The Attack of the Wastrel

Pan Yue felt the deploring look of Gu Lingzhi on him and instantly knew that he had been recognized. Pan Yue twitched his nose and his act almost fell apart.

After all, he had done unethical things. But Ye Fei should not have dissed him just now. Any man would not be able to resist if his lover stared at him with begging eyes on his lap. Most importantly, he had a number of useful things on him but he really did not have the antidote for the drug used on Ye Fei. Back then, he could only relieve the symptoms of the drug for Ye Fei.

With that thought, the Pan Yue had disappeared and he only recalled the beautiful memories from that night. A foolish smile stretched across his face, “Yes, we are about to marry each other already. When that happens, please come and share the joy with us.” 

Marry? Gu Lingzhi’s eyebrows raised and she scanned Pan Yue with a judgemental look.

Although the Ye Family was not in the Four Great Clans of Xia Kingdom, it controlled a large portion of the economy and had a status comparable to the top four clans. Ye Fei’s father was an important figure in the family and was he really willing to marry his daughter off to a suspicious man?

It seemed that Pan Yue’s abilities exceeded her expectations.

Although she did not know how Pan Yue managed to persuade Ye Fei’s father, Gu Lingzhi knew that it was not the right time to interrogate Pan Yue. After exchanging a few more sentences, she asked why the group would be there.

“We are here to see if there is anything that we can help you with.” Qin Xinran replied to her as she scanned the surroundings. With a sigh, she said, “It seems that you do not need our help.”

“Who said so?” Gu Lingzhi laughed lightly and continued, “You are giving us the greatest gift by offering to help us already.”

Thereafter, she brought the group of excited girls into the Ronghua Palace.

When she returned previously, she had been rushing to breakthrough and hence neglected Ye Fei and her friends when she went to seclude herself in cultivation. Now that they met up again, there were many things she wanted to talk to them about.

Gu Lingzhi and her group of friends left, leaving the men behind. Yan Liang stared at Rong Yuan with hawk-like eyes. He finally found the opportunity to ask, “I want to spar with you.”

Rong Yuan’s eyes widened and he laughed, “The last retort?”

“No.” Yan Liang shook his head with all seriousness. “I need to know when I can catch up to you. If you end up bullying Lingzhi in the future, I will teach you a lesson on her behalf.”

Rong Yuan fell silent.

“Great, count me in as well.” Not waiting for Rong Yuan to reply, Xin Yi added.

“Me too!” Nie Sang called as well.

Rong Yuan pursed his lips as he stared at Nie Sang and Xin Yi. He knew that he could not avoid the sparring, however…

“You will never meet that day.” Amidst Rong Yuan’s determined expression, the group were not sure whether he was referring to the idea that they will never catch up to him, or that Rong Yuan will never bully Gu Lingzhi.

Then, Rong Yuan’s eyes shifted to the group of girls at the Ronghua Palace. A gleeful smile crossed his eyes at the sight of his beloved before he pounced towards the palace’s Fighting Grounds.

His friends had voluntarily decided to spar with him and if he rejected the sparring request, it was not considered a respectful action.

Furthermore, Gu Lingzhi was enjoying herself with her friends as she briefly explained the wedding proceedings to them. Once she learned from the guards that Rong Yuan had left with the men, she decided to head towards the Gu Family’s business at Chiyang City. If she did not take the chance to leave when Rong Yuan was distracted, she might never have the chance to do so again that day.

Gu Lingzhi’s friends did not say anything about that and they followed her back to the Gu Family manor later.

Aside from the few guards around the Ronghua Palace, only Pan Yue remained there. Disregarding the judgemental looks from Gu Lingzhi and her friends, he squeezed on the carriage that was pulled along by wildebeests to head towards the Gu Family manor.

He was a bold man considering the many years of acting that he had to put up with. He stubbornly remained in the wildebeest carriage beside Ye Fei and sighed to himself. He would be a laughing stock if he was seen leaving in a carriage with all the girls after Rong Yuan and the other men left. However, for Ye Fei, he could bear with this embarrassment!

“Forget it, if he wants to come, let him come. I just need to provide him a guest room.”

Ye Fei could only grit her teeth and tolerate Pan Yue’s presence with Gu Lingzhi disregarding him.

Not long later, the wildebeest carriage arrived at the Gu Family manor at Chiyang City.

Since there had not been any exceptional Alchemists or Weapon Forgers from the Gu Family in a few generations, the Gu Family relied heavily on its winery in recent years. This was a large business in Chiyang City.

As soon as Gu Lingzhi stepped down from the Wildebeest Carriage, a smiling Gu Chengze and Gu Ruoxun appeared to welcome her. Gu Ruoxun immediately stepped forward and pulled her hand, “Lingzhi, you have finally returned! The Great Elder had just said that if you did not return, he would send men over to get you back.”

Gu Lingzhi giggled, “Aren’t I back now?” The tribe had sent the Great Elder to replace her father at the wedding ceremony. However, it was Gu Chengze’s father, Gu Han who was in charge of the wedding preparations. As such, Gu Chengze and his sister were both there.

“But you are back late!” Gu Ruoxun said in a disapproving tone. “I know, it must be His Highness who held you back. When I went to the palace previously, I saw that he was like a hawk, watching over you. It was hard to even find time to talk with you.”

As she listened to Gu Ruoxun lamenting, Gu Lingzhi could only laugh awkwardly. She had also felt that ever since the two were engaged, Rong Yuan had been slightly overprotective of her and it was almost as if he wanted to announce to the entire world that she belonged to him. While this made her think that he was very sweet, she could not help being irritated by it.

“Alright, Xiao Xun, His Highness cares a lot about Lingzhi, you should be happy for her. Why don’t you bring her to see the Great Elder quickly? You are taking so long to complete your task.” Gu Chengze helped Gu Lingzhi out as he observed her uncomfortable smile.

However his eyes locked upon Qin Xinran who was just stepping out of the Wildebeest carriage. He passed on the duty the Great Elder had assigned him to his younger sister and his eyes shone with wonder as he stared at Qin Xinran. Gu Chengze’s mouth opened and closed multiple times before he finally stammered, “Qin- Lady Qin, long time no see. How are you?”

“Mm, long time no see.” Recalling Gu Lingzhi’s words of not giving hope to someone who crushed on her, Qin Xinran replied in a nonchalant manner. Yet, Gu Chengze still turned red with happiness from Qin Xinran’s reply.

“Qin- Lady Qin, it is late. Why don’t you stay here tonight? I will check the guest room for you.”

All of a sudden, Ye Fei cut in, “Why are you only interested in her? How about the rest of us? Are you planning to let us sleep on the carriage?”

“Of course not!” Ye Fei’s words shocked Gu Chengze to his senses and his face turned even redder.

“The Gu Clan will treat all guests of Gu Lingzhi’s wedding appropriately, you can all stay here for free.”

As Gu Chengze was occupied with settling the guests in, Gu Lingzhi met with the Great Elder.

The Great Elder sat in a wooden chair, his long, white beard fell down his chin as he stared at Gu Lingzhi with his wise eyes. Gu Lingzhi immediately bowed respectfully to him and greeted, “Greetings, Great Elder.”

“Mm, come over.” The Great Elder acknowledged as he surveyed the young lady before him. He could not imagine that the young lady who was a nobody a few years ago would become so famous so quickly. She became a Martial Teacher before turning eighteen and exposed the scheme of the North Qiu Kingdom. No one would mock Gu Lingzhi anymore and people would even speak of her name with admiration and envy.

“Great Elder, what is the matter?”

The Great Elder had not spoken a single word ever since Gu Lingzhi stepped in and this made Gu Lingzhi nervous.

Her words shocked the Great Elder to his senses and he seemed to recall something as his eyebrows raised and he began, “I heard that Gu Rong has come to Chiyang City.”

Gu Rong was here? Gu Lingzhi jumped in surprise, “Why would he be here? Is he going to attend my wedding? Didn’t he run to the North Qiu Kingdom? Isn’t it very dangerous for him here?”

A string of questions escaped Gu Lingzhi and some might even mistakenly think that she was worried for Gu Rong. However, Gu Lingzhi was clear that she had given up on Gu Rong entirely when he asked her to dissolve her engagement with Rong Yuan. Right then, Gu Lingzhi was worried over whether Gu Rong would cause trouble to the wedding.

However, the Great Elder did not know Gu Lingzhi well and he thought that Gu Lingzhi was worried about Gu Rong. A warm flash crossed the Great Elder’s eyes and he sighed, “Good child, how can you still be worried about your father now? You have to know, he……”

The Great Elder suddenly stopped as he could not bear to tell Gu Lingzhi her father’s crimes. He continued, “Since Gu Rong has betrayed the country, he is no longer our family member. The Royal Family of the North Qiu Kingdom supports him and you do not have to worry about him getting into trouble. If he shows up at the wedding tomorrow, just pretend that you do not know him and he is just any ordinary guest.”

Gu Lingzhi might be able to treat him as a regular guest. However, Gu Rong had braved all danger to head to Chiyang City from North Qiu Kingdom. Could she rest assured that Gu Rong would behave like an ordinary guest?