“Once City Lord Ling Xiao arrives, he definitely won’t let you lot behave so outrageously!”
As she spoke, Lin Qian’s eyes sparked with light. The image of a commanding figure appeared in her mind, and her mood instantly lifted.
The middle-aged woman laughed. “Little girl, have you taken a fancy to that young hero? I’ve heard he really is impressive. At such a young age he managed to repel over a million troops from the Black Crow Empire.
“But I’ve also heard he is extremely cruel and cold-hearted. When he gets here, he might be even worse than the Marquis of East Commandery. Stop daydreaming.”
“No, that’s not true. Many people have told me that Ling Xiao was granted the title Tianlong King, that he is human, and that he saved lots of enslaved people in the imperial capital. He must be a good person, and a powerful one.”
Lin Qian shook her head.
She had never met Ling Xiao, but the fact that a human could be ennobled and appointed as a high official in the Divine Phoenix Empire, and still remembered his suffering compatriots, was enough for him to become her idol.
It was not romantic affection for the teenage hero she had only seen in a few portraits. More accurately, it was admiration, respect, and longing.
Only someone like that could change the current chaos in East Commandery when he arrived. Only he could let all the oppressed humans regain their freedom.
“Hahaha.”
The guard suddenly burst into mocking laughter. “Idiot! Fool! So what if Ling Xiao was made Tianlong King? How many prefects has East Commandery seen before? Some were really tough, yet the very next day their corpses were floating in the river feeding the fish.
“I’ve heard about this Ling Xiao too. Young, and his cultivation has already reached the early Six Arts Heaven stage. But compared to our Marquis of East Commandery, he’s nowhere close. Our Marquis is at the First Cave Heaven realm!
“Besides, our Marquis is genuine imperial kin. If the chief of the Underworld Phoenix Clan hadn’t made a mistake, our Marquis wouldn’t have been exiled to this godforsaken place. He might even have become Crown Prince.
“And even though the Underworld Phoenix Clan has been stripped of the right to compete for Emperor, they are still royalty!
“A petty king from another surname is nothing!
“Don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, little lady. If you become the Marquis’s woman, even if only a plaything in his bed, you’ll be able to enter Turtle Island. What’s more, you’ll never lack cultivation resources again.”
Lin Qian frowned. “I do want to go to Turtle Island, but I will never do that kind of thing. If you’re so keen, why don’t you go yourself?”
“Nonsense! If I were a woman, I’d be the first to throw myself at Lord Marquis. How would a little chit like you get the chance?”
The guard grew angry from embarrassment.
“What kind of language is that? You mustn’t be so crude to a beauty. You have to cherish them!”
Suddenly, a voice that seemed half-laughing, half-sneering rang out.
A young man floated down from Turtle Island.
He looked about twenty-three or twenty-four, dressed in garish, multicoloured clothes with a big red flower tied in his hair, as if he were terrified people might not realise he was a debauched playboy.
“Young Marquis!”
The guard hurriedly turned and cupped his hands.
Slap!
The Young Marquis slapped the guard across the face. “How many times have I told you? Beautiful women should be handled as delicately as fine porcelain. Where did you learn to be so rough?”
This Young Marquis was none other than the only son of the Marquis of East Commandery: Ming Liu.
After the Underworld Phoenix Clan fell from grace, many members changed their surnames.
Some took Ming, some Huang, some completely random ones. The Marquis’s family had all changed theirs to Ming, now the most common surname among the Underworld Phoenix Clan.
Ming Liu was the absolute apple of the Marquis’s eye.
Although the boy was flashy and lazy, he had been soaked in all kinds of medicinal baths since childhood, so his cultivation was actually not weak.
At twenty-four years old, he had reached the early Eight Desolate Heaven stage.
That was far from the level of true geniuses, but it was still respectable. After all, many martial artists never broke through the mortal realms in their entire lives, let alone reached the Heaven-Human stage.
After striking his subordinate, Ming Liu turned to Lin Qian with a wide smile. “Beauty, my man may lack tact, but he was right about one thing. That Ling Xiao fellow is nothing. At best he’s someone else’s pawn, yet he actually takes himself seriously. How could a lowly human like that ever compare to my father, or even to this young master?
“Otherwise, why not yield to this young master today? I guarantee you’ll be able to cultivate on Turtle Island for free from now on.”
At that moment, Ming Liu’s eyes were filled with greed and lust. He did not take Ling Xiao seriously in the slightest, nor did he care about Lin Qian’s feelings.
He was simply acting in his usual manner.
He loved to show off.
He only resorted to force when showing off failed.
Lin Qian looked at Ming Liu and felt a wave of nausea rising from her stomach.
Ming Liu, son of the Marquis of East Commandery.
The grand Young Marquis. His martial and literary talents were certainly not inferior to others.
Yet his character was utterly rotten.
Some noble young masters at least pretended to be refined gentlemen on the surface while being depraved underneath.
But Young Master Ming Liu made no such effort. His father was the king here. Apart from his father, he was the biggest shot in this place.
Ming Liu had long known Ling Xiao was coming. Someone in the imperial capital had immediately informed the Marquis, so of course he knew too.
The messenger had warned them not to confront Ling Xiao head-on, because the young man was difficult to handle.
He had repeatedly reminded them to keep a low profile and give face to the new city lord.
Yet the Marquis and his son, who were used to acting tyrannically and playing local emperors, paid no heed to these warnings and reminders. Instead, they took them as an insult.
What a joke. East Commandery might be small, but it was theirs. What did some lowly outsider human brat think he was doing?
If they didn’t teach him a lesson, how could they live it down?
When he had just heard Lin Qian mention Ling Xiao and praise him so highly, Ming Liu had already been seething inside, but he still wanted to use his power and status to force her to change her tune.
“I’m sorry, Young Marquis. I’ll go back and gather more spirit stones.”
Lin Qian did not want to provoke the Young Marquis Ming Liu. She knew she could not afford to offend him, so she chose to back down.
“You may leave, but first you must answer one question for this young master.”
Ming Liu said with a smile.
Though he smiled, there was a knife hidden in that smile. It seemed that if Lin Qian’s answer did not satisfy him, he would ruin the woman in front of him.
“Please ask, Young Marquis.”
Lin Qian nodded.
“Right here in front of everyone, tell us clearly: which of us is better, this young master, or that lowly human Ling Xiao?”
Ming Liu asked.
It was phrased as a question, but anyone with sense knew the Young Marquis had already decided the answer.
Lin Qian naturally understood this too.
Yet she truly could not bring herself to tell the kind of lie that would disgust even herself.
