The Lu siblings sat silently in the car heading back to the Hui area.
"Why?" After a while, Lu Zhongyou slowly asked.
He had completely figured it out by now and was quite angry that his sister had known about it all along but hadn't informed him beforehand.
"What do you mean, why?" Lu Qingyun smiled slightly.
"Don't play dumb." Lu Zhongyou instinctively glanced at the driver's seat, confirmed it was a synthetic driver, then lowered his voice and said, "You knew about the strength of the Cheng family head, but you didn't tell me before the trip. You knew I would underestimate him, and then get humiliated when he revealed his strength, didn't you?"
"Are you satisfied seeing me make a fool of myself in front of others?" He gritted his teeth.
Lu Qingyun put away her smile and said, "Brother, if I had warned you before you witnessed Cheng Jinyang's strength, would you have believed me?"
"Of course!" Lu Zhongyou didn't hesitate.
"Really?"
"Of course, really! I'm not stupid."
"Maybe you should think again?"
Lu Zhongyou fell silent.
Alright, he admitted that there might be a slight chance he would have thought his sister was exaggerating... But that's normal, right? Who could have imagined that an eighth-grade supernatural could exert the power of a sixth-grade on the battlefield? Are all the people of the Shendu Cheng family monsters?!
Seeing her brother unable to respond, Lu Qingyun turned to look out the window, smiling again.
She knew her brother too well. If she warned him before he made a mistake, he wouldn't take it seriously; after the mistake, he would silently correct himself, pretending she never warned him.
It was better not to warn him, let him make a fool of himself, and the lesson might be more profound.
Compared to her foolish and arrogant brother, Lu Qingyun was more interested in Cheng Jinyang. How did he end up with Cui Jinqi? With Cui Jinqi's personality, most people would find it hard to get along with her. Unless he needed something from her... But there were plenty of noble youths in Jiankang City trying to get close to the noblewomen of the Five Great Families for a quick rise, yet who truly succeeded?
The gap between their social standings was like heaven and earth; was it just a joke?
Unless the Shendu Cheng family was really on the brink of collapse, desperately seeking help from the Qinghe Cui family... But from the Emperor's attention to Cheng Jinyang, it didn't seem like it.
Lost in thought for a moment, Lu Qingyun suddenly saw a taxi coming from the opposite direction, quickly passing by.
The girl in that car, though she only caught a glimpse of her side profile for a moment, seemed to be Chu Qingqing from the Yangdi Chu family.
What was she doing in such a remote place? Was she going to see the Cheng and Xing families?
...
Chu Qingqing sat in the car heading to the Shendu Cheng family, feeling a bit anxious.
It had been a long time since she last slept with Cheng Jinyang, and she was feeling a bit restless—specifically referring to entering the dreams to slay demons.
Suddenly, she saw a girl on the roadside.
"Yuanzhi!" Signaling the driver to stop briefly, she rolled down the window and called out warmly.
"Qingqing?" Xing Yuanzhi was a bit surprised, then started to feel annoyed.
She must be here to see him.
"Are you going to see Jinyang?" Miss Qingqing smiled and said, "There's still a bit of a way to the Cheng family. Why not take my car?"
"No." Xing Yuanzhi shook her head.
She didn't want to say more, but the anger in her chest was hard to suppress. After a while, she said in a muffled voice, "He's all lovey-dovey with the Cui family's noblewoman. Why should I go see him, just to be snubbed?"
"The Cui family's noblewoman?" Chu Qingqing was stunned for a moment, then realized she was talking about Cui Jinqi, "Why did she go to Jinyang?"
"Who knows." Xing Yuanzhi said coldly, "Maybe they've already done it. This guy is like a magnet, attracting pretty girls."
The taxi driver in the front was dumbfounded, thinking, is this the world of young people?
There's such a generation gap.
"Heh." Chu Qingqing sneered and asked, "Is that why you turned back from the Cheng family?"
Xing Yuanzhi remained silent.
The Cheng and Xing clans had joined a secret military project of the imperial court. This was not widely known within the clans, but it was no secret to core members.
The reason she came here to discuss matters with Cheng Jinyang was that she had learned he had been summoned to the battlefield by the Emperor and was concerned for his safety.
But this scoundrel not only showed no sense of crisis but was also hugging and playing happily with a girl from the Cui family. This made Xing Yuanzhi deeply disappointed in him, feeling that all her previous worries and care were for nothing.
"Get in the car." Miss Qingqing opened the car door.
"You..." Xing Yuanzhi was about to speak but was pulled in by her.
"What do you mean, 'you'?" Chu Qingqing said indignantly. "Even if she has already been with Jinyang, does that mean she can walk all over us? Have you no sense of precedence?"
As she spoke, her tone became filled with murderous intent, as if she wanted to rush to the Cheng family immediately and skewer that Cui family girl and the scoundrel with a thousand swords:
"Yuanzhi! If you leave so easily, wouldn't that be tantamount to conceding Jinyang to her? In the team, you'd be completely overshadowed by her! As seniors, we need to teach her some manners. So what if she's a girl from the Five Great Families? She wouldn't even make it into the top three by seniority!"
Xing Yuanzhi couldn't help but laugh and cry: What kind of logic is that? Team hierarchy is the least of my concerns right now!
However, Miss Qingqing was strong and forcefully pulled her into the car. The taxi then headed straight towards the Cheng clan's territory.
When they arrived at the Cheng clan's place, Miss Qingqing assumed the stance of a wife catching her cheating husband and dragged Xing Yuanzhi through numerous halls, bursting into the newly built family council hall, just in time to run into Cheng Yuexian coming out.
"Yuexian, where's Jinyang?" Chu Qingqing asked with a smile, her face showing no sign of hostility.
"He should be working in his office." Cheng Yuexian recognized Chu Qingqing from the Yangdi Chu family. Seeing her with Xing Yuanzhi and hearing her call Jinyang by name, she had a rough guess and smiled:
"Let me take you there."
The office was a well-lit room on the second floor of the family council hall. Cheng Jinyang was at his desk buried in paperwork, while Cui Jinqi and Yang Wangshu were laughing and playing games together.
"Hey!" Cheng Jinyang finally couldn't stand the noise from the two girls, "If you want to play, go to the recreation room! Don't interrupt my work!"
"Why are you sending me away? Are you planning to do something shady behind my back?" Cui Jinqi immediately questioned.
"Miss Cui, what is our relationship?" Cheng Jinyang asked coldly, "Why would I need to do anything behind your back?"
"Aren't we debtor and creditor?" Cui Jinqi retorted.
Cheng Jinyang: ......
Damn it, if I had money, would I let this little girl hold anything over me?
Suddenly, the office door melted from the outside, and girl Qingqing, with a bad expression, burst in with Ah Zhi in tow.