Due to being constantly engaged in war away from ho, household affairs were managed by his wife, Wen Jing’er.
The Wen Family had once been a family of scholars.
However, their family fortunes declined, and they did not live up to their past glory.
After the death of the eldest son of the Wen Family at a young age, only Wen Er and his sister, Wen Jing’er, remained. Wen Jing’er, tender-hearted towards her brother who had been frail and sick since childhood, brought him to the Li Family to be cared for.
Li Kuang did not object to this; in fact, he even took the initiative to train his young brother-in-law in their practices.
Unfortunately, the young brother-in-law was of average talent and quite lazy, inept at both literature and martial arts. Despite Wen Jing’er scolding him nurous tis, it had little effect.
However, Li Nanshuang had been very close to her second uncle as a child, and the two often got into trouble together.
"Shuang’er!"
After scolding her brother, Wen Jing’er turned to her daughter and said coldly, "What did I instruct you initially? To go to Qingzhou and bring back your second uncle as soon as possible. Look how long you’ve delayed; he almost couldn’t return!"
"Second Uncle needed to recuperate." Li Nanshuang muttered.
Wen Jing’er slapped the armrest of her chair: "Is he about to die? Can’t he recover while traveling?"
No wonder the woman was angry.
She only had this one brother, this one daughter. If either died in Qingzhou, it would be a devastating blow to her.
Li Nanshuang snorted coldly, "I had to find out who the assailant was; I couldn’t let Second Uncle be attacked in vain."
"He deserved to be attacked! Don’t think I don’t know that he got into trouble over a courtesan!"
Wen Jing’er shouted angrily.
Li Nanshuang stood up, thumping her chest as she declared, "I don’t care about any of that; I did nothing wrong, and neither did Second Uncle."
"So it’s my fault?" Wen Jing’er said with a furious laugh.
"My fault, my fault..."
Seeing that the mother and daughter were about to argue, Wen Er hurriedly said with a wry smile, "Sister, no one expected that kind of incident in Qingzhou, but there’s more to it, it’s the Emperor..."
"It’s the Emperor’s doing!"
Li Nanshuang blurted out, "Mother, our Li Family should move out of the Capital, let father resign his official post. The further we leave from the Capital, the better. I want to have a showdown with that dog Emperor..."
"Enough!"
Wen Jing’er scolded sharply, coldly saying, "You’re becoming more and more unruly, grounded for a month, no leaving the house. When your father returns, I’ll have him take you to join the army!"
"Pfft, see who can stop if I want to leave."
Li Nanshuang flicked her ponytail and strode out of the hall.
Watching her disobedient daughter, Wen Jing’er felt both anger and helplessness, having no choice but to vent her anger on her brother: "You’re grounded for half a year, not allowed to step out of the house!"
Wen Er’s face imdiately fell.
"Also, has that girl stolen the Seven Kills Blade from the secret chamber? Do you know it’s Nan Shuang’s dowry?"
Wen Jing’er asked, staring intently at her brother.
Wen Er’s heart skipped a beat, rembering the blood blade at Jiang Shouzhong’s waist, pretending to be clueless: "Ah, the Seven Kills Blade is missing? I haven’t seen it."
"Really haven’t seen it?"
"Really haven’t seen it!"
Seeing his sister with a grim face and not speaking, Wen Er sheepishly said, "Sister, I’ll go back to my room to rest then."
Watching her brother’s retreating back, Wen Jing’er shook her head helplessly.
Thinking of the Seven Kills Blade stolen by Li Nanshuang, the woman frowned.
According to her father-in-law, the blade contained a secret; it was originally used to help the Imperial Astronors successfully defeat the real body of the Asura Queen and suppress her soul.
For years, her husband had researched it but had never been able to uncover its secret.
However, her father-in-law had specifically instructed before his death that the blade was Nan Shuang’s dowry and would be of great use.
She wondered what that use could be?
...
Wen Er walked out of the hall and saw Li Nanshuang sitting in front of the pond idly throwing stones at the fish in the water.
"You seem very unhappy since your return."
Wen Er rubbed the girl’s head and asked with a smile, "Is it because of Jiang Mo?"
Li Nanshuang replied sullenly, "Mind your own business."
Although the girl was blunt and carefree, being a girl, she was sowhat sensitive.
From the journey back, she had distinctly felt Jiang Mo and Ran Qingchen becoming much closer, almost... like a couple.
This made Li Nanshuang very unhappy.
Because in her heart, Jiang Mo was the first she had taken notice of, yet an outsider had swooped in before her.
The girl was indignant and very upset.
"Second Uncle already told you, if you like soone, you should pursue him."
Wen Er sat beside her, stretched lazily, and looked at his dejected niece with a smile, "Are you planning to give up then?"
Li Nanshuang remained silent.
Wen Er sighed, "It’s right to give up. My young Nan Shuang is not as ladylike as Miss Ran, always carrying a large blade, what man would like that?"
"Carrying a big blade, so what?"
Li Nanshuang pursed her red lips, feeling quite unhappy about her uncle’s disparaging remarks.
Suddenly, she stood up and declared, "I won’t practice the blade anymore, I’m going to learn how to cook, I’m going to learn how to make als!"
Wen Er’s eyes were as wide as bells, "You? Cooking?"
"What? Is there a problem?"
Li Nanshuang, with her hands on her petite waist and tilting her little head upwards, proclaid loudly, "The ntor’s wife was right; to capture a man’s heart, you must first capture his stomach.
"I can definitely make the most delicious als in the world, so that after Jiang Mo tastes my cooking, he won’t want to eat the dishes of any other woman, especially that foolish Mugua.
"Just you wait and see, I, Mr. Li... no, I, Miss Li, am the true Capital Pearl."
Wen Er gave a thumbs up:
"Good, well said, keep your spirit, and don’t lose face! Your uncle supports you!"
Wen Er continued encouragingly, "They haven’t married yet, you can completely steal him away, and if all else fails, just make it a fait accompli."
A fait accompli?
Li Nanshuang paused, crossed her hands over her chest, and rubbed her slightly plump chin in contemplation.
Make it a fait accompli?
Could she do it?
——
Jiang Shouzhong was holding Er Liang’s hand.
At that mont, they stood in front of the gate of Zhang Yunwu’s small courtyard, Jiang Shouzhong’s brows tightly furrowed.
The main gate was locked from the outside.
It seed the family had left a long ti ago.
"Er Liang, has Aunt Zhao Di contacted you?" Jiang Shouzhong asked, looking down at Jiang Erliang.
Er Liang shook his head vigorously:
"Never contacted, but most of the ti I was with our mistress, and I only spend a few days in the house. Except for master visiting , no one else has."
Jiang Shouzhong gently wrapped his arm around Er Liang’s slender waist and climbed over the courtyard wall.
The main house’s door was also locked.
Moreover, many tools in the yard were neatly placed.
Clearly, this family hadn’t suffered any bad incidents; Wen Zhaodi and the others left quite naturally.
Jiang Shouzhong shook open the door lock and pushed the door open.
The interior was also spotlessly clean and tidy.
The most eye-catching item was a letter on the table.
Walking over to pick up the envelope, Jiang Shouzhong discovered it was addressed to himself. Opening it, he found it was written by Zhang Yue’er, whose handwriting was ticulous yet juvenile.
"Uncle Jiang, my mother and I have gone to a place called Bailan Peak to treat my father’s illness. We will return after a while."
Treating an illness?
Jiang Shouzhong’s brows tightened.
He flipped the letter over several tis and carefully observed both inside and outside the house, finding no traces of a struggle or blood.
"It seems like Zhang’s reincarnated body has already awakened, and they have been taken to the Esoteric Sect by the Buddha Mother." Jiang Shouzhong silently speculated.
Luckily, from the signs of their departure, Wen Zhaodi and the others seed to get along well with the Buddha Mother.
"In this world, there are no such things as reincarnations, just so frightening secret techniques."
Suddenly, a familiar, casual voice rang out.
Jiang Shouzhong’s expression startled, and he swiftly turned around, his face revealing a look of joy: "Master!"
Yan Changqing, carrying a wine jug, lazily circled around Jiang Shouzhong, chuckling:
"Not bad, to have reached Heaven Desolation Boundary so quickly."
Jiang Shouzhong chuckled and tentatively asked, "Master, have you seen Zhang Yunwu?"
Yan Changqing replied lightly, "Don’t worry, with here, that Buddha Mother won’t dare to cause trouble. I just gave her a choice, proving that Zhang Yunwu and the Protector Deity are two different people. For now, your brother and his family are quite safe."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Shouzhong completely let his guard down.
"Thank you for your help, Master."
Gratitude filled Jiang Shouzhong’s heart.
"Don’t thank just yet, I also need your help,"
Yan Changqing chuckled and said, "In a few days, I’m going to the bottom of Huailan Lake, and I’ll need you to co with . I need to borrow those two Yin-Yang swords from the Taoist River Map within you."
"The bottom of Huailan Lake? Master, what are you going to do there?"
Jiang Shouzhong curiously inquired.
Yan Changqing uncorked the bottle, still only sniffing without drinking, and slowly said, "Try to rescue soone, though I don’t know if it will be successful."
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