After leaving the Deliberation Hall, every fourth-generation descendant of the Marquis Mansion received one hundred drops of Heart Nourishing Elixir and one hundred drops of Blood Accumulation Elixir, their faces brimming with excitement.
Only Ning Xiner and Ning Xiaochuan wore no smiles.
"Brother, why did you agree voluntarily? If you had begged Grandfather, considering how much he has cherished you since childhood, he surely would not have had the heart to cast you out of the Marquis Mansion. Once you leave, it will be difficult to come back in the future," Ning Xiner said.
Ning Xiaochuan merely smiled faintly. "Leaving the Marquis Mansion isn't necessarily a bad thing. At least no one will mock and sneer at me."
Ning Xiner pressed her lips tightly together, looking as though she wanted to cry but was holding it back, making her appear exceptionally adorable.
"Ha ha! Isn't this the Marquis's own grandson, Young Master Ning? Oh! No, I should call you Manor Lord Ning. Congratulations, congratulations!" Ning Hengqing approached with several gifted young talents from the Marquis Mansion, calling out to Ning Xiaochuan from afar.
A few days earlier, Ning Hengqing had been scolded by Ning Xiaochuan outside the Deliberation Hall until he coughed blood. After several days of recuperation, his injuries had finally healed.
He hated Ning Xiaochuan to the bone. Now that Ning Xiaochuan had been cast out of the Marquis Mansion, he naturally had to come and mock him, repaying an arrow for an arrow.
Ning Xiaochuan looked at the talented youths of the Marquis Mansion walking over. They were all at the Profound Qi Seventh Level, while Ning Hengqing had even reached the Profound Qi Eighth Level.
With martial cultivation like theirs, they were Martial Dao experts ordinary people had to look up to.
"So it's Brother Hengqing. Your injuries have healed, I presume?" Ning Xiaochuan asked with a beaming smile.
At the mention of this, Ning Hengqing nearly went mad with rage, but he still suppressed the anger in his heart and forced out a smile. "I'm very well!"
"Oh! I heard the Five Desolate Mountain Range is extremely dangerous. Brother Hengqing, you must take care of yourself! Don't let some blind Profound Beast injure you. This brother of yours only dares to enjoy himself at Begonia Manor; I wouldn't dare go to a perilous place like the Five Desolate Mountain Range. Brother Hengqing, take care." After saying this, Ning Xiaochuan took Ning Xiner's hand and turned to leave.
Ning Hengqing trembled all over with fury and was about to rush forward and teach Ning Xiaochuan a ruthless lesson, but Ning Meier stopped him.
"Why are you stopping me?" Ning Hengqing demanded angrily.
Ning Meier was also sixteen or seventeen years old. Her long hair reached her waist, and her green robes were as emerald as lotus leaves. Apart from Ning Xiner, she was the most outstanding woman of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion, and had already reached the Profound Qi Ninth Level. Her figure curved in all the right places, exceptionally alluring. With long lashes and eyes like silken threads, she smiled seductively. "Are you a match for Xin'er?"
The moment Ning Hengqing thought of Ning Xiner's cultivation, he immediately calmed down.
Ning Meier stared at the retreating figures of Ning Xiaochuan and Ning Xiner, smiling mockingly. "He is nothing but a sickly invalid, a worthless person. Why lower yourself to his level? His life is destined to amount to nothing more than an ordinary nobody with no standing. Once we return from training in the Five Desolate Mountain Range, our cultivation will surely advance by leaps and bounds. It may not even be impossible for us to enter the Heavenly Emperor Academy. From now on, the difference between our status and his will be like heaven and earth. He is merely an ant, while we will become Martial Dao powerhouses respected by countless people."
Ning Meier was proud and arrogant, looking down on everyone. Her goal was to marry the strongest man among the younger generation. She despised trash like Ning Xiaochuan the most. If not for Ning Xiner, she would not even have spared Ning Xiaochuan a glance.
"Brother, once you go to Begonia Manor, you must take good care of yourself. When I return from my three months of training, I'll come visit you." As Ning Xiner helped Ning Xiaochuan pack, she quietly hid the one hundred drops of Heart Nourishing Elixir and one hundred drops of Blood Accumulation Elixir she had just received inside his bundle.
Ning Xiaochuan naturally noticed her little movements, and his heart was deeply moved.
Footsteps sounded outside. A guard from the Marquis Mansion entered and said, "Young Master Ning, a young master surnamed Wang is outside the Marquis Mansion asking to see you."
"A young master surnamed Wang?" Ning Xiaochuan frowned slightly. He did not know any young master surnamed Wang, and his gaze turned toward Ning Xiner.
Could he have been a friend of this body's previous owner? Ning Xiner shook her head as well. Because her brother had suffered discrimination, he rarely left the Marquis Mansion and seemingly had no friends.
Filled with curiosity, Ning Xiaochuan and Ning Xiner headed to the gates of the Marquis Mansion.
Wang Yunchong wore a crimson brocade robe, his hair tied in a topknot. He waved a folding fan in his hand, looking every bit the young lord of a noble house. When he saw Ning Xiaochuan emerge from within, he was overjoyed and hurried forward. "Brother Ning, you finally came out! Your little brother has been waiting for a long time."
"Wang Yunchong, you dare come to the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion!" A dazzling layer of Martial Dao Profound Qi erupted from Ning Xiner's body, making the space within seven or eight zhang tremble. A layer of scarlet Profound Fortified Qi condensed over her palm as she struck out. It formed a blade that sliced off Wang Yunchong's topknot, sending his hair spilling loose.
Had that stream of Profound Fortified Qi been aimed at Wang Yunchong's neck, his head would already have flown away.
Condensing Profound Qi into a blade, transforming it into Fortified Qi, and striking it beyond one's body—killing from afar, plucking leaves and flinging flowers, turning water into swords—these were methods only available to those at the Profound Qi Seventh Level.
For Ning Xiner, who had cultivated a Divine Martial Body, gathering Profound Fortified Qi was effortless. With a casual palm strike, her Profound Qi could kill an enemy ten zhang away.
Wang Yunchong had long heard of Ning Xiner's reputation. His face changed drastically in fright, and he did not dare move at all. He nearly wet himself again as he hurriedly said, "Misunderstanding... it's all a misunderstanding! I came specifically to apologize to Brother Ning. Someone, quickly bring forth the gift!"
Behind Wang Yunchong stood an Azure Deer Carriage.
From within the Azure Deer Carriage, a slender, snow-white jade hand reached out and lifted the carriage curtain strung with agate beads. A young girl in a flowing white chiffon gown stepped down.
The girl's body was rather delicate, and her skin was exceptionally fair. A vivid red flower-bud pattern was painted between her brows. Her hair was arranged in an immortal maiden's coiffure, adorned with a Butterfly Jade Hairpin!
She kept her head slightly lowered and respectfully bowed to Ning Xiaochuan. In a gentle, graceful manner, she said, "Yu Yan greets Young Master Ning."
"This is..." Ning Xiaochuan stared at the beautiful fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl before him. Wasn't she the woman he had saved by the river that day? Today, dressed brilliantly and delicately made up, she was flawless in beauty, like a secluded orchid in full bloom.
Though still young, she had already grown exquisitely lovely.
Wang Yunchong smiled. "Brother Ning, are you satisfied with this gift?"
"A gift?" Ning Xiaochuan asked.
Ning Xiner also revealed a curious expression.
Wang Yunchong said, "To redeem Miss Yu Yan, I spent all the savings I had accumulated over the years and borrowed quite a bit besides. I only wanted to properly apologize to Brother Ning, hoping that Brother Ning would be magnanimous and not hold this little brother's past ignorance and foolishness against me."
Jade Viewing Pavilion was no ordinary Pleasure House. The women inside possessed both beauty and talent, and their prices were exorbitant. Even descendants of kings and marquises would find it no easy matter to redeem them.
To redeem Yu Yan, Wang Yunchong had spent the last three days borrowing money. Only today had he finally scraped together the redemption fee. The moment he redeemed her from Jade Viewing Pavilion, he immediately sent her to Ning Xiaochuan.
Wang Yunchong took a piece of brocade from his robes. Words were written upon it. He presented it to Ning Xiaochuan with both hands and said, "This is Miss Yu Yan's Indentured Contract. I now hand it over to Brother Ning."
Wang Yunchong leaned close to Ning Xiaochuan's ear and whispered, "Miss Yu Yan is a Silver-Ranked Music Courtesan of Jade Viewing Pavilion. She sells her art, not her body, and she is still a virgin. Brother Ning, you are truly blessed!"
Ning Xiaochuan's eyelids twitched. In his previous life, he had never visited a prostitute. Yet this playboy had actually given him a courtesan as an apology gift! This...
Afraid that Ning Xiaochuan would refuse, Wang Yunchong directly climbed into the Azure Deer Carriage.
The carriage sped away into the distance.
"Hey! Wang Yunchong!" Ning Xiaochuan called out, but the Azure Deer Carriage had already gone far away, vanishing at the end of the street.
Ning Xiaochuan looked at Miss Yu Yan standing below the steps.
She stood there pitifully, her jade fingers clutching the hem of her clothes tightly. Her lips were pressed together, and her eyes brimmed with deep tenderness as she gazed fixedly at Ning Xiaochuan.
Ning Xiaochuan had never encountered such a situation before and did not know how to handle it for the moment. Sending this young woman back to that playboy Wang Yunchong would be like pushing her into a pit of fire. He naturally could not do that.
But... Ning Xiaochuan absolutely could not keep her either.
Rip!
After pondering for a long while, Ning Xiaochuan tore the Indentured Contract in his hand into two pieces. He handed them to Yu Yan and said, "Miss, from now on, you are free."
Ning Xiaochuan took Ning Xiner's hand and was about to enter the Marquis Mansion, leaving Yu Yan alone beneath the steps.
Clutching the torn Indentured Contract in her hands, panic appeared on her beautiful face. With a thud, she knelt on the ground. "Young Master Ning, I beg you, please do not drive me away. Without an Indentured Contract, Yu Yan will not even have an identity. The Heavenly Might Army of the Imperial City will certainly seize me and throw me into prison. I will either be exiled to the barbarian frontier or sold as a lowly official courtesan."
"What? Without an Indentured Contract, she doesn't even have an identity?" Ning Xiaochuan blamed himself. He had wanted to do a good deed, yet had unexpectedly harmed her instead.
Ning Xiner pitied the woman somewhat. "Brother, for women like her who have been sold into pleasure houses, their status is as low as the servants of the Marquis Mansion. Their Indentured Contracts are their proof of identity. If their master casts them out, they become people without identities. If the court catches them, it may even treat them as spies from an enemy nation and execute them. Brother, why not keep her?"
Yu Yan looked at Ning Xiaochuan with pleading eyes.
"But I'm leaving for Begonia Manor tomorrow," Ning Xiaochuan said.
Ning Xiner said, "Wouldn't she be just the person to take care of you?"
Ning Xiaochuan looked at Yu Yan kneeling below. She truly was quite beautiful, with skin soft enough to break at a touch and eyes as bright as black pearls.
In his previous life, he would never have dared imagine that a single word from him could decide the fate of such a beautiful woman.
Ning Xiaochuan had a headache. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Then... come to Begonia Manor with me!"
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