Chapter 10: Gathering Storm (Part 2)

  "Shi Ke is right, Wang Guanlan is just a concubine's son of the Ning King, what qualifications does he have to be connected with Jingling Lake by marriage!" Another person in the house also held the same view "If not for his good luck, controlling the Phoenix Tail Grass effect in the three states of the southwest, and using the Phoenix Tail Grass to coerce Qingling girl, how would this thing happen?!" Qin Wang listened, sighed deeply "Alas, this matter is my fault, if it weren't for me, Qingling girl wouldn't have gone deep into the three states of the southwest, and naturally this thing wouldn't have happened either!" "But now that things have happened, we must think of a way out!"

  "Wu Jin, what do you think?" The King of Qin turned his gaze to a young man standing on his left. This young man was about twenty years old, wearing a white Confucian robe, and holding a fan in his hand, with an elegant demeanor. Upon hearing the king's words, he simply smiled and said, "Your Majesty, gentlemen, there is no need to be so tense. Do you really think that Wang Guanlan can successfully marry Qing Linger?"

  "The news has spread all over the world, and it's all from the most reliable channels. Could it be fake?!" The big man with a bad temper holding two bronze said.

  "Of course, it's not going to be easy! I'm not talking about that!" The white-clad scholar, known as Wuji, gently fanned himself with a folding fan, his face filled with confidence. "The esteemed position of Qingling in the martial arts world doesn't need me to elaborate on, and neither does the number of her admirers. You think those people would let Wang Guanlan, an unknown little brat, get away with it so easily? Others may not say anything, but I saw Seventh Prince rushing to the Imperial Stables earlier. At this time, going to the stables wouldn't be for feeding horses, would it?"

  "Spoken with reason!" Among the people in the room, except for Qin Wang, the only person sitting down seemed to agree with Wuji's point of view. "Even if Qingling agreed, and both Ning Wangfu and Qingling Lake had no objections, Wang Guanlan's days wouldn't be easy. Once this news spreads, he'll stand on the opposing side of all the young heroes in the martial arts world. He'll become their target for attack. I think many people have already rushed to Yicheng. This Wang Guanlan will soon face endless challenges!"

  "What if he shamelessly refuses to accept the challenge?"

  "He can't not accept it! Even if he could hide in Ning Wangfu before the engagement and not come out, during the engagement ceremony, he'll definitely make an appearance. At that time, as long as someone issues a challenge on the spot, even if he doesn't want to accept, Ning Wangfu won't agree to it either. This concerns Ning Wangfu's reputation. If he loses, he naturally won't have the face to marry Qingling. Even if they successfully get engaged, wanting to truly get married... I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

  "Is his nose the one that won?!" "If he really won, it means that Wang Guanlan is one of the top young heroes in the world, which means that Qingling didn't misjudge him, and their marriage would naturally be a match made in heaven!"?? Ba Tian Wu Sheng 10

  "The people of the world all judge heroes by their victories and defeats. In this matter, our Qin Wang Fu will just observe for now!!"

  "Are we just going to sit back and watch?!?" Qin Wang hesitated for a moment, then shook his head lightly. "No way, Wuji. Although what you said makes sense, this matter cannot be ignored. Li Ge, Shi Lei, it seems I'll have to trouble you two to take a trip!!" "Yes!" Shi Lei immediately responded loudly, his tone filled with excitement. And that Li Ge was the young man sitting in the house, who nodded and said, "Alright, I'll go to Yizhou to take a look, to see what's so special about that Ning Wang's illegitimate son, that he can stir up such a storm!" The sky above Nanhuacheng was dark and gloomy, with wind and rain brewing. Clutching the challenge letter printed on luxurious paper in his hand, Wang Guanlan's inner energy stirred, and the aura of Adnan's Broken Blade sliced the challenge letter into shreds.

  "What a woman who attracts bees and butterflies!!" Wang Guanlan sighed, his expression already as gloomy as the dark sky outside. This was his third day back in Nanhuacity, and also the eighth time he received a challenge letter. It was said that countless young martial artists were on their way to the three southwestern states, some had not yet set off, while others had begun to close themselves off to prepare for the challenge after they came out. In short, Wang Guanlan now seemed to have become the public enemy of the martial arts world, and even in the Ning King's Mansion, everyone looked at him with a complex gaze, making him feel very uncomfortable.

  He is not ready to accept the challenge, at least not for now.

  Among these eight challengers, five can be ignored, but the remaining three are all well-known young masters in the martial arts world. The lowest cultivation base has reached the fourth layer of Lianqi, and their cultivation bases are all higher than his. They have more tricks up their sleeves, and accepting this challenge would bring him no benefits. Winning wouldn't give him any prestige, losing would make him lose face completely, and it's even possible that this marriage would be ruined. That's why he didn't act so foolishly. As soon as he arrived in Nanhuacity, he hid in the Wangfu every day and refused to come out. This made those challengers helpless.

  They dare to challenge Wang Guanlan, but they don't have the guts to challenge the dignity of Ning Wangfu.

  "This can't go on, you'll have to face it eventually. Do you think you can hide in the palace for the rest of your life? Don't forget, there's only half a month left until the engagement ceremony!" In the Qing Song Garden of the Wang Manor, Wang Guanxiao was reclining in a rocking chair, swaying gently back and forth. Beside him stood a handsome maid servant. He gazed at Wang Guanlan with a schadenfreude look, thinking to himself: "When the time comes, you'll definitely have to show up. Will you still be able to hide then?"

  "Who says I'm hiding! I'm just recovering from injuries within the Wang Fu, so many things happened in Yicheng before, my injury hasn't healed yet, you're not unaware of that!"

  "In half a month, your injury will be healed?! You're just pretending, I'll see how long you can keep up this act!" Looking at Wang Guanlan's nonchalant expression, Wang Guanxiao couldn't help but laugh. Ever since that day, he thought about it more and more, feeling that this was all part of Wang Guanlan's plan, and definitely not as kind-hearted as he claimed. He said something about wanting to give the Qingling Army to him at the beginning, maybe even finding a wife for Wang Guanxiao. If he really had such intentions, he wouldn't have said that last sentence, which provoked Qingling into agreeing."

  Of course, all of this is just speculation and there's no evidence, but he's not in a good mood. However, now that he sees the trouble Wang Guanlan is facing, his bad mood has turned into a sense of relief. Indeed, evil deeds will be punished. Having done so many things to bully men, it's only natural that she'll face retribution. Now, he believes Wang Guanlan's recent days won't be easy, and he feels great about it.

  "Don't think that you can just hide in the palace and nothing will happen, it's because none of these challengers are worthy opponents, so the palace doesn't bother with them. But when the real main force arrives, for the sake of the palace's reputation, even Father might force you to go out!"

  "That's why I said, women who attract bees and butterflies like this can't be messed with!" Wang Guanlan finally became impatient and raised his head to ask "Tell me, can I divorce her now?!"

  "Cough, cough, cough, cough!" At this time, the pretty little maid beside him happened to put a green grape into his mouth. Being startled by Wang Guanlan's words, he almost choked to death. He sat up from the rocking chair, staring at Wang Guanlan, his fingers trembling with rage. "You, you, you... cough, cough, cough!" After a long time, he still couldn't say a complete sentence, and in anger, he flung his sleeve and said, "This child is impossible to teach!" and stormed off.

  "Damn it, he's been bothering me since early morning!" As soon as Wang Guanxiao's figure completely disappeared from his line of sight, Wang Guanlan muttered a sentence in a low voice, with an air of complete indifference.

  "Guān Lán, has the fourth young master left?!" came Wu's voice from inside the house.

  "Yes, mother, he's gone!" Wang Guanlan hurried back into the house and saw Wu Shi carefully sewing a large red auspicious garment, so she said "Mother, you don't have to do these things yourself, do you?"

  "My son is getting married, and as his mother, I should sew a auspicious dress for him!" Putting down the needle and thread in her hand, Wu Shi looked up at her son with a loving expression that made Wang Guanlan feel somewhat unbearable, looking a bit embarrassed, "Mother, if you really want to sew, then go ahead, I won't stop you. But you should also take care of your body, by the way, before I came back, I met Uncle and he's doing well in Yicheng, much better than before!"

  "Your uncle is that kind of person, although sometimes he makes mistakes, but he doesn't have any bad intentions and won't cause any big trouble!" Thinking of her own mischievous younger brother, Wu also felt a bit helpless "Has he given you any trouble?!"

  "There isn't, sometimes there just isn't enough money!"

  "Don't rely on him for everything!" Wu said. "Right, he had someone send you a gift, and it's all mysterious and secretive, like they've discovered a treasure or something. They say it's very useful to you, take a look!" She then told Lian Xin to go into the house and bring out a grey leather package.

  "Is it of great use to me?!" Wang Guanlan smiled and didn't take his words to heart. He opened the package, only to find a large pile of bottles and jars, as well as a letter! First opening two bottles, he took a sniff, and Wang Guanlan couldn't help but laugh. The bottles contained some expired medicinal pills, such as "Beneficial Qi Pills" and "Supplemental Qi Pills", who knows where he got them from? After opening the letter, it was indeed full of vague language, roughly saying that he knew his big-headed nephew Wang Guanlan was in trouble, anxiously trying to find a solution everywhere. Finally, after exerting great effort, he managed to get this batch of medicinal pills. According to the person who sold them to him, these pills were extremely helpful for martial artists' cultivation. When taken during training, one's cultivation would rapidly improve, and he wouldn't have to worry about being challenged by others anymore.

  "What the hell is all this, the effect of these Dan medicines is almost gone!" Wang Guanlan smiled helplessly and treated it as a joke. He put the letter into his bag and was about to take it out to deal with it together with the bag, but unexpectedly, just as he picked up the bag, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of a strange pattern on the corner of the gray package.

  "What is this?!"

  Recently, Wang Guanlan's original husband's habit of note-taking has been very sensitive to the symbols, and the pattern on the package corner is somewhat similar to the symbols he has practiced, which makes him a little unexpected.

  "What's wrong!" Wu asked, putting down her needlework and noticing his unusual expression.

  "Oh, it's nothing, some of the things Uncle Ah sent me are quite useful, I'll sort them out when I get back and thank him properly later!"

  "Go ahead, practicing is a good thing, but don't stay up too late, sleeping too late hurts the body!" "Yes!!"