Having children earns benefit, start competing for dominance in the world by marrying a wife

The North Prince's strength improved so rapidly partly because he undoubtedly possessed exceptional martial arts talent and, perhaps, because he harbored a secret.

Moreover, Zhuge Zhongguang had not broken through to the Heavenly Human Realm for so many years, yet within less than a year of arriving in North Country, he managed the breakthrough, which inevitably raised suspicions of the North Prince's involvement.

Wu Junwan grew increasingly curious about the young man not far from her, desiring to unravel the secrets he might carry.

At this moment, with a smile, Wu Junwan said, "It is rumored that the North Prince is exceptionally handsome, and seeing him today, he indeed lives up to his reputation!"

Hearing Wu Junwan's praise, Lu Chen replied with a smile, "Thank you, Princess Junwan, for your compliment."

"It is an honor for the North Prince to have Princess Junwan and the delegation visit North Country. I have already arranged a luncheon. Let us discuss matters there while we dine," he added.

With those words, Lu Chen turned his horse around and then said, "To the city!"

As his voice fell, the welcoming procession entered the city, and Wu Junwan's carriage followed behind the delegation, continuing forward.

At that moment, Pei Hong, watching the North Prince's departing figure, felt his silhouette seemed familiar, especially his voice, which for some reason, sounded like he had heard it somewhere before.

Pei Hong thought to himself that this was his second visit to North Country, and he had never met the North Prince before, so how could the voice feel familiar?

While Pei Hong was pondering where he might have heard that voice, Wu Junwan's voice came from inside the carriage, "Does Mister Pei also feel that the North Prince's voice sounds familiar?"

It wasn't just Pei Hong who had this feeling; even Wu Junwan experienced it. As someone involved in intelligence gathering, she was particularly attentive to details and could remember small nuances quite distinctly.

She always felt the North Prince's voice was very familiar, and she had a nagging sense that he resembled someone she had met before.

Pei Hong's eyebrows furrowed when he realized that Wu Junwan shared his sentiments. Suddenly, he felt this probably wasn't just their imagination.

If one person thought the North Prince's voice sounded familiar, that might be dismissed as an illusion, but now that both of them felt the same, it likely meant they had indeed heard Lu Chen's voice somewhere before.

Pei Hong's mind raced through the people they met the last time they came to Yan County, concluding that if the voice felt familiar, and considering the North Prince resided in North Country, they might have heard it during their previous visit to Yan County.

After only a brief thought, Pei Hong instantly recalled where they had heard a voice similar to the North Prince's.

At this point, Pei Hong's expression turned grim, and he then said to Wu Junwan in the carriage, "Your Highness, I fear the North Prince is the Tower Master of Rain-listening Pavilion!"

Although they hadn't seen the face of the Tower Master of Rain-listening Pavilion during their last visit to Yan County, since he wore a mask, they had discerned from his voice and stature that he was a very young man. At the time, they suspected that the Tower Master was a person from a mysterious force behind the North Prince.

Now, it seems that the influence behind the scenes at Rain-listening Pavilion wasn't some figure behind the North Prince, but rather the North Prince himself.

They had all been deceived by the North Prince!

After hearing Pei Hong's hint, Wu Junwan also thought back to the scene when they met the Tower Master of Rain-listening Pavilion in Yan County.

With such reflection, she too realized that the North Prince's voice was identical to that of the Tower Master, and their figures largely matched as well.

Critically, both the Tower Master of Rain-listening Pavilion and the North Prince were notably young!

Wu Junwan's expression became stern, and she murmured, "It seems that the North Prince recognized us during our last visit to Yan County."

By that logic, the North Prince probably also knew long ago that the Qianhai Commercial Association was her force, and by allowing Rain-listening Pavilion to collaborate with Qianhai Commercial Association, he aimed to gather intelligence on Great Wu in return.

At this realization, Wu Junwan felt a discomfort in her heart, aggrieved by the fact that she had been outmaneuvered.

More uncomfortable than Wu Junwan, and with even greater resentment, was another individual—Prince Wu Ming from Great Wu.

Prince Wu Ming's carriage trailed behind Wu Junwan's, and at this very moment, he sat inside with a contorted expression and clenched fists, his anger refusing to subside.

As the Second Prince of Great Wu and accompanying Princess Junwan on a diplomatic mission to North Country, he arrived only for the North Prince to extend a welcome exclusively to Princess Junwan, effectively forgetting about his presence.

Prior to their diplomatic visit, Great Wu had informed North Country, which meant North Country could not possibly be unaware of his accompanying Princess Junwan.

Yet, the North Prince had not so much as mentioned his name, as if he held no regard for him. It seemed that in Princess Junwan's presence, or whenever he was put alongside her, his title of Second Prince became negligible.

Prince Wu Ming also noticed that the high standard of reception in North Country was entirely for Princess Junwan, and none of it related to him as the Second Prince.

Despite being a woman, why should she receive such high-level treatment!

He was the prince, the legitimate heir to the throne, and yet he had been ignored!