iddle-aged man smiled, saying: ‘The worse the result it, the more interesting it will be.’

The young girl again exerted all her strength to struggle, but she was unable to get free, and contrary to her expectations, her whole body ached and became weak. Even her feet did not have any strength. She laughed and said: ‘How shameless. You can only copy other people’s words. Alright, I’m gonna say to you. ‘Master, I’ve lost to you! Master, I’ve lost to you! Master, I’ve lost to you!’’ She did not pronounce the syllable ‘mæs’ of the word ‘master’ clearly and pronounced it as ‘bæs’ instead, therefore it sounded like she said ‘Bastard, I’ve lost to you (The 2 words in the original are 先生 – xian1sheng5 – master, and 畜生 – chu4sheng5 – beast).’ The middle-aged man did not notice it. He raised his palm and let go of her shoulder, saying: ‘Untie the fishing net, quick.’

The young girl laughed and said: ‘This can’t be easier.’ Then she went to the side of the fisherman and bent down to untie the fishing net around him. She slightly raised her left hand at the opening of the sleeve and a dark green flash was fired at the middle-aged man.

‘Ah,’ A’Zhu cried in fear because she saw that the missile firing technique of the young girl was very vicious. Moreover, the girl and the middle-aged man were just a small distance apart so it appeared that it was impossible for the missiles to miss him. But Xiao Feng only smiled slightly. Seeing that this middle-aged man tamed the young girl as soon as he showed his skill, Xiao Feng knew clearly that his internal energy was profound and his martial arts were excellent, therefore these petty missiles naturally would not be able to harm him. Sure enough, the middle-aged man swung the sleeve of his robe and sent out a stream of internal energy which pushed all the cluster of green thin needles aside. The needles then stuck in the mud beside the lake, one after another.

Seeing the color of the thin needles, the middle-aged man knew at once that they had been suffused with an extremely fierce poison. As soon as this poison got into the blood of a victim, their throat would be blocked and they would die instantly. This was the 1st time he and she had met each other, and there was no enmity between them, why did she use such a vicious move? The man got angry and wanted to teach this kid a lesson. He waved his right sleeve. The force of the sleeve contained his palm force. With a ‘hu’ sound, the body of that young girl was lifted up, and with a ‘pu’ sound, she fell into the lake. Following that, the man slightly pressed the tips of his feet on the ground and jumped onto a rowboat under a willow tree. Holding the oars and pushing it several times, he reached the place where that young girl had just fallen down. Now, he only waited for her to emerge to grab her hair and lift her up.

But when that young girl fell into the water, she only uttered an ‘A’yo!’ sound. After she had fallen into the lake, no trace of her could be seen at this point. Naturally, when a person is drowning, they will definitely emerge and submerge a few times, and only after drinking water to the full will they no longer resurface. However, that young girl was like a big piece of stone, and thus she sank without rising. The middle-aged man waited for a short while, but all along the girl did not rise to the surface.

The more the man waited, the more worried he became. In fact he had no intention of harming her. It was just that seeing that she was very young yet her actions were so malicious, he wanted to discipline her once. If she was drowned, he would feel deeply sorry for her. That fisherman had excellent skills in swimming, so he should have been able to get into the water and save her. Unfortunately, he was being wrapped around by the fishing net and thus being unable to move. Both Xiao Feng and A’Zhu did not know how to swim so they did not know what to do either. They heard the middle-aged man call loudly: ‘A’Xing, A’Xing! Come out, quick!’

From a distant bamboo thicket, the calls of a woman were heard: ‘What happened? I won’t come out!’

Xiao Feng thought: ‘This woman’s voice sounds flirtatious. But it has 3/10s of stubbornness. I’m afraid she’s the naughty type. She, A’Zhu and the young girl that fell into the lake would be like the legs of a tripod cauldron.’

That middle-aged man called: ‘There’s a drowning person. Quickly come to the rescue.’ That woman called: ‘Were you drowned?’ The middle-aged man called: ‘Don’t joke. If I were drowned, how can I be talking to you? Quickly come to the rescue!’ That woman called: ‘If you were drowned, I’d come to save you instantly. But if someone else is drowned, I’d love to see and have a jolly time!’ The middle-aged man asked: ‘Will you come or not?’ and repeatedly stamped his feet at the prow of the boat, looking exceedingly anxious. That woman said: ‘If that’s a man, I’ll save him at once. But if that’s a woman, even if 100 women died, I’d only clap my hands and cheer. I definitely won’t save her.’ The voice sounded closer and closer. In a short while, she already got to the side of the lake.

Xiao Feng and A’Zhu looked at her and saw that she was wearing a greenish swimsuit which clung to her body, making her delicate waist become more obvious. She had a pair of big shiny black eyes which were brilliant and sparkling like stars. The look in her eyes was very lively and nimble. It seemed as if with a pair of eyes alone she was already capable of speech. The woman was beautiful, and the corners of her mouth resembled a smile without smiling. She was around 35 or 36 years old. When Xiao Feng had heard her voice and tone before, he had only thought that she had been 21 or 22 years old at most. He could never have expected that she would be a woman who was not very young at all. The swimsuit on her body was worn neatly. Perhaps when hearing that middle-aged man call her to the rescue, she had at once changed clothes. And while she had been teasing him, making him worried, she had changed clothes very fast.

Seeing that she had come, the middle-aged man was totally happy, saying: ‘A’Xing, quick, quick, I accidentally threw her into the lake. I could never have expected that she wouldn’t resurface.’ That beautiful woman said: ‘I’m gonna ask clearly first. If that’s a man, I’ll save him right away. But if that’s a woman, then you’d better not say anything.’

Both Xiao Feng and A’Zhu found this very strange, thinking: ‘There’re women who are unwilling to get into the water to save men to avoid embracing or getting entangled with them underwater, thus losing their own dignity. Why is this woman the exact opposite, only saving men and not women?’

The middle-aged man stamped his feet, saying: ‘Oh dear! She’s just a 14 or 15 year old little girl. Don’t be suspicious.’ The beautiful woman said: ‘Humph, a little girl, so what? To a man like you, a 14 or 15 year old little girl and a 70 or 80 year old aged woman both will be…’ She at first wanted to say ‘both will be accepted’, but in a glance, she saw Xiao Feng and A’Zhu, so she slightly blushed and stretched out her hand and covered her own mouth, and the word ‘accepted’ was withdrawn at once, but her eyes were filled with amusement.

The middle-aged man took a deep bow at the prow of the boat, saying: ‘A’Xing, please save her quickly. I’ll follow everything that you say.’ That beautiful woman asked: ‘You’ll really follow me in everything?’ The middle-aged man hastily replied: ‘Yes. Oh, this little girl hasn’t resurfaced. Could it be that she has really died…?’ The beautiful woman said: ‘If I ask you to stay here forever, will you also follow me?’ An awkward expression appeared on the face of the middle-aged man. He said: ‘This… this…’ The beautiful woman said: ‘Even if you said without keeping your words and only sweet talked to make me happy for a short while, it’d be good enough for me. Yet you’re unwilling to do even such a thing.’ When she said to here, her eyes reddened and her voice was somewhat choked with emotion.

Xiao Feng and A’Zhu looked at each other. Both of them found this strange. This man and this woman were no longer young, but their words and actions were the same as those of passionate young lovers. Also, they did not look like a husband and a wife, especially that woman, for in front of strangers she was still showing no restraint in conversation, and while the life of a stranger was hanging by a thread, she was still talking about these matters of no urgency.

The middle-aged man let out a sigh and rowed the rowboat back, saying: ‘Forget it, forget it. There’s no need to save her. This little girl used poisonous missiles to sneakily attack me. She deserves to die. Let’s go back!’

That woman tilted her head, saying: ‘Why no need to save her? I’ll still save her. She shot missiles at you, right? That’s very good. Why didn’t she shoot you dead? What a pity, what a pity!’ She giggled then suddenly jumped up and plunged into the lake. Her skills in swimming were really outstanding. With a soft ‘chi’ sound, and without causing water to fly up into the air, she got to the bottom of the lake. After that, a ‘ka-la’ sound was heard when the surface of the lake disintegrated. The beautiful woman was already holding that purple-gowned young girl in her hands and her head emerged from the water. The middle-aged man exulted. He hastily rowed the rowboat back to pick them up.

After the middle-aged man had come near the beautiful woman, he stretched out his hands to receive the purple-gowned young girl. Seeing that her eyes were closing tightly and that she did not seem to be breathing, he could not help having a concerned expression. The beautiful woman shouted: ‘Don’t touch her. You’re a lady-killer, very unreliable.’ The middle-aged man feigned anger, saying: ‘Nonsense. In my life, I’ve never been a lady-killer.’

The beautiful woman uttered a sound of sneering, then holding the young girl in her hands, she jumped in the boat. She laughed and said: ‘Right, right. You’ve never been a lady-killer, and you’re only fond of very ugly women like Wuyan, Mo Mu (2 very ugly women according to legend). A’yo…’ She touched that young girl’s chest, and to her surprise, she immediately noticed that the girl’s heart had already stopped beating. Needless to say, her breathing had ceased for a long time. But her belly was not bulging so obviously she had not drunk much water.

Familiar with swimming, the beautiful woman at first had thought that being under water for such a little while would not kill the girl. Never could she have expected that this young girl was physically delicate and would die. She could not help looking rather apologetic. She carried the young girl in her arms and disembarked, saying: ‘Quick, quick! We must find a way to save her!’ Then, carrying the young girl, she ran very quickly towards the bamboo forest.

The middle-aged man bent down, lifted the fisherman up then turned to Xiao Feng and said: ‘Brother, may I ask your exalted name, and the noble purpose of your arrival at this place?’

Seeing that he had a natural and graceful bearing and that despite the young girl’s tragic death, he was still so imperturbable, Xiao Feng secretly admired him. He replied: ‘I am Xiao Feng, a Khitan. I was entrusted by 2 friends with the task of going to here to pass on a message.’

Of course there was no one in Jianghu who did not know the name Qiao Feng, but he already knew his real surname so at this moment he called himself Xiao Feng, and adding the 2 words ‘a Khitan’, he had stated his own origin straight out. The middle-aged man was undoubtedly very unfamiliar with the name Xiao Feng. Hearing the words ‘a Khitan’, he was not surprised in the least either. He asked: ‘Who are the 2 friends that requested brother Xiao to do this? And what is the message that you are delivering?’ Xiao Feng replied: ‘One wields a pair of broad axes. The other wields a copper staff and calls himself surnamed Fu. Both of them are injured…’

Frightened, the middle-aged man asked: ‘How are the injuries of these two? Where are they now? Brother Xiao, these 2 people are my close brothers. Sorry to trouble you, but could you give me directions? I… I… must go save them at once.’ The fisherman said: ‘Please take me with you.’ Seeing that they valued righteousness, Xiao Feng admired them in his heart, saying: ‘The injuries of these 2 people are serious but their lives ain’t in danger. They’re being in the town over there…’ That middle-aged man took a deep bow, saying: ‘Thank you very much! Thank you very much!’ Then, without saying anymore, he lifted the fisherman up and started to go towards the path along which Xiao Feng had come.

Right at this moment, they heard the calls of that beautiful woman coming from the inside of the bamboo forest: ‘Quickly come here, quickly come here. You come and see… see what this is!’ Her voice sounded exceptionally panic-stricken.

The middle-aged man stopped going. While he was hesitating, suddenly he saw a man quickly running towards them on the path and calling: ‘My Lord, did someone come to make trouble?’ He was none other than the scholar who had drawn in reverse on the bluestone bridge. Xiao Feng thought: ‘I thought he was trying to stop me from passing on the message. But it turns out he and those broad axe user and copper staff user are on the same side. The person that they call ‘the Lord’ is this middle-aged man, then.’

At this moment, the scholar had already noticed Xiao Feng and A’Zhu. Seeing the 2 of them standing beside the middle-aged man, he could not refrain from being startled. When he came near them, seeing that the fisherman was being bound, he was both shocked and angry. He asked: ‘What… what happened?’

They heard the voice of the beautiful woman inside the bamboo forest become more panic-stricken: ‘Why haven’t you come? A’yo, I… I…’

That middle-aged man said: ‘I go have a look.’ Then he lifted the fisherman up and walked quickly towards the bamboo forest. As soon as he moved, anyone could see at once that he had an extraordinary internal energy. His steps were light and long, yet they were exceptionally fast. Xiao Feng put one hand on A’Zhu’s waist then he went alongside him at an appropriate speed. The middle-aged man cast a look at Xiao Feng. An admiring expression was visible on his face.

They arrived at the bamboo forest in an instant. Sure enough, each of the bamboo trees was square. After going several zhang (3.333 m) into the bamboo forest, they saw 3 small houses with bamboo roofs. The structure of the houses was very delicate.

Hearing footsteps, the beautiful woman rushed out, crying: ‘You… you quickly come and see. What is this?’ She was holding a gold lock in her hand.

Xiao Feng saw that this gold lock was a common piece of jewelry for women and there was nothing special or unusual about it. That day, when A’Zhu was injured, Xiao Feng took vulnerary out from her bosom and saw a gold lock which looked almost the same as this lock. Unexpectedly, when the middle-aged man looked at the gold lock several times, his face changed colors greatly at once. He asked in a quavering voice: ‘Where… where did you get this?’

The beautiful woman replied: ‘I took it from her neck. I once drew a mark on their left shoulders. You… you go and see yourself…’ As she finished, she wept without being able to make any sound.

The middle-aged man quickly rushed into the house. A’Zhu also slightly shook her body and rushed in. She was even a step ahead of the beautiful woman. Xiao Feng followed behind that woman to go straight to the inner room. He saw that it was the bedchamber of a woman with delicate and elegant furnishings. Xiao Feng had no time to scan but he saw that purple-gowned young girl lying flat on the bed, stiff and motionless. She was already dead.

The middle-aged man pulled the sleeve of the young girl up and looked carefully at her shoulder. After taking a look, he immediately pulled the sleeve down. Xiao Feng was standing at his back so he did not see what the mark on the shoulder of the young girl was. He only saw that the back of the middle-aged man was continuously trembling. Obviously his mind was in a state of extreme discomposure.

The beautiful woman grabbed the middle-aged man’s robe and wept, saying: ‘She’s your own daughter, yet you killed her with your own hands. You didn’t bring her up yet you killed her… You… you’re such a heartless father…’

Xiao Feng was very astonished: ‘What? This young girl is their daughter? Ah, that’s right. Probably not long after giving birth to this young girl, they put her under a fosterage elsewhere. Both this gold lock and the mark on the left shoulder are the marks of identification that her parents left her.’ Suddenly he saw tears streaming down A’Zhu’s face and her body shaking slightly and leaning towards the bed.

Xiao Feng was frightened. He hurriedly held out his hand to support her. When he stooped down, he saw the eyeballs of the young girl lying on the bed slightly move. She already closed her eyes but the movements of her eyeballs could still be seen behind the eyelids. Caring about A’Zhu, Xiao Feng only asked: ‘What’s wrong?’ A’Zhu stood up straight, wiped the tears and said with a forced laugh: ‘I saw that this… this girl had an unfortunate tragic death so I feel sorry for her.’

Xiao Feng stretched out his hand and felt the pulse of the young girl. That beautiful woman wept, saying: ‘The heart already stopped. The breathing has already gone too. You can’t save her life.’ Xiao Feng slightly channeled his internal energy, pushed it on the wrist of the young girl then immediately loosened his grip. He felt an opposing stream of internal energy emerge in the body of that young girl. Obviously she was channeling her internal energy to resist.

‘Ha-ha,’ Xiao Feng laughed loudly and said: ‘It’s really rare to see such a naughty girl in the world.’ That beautiful woman said angrily: ‘Who are you? Quickly get out of here! My daughter has died. What nonsense are you talking here?’ Xiao Feng laughed and said: ‘What if I can bring your dead daughter back to life?’ Then he stretched out his hand and thrust at an acupuncture point on the waist of the young girl.

This finger attack hit the ‘Jingmen acupuncture point’ on the waist of the young girl. This point is at the end of the last rib of the human body. Xiao Feng passed his internal energy into the acupuncture point, immediately making the girl feel unbearably tingly and itchy. Unable to endure that, the young girl jumped up on the bed, giggled in a lovely manner and reached for Xiao Feng’s shoulder with her left hand to support herself.

Seeing the girl come back to life from death, all the people in the room were both surprised and happy. The middle-aged man laughed and said: ‘So you scared me…’ The beautiful woman smiled though tears and cried: ‘My miserable daughter!’ and expanded her arms to embrace her.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Feng hit the young girl with the back of his hand, sending her falling. After that, he held out his hand, grabbed her left wrist, sneered and said: ‘So young, yet so vicious!’

The beautiful woman cried: ‘Why did you hit my daughter?’ If she had not had regard for Xiao Feng’s status as the person who had ‘revived’ her daughter, she would have fought him at once.

After grabbing her wrist, Xiao Feng turned her palm over, saying: ‘Please see.’

Everyone saw that the young girl was holding a glistening green thin needle in a space between her fingers. At first sight, they already knew that the needle had been suffused with an intense poison. Pretending to reach for Xiao Feng’s shoulder to support herself, she wanted to stick this thin needle in his body. Fortunately, he had sharp eyes and was nimble, therefore he was not caught in her snare, but it was really an extremely dangerous situation.

This palm attack only made one cheek of the young girl’s swell up considerably. Xiao Feng certainly did not use all his power. Otherwise her skull would have been shattered into small pieces easily. With her wrist being gripped, it was already too late for her to hide the poisonous needle even if she wanted to. Moreover, the left side of her body was being powerless, aching and tingling. Suddenly, her small mouth twitched slightly and she wept loudly, crying: ‘You bully me! You bully me!’

The middle-aged man said: ‘Alright, alright! Don’t cry! He just gave you a gentle hit. What’s the big deal? Frequently using intensely poisonous missiles to harm other people, you should be taught a lesson.’

The young girl wept, saying: ‘This Green Phosphorous Needle of mine isn’t the scariest. I still have very many unused missiles.’

Xiao Feng said coldly: ‘Why didn’t you use the Invisible Dust, the Carefree Powder, the Blissful Thorn, or the Heart Piercing Nail?’

The young girl stopped crying. There was an extremely surprised expression on her face. She asked in a quavering voice: ‘You… How do you know?’

Xiao Feng replied: ‘I know your master is the Old Fiend of Xingxiu (Xingxiu = Constellation. This is a school name and a place name so I use the pinyin) so I know you have lots of evil poisonous missiles.’

As soon as he said so, everyone was shocked. The ‘Old Fiend of Xingxiu’ Ding Chunqiu was an unorthodox expert that everyone in wulin would frown when they heard his name. This man stopped at nothing in doing evil and killed people like flies. His ‘Energy Dissolving Great Technique’ was specially developed for destroying other people’s internal energies so it was an even greater taboo to martial arts learners under Heaven. Unfortunately, his martial arts were extremely good therefore no one had been able to do anything about him. All in all, it was only because he had seldom come to the Central Plains that he had not yet become a catastrophe.

The expression of the middle-aged man’s was both sympathetic and worried. He asked in a warm voice: ‘A’Zi, why did you accept the Old Fiend of Xingxiu as your master?’

With her big round shiny black eyes wide open, the young girl sized up that middle-aged man, asking: ‘How do you know my name?’ The middle-aged man sighed and said: ‘Could it be that you didn’t hear what we talked just now?’ The young girl shook her head and smiled, saying: ‘When I play possum, my heart and breathing are stopped, and my eyes and ears are closed, so I can’t see or hear anything.’

Xiao Feng let go of her wrist and said: ‘Humph, it’s the ‘Chelonian Breathing Skill’ of the Old Fiend of Xingxiu.’ The young girl A’Zi goggled at him, saying: ‘Bah! It seems you know everything.’ Then she stuck out her tongue and made a face.

The beautiful woman pulled A’Zi and looked her up and down. Her face was being radiant with ineffable happiness. The middle-aged man smiled, saying: ‘Why did you play possum? You really made us jump out of our skin.’ A’Zi was very pleased with herself, saying: ‘Who told you to throw me into the lake? You’re not a good guy.’ The middle-aged man looked at Xiao Feng then, with an awkward expression, he forced a smile and said: ‘So stubborn, so stubborn.’

Xiao Feng knew that when he and his daughter met each other for the 1st time, they would certainly have many things to say–things that they could not let strangers hear. Therefore he pulled a corner of A’Zhu’s gown and walked outside into the bamboo forest. He saw that A’Zhu’s eyes had become reddish and her body was shaking continuously. So he asked: ‘A’Zhu, are you sick?’ and stretched out his hand and felt her pulse, only to find that it was beating very fast. Obviously her mind was being in great turmoil. A’Zhu shook her head, saying: ‘It’s nothing.’ Presently, she said: ‘Big brother, please go out first, I… I need to go to the toilet.’ Xiao Feng nodded and walked far away.

Xiao Feng walked to the side of the lake and waited here for quite a while, but all along he did not see A’Zhu come out from the bamboo forest. Suddenly he heard footsteps. 3 people were coming at a trotting speed. A thought emerged in his mind: ‘Could it be it’s the prime villain coming?’ From a distance he only saw 3 people rushing along the path beside the lake. 2 of them were carrying someone on each of their backs, and a short and small fellow was going as if flying. When rushing, it seemed as if his feet did not touch the ground. After rushing away for a distance, he stopped to wait for his companions at the back. Those 2 people had solid steps. It was obvious that their martial arts were rather remarkable. When the 3 people had drawn near, Xiao Feng saw that the 2 fellows being carried on the back of others’ were none other than the people they had met on the way–the mad axe user and the big fellow with the surname Fu. He heard the short and small fellow shout: ‘My Lord, my Lord, the prime villain has caught up. We should run quickly!’

Leading the beautiful woman with 1 hand, and leading A’Zi with the other hand, the middle-aged man walked out from the bamboo forest. There were tear stains on the face of the middle-aged man and the beautiful woman, but A’Zi was grinning complacently as if nothing had happened. After that, A’Zhu also walked out from the bamboo forest then went to the side of Xiao Feng.

That middle-aged man let go of the 2 females he was leading, rushed to the side of the 2 wounded fellows and checked their pulses. Seeing that their lives were definitely not in danger, he had a joyful look on his face at once, saying: ‘You 3 have gone through hardships. I’m just feeling at ease that both brother GU and brother Fu have no big problem.’ The 3 people bowed in salute in an exceedingly respectful and cautious manner.

Xiao Feng was inwardly surprised: ‘These 3 people’s martial arts and bearing are really out of the ordinary. Even if they aren’t lords who wield absolute power in a region, they can easily be the heads of some schools, but why are they so respectful when seeing this middle-aged man? What is his background?’

That short fellow said: ‘My Lord, this subject has set up a diversion beside the bluestone bridge to hold back the prime villain. But I’m afraid he will see through the stratagem at once. Please set off forthwith, my Lord.’ The middle-aged man said: ‘It’s unfortunate for my family to have produced such an evil rebel. Since you and he have met each other here, I’m afraid even if I want to avoid him I won’t be able to. Perhaps I’ll have no choice but to try to deal with him once.’ A fellow with thick eyebrows and big eyes said: ‘Your subjects are going to share the task of resisting the enemy and eliminating evil among ourselves. Please attach most importance to the country and quickly return to Dali so as not to make His Majesty concerned about your welfare, my Lord.’ A fellow of middling size said: ‘My Lord, you should not display your temporary valor in dealing with today’s matter. If you make any slight slip, my Lord, how shall we have the face to return to Dali and meet His Majesty? We shall have no choice but to commit suicide together.’

Hearing up to here, Xiao Feng was slightly scared: ‘What is with all these subjects, His Majesty, and return-to-Dali things? Could it be that they’re from the House of Duan in Dali?’ His heart pounding chaotically, he thought: ‘Could it be that the net of Heaven are vast and today that villain Duan Zhengchun will fall into my hands by chance?’

While he was being doubtful, suddenly he heard a long roar in the distance. After that, there were shouts which sounded like metals being ground against each other: ‘The son of a turtle (~ s.o.b) surnamed Duan, you can’t escape. Be obedient and be tied, quick. Maybe your father here will have some consideration for your son and spare your life.’

The voice of a woman was heard: ‘But Yue the Third you won’t have the chance to decide if his life will be spared or not. Don’t tell me that big bro won’t be able to handle him?’ A sinister-sounding voice said: ‘If this surnamed Duan fellow knows right and wrong, that’ll always be more convenient than not.’ This man was trying hard to send his words far away. He obviously did not have enough energy in his stomach. It seemed he had been injured and had not yet healed.

Hearing these people say ‘surnamed Duan’ again and again, Xiao Feng felt even more suspicious. Suddenly, a small hand was stretched over, and held his hand. Xiao Feng cast a sideways look at A’Zhu who was standing at his side. He saw that her face was pale, and the center of her palm was full of ice-cold sweat, so he asked in a low voice: ‘How are you?’ A’Zhu replied in a quavering voice: ‘I’m very afraid.’ Xiao Feng smiled, saying: ‘Beside your big brother, what are you still afraid of?’ With his mouth slightly protruding in the direction of the middle-aged man, he said softly into her ear: ‘It seems this man is from the House of Duan in Dali.’ A’Zhu made no comment, her lips moving slightly.

The middle-aged man was Duan Zhengchun, the Crown Brother (No idea what the English equivalent of 皇太弟 is) of the State of Dali. In his youth he traveled the Central Plains and enjoyed the pursuit of romance so it was unavoidable that he had relationships everywhere. In fact, it was common for the rich and the people of high social status to have 3 or 4 wives. Duan Zhengchun was a prince, so it was also normal for him to have romantic relationships with many people. But the House of Duan originated from a well-known family in the Central Plains. Even though they had become the sovereign power in Dali, they had always followed the teachings of their ancestors in all daily life matters and in eating and drinking. Never had they dared forget their origin and be overly lavish. Duan Zhengchun’s first wife, Lady Dao Baifeng, was the daughter of a powerful Baiyi headman in Yunnan. The House of Duan married one of their sons to her in order to win over the Baiyi, thus strengthening their imperial throne. There were not many Han peop