Everyone was shocked.

Li Kun looked like his soul had left his body. How could it be him? If it was some guy he had never met, he could've tolerated it. But he knew Qin Huang, the guy was rotten to his bones. The last time they heard about him, he had even brought a prostitute on board. How could such a guy be worthy of someone like Su Rong?

Mu Chen was also surprised. Why Qin Huang? There should be many other suitable candidates. What was going on in the Su Family? Mu Chen regretted it a little. Maybe he should've let Su He go and question his father after all?

"Family's interests must have been involved. Maybe the Qin Family offered them something they couldn't refuse?" Liu Fengying said. "But that doesn't matter. How do we get Sister Rong out of this mess?"

"B-but didn't Su Rong agree?" Li Kun stammered. If Su Rong didn't oppose the wedding, there was not much they could do.

"That's only because of her sense of responsibility. Even if she doesn't want to marry Qin Huang, she won't go against the family's wishes." Liu Fengying snorted, "But she may have agreed, we can't—Qin Huang is too close to Mu Changshou."

The atmosphere became tense once Mu Changshou's name was brought up. Other than Su He, everyone present knew about the enmity between him and Mu Chen. Only, since they arrived in the city, they hadn't heard of him and had no idea what he was up to.

Mu Chen rubbed his forehead. "Did they decide on a date?"

"There is no fixed date, but it should be after we return from the secret realm," Liu Fengying said. "But Su Rong's Father has asked her to travel with Qin Huang to foster feelings."

"F-foster feelings?" Li Kun groaned. He had been looking for an opportunity to get close to Su Rong, but without any success. Thinking about Qin Huang and Su Rong being lovey-dovey together, Li Kun felt his blood boiling. "W-what do we do?"

"What else?" Mu Chen patted Li Kun's shoulder and looked at him sternly. "For the sake of greater good, we can only make a sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?" Li Kun said.

"We will lead Qin Huang away from Su Rong, so you can be with Su Rong instead." Mu Chen narrowed his eyes. "During this time in the secret realm, you must win Su Rong's heart," Mu Chen said and then looked at Liu Fengying.

"I will tell the girls," Liu Fengying said. "There won't be any trouble from our side. But it will depend on Brother Li's ability."

"But wouldn't this turn the Qin Family and the Su Family against us?" Li Kun still hadn't lost his rationality.

"Even if we don't do this, the Su Family and Qin Family might end up standing opposite us," Mu Chen said. It was just a vague hunch he had, but with Mu Changshou's involvement, he didn't think it would be long before both families turned against them. "So don't worry about other things."

"R-really?" Li Kun was stunned for a moment. He looked in the direction where Su Rong was and clenched his fist.

"There's still one issue," Liu Fengying said. "We don't know what the two families have agreed upon."

"Don't worry about that," Mu Chen smirked. "We got an inside man."

"Who?" Everyone was surprised for a moment, then their eyes turned to Su He who was sleeping on the couch.

Mu Chen walked forward and kicked Su He. "Stop pretending to be asleep."

Su He jumped from the couch and dodged Mu Chen's kick. "Brother Chen, how did you know?" He had woken up a few minutes earlier, but he had been quietly listening to their dialogue.

"Nevermind that." Mu Chen said, "Didn't you wish for a brother-in-law?" He dragged Li Kun in front of Su He. "What do you think of Li Kun?"

"Brother Chen, we just met a few days ago," Su He said. "How can I decide in such a short time?"

"Then do you know Qin Huang well?" Mu Chen said.

"I'm not too familiar with him. But I've heard some not-so-good rumors about him," Su He said. "I don't want him to be my brother-in-law either."

"That's enough. Even if you don't help Li Kun, you can still help us investigate the situation."

"Leave it up to me," Su He said. "Even if he is my father, I won't let him marry Elder Sis to some scum."

Su He stormed off to meet his father.

"So troublesome," Zhou Mei muttered looking at Su He's retreating figure. "Can't we just kill Qin Huang?"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Black lines covered Mu Chen's forehead and everyone else had weird expressions. This girl was getting more and more bloodthirsty.

"Not everything has to be solved by killing," Mu Chen said. Not that he hadn't thought of it, but killing someone was the most barbaric solution. It could easily backfire. It was best left as the last resort. Besides, although Qin Huang was close to Mu Changshou, he hadn't done anything to harm them yet. Killing him would just turn the Qin Family against them. Worse if the marriage was part of some deal between the two families, killing Qin Huang won't solve the issue.

Zhou Mei looked unconvinced, but grudgingly accepted Mu Chen's explanation.

"We will go back," Liu Fengying said. "There isn't much time left. You guys should complete the final preparations for entering the realm." With that, she pulled Zhou Mei along with her.

"Let's go," Mu Chen said. "There is no point in loitering around here."

Li Kun sighed and followed Mu Chen and Xia Ping. But they had just come out of Su Rong's villa, they ran into Su He who had just returned.

"So soon?" Mu Chen said. He thought Su He would spend at least a few hours arguing with his father.

Su He let out a breath of air like a deflated balloon. "Father's gone somewhere. I couldn't meet him."

"Since he is not here, we can only try later," Mu Chen said.

"I will go see my sister," Su He said. "I still want to hear everything from her in person."

Su He went inside the villa.

Mu Chen saw Li Kun hesitating. "Do you want to go in too?"

"Will it make any difference?" Li Kun asked. His and Su Rong's relationship wasn't that close or he wouldn't have been hesitating so much.

Mu Chen patted on Li Kun's back. "Cheer up. The situation is not yet desperate. Let's go meet someone. Maybe he can help."

"Who?"

"Follow me," Mu Chen said.

The three of them left the Su Family. Mu Chen picked a direction and began walking. Li Kun and Xia Ping were confused for a bit but upon realizing the direction, they got an idea. But this only made them even more confused.

"Can Old Shi help?" Li Kun asked with a frown. "He has been staying in the city for several years doing shady work for his boss. He should know a lot about the affairs of the noble families?"

"That's true," Mu Chen said. "But we aren't here to meet Old Shi."

"Who are we going to see then?"

"You will see."

The three of them arrived in front of Old Shi's house. Old Shi's house that had previously been out of repair, now looked brand new. The fence had been repaired. Several powerful formations had been laid surrounding the house. There was a pair of guards standing on each side. Seeing them, Li Kun and Xia Ping almost stumbled.

"W-what happened here? Where is Old Shi?" Just when Li Kun thought the day couldn't get any worse, he was faced with such a scene.

Su Family's personnel couldn't have stayed forever. When no one came looking for Old Shi, they left after watching for a day. Li Kun and Xia Ping also had to check on their sect members. They thought the spiritual vein was secret enough, and since Old Shi had recovered, they didn't worry too much. But they had just gone for a few days, someone had taken over their spiritual vein.

"Ah, Brother Chen. Our sp―"

"Sssh!" Mu Chen blocked Xia Ping's mouth. "Quiet."

Li Kun saw this and his expression relaxed. "Brother Chen, did you arrange this?"

"I thought this place looked a bit gloomy. So I asked someone to fix it," Mu Chen said.

"Who?" Li Kun said. "Is it the Su Family?"

"If the Su Family knew there was a spiritual vein here, they might have made you their son-in-law already," Mu Chen said. "Hmm, that's not a bad idea. If everything else fails, we will just offer the vein in dowry. I am sure they will give it a second thought."

Li Kun was elated for a moment but then his face fell. "Brother Chen, it's not worth it."

Mu Chen looked at Li Kun's depressed mood and shook his head.

The three of them passed the gate. The guards standing didn't stop them, having already received instructions. When they entered the hall, someone was waiting for them.

Li Kun and Xia Ping saw a familiar figure and froze.

Ming Ren was standing at the center of the hall, straight and tall, with his hands folded behind his back. He wore an elegant robe made of white silk, which looked regal. A curved smile hung on his mouth as he looked at them.

"Ahem!" Ming Ren cleared his throat. "Brother Kun, Brother Ping. How―Oww!"

Li Kun had jumped on Ming Ren and tackled him to the ground, and began to pummel him. "Bastard, where did you run off to?"

"Brother Kun, listen to me―"

"Listen your sister." Li Kun punched a few more times, not giving Ming Ren any chance to speak. "Xia Ping, what are you standing there for?"

Xia Ping hesitated for a bit, then joined in the scuffle.

Mu Chen stood by the side and grinned without any intention of interfering.

At first, Ming Ren took the beatings passively, unable to fight back. When Xia Ping joined in, his situation became even more difficult as he could block punches of just one of them. Ming Ren realized he could not just take the beatings and finally began to retaliate.

The three of them tangled with each other for fifteen minutes, before separating due to exhaustion. The three of them sprawled on the ground, panting heavily as sweat dropped from their forehead.

Seeing they had stopped fighting, Mu Chen came next to Ming Ren. Ming Ren's robes had all crumpled, no longer elegant. His hair was disheveled. One of his eyes was black, and his face was all bruised. Mu Chen was certain he had never seen a more pitiful prince.

Mu Chen chuckled and helped Ming Ren stand up.

"Brother Chen, did you come to watch the fun?" Ming Ren looked at Mu Chen's wide grin and complained.

"Who asked you to be so pretentious?" Mu Chen said and helped Xia Ping and Li Kun stand up. Their situation wasn't much different from Ming Ren.

Li Kun looked refreshed. His former gloom had been dispelled by a lot. He desperately needed a target to vent. Ming Ren just happened to be the unlucky one.

"Brother Chen, Brother Ping." Ming Ren faced the two of them. "I have something to confess. The reason you got into trouble, it's related to me."

"I knew it!" Li Kun slapped his thigh. "I was wondering why we got into trouble even when we didn't know anyone here."

"Ah! Brother Ren, did you offend someone powerful?" Xia Ping said, "Is it safe for you to be here in the open?"

"This bastard," Li Kun said. "He couldn't get to you directly, so he decided to start with us?"

"This guy is really nasty," Xia Ping said.

"We have not even dealt with old enemies yet, and new ones have popped up," Li Kun said.

"You guys." Ming Ren looked at them. "Don't you blame me?"

Li Kun shook his head. "It's not your fault, why would we blame you?"

"Brother Ren, do you think so little of us?" Xia Ping said. "Aren't we all friends?"

"Since they are your enemies, they are also our enemies," Li Kun said. "It's only natural."

Ming Ren's chest tightened and his eyes turned red. He couldn't speak for a long time.