"Wretched slave! Do you know what you're doing!"
The icy voice interrupted Li Qingluo's thoughts. She steadied herself and forced herself to say, "You can't kill him! He's Dali's Prince Who Pacifies the South, a member of the imperial family..."
"Hah! What does Dali's imperial family amount to? Nothing but dogs raised by the Gao clan!"
Wang Gang interrupted her with a sneer. "If they didn't still enjoy some standing among the common people, the Gao clan would have replaced them long ago. Never mind killing him-even if I killed Duan Zhengming, what of it? He's nothing but a puppet on strings!"
"Hmph! Shameless boasting! What could you possibly know of the Duan clan's foundations!" Duan Zhengchun caught his breath and, hearing Wang Gang disparage his clan, could not help retorting.
"By those foundations, do you mean the Heavenly Dragon Monastery?" Wang Gang mocked. "Yang Yizhen murdered the emperor, and Crown Prince Yanqing was also attacked and nearly killed. Poor Duan Yanqing knelt before the monastery and pleaded bitterly, yet its gates never opened so much as a crack for him!"
"Do you think the Heavenly Dragon Monastery would make an exception for you? Or are you counting on the Baiyi People to avenge you?"
"You... you... who exactly are you!"
Duan Zhengchun stared at the youth before him in horror. It was no surprise that he knew of Yang Yizhen's rebellion, but even in Dali, only a handful knew the truth about Duan Yanqing. How had he learned of it from a thousand miles away?
"Who am I? Nothing but a poor wretch you've put a green hat on!"
"No! I haven't!" Li Qingluo protested in her delicate voice.
Unmoved, Wang Gang glanced sideways at her. "Now can I kill him?"
"No, you can't!"
Li Qingluo hastily tried to stop him, unconsciously pressing harder with her hand. A string of blood beads seeped from Wang Gang's neck.
Wang Gang reached up and touched it. He stared expressionlessly at the blood on his fingertips, his gaze growing colder.
Li Qingluo inwardly cursed. She was about to explain when Wang Gang said, "Let's have a race. Let's see whether you kill me first, or I kill him!"
"No, don't! Please let him go!" Seeing Wang Gang about to strike, Li Qingluo spoke in a tearful voice, all but pleading. "I promise I'll never see him again. I'll devote myself wholeheartedly to living with you. Please!"
"Are you worthy?"
Those few ice-cold words fell like a massive hammer, leaving Li Qingluo frozen on the spot.
"In family background, I'm descended from officials, from a family steeped in poetry and books, whose associates are never unlettered commoners!
"In character, I won't claim to be lofty and pure, but at least I've never engaged in illicit affairs without a matchmaker!
"In talent, I rank among the best at my academy and placed third in the prefectural examination, far surpassing most of my peers!
"If I wanted a wife, never mind Jiangnan-I could choose from the whole realm!"
Wang Gang leaned forward and stared at Li Qingluo with an oppressive intensity. "Tell me, in what way are you worthy of me!"
"I only married you because you dazzled me when I first saw you in my youth, and from that dazzling impression, I fashioned an imaginary you! She was you, yet far better than you! That was why I married you without caring about family background or my future!"
"Now you've shattered that image with your own hands! What makes you think I still can't do without you!"
Li Qingluo's delicate body trembled. Pale-faced but resolute, she said, "What will it take for you to let him go? I'll agree to anything!"
"Hah! Your roots of love truly run deep!" Wang Gang laughed in his fury, looking at Duan Zhengchun and then back at Li Qingluo. "Very well! You've been an unfaithful wife and brought shame upon my Wang family. Kill yourself!"
Clang.
The sword fell to the ground.
"A-Luo, don't!" Duan Zhengchun roared, then turned toward Wang Gang and shouted, "You despicable wretch! If you want to kill me, do it! What kind of hero bullies a woman!"
"Despicable? Was your sneak attack on me open and honorable, then? How is it despicable for me to turn the tables on you!"
"In other things, I may fall short, but in character, I'm ten times better than you! At least I've never ruined an innocent woman!"
Wang Gang sneered. "Do you still remember the oath you swore with Dao Baifeng before the Bodhisattva?"
Duan Zhengchun's pupils quivered, and he blurted out, "You-how do you know!"
"You rely on Dao Baifeng's influence among the Baiyi People to hold powerful ministers in check and preserve your miserable life, yet you betray your oath and scatter your affections everywhere! How does someone like you have the face to call me despicable!"
Wang Gang looked at Duan Zhengchun with contempt. "Have you ever considered how those women you ruined are supposed to carry on afterward? How they're supposed to face their families' questioning and the world's gossip! You've enjoyed your romantic freedom, but all of it rests on what those ignorant women have given up!"
Wang Gang turned toward Li Qingluo, who had collapsed on the ground, and said disdainfully, "And you fell for a man like this!"
"Ask him whether he dares bring even one woman home without Dao Baifeng's permission! Without the Baiyi People's support, he can't even protect himself. A man who lives off a woman, yet still has the face to pluck flowers and trample the grass!"
Li Qingluo looked over woodenly. Duan Zhengchun's gaze flickered, and for a long time, he said nothing.
"Hahaha..." Li Qingluo laughed desolately.
Wang Gang watched the pair with a sneer. A vicious gleam flashed in his eyes, and he moved to seize the opportunity to kill!
Whoosh!
A rope suddenly flew over, wrapped around Duan Zhengchun, and yanked him backward. His entire body sailed through the air, leaving Wang Gang's thrust to strike empty space.
Startled, Wang Gang looked up and saw a youth holding a long pole, fishing Duan Zhengchun away like a fish!
"Thank you, Brother Chu!" Having escaped death, Duan Zhengchun hurriedly thanked the youth.
"You're too kind, Your Highness!" Since following Duan Zhengchun, Chu Wanli had long since ceased to find such things strange. He turned to Wang Gang and said:
"Young master, your martial arts are formidable, but most people in your household know none. If a fight breaks out, innocents will inevitably be caught up in it. Why don't we part ways here?"
Wang Gang's expression darkened. The man was threatening him, but he knew his own circumstances: he knew no martial arts at all and could not possibly keep them here.
"Get lost!" Wang Gang snapped coldly, killing intent rising in his heart.
"Thank you for showing mercy, young master!" Chu Wanli smiled faintly, helped Duan Zhengchun up, and left.
"Wang Yukun, this happened because of me. Don't make things difficult for A-Luo!" Clutching his chest, Duan Zhengchun looked toward Li Qingluo with concern.
"Hah! One day, I'll surely visit Dali too, and taste the phoenix's marrow!"
"We take our leave, young master!" Afraid of further complications, Chu Wanli hurriedly dragged Duan Zhengchun away.
Watching the two figures disappear, Wang Gang touched the wound on his neck and looked coldly at Li Qingluo. "Wretched slave, your lover has abandoned you!"
"Don't talk nonsense..." Li Qingluo started to protest, but the sight of the wound left her feeling guilty. "That was in the heat of the moment..."
"Get out!" Wang Gang suddenly barked, unwilling to hear her excuses.
Li Qingluo paled and left, looking utterly lost.
Wang Gang's gaze was unfathomable. After taking a moment to settle his thoughts, he extended his hand, and the space rapidly took shape.
Within the space lay a chaos beyond comprehension, without time or distance, yet Wang Gang could do as he pleased there.
He had just used this space to collect the force of the finger strike and send it back, but in the end, because he knew no martial arts, he had still been unable to keep Duan Zhengchun there.
He still had to learn martial arts. After all, this was the world of Heavenly Dragon.
Otherwise, one day, when he held high office and had a lovely wife and beautiful concubines in his arms, someone might suddenly fly over and shout, "Corrupt official, surrender your life!" Wouldn't all those years of effort have gone to waste?
"Young master."
Just as Wang Gang was pondering how to learn martial arts, a young maid entered with a tea tray and called softly to him.
Wang Gang came back to himself. This was not the maid from earlier. She had a full figure, her chest swelling high; even Li Qingluo seemed "flat and unremarkable" beside her.
"Sister Rui'er said she isn't skilled in the art of tea and asked me to attend to you, young master," the young maid explained softly.
"Mm. Don't address me as the family's son-in-law anymore!"
Wang Gang nodded. Watching the maid skillfully grind the tea powder, mix it into a paste, and then whisk the tea in sequence, her movements flowing like clouds and water and pleasing to the eye, he asked, "What's your name?"
"My name is Ping'er!" Speaking softly, Ping'er set the tea bowl before Wang Gang. "Sir, please have some tea!"
"Mm, good tea!" Wang Gang took a sip and looked appreciatively at the young girl, whose face still held a little baby fat.
"With skills this good, you should serve me from now on!" As he spoke, he reached out and pinched her plump little cheek.
He had confronted his opponent head-on today and vented the pent-up frustration in his heart. He felt thoroughly refreshed, and his behavior had grown somewhat unrestrained.
"Ah!" The girl hopped back like a startled rabbit and stared blankly at Wang Gang. After standing dazed for a moment, she turned and ran for the door.
She felt embarrassed and annoyed. Was I just teased by the master? Should I tell Sister?
Seeing the young maid's adorably silly reaction, Wang Gang could not help smiling.
Then he saw a middle-aged man standing in the doorway, watching him with a cheerful smile.