Chapter 23
The influence of the name Rong Lian is neither insignificant nor huge, because there are still people who don't know me.
"How do you walk? Are you blind?!"
His eyesight might not be very good, but he's not blind, otherwise how could he see a talking monkey?
"Hey, whose girl is this? She's so beautiful!"
Next to the monkey was a creature that looked like a human, but whose eyes darted around like a mouse's.
"Excuse me." My temper has really gotten better and better. If someone had dared to talk to me like that before, they would have been dead a few times over.
"Where are you going? You haven't apologized to our young master yet!" The monkey grabbed me.
Rong Lian has fallen to the point where anyone can touch her, and now she wants me to apologize? You've been around for hundreds of years, and besides, it wasn't my fault.
"You ran into each other yourself."
"What?" The monkey's hair stood on end. "How dare a little girl speak ill of us? Who is your master? You've got some nerve!"
"have no idea."
I'm telling the truth. I don't plan to serve Yue Linghe anymore, so I really don't know.
But the two people in front of me thought I was playing them for fools and didn't take them seriously, so they immediately got angry. In fact, I really didn't take them seriously either.
That monkey was quite skilled, possessing some martial arts ability, but his attacks were weak and feeble, clearly showing he was just a pretty face with flashy moves. If I still had my internal energy, dealing with him would be more than enough, but unfortunately, I only had the 20% that Nangong Ling had given me, so it was still somewhat difficult.
After exchanging thirty moves, there was still no clear winner. My stamina, due to the poison I had taken, was far worse than it had been in my younger days, and I was already panting. The reason I wasn't so tired when I fought Luo Qiu last time was because I was subdued by him before we even exchanged ten moves.
My eyes darted around for a moment because I saw a glint of silver in the rat's hand. Damn it, does it have to be something as trivial as this that could kill someone?
Just as I was thinking this, a monkey's claw grabbed my neck.
My heart skipped a beat. Was Rong Lian going to die here today?
"Young Master Lü, do you know who this person in your hands is?" A clear, crisp voice, deliberately lowered, drifted from above.
The two men looked up at the space behind me and were both stunned. The monkey almost let go of my hand.
"I advise your servant to let go quickly, otherwise when Young Master Feng arrives, you two will likely not have a good time."
"What..." The monkey looked at me in surprise, but before he could utter a single word, a piece of flying Xuan paper slashed his right hand, leaving a deep, bone-revealing gash.
As bright red blood splattered, a heart-wrenching scream rang out. Young Master Lü, standing to the side, turned pale and collapsed to the ground, his legs giving way.
"Tsk, such a slow reaction."
The voice was so familiar that I turned around abruptly. The first person I saw was Feng Moru standing at the front, and then I looked up and saw Yan Guhong with a baby face.
When he saw me looking at him, he glanced back at me but quickly looked away, his eyes darting around nervously.
Suddenly something soft brushed against my face. It was Feng Moru wiping away the blood splattered on my face with a handkerchief.
"Why aren't you watching the martial arts tournament? What are you doing here?"
"I didn't see you, so I came to check on you," Feng Moru replied while carefully wiping the surfaces.
"You're crazy." I glared at him sideways. "Whether I, a servant, go or not is not important."
"Lian'er, I told you you are Miss Rong Si, don't lower yourself to your status."
Uh... I suddenly felt a strange feeling. I looked over and saw Yan Guhong staring at me with a piercing gaze that made my scalp tingle. So I simply snatched the handkerchief from Feng Moru's hand and wiped myself haphazardly.
"Don't wipe it like that, what if you ruin it?"
"It's better this way!" I threw the handkerchief back into his hand and turned to look at the two unlucky guys who had delivered themselves to my doorstep. "I'm in a bad mood today, so you're just unlucky."
Upon hearing this, the mouse immediately scrambled to its feet and knelt before me, repeatedly pleading, "Grandma, spare my life..."
Not bad, not bad, it reminds me of the feeling of being a tyrant in the past.
"Um...you guys..."
"Rong Lian, come out quickly! Cang Zhe and Luo Qiu are fighting!" A blue figure rushed into the courtyard.
I just don't understand why this person always drags me along to join in whenever I'm around. I don't know how he came to assume that we're the same kind of people.
It's clear that Nangong Ling didn't just bring Yue Linghe along for amusement; it's obvious he's been eyeing the Alliance Leader's position for a long time. First, he cut off the Rong family, and now he's finally openly demanding it under the name of Wuyue Palace? Jun Guan is certainly no pushover either; I wonder if there will be a good show to watch.
Chapter 24
I originally wanted to find a corner spot where I could get a good view, but fate had other plans. Instead of walking properly to the VIP seats, Gemini insisted on using his light-footed skills to slip past the crowd and return to his seat. Not only did he attract attention, but he also kept me there. As a result, almost everyone's attention shifted from the two people fighting on the field to this spot.
"Isn't that Rong Lian?"
"Rong Lian?!"
"It really is Rong Lian!"
Someone has already recognized him; that damn Gemini Ann did it on purpose!
"Shuangzi'an, what are you going to do with Lian'er?" Feng Moru followed over, her brows furrowed as she questioned.
Gemini An was taken aback, as if she had only just noticed Feng Moru's presence.
"Isn't this the second young master of the Feng family? What are you doing here? Your Feng family's house is right across the street." Then he suddenly realized, "Oh, you're chasing after Rong Lian, aren't you? I'm so confused..."
Without hesitation, I stepped on the foot of that incessant chatterer, and the world became quiet for a moment.
Then watch them fight. Why are you all looking at me? I'm not some once-in-a-lifetime monster.
"Why doesn't Miss Rong come up on stage and give it a try? Let us see just how pathetic the Rong family's swordsmanship is."
Who's the reckless bastard?! I looked over and saw several unfamiliar faces, probably from some small sect I used to disdain. Well, now anyone can challenge me! My throat was burning, and I couldn't hold back, so I went up and slapped the guy four times across the face.
Because I rushed out too fast, Feng Moru and the others were caught off guard. That reckless guy was stunned when he saw my fierce momentum as I rushed over. He only reacted after I slapped his face.
He tried to strike back, but a thin petal flew out of nowhere and severed his fingers, severing all four at the base. The speed and force were so great that blood didn't even have time to rise. Before he could feel the pain and cry out, someone grabbed him by the collar and led him to another private room.
I smelled a faint, somewhat familiar cool fragrance.
"She's really good at causing trouble," Xiao Jinse remarked coolly.
"She wouldn't be Rong Lian if she didn't cause trouble." A sneer came from behind, and Qionghua released her grip on my collar.
I lost my balance and lurched forward, still feeling a bit like I hadn't recovered yet.
Qionghua sat back down and gave me a strange look. I knew he was surprised that I didn't react.
"...Why have you suddenly become so well-behaved?" Qiong Ying, sitting next to Yue Linghe, asked curiously.
It's not that I've become obedient; anyone who's suddenly lifted up in a fit of rage and spun around in mid-air would be disoriented.
"He just slapped someone four times, and now he's all silent... Hmm? That Luo Qiu isn't bad." Xiao Jinse sipped her wine and turned to the two people on the stage.
"Luo Qiu is quite the all-rounder. That white jade flute can be used as an ornament, a knife, and a sword. It seems that Cang Xiaozhe will have to put in some effort to stop him." Qiong Ying laughed heartlessly.
"How about I give you one too?" Qionghua waved her fan, watching Cangzhe jump around aimlessly below with a look of amusement.
"Where are you going to get a second piece of Thousand Cold Jade that big enough to make a flute?"
"Who said we were going to use the Thousand Cold Jade? Dream on."
Seeing that Qiongying's sword was already drawn, Xiao Jinse pushed it back with a peanut.
"Isn't it annoying to always have to resort to knives and swords? Do you want to watch Cang Zhe fight or watch the two of you put on a show of sibling rivalry?"
Qiongying glared at Xiao Jinse, then pulled Yue Linghe to sit at Jing Tianxiang's table.
"Luo Qiu is so difficult to deal with, but it seems that Protector Cang has no intention of making a real move..." Jing Tianxiang, who had not participated in the conversation, asked casually while looking down.
"As the saying goes, the Palace Master's command cannot be disobeyed." Qiongying peeled a peanut, broke it open, and used her internal force to shake it out as soon as she saw the red skin. The first peanut fell into her mouth, and the second one turned and shot straight at the porcelain cup in Xiao Jinse's hand.
Xiao Jinse maintained a half-smile, raised her hand to take a sip of wine, and the peanut skimmed the bottom of the cup before heading towards Qionghua.
Qionghua raised her eyebrows, fanned herself with her fan, and without changing her posture, used the wind she generated to change the trajectory of the peanut once again.
The poor peanut tumbled around in mid-air for a while, finally managing to settle down, only to crumble into powder. Because of Qionghua's fan, it was blown to Nangong Ling, who hadn't uttered a sound from beginning to end. He propped his head up with his hand, sipped his tea, glanced at Cang Zhe, and smiled languidly, like a blooming flower. He didn't even move; the peanut hadn't even gotten very close to him before it heroically met its end.
"By the way, Miss Rong, who do you want to fight?" Qiongying asked while continuing to peel peanuts.
"What kind of fight?"
"Aren't you planning to go down and have a match?"
"If I had to compete with every little thing someone says, I'd be exhausted."
Besides, he had already severed his finger, so no one else dared to speak recklessly for the time being. I glanced at Nangong Ling; although I had no evidence, I had a strong feeling that he was the one who had just made the move.
"A nobody? That's Master Tao's prized student from Peach Blossom Valley." Beside Jing Tianxiang was his third junior brother, Lin Qiantu.
"Wasn't Yan Guhong Tao Zhi Qiu's favorite student?" I countered.
"That doesn't count. Yan Guhong is considered a member of Yanwubao. The one who is a formal disciple and capable of performing on stage is Li Qian."
I couldn't help but laugh. This is what they call being able to get on stage? They were disqualified by Nangong Ling before they even got on stage.