Chapter 10: Burning one's money to pay other's debt.
Luo Zheng sighed alone in the spacious hall and thought about the abandoned daughter of his. The day he throws the little girl to the Leaf Courtyard, he doesn't feel even a tiny bit guiltiness. His other children were all beautiful and handsome, talented and smart but that girl not only doesn't have any talent, she is also a coward, ugly and stupid.
The reason he punished her mother severely was because of her.
She is a symbolic of shame and failure to him so he could never brings himself to love that girl and no matter how the girl plead when she was alive, he shows indifference. Even when the girl died, he only felt ashamed to have to attend the funeral service. He doesn't feel sad at all.
Toward his second daughter, he used to dote on her when she was small but when she grow up, the girl is getting more and more rebellious. She also has sharp tongue and bad manner toward his elders. Even though she is the most talented among his other children, he couldn't bring himself to dote on her like he did when she was younger.
He wanted to show her that he is the father and she is his child no matter what. As his child, she has to listen to him!
He narrowed his eyes and a glint of hostile flashed across his eyes.
On the other side of Flame Cloud Courtyard, Han Xia Yu yawned as she leaned to the wall on while sitting on her bed.
After rewarding the guards with a bag of silver taels for finishing what she told them to do, she held a book and memorized the notes inside. Afterward, she took a pill of regulating qi and cultivated in lotus position.
She wanted to be stronger, more powerful, more domineering so that no one will be able to trample on her. Stronger than ever, stronger than anyone else and even stronger than what Luo Qing Qing will be so that she will definitely be able to protect the girl this time.
Suddenly, she heard a thud noise from the window beside her bed. She tried to ignore it but the it sounded again the second time as if someone threw a stone to her window. She opened the window and was surprised when she saw an old man crouching on the ground.
"Yu Er, since when are you warm to Qing Er?"
"Grandpa Sheng..." Han Xia Yu recognized this man with her memory.
Luo Xia Yu has never been warm to anyone except for her maternal grandpa and this elder, grandpa Sheng who is her maternal grandpa's close friend. Han Xia Yu wouldn't have remember him if he didn't show himself.
"Come out, let's go to my courtyard and drink some tea." Wu Sheng smiled and stood.
It was a habit for this old man to bring Luo Xia Yu out during the night to drink some tea. He said that it's good to relax the nerve especially when one is angry.
Han Xia Yu wears another layer of black robe before she took the white fox cloak and just followed him without saying anything. She doesn't know how to react with the people that the previous host is close with.
She has been frank ever since she entered this world and decided to be frank again if this elder ask her anything.
Autumn Courtyard is the biggest among the other courtyard. The one that stayed in this courtyard is only this elder Wu Sheng and his cousin nephew and grandniece. His cousin nephew is her cousin paternal uncle, Wu Die Yi older than her by seven years old while the grandniece is the same age cousin as her, Wu Yi Xue.
Their parents are among the people that failed when they tried to enter the middle realm. Wu Sheng took care of them ever since they became orphan.
Although Luo Xia Yu rarely met with the two, she is warm to them because they are people of the same mold as her. Always focus on getting stronger than meddling with the people. In short term, they are all muscle brain. Even the cute Wu Yi Xue is muscle brain, cultivation maniac.
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"Yu Er, if you had told me about Qing Er... I would have not entered the seclusion." Wu Sheng lamented as he handed a hot cup of fragrance flower tea.
"Grandpa Wu Sheng, if one meant to die on that day... no matter what we do, they will still die. If she is not meant to die, when I arrived, I would have been able to detoxify the poison but I can't because it's not something I have ever seen." Han Xia Yu paused and continues a beat later. "The one at fault is not the one that cannot prevent the death but the one that caused the death."
Her statement, Wu Sheng understood it very well. The girl's death was not accidental but was done on purpose.
"Do you know who the culprit is?" Wu Sheng inquired because the girl's face showed that she knew something.
"I know but, I don't have enough evidence." Han Xia Yu gripped the cup as she muttered.
"Who is it?"
Han Xia Yu turned to face him and smiled. "... It is better if grandpa doesn't know."
Wu Sheng massaged his beard before nodding lightly.
"Alright if you say so. I wonder what cultivation stage you has entered now?" He glanced to the girl that has a grin on her face.
The girl in black robe with white cloak on her back quickly exuded her qi for him to guess.
"Oh!! Martial Emperor!" Wu Sheng exclaimed in joy.
"Mid stage Martial Emperor." Han Xia Yu proudly tells him.
"Good, good! Old Wei Chen would have his jaws dropped if he knows this." Wu Sheng laughed out loud and patted Han Xia Yu's head.
Old Wei Chen is her maternal grandfather. People said that he died in the war and there's even his body in the grave but Elder Wu Sheng refused to believe it. He even told Luo Xia Yu not to believe what people said because her grandfather is harder to die than the cockroach.
Luo Xia Yu was still a child and was crying when she is at her grandfather's funeral but she immediately stop crying and become annoyed instead when this old man compares her grandfather to a bug. Ever since then, Luo Xia Yu was taken care of by Wu Sheng similarly to how he treated his nephew and grandniece.
Han Xia Yu had the urge to kick this old man in his stomach because she hated it when people pat her head however she held back by gripping her fist tightly.
Later, she found out that Wu Sheng is at the same cultivation stage as her shifu which made her glad that she didn't attack him. This old man has never been good at holding back when sparring even when she was a child.
After confirming that Xia Yu was doing just fine, Wu Sheng let the girl has a good rest in her own courtyard.
On the other side in the imperial palace, Empress Dowager's grandniece, Baili Mingxiang wailed in front of her maternal grandmother, Baili Huifang the Empress Dowager.
"Grandmother~ Cousin Liufeng ignored me again! I even said that I will win the upcoming martial competition but he only glanced at me coldly."
"Aiya, this child... Don't trouble your grandmother for something like this." Qian Ning pull Baili Mingxiang's hand and patted it as she stopped the girl.
Baili Mingxiang pouted almost immediately. Her mother always stopped her from complaining to the grandmother.
Baili Huifang smiled dotingly before she told the Qian Ning that it's fine.
She doted on Baili Mingxiang so much because the girl is sensible, cute and talented. Her first grandson, Chen Liufeng is also similar to his father. They are born to be above others. Baili Huifang wanted to pair Baili Mingxiang to Chen Liufeng but the boy insisted that he already has fiancé.
Who didn't know that his fiancé is useless and ugly? Anyone will reject the idea of having a useless and ugly person as their empress. Now, that Luo Qing Qing has died, Baili Huifang sent her grandniece to spend more time with her grandson but he still show no response.
"Xiao Ming, come here. Let me take a closer look at your face." Baili Huifang said as she waved her hand motioning the girl to come.
"Grandmother~~" Baili Mingxiang knew that her grandmother doted on her so she quickly went and sat by her side.
At first, she only got close to Chen Liufeng because of her grandmother's order but she gradually realized that the older cousin is cool and fell in love with him. However, the older cousin shows no response to her even after seven years she put effort to please him.
"Xiao Ming, when pleasing another gender, you must learn how to push and pull. You have to be aggressive and back down when the time is right."
"This granddaughter doesn't understand. Grandmother please enlightens me." Baili Mingxiang eyes brightened up when her grandmother teach her something.
"That child, Liufeng will be lonely when you are not around. Just be persistent with him for few more days and disappear from his line of sight for a while. Grandmother will handle everything else." Baili Huifang smiled as she patted the girl's hand.
"Grandmother is the best! This granddaughter will naturally listen to you." Her eyes curved as she grinned.
Qian Ning sighed softly as she watched her daughter and mother-in-law plot to take man's heart. Although she was not satisfied, her daughter and mother-in-law wouldn't listen to her or her husband. Therefore, she couldn't do anything.