Zhong Lin was somewhat nervous. Ever since the Zhong family"s decline, she had dedicated herself to cultivation. She went out adventuring as a way to hone herself! After all, a family thrived by either entering the ranks of the government or by producing an expert, especially a Connate realm expert! A Connate intent realm expert was sufficient to make a family clan thrive for a hundred years.
She acquainted herself with Meng Huan and Tantai Yun when she was out adventuring in Sovereign Capital.
Meng Huan was truly very pure and innocent! Even after witnessing the various sordid ongoings happening in Sovereign Capital, he kept his forthright and innocent heart while abhorring evil. Zhong Lin was gradually attracted to Meng Huan for those qualities.
"Both Earth roll experts address him as young lord." Zhong Lin could not help but remain nervous at that moment.
Swoosh.
Zhong Lin landed in a manor compound with Qin Yun, Meng Huan, and company.
"Is this Xiao Huan"s home?" Zhong Lin was still acting cautiously but the Meng household quickly plunged into chaos. All these years, Qin Yun and Gong Yan"er were most concerned about Meng Huan even though they themselves lacked a close relations.h.i.+p. Now, with Meng Huan injured and vomiting blood, the entire Meng household was burning with anxiety.
Dong Wan, Liu Qingsha, and the other elite disciples sent by the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect were furious when they learned of the matter.
Meng Huan was bullied and attacked? Meng Huan was such a harmless man and he did not act in any way like a foppish son of an important father. It was already impressive that Meng Huan did not bully others due to his background. Instead, he was the one being bullied?
"Lockheaven Sword Dong Wan! He"s ranked on the Earth roll! That"s Liu Qingsha, ranked on the Man roll. And that"s Chu Yunhe from the Man roll…" Zhong Lin stood to the side watching everything. "They are all from the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect. They address Xiao Huan"s father as master and elder?"
Zhong Lin"s heart palpitated.
She now had a vague guess.
"Huan"er! Huan"er!" Gong Yan"er ran over anxiously. "How"s Huan"er? Yiqiu, who injured Huan"er? Who was it?"
"Don"t panic. It"s fine," said Qin Yun immediately.
"Yiqiu?"
Zhong Lin"s guess was confirmed.
First on the G.o.d roll!
He had sliced open the void fifteen years ago! He was publicly recognized as an existence that could shatter the void and ascend as legends spoke of—Frost Sword Meng Yiqiu!
"This is the number one beauty in the world, Fairy Crabapple Gong Yan"er?" Zhong Lin also looked with awe at Gong Yan"er, who was still at the twelfth stage of the Qi Refinement realm. She had not stepped into the Connate realm. She already had wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. Despite cultivating and consuming all sorts of treasured herbs, she still looked like a beautiful woman in her thirties. However, she was the only woman of the legendary Frost Sword Meng Yiqiu!
Therefore, she was recognized as the number one beauty in the world!
"Xiao Huan is Frost Sword Meng Yiqiu and Gong Yan"er"s son?" Zhong Lin fell into a trance, and there was even a hint of an inferiority complex.
…
A hole was pierced through the heavens!
News of a scuffle involving Meng Yiqiu"s son at Cloud Gathering Restaurant swept through the upper echelons of the Sovereign Capital"s elite like a tsunami!
In fact, Meng Huan was the person with the strongest backer among all the young elites of Sovereign Capital! However, he kept a low profile and, with Qin Yun protecting him well, there was almost no news of Meng Huan in the outside world! Even those that were capable of obtaining that information did not spread it for fear of offending Qin Yun. Therefore, Meng Huan"s existence was only known by very few family clans. As for his looks and personality, they were complete unknowns.
"Fools! Fools! Fools!"
King Chu, Li Cheng, was awoken late that night. He broke out into a cold sweat when he heard the news. He angrily berated the old eunuch to the side. "That fool Ouyang Quan deserves death. He truly deserves death."
"Your Majesty, what should we do now?" asked the old eunuch.
"Strip Ouyang Quan of all his positions. As for the rest of his punishment, ignore it. Let the Meng family and the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect deal with him. Also, invite Elder Dong Wan here tomorrow. I would like to have a chat with him," instructed Li Cheng. Qin Yun might not even entertain him even if he attempted to seek an audience with Qin Yun. So typically, the king would go through Dong Wan to offer his goodwill towards the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect. Dong Wan also held a very high status in the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect. Among the Connate realm members of the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect, only the sect master Zuo Tang and Dong Wan were ranked on the Earth roll!
As for the Saber and Sword Duo and others, a total of five, that were on the Earth roll, they chose to follow Qin Yun either for cultivation reasons or for revenge! They also became Guest Elders of the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect.
"Yes," responded the old eunuch.
"Also, you mentioned a woman named Zhong Lin that accompanied Young Master Meng Huan. She"s Zhong Wanhai"s daughter?" asked Li Cheng. "Let"s do this. Immediately send someone to Peifang and summon Zhong Wanhai to quickly come to Sovereign Capital."
"Yes, I will immediately pa.s.s the order," said the old eunuch respectfully. Following that, he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Your Majesty, what about Consort Ouyang?"
Li Cheng frowned and waved his hand, "Banish her to the Cold Palace."
…
When Tantai Yun returned home, she recounted all that had happened to her father, Tantai Chuan.
"Father, it was all my fault. I caused such huge trouble." Tantai Yun was also feeling afraid at the moment.
Tantai Chuan stood there with squinted eyes as his mind raced in contemplation.
He had slowly forged a path for himself, crawling out from the ranks of poverty in Sovereign Capital. He truly started from the lowest ranks before building ties with gangs. As he was talented in cultivation, his gang grew stronger. He also managed to reach the Connate intent realm! The Nine Chuan Gang he established was also ranked in the top three in Sovereign Capital. With a sufficiently large gang, he could naturally go even higher! Therefore, he had arranged to marry his daughter into the Ouyang family.
The Ouyang family also saw that the Tantai family had both men and money, so they agreed to the marriage.
"My Tantai family might be finished, but it can also use this opportunity to skyrocket!" Tantai Chuan narrowed his eyes. For him to climb up from the lowest ranks, he was naturally a sly old fox. "Compared to the legendary number one on the G.o.d roll, the Ouyang family is nothing!"
"My dear daughter." Tantai Chuan smiled at his daughter.
"Father." Tantai Yun was nervous, for she was also afraid of her father.
"This is all my fault," said Tantai Chuan. "There"s no need to talk about your marriage with the Ouyang family anymore. They are doomed! I have to think of a way to see if there"s still chance between you and that Young Master Meng."
When Tantai Yun heard that, she could not help but ask, "Father, is it still possible?"
"Didn"t you say that the both of you had a very deep relations.h.i.+p?" Tantai Chuan pondered. "Alright, you are not to leave the family compound without my permission from now on. Leave everything else to me."
"Yes." Tantai Yun nodded obediently.
In fact, she was accustomed to following her father"s arrangements. He had instructed her to marry a young master of the Ouyang family and she agreed to it after finding his explanation reasonable!
Now, her father was thinking of a means to bring her and Meng Huan together. She quickly accepted this decision as well.
"Go and have a rest for now," instructed Tantai Chuan.
"Yes, Father." Tantai Yun took her leave.
As Tantai Chuan looked at his daughter"s departing figure, he frowned. "This matter is a slap in the Meng family"s face. Meng Yiqiu will definitely not permit his son to take my daughter as his wife. At best, she will be a concubine! I have to think of a good solution… Being a concubine is good too."
…
Not only did King Chu immediately summon Zhong Wanhai to Sovereign Capital, even the powerful family clans who were up-to-date on the news immediately began helping the Zhong family. As a result, the Zhong family quickly found itself in a state of prosperity.
In comparison… the Ouyang family suffered being kicked by everyone while it was down! Those who had a feud with the Ouyang family took the opportunity to seek revenge. Third Lord Gong also executed Qin Yun"s order with full force and "dealt" with the Ouyang family.
******
Qin Yun ignored all that happened outside.
He was more concerned with his son"s condition.
Meng Huan"s first, inchoate love ended up a joke despite it lasting three years. That struck a huge blow to Meng Huan. However, with his parents" concern and Zhong Lin"s companions.h.i.+p, Meng Huan"s state of mind gradually normalized. He wasn"t foolish. He had noticed the feelings Sister Zhong had for him for the past year or more. However, all his thoughts were on Tantai Yun. He even felt that having two women was being overly unfaithful. It was disrespectful to both his female confidants!
But now, Meng Huan"s heart was gradually aligning with Zhong Lin.
And yet, he could not help but investigate everything regarding Tantai Yun through the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect"s connections.
"What? She was forced to marry the Ouyang family by her father?"
"She"s now awash with tears at home?"
When Meng Huan heard the news, he could not help but feel conflicted.
…
"This kid." Qin Yun knew everything but he did not mind. "Since he has mostly recovered from his injuries, I should leave the affairs of his heart to him. It can be considered as a way of honing him."
He would stand to the side and watch the setbacks and frustrations of his son"s maturing process, allowing his son to freely experience them.
Only if it endangered his son"s life, or any other special matters occurred, would he take action!
Qin Yun also felt easy now that his son"s injuries had recovered.
He continued dedicating himself to his cultivation. The nascent Sword Dao continued forming as it became more complete.
On the sixth day of August.
The autumn wind was blowing, sending ripples across the lake"s surface.
Qin Yun sat cross-legged by the lake. His mind felt empty as his Sword Dao gradually became clearer.
"Dong Wan, pa.s.s my order. From this day forth, no one is permitted to enter the back garden. Unless there"s something life-threatening, I am not to be disturbed," instructed Qin Yun with a voice transmission.
"Yes, Elder."
Dong Wan, who was teaching his daughter swordplay, was alarmed when he heard the order. He immediately rushed to the back garden to implement the order.
The back garden of Meng Manor quickly became a forbidden ground. Everyone, including Gong Yan"er and Meng Huan, was forbidden entry.