seeing her, Lu Su could not help but freeze. "Your Highness Petrovna?"

"Why are you here?"

Hearing this, Petrovna blinked and replied as though it were only natural, "Such a huge commotion broke out. Of course I had to come take a look. I don’t want to die without even knowing why."

"…"

Lu Su and the others were immediately left speechless.

Ignoring their expressions, Petrovna pointed curiously at the ruins. "How did Lord Lu come to fight with His Excellency Motiān?"

Faced with her question, Lu Su and the others exchanged glances before giving Zhu Zhongjing’s explanation. "It was only a sparring match."

"…Lord Lu, do you take me for a fool?"

Petrovna puffed out her cheeks slightly. She was merely a little naive, not stupid.

But Lu Su and the others truly had not thought that way.

They merely shook their heads and did not directly respond to the girl’s words.

Then Lu Su changed the subject. "Has Your Highness been comfortable in Great Ming these past few days? If there is anything you are dissatisfied with, you may tell us."

Petrovna shook her head. She had been living quite comfortably these past few days, so how could she possibly be dissatisfied?

To be fair, the imperial palace in North Capital of Great Ming was much larger than the Tsardom of Russia’s palace, and its architectural style was entirely different as well.

Moreover, Great Ming did not prohibit foreign envoys from touring the area. After Zhu Zhongjing abdicated, the Association inspected the imperial palace and confirmed that it contained no sensitive information. It was normally open to ordinary citizens for unrestricted visits.

It was only temporarily closed for Ye Zhou’s funeral, then refurbished to host foreign envoys.

"That’s good."

After Lu Su said that, the scene fell silent.

After a while, he finally spoke again. "Your Highness, shall I show you around North Capital?"

Petrovna’s eyes immediately lit up. "Then I’ll have to trouble Lord Lu!"

Although she had toured the Great Ming imperial palace over the past few days, she had not visited anywhere else in North Capital.

Lu Su also intended to use this opportunity to discuss the subsequent arrangements with the girl.

Seeing Petrovna agree, the youth turned to Bai Yueming and the others. "Teacher, I’ll leave things here to you."

The three Master Card Masters nodded, signaling that he did not need to worry about this place.

Zhu Zhongjing, meanwhile, stood behind everyone with his eyes slightly narrowed, his gaze constantly shifting between the two.

Something was going on!

The radar of a troublemaker began to blare.

Unaware of what he was thinking, Lu Su led Petrovna away from the imperial palace.

After learning of this, the other accompanying ministers from the Tsardom of Russia began considering how they should report the matter to Her Majesty Catherine once they returned home.

After all, before their departure, Her Majesty had explicitly instructed them not to interfere with the interactions between Her Highness Petrovna and Great Ming’s Master Lu.

Meanwhile.

After leaving the imperial palace with Petrovna, Lu Su strolled down the streets.

At that moment, pedestrians all around them stopped where they were and secretly observed the pair.

It was not because they were attractive, but because there were basically no citizens in Great Ming now who did not recognize Lu Su.

That was why they behaved this way when they saw him.

After all, it was very difficult for ordinary people to meet a high-level Card Master like Lu Su.

Ignoring the surrounding onlookers, Lu Su said softly, "If Your Highness minds, I can arrange for people to clear them out."

Given his current status, sealing off a few streets was nothing. Even putting the entirety of North Capital—or even Great Ming—under martial law would be effortless.

Petrovna had her hands clasped behind her back as she curiously observed the surrounding buildings.

Upon hearing Lu Su’s words, she waved her hand and said with a grin, "No need to go through so much trouble, Lord Lu."

As she spoke, a female card appeared beside the girl.

A ripple spread outward, and the surrounding citizens immediately lost sight of the two of them.

"This is fine."

Lu Su could also conceal their traces, and he could even do it more perfectly than Petrovna.

After all, the girl’s card clearly could not compare to Aizen after Hogyoku Fusion.

However, since she had already done it, there was no need for him to redundantly do the same.

Glancing at the girl beside him, who was softly humming a Tsardom of Russia nursery rhyme, Lu Su considered his words before speaking. "Your Highness, there is something I need to ask your opinion on."

"Great Ming hopes to establish mutual access to materials with the Empire. Would Her Majesty Catherine agree?"

Great Ming had already intended to discuss this matter with the Tsardom of Russia. They had originally planned to bring it up during later negotiations, but since there was a suitable opportunity now, Lu Su stated it directly.

As a Master Card Master, he certainly had the authority to make such decisions.

Seeing Lu Su bring up serious business, Petrovna first grumbled in displeasure, "I really thought Lord Lu was being kind today and wanted to take me sightseeing."

After her simple complaint, the girl’s expression turned serious. "Do the materials Lord Lu means include materials of every grade?"

"And to what extent would they be mutually accessible?"

The matter was important, so Petrovna did not treat it lightly. Though she was not good at handling such affairs, she had been influenced by them enough to manage for now.

Lu Su had naturally prepared his answer for her question. "Naturally, materials of every grade."

"If the Empire is willing to agree, Great Ming will be willing to exchange materials of the same grade with you at a one-to-one ratio in the future."

To prevent one side from exploiting the other, it was nominally mutual access, but it was actually more akin to trade.

Yet sometimes, all that was lacking was a platform. A material one Card Master needed might not exist in Great Ming but could exist in the Tsardom of Russia.

In that case, they could use one material of the same grade to exchange for the material they needed.

This was undoubtedly beneficial for Card Masters on both sides, Lu Su included. After the Tsardom of Russia gifted him Master Grade Materials last time, he discovered that they possessed some materials he needed.

Not to mention that the youth could now convert low-grade materials into progress toward producing Master Grade cards. If this matter succeeded, it would undoubtedly greatly expand the pool of materials available to him.

Hearing Lu Su’s answer, Petrovna slightly furrowed her willow-leaf brows.

After quite some time, she said somewhat apologetically, "Sorry, Lord Lu. I’m afraid I can’t make the decision on this matter. I’ll ask my mother after I return, then give you an answer."

"Of course."

Lu Su was not surprised by the girl’s choice.

Seeing that he did not seem angry, Petrovna could not help but sigh in relief. "All right, all right, let’s stop talking business. Lord Lu, show me around properly."

After speaking, she turned her head away and adopted an expression that said, I’m not listening, I’m not listening, you’re just chanting nonsense.

Seeing the girl like this, Lu Su felt somewhat helpless. He still had a few things to say, but since she had already put it that way, he could only go along with her.

They were not particularly important matters, anyway.

With a silent sigh, he took a few steps forward, then bent slightly at the waist. "After you, Your Highness."

Hearing this, Petrovna instantly beamed, her golden hair shining brilliantly beneath the sunlight. "Hehe."

"Lord Lu, you’re such a good person."

After speaking, the girl lifted her skirt and trotted after Lu Su.

For ordinary people, it might be difficult to tour the entirety of North Capital in a single day.

But for Lu Su and Petrovna, as high-level Card Masters, that distance was no different from taking a walk outside.

After escorting the girl back to the imperial palace, Lu Su had Little Spider take him back to his residence.

However, the moment he stepped through the door, he saw Amina looking at him with a face full of admiration. "Master, you’re amazing."

"?"

Lu Su was momentarily confused by her words.

But Amina quickly answered his question. The little girl, who had grown quite a bit, handed a tablet to Lu Su.

The moment Lu Su took the tablet, he saw a line of bright, eye-catching red words on the screen.

Breaking News! The Domineering Master Falls for the Naive sweetheart from a Neighboring Country!

"?"

Lu Su’s face darkened.

Although the photograph beneath the headline had been covered in a thick layer of mosaic, he could still recognize himself and Petrovna in it.

Compared to the headline, the article itself was even more outrageous.

…A wicked smile curled across Su Luo’s lips. With one hand braced against the wall beside Flona, he blocked her path. "Woman, you have successfully caught my interest!"

Facing Su Luo’s dominance, Flona stubbornly replied, "Su Luo, don’t even think about making me submit!"

"Don’t forget, my mother is—"

Lu Su did not want to keep reading. It was practically one step away from writing his and Petrovna’s names directly.

He casually stuffed the tablet back into Amina’s arms and said coldly, "Children should read less of this stuff. Reading too much will rot your brain."

"Your homework is doubled today."

Amina took the tablet back in a daze, then walked toward her room as though her parents had died.

Seeing the little girl like this, Lu Su sneered, then headed toward the living room.

In the living room, a tall, intellectual beauty quietly flipped through the book in her hands. Orange-yellow lamplight spilled over her smooth black hair, reflecting faint glimmers of light.

The female reading was naturally Kurumi.

As Bai Yueming’s disciple, she would undoubtedly attend Ye Zhou’s funeral. That was why she and Amina were in North Capital.

At that moment, Lu Su did not feel guilty at all. After all, there was truly nothing between him and Petrovna. Even if there was something in the future, that would be a matter for the future.

He sat beside Kurumi and leaned tiredly against the sofa, softly calling out, "Senior Disciple Sister."

Hearing Lu Su’s voice, Kurumi closed her book and turned slightly, quietly watching the youth with eyes that resembled glazed crystal.

After a while, she gently parted her red lips and asked, "You fought today?"

"Mm. That Motiān came with bad intentions. If I hadn’t acted today, he would probably have pushed his luck even further afterward."

Lu Su was not surprised that Kurumi knew about the matter. He merely kept his eyes closed and murmured in a voice as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz.

Seeing him like this, Kurumi pressed her lips together. Then she stood and moved behind him, extending her hands to gently massage his temples.

Sensing his Senior Disciple Sister’s actions, Lu Su could not help opening his eyes, only to discover that he could no longer see the ceiling.

Feeling the warmth against the back of his head, he closed his eyes once more.

It would be a lie to say there was no pressure. After Ye Zhou died, the burden of Great Ming fell upon his shoulders. Although he gained a new "cheat" after laying everything bare with the World Consciousness, he could not convert it into combat strength in a short time.

Unless Lu Su disregarded all the other Card Masters of Great Ming and devoted himself entirely to converting materials into combat strength.

He could do that, but the situation had not deteriorated to that extent yet.

This was also one reason he was pushing for material exchange with the Tsardom of Russia.

After creating Naruto that day, Lu Su had already experimented with Diamond Grade materials.

According to his tests, one portion of Diamond Grade material could be converted into roughly 5% to 10% progress. The exact value depended on the material’s quality and how well it matched.

It was also because of this that Altria’s King category progress had reached 101.5%.

Although there were far more Diamond Grade materials than Master Grade Materials, that was only in comparison to Master Grade Materials. Otherwise, Aizen would not have taken so long to advance to Diamond Grade back then.

Lu Su only learned after testing that progress could exceed one hundred percent. This meant materials would not be wasted.

Thinking of this, he opened his eyes and gently freed himself from Kurumi’s hands. "Get some rest early, Senior Disciple Sister. I still have to meet with the people from Great Britain tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Kurumi seemed to think of something, and the tips of her ears turned faintly red.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and replied softly.

"Mm."