The courtyard fell into silence, with the “grand nephew” smiling bitterly at his “aunt.”
The “aunt” stared at the “grand nephew” for a long while, then suddenly crouched down, yanked her skirt free, and turned to leave.
If there was one grand nephew, there would be a whole bunch of grand nephews. She didn’t want to be gawked at by the grand nephews looking like this!
The first meeting between the future Dragon family matriarch and the clan disciples shouldn’t be like this!
However, it seemed too late. The courtyard gate suddenly burst open with a whoosh, and quite a few people poured in – a large group of men and women who all gasped “Ah!” with wide-open mouths upon seeing this scene in the courtyard.
Jing Hengbo had her back to them. She couldn’t flash away or stay, couldn’t turn around to greet them or ignore them.
The whispered conversations behind her were crystal clear.
“Ah, this is Her Majesty the Queen?”
“This is the beauty our family head chose over his kingdom for the sake of love? Tsk tsk…”
The tsk-tsking didn’t sound complimentary.
“Eyes gone blind, eyes gone blind…” someone moaned while covering their eyes.
“That flower-selling girl by the roadside suddenly seems very elegant to me now,” someone said wistfully.
“What a waste of all the praise poetry I prepared along the way. I’d better give it to Miss Qingqing from Biying Tower instead,” someone said, turning to leave.
“I’ve finally found something I’m better at than our family head,” someone said smugly. “My eyesight is better than his!”
…
This was unbearable!
Jing Hengbo ground her teeth, rushed into the room, grabbed Gong Yin’s neck and shook him. “Why didn’t you tell me your family would come so quickly? Why didn’t you tell me!”
Behind her, a pile of people rushed over with a crash, and the windows and doorway were immediately crowded with heads.
“Outrageous! Rude! Vulgar!” An elderly voice appeared, full of anger.
“Hey, this has style!” A young voice was full of surprise and delight.
“Feeling a bit better now,” someone praised.
“Looking at it now, it’s actually quite wonderful…” someone reassessed.
“Why do I suddenly feel so cheerful?” someone wondered aloud.
“Ah ha ha ha, that’s because seeing our family head like this brings great comfort to my heart, great comfort,” someone laughed heartily.
“Exactly! So even villains have their match,” someone whispered smugly.
“I wonder if our family head will be kicked awake in the morning to carry manure…” someone said with longing.
…
Jing Hengbo released her grip on Gong Yin’s neck. Looking at his helpless expression, she pursed her lips and asked incredulously: “These are the Dragon family disciples? These are the legendarily aloof, proud, and otherworldly Dragon family disciples?”
Compared to those people’s disillusionment with her, her current sense of disillusionment was even more severe.
The Dragon family! The Dragon Ying clan! The most illustrious and noble first family in Dahuang’s history! Even Dahuang’s founding empress was nothing more than a household slave of theirs. What prestige, what glory! Even now that the Dragon family had declined, they were still legend, still the standard, still the aspiration that made everyone speak with unconscious solemnity and respect when mentioning them. But what was she seeing now?
They were simply like a bunch of ruffians.
Shouldn’t each of them be like Gong Yin, making people feel that even the air would be polluted by touching him?
“What’s wrong with that?” Gong Yin pulled her hand away with his other hand, glancing lightly at those clan members still whispering to each other. “They used to be like me, but do you really think being like me is good?”
“Rare to hear you criticizing yourself,” Jing Hengbo smiled. “No, you have your merits. Of course, if they only learned the superficial aloofness and pride without your unique bearing, then it’s better they don’t imitate you.”
Gong Yin’s gaze was very gentle as he squeezed her hand. “This seems to be the first time I’ve heard you praise me to my face.”
“But right now I want to scold you more,” Jing Hengbo suddenly turned fierce. “My lifelong reputation has been ruined in your hands today!”
Gong Yin smiled slightly, gripping her hand tighter. “It’s fine. As long as you’re a bit fierce toward me, I’m sure they’ll immediately regain their reverence for you – more effective than stunning them with beautiful looks.”
“So you’re this hateable,” Jing Hengbo smiled with narrowed eyes.
“Dragon family people have been separated from worldly affairs too long. If this continues, they’ll become a bunch of weirdos. Dragon family martial arts are inherently ruthless and emotionless. Being out of touch with earthly life for so long leads to increasingly strange temperaments. So throughout the family’s history, many people have gone mad from training, committed suicide, or never married. If we continue hiding away, I fear that in a few decades, we’ll truly become extinct.” Gong Yin glanced toward the window. “So driving them into the mortal world, making them do things they previously disdained, making them endure so-called worldly contamination – that’s what I’ve been working hard to do recently.”
“Carrying manure?” Jing Hengbo grinned wickedly.
“Among other things,” Gong Yin showed no remorse.
Behind her, there was still whispering and peeking. Jing Hengbo felt that while Gong Yin’s original intention was good, he seemed to have overdone the training – these guys had become so shameless they’d forgotten basic politeness.
She turned around and waved her hand. The windows and door slammed shut with a bang, nearly flattening those people’s noses.
Then she tidied herself up, opened the door, and invited the elderly man, Nan Jin, and the young woman called Chunshui who had previously served Gong Yin to come in.
Gong Yin had already provided basic introductions. This elderly man called Long Zhai was essentially his only elder in the family at present. Jing Hengbo sensed that this person harbored faint hostility toward her. In this uncle’s eyes, Nan Jin was surely a more suitable wife for Gong Yin.
As soon as the three entered, they all stared at Gong Yin’s undergarments hanging on the pole to dry.
Gong Yin was coughing. Jing Hengbo was completely composed, greeting the guests while casually taking down Gong Yin’s dried clothes and placing them by his bedside. Only then did she smile at the guests: “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other. Sorry this place is crude and not suitable for proper hospitality.”
Long Zhai snorted coldly, glanced at Jing Hengbo, and a flash of disgust crossed his eyes – a wanton, immoral woman who had even caused their family head to lose his true energy. How could she compare to the naturally gifted medicine cauldron Pearl?
Men would always be confused by beauty!
Nan Jin glanced at Gong Yin and silently took out a bundle. Jing Hengbo very naturally took it over, looked through it to see it contained clothing, and smiled: “It’s inconvenient to buy clothes here. Thank you, Pearl, for being so thoughtful and remembering this.”
Nan Jin coughed and turned her head away without answering. The young woman Chunshui glanced at Pearl, bit her lip, and lowered her head.
Only she knew that Pearl had been patrolling Puyang City since last night without closing her eyes. It was Pearl who first noticed something was wrong with their family head’s condition and had been following from afar. Because of Pearl, everyone could immediately spot Jing Hengbo’s signal and follow. It was also Pearl who, while searching for their family head, still remembered to prepare clothes, food, and medicine for him, thinking that nothing would be convenient in this slum. Yet after bringing everything with such care, it was casually taken by Jing Hengbo in a few light words, without even being able to personally deliver it to Gong Yin.
And before this, Pearl had waited for Gong Yin for so many years!
Jing Hengbo acted as if she didn’t see Nan Jin’s dejection or Chunshui’s indignation, and also turned a blind eye to Long Zhai’s disdain. She smiled: “Since clothes have been brought, could everyone step out for a moment to let him change?”
But Gong Yin said: “Do you have any clean, suitable clothes? Find a set for the Queen. Although she needs to be in disguise, this clothing is really of too poor quality – it must be uncomfortable to wear.”
Nan Jin’s expression changed again. Chunshui frowned and said: “We don’t have any…” but was pulled back by Nan Jin, who then said lightly: “I’ll find a way to get a better set for the Queen.” She pulled Chunshui out the door.
Long Zhai then said unceremoniously to Jing Hengbo: “Please step out first, Queen. This old man needs to examine our family head’s condition, and it would be more convenient for me to help him change clothes.”
Jing Hengbo didn’t mind, smiled and nodded in agreement. She closed the door and came out with Nan Jin and Chunshui. The group of young disciples had already dispersed to who knows where. Then she heard those streetwalkers returning in twos and threes, passing through the corridor with people on their arms, laughing and joking on their way back. Looking carefully, weren’t these the Dragon family disciples?
There were also sounds of welcoming guests from the neighboring courtyard. The women here shamelessly called out to each other: “Hey, business is good today?”
“Yeah, a bunch of virgin chickens came,” the women laughed.
“Guess how many clocks they’ll buy this time?” someone asked with great interest.
“Half an hour at most!”
“I’d say a quarter hour, but unfortunately Old Zhao doesn’t sell quarter-hour sessions.”
…
Jing Hengbo watched those guys who didn’t understand the trade jargon walk proudly past her with women in their arms, and couldn’t help but snicker to herself.
If these virgin chickens knew that these streetwalkers had determined they couldn’t last even a quarter hour, would they still be able to laugh?
Jing Hengbo was in quite a good mood, thinking it was actually good that Gong Yin had trained the disciples to be so full of worldly spirit. Otherwise, if there were currently a large group of snow-white, rigid Dragon family disciples here, completely out of place, they would be discovered in minutes.
She wanted to chat with Nan Jin, asking how the Dragon family could come so quickly and what the situation outside was like, but before she could speak, she saw Nan Jin hurrying away. The young woman Chunshui stood farther from her, turning her face away with an attitude of unwillingness to engage.
Jing Hengbo raised her eyebrows but said nothing. She wasn’t unaware of the relationship between Nan Jin and Gong Yin, nor did she not understand her feelings, but everything in this world could be yielded except love.
She acted openly and didn’t plan to accommodate Nan Jin’s feelings, precisely because she felt that short pain was better than long pain. After all, there was no room for anyone else between her and Gong Yin, so why give others false hope?
However, in the eyes of those Dragon family members who had watched Nan Jin grow up and wholeheartedly hoped for her to be with Gong Yin, she must be a heartless and shameless woman deliberately provoking poor Nan Jin.
Jing Hengbo took a breath and touched her stomach – Baby, no matter how they oppose, your mother will conquer this group of Dragon family people whose noses are still stuck in the clouds, just like she conquered your father.
Boss Zhao hurried over with quick steps. Seeing the strangers beside her, he didn’t ask questions – people who opened shops here were very tactful. He simply handed her a rather exquisite invitation, saying: “There’s a Myriad Phenomena Trade Conference tonight. Miss, why don’t you ask your patron if he’d like to participate?”
“Myriad Phenomena Trade Conference?” Jing Hengbo looked through the invitation, which had time, location, and the organizer – Black Third Master, the boss of this district.
“It’s a unique sales conference here. This place is near the harbor, a mixed bag of dragons and snakes, and it’s the largest private goods trading center in Puyang and even the entire southern part of the Mongolian kingdom. Some prohibited and taboo items can only be successfully sold here. Because all participants don’t report names, don’t show true faces – blind selling and mute selling. Once transactions are completed, there are absolutely no entanglements. Black Third Master guarantees this. So it’s very safe to buy things here that you usually can’t buy elsewhere. ‘Myriad Phenomena’ means this conference sells everything, as long as you can pay the price. ‘Trade’ means they generally don’t accept money, only barter.”
So it was a black market underground auction. Jing Hengbo had little interest in this, casually flipping through the invitation and asking: “What would typically be available?”
“That’s hard to say. Besides buyers who register their items with the market beforehand, many people also bring items to sell on the spot. As far as I know, this time it seems Old Master Sun will sell one of his ancestral spiritual medicines, or perhaps provide medical treatment once, on the condition that he needs to find a particular person.”
“A person?”
“A person with special abilities,” Boss Zhao said mysteriously. “I heard Old Master Sun needs to harvest a strange medicine, but that thing is particularly odd – it grows in extremely dangerous and narrow places, the kind of place where even masters would find it difficult to fly across or stand. Moreover, it needs to be harvested within an extremely short time. During harvesting, it can’t be touched by hand, nor can it be dug with metal tools. It requires special tools for digging, and the digging itself must be extremely careful, taking a very long time. Yet that place doesn’t allow people to stand for long periods… In short, the conditions are both harsh and contradictory, completely making things difficult for people. Even supreme masters couldn’t do it…”
Jing Hengbo raised her eyebrows – this was completely tailor-made for her.
She didn’t ask who Old Master Sun was. From Boss Zhao’s tone, everyone in this area should know this old master. If she asked, she’d give herself away, but it wasn’t hard to guess – it was probably that renowned doctor whom even Black Third Master had to defer to.
However, she didn’t plan to wade into these murky waters. Having experienced many things, she had intuition about conspiracies. This matter reeked of strangeness, as if targeting her specifically. What about Old Master Sun’s spiritual medicine? She was the Queen – did she lack spiritual medicines? Gong Yin’s problem stemmed from his bloodline and years of accumulated poison. If any random divine doctor could cure it, it would have been resolved long ago.
Taking the invitation and thanking Boss Zhao, she was about to go back to the room and throw away the invitation when the door banged open and Long Zhai stormed out, roaring in a low voice: “How did it become like this? How did it become like this? Where’s Pearl! Quickly bring Pearl back! Tell her not to be coy anymore! If the medicine cauldron isn’t used soon, our family head will be ruined!”