13, Dai Yunjin

Although Dai Huabin was the legitimate son of the Duke of White Tiger, his status was far beneath Xia Linyuan's.

Though Xia Linyuan had been adopted by the Duke of Molong, he was also the first in line to inherit the Molong Duke Mansion. As long as he didn't get himself killed, the mansion would eventually be his.

Meanwhile, in the White Tiger Duke Mansion, Dai Huabin had his older brother, Dai Yueheng, looming over him like a great mountain, weighing him down until he could barely breathe.

It was obvious which of them had the better position.

Dai Huabin said coldly, "Xia Linyuan, you still love meddling in other people's business, don't you? I'm teaching a servant from the White Tiger Duke Mansion a lesson. Since when does an outsider like you get to lecture me?"

"If it were anyone else, I might have turned a blind eye. But when it comes to you..." Xia Linyuan's eyes narrowed into slits as he smiled. "To put it simply, I just can't stand you. What are you going to do about it?"

At Xia Linyuan's words, the people from the Molong Duke Mansion and Dai Huabin's attendants all broke out in a cold sweat.

They'd always heard that the son of the Duke of Molong was wicked by nature. Today, they'd finally seen it for themselves.

"You!" Dai Huabin was so angry he couldn't speak. "Xia Linyuan, don't push it!"

"Push it?" Xia Linyuan chuckled. "As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to you, nothing I do is too much."

Hearing this, Dai Huabin felt as if the blood in his body were flowing backward. A wave of pent-up anger lodged in his chest, leaving him furious. But seeing Xia Linyuan's expression—one that said, What are you going to do about it?—he couldn't do a thing. All he could do was swallow his rage.

"Xia Linyuan, what are you doing at the White Tiger Duke Mansion?" Dai Huabin asked, belatedly.

"What am I doing? The Duchess invited my father and me. What do you think I'm here for?" Xia Linyuan replied with a smile, artfully dodging the question.

People on the Douluo Continent matured early. Even though Dai Huabin was only six, he knew Xia Linyuan was trying to provoke him. But he couldn't think of a retort, so he merely snorted and left in a huff with his men.

After Dai Huabin left, Xia Linyuan slowly opened the eyes he'd been smiling into slits, then looked at the girl Dai Huabin had bullied.

She was still young, and her features hadn't fully matured. She wasn't particularly beautiful, but she was cute, especially her lively, deep-blue eyes, which sparkled like the brightest star in the night sky and were quite endearing.

The only drawback was that she was pale and thin from long-term malnutrition. The clothes, sized for a six-year-old, hung loosely on her, and several purplish bruises marked the skin she had exposed.

When she noticed Xia Linyuan looking at her, the girl abruptly lowered her head. Her small frame shrank back further, still frightened.

Xia Linyuan's golden eyes narrowed slightly, then he suddenly broke into a smile.

Strangely, though his smile was bright and cheerful, the guards with him felt a chill run down their spines.

He walked up to the girl and held out his hand. "My name is Xia Linyuan. What about you? What's your name?"

At the sound of Xia Linyuan's voice, the girl abruptly lifted her head. Her gaze was filled with disbelief.

"I, I..." She stammered for a while before finally managing to say, "My name is Dai Yunjin."

"Dai Yunjin?" Xia Linyuan repeated, rolling the name around in his mouth. Then he smiled. "Yun Jin? 'Who in the clouds will send a letter embroidered in silk?' What a lovely name."

Though he said that, he was thinking that anyone surnamed Dai in the White Tiger Duke Mansion had to be a member of the White Tiger line.

Dai Huabin was arrogant and vindictive, but he wouldn't go after a little girl who'd never provoked him and posed no threat to his strength or status without a reason. In other words, this Dai Yunjin was probably an illegitimate daughter of Dai Hao, the Duke of White Tiger.

It was much like Huo Yuhao. His mother had been a personal maid whom Dai Hao favored. After Huo Yuhao was conceived during one of Dai Hao's drunken indiscretions, the Duchess became jealous and oppressed them. Influenced by his mother, Dai Huabin would often pick on Huo Yuhao.

This Dai Yunjin looked scrawny, but her clothes were decent. Though not as fine as Dai Huabin's, they were certainly better than those worn by the servants in the White Tiger Duke Mansion. So her mother's status was probably a little higher than Huo Yuhao's mother's. And since she was a girl, the Duchess and Dai Huabin wouldn't oppress her as cruelly as they had Huo Yun'er and her son.

In just a moment, Xia Linyuan had formed a general idea of Dai Yunjin's circumstances.

In the end, this little girl was quite likely one of the candidates for his future concubine. And since they were "about the same age," that possibility seemed even more likely.

Watching Xia Linyuan's dazzling smile, Dai Yunjin found herself staring at him in a daze.

In the White Tiger Duke Mansion, no one but her mother had ever smiled at her so sincerely.

Dai Yunjin had no idea that beneath what she took to be a sincere smile lay something profoundly wicked.

Seeing her standing there in a daze, Xia Linyuan simply reached down, grabbed her, and pulled her to her feet. He grinned. "Am I that handsome? You'd rather sit on the ground just to look at me. In that case, why not marry me?"

The guards behind Xia Linyuan stared at him in disbelief, their mouths falling open in utter shock.

What had they just heard?

Their young master, who'd only just turned six, had told a girl he'd just met, "Why not marry me?" He really was wicked!

At Xia Linyuan's teasing joke, Dai Yunjin's slightly bluish face, pale from malnutrition, instantly flushed bright red. She struggled to pull her wrist from his grasp.

Xia Linyuan didn't hold on. He simply let go and allowed Dai Yunjin to run away.

The moment Dai Yunjin disappeared from sight, the smile vanished from Xia Linyuan's face, and he returned to his usual indifferent expression.

Ignoring the guards, who still couldn't close their mouths, Xia Linyuan went straight back to the carriage.

They had only just reached the entrance to the White Tiger Duke Mansion when they saw the Duchess waiting with dozens of servants lined up to welcome them, her face lit up with a radiant smile.

Dai Huabin, whose mother was fussing over Xia Linyuan more warmly than she did over him, looked a little displeased. But when he remembered what his mother had just told him, the gloom on his face finally eased.

Only Xia Yanqing, as Xia Linyuan's father, had the authority to make decisions. But Xia Yanqing had been summoned by the Xingluo Emperor on business along the way, so the Duchess could only make Xia Linyuan comfortable first and wait for Xia Yanqing to arrive before discussing the details of the marriage alliance.