Chapter 43

Abi shed tears, and A'Zhu was also staring blankly, her face full of astonishment: "I'm dead? How did I die?"

Wang Yuyan looked at A'Zhu and Abi, and a surge of sympathy welled up in her heart.

Although in the story's ending she didn't marry Murong Fu, whom she'd liked since childhood, at least she married the protagonist, so the ending was still fairly complete.

But what about Abi and A'Zhu?

One accompanied a madman for the rest of her life, and the other actually died!

This made her heart ache with sorrow; she hadn't expected everyone to be so ill-fated.

"A'Zhu, don't panic, he should be getting to your part in a moment."

"Abi, don't be sad either. The book isn't reality. Even if that was your original fate, everything has changed now. Let go — as long as you let go, everything will be fine."

Wang Yuyan wasn't very good at comforting people, but she still offered advice from the bottom of her heart.

"Young Lady, don't worry, A'Zhu isn't that fragile."

"Young Lady, Abi understands. Abi won't cry anymore."

The two women forced a smile.

【Sigh, the more I think about it, the more pitiful it is.】

【If I could only pick one wife from among all the beauties in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, I'd definitely choose Abi — even the most beautiful fairy-like elder sister would have to line up behind her!】

The moment these words were spoken, Wang Yuyan's sympathy for Abi vanished in an instant, replaced by a faint hint of jealousy.

Abi, meanwhile, was at a loss for what to do.

There was awkwardness, but even more, there was the joy of being unexpectedly favored.

She had never imagined that she was merely a minor supporting character in the book, yet in Jiang Sishui's heart she held such a high place.

At this moment, she suddenly understood why her favorability rating was as high as "nine."

"So this is what it feels like to be valued and remembered?"

Abi's slender hand pressed against her burning cheeks, her heart warm, feeling something she had never experienced before.

【Today I saw her too, right beside Wang Yuyan.】

【She was wearing a pale green outfit, just as described in the book — delicate and elegant, gentle as water, as if she had gathered all the spiritual essence of the Jiangnan water towns.】

【Her looks are only an eight, but add twelve points of elegance, and she is no less beautiful than a ten-out-of-ten talent.】

【Huh? Suddenly I feel Abi looks a bit like Axiu!】

【No wonder I like her so much.】

【As for the petite, clever-looking beauty in red beside Wang Yuyan and Abi — could that be A'Zhu?】

【In the original, by this point A'Zhu had already died at Qiao Feng's hands. You can see the plotline is even more jumbled now, so there's not much to reference.】

"A'Zhu-jiejie was beaten to death by Qiao Feng?" Abi exclaimed softly, her face full of disbelief.

How could A'Zhu have been beaten to death by Qiao Feng?

Abi had also heard of the name "Northern Qiao Feng" at Yanziwu; they said he was a heroic man who Values Emotion and Righteousness, with a chivalrous heart.

And A'Zhu was merely a frail woman with no misdeeds to her name — how could Qiao Feng have beaten her to death?

"There must be some misunderstanding in here." As the person involved, A'Zhu calmed down instead, and quickly thought of such a possibility.

"No need to guess, he's already written it out." Wang Yuyan reminded them aloud.

【A'Zhu is the daughter of Duan Zhengchun and Ruan Xingzhu.】

【Back then, Duan Zhengchun went hunting for beauties everywhere. Because of his noble birth, handsome looks, and kingly bearing, plus his sweet words, who knows how many beauties' hearts he captured.】

【But this fellow had no sense of responsibility — he'd get a woman into bed, play around for a while, then pat his butt and leave, continuing to seek his next target.】

【A'Zhu was the child Ruan Xingzhu bore from an unexpected pregnancy.】

【Because Ruan Xingzhu was a lady from a great family, and being pregnant out of wedlock was a major taboo for the clan, she could only secretly give birth to A'Zhu and then send her away.】

【After a series of twists, A'Zhu was adopted by Murong Bo and brought back to Yanziwu.】

【In the Apricot Forest, A'Zhu was won over by Qiao Feng's heroic bearing and fell for him at first sight.】

【Later, after a series of events, the two came to know and love each other.】

【A'Zhu was an extremely clever person, but in the end she also died from being too clever for her own good.】

【During their joint investigation into Qiao Feng's enemy, the two tried to scheme against Kang Min, but were seen through; Kang Min turned their scheme back on them and led them greatly astray.】

【The two mistakenly believed Duan Zhengchun was Qiao Feng's mortal enemy, and went seeking revenge against him.】

【At that time, Duan Zhengchun was searching all over the world for his old lovers, rekindling old flames, and had just arrived at Ruan Xingzhu's place at Little Mirror Lake.】

【The two rushed there, but because of a keepsake A'Zhu had worn since childhood, she accidentally discovered that she was their very daughter.】

【That night, A'Zhu disguised herself as Duan Zhengchun and went to meet Qiao Feng for their life-or-death duel, and was killed by a palm strike from the unwitting Qiao Feng.】

【But the reason A'Zhu was willing to die in Duan Zhengchun's place — the father-daughter relationship was only secondary; the main reason was her fear that if Qiao Feng killed Dali's Zhennan King, the two sides would form an irreconcilable blood feud.】

【And Dali's "Six Meridian Divine Sword" is known as the First Sword Technique of the Demi-Gods — the number one in attack, greatly feared by the world.】

【A'Zhu worried Qiao Feng couldn't match his opponent.】

【What she didn't know was that although the "Six Meridian Divine Sword" is powerful, since its founder Duan Siping, no one in the Dali royal family had ever managed to master it.】

【It was hard enough that Duan Yu finally appeared, but even when he used the "Six Meridian Divine Sword" it worked only intermittently, and his combat experience was trash — Qiao Feng could completely thrash him.】

【So A'Zhu was borrowing trouble; you could say she died an unjust death.】

【On her deathbed, A'Zhu entrusted her younger sister A'Zi to Qiao Feng's care.】

"I'm Duan Zhengchun's illegitimate daughter?" A'Zhu was stunned.

In fact, when Jiang Sishui had previously drawn up a list of beauties from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, claiming half of them had some connection to Duan Zhengchun — either wives, lovers, or illegitimate daughters — A'Zhu had not been without such suspicions.

But in the end she still felt it wasn't very likely.

After all, he was the dignified Zhennan King, while she was merely a maidservant — how could she possibly reach so high?

But now, Jiang Sishui had stated it explicitly: she was Duan Zhengchun's illegitimate daughter!

This made Ah Zhu's head buzz, and she couldn't quite process it.

At once, a wave of bitterness welled up inside her.

So she was not only a bastard daughter who couldn't see the light of day, she was also an abandoned infant!

And her parents had both been so utterly irresponsible.

"You… you're actually my sister." Wang Yuyan suddenly sighed softly.

That sigh was very faint, but since it was the dead of night and there was no other sound, Ah Zhu naturally heard it.

She looked at Wang Yuyan in astonishment: "Cousin Young Lady, you…"

Wang Yuyan tilted her delicate chin slightly: "I asked Mother myself, and she… she admitted it."

Ah Zhu and Ah Bi were greatly shaken.

Didn't this mean that when Li Qingluo married into the Wang family, she had already been six months pregnant?

Then could the reason Li Qingluo married be that she was looking for some sucker to take… over the burden?

But thinking of Li Qingluo's breathtaking beauty and voluptuous figure, it seemed… not entirely unacceptable.

Perhaps Old Master Wang had known all along back then and was merely pretending to be confused.

Of course, these were things they couldn't conveniently say out loud, and could only rot away in their stomachs.

Wang Yuyan and Ah Zhu had the same father but different mothers, and now Wang Yuyan was just over seventeen, about a year older than Ah Zhu, so naturally she was the elder sister.

Suddenly thinking of something, Wang Yuyan and Ah Zhu simultaneously looked at Ah Bi.

Ah Bi, stared at by their burning gazes, grew a little frightened and couldn't help shrinking back: "Wh… why are you both looking at me like that?"

Ah Zhu laughed: "Sister Ah Bi, tell me, could you also possibly be…"

"No! Absolutely not!" Ah Bi cut her off instinctively; she did not want to have such a disgusting father.

Being a philanderer was one thing—there were plenty of men in this world with harems of wives and concubines—but taking a Miss's body and not taking responsibility was utterly revolting.

Although she didn't know her own origins either, and wasn't a hundred percent sure she had nothing to do with Duan Zhengchun, unless the diary spelled it out clearly, she wouldn't acknowledge it.

Wang Yuyan and Ah Zhu exchanged a glance, understood her feelings, and didn't continue teasing her.

Ah Bi suddenly pointed at the diary page and said: "Sister Ah Zhu, look, the diary's owner even said that you were just too clever for your own good. Taking everything for granted ultimately cost you your life."

Ah Zhu heard this and replied with a half-smile: "Are you lecturing and running me down?"

Ah Bi's bravado instantly deflated, and she said in a small voice: "It's the truth anyway, I was just stating facts."

Ah Zhu shot her a look, then sighed: "I never expected it to be like this. He wasn't wrong—I really did die an unjust death."

"He also said you fell in love with Helmsman Qiao Feng. Ah Zhu, will you go looking for Helmsman Qiao Feng?" Wang Yuyan suddenly asked.

Ah Zhu was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then shook her head: "That's just something from the book. He also said the plot of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is completely messed up now, so the original storyline can't be taken as gospel."

"Besides, I've never even met Helmsman Qiao Feng, so what would I go find him for? Even if I found him, would I definitely fall in mutual love with him?"