10

The man was close to tears as he heard footsteps coming closer.

It turned out to be two pretty girls. One was the daughter of a not so known scholar and the other turned out to be Han Ling. On seeing them, the man went on his knees and kowtowed.

"What is it?" the other girl beside Han Ling asked.

"My ladies, they refused to leave." the man said trembling.

"Then just keep kowtowing to show your sincerity," Han Ling said dryly. She turned to the two ladies.

One standing behind the other and the other one sitting was eating like there was no tomorrow.

She smiled.

"These two fools dare taunt me" she slowly gathered her internal energy and formed a fireball that was not too bright but the other girl felt the effect as she immediately backed away from her.

Man! Her friend was truly a genius. That fire could not be under-estimated.

Walking closer to them Han Ling spoke:

"You don't put me in your eyes do you?" she asked dryly.

However, the two did not hear her as Ren had already put a spell on both their ears.

"Who are you?" Theresa asked.

"Who am I? You are not worthy. Now take this" Han Ling threw the fireball at Theresa but it seemed to hit a barrier and returned to her.

Then Theresa got up.

"So what if you are the crown princess? I will still not bow to you."Theresa said with a smile.

"When did my friend mention that she's a crown princess? Besides, the crown princess should be from the next generation." thought the other girl.

"You must be deaf," said Han Ling who was astonished that her fireball did not get to hurt them. But there was nothing to fear. It is just a barrier and their cultivation (i.e. magic) levels were merely beginner's realm level 4 -a quick kill for her.

"I am not a chicken head. If I'm then you are a rat," said Theresa.

Han did not understand what was wrong with this lady. First, she called her a non-existent crown princess and now a rat.

"Madam, don't play the fool. Take this," Han Ling sent another fireball but at this moment, Long Ren also sent a speck of yellow light and when it clashed with Han Ling's fire, it was propelled back to her getting bigger by the minute and finally circling Han ling.

Theresa held the old man and Han Ling's friend who was terrified.

"Don't worry, your friend will not die. I made an oath not to kill" added Theresa.

The girl was reluctant, but the fire was getting bigger and bigger.

"Fine" the girl agreed and then made a half bow to Han ling before disappearing with the others. Han Ling could not believe that her lackey could do this to her.

Now, it seemed she was doomed! In the middle of this fire, she felt like she could melt any minute.

She really ran out of luck. She had encountered two powerful people in a day and offended them.

While she was thinking of a way to escape, a whip suddenly appeared and light separated from it forming a figure. It was Ju Wei.

"Finally, some roast chicken to eat," he said yawning.

However, these words sounded terrible to Han ling. Was this the end?

She did not need a soothsayer to tell her that this man here was the spirit of the whip.

All she prayed, for now, was for an intact corpse. This cute guy before her, actually saw her pretty self as roast chicken.

Seeing her face Ju Wei nodded.

'Lady, I won't eat you. Just a small part" Ju Wei said, an evil smirk forming on his tempting lips.

If the earlier words

"I won't eat you" comforted Han ling, the latter did not.

It only made her drown into much more despair.

In no time, a blood-curling scream was heard; startling people in and outside the restaurant. The restaurant's walls were also shaking.

So people, both cultivators, and mortals, fled the place.

The owner was stubborn and got to the source, only to find such a weird fire. From what he knew, this fire only means one thing-Death. So the owner also fled and the whole restaurant crashed.

A girl climbed out of the ruins. She was battered seriously and her once beautiful face was gone.

All they saw was a filthy, ugly girl whom some recognized as Han ling because of the hairpin on her head.

Some immediately left not wanting to be in trouble but the owner did the opposite.

"Evil girl, how dare you destroy my restaurant?" he barked.

"Take me to my mummy" she muttered before fainting.

*********

Han family residence.

On the left side of Kuai Le street, stood a magnificent house hidden by high walls and a gate made of strong iron.

Outside stood, two guards dressed in armor and also wearing the uniform of the Han family servants.

A carriage stopped right in front of this gate and two maids stepped down from beside the middle-aged coach who was wearing a blue gown and white coat and had some strands of white hair on his head.

These two maids were dressed in yellow and brown and were beautiful. They opened the curtains and out came a woman dressed in a green robe.

Her long scarf was yellow matching the belt on her waist. She was not too beautiful but was still a beauty to behold. Taking graceful steps towards the mansion, the two guards bowed to her.

The gate was opened from the inside to reveal, a beautiful middle-aged lady dressed in orange and a red scarf. She was smiling at the lady who just came out of the carriage. The latter, however, was not smiling but had an unfriendly face.

"Jin Ehuang, long time no see. You are still alive?" the visitor asked expressionlessly.

"Yes. Your friend is doing well. She is alive and kicking despite all you have done to kill her." said Jin Ehuang who is the mother of Han ling and Han Chunhua, the imperial concubine, the king's current favorite.

She also has borne three sons to her husband.

Han Liang, the firstborn.

Han Peizhi is younger than Han Chunhua

Han Zhuang is the last born.

Han Peizhi, of course, is supposed to be respectful but not everyone likes his parent-given name. He is almost a black sheep of his family causing trouble here and there. Currently, he is at the ancestral hall reflecting on his mistakes. Despite being lazy towards cultivation he reached foundation builder level 1 and then stopped cultivating. He prefers to go out of the manor and enjoy life, cause trouble and drink wine in the brothels with fine beauties.

Han Zhuang is very obedient and timid when his parents are around but the moment they leave the house, he becomes as free as a bird. He had made the guards swear with their life not to reveal his escapades and so his parents think of him as a dutiful son that Han Peizhi should emulate.

Their oldest brother is the famous alchemist Fu Tian's disciple.

Han Ling whom Theresa has met and currently taught a lesson is the princess in the family. She is currently engaged to Zhao Yan who is skilled in poetry and law. Zhao family is the 3rd most powerful family that however likes to remain silent.

She has never seen his face, but she hopes to marry him but they can only marry when she has finished her training in her sect-Black peach.

It's a first-rate sect that has few disciples and hidden where one cannot easily find it.

Now back to the story

Jin Ehuang took the cold-faced visitor and former friend of hers to the pavilion in the garden with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

Han residence is a place of great beauty and they are currently the most powerful family apart from the royalties.

Sitting on two couches, the two women stared at each other while their maids wisely retreated.

Jin Ehuang hated this lady before her who used to be her friend in black peach. But then, when their sect faced extermination, this lady joined the enemy sect Arrow. This lady used to be their top disciple, but she then betrayed her sect for another to save her own life. Though the enemy sect did not exterminate them all, they lost the sect leader and 7 elders.

When the new sect leader helped Black peach rise back to the first-rate sect, Jin Ehuang got serious about cultivation secluding herself for 2 years at the same time with her former friend and it so happened that her friend did not break through to the next level because of a backlash caused by a demon rat that had 6 horns.

During cultivation, such rats love to disturb the cultivator and when he suffers a backlash, this rat will draw on the person's spirit energy and reduce his levels.

If one was in the foundation builder stage, this evil rat would send him back to beginners realm level 2 and if one is in the beginner realm, he would be crippled (i.e. lose all his magic powers) or even lose his life.

This rat, however, doesn't act on his own except on its' master's orders.

This lady named Ye lan suffered a backlash when she was about advancing to the golden core stage and was reduced to a mere beginner's realm practitioner.

She was depressed especially when she was deserted by the Arrow sect and thought that it was Jin Ehuang who made her like this.

So she always tried to kill her but failed. In the end, she left Luo ye country to somewhere unknown and now she has returned.

Jin Ehuang cannot see Ye Lan's cultivation level and neither did Ye Lan see Jin Ehuang's cultivation level either. This can only happen once they release their auras. The staring battle ended bringing the aura battle.

Ye lan was the first to release her powerful aura that showed that she had reached the Master stage which was quite a shock for Jin Ehuang but then she also smiled and released her aura- Disciple chain bottleneck.

"It seems that you will only remain below me no matter what you do," said a smiling Ye lan.

"Oh! It also seems that you underestimate this servant" said Jin Ehuang.

Both used their auras to fight, and it surprised Ye lan that even though Jin Ehuang had not reached the Master stage she was on par with her. This was not good news.

She had worked hard all these years even married a rich man and used a forbidden cultivation technique killing her husband and she could finally rise to the Master stage last week and so she came to show off.

How then was Jin Ehuang able to match her in aura?

She tried harder, but it seemed Jin Ehuang was stronger than her and in the end, Ye lan vomited blood. Seeing this Jin Ehuang got up and spat at Ye Lan.

"Sorry. I thought you said 'spit on me for a silver coin'. So here Ye Lan." she took out a silver coin and threw it at Ye lan.

"Accept my hospitality, peasant" Jin Ehuang said softly before leaving with her maids.

Ye lan managed to rise refusing her maid's help.

"Jin Ehuang, I will remember this," she said slowly and then left the mansion also refusing the help of her maids.

The moment her carriage left, another carriage arrived at the gate of the Han residence.

This carriage looked cheap but on the inside, it was half paradise.

A man stepped out of the carriage a frown on his face carrying a disfigured Han ling who was covered in a blanket. When the guards saw him, they were astonished but quickly hid it. As for Han ling, whatever she is facing now, she deserves it.

However, they still opened the gate and the man directly flew in.

*************

Jin Ehuang was in her backyard garden (this is another garden) enjoying music played by 4 maids.

She closed her eyes and slowly shook her head to the music with a smile.

"I finally defeat that bitch," she thought proudly.

Just then, a guard ran up to her and went on one knee breathing heavily.

"What happened Hua Ye?" Jin Ehuang asked her eyes still closed though the music had stopped.

"Replying to madam, The young miss is in deep danger," said the guard.

Immediately, Jin Ehuang opened her eyes.

"What did you say?" she asked loudly.

"Madam, the young miss is in danger," replied the guard.

"Where?" Jin Ehuang asked as she immediately got up from her couch, her body showing signs of anxiousness for her child.

"Young miss is at the pavilion. Ma..." the guard could not finish his words as she had already sped away.

Jin Ehuang could run really fast- 200 miles in an hour so reaching the pavilion was nothing for her.

What was crucial was saving her daughter!

The guard sighed and got up nodding at the 4 maids who slightly bowed and left.

*******

Jin Ehuang reached the Pavillion in two seconds and stopped to catch her breath.

Looking behind her, she saw a middle-aged man carrying her daughter Han Ling.

"Ling'er my child," she immediately took her from his hands and placed her on the table.

"What did you do to her?"

"Me? I did nothing. But here," the man threw a long bill to her.

"Your daughter ruined my restaurant. You don't need to doubt me. Just go ask." said the man.

"And also, I need my money in two days," the man then flew away.

Jin Ehuang was unhappy but then, anger cannot solve everything.

"Guards" she called.

Immediately, two guards rushed over.

"Get me doctor Fu,"

'Yes, Madam" they responded in unison and watched as Jin Ehuang sped off with Han Ling before daring to leave.

*****

The culprits behind Han Ling's situation were out shopping for books. In a bookstore, Theresa was running about buying so many books.

"I want this one, Gimme that one, and that one, and that one, no, not that, yes that one," Theresa's loud voice was heard in the bookstore which made people hiss.

Ren who had now transformed into a pretty maid had long informed them that his mistress was crazy about the book and mentally ill. The store owner, though not happy remained quiet especially when Ren released a bit of his aura at him.

The scholar's daughter who was formerly with Han Ling was in Ren's storage ring unconscious.

The middle-aged servant from the now ruined restaurant had been given 2 pearls by Theresa and so he had left happily. He would leave the imperial city and head for another city to live with his family after treating his ailing wife.

Han Ling's lackey's name was Lu Wei,15 years old and still in beginner realm level 5. Reaching level 6 would be very hard for her so she hung around her friend Han Ling so she could get resources and go to the spirit hall where magic was bountiful to cultivate.

Now she left Han Ling to her fate when she needed help. Long Ren's spatial ring contained much magic and of course, it didn't take long before Lu Wei started cultivating subconsciously.

**********

When Theresa finished picking all the books she was interested in, both cheap and expensive, she winked at Ren who was not happy but dared not show it.

"Fine! Since Mistress wants me to pay, I'll do so. I'll let her pay me back by accepting a 'better' disguise. I'll see what she can do then." Ren thought before dropping 8 gold coins on the counter before leaving with his mistress after putting all the books into his storage ring.

The shop owner even escorted them for a while to the next street before taking his leave. He even told them to come by when they had time. Theresa then nodded at him and instructed Ren to buy her a house while she searches for a brothel.

"Mistress you'll need another disguise," said Ren.

"Mistress thoughts are sure disorganized after receiving Han Fei Fei's memories so I'll take advantage of it while I can. Wait till you see the disguise I'll give you mistress," he thought, a faint smile appearing on his lips.