“Why did the Ming Kingdom not retaliate against the war? What I mean is, if they were worried that the citizens would suffer casualties, they could definitely hire mercenary warriors. Wouldn’t that at least be better than not resisting at all?” Yue Yang really wanted to ask what Yi Nan’s Aunt was thinking.

“Regardless of whether it is Her Highness or the Valley Mistress, both of them are very kind and tolerant. They don’t like to fight wars. In their hearts, no matter whether it is a peasant or a hired mercenary, they are all human lives. You’re still too young to understand their love and care for life. In their hearts, human life is the most important thing to them. As for their country, glory and gold, all of these things are not important. We, the b.u.t.terflies and Hundred Flowers Clans, did not create the country for prestige. Rather, it is to better preserve the legacy of the clan throughout generations… Since both generations are going to be annihilated, the country isn’t important any longer. We’ll just leave the matters of dissolution or invasion to other people. Since we can’t manage it, then we might as well let our hands go. If there is no people, then why would we need that much land to do things?” The answer from Yi Nan’s aunt shocked Yue Yang.

Yue Yang never expected Yi Nan’s aunt to say this.

If it was another person, Yue Yang might have thought that the other person was a hypocrite.

However, when Yi Nan’s aunt, as well as Fourth Mother who was sitting beside her said these, Yue Yang suddenly felt that this was very reasonable. If it was a person like Fourth Mother who cared deeply about relations.h.i.+ps, he believed that she would govern the country in the same way. This was because people like Fourth Mother were kind by nature and did not have any desire to fight at all! They were used to resigning themselves to fate… It would be strange if they wanted to resist!

Yue Yang really wanted to ask about the ident.i.ty of the pitiful guy’s blood mother, but he was also afraid that the pitiful guy had known this long ago. He would be exposed if that were the case.

Moreover, the old fox, Xia Hou Wei Lie, Ye Kong, Fatty Hai and the others were also present. Even if he asked, it might not be a convenient place for answers.

“Since that’s the case, if you need us kids to be your runner or anything, you can tell us.” Of course, Yue Yang acted as an obedient child, trying as best as he could to leave a good impression in front of Yi Nan’s aunt. It could be seen that Yi Nan’s aunt paid great attention to Yi Nan’s future. Otherwise, she would not personally come here, or even wait for Yue Yang to wake up before asking him questions.

“You’re all just little kids. As long as you don’t forget to cultivate, it’s fine if you play around to your heart’s content.” Yi Nan’s aunt laughed. “I’m not here to hire you as labour. I only heard that Yi Nan gave her necklace to you, so I wanted to see you.”

“Ah, I didn’t know at that time that she was… That time, she said that she would introduce her little sister to me. Does Yi Nan have a little sister?” Yue Yang asked while acting as if he knew nothing.

“She didn’t. She was an only child. It was not easy for us to protect her, too. She’s shy and did not dare to say the truth in front of you. Both the b.u.t.terfly and the Hundred Flowers’ Clan’s new generation had all withered away. A few days ago, I found out that Ah Xian was actually a descendant of the Hundred Flowers Clan. Now we have flourished and brought up two girls. I am deeply gratified. I have never imagined that the Hundred Flower’s Clan would have descendants, it was really a blessing from the heavens. A male descendant like you is very rare, you are the only one from both the b.u.t.terflies and the Hundred Flowers Clan this hundred years past.” Yue Yang immediate sweated profusely upon Yi Nan’s aunt’s words. He thought, what kind of infertility did they have in their clans? No wonder they didn’t even want their own country anymore, they didn’t even have a male descendant to continue their bloodline.

But they chose females as monarchs, so whether or not they have male successors wouldn’t matter that much to them right?

Yue Yang’s imagination ran wild, but he still couldn’t understand.

Yi Nan’s aunt did not specify if she wanted Yue Yang and Yi Nan to do something, she only wanted Yue Yang to spare some time and go to the Valley of b.u.t.terflies and Hundred Flowers to meet the Valley Mistress, and that it would be better if they could bring Fourth Mother, Yue Bing and Yue Shuang.

Then, she went on a long conversation with Fourth Mother in a language that Yue Yang didn’t understand, looking at Yue Yang at times, as if their conversation topic was somehow related to himself.

Someone walked in with big strides from the courtyard outside. A voice as loud as gongs resounded thunderously before the person even walked in, “This dilapidated White Stone City is even worse than the place my servants came from. There’s not a single good places to visit, I’m almost bored to death! I say, Fourth Mistress, is your Xiao-san still sleeping? Not even pigs will sleep that long! Does he somehow know that I am coming, that’s why he is hiding himself and refusing to meet me? This is definitely not the way of a hero, I dislike this kind of shameless coward the most…”

Outside the door, a heroic looking man that looked like Zhang Fei strode in. He had an enormous build, around 2 metres tall. His strode was full of energy.

(s.h.i.+ro: Zhang Fei is one of the most well-known heroes in Ancient China History – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Fei)

When he came in, his head knocked against the lintel of the door.

A loud bang and a huge tremor ensued.

He had almost knocked the whole door over, but he simply rubbed his forehead, as if nothing had happened. He came in, grumbling about house the Yue Clan’s door was simply too small instead of acknowledging that he wasn’t careful enough when he entered just now, “I say, Fourth Mistress, your house architecture is really bad. When you build this house, how could you not build a good door? How do guests enter your house then?”

Yue Yang immediately laughed out when he heard this, “It’s because our family has no power! If we were born royalty, guests would need to bow their heads when they enter the room. If it’s that way, there wouldn’t be a problem even if our door is small.”

When that Zhang Fei-looking hero heard this, he immediately shook his head and lectured Yue Yang, “Brat, what do you understand? Having the strongest fist is the most important thing. What use could a s.h.i.+tty royal status would have? If you want others to be afraid of you, you must become a strong warrior. If your fists are stronger than anyone’s, everyone would be afraid of you and would bow their heads to you. This logic, let alone the relatives of the royal family, even if it is the Emperor himself, the same logic still applies… Isn’t Jun Wu You the Emperor of your country? He is the Emperor of one of the Three Great Kingdoms, the sovereign of his country. How cool does that sound? But when he sees me, he still had to call me ‘Big Brother’! Do you know why? It’s because my fists are stronger than his. If he didn’t call me ‘Big Brother’, I will pummel him. Have you understood my logic? I say, that’s the way of the world!”

“Listen to him speak, brother Hai. Didn’t he say he wouldn’t show off in front of the younger generation just now? Seems like he’s the ‘Big Brother’ now, although he’s the second amongst the three Thousand Years Old Old Men. When did he even become the ‘Big Brother’, why haven’t I heard about it?” At the door, the Da Xia Emperor, Jun Wu You, old man Yue Hai and two other middle-aged men walked in as they chattered.

Yue Yang also noticed that the two other middle-aged men did not seem like ordinary people. One of them looked like a ferocious looking lion while the other looked like an obscure leopard.

Although he did not recognise them, but the strength of these two were probably not any weaker than the eagle-eyed Xia Hou Wei Lie.

If they were compared to the rankers in the Yue Clan Castle, they might perhaps be slightly weaker than Yue Shan, but they were definitely a few notches stronger than 2nd Uncle Yue Ling… Now that Yue Yang thought about the subst.i.tute Clan Master Yue Shan’s presence and demeanor again, he felt that something was a little bit off… This Yue Shan shouldn’t have a strength that was stronger than a Level 6 [Elder], yet Yue Yang couldn’t see through him at that time. Now that he thought about it again, there really was something strange about Yue Shan!

If there was a chance, he would definitely need to investigate Yue Shan thoroughly. He gave Yue Yang a bad feeling. As for Yue Ling, it didn’t matter. A mere [Elder] could be directly ignored!

Seeing Elder Yue Hai and Jun Wu You entering the house, Fourth Mother hurriedly stood up and bowed.

Jun Wu You waved his hands casually, signalling to her that formalities were not needed. Then, he walked over and sat in front of the old fox’s desk. The eagle-eyed Xia Hou Wei Lie hurriedly came over to serve tea for Jun Wu You. The old fox, however, only nodded his head, still sitting in a lofty manner, putting on airs even in front of Jun Wu You.

Elder Yue Hai nodded his head towards Fourth Mother as a gesture, allowing her to get up and dispense the formality. Towards Yue Yang, he showed an expression of grat.i.tude instead.

He patted Yue Yang’s shoulders as he nodded resolutely and said, “Good boy!”

He seemed to be not very good in expressing his emotions, as he patted Yue Yang’s shoulders again, then turned around and sat beside Jun Wu You. On the contrary, the Zhang Fei-looking hero who had taught Yue Yang a lesson before suddenly shouted as he surrounded Yue Yang and scrutinized him left and right, like a farmer who had come to a bull market and was trying to choose one for his farm, that kind of excitement and enthusiasm. He pointed his huge fingers towards Yue Yang as he turned around and asked Elder Yue Hai, “Big brother Hai, is this brat your trash Xiao-san? He didn’t seem like trash… If this brat really is trash, then I’ll dig my eyes out for you…”

“Aren’t you here to pick a fight? If you want to praise him, go and wait in line, there’s still a long line of people who wanted to praise him. It’s not your turn yet!” The old fox was angry at Yue Yang for not amusing him just now, so he took the opportunity to incite the Zhang Fei-looking hero.

“Man, I would have forgotten if you hadn’t mention it. I am really angry now that you mentioned it!” The Zhang Fei-looking hero immediately became furious as he grabbed Yue Yang’s sleeves.

“Beat him up, just beat him up mercilessly! You don’t have to mind me at all!” The old fox poured oil to his fire.

“You can’t slap him, because older sister Luo Hua would be able to see it easily. If she felt sorry for him, Second Uncle, you’ll be in great trouble. You should just give him a few punches at places where she wouldn’t see. Otherwise you can just strip off his pants and spank his b.u.t.t. That way, even if you beat him up mercilessly, he wouldn’t dare to complain against older sister Luo Hua. I guarantee that this idea will definitely work!” Princess Qian Qian was angry at Yue Yang for refuting her IOU just now, hence she tried very hard to instill some rotten ideas into the Zhang Fei-looking hero. Seemed like she had a close relations.h.i.+p with this fellow.

“With my G.o.d-like, natural strength, wouldn’t this brat vomit blood if I throw him a few punches?” The Zhang Fei-looking hero’s fists looked strong indeed. He gave others a fright when he swung it around.

“How could it be? That brat’s skin is extremely thick, he had a strong tolerance for beating!” The old fox had almost added that Yue Yang’s bones was made of iron.

“Then I wouldn’t stand on courtesy anymore. If I have an anger that’s burdening my heart, it really won’t be quenched until I beat up someone.” The Zhang Fei-looking hero was about to send a blow with his iron-hard fist towards Yue Yang’s stomach when Yue Yang suddenly shouted, “Stop!”

Yue Yang’s shout immediately surprised the Zhang Fei-looking hero. It was as if he didn’t understand why Yue Yang had shouted for him to stop.

He felt that beating Yue Yang was the most righteous thing to do right now. Yue Yang should have allowed him to beat him up, if he refused, that would really be a disgraceful thing to do.

He asked in confusion, “What do you mean stop? Did you mean that I shouldn’t beat you up?”

Yue Yang immediately revealed his suns.h.i.+ne-like smile and nodded resolutely, “Of course you reserved the right to beat me up. However, why would such a virtuous, prestigious, honest, talented and most-respected elder like you want to beat me up? Everyone here knows that you have always been a kindhearted, benevolent, full of wisdom, courageous, filial to your elders, religious, a person who kept his promises, polite, highly educated, an elder worthy to be an example for the younger generation, upright, just, and although you have a G.o.d-like power, you have always been very modest and humble about it. Furthermore, you detest it if the strong bullies the weak. Having such an indomitable strong warrior like you as an elder is this younger one’s blessing and fortune. How could you be incited by that old cunning fox’s words? Could it be that you would allow those old cunning fox’s words, that even a three year old kid could see that he was trying to wedge a distance between us, affect your reputation? I think that is definitely not going to happen!”

When the Zhang Fei-looking hero heard this, he immediately let Yue Yang go.

Seeing that Yue Yang’s sleeves were a little crumpled, he also helped him straightened them as he nodded, full of pretentiousness, “You are right! I just wanted to test your courage and insight just now. Now, I realized that although your abilities are lacking, but you have superb insight and bravery. You seem to be a talented kid. As for others trying to drive a wedge between us, don’t worry, I’m the wise and mighty Eastern Sky King, how could I not have realized it? You definitely don’t have to worry about that! I, the Eastern Sky King, had always been upright and just. Rest a.s.sured, I will definitely not beat you up. Although I have a G.o.d-like power, I will definitely not use violence!”

The old cunning fox’s head immediately fell to the ground the moment he heard it.

He had seen people who liked to hear praises and bootlicking, but he had never seen an…IDIOT who liked to hear praises and bootlicking!

Princess Qian Qian’s forehead was also filled with black lines of frowns. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was an elder, she was prepared to splash his face with hot tea so that this idiot could sober up.

“Idiot, you were swindled and you even helped the cheater to count his money! That brat had even kidnapped your daughter, why are you still talking bulls.h.i.+t reasoning with him!” The old cunning fox almost died of anger. He had initially thought that Yue Yang would somewhat be taught a lesson, but right now, it seems like there wouldn’t be such a possibility.

“Right! Why would I reason with a brat!” The Zhang Fei-looking Eastern Sky King furiously raised his fists, poised to pummel Yue Yang to the ground.

“It’s alright if you don’t want to reason with me, but you are a highly respected elder, you should probably not treat a good person unjustly, right? Why do you want to beat me?” Yue Yang asked, calm and unruffled in the midst of the chaos.

“That… You have completely made me confused, but there’s definitely a reason for me to beat you up. Wait for me until I beat you up to my heart’s content first, then I’ll explain the reasons to you slowly!” The Eastern Sky King felt like he was definitely right, it was just that when Yue Yang asked him about it, he became a little confused and couldn’t remember the reason for wanting to beat this brat up.

“What will you do if you have actually accused me wrongly? Would you allow me to beat you back?” Yue Yang retorted.

“Of course not! I’m a magnificent Tian Luo King, I’m also your elder. It’s my right to beat you up, it’s also reasonable for me not to beat you up. If I beat you up wrongly, then it’s your own bad luck!” Eastern Sky King stated clearly that he would definitely not allow Yue Yang to beat him back, no matter if he had beaten him wrongly or not.

“You are indeed a most-respected elder, these words couldn’t be any truer!” Yue Yang smiled resolutely as he gave the Eastern Sky King a thumbs up, praising him. Finally when the Eastern Sky King was cheerful, Yue Yang asked in a cold tone, “Elder, we have never met nor knew each other before, but you have been shouting and rampaging around the moment you barged into the room. Furthermore, you did this even in front of so many witness. If no one is here, you would have probably killed my whole family too! Is this how you behaved as a King and as a respected elder?!”

“I… I’m an old friend of your grandfather’s, we’ve been friends more than a hundred years. How could I do such a thing! These words of yours are practically slandering me!” The Eastern Sky Emperor’s anger blew through the roof.

“I see. This junior was mistaken. I ask for the forgiveness of the open-minded, forgiving, generous and lenient King.” Although Yue Yang’s sleeves were grabbed by the Eastern Sky King, he still managed to cup his hands and bowed politely.

“It’s nothing much… My benevolence is as wide as the oceans, I forgive your sins!” The Eastern Sky King would immediately smile ears-to-ears and be pleased with himself the moment he heard bootlickings.

“He’s a liar, he kidnaps your daughter…” The old cunning fox hurriedly reminded him.

“You liar! How dare you kidnap my precious daughter? See if I don’t beat you to death!” The Eastern Sky King immediately become hostile again, raising his fists up high.

“You say that I kidnapped your daughter?” Yue Yang asked suspiciously.

“That’s right.” Eastern Sky King was 100% sure.

“Kidnapping women and children and selling them as slaves is definitely a great sin, it must be punished severely. This point, I definitely support your view. But did you see it with your own eyes? Did you find you daughter in this house?” Yue Yang asked, turning the Zhang Fei-looking hero speechless once again. Where would he find the evidence? He had only heard about it.

“Idiot, he didn’t kidnap and sell your daughter. He only stole your daughter’s body and heart! He’s an ungrateful, fickle-minded lad. A casanova! He’s an unfaithful b.a.s.t.a.r.d who is determined to live a hedonistic life. What are you waiting for instead of beating him up?” The old fox was anxious. With the old fox’s words, the Eastern Sky King raised his fists once again. This time, he was determined to pummel Yue Yang to the ground no matter what Yue Yang would say.

“Wait, before you beat me to death, I would like to know your daughter’s name. Otherwise, I wouldn’t die in peace.” Yue Yang exhaled slowly.

“My darling daughter is obviously the most obedient, most beautiful, most adorable little Luo Hua! She was deceived by you, right now she has gone back to her Flower Garden and coop herself in there, crying night and day. She’s practically was.h.i.+ng her face with tears. It’s my right to beat you up black and blue!” When the Eastern Sky King said this, Yue Yang immediately burst into cold sweat. How could a fellow like him have a daughter like Luo Hua? Seems like Luo Hua City Mistress’ excellent genes had all come from her mother, otherwise she would definitely become a barbaric woman!

“This is a misunderstanding! I’m actually Luo Hua City Mistress’ Personal Guard…” Yue Yang hurriedly made an expression that he was on the Eastern Sky King’s side. He had even said resolutely, “Although I haven’t received my salary yet, I could honestly tell you that I have started work for half a month!”

“Personal Guard?” The Eastern Sky King was stunned, “You are my little Luo Hua’s Personal Guard?”

“She had requested me to be her Personal Guard long before, when we were trying to get the Beautiful Demonic Flower from the Hanging Pavilion in the Third Floor of Tong Tian Tower. However, I still had some pocket money then, so I had rejected her politely and did not accept her job offer. But you know me, I’m an extremely soft-hearted person, especially towards girls. I told her that I will consider it, I didn’t reject it completely. It was because I was afraid that your daughter would be sad. However, of course, your precious daughter was a reasonable person, a person who respects other’s wishes like you. She didn’t force me to be her Personal Guard.” The Eastern Sky King immediately let Yue Yang go when he heard his explanation, helping him to straighten his sleeves once again. Yue Yang mentioned his thanks before he continued to explain, “Afterwards, I went to the Despair Abyss in order to gather Starlight Serene Indigo Gra.s.s. I remembered that Luo Hua City Mistress was someone who loves flowers, so I invited her to gather some with me… A lot happened afterwards. Seeing that Luo Hua City Mistress was really sincere, I had agreed to be her Personal Guard afterwards. She even agreed when I stated my conditions, ‘Overtime pay will be twice the salary per hour and no work on holidays and public holidays’. Do you know that she was just like you, a kindhearted person who was really considerate to others… She went home to cry? She shouldn’t be. She did not even cry when she was doing that with me, why would she cry when she came home?”

“What did you do WITH HER?” The Eastern Sky Emperor almost exploded when he heard it. He almost wanted to strangle him to death.

“Roasting fis.h.!.+ I was roasting fish with her in Cloud Peak Lake, but she put too much salt on the fish. I criticised her a little, but she didn’t cry at all at that time. I thought she wouldn’t cry when she go home, but who would know…” Yue Yang shook his hands, acknowledging his mistake.

“You scared me… So it’s only roasting fis.h.!.+” Eastern Sky King patted his chest loudly, happy that nothing happened.

“It’s not only roasting fish, we had also done…” Yue Yang had not finished speaking when the Eastern Sky King immediately raised him up to the air, looking extremely fierce, as if he wanted to swallow Yue Yang whole.

“What else have you done to her?”

“Make a flower crown… You also knew that your daughter loves flowers the most. I had created a flower crown that really suit her. She was even more beautiful under the starlight. Her charm is second to none! Especially when she was not wearing…” Yue Yang stopped halfway when he said this.

“She, what did she not wear?” The Eastern Sky King started to cry. This time it’s the end, his precious daughter did not wear any clothes, what else could have happened? It’s the end, it’s the end!

“She wasn’t wearing any…shoes. She had soaked those small and exquisite legs of hers in the lake. Under the sparkling starlight, the view was simply magnificent. I had almost wanted to recite a poem to appreciate the moment, it’s a pity that my literature is lacking. Furthermore, I was also bewitched by her ethereal beauty, her beauty was that kind of beauty that could shake heaven and earth, like a G.o.ddess descent, it was so indescribable that I couldn’t write a poem to describe her. Eh, why are you crying?” The Eastern Sky King hurriedly wiped his tears and revealed a smile when Yue Yang asked him.

“I didn’t cry, it’s happy tears! You are really little Luo Hua’s Personal Guard?” The Eastern Sky King patted Yue Yang’s shoulders intimately.

“It’s my honor. How could I lie to you?” Yue Yang puffed his chest up, looking extremely proud.

“You really didn’t do anything to her?” The Eastern Sky King asked.

“What could I do to her? Princess Qian Qian, that tigress, was also there at that time. If you don’t believe me, just go and ask her!” Yue Yang pointed at Princess Qian Qian who was laughing secretly. Princess Qian Qian saw Yue Yang glaring at her, as if saying “If you really say it, then I’ll also say your secret. Let’s just all die together.”. She spat out her tongue and humphed, turned around and refused to look at him. However, her ears were p.r.i.c.ked up, listening to him tricking the Eastern Sky King.

“Why don’t you say it earlier!” The Eastern Sky King was about to faint. Two girls, one guy, and the two girls were even rivals in love. It’s not one guy and one girl alone. Wasn’t he worried for nothing then?

Jun Wu You and the others pretended not to hear anything, but they were secretly laughing until their stomachs hurt.

They never thought that the Eastern Sky King who was nicknamed the “Fiery Barbarian Bull” could actually be led by the nose by his junior Yue Yang. He couldn’t unleash his exploding fiery temper, and had even almost fainted to the ground from Yue Yang’s words.

This fellow had even said that he would definitely be able to beat this cunning little brat up just now. He had finally eaten his own words now!

Seeing that the Eastern Sky King couldn’t even get angry anymore, Fourth Mother was not pleased. She rebuked Yue Yang and ordered him to apologize immediately, “You are really naughty. What are you doing instead of apologizing to the Eastern Sky King? There’s no business for you kids to be here, all of you just go out and play. We still need to discuss a few things…”

Princess Qian Qian gestured at Yue Yang to go outside, she had something to tell him.

If it was only her, Yue Yang would ignore her. This tigress had spent all her efforts to play tricks against him, he had not punished her for that! However, his elder cousin Yue Yu had also stood up and whispered in Yue Yang’s ears, “Those subordinates of yours who partic.i.p.ated in Fourth Mother’s rescue, they were all almost annihilated. Only one was left and she was also gravely injured. I’m afraid she wouldn’t live until tomorrow. She wants to see you before she die!”

Subordinates? When in the world did he have subordinates?

Yue Yang was perplexed.