Chapter Eighty-One: The Five Sides' Secret Plot

  A discordant voice rang out in everyone's ears, and for a moment, everyone's gaze was drawn to the owner of that discordant voice.

  That was a very pretty girl, fifteen or sixteen years old, although not as stunning as Cold-as-Snow's breathtaking beauty, but gave people the feeling of being sweet and lovely, lively and cute. However, originally should have been a very likable girl, why did what she said sound so unlikable? Everyone was truly at a loss for words.

  Leng Ruo Xue coldly smiled and looked at the girl who had spoken out, a great spiritual master actually dared to be so arrogant in such a situation, did she think this was her own home?

  "Moonlight, what nonsense are you spouting? Shut your mouth!" Mo Yingyue looked at Leng Ruxue with some embarrassment, her face full of awkwardness.

  This self-righteous cousin is really spoiled. Before coming, she had already warned Mo Mingyue not to talk nonsense, but Mo Mingyue obviously didn't take her words to heart.

  "Eldest Sister Mo, is this your maid? How utterly unrefined." Cold Snow lightly laughed and said calmly.

  "How dare you! I'm the second miss of the Mo family, the most favored one. You think I'm a maid?" Mo Mingyue shouted angrily. In the Mo family, she was more favored than the current empress, if not for her grandfather, the master of the house, thinking that the crown prince had no chance of ascending to the throne, Mo Yingyue would have never become the empress. In her eyes, Mo Yingyue was just a concubine's daughter, so she didn't even put Mo Yingyue in her sights.

  "Ruo Xue, she is my cousin, Mo Ming Yue." Mo Ying Yue explained with some helplessness.

  "What if you are the second miss of the Mo family? With your identity, even if you want to be my maid, you don't have the qualifications." Leng Ruoxue sneered lightly. The Mo family was far inferior compared to those five big aristocratic families and the imperial family. She didn't put such top-notch powers in her eyes, yet a daughter of a second-rate family dared to be so presumptuous in front of her!

  "How dare you have the audacity to speak to me like that, the Emperor will not let you off." Mo Mingyue roared in anger, her eyes flashing with jealousy and resentment.

  "Let's go inside and sit down, Sister Mo!" Cold Ruo Xue looked at Mo Ming Yue with a silly expression, ignoring her anger, and said to Mo Ying Yue.

  "Good." Mo Yingyue followed behind Leng Ruoxue, and the two of them entered the rest room together.

  "Sorry, noble Mo Er Miss, our miss didn't invite you, you can't go in." Feng Da blocked the door of the rest room, expressionless.

  Mo Mingyue, who was about to follow up, saw that she had been stopped by someone and angrily asked: "Why can't I go in?"

  Why can Mo Yingyue enter, but she can't? This made her proud heart extremely unbalanced. In the imperial palace, she could go wherever she wanted, and no one dared to stop her!

  "Can't you understand human language? I've said it before, our young lady didn't invite you!" Feng Da said somewhat impatiently. Why are these aristocratic girls all so brainless?

  Hmph! If I'm not going in, then I won't go in. This place isn't anything special anyway, it can't compare to the imperial palace at all! Thinking this, Mo Mingyue huffily turned around and walked away.

  In the rest room.

  "Sister Mo, don't you have anything to say to me?" asked Leng Ruo Xue calmly, with a hint of displeasure in her heart.

  "Sorry, Yuexue, I shouldn't have brought her here." Mo Yingyue said with some embarrassment. Recently, Mo Mingyue had been living in the palace and no matter where she went, Mo Mingyue would follow, which made her extremely annoyed!

  "Sister Mo, haven't you thought of a solution yet?" Leng Ruoxue said calmly. If it weren't for Sister Mo's face, she would have had that annoying woman thrown out just now.

  "If it's snowing, I... let you down, sorry."

  "Sister Mo, you didn't disappoint me, but rather wronged yourself. I don't like women who compromise and yield easily." Leng Ruo Xue said bluntly, if one wants to deal with enemies, being ruthless is absolutely necessary, otherwise, retreating will only let the enemy take advantage of it.

  However, she knew that Mo Yingyue had too many worries and couldn't be as carefree as her.

  "If it's Snow, I'll find a way to resolve her situation as soon as possible." Mo Yingyue said with a determined heart.

  "Sister Mo, being the mother of a nation is not an easy role to play. If you want to avoid being controlled by your family, you must become stronger! You must have your own power and influence, otherwise, you will only be a pawn for your family to use forever."

  Leng Ruo Xue knew that Mo Ying Yue was different from her, Mo Ying Yue had been educated since childhood to serve the family, unlike her, her family was simple, but even if she had a large family, the family was also irrelevant to her, what she cared about were only people who were worth her attention.

  "If I were like snow, I don't want to be a chess piece for the family, being used by them." Mo Yingyue said firmly.

  "Then become stronger! Let everyone look up to you!" said Leng Ruoxue encouragingly.

  "Alright, I will definitely become stronger. I won't let my family tie me down again." This time, Mo Yingyue had truly made up her mind, not just to defend the man she loved, but also for her own freedom.

  "Ah, Sister Mo, let's go!" Leng Ruo Xue nodded in satisfaction, she liked women with backbone.

  Leng Ruo Xue and Mo Ying Yue returned to the restaurant hall when most of the guests had already arrived.

  "Master!"

  Two surprised voices appeared behind Leng Ruoxue, who turned around to see two middle-aged men standing not far away with a flattering expression on their faces.

  These two guys! Leng Ruoxue's forehead involuntarily hung with several black lines again after seeing them, how did they come? Leng Ruoxue was at a loss.

  "Master Uncle, it's been a long time. We've really missed you to death." The two middle-aged men walked up to Leng Ruoxue, their faces excitedly saying.

  Those present who knew their identities were shocked to hear them address Leng Ruoxue, their jaws dropping in astonishment. My god! Had they heard wrong? The President and Vice-President of the Association of Instrument Masters actually called Leng Ruoxue "Shifu" (Master), what was going on? Was this a fantasy?

  Not long after that! After hearing their words, Leng Ruo Xue was speechless. They only met once, did they have to be so affectionate?

  "What about Snow, who is she?" Mo Yingyue asked with some curiosity.

  "They can be considered as my junior masters!" Leng Ruoxue explained, she didn't even know what they were called!

  "Master..." The two middle-aged men heard Leng Ruoxue's reluctant tone and, surprisingly, looked at her with a very tacit understanding, their expressions as if Leng Ruoxue had abandoned them.

  They've gone all out! Who made them come, Master Qianji ordered and warned a thousand times, ten thousand times, to stick with Leng Ruoxue, this task is only allowed to succeed, not allowed to fail!

  Seeing their expressions, Leng Ruoxue was really flustered. If it were a mischievous person making such an expression, she would still find it cute. However, two middle-aged men with stern facial features and robust builds making pitiful expressions would likely be unbearable for anyone!

  "If it snows, they..." Mo Yingyue felt all the hairs on her body stand up, she really didn't know what to say anymore.

  "Empress Mo, hello, I'm Guo Yong and he's Guo Qiang. We're brothers." The man who claimed to be Guo Yong introduced himself.

  Guo Yong, Guo Qiang! Aren't they the president and vice-president of the Instrumental Masters Association? Mo Yingyue was shocked in her heart, were they really those two people? Or... just namesakes?

  According to legend, Guo Yong and Guo Qiang are currently the only two masters of refining equipment on the continent of Lingfeng. As for their master, the founder of the Refining Master Guild, he has been missing for many years, and many people even speculate that their master should have passed away.

  So she really couldn't figure out why they would call Ruo Xue Shu Shu (a term of respect for a senior female martial artist).

  "Uh, hello." Mo Yingyue turned her head to look at Leng Ruoxue, with a questioning gaze.

  But on her icy face was written "don't ask me" in three big words...

  It wasn't until now that Leng Ruo Xue knew the names of these two people, and in fact, she didn't have any impression of their names at all. Naturally, it was impossible for her to know that these two middle-aged men who called her Shifu were actually the big bosses of the prestigious Qixing Association.

  However, the others present were not as calm as Leng Ruoxue, especially those who had just learned of their identities and upon hearing the names of the two people, became so excited that they almost fainted, their idols!

  It's unclear who started it, but in the blink of an eye, Guo Yong and Guo Qiang were surrounded by a crowd...

  "Ruo Xue, do you know their identities?" Mo Yingyue pulled Ruo Xue to one side and asked in a low voice.

  "I don't know." Leng Ruoxue said very honestly.

  "They should be the president and vice-president of the Instrumental Masters Guild." Mo Yingyue said somewhat impatiently, and she had really guessed correctly, as Ruo Xue truly didn't know.

  "Oh." A faint response came from Leng Ruoxue's cold and snowy demeanor.

  "Ruò Xuě, your reaction is a bit too calm, isn't it?" Mò Yìng Yuè was somewhat speechless. Can Ruò Xuě not be so calm about this?!

  "Or what?" asked Leng Ruoxue.

  “……”

  "When I didn't say anything." Mo Yingyue felt a bit powerless, was it because she had seen too little?

  "Sister Mo, you find a place to sit for now, I'll go take a look over there." Leng Ruoxue said with her sharp eyes noticing that Grandfather was calling her.

  "Alright, you go ahead, don't worry about me." She had to go find Mingyue, lest that guy cause trouble for her.

  "Grandfather, are you calling me?" asked Leng Ruoxue as she walked up to her grandfather's side.

  "Xue Er, those two have very high status!" Leng Qing Tian reminded, he also didn't expect that the two were...

  "Grandfather, aren't they calling me Shifu? Don't worry." Leng Ruoxue comforted him. Since those two had taken the initiative to come to their doorstep, they must have ulterior motives. However, if they wanted to take advantage of her, they would have to pay the price.

  "Mm." Leng Qingtian nodded, still feeling reassured about his own granddaughter.

  "Miss, it's time." Feng Da walked over and said to Leng Ruo Xue.

  "Please invite the guests to take their seats!" Leng Ruoxue ordered.

  Because it was the opening day of 'De Yi Lou', there were no external business on that day, and all the invited guests were from various families.

  After Feng Da led the guests to their seats, Leng Qingtian spoke a few words of gratitude as the general, and then ordered the dishes to be served.

  When everyone saw those dishes they had never seen before and smelled the tempting aroma, they felt their mouths watering.

  "Everyone's staring at what? Today I won't take your money, don't be afraid, eat quickly!" Leng Qing Tian joked with a good mood.

  "Who's afraid?" Lin Liang took the lead and picked up a tempting red piece of meat, putting it in his mouth. The meat melted as soon as it entered, the aroma overflowing, almost causing him to bite off his own tongue...

  "I asked Old Leng, who cooked this dish?" Lin Liang asked while eating.

  "Didn't I tell you?" Leng Qingtian glanced at Lin Liang coldly.

  "Is it really them? Awesome!"

  "Cut it out, you don't even know who trained me." Leng Qingtian said with a proud face.

  "You're so proud of yourself." Lin Liang said with a humph, this old man is just relying on having a good granddaughter, what's there to be proud of?!

  "What kind of dish is this? It's so disgusting, and you still want to open a restaurant with this level of skill?" Mo Mingyue said disdainfully, humph! She just wanted to stir up trouble, she didn't believe that Leng Ruo Xue dared to do anything to her.

  "Moonlight, shut up." Mo Yingyue growled in discontent. She really didn't understand why Mingyue had to find trouble with Ruoxue, who hadn't even provoked her.

  Unfortunately, Mo Mingyue's voice was too loud, so it had already attracted everyone's attention.

  "Miss Mo, you don't know this, but the reason Miss Leng opened this restaurant is mainly because she was rejected by 'Chun Feng Lou'!" Shui Xin Ran said with a mocking tone, her face full of sweet and joyful smile.

  "I knew it! I said so, a noble lady like you, what's the point of opening a restaurant for no reason!" Mo Mingyue became even more complacent when she saw someone backing her up.

  "Ah!" Suddenly, Huo Qing's expressionless face let out a shout.

  "Brother Qing!" Shui Xinran immediately changed from being sharp-tongued and sarcastic to being gentle and affectionate, her change in demeanor so quick that it left people speechless.

  "You don't have to appear in front of me again." Huo Qing said coldly.

  "Qing gege!" Xue Ruo's heart skipped a beat, and she burst into tears. She had never imagined that Qing gege would humiliate her like this in front of everyone for the sake of Leng Ruoxue...

  As soon as the fiery words came out, everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to Shui Xianran's face.

  Hao Mianzi's face was burning with shame, she felt extremely embarrassed, 'whoosh', she suddenly stood up from her seat and ran away...

  "Sorry about that." Huo Qing said with some embarrassment.

  "You don't have to apologize." Leng Ruo Xue replied coldly, she wasn't like Shui Xin Ran who was obsessed with saving face, other people's comments couldn't affect her.

  "Feng Da, throw Mo Jia's second miss out. From now on, the Mo family will never be friends with me, Leng Ruo Xue." Leng Ruo Xue continued to say to Feng Da, and also to everyone present.

  "Yes, miss." Receiving the command from his own young mistress, Feng Da would naturally carry it out with all his might.

  "Eldest sister Mo, the Mo family is the Mo family, and you are you." Leng Ruoxue looked at Mo Yingyue with a calm expression.

  "Uh-huh." Mo Yingyue nodded, she knew that if Yuexue said so, it was also partly to support her, so she felt touched.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, don't let one or two annoying things affect everyone's dining mood. Please continue!" said Leng Ruoxue to the crowd.

  "That's right, that's right." The crowd nodded in agreement, giving face.

  "Old cold, this granddaughter of yours is really clear-cut in her likes and dislikes, can't tolerate a speck of dust in her eyes!" Lin Liang sighed, young people are indeed impressive. I reckon the days ahead for the Mo family won't be easy.

  "That's right, whoever dares to bully my grandson or granddaughter is against me, Cold Tianlang. Such a person is an enemy of the Cold family!" Cold Tianlang said matter-of-factly.

  "He's also an enemy of mine, Old Man Yu!" The old man sitting on the cold engine at the edge suddenly interjected.

  "That's right, he's also my enemy!" Lin Liang didn't want to fall behind others, let alone the grandson of Old Leng being his apprentice.

  Those present heard their words and had several black lines falling from their foreheads, and they all secretly wondered in their hearts: Are you so protective of your sons?

  Although some unpleasant incidents occurred during the meal, overall it was still very successful and achieved the purpose of Leng Ruoxue inviting them to dinner. I believe that in the hearts of these aristocratic families, the reputation of 'De Yi Lou' has already become extremely loud.

  The first day's business ended after all the guests had finished their meals and left.

  After seeing off all the guests, Leng Ruo Xue and others returned to Jiang Jun Fu.

  The living room of General's Mansion.

  "Master uncle, we will be staying here for a while." Guo Yong said with a thick face, implying that he should arrange accommodations for them.

  "Can't Master Qi's residence accommodate people?" asked Leng Ruoxue, with a few drops of cold sweat on her forehead. Were they going to enter the inner chamber now?

  "Is there a home where you can live comfortably? You are our Shifu, how can you bear to see your beloved disciple living in the cold and icy Zixia Temple?" Guo Qiang said with a wronged expression on his face, his eyes full of resentment.

  "Feng Da, go and arrange a room for them!" Leng Ruo Xue conceded defeat. These two people, whose combined age was almost one hundred years old, could say such spoiled words, what else could she say?

  "Yes, miss." Then, Feng Da led Guo Yong and Guo Qiang out of the living room.

  "Xue Er, it seems they've stuck onto you." Waiting until there were only the two of them in the living room, the demon smiled lightly and said with some sympathy.

  "Hmm." Cold-as-snow nodded helplessly, this didn't need to be said by the demon, everyone could see it anyway.

  "You don't even eat vinegar?" Leng Ruo Xue continued as if she had discovered a new continent.

  "Cut it out, what's so great about two old men's vinegar?" The demon said disdainfully, if he wanted to eat vinegar, it would have to be at the level of Dongfang Yun or higher!

  "Oh, I thought you'd be jealous of anyone!" Cold Snow teased.

  "But today, you've been sticking with Dongfang Yun all day. What do you plan to do?" Leng Ruoxue asked curiously. Today, the demon actually didn't stick to her, but instead stuck with Dongfang Yun all along, which really made her wonder.

  "I want to know what you know!" The demon said with a somewhat evil smile, today he had been staring at Dongfang Yun all day, not giving him a chance to get close to his Xue'er. However, the price he paid was also quite big, because he hadn't stuck to Xue'er all day either... He seemed to have lost out, thinking of this...

  "Xu'er." The demon suddenly held Xue tightly in his arms, he had to make up for today's losses!

  "Monster, let me go! You're holding too tight." Cold-as-Snow cried out.

  "Oh, I'll go easy on you." Still no intention of letting go.

  "You demon, how long are you going to hold on?" asked Leng Ruo Xue after a while, somewhat speechless.

  "Hold on for a lifetime!" The demon's deep and passionate words were filled with starlight in his eyes, shining brighter than ever.

  "You little monster, I'm getting tired of standing." said Leng Ruoxue, somewhat ruining the atmosphere. If she stood there for a while longer, she was probably going to fall asleep.

  "Oh, aren't you tired now!" The demon directly picked up Leng Ruo Xue's entire body, he was really too clever.

  "Hmm, I'm not tired, but I'm sleepy and want to sleep." Leng Ruoxue said helplessly, the demon is getting better at pretending to be stupid.

  "Oh, then I'll send you back to your room." The demon was very considerate and carried Cold-as-Snow directly to the Listening Snow Pavilion.

  "Xuě ér, nǐ shuì ba!" After arriving at Leng Ruoxue's room, the demon directly put Leng Ruoxue on the bed and said to her. However, he also sat down beside Leng Ruoxue's bed.

  "You can go back to your room and sleep now." Leng Ruoxue said directly, looking at the demon who showed no intention of leaving.

  "Go to sleep quickly, don't bother about me!" The demon urged.

  She saw the demon's stubborn refusal to leave and directly closed her eyes, ignoring him.

  The demon leaned against Leng Ruo Xue's bedside, staring at her without blinking, listening to her even breathing, but his heart was churning like a stormy sea, wondering when Snow would realize his importance.

  The next day, when Leng Ruo Xue woke up, she found that the demon was actually sleeping beside her bed...

  This demon, is really...

  Her face as cold as snow, she couldn't help but shake her head slightly, gently helping the scoundrel adjust to a more comfortable position, and then covered him with the quilt, quietly getting out of bed, after washing up, she left the room...

  "Miss, our restaurant's business has been very good these past few days." Feng Da said excitedly to Leng Ruo Xue in the garden.

  "Hmm." Leng Ruoxue nodded, the good business was within her expectations. After all, many of the dishes at "De Yi Lou" were from her previous life, they had just been modified later to suit the ingredients of this world.

  "Feng Da, in a few days you will all go out for training!" Leng Ruoxue said after some thought.

  "Yes, miss."

  At the same time, in the main house of the Xu family in Xiyun country, a secret meeting of the five major families was underway.

  The living room of Xu's main house.

  "Xu Qian, you've called us all here. What's going on?" The master of the Huo family, Huo Yi, said with a displeased expression. Can't it be conveyed through a message? Why must it be said in person?!

  "Exactly, Master Xu Dai, we're all here. If you have anything to say, just say it!" The representative of the Feng family, Feng Miao, also looked displeased. He didn't want to come in the first place, but the Great Elder had specifically sent him, which really infuriated him.

  "Xu Qian, our time is all precious, but we don't have time to waste with you like this." Ye Ming also said somewhat urgently, originally they were going to wait until everyone arrived before speaking, but now that everyone was here, he still wasn't speaking! Was Xu Qian playing them?

  "What's the hurry? Learn from Shui Ge, he's not in a rush." Xu Qian, who was sitting in the main seat, sneered with a gloomy and sarcastic tone.

  "I'm in a hurry too, just say it if you have something to say!" Shui Yu retorted with a very unfriendly tone. Humph! Don't think he didn't know, Xu Qian was only saying that because he wanted to watch the fight from the mountain, they wouldn't fall for it!

  "Since you're all in such a hurry, I'll just say it!"

  "What are you going to do with Leng Ruxue?" Xu Qian paused for a moment before continuing.

  "Why are we going to deal with Leng Ruo Xue?" Huo Yi asked, his handsome face full of question marks.

  "Is that so? Leng Ruoxue and our Wind family don't have any grudges, do we need to deal with her?" Feng Huang also asked in puzzlement.

  "Xu Qian, cold as snow, is after all the future daughter-in-law of our Ye family." Ye Ming said with a hint of warning, glancing at Xu Qian.

  "Uh, that's right, Leng Ruoxue and I don't have any grudges either, and she's even younger than us." Shui Yu also chimed in, but his heart was secretly seething with anger. Old thing, it's clear he wants to deal with Leng Ruoxue, yet he comes asking them!

  "Hmph! Leng Ruo Xue is about to threaten the position of our five great families, if we continue to let things slide like this!" Xu Qian said with a sinister tone, his eyes releasing a strong killing intent.

  "Xu Daijia, isn't what you're saying a bit too alarming? Let's not mention whether Leng Ruoxue has such great ambition or not, the Leng family only has a few people, they can't pose any threat to us at all." Feng Miao said with disdain.

  "Feng Xiong's words make sense, Xu Qian you're too narrow-minded." Huo Yi chimed in, humph, it's clear that Xu Qian wants to get rid of Leng Ruo Xue and still wants to use them as pawns, no way!

  "Xu Qian, although the 'De Yi Lou' that's as cold as snow has taken away quite a few customers from your Xu family, but just because of this, do you have to get rid of Leng Ruo Xue? Do you think Leng Ruo Xue is just for show?" Ye Ming said with some mocking tone, thinking that he didn't know, Xu Qian wanted to drag them down, wasn't it because he was afraid of Leng Ruo Xue?

  "They're right, Xu Qian. As a top-notch family like ours, how can we be so petty? The money earned from 'Spring Breeze Pavilion' is just a small change for the Xu family, why bother being too concerned about it?" Shui Wan also disapproved and said.

  "You..." Xu Qian was rendered speechless by their several people, you one word, he one phrase.

  The five big families appear harmonious on the surface, but in reality, each person's heart is as transparent as a mirror, because they all can't wait to see others make fools of themselves.

  "Xu Qian, harmony brings wealth!" Hu Yi's words were sincere and heartfelt.

  "Do you really think I'm just because of a small wine house?" Xu Qian roared, he dared to be sure that these people were absolutely intentional.

  "Isn't it? I haven't heard that Leng Ruoxue took anything else from you?" Feng Miao said with some surprise.

  "I'm here because of the quota for Xi Yuan's Secret Realm!" Xu Qian roared in frustration.

  "I asked about it, and Leng Ruoxue said there weren't any left." Ye Ming explained, originally he didn't believe that Leng Ruoxue would casually give away the quota for the secret realm. However, later on, he inquired around and indeed found out that they were given away, so he also gave up.

  "Do you know how many quotas he has in his hands?" Xu Qian asked with wide eyes.

  "How many can she possibly have? Feng Tian Academy wouldn't give her all the spots, would they?" Ye Ming said nonchalantly.

  "Ten! She has ten quotas in her hands!" Xu Qian exclaimed loudly.