272: Chapter 52

A few days later, in the garden of Canhe Village.

Meng Li lay sideways on a recliner, using Wang Yuyan's long legs as a pillow, watching A Zi and Mu Wanqing practice Moves.

A Bi and A Zhu sat upright on either side, one peeling grapes, the other fanning.

Since being thoroughly subdued by Meng Li last time, Mu Wanqing's arrogance and aloofness were shattered, and she began to integrate into the group. She no longer practiced Martial Arts alone but was willing to find sparring partners, with A Zi being the most frequent.

Meng Li initially found it strange, but later learned from A Bi that A Zi had once taken advantage of Mu Wanqing verbally during a spar. Only then did he understand and simply laughed it off.

While he laughed it off, Mu Wanqing held a grudge and would seek out A Zi to spar whenever she had the chance.

Today, she sought her out again.

Naturally, Mu Wanqing was no match for A Zi, who had a head start of many years.

As soon as they finished fighting, Mei Jian and Zhu Jian arrived.

Zhu Jian said, "Young Master, we just received a pigeon post. The situation of Zhong Wanqiu's family of three has been investigated thoroughly."

Mu Wanqing's attention was instantly captured.

"How is the situation?" Meng Li casually asked, taking a grape A Bi offered to his mouth.

Mei Jian replied, "Zhong Wanqiu was killed by the Four Evils. Gan Baobao and Zhong Ling survived and are still living in Wanjian Valley."

Mu Wanqing immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Gan Baobao was her Junior Martial Uncle, and also had a very good relationship with her mother.

Zhong Ling also had a good relationship with her.

Therefore, Mu Wanqing cared about these two. Now that she heard they were fine, she immediately felt at ease.

As for Zhong Wanqiu...

Mu Wanqing had very little contact with him. Apart from his connection to Zhong Ling and Gan Baobao, they were practically strangers, so she naturally wouldn't worry about him.

Wang Yuyan, A Bi, and the others had even less reaction.

However, Zhu Jian's next words left them a bit bewildered.

Zhu Jian said with a strange expression, "Besides that, Miss Zhong Ling has been conferred the title of Minxiu County Princess of Dali."

Wang Yuyan and the others: "???"

What's going on?

Zhong Wanqiu, a man suspected of having a deep hatred for the Dali Duan Clan, and his daughter became a Dali County Princess?

This twist completely stumped them.

The group was stunned on the spot, falling into collective silence.

After several seconds, the silence brought on by their collective bewilderment was broken by A Zi.

A Zi scratched her head and said in utter confusion, "If I remember correctly, a County Princess should be the daughter of a Duke, right?"

"Isn't Zhong Ling Zhong Wanqiu's daughter? How did she suddenly become a Dali County Princess?"

"Could it be that Zhong Wanqiu is a Dali Duke?"

After stating this conclusion, she turned her gaze towards Mu Wanqing.

Mu Wanqing shook her head, stating with certainty, "Impossible! Zhong Wanqiu is ugly, and my Junior Martial Uncle Gan Baobao is beautiful. Therefore, Zhong Wanqiu has always felt that marrying my Junior Martial Uncle was an immense blessing, and he has always doted on her greatly. It's no exaggeration to say he was completely obedient to her."

"If Zhong Wanqiu were truly a Dali Duke, he would never hide it from my Junior Martial Uncle."

"Then how did Miss Zhong become a Dali County Princess?" A Bi asked, puzzled.

Mu Wanqing didn't know either, so she didn't answer.

Meng Li lightly coughed twice, hinting, "Is there a possibility that Zhong Ling is not actually Zhong Wanqiu's daughter, but the daughter of Gan Baobao and a certain Dali Duke?"

Wang Yuyan and the others were startled, then all looked at Mei Jian and Zhu Jian.

Mei Jian and Zhu Jian exchanged glances.

Then, Zhu Jian said, "Young Master guessed correctly. That Zhong Ling is indeed the daughter of Gan Baobao and Dali's Town South King, Duan Zhengchun."

Immediately after, Mei Jian further added, "According to rumors, Duan Zhengchun is a philanderer, leaving romantic entanglements everywhere, and Gan Baobao was one of his lovers. Duan Zhengchun's wife is named Dao Baifeng, who comes from the Baiyi Tribe. The Baiyi Tribe advocates monogamy and holds immense power in Dali."

"Therefore, Duan Zhengchun dared not bring Gan Baobao back to the princely manor, nor could he give her a proper status, ultimately having to separate from her."

"After they separated, Gan Baobao became secretly pregnant. To avoid being ostracized by society, she had no choice but to marry Zhong Wanqiu."

"Not long ago, Zhong Wanqiu died, and Zhong Ling's identity became known to the Dali Duan Clan, thus she became a Dali County Princess."

With this explosive revelation, Wang Yuyan, A Bi, and the others were all stunned.

After a long while, Mu Wanqing, who was currently most closely related to this matter on the surface, couldn't help but grit her teeth and curse, "This Duan Zhengchun is truly a scoundrel! He knew he couldn't bring my Junior Martial Uncle back to the princely manor and give her a proper status, yet he still provoked her, and then abandoned her."

"He is truly faithless and ungrateful!"

"My mother was right after all, all men in this world are no good!"

Meng Li: "..."

Curse your father if you must, but don't generalize!

Although I'm indeed not a good person, I am still present.

As Meng Li grumbled inwardly, Wang Yuyan noticed his expression was off and quickly spoke up to defend him, "Cousin is an exception."

A Zi followed, "Exactly, Master Young Master is the best man in the world! As for that Duan Zhengchun..."

She paused briefly, then snorted coldly and began to disparage him, "He can't even keep the women he likes by his side and take care of them. He's simply not worthy of being a man!"

"And he's a Dali Duke!"

"With such a person as Duke, no wonder Dali couldn't even protect its future monarch."

At this point, A Zi suddenly paused, then continued, "That Prince Duan who was captured by the Tubo monk last time, wasn't he Duan Zhengchun's son?"

"Heh, that's right." Mu Wanqing responded with a cold laugh, then said, "Not only can he not take responsibility for the women he likes, he can't even protect his own son. This Duan Zhengchun is utterly incompetent. My Junior Martial Uncle must have been blind back then to have fallen for such a good-for-nothing."

A Zhu also shook her head, "Knowing there would be no outcome, yet he still provoked her, and then abandoned her."

"This Town South King probably only cared about his own pleasure and didn't consider others' future lives. Such conduct is truly shameful."

Wang Yuyan then said, "If the Dali Duan Clan ever takes out their anger on the Murong Family because of Prince Duan's incident and sends people here, we must use this Duke Duan to shame them."

A Bi chuckled, "What if the one who comes is that very Town South King?"

A Zi said, "Then we'll give him a good beating."

Immediately, she stroked her chin and analyzed, "That monk last time defeated a group of people from Tianlong Temple by himself, yet he was far from Master Young Master's opponent. This Duan Zhengchun is a junior of those people from Tianlong Temple, so his Martial Arts must be inferior to theirs. Comparing the two, he might not even be able to defeat me."

"When the time comes, I'll make him kneel and beg for mercy, and make him call me Great-Grandma."

Meng Li: "..."

Rebellion against Heaven!

No, this is outright rebellion!

However, there was something even more ruthless.

Mu Wanqing gritted her teeth and said, "I'll use my sleeve arrows to put a few holes in him and slash him a few times to vent my Junior Martial Uncle's anger."

Meng Li: "..."

Good heavens, such filial piety in the hall!

This 'hall' probably refers to a 'mourning hall'!

Like mother, like daughter. I now understand how your mother, Qin Hongmian, got the title 'Asura Blade'.

...