She is definitely not someone who can control her, so no matter what difficulties she faces, she will overcome them.
She has endured for so long, gradually winning over Qin Ming's subordinates and climbing to her current position. She is not far from achieving her goal.
Qin Mingzheng lived a illustrious life, and in the end, he was buried in a simple coffin, with a few servants, no funeral music, just a few pieces of paper money and a handful of yellow earth.
Standing beside his own grave in his spirit form, Qin Ming looked at the thin, simple coffin being gradually covered by yellow earth, listened to Liu Xinya's sobbing, and saw the pitifully small amount of paper money floating in the air. He suddenly felt a strange sense of irony.
Looking at Liu Xinya's red and swollen eyes, Qin Ming didn't know what he was feeling. Resentment? A little.
Do you hate it?
It's hard to say.
Now, watching all this from the sidelines, Qin Ming suddenly had a strange feeling, as if he were watching a farce, a farce in which he was involved but felt detached.
"Madam, please accept my condolences." A servant from her household whispered words of comfort to Liu Xinya. He then saw Liu Xinya nod slightly, wipe away her tears with a handkerchief, and turn to leave.
Without the slightest lingering affection, not even glancing back at his lonely grave, they let the autumn wind swirl the pale paper money, scattering it in the air.
This matter is certainly not going to end so easily. Qin Ming attacked the demon realm. Just because he said it was a private act doesn't mean it was.
The demon realm would naturally send someone to resolve this matter.
Therefore, the Demon Realm sent one of its most respected princes, the Prince of Luan, to the Demon Realm with Liu Xinya to explain the matter.
Because this matter was extremely serious, and in order to show the importance of it, the Demon Realm sent King Luan with a group of people, who traveled day and night to the Demon Realm in less than four days.
Instead of immediately entering the demon realm, they sent someone to deliver an invitation to the demon lord.
The Demon Lord naturally performed all the proper etiquette to welcome King Luan and his entourage inside.
To show respect to the Demon Lord and to indicate that they had no hostility in coming here, King Luan left the small group he brought outside the Demon Realm, taking only ten trusted confidants with him into the Demon Realm.
Of course, Liu Xinya, who was also dressed in mourning clothes, was the key figure on this trip.
"...This matter is the responsibility of our Demon Realm. We failed to keep a close watch on Qin Ming, which led to his reckless personal behavior. Fortunately, he realized his mistake and made amends through his actions." After exchanging pleasantries, King Luan steered the conversation to this matter.
The King of Luan looks to be about fifty years old, but who knows that he is actually thousands of years old?
Despite his somewhat aged appearance, his words still carry considerable weight.
Besides his status in the Demon Realm—one of the three great princes—what's more important is that he doesn't speak as rashly as Qin Ming, but rather in a steady and measured manner.
In any case, the matter should be classified as Qin Ming's private action, and it should never be elevated to the level of a conflict between the demon and monster realms.
"Let's wait until the Lord arrives to discuss this matter." The Demon Lord clearly intended to leave this issue to the Demon God, so after listening attentively and politely to King Luan, he smiled and directly pushed the Demon God out.
"Well, that's fine." King Luan was not surprised at all; of course, the Demon God should take the lead in this matter.
The group sat quietly in the palace hall. Even Yu Jinshuo put away his usual arrogance and waited quietly for the arrival of the Demon God.
After waiting for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the waiter outside announced loudly, "Your Excellency has arrived."
Upon hearing this voice, the Demon Lord immediately stood up, quickly stepped down from the high platform, and went to greet the Venerable Lord.
"Your Excellency."
"Demon Lord." The Demon God was still very polite to the Demon Lord, nodding in greeting before ascending to the high position and sitting down.
No matter where they are, the Demon God's lofty status is always prominent. Only the Demon Lord can sit alongside the Demon God. Therefore, two large seats are always placed at the head of the Demon Realm, one for the Demon God and one for the Demon Lord.
However, things have changed recently. A slightly smaller, more delicate chair has been placed next to the Demon God's seat. The owner of this seat is naturally Liu Lanyan, who has recently been favored by the Demon God.
After they were seated, King Luan bowed to the demon god and then recounted the incident again.
"Hmm." The Demon God neither agreed nor disagreed with King Luan's words, simply listening quietly until the end, without giving King Luan any response.
The Prince of Luan was sitting below, which put him in a somewhat awkward position. He couldn't just sit there doing nothing, could he?
"Liu Xinya, aren't you going to explain yourself?" King Luan turned around and scolded Liu Xinya, who was standing to the side.
"Yes." Liu Xinya hurriedly stood up, walked to the front, and bowed gracefully to the demon goddess. "This matter was entirely caused by my husband's recklessness. My husband has already died to atone for his sins. I know that my husband's sins are grave, so his funeral was handled hastily."
Liu Xinya's voice was a little hoarse, as if it hadn't recovered from crying for a long time. In addition, tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke, making her look so different from usual.
The last time Liu Xinya appeared in front of everyone, she was a graceful and noble lady. Now, she is a desolate widow.
Such a fragile and pitiful appearance would evoke pity in anyone who saw it.
Of course, that refers to ordinary people.
At this moment, which of the people sitting in the royal palace hall are ordinary people?
Not to mention the Demon Lord and the Demon God, even the elders of the Demon Realm felt no sympathy for Liu Xinya's pitiful appearance.
Those who have reached their current positions have undoubtedly experienced countless hardships, and they are no longer bothered by such tragic scenes.
Of course, some of the elders felt heartbroken about Liu Xinya's situation.
That person was none other than Liu Xinya's biological father, Liu Jinli.
Upon hearing Liu Xinya's words, Liu Jinli quickly stood up and walked to the center, saying to the Demon God, "Your Majesty, since Qin Ming has already paid the price for this matter, please consider the safety of both the demon and monster realms and not hold it against him."
Liu Jinli was certainly not that benevolent and righteous; he was afraid that if the demon god continued to pursue the matter, it would implicate his daughter.
In any case, the "trigger" for this incident still lies with Liu Xinya.
Now that Qin Ming is dead, it's best to end things like this.
"Lanyan, what do you think?" The demon god turned to ask Liu Lanyan, who had been sitting silently beside him. This girl had never been kind to him and wanted to "take revenge" whenever she saw him.
She disagreed with his proposed form of revenge; what an awkward little thing.
Now is the perfect time to "thaw" their relationship, and besides, there are things that are inconvenient for someone in his position to say.
Liu Lanyan glanced at the Demon God, raised her eyebrows slightly, and the message in her eyes was crystal clear: we'll settle our score later.
"Alright." The demon god nodded with a smile.
He wasn't in a hurry; he was always ready to accompany her as long as she was happy to.
Looking at the demon god's shameless eyes, Liu Lanyan narrowed her eyes slightly. What a shameless fellow.
I turned my head away and ignored him; business was more important.
"Did Qin Ming do all this?" Liu Lanyan asked Liu Xinya.
"Hmm." Liu Xinya stared at Liu Lanyan with a complicated expression. To be honest, she had no idea what Liu Lanyan was up to by speaking on behalf of the Demon God.
"Is this Qin Ming's private matter?" Liu Lanyan asked Liu Xinya curiously.
"Yes." Liu Xinya is now adamant about this. Since Qin Ming is already dead, she can put all the blame on him. There's no way to prove anything now that he's dead, so no one will say anything.
"Qin Ming said that he attacked the demon realm because Sister Xinya went missing, which is why he acted rashly for the sake of his beloved. Prince Yu Jinshuo and Uncle Liu Jinli can both testify to this, right?" Liu Xinya's gaze fell on Yu Jinshuo and Liu Jinli.
Yu Jinshuo, whose name was called, gave Liu Lanyan a deep look. He wasn't surprised at all that he was mentioned today.
"Yes, I am aware of the matter." Yu Jinshuo said without standing up from his seat, glancing at Liu Xinya and saying calmly, "It was Liu Jinli who informed me that Liu Xinya is missing."
"I..." Liu Jinli paused, wanting to refute Yu Jinshuo's words, but immediately remembered what they had agreed on and quickly changed the subject, "I also heard it from Qin Ming, who said that Xin Ya did not return to the Demon Realm."
After Qin Ming's incident, Yu Jinshuo informed him to push everything onto Qin Ming, and that if anyone dared to drag him into the mess, they would bear the consequences.
"Just because Sister Xinya didn't return to the Demon Realm, does that mean she's considered missing?" Liu Lanyan asked with a smile. "Sister Xinya was a guest at Wuchen Residence back then. How did you know when she left, Second Uncle?"
“From the moment I received my second uncle’s letter until I went to the Liu residence, all I said was that Sister Xinya had left, and you immediately concluded that she was missing. That’s amazing. It seems that the ability to foresee the future is not just a legend; someone has already accomplished it.”
Liu Lanyan's calm words made Liu Jinli break out in a cold sweat.
He kept thinking to himself, "When did this silly girl become so smart?"
Everyone wanted to let this matter drop, but she just wouldn't let it go.
"At the time, Qin Ming was probably too worried about his wife, which is why he thought Xin Ya was missing. Then, in a moment of emotional outburst, he ended up talking about attacking the demon realm." While Liu Jinli's rise to the position of Grand Elder certainly involved some opportunism, he wouldn't be so stupid as to just agree with whatever Liu Lanyan said.
“Yes, that’s true.” Liu Lanyan nodded, seemingly agreeing with Liu Jinli’s statement.
"Actually, all of this was Qin Ming's conspiracy, right?" Liu Lanyan looked up and asked Liu Xinya and the others. Seeing that no one shook their heads, she continued, "Sister Xinya, were you taken away by Qin Ming after you left Wuchen Residence?"
"Yes, that's right. I went back then, and I only recently found out about what happened afterward." Liu Xinya shifted all the blame to Qin Ming, feigning innocence, "I was unaware of the attack on the demon realm."
"So this was entirely Qin Ming's personal behavior?" Liu Lanyan turned her gaze to the Prince of Luan.
King Luan nodded: "That's right. The troops Qin Ming gathered were his former subordinates. If he wanted to gather a large army from the Demon Realm, it would definitely not be just a mere 60,000 troops, let alone soldiers with such weak strength."
When this is mentioned, even as a prince of the demon realm, Luan Wang still has his pride.
The implication was that, besides explaining that everything was Qin Ming's own private action, it also implied that the soldiers of the Demon Realm were definitely not so weak.
"Hmm..." Liu Lanyan remained silent, not saying a word.
Liu Jinli looked around and felt this was a good opportunity for him to show off. Then he put on an elder's demeanor and advised Liu Lanyan: "Lanyan, forget it. This matter is nothing more than your brother-in-law being too worried about your sister Xinya, so he did such a foolish thing."
“Your brother-in-law paid the ultimate price for this foolish act. Now your sister Xinya has just lost her husband and is in a sad state of mind. Do you still want to ask anything?” Liu Jinli’s words were actually not wrong at all.
His goal was to bring the issue down from its potential escalation to a level that was merely an internal family conflict, allowing everyone to resolve it privately without involving the demon and monster realms.
"Sister Xinya, are you very sad?" Liu Lanyan pursed her lips and looked at Liu Xinya.
Liu Xinya gave a bitter smile: "Lanyan, you're not married yet, so naturally you don't understand the importance of a husband. He is my husband, and even if he has made mistakes, as his wife..."
At this point, Liu Xinya choked up and couldn't continue speaking. Two lines of tears streamed down her face, making her appear even more vulnerable.
"You'll understand when you have a husband," Liu Xinya said to Liu Lanyan without offering any further explanation.
In this way, their conversation shifted entirely from matters concerning the demon and monster realms to family matters, turning public affairs into private ones.
“I don’t have a husband, but if my husband were to fight against another powerful force for my sake, I would be absolutely proud!” Liu Lanyan said proudly.
"How courageous is Brother-in-law Qin Ming to challenge the Demon God? He's such a man! He's willing to give up his life for his woman. What deep affection that is!"
As Liu Lanyan spoke, her tone became increasingly adoring, causing everyone in the palace hall to look at her in bewilderment. What was going on?
What did she mean by that?
"A man who is willing to risk everything for a woman, disregard his own gains and losses, and even risk offending a powerful figure at the top of the world, is the kind of man a woman should entrust her life to!" Liu Lanyan said emotionally.
"But, Sister Xinya, I look down on you!" Liu Xinya changed the subject and directly shifted the focus to Liu Xinya.
This dismissive remark left Liu Xinya completely bewildered: "What did I do wrong?"
Liu Xinya asked, puzzled.
"Your husband was so good to you. He risked his life to lead troops to attack the demon realm for you, even at the cost of offending the demon god. How could you give him such a simple burial? How could you send off a man who loved you so deeply with such a meager funeral?" Liu Lanyan said with a heavy heart.
It's less of a statement and more of an accusation, or an interrogation.
"I..." Liu Xinya moved her lips, wanting to explain something, but was interrupted by Liu Lanyan.