Chapter 44: The Truth Revealed

The Lu family's residence on Fortune Street, though small and exquisite, was a world unto itself. Even Madam Xu of Qingfeng City, known for her discerning taste, found it to be an epitome of clever design, leaving nothing to be desired. In a waterside pavilion overlooking the lake, the woman, having successfully acquired Liu’s treasured Carapace Armor, was radiant with delight. Relaxing against the railing, her mood was so buoyant that even Lu Zhengchun, standing like a bothersome fly on the pavilion steps, seemed less irritating.

Her son, clad in a scarlet robe, stood on a long bench, tossing fish food into the small lake. Nearly a hundred red-backed carp jostled for the morsels, creating a rolling crimson wave – a rather spectacular sight.

The woman instructed Lu Zhengchun, “You needn't linger here. Once matters are settled, you shall accompany us to Qingfeng City. Not only will my husband accept you as a personal disciple, but he will also grant your grandfather's somewhat unreasonable request, ensuring that you one day ascend to the Middle Five Realms. Understand that such a promise is invaluable, which proves your grandfather is an old fox."

At this, the woman chuckled to herself, "In my view, had your grandfather been at the helm of the Lu Clan, the dynasty might not have collapsed so swiftly. Even Song Changjing, the overly proud Prince of Dali, openly admitted that your Lu clan was partially responsible for his one-year achievement of subjugating the country. Of course, your branch of the Lu family here in this small town wasn't so fortunate, for fortune is never shared, but misfortune is always shared among the Lu clan. So we are giving you a golden opportunity that one in a million gets. Do not miss it."

Lu Zhengchun bowed deeply, his hands clasped high above his head in gratitude, "Lu Zhengchun will never forget Madam Xu's immense kindness. Upon arriving in the renowned Qingfeng City, I shall serve Madam Xu as a beast of burden. And I swear, I will be loyal to Madam alone!"

Madam Xu of Qingfeng City smiled charmingly, her eyes narrowed, and said softly, "Such heartfelt words, don't let my husband, your future master, hear them. Or perhaps you can repeat them before him then?"

Perhaps because he had kneeled before Liu Xianyang in Mud Alley, Lu Zhengchun no longer harbored any resentment toward such matters. Upon hearing the woman's ruthless words, he immediately prostrated himself, his body pressed against the top of the steps outside the pavilion, and said in a trembling voice, "Lu Zhengchun would never forget his roots!"

The woman smiled, casually waved her hand, and began to dismiss him, "Alright, rise. Once in Qingfeng City, cultivation will consume most of your time. Time will reveal whether you forget your origins."

Lu Zhengchun retreated from the pavilion, only turning around slowly after descending the steps. This once-powerful playboy of the small town seemed never to have straightened his back before the woman.

Outside the small town, the Lu Clan, the ruling family of a great dynasty, suffered greatly after being severely wounded by the Dali border army, falling into a slump and struggling to recover in the short term. From top to bottom, the direct line, collateral branches, and distant relatives of the Lu Clan had to behave cautiously.

Otherwise, with the resources and prestige of Qingfeng City, they would never dare to take over the Lu family's residence in the small town and order the Lu Clan's disciples around. Even if it were the master and servant from Zhengyang Mountain, it would still be a challenge.

Now that the Lu Clan was stranded in shallow waters, facing difficult times, they had no choice but to humble themselves.

The red-robed boy scoffed, "Truly a born lackey with the soul of a slave. Mother, why did you accept such trash? You don't actually plan to have my father accept him as a disciple, do you? And even promise him a place in the Middle Five Realms? The Middle Five Realms? What is so special about him anyway?"

The woman smiled gently, "Although Lu Zhengchun is repulsive, he is not without merit. His talent is ordinary, so it will be the greatest luck for him to be accepted as an external disciple. But in the end, this young man is just a small addition to that big deal and cannot make any big waves. As for the appearance, Mother promises so much to the Lu Clan in the small town, allowing those royal relatives of the Lu Clan who fled for their lives and the golden branches and jade leaves to take refuge and settle in Qingfeng City, and Qingfeng City will treat them with courtesy and treat them as honored guests. Even a large area will be specially divided in the city as the private territory of the Lu Clan, with a term of one hundred years."

After throwing all the fish food, the boy suddenly ran out of the pavilion, picked up a large handful of stones, and then lay on the railing, throwing stones at the carp, enjoying himself. He turned his head and said, "Mother, isn't our search for the Carapace Armor in the small town a pretext, a smokescreen for our Xu family in Qingfeng City to take control of the Lu Clan? After all, a centipede dies but never falls down, and the Lu Clan's mighty pack of stray dogs, I heard that the number of royal family members alone is more than 3,000. Coupled with eunuch servants and fallen officials who are unwilling to rely on Dali's Song family, it is very helpful to increase the popularity of our Qingfeng City." In this way, is this the real hub for the Lu Clan's information operation now?

The woman smiled happily, "Being able to think of this level shows that my son is very smart, but you are still wrong."

The boy frowned, waiting for the answer.

The woman blinked, "That Carapace Armor has secrets. In short, it is no less than that Sword Manual."

The boy threw a stone hard, hitting the back of a carp, and blood splattered. The poor carp flapped the water frantically.

The boy's eyes were fiery, "My father is best at attacking. The power is no less than that of Dali's Song Changjing. It's a pity that he has always been troubled by his weak constitution, and he is most afraid of opponents who use rogue tactics to trade injuries for injuries with him, which is why he cannot make a name for himself and has become a laughing stock. Mother, can my father be fully equipped to attack and defend after obtaining this armor? Can he compete with that Song Changjing?"

The woman still shook her head.

The red-robed boy slammed the railing hard, with an angry look on his face: "Don't play riddles with me!"

He grinned, choosing someone to eat, like a young tiger.

The woman never felt that there was anything wrong with her son yelling in front of her. After all, her son was born and received a very high evaluation from a master, "With the appearance of a tiger and a wolf, he has the qualifications of a leader."

The woman patiently explained: "After your father gets the treasure armor, once he understands it, he will be able to go further. Why do you need defense? It is enough to subdue the enemy with one force, crush the enemy in one go."

The boy laughed heartily and was extremely happy, "Kill, kill, kill, then let my father start killing from inside our Qingfeng City! The disgusting things done by our own people are the most disgusting!"

After laughing, the boy quickly calmed down and suddenly remembered something and asked, "Mother, you are playing Zhengyang Mountain like a monkey. Aren't you afraid that the stupid ape will suddenly come to his senses and attack us after leaving the small town? There is one more thing that I have never understood. Since that man surnamed Liu already had a porcelain doll, he had excellent bones, plus he had the treasure armor and the Sword Manual, such a treasure is rare. Even I have to admit that I need to pay attention to him, so why is the porcelain buyer unwilling to show up, so that mother can fish in troubled waters and let the old ape from Zhengyang Mountain help us solve the mess? After he punched Liu Xianyang to death, everything was clean, and Zhengyang Mountain would bear the great trouble, and as for our Qingfeng City, we would have great room to maneuver."

The woman said confidently, "The old ape from Zhengyang Mountain, who is thousands of years old, does not have a good brain, but he is not stupid enough to be played by his mother at will. In fact, he has already guessed that his mother borrowed a knife to kill someone. Why is the old ape willing to pinch his nose and jump into the trap himself? The reason is more complicated. There is both the self-confidence of Zhengyang Mountain that he is not afraid of getting into trouble, and an unknown inside story, you don't have to worry about these for now."

The woman pondered and combed her thoughts again, trying to find loopholes to avoid endless troubles.

Liu Xianyang's porcelain buyer used to be a force that strongly supported the Lu family dynasty. After the dynasty was overthrown, he lost everything. Before that, it was indeed the top clan in the mundane dynasty. Otherwise, after confirming Liu Xianyang's sword embryo qualifications, he would still be able to spend a lot of money to keep Liu Xianyang in the small town and buy the next nine years.

After Zhengyang Mountain learned about this through some channels, they went to find that broken household and tried to buy Liu Xianyang's natal porcelain. An ancestor of Zhengyang Mountain gave a sky-high price in person. But that family took the wrong medicine and refused to let go, only saying that it had been resold to others, and as for who it was and what its origin was, they were even more tight-lipped.

After that, the puzzled Zhengyang Mountain heard that Zhengyang Mountain's deadly enemy, Fenglei Garden, seized the opportunity and took advantage of the fire to rob and get the upper hand. Naturally, that family did not dare to say to the Zhengyang Mountain Sword Immortal that they had sold the things to your enemy Fenglei Garden.

As for the matter of Liu's ancestral Carapace Armor and Sword Manual, and who leaked the news that Fenglei Garden took over Liu Xianyang's natal porcelain to Zhengyang Mountain?

Far away, right in front of you.

It was Xu of Qingfeng City, but of course it was the kind that was hiding behind the scenes.

She was also the main planner. She came to the small town in person this time and spent a huge price, so she naturally had to ensure that this deal could at least recoup the cost. Otherwise, the status of her branch in Qingfeng City would plummet and be in danger, let alone hope to take charge of Qingfeng City independently.

In fact, the small town is full of dragons and crouching tigers and should not be underestimated. Not to mention the setting sun Lu family, who is not the one in the other three major families, who is not dominating one side on the map of Dongbaoping Continent?

In fact, the real heritage of the four families and ten clans is not how many local snakes with magical powers are entrenched. These family heads and ancestors are actually destined to be unable to leave. As the saying goes, trees die when they are moved, and people die when they are moved. Unfortunately, they are already similar to the peach trees in Peach Leaf Lane and the old locust tree in the center of the small town. They will die if they are moved, and there will be no future. So they have great supernatural powers, but they cannot display them.

The heritage of these families lies in how many dragon kilns they can control and how many houses they can manage, because this will directly determine how many natal porcelains they provide to the outside world every year. Once there is a good embryo for cultivation, the porcelain buyer who bets on the treasure will also give an extra "big red envelope" if he is not too tight. In addition, it is also equivalent to the two sides forming a love, which is of course more important than nodding acquaintances.

The woman suddenly sighed to her son: "Don't underestimate anyone, even a small person like Lu Zhengchun who bends over to be a dog. Do you think that you can easily get those opportunities and treasures when you come to the small town? It's not like this. Fu Nanhua from Old Dragon City almost broke his Taoist heart, and Cai Jinjian from Yunxia Mountain has disappeared from the world and his life and death are unknown. There is also a promising junior who seemed to have a flash of inspiration at the gallery bridge and made water observations, but his state of mind was ruined, which is equivalent to being forced to make a big hole at the bottom of the heart lake, causing the lake water to drop. This kind of thing will not stop there, but will only increase in the future. Therefore, there is no carefree person on the road to cultivation."

The child thought for a while, "Be careful to sail for ten thousand years, mother, I will pay attention."

The woman nodded: "That's the best."

The child threw out the last stone and asked, "What exactly is going on with Qi Jingchun?"

The woman rarely became angry and scolded sternly: "Presumptuous! Call him Mr. Qi!"

The child was stunned, but still obediently changed his words: "Is Mr. Qi in trouble?"

The woman hesitated for a moment and said slowly: "Mr. Qi's teacher not only accompanied the sacrifice at that Confucian Temple, but was also the second on the left hand of the leader of Confucianism."

The child was dumbfounded.

Does this mean that Qi Jingchun's teacher is the fourth person in the long history of Confucianism, or Confucianism to be exact?

If someone boasts that this kind of unimaginable existence, in a fit of rage, can completely crush the largest mountain in Dongbaoping Continent with one foot, the child dare not say that he believes it all, but he will definitely be half-convinced.

The woman felt uneasy and said in a low voice: "It's just that the status of that saint among saints is now even worse than those broken idols in this small town..."

The child swallowed and asked casually: "How should Liu Xianyang's friend be dealt with?"

The woman thought for a while, "Are you talking about the orphan surnamed Chen in Mud Alley?"

The child nodded.

The woman smiled: "Didn't you also call him an ant as soon as you met him? Let them live and die on their own."