Within the tranquil waterside pavilion, the air was filled with a faint tea fragrance, yet it could not conceal the invisible heaviness.
"Thirty-two years ago, the Xifeng Rift was breached."
Liang Qiushi shifted into a more relaxed posture. Her legs crossed elegantly, while her fingertips tapped lightly against the smooth tea table. She slowly continued, "The Martial Immortals stationed there at the time were Kirill Orlov of the Arctic Alliance, Zhang Heming of the Northwestern Zhang Family, and..."
She paused briefly. "My son Jin Zhi's great-grandfather, the Gu Family's head at the time, 'Crimson Crown' Gu Xunzhang."
Holy crap, a Martial Immortal?! This woman's family had a Martial Immortal! No wonder Liang Yuchuan respected her so much...
Li Wei was shaken. Had she already come into contact with the people standing at the very summit of Hua Nation's martial world?
But she had no time to think about it. Liang Qiushi's story continued.
"Everything had been fine originally, but one day, the three Martial Immortals suddenly charged into the depths of the rift. They didn't say a word or leave behind any arrangements."
At this point, an unresolvable confusion surfaced in Liang Qiushi's eyes.
"They were gone for seven whole days. Then, in the early hours of the eighth day, the Arctic Alliance suddenly issued a diplomatic notice to our nation, saying... their Martial Immortal, Orlov, had fallen!"
"Ah?" Li Wei was startled again. "How did the Arctic Alliance know?"
"It's complicated to explain. Have you read online novels?" Liang Qiushi asked in return.
Li Wei nodded repeatedly. "I have, I have."
"Then just understand it as... his Soul Lamp going out."
The metaphor was simple and crude, but Li Wei understood it instantly.
Liang Qiushi continued, "On the morning of the eighth day, while the two nations were still communicating urgently, the passage suddenly came under attack by Abyssal Monsters. People's hearts were divided, and there was no Martial Immortal holding the fort. The defending army collapsed in less than three hours."
"What happened afterward was reported in the news. We, the Arctic Alliance, and the White Eagle Federation threw dozens of nuclear bombs at the rift entrance, barely buying us a day until reinforcements arrived."
"What about the other two Martial Immortals? Did they both die in there?" Li Wei asked curiously.
Liang Qiushi sighed. "If they had both died, things wouldn't have been so troublesome."
"Ah?" Li Wei did not understand.
Liang Qiushi recalled, "A dozen or so days later, the Zhang Family's Martial Immortal fell, while Jin Zhi's great-grandfather escaped. He became the only surviving Martial Immortal..."
Hearing this, Li Wei vaguely formed a guess.
Two of the three Martial Immortals had died, while the one who survived was bound to draw some hatred...
Moreover, the three of them could be considered derelict in their duties.
The dead could be let off. Once someone died, the debt was erased. But as for the one who survived...
Even if he was a Martial Immortal, he would probably have to give an explanation. Otherwise, he would never get past this hurdle.
"Then..." Li Wei ventured, "what did Martial Immortal Gu say?"
Liang Qiushi's expression darkened slightly. "When he was rescued, his injuries were too severe. He has remained unconscious ever since. No one knows what exactly happened inside the rift that year..."
Well, now there was truly no way to explain anything.
Only one of the three had survived. Wouldn't everyone hate him to death...
Sure enough, Liang Qiushi's next words confirmed Li Wei's guess.
"After that, every side began blaming the Gu Family. The Zhang Family insisted that our Gu Family's Martial Immortal had killed theirs."
Li Wei blinked. "Is the Zhang Family shifting the blame? Playing the victim? Fishing for sympathy? Diverting attention?"
Liang Qiushi gave a bitter little laugh. "You're quite clever, young lady."
If you hadn't called me "young lady" three times while praising me, I might actually have been happy... Li Wei's mouth twitched.
Liang Qiushi sighed, her tone carrying a trace of melancholy. "My father-in-law gave up his accumulation to hold the Gu Family together and hastily ascended to Grandmaster."
"Five years ago, a great battle erupted at the North Sea Rift. The old man was severely injured, and his realm nearly collapsed. He is still recuperating at home."
"And in that very same year, Zhang Heming's eldest son, Zhang Luye, successfully attained Martial Immortal..."
Oh, come on... Li Wei's mouth twitched.
Liang Qiushi steadied her breathing before continuing. "Since then, the Zhang Family has stopped merely running their mouths and begun suppressing us openly and covertly. If our Gu Family's Martial Immortal weren't still alive, I'm afraid even the peace on the surface could no longer be maintained..."
Li Wei: "..."
Liang Qiushi's gaze drifted toward the lotus pond outside the window, but her eyes had lost their focus.
"Jin Zhi has already graduated. Under the 'Mobilization Order,' he must go to the Western Frontier. It was only through his marriage and his grandfather's influence that we managed to delay the date until September..."
As she spoke, her voice trembled slightly, and her eyes reddened. The weight of it stirred a trace of sympathy in Li Wei as well.
Wait, what's the difference between my mindset and that of someone living in a basement, eating instant noodles, yet worrying about a domineering CEO's stomachache?
She shuddered and hurriedly gathered her thoughts.
Liang Qiushi seemed to sink into her memories as she said sadly:
"His father and I have no great martial talent. We relied on resources to force our way to our current realms, but we will probably never reach Grandmaster in this lifetime."
"The direct line of the Gu Family has suffered two injuries and two weaknesses. A dignified Martial Immortal clan with a century-old legacy actually no longer has even one Grandmaster capable of holding up the family..."
That was truly tragic. Li Wei sighed inwardly.
Now she understood. No wonder someone of Liang Qiushi's status had been forced to the point of finding someone for Substitute Service.
Two generations of experts had fallen one after another, and the new generation had failed to catch up. The Gu Family was simply too unlucky.
However, Li Wei still could not understand. "Substitute Service" was one thing, but why did they need her to impersonate Jiang Xue?
"Um... Aunt Liang," Li Wei felt it would be better to ask clearly. "Wouldn't it be enough for me to 'marry' your son directly? Why go through all this trouble to make me disguise myself as someone else?"
Liang Qiushi curved her lips into a bitter smile. "It isn't that simple. Substitute Service is something everyone tacitly understands, but it is still a gray area—something that can be done but not spoken of."
"Besides, my Gu Family's situation is different from other people's. For those small families, as long as both parties are willing to arrange Substitute Service, no one pays attention."
"But right now, the Zhang Family is watching us with its eyes wide open, looking for trouble! Think about it. If Jin Zhi casually married someone, wouldn't the Zhang Family seize on it and drag the matter into the open?"
"When that happened, with public opinion's spotlight shining on us, how could I have you go to the Western Frontier in Jin Zhi's place?"
Li Wei clicked her tongue and could not help sighing. "Your son really knows how to draw aggro... He's got it nice and steady. Is the Zhang Family dead set on ruining him?"
Liang Qiushi was helpless.
"My son is simply too stubborn. I told him to keep a low profile from childhood, but he insisted on spouting things like 'martial arts require struggle' and 'advance without ever turning back.' Heh, he was the top scorer in the national college entrance examination and the champion of the national university freshman competition. If the Zhang Family doesn't target him, who will they target?"
Auntie, that tone of yours... Are you sure you aren't humblebragging?
But the champion of the university freshman competition?
It seemed vaguely familiar...
She suddenly remembered that when the original Li Wei was in junior high, her school seemed to have organized a live broadcast of the competition. The words "God Gu" had once swept across the campus.
At the time, her original parents were still alive, and the little girl seemed to have even been a fan of his...
No wonder the name had sounded familiar.
"Awesome!" Li Wei gave him a thumbs-up.
"Li Wei, I asked you to come here because you look five or six parts like Jin Zhi's fiancée, Jiang Xue..." Liang Qiushi's voice was almost a murmur. "...And the reason I want you to disguise yourself as Jiang Xue is precisely because only she—the legitimate fiancée who had been betrothed to him since childhood—is suitable to marry Jin Zhi at this critical juncture."
"Everyone in the imperial capital's prominent families knows that the Eldest Miss Jiang is madly in love with Jin Zhi. Only with Jiang Xue's persona would it seem reasonable if some 'accident' happened in the future and she, as his wife, volunteered to serve in the army in her husband's place. That would silence public criticism and leave the Zhang Family with no grounds to object."
"You..." Liang Qiushi turned her head, her gaze settling on Li Wei's face. She asked solemnly, "Can you handle it?"
"Gulp~" Li Wei swallowed, her scalp prickling slightly. "This is playing on a pretty grand scale."
"So?"
"Then you'll have to pay more..."
"Pfft—!"
Before you continue