C34 Rules

"My life belongs to you, Miss. If I could die in your place, it would be worth it," Ruyi said with unwavering determination as she handed over the ginger tea.

Qin Luoyi accepted the tea, her thoughts lingering as she brought it to her lips. "I heard it was Eldest Miss Feng from the South Suppressing Marquis Mansion who saved us?"

"Yes, it was her! I'm sure I saw her in the water," Ruyi recalled. "And when Xie Ruxuan almost overpowered me, someone threw an orange peel at her, which helped me gain the upper hand. It seemed like it came from Eldest Miss Feng's direction."

"Feng Tiange..." Qin Luoyi murmured, her eyes narrowing slightly as she held the tea. "Why would she help me?"

"I don't think Eldest Miss Feng is the useless person everyone says she is. She's a good person," Ruyi replied, grateful for Feng Tiange's help.

"There have been a lot of rumors about her in the capital lately. I heard she's taking the entrance exams for the Imperial Academy, and she's applied to both the Wenn Mansion and the Martial Academy. That's quite different from how she used to be," Qin Luoyi mused, sipping her tea.

"I hope she gets into the Imperial Academy," Ruyi said, her face full of earnest hope.

Qin Luoyi glanced at Ruyi, a faint smile on her pale lips. "Yes, no matter what others say, to us, she's our savior."

Some things don't hold up under scrutiny. After carefully considering everything that happened at the Green Garden, Qin Luoyi began to suspect that the person who wrote "Duel Yao" was none other than Feng Tiange. There were just too many coincidences that couldn't be explained. Maybe she should ask in person, or perhaps express her gratitude face-to-face...

The palace, Heaven Obeying Hall.

Since the events at the Green Garden became known, and with the public breakup by the Marquis of Martial Peace, Dugu Rou had been throwing everything she could get her hands on in the palace. She couldn't sleep at night, couldn't eat, and had become quite haggard.

At this moment, Mo Hua entered the room and saw her mistress taking a nap on the chaise lounge. Not daring to make a sound, she stood quietly by her side.

"What is it now?" Dugu Rou asked, her eyes closed, her red lips barely moving.

"It's the Marquis of Martial Peace. He sent a message to the inner palace, saying he wants to meet with you tomorrow at noon, at the Drunken Immortal Tower in Nether Market," Mo Hua said cautiously, afraid of upsetting her mistress. There was nothing left to break in the Heaven Obeying Hall.

Dugu Rou slowly opened her eyes, her cold gaze fixed on the jade coffee table in front of her. Sensing trouble, Mo Hua hesitated to speak, but then watched as her mistress suddenly stood up and violently overturned the table, smashing it to the ground.

"That fool has no brains! Who told him to push Qin Luoyi into the water? Who told him to save Feng Xueyao? Is he treating my words like they're nothing?" Dugu Rou's eyes were red with rage, and seeing that the table wasn't completely shattered, she stomped on it twice more in fury.

Mo Hua approached cautiously, "Miss, please don't be upset. The Commander has already been reprimanded and shouldn't make the same mistake again..."

"Another mistake? Let's focus on fixing this one first!" Dugu Rou sighed deeply, her eyes darkening. "The Marquis of Martial Peace has invited me, surely because of this incident."

Mo Hua panicked, "Without the Marquis's support in court, wouldn't it be..."

"He wouldn't dare. If persuasion fails, then threats..." Dugu Rou felt a wave of fatigue and instructed Mo Hua to clean up the broken pieces on the floor before retreating to her private chamber.

How crucial is the Marquis's support?

What truly matters is Beiming Yuan's stance. She always believed Beiming Yuan loved her, trusted every word he said—that he would make her the Crown Prince Consort and love her for a lifetime.

But now, she was starting to doubt...

Nether Market, the most prominent of the four markets, lived up to its reputation. Even in the harsh winter, the streets buzzed with traffic and people bustling about.

Feng Tiange, dressed in a simple snow-white robe, sat in a teahouse, holding a cup in one hand. Her gaze instinctively drifted to the Four-sea Merchant Alliance across the way. She had been contemplating whether to seek help from Wen Yu, but just yesterday, she noticed that some shops in the Fish Market, supposedly under the No-south House's protection, were displaying the purple wind chimes that signified they were unclaimed.

In the Fish Market, shops without backing from court forces rarely survived, so every shop displayed wind chimes to show they had protection. Those chimes were usually silver-white.

Occasionally, the Fish Market would see the appearance of a purple wind chime, but it was mostly at newly opened stalls or shops. Within a few days, these chimes would find their owner, leading to a change of chimes. There was a lot of nuance here; a shop that could change its wind chime had earned the approval of some significant figure in the government. Those that couldn't manage the change would disappear from the Fish Market.

However, for an old establishment like the No-south House, such a situation was impossible. An unclaimed chime could find an owner, but if an owned chime was abandoned, it was the end of the line.

She wanted to know what was happening in the Fish Market and wanted to ask Wen Yu about it.

"Where did that young lady go?" In the teahouse, the server came out to find that Tiange had already left, the tea in her cup still warm, with a silver ingot placed beside it...

The Four-sea Merchant Alliance was the most luxurious building in the entire Nether Market. Its double-eaved roof with yellow glazed tiles gleamed under the sunlight, and the sign of Jinxiang Mo occasionally emitted a faint ink fragrance.

When Tiange walked in, she coincidentally ran into the old man she had briefly encountered on the street the other day. The old man didn't seem surprised by Tiange's arrival. After a respectful greeting, he led her directly to the second floor, without asking her purpose or reason for visiting.

In all her past lives, this was Tiange's first time entering the Four-sea Merchant Alliance, and also her first time seeing such extravagant interior decor: cloud-patterned sandalwood beams, crystal jade lamps, white jade floors, and lotus patterns carved into the ground.

The Four-sea Merchant Alliance was wealthy, no doubt, but did they really need to flaunt it so blatantly?

"Please have a seat, Miss. The leader will be with you shortly," the elderly man said, ushering Tiange into a private room on the second floor before respectfully taking his leave.

At the table, Tiange appeared calm, but inside she felt a bit anxious. After all, the man she was about to meet hadn't given her the time of day in her past life and had taught her a valuable lesson through his actions: power dictates the rules.

The Four-sea Merchant Alliance had power, so Wen Yu was the rule...

After a short wait, Wen Yu arrived.

He wore a deep purple robe, with a gold-threaded spiderweb belt around his waist. His dark hair was tied back with a jade-inlaid gold crown. Tall and straight as a pine, he wore the same golden mask she had seen him with in the carriage that day.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." As Rong Qi approached the table, his innate nobility and commanding presence made Tiange instinctively stand and greet him with a respectful gesture.

Facing the man before her, Tiange didn't speak immediately. Instead, she removed the sheer veil from her face, revealing her true appearance. The scarlet mark covering half her face was her most distinctive feature.

Before coming, Tiange had deliberately asked Yueya to darken the mark, which had faded almost to nothing.

"Tiange pays her respects to the leader." She knew that to ask for a favor, she first had to show sincerity. Besides, Tiange was confident that even if she hadn't removed her veil, Wen Yu could find out who she was if he wanted to.

In her past life, Wen Yu was her only imagined rival...