“Am I? Am I all right? Do I look like I’m all right to you?” barked the city lord, suddenly acquiring a strength that came from an unknown source as he leapt up, slapping the soldier’s head, again and again. “You don’t even have the least bit of eyesight, daring to provoke just about anyone without care for their conditions. Do you know that I have just swung by the ghost gates a few times and came back?! Your mother! And to have the cheek to ask me if I’m all right after all that I’ve been through!”
As he beat the soldier, the city lord’s legs suddenly went limp, and he fell to the ground. Then, his gaze was at ease as he let out a long breath saying, “Being alive is truly great!”
Meanwhile, Ling Chuxi’s group of three had already left the city and were rushing onwards, whipping the horses to go faster as they went.
“Why did you not just kill him?” Li Shaoqiu asked Ling Chuxi as they were riding. A dignified master of the great censor Li’s family had his portrait stuck on Gu Yang City’s gates as a wanted criminal after he had almost left his life there the last time he was there. Thinking about this injustice, Li Shaoqiu couldn’t help but hold a grudge.
“Killing him is easy, but it would most definitely mean that Gu Yang City would be plunged into chaos. They are still a city at the borders of Nan Xia, after all. If anything that alarmed the border guards happened there, it would also have made it difficult for us to leave. I do not wish to waste too much time. Furthermore, if I had killed him, who would have been willing to prepare all these things for us?” Ling Chuxi said with a smile.
“When I return to the capital city, I’ll ask my old man to properly write up a report about him,” said Li Shaoqiu through gritted teeth, recovering his original looks as a rich kid.
That corrupt city lord will be dealt with sooner or later. It was just that now was not a good time to do so. When the situation had settled down, then he would slowly deal with him.
After half a month, they finally arrived at Shi Qu Town. Two huge stone lions were placed outside the broad and luxurious gate of the Ling family, creating a faint great atmosphere of might. Looking at this display, it was no less prestigious than those displays set up by ancient families with thousands of years of history.
If not for seeing the two big words reading, “Ling Manor”, Ling Chuxi almost thought that she had come to the wrong place.
She originally wanted to pass by the Ling family manor and directly rush towards the capital, but along the way, Jiang Wuhen and Li Shaoqiu were tired and the horses needed to rest. If they continued riding on, even if she could endure it, the horses would have fallen to the ground in exhaustion. No matter what, there was a need for a short break. Furthermore, she was still unable to be at ease without knowing how the Lings were doing, so in the end she finally decided to return home to take a look first.
A few guards stood flanking the gate as they looked outwards with reserved expressions. Two of them thought Ling Chuxi looked a little familiar and that she might be one of the Ling family’s own disciples. However, at this moment, their gazes contained the kind of unique confidence that only those from prestigious families had.
“And you are…” asked one of the guards as he looked at Ling Chuxi, a little excited, but yet not quite daring to believe his suspicions.
“I am Ling Chuxi,” Ling Chuxi said with a smile.
“Miss! It really is you. It really is you!” cried the two young disciples who were by the gate. They were so excited that their faces were red. Suddenly, with a turn, they ran into the courtyard and loudly shouted, “Miss has returned! Miss has returned!”
“What?! Chuxi has returned?!” rang out Ling Yuanhong’s delighted voice from inside the courtyard.
Although the Ling family could not be considered to be as large as an actual noble family, the number of their family members were still numerous, and although there were naturally quite a few girls about the same age as Ling Chuxi, Ling Yuanhong could guess who it was just from the excitement contained in the guards’ voices. This surprised Ling Chuxi.
However, she did not know that currently in the Ling family, this form of address was reserved especially for her. When the people of the Ling family mentioned the daughters belonging the younger generation, they were all called third miss, fifth miss, seventh miss and so on. Only when they mentioned her was the respected term, Miss, used. It was as if she was the only descendent of the Ling family.
This was not a weird thing in this world. On the surface, it looked like it was due to the alliance the Ling family had made with the Lan family and was done with the intentional favor of winning over the few ancient prestigious families in the country that had assisted the Ling family to be able to speedily rise in stature during this period of time. However, who amongst the Ling family themselves did not know that it was all just because of Ling Chuxi? Not only were the juniors in the family greatly respectful towards Ling Chuxi, even the various elders were proud of her as well.