The dignified second young lady of the Yan family has been reduced to working for the Ling family. Chaoge suddenly really wanted to see Yan Chen's expression when he found out about this.
Taking a deep breath, Chaoge looked up at him, her deep brown eyes devoid of much emotion: "As you wish."
Three days later.
The capital of planet m3, a subsidiary planet of the planet Tianzixing.
Inside the main house of the Ling family branch.
Chaoge glanced at the fruit plate on the small table beside her, picked up a pale red grape and threw it into her mouth. After moving her cheeks a few times, she commented expressionlessly to the people sitting around her, "Ugh, so sour."
Spall twitched his lips, unable to tell whether she was telling the truth or lying. Compared to his hesitation, Shadow was much more straightforward, stating that she absolutely did not believe her boss's lies and insisted on testing the waters herself.
A few seconds later, Ying, whose features were contorted and who had lost the ability to speak, covered her face and took a long time to recover. With squinting eyes, she managed to utter a sentence: "It really...sour."
Mo Nian thought they were a bunch of idiots.
Chaoge, utterly bored, propped her head up with her hand and took out a purple apple from inside, tossing it up and down for a while before concluding, "So boring. When is Ningtao coming back?"
Three days ago, following Ling Tianji's instructions, they boarded an ordinary merchant ship. During the passenger check on the M3, Chaoge easily used the highest level of authority to forge their identities, slipped through the check, and then naturally headed towards the Ling family's branch mansion.
It was then that she learned that the three major families each had their own territory on the subsidiary planet, and the so-called branch families were not of pure blood from the three major families. For example, the Ling family branch here was a mixture of the Ling family and other local famous families, with various surnames, but the main surname was still Ling.
Chaoge and his group pretended that they had settled in another country a long time ago and had now changed their nationality to participate in the military's three major families' test for the descendants of the Ling family.
Honestly, this identity is incredibly ostracized and blatantly fake. Yet, their fabricated names went without a single problem, making Chaoge wonder how many people at these exchange meetings were truly from the three major families. She'd heard the Yan family was even more shameless, sometimes selecting talented individuals from affiliated families to be adopted into their household, all for a spot at these exchange meetings.
This exchange meeting is rife with shady dealings.
It's true that Ling Tianji had already spoken to them about the main residence of the branch family, and they were being treated to good food and drink. However, it was really difficult for them to get in touch with the people inside.
Today it was Ningtao's turn to go out and gather information, but he hasn't returned by lunchtime, which is strange, hence Chaoge's question earlier.
☆ Chapter 77: The Fourteenth Evaluation of the Yin-Yang Collection
Chaoge took the lead and walked towards the outside. The layout of the Yan family's branch residence was quite clear, with no twists and turns, so finding Ningtao was not difficult.
In fact, Ning Tao was not far from where they were. On his way back, he was blocked by a group of people who had originally been part of the Ling family. The leader seemed to be a group of seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys, who were at the age when they were hot-blooded and impulsive.
The gray-eyed boy had little emotion in his eyes, looking indifferently at the people surrounding him, maintaining a cold and aloof demeanor that refused to talk no matter what they said.
This naturally made the group of teenagers even angrier.
Because Ning Tao was only about 1.7 meters tall, he was practically invisible after being surrounded by layers of people. His refusal to speak was perceived as an arrogant and disdainful explanation, and the person standing at the very back couldn't help but grab his collar, squinting his eyes and demanding fiercely, "Was it you or not?!"
Having given his answer from the start, Ning Tao was clearly unwilling to repeat useless words. Ignoring the fact that his collar was being grabbed by the other party, he even leisurely raised his hand and yawned, his long eyelashes glistening with tears, making his gray eyes look as if they had been soaked.
The man grabbing his collar's eyes blazed with rage. He clenched his other fist and swung it through the air, the powerful, muscular arm hurtling towards the man's face with incredible force.
As the fist swung towards him, the seemingly weak boy swiftly raised his hand to block the attack with a speed imperceptible to onlookers. A sharp glint flashed in his gray eyes, and when he looked up at him, his expression darkened slightly, and he reiterated with some impatience, "If you want to know what happened, go check the security footage. What are you doing here, trying to act tough? This is not the place for you to act recklessly."
The implication is that even though he was the most promising member of the previous branch of the Ling family, his abilities were not yet sufficient for the current Ling family to secure a stable position.
The boy, who was a head taller than Ning Tao, found it hard to accept that such a slender boy could catch his punch. Bloodshot eyes made the whites of his eyes look even more ferocious, and he tried to increase the strength in his arms to complete the action.
Ning Tao frowned... He hated guys who only used brute force.
"Ningtao." A female voice came from outside the circle.
Upon hearing the voice, Jiang Ningtao remained unmoved as he looked at the other person. On the contrary, the one who had hit the girl suddenly remembered her background and, after several attempts to restrain himself, finally lowered his fist.
"Ling Ge, you should keep a closer eye on your dog." The man who had withdrawn his fist turned around angrily and glared at the newcomer. The people around them automatically parted to make way for the two sides to communicate more directly.
"The Empire doesn't allow pets. Does the young master of the Ling family's branch not know this rule?" Chaoge stood leisurely outside the crowd with his hands in his pockets, and threw out a question to the tall man with a smile.
The boy was instantly choked, his gaze fixed on Chaoge as if he wanted to devour him.
"Moreover, I dislike it most when others attack my people. Ling Xiao, can I take your behavior as a provocation?" The person who was smiling just a second ago still had a smiling expression, but threw out a sharp retort.
This is not Yan Chaoge's style.
But this is the quickest way to resolve the matter. The Ling family has a rule that, in the internal selection and exchange competition, no participant may provoke other contestants, and everything must be done in the common interest of the family.
This is the rule of aristocratic families: personal interests often have to give way to the common good. Therefore, there's a lot to it; which year hasn't seen incidents of mutual sabotage? Everyone just knows how to keep things under control. If the relevant family leaders were to intervene, the consequences would be far more severe.
"This guy stole the keepsake my mother left me! You want to protect him? I'd like to ask you, what do you mean by letting him come and mess with me?" After opening the video on the smart device and granting access, Ling Xiao stared intently at Chao Ge's expression, his malicious gaze piercing her face.
[Huh, he used his privileges to forge this video? His privileges are even higher than the main residence of the family?] Little Red Riding Hood exclaimed in surprise in Chaoge's mind. She had already invaded the M3's AI center when the other party released the video.
[I thought it was a small matter, but it seems the Ling family is up to something. Little Red Riding Hood, you've gone a bit too far. If we attract Qin Muge's attention, we're both doomed. We need to think of another way to leave.] Chaoge reminded Little Red Riding Hood in her mind.
Looking calmly at the fabricated video of Ning Tao entering and leaving his residence, Chao Ge's smile only widened, and he nodded with considerable approval. "Very good. Submit this video to the head of the branch family, and preferably forward it to the main Ling family so that they can personally disqualify us from the election."
No matter how much time has passed, the people of the Crystalless Empire still like to manipulate permissions. Whether it was Yan Xi in the past or Ling Xiao now, weren't the three major families trying to overthrow Qin Muge's regime? Why are they even more reliant on the things she developed than she is?
Chaoge found it somewhat amusing.
Ling Xiao hesitated for a moment.
Although he is currently only the young master of a branch family, he has been able to rise step by step thanks to the support of people in the main family and the absolute advantage of his authority.
Does this person genuinely not understand the seriousness of the matter? Or does she simply not want to attend the exchange meeting?
As for recognizing that the video was fake? Ling Xiao's imagination wasn't that advanced.
But not wanting to attend the exchange meeting? That reason is even less likely. If she didn't want to participate, why would she use this opportunity to return to the Ling family?
Seeing that Ling Xiaoniu's tall stature and ordinary face were clearly not to Yan Chaoge's liking, she gestured for Ning Tao to come over to her side and then casually said, "If you want to pursue the matter, fine, let the higher-ups come, but you'd better make sure this is true. Before that, no one has the right to lay a hand on him."
Ignoring Ling Xiao's group, Chao Ge led Ning Tao away on her own. As she rounded the corner, she glanced at the boy beside her, her gray eyes showing very little emotion, as if she hadn't taken the incident to heart at all.
However, just as Chaoge was about to say something else, Ningtao suddenly asked, "Do the people of the Wujing Empire all like to play like this?"
Taking advantage of the inherent advantages granted by artificial intelligence, they willingly submit to this intelligent technology, accept the ranking it assigns to humanity, and then use this to proudly attack those of their kind who are judged to be of a lower level by the intelligent technology.
"I am not, and neither was someone I once met." Recalling the existence who, because of his unwillingness to submit to such a system, ultimately became the overlord of another star system but perished early, Chaoge looked down at the ground, his eyes dim.
What a terrible thing it would be if this powerful nation, which is second to none in the Red Cloud Galaxy, had made a mistake in its initial foothold.
Hearing her answer, how could someone as intelligent as Ning Tao not understand the hidden meaning in her words? But he had no intention of delving into Chaoge's past, and simply replied indifferently, "Fortunately, you're not."
I can't imagine that the person I follow is such a terrible guy as Ling Xiao.
Chaoge gently tugged at the corners of her lips. Faced with Ningtao and the others' trust, she often didn't know what to say.
She hadn't envisioned this situation at first, so she never expected to end up like this. That's why she dared to secretly complain to Little Red Riding Hood that she was simply not cut out to be a leader.
But now she gradually stops saying such things. When others entrust you with their trust and believe in your abilities even more than you believe in them, if you still underestimate yourself, the cost will be more than just harming yourself.
Once you choose to carry something, you have to see it through to the end.
"It's fortunate that you guys are with me. If I had some terrible teammates, I wouldn't be standing here safely right now." Chaoge smiled and reached out to pat Ningtao's head, making the boy, who had just finished speaking and was feeling sleepy, open his eyes wide in surprise.
Actually, in terms of age, Ningtao is not even as old as Chaoge.
If we were to truly compare the combat strength of the Chaoge camp and the Lingxiao camp, the Chaoge camp would undoubtedly crush them.
After returning to the main hall, Chaoge noticed that the atmosphere was somewhat tense.
The two people involved, she and Ningtao, were probably the ones who were tricked by Ling Xiao's people. Did they know about it earlier?
"What's with this heavy atmosphere? Anyone who doesn't know better would think your boss has passed away." Sitting back in her original spot, Chaoge picked up another grape from the fruit plate and put it in her mouth. The juice burst on her tongue, making her cheeks ache.
Ning Tao returned to his seat, intending to give a routine report on today's intelligence, but seeing the unusual atmosphere among everyone, he fell silent for a moment.
Ying was always the one who couldn't hold back her words. Seeing Chaoge's gaze turn towards her, she spoke first: "I just received a notification from the branch family! Major General Ling Tianquan will be coming here in three days!"
So frightened was Chaoge that she bit the grape seeds in her mouth to pieces.
Blinking her eyes, which were disguised as pale purple, Chaoge asked again, as if to confirm, "Not Ling Tianji, but Ling Tianquan?"
Who is the most powerful and unpredictable of the three generals of the Ling family? Why would he go back to M3 for no reason? Isn't M3 Ling Tianji's territory?
"Moreover, I heard that he is going to personally instruct all the young people who participated in the internal selection for this family division." Mo Nian was busy asking Ning Tao what happened after he went out, so the task of supplementing the details of this major event fell to the most honest Si Bo.
WTF?! Is "personal instruction" what I meant?
Chaoge's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he was furious.
Even more shocking things were yet to come—
[No, I should be the first to know about Ling Tianquan's actions. How exactly did he bypass the AI to send this message to the branch family?] Little Red Riding Hood asked Chaoge in her mind.
Or was his act of deceiving Little Red Riding Hood unintentional or a coincidence?
Regardless of the possibility, it indicates that Little Red Riding Hood's permissions are currently restricted.
But is that even possible?
"Little Red Riding Hood, I'm telling you, don't cause trouble." Chao Ge twitched her lips and gave a symbolic reminder in her mind, but even she had a bad feeling.
...What exactly is the purpose of this exchange meeting?
☆ Chapter 78: The Fifteenth Evaluation of the Yin-Yang Collection
The Yuan Dynasty Royal Palace.
The starlight streamed down from the stained-glass windows behind the office, which had been transformed into a medieval church style sometime earlier. The vibrant colors scattered across the office space in front of the windows, creating a dim and unsuitable light for work.
Unfortunately, the person nestled in the soft chair had no such thoughts. His meticulously tailored white military jacket was lazily open, the top button of his shirt was undone, and even his gloves had been removed and placed on the corner of the table.
With one hand propped on the desk, supporting her chin, her head tilted to the side, her slightly long black hair covering half of her face, and a hint of weariness in her red eyes peeking out from between them, she seemed to have no interest in anything in front of her.
A pale blue screen lit up in front of her, but her eyes didn't even turn in that direction, waiting for it to go out a few minutes later.
After remaining in this position for an unknown period of time, the silence in the room was broken by a sound coming from the doorway:
Didn't you receive the message I just sent you?
Qin Muge then lifted his eyelids, his red eyes sweeping over the dimmed parts of the table before settling on the tall figure in front of him.
A sneer escaped his lips, but Qin Muge's lips didn't even curve into a smile as he replied indifferently, "As you can see, receiving and knowing are two different things."
The blond man pursed his lips, habitually ignoring her strike-like appearance, and switched his written report to oral delivery: "Ling Tianquan went to M3 to guide the members selected internally by the Ling family this time."
Qin Muge narrowed his eyes slightly, his thick eyelashes obscuring the color in his eyes, making the red appear even darker.
Her free hand tapped idly on the table. The moment she stopped, the black-haired woman sat up straight, her lips curving into a smile as her mood improved: "I thought the Yan family was the one who started the trouble."
Unexpectedly, it was Ling Tianji who couldn't hold back first.