Chapter 192

In the courtyard!

Jiang Duanchao's face was filled with murderous intent. What did it mean that "your beloved daughter and Lin Chen have a decent relationship"...

What kind of relationship did his own daughter have with Lin Chen? Wasn't it just that she stayed at the Jing Shui Martial Hall for three months?

To put it bluntly, it was just a nodding acquaintance!

"Husband, why are you so angry?"

Zhuang Min saw her husband's angry appearance and was very curious about what exactly was written in the letter sent by the flying bird.

In recent years, her husband's ability to cultivate his temperament had grown, and he rarely got this angry anymore.

"Wife, come and take a look."

"Alright."

Taking the letter from her husband's hand, Zhuang Min lowered her head to look. After finishing the contents of the letter, she looked up and asked in confusion: "There is nothing inappropriate about what Senior Chen entrusted in this letter, is there?"

According to what this Senior Chen said in the letter, he had learned that his daughter and Lin Chen were acquainted and was afraid that Lin Chen would be poached by other Martial Academies, so he wanted his daughter to speak with Lin Chen.

Compared to Senior Chen's entrustment, she was more curious about what Lin Chen had done to make the Canglan Wu Yuan take such an interest, to the point of fearing that Lin Chen would be poached by other academies.

Left his name on Mount Wudao once?

Exemplary Student of the Jiangnan Circuit?

She knew about these two things because when her daughter returned to the prefecture, she had brought back an official document from the Martial Administration Hall and had placed it in a conspicuous spot at home; it would have been hard not to see it.

"This isn't inappropriate? Master Chen is really something. What is said in this letter is clearly... clearly asking Qing'er to go and... to that Lin Chen..."

Jiang Duanchao couldn't continue. Men understood men best; how could he not understand what Master Chen meant between the lines?

Wasn't it just wanting his own daughter to use her charms to seduce Lin Chen into the Canglan Wu Yuan? What did they take his daughter for!

Zhuang Min's pretty face turned cold: "Jiang Duanchao, what are you thinking? Master Chen is only asking our daughter to help say a few good words about the Canglan Wu Yuan. How did it become so sordid when it reached you?"

"It's not that I am sordid, it's that I understand men too well. Wife, let me tell you..."

"Don't tell me!"

Zhuang Min interrupted directly, but added a sentence in her heart: "Go tell your precious daughter."

Your precious daughter has long had certain thoughts. You really thought she had nothing better to do than bring these official documents about Lin Chen back? It wasn't just because she wanted us, her father and mother, to see how outstanding Lin Chen is.

A grown daughter is hard to keep at home; it's just that you, as her father, haven't noticed it.

"Then what? Are you planning to refuse Master Chen?"

"Refuse Master Chen... of course not."

Jiang Duanchao shook his head. Master Chen had taken great care of him at the Wu Yuan back in the day; he could even be called a teacher.

When a teacher has a request, how can a disciple refuse?

"You won't refuse, yet you are here venting your anger. Jiang Duanchao, are you dissatisfied with me and using this opportunity to vent your anger on me?"

"Wife, you've misunderstood. I mean, I will go to Linhu Village with our daughter."

Seeing that his wife was angry, although he knew it was feigned, Jiang Duanchao explained immediately; he couldn't give his wife an excuse, otherwise he would have to eat that damned medicinal soup again.

"What? You don't want to see me that much? You've only been back for a day and you're already thinking about leaving."

"No, wife, you've misunderstood. I have official business to attend to. You've seen the contents of this letter, and I miss you too, wife."

"Is that so?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright then, later when the medicinal soup is stewed in the kitchen, I'll have the steward bring it up to you."

Jiang Duanchao:...

So, was he unable to escape it after all?

"Silly."

Zhuang Min saw her husband's stunned expression, her apricot eyes narrowed slightly, and her brows and eyes revealed a hint of charm...

……

……

"Father, Mother!"

Half an hour later, Jiang Qing, with a rolled-up official document at her waist, shouted loudly as soon as she entered the backyard.

Looking at the empty backyard, Jiang Qing's delicate little face showed confusion. The steward said Father and Mother were in the backyard, so why didn't she see anyone?

"Qing'er, what are you looking for Father for?"

A few breaths later, a voice came from within the arched gate of the backyard. Ten-plus breaths later, Jiang Duanchao walked out from within.

"Father, where is Mother?"

Seeing only her father and not her mother, Jiang Qing was a bit curious. Her gaze peered along the arched gate, but Jiang Duanchao blocked it directly.

"Your mother is in the backyard tending to the flowers and plants; she'll be out in a moment. What is that you're holding in your hand?"

"This is an official document issued by the Martial Administration Hall. I happened to pick it up when I went to the Martial Administration Office just now."

Hearing her father ask about the document in her hand, Jiang Qing's attention was diverted, and she opened the document in her hand: "Father, we have another great piece of news in our Jiangnan Circuit."

"Is that so? Let me see."

Jiang Duanchao reached out, took the document, opened it, and glanced at it; a hint of surprise flashed in the depths of his eyes.

"Left his name on Mount Wudao three times, and even defeated Pei Qingming?"

Jiang Duanchao wasn't surprised by leaving a name on Mount Wudao; he hadn't had time to go leave his name back then because his cultivation realm had improved too quickly, otherwise he believed he would have had no problem leaving his name on Mount Wudao once or twice. What shocked him was that Lin Chen had actually defeated Pei Qingming.

He knew all too well how strong Pei Qingming was.

He was a few years older than Pei Qingming, could be considered of the same generation, and had also crossed hands with Pei Qingming.

It was no exaggeration to say that among the entire Great Liang's younger generation, there were only a handful of people he could take seriously, and Pei Qingming was one of them.

"Father, you used to say that there were only a handful of people in the entire Great Liang that you could take seriously, and this Senior Pei happens to be one of them. Is this Senior Pei very powerful?"

Jiang Qing looked up, her delicate little face full of innocent questions. Pei Qingming's mouth twitched, and just as he was about to answer, a voice came from inside the arched gate: "Your father doesn't just take people seriously; he holds them in high esteem. I just don't know if they hold your father in high esteem."

Inside the arched gate, Zhuang Min's figure walked out, her already beautiful face flushed with a hint of red.

"Mother, what kind of flowers and plants are you tending to? Why is your skirt wrinkled like this?"

Seeing her mother come out, Jiang Qing stared curiously at the wrinkles on her mother's skirt with her big eyes: "Mother, your skirt is stained with green juice."

"Is that so? Mother really didn't notice."

Zhuang Min looked at the green leaf juice staining her skirt hem and gave her husband a resentful look. Jiang Duanchao blushed for a rare moment.

"Pei Qingming is known as the number one genius in the Great Liang since its founding. Your father was only known as the number one genius of the younger generation in the Jiangnan Circuit back then; he's still far behind others."

Hearing her mother's words, Jiang Qing's attention was indeed diverted. Her small red sandalwood lips parted slightly, revealing her white teeth, and she muttered: "Lin Chen is this powerful?"

"This Lin Lin Shidi of yours is indeed powerful, to be able to defeat Pei Qingming. It's no wonder that every Wu Yuan is scrambling to want him."

Zhuang Min understood why the Canglan Wu Yuan had written to her husband. With a youth of such potential, the competition between the Martial Academies would be fierce, and the Canglan Wu Yuan didn't have much of an advantage compared to the other three.

"The Martial Academies are scrambling for Lin Lin Shidi?" Jiang Qing's pretty face showed dimples, her red lips curling upward: "Only Lin Lin Shidi could achieve this."

"Ahem, back then, your father was also scrambled for by various Martial Academies."

Seeing his wife and daughter chatting about another man, Jiang Duanchao felt very uncomfortable: "Back when your father was at the Organ Cultivation stage, all four Martial Academies came."

"Can that be the same? Qing'er, don't be fooled by your father. Back then, the four Martial Academies did come, but they just left after stating their conditions. This time, I fear these four Martial Academies will have to stay in Poyang County and wait until Lin Chen makes his choice before they leave."

As soon as Zhuang Min said this, Jiang Duanchao's face turned black. How could she tear down his own stage in front of their daughter like this?

Could it be that his wife was dissatisfied with him?

But this couldn't be blamed on him; who could have guessed that their daughter would suddenly return.

Jiang Qing caught a glimpse of her father's darkened face out of the corner of her eye, immediately took her father's arm, smiled with dimples, looked at her father with admiration, and blinked her big eyes: "In daughter's heart, Father is the most powerful, no one can compare."

"Hmm." Seeing his daughter's admiring gaze, Jiang Duanchao was completely intoxicated: "That may be so, but this kid Lin Chen is not bad... I mean, his potential is not bad, but in other aspects, he's far behind."

"Father is right, Lin Lin Shidi can't compare to Father at all." Jiang Qing immediately agreed, but then followed up: "Father, which Wu Yuan do you think it's better for Lin Lin Shidi to choose?"

"Which Wu Yuan is better? With the potential he has shown, it's about the same whichever Wu Yuan he goes to; it just depends on which Wu Yuan offers better conditions."

"I see..."

Jiang Qing's face showed a look of contemplation. If it was the same whichever Wu Yuan Lin Lin Shidi went to, could he go to the Canglan Wu Yuan?

"Father, what conditions do you think the Canglan Wu Yuan will offer Lin Lin Shidi?"

"Canglan Wu Yuan? Why are you asking about the Canglan Wu Yuan?"

Jiang Duanchao's expression became vigilant all of a sudden. Zhuang Min, who was on the side, covered her mouth and smiled. Her husband really thought Qing'er admired him; the little girl was trying to extract useful information from him in a roundabout way to provide to Lin Chen for reference.

However, the little girl had miscalculated this time. It wasn't about what conditions the Canglan Wu Yuan would offer Lin Chen, but whether Lin Chen was willing to accept the conditions offered by the Canglan Wu Yuan.

"Daughter is going to the Canglan Wu Yuan, so I wanted to see how much the conditions offered to daughter differ from those offered to Lin Chen."

Jiang Qing blinked her eyes and shook her father's arm again, acting like a spoiled little daughter, but the next moment, another jade hand pulled her away.

"You're a grown woman, still acting spoiled with your father like this."

Zhuang Min pulled her daughter away and took her husband's arm with her left hand, naturally taking her position: "No need to ask your father. The Canglan Wu Yuan will agree to whatever conditions Lin Chen proposes now. Just look at the letter on the table yourself."

"Letter?"

Jiang Qing's gaze fell on the letter on the stone table, and she picked it up to read.

After finishing, Jiang Qing's eyes shone: "Father, the Wu Yuan wants me to be a lobbyist and persuade Lin Lin Shidi to join the Canglan Wu Yuan as well."

"If you don't want to, then..."

"It just so happens that I haven't seen Lin Lin Shidi for a long time."

Jiang Duanchao's mouth twitched, and he felt his heart ache a little. Before he could finish his sentence, his daughter had interrupted him.

"Father, shall we go now?"

"Go back to your room and change your clothes first. Do you intend to go see your Lin Lin Shidi like this?"

Hearing her mother's words, Jiang Qing looked down at the martial attire she was wearing; it did seem a bit inappropriate.

"Then I'll go back to my room and change."

Watching her daughter leave with light steps, Jiang Duanchao was very dissatisfied: "Wife, what do you mean by this? What's wrong with how our daughter is dressed?"

In his view, this outfit was the best.

To go see that kid Lin Chen, did she really need to dress up so grandly?

"Alright, stop worrying so much about Qing'er's affairs. Qing'er has had her own ideas since she was young."

"I'm not worrying; Qing'er is still young, and I'm afraid she'll be deceived by some scoundrel."

Zhuang Min chuckled. "Scoundrel" had even come out. She knew her husband treasured their daughter, but she hadn't expected him to treasure her to this extent.

"When I was Qing'er's age, I was also deceived by a 'scoundrel'. Why didn't my father cut that 'scoundrel' into two pieces back then!"

Mentioning this, Jiang Duanchao blushed for a rare moment: "No... that's different. We were a match made in heaven."

"We were a match made in heaven, and my father was a stubborn old man who wanted to break up a pair of lovebirds, right? Then how is your current behavior any different from my father's?"

Zhuang Min gave her husband a sidelong glance: "It seems all the good things in the world have to be taken by Jiang Duanchao. In any case, don't worry about Qing'er's affairs; let her make her own decisions."

"I..." Jiang Duanchao wanted to refute, but seeing his wife's gaze, he immediately changed his tune: "I'll listen to you, wife."

Anyway, it's me and our daughter going to Linhu Village; what to do is still up to me.

A quarter of an hour later.

Jiang Duanchao couldn't sit still anymore: "Does it take this long for Qing'er to change her clothes?"

"What do you know?"

How could it be as simple as just changing clothes for a girl to see her sweetheart? She would inevitably have to groom and dress up, and apply rouge and powder; it wouldn't be done without half an hour.

Half an hour later, Jiang Qing appeared in the backyard, looking pretty and delicate.

"Father, we can set off now."

"Qing'er, this outfit of yours?"

Jiang Duanchao looked at his daughter's attire, and he was completely stunned.

His daughter had changed into a water-green soft smoke gauze chest-high skirt, her slender neck extending into a swan-like elegant curve, with silver-threaded dark patterns of butterflies playing with begonias embroidered on the hem, moving like rippling waves as she walked, and the white jade pendant at her waist made a clear, tinkling sound with every step.

The plain gauze wide-sleeved shirt worn over it was lifted by the autumn breeze, faintly revealing the lustrous glow of a pair of jade bracelets on her wrists.

The high ponytail she used to wear when practicing martial arts had been replaced by a drooping bun, with a pearl-inlaid hairpin slanted in her raven-colored hair, and the tassels hanging by her ears, making her already translucent earlobes look even more like fresh snow.

A cinnabar flower mark was lightly dotted between her brows, and light red rouge was applied to her lips, yet it couldn't hide the dimples that appeared and disappeared on her cheeks.

Was this still his daughter?

"Girl, your hairpin is inserted incorrectly."

Zhuang Min saw her daughter's attire, and her eyes lit up. She stepped forward: "It should be slanted up a bit more. Mother will help you."

"And this rouge is too deep; it doesn't suit you. You need to change to a different color."

……

Watching his wife and daughter leave again, Jiang Duanchao felt cold.

Heart-cold.

This autumn breeze actually blew until he felt a bit heart-cold.

His daughter had never dressed up like this in front of him, but now, because she was going to see some stinky kid, she dressed up like this. At this moment, he truly had murderous intent, and he had already decided where to bury Lin Chen.

There was a place in Linhu Village called Dog Slope, which was where the village dogs urinated and defecated; it was the most suitable place to bury that kid Lin Chen.

ps: Are there any more monthly tickets?

(End of chapter)