Alone in her room, Shi Yao'er felt increasingly wronged and resentful. Why should she marry someone she had never even met? No matter how wealthy his family was, he was not the one she loved. Was her father really willing to sacrifice his own happiness for the sake of that so-called "capital" to advance his career?

Shi Yao'er felt an endless loneliness and sorrow in her heart, and could only rely on her memories of the past to support herself.

Three years ago, Shi Jinpeng was an official in a small local town. Because of his efficient work and outstanding abilities, he was transferred to Qingfeng County to serve as the county commandant. Upon hearing of the transfer, all the officials, big and small, from the original small town came to congratulate him. Shi Jinpeng was also very happy. Yao'er's mother had passed away early, and he had worked hard to raise Yao'er. The reason for his hard work was to provide Yao'er with a superior living environment.

From a young age, Shi Jinpeng was very strict with Shi Yao'er, but he had both the strictness of a father and the love of a mother. He educated Shi Yao'er in different ways depending on the event. For example, when it came to choosing a husband for Shi Yao'er, after learning that the Tang family was wealthy, his first thought was that if his Yao'er could marry into the Tang family, she would never have to worry about making a living for the rest of her life. He was an official in the court and was now the Prefectural Commandant. He had to personally participate in all matters, big and small, in Qingfeng County and was afraid that he would not have time to take care of Shi Yao'er.

After learning from Shi Yao'er that his daughter already had someone she liked, Shi Jinpeng made a three-year agreement with her. This agreement was proposed by Shi Yao'er: if a red rope and bell were hung on the sunny side of the maple tree within three years, Shi Jinpeng would hold a martial arts contest to choose a husband. If Shi Jinpeng's elementalists defeated the person who hung the red rope and bell, Shi Yao'er would obey her father's arrangement and marry into the Tang family. If she could not win, Shi Jinpeng would no longer interfere with Shi Yao'er's love and marriage.

Shi Yao'er originally thought that it would be too difficult to hang the red rope bell on the sunny side of the maple tree. The elementalist who could hang it must be quite capable, at least a sixth-level elementalist. Moreover, there was a random element involved. Shi Jinpeng also believed that his elementalists could definitely defeat the opponent, so he agreed.

But since it was all so random, Shi Yao'er started to worry again after learning that someone had actually succeeded. What if that person couldn't defeat her father's elementals? Wouldn't she really be forced to abandon her brother San Shi and marry into the Tang family? After thinking it over, Shi Yao'er finally decided to find someone to assassinate Su Yang. As long as she could kill Su Yang, there would be no point in having a martial arts competition, and she could delay for another year and slowly figure out a solution.

Speaking of Brother Sanshi, it was after Shi Yao'er came to Qingfeng County with her father that she met him by chance.

Two years ago, sixteen-year-old Shi Yao'er was curious about everything in Qingfeng County. It was so big, much bigger than the small town where she used to live. In particular, the towering maple tree in the town was already covered with green leaves even though it was early spring, which made Shi Yao'er very curious.

One day, she strolled to the maple tree and saw many people buying bells in the square. Then they knelt down devoutly under the maple tree, muttering something unintelligible. As she slowly approached, several well-dressed young men in white clothes nearby quickly caught her attention.

The boys, clutching red rope bells, looked up at the maple tree, crouching in a strange posture that drew Shi Yao'er's attention. She found herself drawn closer. Soon after, the boys leaped from the ground and soared into the sky, only to land again, leaving one boy suspended in mid-air.

This was the first time Shi Yao'er had ever seen someone fly. Her eyes were fixed on the figure of the white-clad boy in mid-air. After the boy stabilized his body, he began to move slowly, but he seemed to be struggling. Several times during the movement, he almost lost control and nearly fell, which caused the onlookers to gasp in surprise. Shi Yao'er's heart also became tense.

Fortunately, all was well and the boy managed to hang the red rope bell on the branch and slowly descend to the ground, drawing applause from the surrounding crowd. Inspired by them, Shi Yao'er also joined in the applause, her gaze fixed on the boy, following his movements as if an invisible thread was binding the two of them tightly together.

The boy seemed to have exhausted his mental energy. After landing, he sat down on a stone bench to rest. The white-clad boy who was with him comforted him for a while, and then they all got up to go to the surrounding stalls to find someone to help them hang bells. At this moment, Shi Yao'er came to the boy's side as if possessed. She seemed to have a thousand words she wanted to say to him, but in the end, she could only ask, "Were you flying just now?"

As soon as the question left her mouth, Shi Yao'er seemed to immediately come to her senses, her face instantly turning red with embarrassment. She thought to herself, "Anyone with eyes can see that we're flying! How could I have asked such a stupid question!"

Upon hearing this, the young man immediately looked up and met Shi Yao'er's gaze. His eyes held a mixture of confusion and shock, but he still politely replied, "Yes, young lady, may I ask what brings you here?"

"Could you help me hang up my red string bell too?" Shi Yao'er stretched out her hand, and in her palm lay a red string bell, which she had just bought.

Tang Tianlei was somewhat at a loss for words, both amused and exasperated. He thought to himself, "Is this girl alright? I can't believe I almost exhausted my elemental and mental energy flying just now, and she still wants me to heal her..." But then he reconsidered. It wouldn't be befitting of a young master of the Tang family and a disciple of Qingfeng Academy to so ruthlessly refuse a young girl's request. So he carefully crafted his words, saying, "Of course I can, but as you can see, I am indeed exhausted today. I think..."

Tang Tianlei was interrupted by Shi Yao'er halfway through his sentence: "Then tomorrow will do." At that moment, Shi Yao'er seemed to have turned back into the little princess who was pampered by Shi Jinpeng.

Then, without giving Tang Tianlei any time to react, she rattled off a string of questions: "By the way, my name is... my name is Jin Yang'er. I haven't asked your name yet! Where do you live? Seeing that you can fly, is your elemental rank quite high? Hey, what's the meaning behind that red string bell?...

A barrage of questions left Tang Tianlei bewildered, unsure where to begin answering. He gradually fell into Shi Yao'er's rhythm. After some thought, he decided to answer in order, but since Shi Yao'er had already finished asking her questions, Tang Tianlei could only keep answering, making their conversation seem disjointed and incoherent.

"My name is Tang Sanshi." In order not to reveal his true identity, Tang Tianlei quickly came up with an alias.

"My home is near the west side of the city."

"The elemental rank is alright; it should be approaching the fifth rank soon."

"This red string bell, it looks like this..."

...

After answering all the questions, Tang Tianlei was exhausted. Shi Yao'er stared intently at Tang Tianlei, seemingly not listening to any of his answers except for his name. After Tang Tianlei finally finished answering all the questions, Shi Yao'er couldn't help but laugh.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like