The desire to possess treasure is something no one can control, and the same goes for possessing a stunning beauty!
No matter how strong Pei Junwu is, if he wants to possess these two things, he still has to ask the people of the martial arts world! It also depends on whether he has the ability and the fate to do so!
Desire has clouded his judgment! The powerful Xiao family has already perished. No matter how strong Zhu Liancheng is, he is still just a man with two hands. Pei Junwu is a young and talented man, whose skills surpass all others and whose brilliance is fully displayed, but he is still young and his wings are not yet fully grown!
In everyone's eyes, treasures and beautiful women are unclaimed! They belong to the capable!
Even Master Zhu was somewhat worried, so he summoned all of Qin Chuyi's disciples, including the disciples of the lovable but foolish disciple who had angered their master to death—Tuoba Hanyun.
Li Yuan'er was truly puzzled as to why her Uncle-Master Zhu would summon the three of them from so far away. Although her master's martial arts skills... were indeed impressive, even compared to her grandmaster's! But her pride was never lacking! Upon hearing that they were there to help Junior Nephew Pei protect Junior Sister Li's daughter, her master's face turned cold. She couldn't afford to lose face like that; matters concerning children should naturally be resolved by the children themselves!
God knows what problems she and her fellow students could solve!
After ten years, the master took out the secret manuals and diagrams and let them figure them out on their own! They really did figure them out on their own, because there were many things that even the master hadn't figured out!
Self-taught, purely self-taught.
If you feel like it, you can practice your exercises in the morning; if you feel like it, you can do your breathing exercises in the evening. There's no one to supervise or guide you.
Her master was the younger sister of Li Deming, the Prince of Xiping, making her a princess of Western Xia. She was proud and arrogant, unable to endure hardship, and pampered her entire life; it's no wonder she never mastered martial arts. She disliked the surname "Li," which was bestowed upon her by the Tang Dynasty emperor, and insisted on using the surname Hui Tuoba. Her only male disciple was her nephew, Li Yuanxun, the third prince of Western Xia, whom she also insisted on using the surname Hui Tuoba.
Sometimes Yuan'er suspects that his master is just angry with his mother, which is why he refuses to take the surname Li even when he is dead.
My master and my mother... are worlds apart.
Relying on the basic skills passed down to her by her mother, she barely managed to grasp some of the martial arts techniques in the manual and understand the basics. Her senior sisters and brothers would come to her with questions, and although she was the junior sister in terms of seniority, she was more like their master.
What's even more terrifying is that... Xingqing, the capital of Western Xia, is a completely foreign place where Chinese studies are not valued, and even my master... doesn't know many Chinese characters.
Fortunately, as the princess's apprentices, and all nobles of Phoenix City, finding a Chinese language teacher wasn't a problem. However… after ten years, even she, the best student of Chinese, could only barely recognize the characters in the secret manual!
She had to ask her Chinese studies teacher one word at a time, and she was afraid that her skills would be leaked if she put them together into sentences.
When encountering obscure or rare words or acupuncture point names, even a scholar of Chinese classics who had wandered to the Western Regions would have to spend several days consulting books...
If the difference between her master and mother was like heaven and earth... she really dared not compare them. How far apart was "Xiao Juyuan," who had replaced her as her senior master's disciple, from her!
The Flower Smile, Part 6: Fishing in the Flower Stream
While having breakfast at the inn, strange glances kept falling on Li Yuan'er and the others' table... not at her, but at Yan Minyu and Tuoba Yuanxun.
They weren't disguised, and although their clothes were kept as simple as possible at Yuan'er's request, their quality was still evident. Their looks were naturally exceptional, making them quite eye-catching in a crowd.
The only thing that could boost Tuoba Hanyun's reputation in her life was her appearance, so she didn't care about a disciple's aptitude or talent when accepting them—she couldn't tell either; beauty was the most important thing. Li Yuanhao, the crown prince of Western Xia, also wanted to become his aunt's disciple, but Tuoba Hanyun disliked his square face and said his eyes weren't pretty enough, so she refused to accept him.
"Are we really going to Shuangjie Pavilion in this?" Yan Minyu looked at her clothes with displeasure; among all her clothes, this was considered the worst.
"Mmm." Li Yuan'er savored the local dishes from his hometown without looking at her.
Tuoba Yuanxun laughed, "I don't care. I can go shirtless. It's not cold now. Senior Sister, as everyone knows, Senior Brother Pei has a fiancée, who is also the daughter of Uncle Li. She is said to be the new number one beauty in the martial arts world. I reckon... even if you go shirtless, Senior Brother Pei won't even glance at you."
"You're asking for it! Coming here to die first thing in the morning!" Yan Minyu was furious.
Li Yuan'er couldn't help but smile.
"Xiao Yuan, Xiao Yuan!" Tuoba Yuanxun frowned. "You don't need to dress like this now that we're here! You look uncomfortable when you smile." He hadn't seen Xiao Yuan for so many days, and he missed him terribly.
"I think this is a good idea. Let's go and check it out first. If the number one beauty isn't even as pretty as our Xiao Yuan, we can have Xiao Yuan take off his mask, give her a shock, and surprise everyone."
"Eat up, stop talking nonsense." Li Yuan'er put down her chopsticks.
Concealing her appearance wasn't meant to surprise anyone; at sixteen, she was already troubled by her undeniable beauty. She'd encountered too much trouble in Phoenix City; even the way that lecherous Li Yuanhao looked at her gave her goosebumps. Leaving was for the best.
Shuangjie Pavilion was a villa built by the Pei family for Xiao Juyuan. It was located at the foot of Xiling Snow Mountain, about 200 miles from Chengdu. Du Fu's famous line, "The window frames the snow of Xiling for a thousand autumns," describes this place.
Li Yuan'er watched Yan Minyu and Tuoba Yuanxun walking excitedly ahead of her; they were overjoyed to be able to meet their fellow disciples. To be able to share their simple happiness... truly made her envious.
Finally, she was about to meet Pei Junwu and "Xiao Juyuan," and her mood... was surprisingly calm!
Perhaps if they really met, her emotions would still fluctuate. She looked at the snow-capped Miaoji Ridge in the distance and unconsciously stopped in her tracks... After all, he was the man who originally belonged to her and the woman who had deceived her.
Resentment? No, being replaced by "Xiao Juyuan" wasn't necessarily a good thing. Regret? Not really. Someone who can't even recognize an imposter, no matter how outstanding, is just a fool who's been deceived.
My mother said that she would understand many things when she grew up. She doesn't know if she is old enough now, but she already understands some things.
In this respect, she had to give a small thank you to "Xiao Juyuan". It was she who gave her an incredibly profound enlightenment! She realized that not everyone in the world was kind to her, and not everyone doted on or loved her.
Being prepared is the first step to protecting yourself!
"Xiao Juyuan" seemed to open up a new perspective for her. She no longer only saw good people, relatives, and people who would not harm her.
A new perspective... on the Xiao family, on parents, on everything.
"Possessing a treasure is a crime," her mother had told her, and she still remembered the tone of her mother's voice when she said it. She had asked her teacher, and it meant that possessing a treasure would bring disaster upon oneself. This phrase... was too fitting for the Xiao family.
What exactly did the Xiao family's treasure and wealth bring to them?
Struggle, intrigue, deception, death, impersonation, and... loneliness.
Gao Tianjing's martial arts skills and strength were insufficient to destroy the Xiao family so thoroughly. After ten years, she finally understood what her mother meant by sacrificing everything for her happy and peaceful life.
Father and Mother... succeeded. The Xiao family's misfortune first shifted to Gao Tianjing, and then... to Xiao Juyuan!
"Xiao Yuan! Keep up! You're spacing out again!" Yan Minyu turned around and called to her, glancing at her with a puzzled look.