The Little Kitten Spills the Truth, Dai Mubai Clings to Life and Fears Death
"You don't even have a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins? Tsk, tsk, tsk. And here you are, the second young miss of the Nether Duke's Mansion."
"But come to think of it, when your sister Zhu Zhuyun got engaged to Dai Weisi, she received a top-grade Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone as a betrothal gift. When you got engaged to Dai Mubai, did you get a top-grade Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone as a betrothal gift too?"
Hearing that she had no money to pay the ransom, Li Wuyou looked at Zhu Zhuqing with disgust, then turned to a very interesting question.
Since he had already taken Zhu Zhuyun's money for her life, he was in no hurry to pursue Zhu Zhuyun and her servant.
It wasn't that he was magnanimous enough to let Zhu Zhuyun go, but that she simply couldn't stir up any waves.
In the original story's Soul Master Tournament, the Star Luo Royal Academy, represented by Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun, had been defeated outright by Shrek Academy, where Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing were students.
After all, Shrek Academy had that Little Scumbag God King Tang, the hundred-thousand-year-old rogue rabbit Xiao Wu in human form, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's little princess Ning Rongrong, and Oscar, a genius food-type Soul Master with Innate Full Soul Power.
As for Ma Hongjun?
Better not to mention him!
In the original story, if that Little Scumbag God King Tang hadn't gotten Ma Hongjun the Immortal Herb known as the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower, Ma Hongjun's strength would probably have fallen short of Tai Long's. Even the heights Ma Hongjun could have reached in the future would probably have fallen short of what Jiang Zhu and Huang Yuan could achieve.
A barnyard chicken who spent all day thinking about visiting brothels had truly squandered his talent of level-nine Innate Soul Power.
It had to be said that Spirit Hall's Golden Generation all had level-nine Innate Soul Power too.
Leaving aside that Innate Soul Power fool Feng Xiaotian, even among the core members of the four elemental academies, geniuses with level-nine Innate Soul Power were few and far between. Most had only level seven or eight.
That showed just how lousy Ma Hongjun was!
"Your Excellency Angel, I was only Dai Mubai's fiancée in name. The day news came out that Dai Tian, the emperor of the Star Luo Empire, had arranged our engagement, Dai Mubai fled the Star Luo Empire overnight. So our engagement banquet never came to anything."
"Dai Mubai himself fled the Star Luo Empire overnight. How could I have held an engagement banquet by myself? Naturally, I never received a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone from Emperor Dai Tian of the Star Luo Empire as a betrothal gift."
The man across from her came from Spirit Hall's Angel Clan, and he had already learned much of the inside story, so Zhu Zhuqing couldn't be bothered to hide anything, much less cover up for that coward Dai Mubai.
The reason she was Dai Mubai's fiancée in name rather than his true fiancée was naturally that Dai Mubai was a coward who feared death. Back then, he had simply abandoned her and fled the Star Luo Empire alone.
And because of what Dai Mubai had done, she had not only lost all face throughout the Star Luo Empire, but her own father had also become utterly disappointed in Dai Mubai. She herself had fallen out of favor as a result, completely losing hope of competing for the throne. That was why her elder sister Zhu Zhuyun had been left free to suppress her relentlessly for years, even offering her a chance to cling to life on the condition that she become Dai Weisi's concubine and share a husband with her sister.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Zhu Zhuqing, being saddled with that cowardly piece of trash Dai Mubai has really been hard on you all these years!"
"But come to think of it, Dai Mubai fled the Star Luo Empire overnight. Why didn't you ever think of breaking off your engagement to that cowardly piece of trash?"
"If you'd made a clean break with that coward Dai Mubai, I doubt you'd have ended up in such a poor and miserable state, would you?"
After saying that, Li Wuyou couldn't help shaking his head.
He couldn't resist stroking his chin, lost in thought, his face full of interest in the gossip about the Star Luo Imperial Family and the Nether Duke's Mansion.
Li Wuyou's eyes sparkled. He looked for all the world like an onlooker sitting in a teahouse, eating melon as he listened to the melodramatic farce between the Star Luo Imperial Family and the Nether Duke's Mansion.
He was someone who enjoyed a good spectacle, so wasn't it normal for him to eat melon and watch the show?
"Your Excellency Angel, you come from Spirit Hall's Angel Clan, and your clan is the greatest power on the continent. Naturally, you wouldn't have those disputes between imperial families and nobles, and no one would dare force you to do anything."
"But I'm only a level-twenty-seven Soul Grandmaster. Even if I am the second young miss of the Star Luo Empire's Nether Duke's Mansion, the fact remains that an arm can't twist a thigh. Naturally, I couldn't defy Dai Tian, the emperor of the Star Luo Empire."
"Dai Tian of the Star Luo Empire personally arranged my engagement to Dai Mubai and announced it at court in front of everyone. Even though Dai Mubai fled the Star Luo Empire overnight, Emperor Dai Tian couldn't slap his own face by simply withdrawing the engagement decree."
"As the saying goes, once an imperial decree is issued, the words from the golden mouth are as precious as jade. If Emperor Dai Tian canceled the engagement himself, wouldn't that be the same as telling the whole continent that Dai Mubai, the Star Luo Imperial Family's third prince, had fled his marriage because he clung to life and feared death? Where would that leave the Star Luo Imperial Family's dignity? Emperor Dai Tian would rather leave that marriage contract hanging, trapping me in this cage of an empty title, than relent and cancel the engagement."
When Zhu Zhuqing finished speaking, a feeling of weakness swept through her body.
If she had a choice, she too would have wanted to break off her engagement to that cowardly piece of trash Dai Mubai. After all, wouldn't it be better to live a peaceful, stable life?
But the problem was that Dai Tian, emperor of the Star Luo Empire, would not agree.
And her own father, the Nether Duke, would never confront Dai Tian, emperor of the Star Luo Empire, head-on for her sake, not when he had his exalted standing in the empire to protect.
As far as her father, the Nether Duke, was concerned, his own daughter was nowhere near as important as his exalted standing in the Star Luo Empire. Besides, she wasn't his only daughter.
Even if she died, her sister Zhu Zhuyun could still become the Star Luo Empire's crown princess and, in the future, its empress. Her father, the Nether Duke, could still rely on Zhu Zhuyun to maintain his exalted standing in the Star Luo Empire.
Dai Tian, emperor of the Star Luo Empire, would save face.
Her sister Zhu Zhuyun would become a winner in life.
Her father, the Nether Duke, would also preserve his exalted standing in the Star Luo Empire.
They would all benefit; they would all be winners in life. Zhu Zhuqing alone would be the sacrifice.
Zhu Zhuyun: "You want to live? That's easy. Just marry Dai Weisi as his concubine, won't that do?"
"So that's how it is!"
"I understand!"
Li Wuyou nodded and stroked his chin, paying no attention to Zhu Zhuqing, whose tear-streaked face was like a rain-drenched pear blossom.
Was this woman trying to use his sympathy to get out of paying the hundred-thousand-Gold-Soul-Coin ransom?
But come to think of it, now that Zhu Zhuqing had spilled the truth herself, he had finally cleared up many things from the original story that he hadn't been able to understand.
He had wondered why, after Dai Mubai fled the Star Luo Empire that very night, no one had caught and brought him back even after who knew how many years, and why Zhu Zhuqing still hadn't broken off her engagement to that piece of trash Dai Mubai. As it turned out, there had been so many twists and turns behind it all.