The dinner went fairly harmoniously.
At least, that was how Li Daoqiang saw it.
He found it amusing.
Wanwan spoke with delight.
Little Dragon Girl listened attentively.
As for the others... they didn't matter.
After the meal, everyone dispersed. Li Daoqiang didn't say much—today had been eventful enough. He let Little Dragon Girl and Wanwan each take their time to process things.
The night passed peacefully.
The next morning, no one ate breakfast.
A little over an hour later.
"Chief, the Little Demon Master Fang Yeyu has arrived and requests an audience with you."
Outside the door, Ding Chunqiu spoke respectfully.
"Let him wait," Li Daoqiang said calmly.
"Yes." Ding Chunqiu acknowledged, then turned and descended the stairs.
Inside the room, Li Daoqiang continued his cultivation without haste. Only after circulating the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art through several cycles did he rise and head downstairs.
In the main hall below.
Fang Yeyu stood quietly with several figures in tow.
By then, Geshutian, Nian Lian Dan, and the others had already come out, waiting silently off to the side.
Wanwan had also slipped out to watch the commotion.
Little Dragon Girl didn't appear—she had no interest in such matters, even though Nian Lian Dan and his group had once targeted her.
When Li Daoqiang's figure emerged.
Fang Yeyu immediately bowed with a respectful smile. "Junior Fang Yeyu pays respects to the Chief."
Those behind him followed suit, bowing in unison.
Li Daoqiang returned a smile befitting an elder toward a junior, casting an appreciative glance at Fang Yeyu before nodding slightly. "Not bad."
"Thank you for the praise, Chief." Fang Yeyu replied with neither arrogance nor humility, only respect.
Li Daoqiang walked to the main seat and sat down, gazing calmly at Fang Yeyu.
Fang Yeyu understood and spoke humbly. "Chief, after learning of the incident, the Fourth Prince and Sixth Prince felt deep regret that, unknowingly, an attack was made on Lady Li.
The Sixth Prince wished to come personally to express his apologies, but due to urgent matters on the front lines, he could not leave. Thus, he sent me to convey his apologies to you."
With that, he bowed deeply.
"Heh, Brother Sixi is far too courteous. After all, he was unaware of the matter.
Besides, it was all the doing of some subordinates. Long'er suffered no serious harm, so let's consider this matter settled." Li Daoqiang laughed magnanimously, putting on an air of generosity and boldness.
Beside him, Wanwan rolled her eyes inwardly.
He sure doesn't hold back, calling her 'Long'er' directly.
Tch.
"Thank you, Chief." Fang Yeyu sighed in relief, speaking with respect.
With that, he gestured knowingly. One of his men stepped forward, holding a brocade box.
He presented it respectfully to Li Daoqiang. Ding Chunqiu moved a step ahead to take it and immediately opened it for inspection.
"Chief, here are seven million taels of silver notes. Please accept them as forgiveness for the actions of Nian Lian Dan and the others," Fang Yeyu said politely.
Li Daoqiang smiled, a hint more appreciation in his eyes, and spoke. "Nian Lian Dan: five million, Golden Wheel: one million, the other four: eighty thousand each.
That totals six million, three hundred and twenty thousand taels.
I understand Brother Sixi's intent, but our Black Dragon Stronghold has always been fair—we never take a single coin more than we should, nor do we accept less.
So take the excess back, Yeyu.
Tell Brother Sixi that this incident doesn't affect our friendship. My Black Dragon Stronghold welcomes him anytime."
Fang Yeyu wanted to decline, but he knew that when figures like this spoke, their word was final.
He had no room to argue.
He could only clasp his fists and bow. "Yes, I will relay your words to the Sixth Prince.
The Sixth Prince, the Fourth Prince, and all of Great Yuan welcome you to visit at any time."
"Haha, perhaps another time." Li Daoqiang laughed heartily, brushing it off.
Fang Yeyu said no more. His earlier words were merely a simple probe.
A message for Kublai Khan, Sihany Fei, and all of Great Yuan.
Swaying a figure like Li Daoqiang was beyond his reach.
His strength and status were far from sufficient.
That one line was enough.
By then, Ding Chunqiu had roughly finished his inspection. He took out six hundred and eighty thousand taels in notes and handed them to Fang Yeyu.
One of Fang Yeyu's men stepped forward to accept them.
"You may go now." Li Daoqiang glanced at Nian Lian Dan, officially releasing them.
"Thank you, Chief." Nian Lian Dan and the others quickly bowed.
"If you have no further orders, Chief, we shall take our leave." Fang Yeyu said respectfully.
"Mm, go ahead." Li Daoqiang waved a hand dismissively.
After another bow, Fang Yeyu and his group departed.
"Chief." Ding Chunqiu handed the notes to Li Daoqiang.
Li Daoqiang took them and casually passed them to Kou Zhong. "Get ready. We leave tomorrow."
"Yes." Everyone acknowledged.
"Chief, are you really letting them off that easily?" After the others returned to their rooms, Wanwan bounced over with a grin, as if nothing had happened the previous afternoon.
"What are you trying to say?" Li Daoqiang smiled, also acting as if nothing had occurred.
"They tried to kill Miss Long! How can you just let them go?
And they only sent a little demon master—clearly looking down on you, Chief.
If you ask me, you should have killed them all." Wanwan wrinkled her little nose, offering advice with a serious face.
"Heh, go play somewhere else." Li Daoqiang chuckled, reaching out to flick her forehead.
Wanwan tried to dodge but failed.
"Ah."
She let out a soft cry, covering her forehead with her jade-white hand, glaring at Li Daoqiang indignantly.
"I give you advice, and you hit me." She pouted, whining pitifully.
"Give me any more bad ideas like that, and it won't just be your forehead." Li Daoqiang narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting meaningfully downward to her rounded curves.
Wanwan instinctively stepped back, about to cover her rear.
But she stopped, realizing it was unseemly, and huffed in embarrassment. "Pervert."
With that, she ran off on her little feet, clad in cream-white embroidered shoes.
Li Daoqiang laughed twice. She really was... becoming more and more like her.
A flicker of memory passed through the depths of his eyes.
His expression gradually turned somber, as if recalling something. He sat still, his face growing heavy.
A faint trace of a sigh lingered.
At the corner of the stairs, a pair of watery eyes watched.
After a long, careful look, they quietly vanished.
But back in her room, Wanwan was still burning with curiosity.
What had Li Daoqiang been thinking about?
She had never seen that expression on him before.
What had his past really been like?
None of the major factions seemed to have uncovered anything about his history.
From what he had shown that day, his kindness toward Little Dragon Girl stemmed from a longing for genuine affection and love.
And just now?
What had he thought of when he looked at her?
Had he once loved a woman similar to her?
All sorts of guesses swirled in Wanwan's mind.
She pondered for a long time, but couldn't settle on anything certain.
Her eyes hardened. She had to dig deeper into Li Daoqiang's secrets.
A little earlier.
In the main hall, sensing the spying eyes disappear, Li Daoqiang's lips curled into a faint smile.
He silently rated his own performance.
After careful thought, he was satisfied.
Not perfect, but close enough.
The mystery of a man—fully showcased.
That little vixen would probably be thinking for a while now.
With a lighthearted mood, he rose and went to Little Dragon Girl's door.
After knocking, a few breaths later, Little Dragon Girl appeared before him.
"Miss Long, the Mongol Yuan people came earlier. Did you hear them?" Li Daoqiang asked gently.
Little Dragon Girl shook her head, indicating she hadn't.
She had no interest in such matters, so she hadn't listened.
Li Daoqiang frowned slightly, hesitated, then spoke frankly with a serious expression. "Miss Long, given the urgency, to have a proper reason to help you and to prevent the Mongol Yuan from troubling you in the future,
I chose to tacitly accept their misunderstanding that you are my wife.
If this has caused you any trouble, please forgive me."
Little Dragon Girl was momentarily stunned. Instinctively, she felt uneasy.
But then she thought of Guo'er being with Miss Guo.
Perhaps the misunderstanding didn't matter.
If they wanted to misunderstand, let them.
After a brief pause, she nodded calmly. "It's fine."
"Mm, I'm glad you understand. We're both wanderers of the jianghu; we needn't mind idle rumors.
Miss Long, rest well today. We'll set off tomorrow." Li Daoqiang said with a gentle smile.
Little Dragon Girl didn't ask where they were going. She simply nodded.
She returned to her room.
Li Daoqiang sat in thought for a long while, hesitating.
This matter would inevitably spread from the Mongol Yuan. Should he push it further, making it a common understanding in the jianghu?
After a few moments of hesitation, he dismissed the thought.
If Little Dragon Girl was unwilling, even if the whole world believed she was his wife, it wouldn't sway her.
And it might drive Yang Guo to rush over and question her.
Now wasn't the time. Slowly.
It was time to arrange things for Yang Guo—let him busy himself with his own affairs.
The Jin Kingdom was the best place.
With that decided, he sent a voice transmission to Kou Zhong.
'Send a letter to Bi Xuan. Tell him that Wanyan Honglie's son, Wanyan Kang, and his son, Yang Guo, have grown up.
Give Bi Xuan all the information on Yang Guo.
Tell Bi Xuan not to mention me.'
"Yes." Kou Zhong immediately acknowledged.
Beneath his calm expression, his mind churned.
He glanced toward Little Dragon Girl's room, guessing at some things.
But it was none of his concern.
He set to work at once.
Li Daoqiang stopped dwelling on Yang Guo. With Bi Xuan around, and the declining Jin Kingdom facing a young talent like Yang Guo,
if Bi Xuan couldn't handle it well, he wouldn't deserve the title of Martial Sage.
This move had been planned ever since he learned certain secrets from Bi Xuan.
Now was the time to play it.
The next day arrived.
The group headed north.
But Li Daoqiang didn't hurry. He moved at a leisurely pace, as if on a sightseeing trip.
Aside from Wanwan, who understood a bit, and Little Dragon Girl, who didn't care at all, everyone else was curious about what he was up to.
Three days later.
Little Dragon Girl had fully recovered. Wanwan immediately grew eager to spar with her.
At a desolate, uninhabited spot.
The two women faced off.
"Miss Long, even though this is just a spar, weapons have no eyes. If I offend you, please forgive me," Wanwan said frankly.
Little Dragon Girl didn't overthink it. She shook her head, indicating it was fine.
Wanwan flashed a sweet, friendly smile, and her sharp Demon Annihilation Blades appeared in her hands.
(Chapter 1, more to come.)
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