Watching Hua Mulan drink with easy abandon, Xu Jiawei sighed admiringly to Xu Jiujiu beside him:
"It is truly the empire's good fortune to have a commander like General Hua!"
Xu Jiujiu did not answer. Her eyes remained fixed on the handsome, silver-haired youth beside Hua Mulan.
"Are you already so eager to give yourself away?"
Seeing his younger sister like this, Xu Jiawei teased her.
Xu Jiujiu's pretty face flushed. She lowered her head and said shyly:
"Of course not, brother. You're teasing me again."
"Kai distinguished himself greatly on the battlefield this time. I intend to betroth you to him. What do you think?"
Xu Jiawei's expression grew somewhat solemn.
Xu Jiujiu glanced again at the youth who had remained silent all along, the love in her eyes almost spilling over.
Then she nodded gently.
"I leave everything to you, brother."
Xu Jiawei nodded in satisfaction, then sighed again.
"I originally intended to betroth you to one of General Hua's two younger brothers, to strengthen the bond between the Imperial Family and General Hua. But those two are too unruly to make suitable husbands, and your heart already belongs to someone else, so I abandoned the idea."
Xu Jiujiu chuckled. She only regarded Yang Lin and Wu Liuqi as younger brothers, so she could never fall for them.
From the very first moment she saw Kai, her heart had already belonged to him.
While the two were talking, a commotion rose from the banquet floor below.
Xu Jiawei frowned and turned to look.
An obviously drunken, burly man was standing in front of Hua Mulan's seat.
"Cheng Gang? What is that fellow doing?"
Hua Mulan had one foot planted on her stool and leaned slightly to one side, gently swirling the wine cup in her hand.
She narrowed her eyes at the swaying, burly man before her.
Her tone grew increasingly hostile:
"You... dare repeat what you just said?"
Cheng Gang looked drunk, but his face was full of smiles:
"Hic! Well, Hua Mulan, how about becoming my principal wife? As long as you marry me, I'll dismiss every one of my concubines. Hic! From then on, I'll dote on you alone. Hahaha!"
Cheng Gang burst out laughing after he finished.
The previously lively banquet fell abruptly silent.
Everyone stared at Cheng Gang in disbelief.
What on earth was this fellow saying? What was he saying to a general who had just won a great victory?
He wanted to marry her as his principal wife?
Did he not know that this was the ultimate insult to a female general like Hua Mulan?
Seriously, man?
Did he really think a Titled Douluo was invincible?
General Hua might only be rank eighty-four, but she could kill Titled Douluos above her rank.
Sensing the intense killing intent, Kai quietly scooted backward in his seat.
Xu Jiawei's face darkened completely. This Giant Strength Douluo was outright slapping him in the face.
But before he could speak, Hua Mulan's murderous voice rang out.
"Good, good, good. Very good. You're quite something."
With that, Hua Mulan smashed the wine cup in her hand straight into Cheng Gang's face.
Then she flipped up and slapped him across the face before he could react.
That slap carried considerable force, sending Cheng Gang spinning twice through the air.
The side of his face she had struck swelled to nearly twice its size.
Then she seized him by the throat and slammed him viciously into the ground.
The impact left a human-shaped crater in the floor.
Next, she grabbed Cheng Gang by the hair and dragged him out of the banquet hall like a dead dog.
There was more open space out there, giving her room to work.
"How dare you! Martial Soul..."
Cheng Gang was a Titled Douluo, after all, and had recovered from his dizzy, dazed state.
Once he realized his current predicament, he flew into a rage.
He tried to release his Martial Soul.
But Hua Mulan gave him no chance. She stamped down, breaking several of his ribs beneath her foot.
At that stomp, the few people who had been about to intervene instantly shrank back.
Cheng Gang spat out a mouthful of blood.
Watching that tall, slender figure from behind, everyone exchanged looks, unsure what to do.
Then they all headed out of the banquet hall to watch the spectacle.
Xu Jiawei slammed his hand heavily against the armrest beside him, his blood surging with anger.
"This Cheng Gang is utterly outrageous! He has always been arrogant and willful because he is a Titled Douluo, and now he dares humiliate the empire's guardian general!"
The Shattered Star Douluo beside him asked quietly:
"Should we stop General Hua...?"
Xu Jiawei waved his hand. "No. Let her do whatever she wants."
The Shattered Star Douluo spoke again. "If General Hua beats him to death..."
Xu Jiawei's expression did not change as he replied coldly:
"If he dies, he dies. He is merely a rank ninety-one Titled Douluo who only broke through thanks to the Imperial Family's resources. If the Imperial Family can cultivate one, it can cultivate another. He matters, but not that much. If he can quell General Hua's anger, that will serve as his final contribution."
At that moment, Xu Jiawei truly resembled an emperor, decisive and ruthless.
Then he turned to the Shattered Star Douluo again. "A genius who could become a Titled Douluo before thirty and might even reach Limit Douluo in the future, or someone who will remain at rank ninety-one his entire life-which do you think I should choose?"
The Shattered Star Douluo nodded in agreement.
He had long been displeased with Cheng Gang's impatience and overbearing behavior. If he died, so be it.
When everyone stepped out of the banquet hall, they witnessed an exceptionally violent scene.
Hua Mulan held Cheng Gang by the hair, her fists hammering viciously into his face like a storm of meteors.
Then she grabbed one of his feet, lifted him, and...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After a dozen or twenty consecutive impacts, the ground was already battered beyond recognition.
Dozens of craters of varying sizes had appeared.
Even as a Titled Douluo, Cheng Gang could not withstand such impacts without activating his Martial Soul.
He had passed out long ago.
But Hua Mulan paid that no mind. She kept slamming him down with savage force, like a raging female tyrannosaur.
The spectators could not help shrinking their necks in fear.
Too brutal...
Finally, Hua Mulan tossed Cheng Gang aside as casually as throwing away garbage, then drew the greatsword from her back.
Under everyone's horrified gazes, she viciously...
"Hey, hey, hey... what happened next? What happened to that Cheng Gang? Did he die?"
Wang Dong'er was eagerly massaging Yang Lin's shoulders from behind, pressing him for the rest of the story.
When the white-haired boy in front of her did not answer,
Wang Dong'er bared her teeth and waved her hands behind his back in frustration, but finally said:
"Big brother, come on, tell me. I want to hear..."
Only then did Yang Lin nod in satisfaction.
"She couldn't very well kill him with so many people watching. But she crippled his cultivation, leaving him a cripple for the rest of his life. That probably hurt him more than killing him would have."
Wang Dong'er's little face flushed with excitement at that.
"So cool! That's my idol for you! Oh, right, when did this happen? How come I didn't know?"
As Hua Mulan's ultimate fan, she should have had firsthand information about something this big.
Yang Lin said with a smile:
"It only just happened. It's perfectly normal that you don't know."
Before you continue