177: Chapter 177 Park Soo-young, who accepts her fate, and her daughter, who refuses to accept it.
Piao Xiuying's understanding of these thirteen individuals came primarily from Chen Qi's evaluations of them; she had never personally interacted with them before.
Now that she had to place her bets, she wanted to talk to these thirteen people personally to get a sense of their true capabilities and decide whom to back.
However, meeting them today proved that their reputation far exceeded the reality.
Thirteen people were actually having an internal conflict over a ranking. Could they not see that someone was deliberately trying to sow discord?
No wonder Chen Qi said none of them would amount to anything. The reason he wanted their help to kill Yun Zhuo was merely to use them to exhaust Yun Zhuo's Luck and combat power.
Simply put, these people were just cannon fodder he had recruited.
Now he was picking a "king of cannon fodder" from among these thirteen, intending to squeeze every last bit of value out of them.
He had chosen Du Mingxing because the Du Family was the only first-rate Family among these thirteen families, possessing the greatest strength. At the same time, they were a vassal Family to the Chen Family.
In the future, when he competed for the position of Family head, this would very likely come in handy.
He had spread the word that whoever could kill Yun Zhuo would be given the three of them—the mother and her two daughters.
In reality, it was a way to control the other party through the three of them.
The reason he called it a "gift" and even provided their deeds of sale was to make it look like a genuine transaction.
It was merely a superficial separation, turning the three of them from public figures into his hidden pawns.
In other words, from start to finish, he never had any intention of letting the mother and her daughters go.
He was a ruthless man with deep schemes. It was only this morning that Piao Xiuying finally understood the intent behind the words he spoke yesterday.
Besides her shock, she couldn't help but reflect that there was a reason the Twelve Families could control the Federation. If even a mere second son had such a meticulous mind, the others were surely even more formidable.
Piao Xiuying, who hadn't wanted to accept her fate yesterday and had hoped to completely escape Chen Qi, had now fully resigned herself to it.
From the moment he laid eyes on her daughter during the Youth Tournament livestream, her fate—and that of the entire Cui Family—had already been sealed.
The only thing she couldn't understand was why he had taken an interest in both of her daughters.
In the Youth Tournament, there were plenty of girls prettier and more capable than Shuxian and Shuyan. Why did he specifically choose the two of them?
None of that seemed to matter now. Since Chen Qi had chosen Du Mingxing, she had no choice but to choose Du Mingxing as well.
Besides, to her, there was no real difference between any of these thirteen trash who could fall into infighting over a ranking. The only difference lay in the families backing them.
And the Du Family was the strongest.
The so-called networking event ended on a sour note due to the Thirteen Protectors' dissatisfaction with the rankings.
The reason they had come was simply to "inspect the goods."
Young Master Chen had said that whoever killed Yun Zhuo this time would be given these three War Princesses of his.
Now that they had seen them, the mother still retained her charm, and the two daughters were young and beautiful. What was even rarer was that the daughters were actually twins.
Though they weren't as identical as those related to Teacher Su, at first glance, it was still difficult to tell them apart.
Now that the goods had been inspected, the Thirteen Protectors were all satisfied. Next, it would be a matter of each person's own ability.
"Mom, are you really going to choose that Du Mingxing?"
On the way back, Cui Shuxian looked like she wanted to say something but held back. When Piao Xiuying looked over, she turned her head toward the shade of the trees.
The cool breeze made the leaves rustle, and the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves created spots of light on the ground. As the tree canopy swayed, they moved across the grass like a school of fish.
"Do you have a different opinion? Or is there someone else you've taken a fancy to?"
Piao Xiuying asked her daughter softly.
"I just think that guy named Gong Lei is quite handsome."
Her younger sister, Cui Shuyan, nodded. "I also think he's the most handsome among the Thirteen Protectors. Mom, since Young Master Chen is letting us choose for ourselves, why don't we pick a handsome one?"
"Let's sit here for a while."
Piao Xiuying led her two daughters to a bench in the woods and sat down. "Actually, Young Master Chen didn't let us choose at all. He has already designated Du Mingxing. Do you two still not understand?"
"Why would he give us to Du Mingxing? That kid isn't even as tall as Gong Lei's waist when he stands up, and he has such a lecherous gaze. Anyone who didn't know better would think he's some bumpkin from the middle of nowhere."
"Plus, he already has a War Princess named Wu Wanyi," the younger sister added. "I heard she's his fiancée, and they're getting engaged after the exams are over.
I also heard from Wu Huan that Wu Wanyi is a Young Miss from a tycoon Family.
Now that Dad is gone, Grandpa doesn't like us, and our uncles don't care about us, there's no way we could be a match for her based on our strength alone."
"Young Master Chen will help us."
As soon as Piao Xiuying finished speaking, Cui Shuxian became angry.
Young Master Chen, Young Master Chen—why was it always Young Master Chen? What was so good about him?
She was the department beauty of Haner Martial Arts University, a favored daughter of heaven with a bright future ahead of her.
If it wasn't for that man surnamed Chen, how could she have ended up like this?
"Why is it..." The agitated Cui Shuxian started to say, then had to lower her voice. "Why is it Young Master Chen again?"
Piao Xiuying knew that if she didn't explain the situation clearly to the two sisters today and make them understand their current predicament and position,
with their spoiled upbringings, they would eventually ruin Young Master Chen's grand plans. When that happened, they wouldn't even know how they died.
So, she explained everything from why the Youth Tournament was held in Jianmu City, how their father ended up with unpayable high-interest loans, why they had come to the Imperial Capital, and how they were bought by Young Master Chen.
Up to why Young Master Chen had chosen the Du Family and his entire plan, she explained it all clearly to her two daughters.
After hearing this, the two daughters were silent for a long time before they managed to recover.
"Mom, are you saying this was a conspiracy from the very beginning?" Cui Shuxian suddenly looked up and asked.
"Yes. From the start, I told you not to participate in the Youth Tournament, but you wouldn't listen. However..."
"However, what?" Cui Shuxian suddenly interrupted her. "Are you going to say that all of this is my and my sister's fault? That it's because we didn't listen that our Family was destroyed?"
Cui Shuyan also looked up. "Since you parents knew, why didn't you tell us plainly back then? If you had explained things to us then like you are now, would my sister and I have still entered the competition?"
"Do you two have any idea what you're saying?"
Piao Xiuying looked at the two of them with shock and anger.
"Of course we know. If you had told us plainly back then, none of this would have happened. Yonghao already promised me that he would marry me as soon as we graduated.
Do you know? He promised to marry me!
But now everything is gone, and we're being manipulated like puppets.
You and Dad bear an inescapable responsibility for all of this."
Piao Xiuying frowned and stared at her two daughters. "If your father and I had told you then, wouldn't you have immediately gone to tell Yonghao? And wouldn't you, Shuxian, have immediately gone to tell Mingzhe?"
"Is there a problem with that? They are our War Spirit Masters. Shouldn't we have told them immediately?"
"Then did you know that if you had, word would have quickly spread through the school? Once it affected the Youth Tournament, the three of us wouldn't even have had the chance to be sold—we would have all been executed by Piao Dongxi!
And it would have dragged down the entire Cui Family, instead of just the three of us being sold as it is now."
"How is that possible?"
"Nothing is impossible. There have already been precedents, you just didn't know about them."
"Then why do you dare to say it now?"