Inside the courtyard
The sounds of fighting in the front courtyard, Soul Power colliding, and the guards' shouts crashed into the silent main hall like thunderclaps.
"What's going on?!" Madam Lin shot to her feet, a look of shock and uncertainty appearing for the first time on her dignified face as she looked in the direction Wu Mingde had left.
Dou Congtong sprang up even faster. "Mother! Outside... are they fighting outside?"
She instinctively wanted to get up and rush out, but Madam Lin's stern gaze stopped her.
The internal affairs steward, Xiao Dongxiang, ran in and said in a grave voice, "Madam! Those people forced their way straight in. Older Sister Yidan—Aunt Fang—has already gone to stop them."
Xiao Dongxiang was Mu Jingming's wife. She, along with the two couples Wu and Fang, were all Dou Jing's household generals: one Soul Emperor and three Soul Kings.
And in Dou Manor, only the four of them knew the origins of Madam Lin and Dou Congtong. The others had all been recruited from outside.
"Forced their way in?" Madam Lin's heart sank. She took a deep breath. "Come. Let's go see!"
She straightened her lapels and stood, her expression as somber as still water, then walked toward the corridor leading to the noisy front courtyard.
She wanted to see exactly what kind of "vicious guests" dared to barge so tyrannically through Dou Manor's gates!
From the back, though she looked gentle and elegant, she likewise had a pair of long, jade-smooth legs.
Madam Lin had only just reached the eaves beneath the corridor connected to the front courtyard when the scene there came fully into view.
Wu Mingde was locked in fierce combat with a burly man covered in heavy rock armor and wielding a massive tower shield.
Soul rings