Chapter 44: Madam Red

Su Tang returned to Miaodao Pavilion and asked Mo Xiaobai to organize all the information related to the Cheng Family. The Cheng Family held a high status in Changshan County and possessed great strength. He did not believe that he could take them down easily. Without enough information, any decision would be like a child’s game.

Mo Xiaobai was very clever. As soon as he heard that Su Tang wanted information on the Cheng Family, he vaguely understood Su Tang’s intention. He placed the documents on the desk, but as he turned to leave, his face showed worry. He wanted to say something, but he held it back.

Su Tang flipped through the pages slowly. He wanted to understand the relationship between the Cheng Family and the Tie Family, the Bai Family, and the Mu Family, as well as the personalities, abilities, and habits of the various members of the Cheng Family. The amount of information was enormous.

At evening, Mo Xiaobai pushed open the door again and said hurriedly, “Sir, there is movement from the Cheng Family!”

“What movement?” Su Tang looked up.

“Madam Red from Shangjing has come to visit Changshan County. She moved into the Cheng Family estate this afternoon. The head of the Cheng Family decided to hold a banquet the day after tomorrow and sent out many invitations. We received two invitation letters.”

“Madam Red?” Su Tang was stunned. He had never heard of this person.

“Madam Red is a member of the Xia Family from Shangjing. Many years ago, the Xia Family was as famous as the Xue Family. They were known as the Xues of the East and the Xias of the West in the capital. However, the Xia Family’s luck has faded in recent years, and each generation has been weaker than the last. The current head, Xia Jinchang, has cultivated hard for decades but failed to become a Grandmaster. It seems the bloodline inheritance of their ancestors has been broken. People in Shangjing often mock the Xia Family, saying that after the tragedy at the Capital Gate, someone else took over their nest. They say the current members of the Xia Family are not descendants of the original Old Ancestors at all,” Mo Xiaobai said. “Although the Xia Family has become almost a laughingstock in Shangjing, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. For our Changshan County, we absolutely cannot neglect them. Sir, here is the information on that Madam Red.”

“You found the information so quickly?”

“Sir, you have no idea how famous she is,” Mo Xiaobai smiled.

“Bring it here for me to see,” Su Tang said.

Su Tang flipped through a few pages and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Mo Xiaobai was right; that Madam Red was indeed too famous, and not for the right reasons. She had a peculiar personality, did whatever she wanted, and had done many things that made people gossip behind her back.

The records stated that Madam Red’s original name was Xia Hongbing. In her youth, she was a lady of a noble family, with a gentle and graceful personality, understanding and very beautiful. However, her talent for cultivation was very poor. The Xia Family spent an astronomical amount of resources on her, but the result was shocking; she was only a mid-level Martial Artist.

By a stroke of luck, Xia Hongbing met the third young master of the Qi Family. This young master was a fascinating man—extremely intelligent, knowledgeable, well-spoken, and very popular. The young masters who wandered around Shangjing were usually arrogant, but they all considered the third young master of the Qi Family a soulmate. However, the third young master had his own weakness; he was even worse off than Xia Hongbing, as he could not cultivate at all.

The third young master’s elegance made Xia Hongbing’s heart flutter. Perhaps it was because they shared the same misfortune, or perhaps she was truly enchanted. After just one meeting, Xia Hongbing vowed that she would marry no one but him. Unfortunately, the third young master already had a fiancée and was due to marry her soon.

After returning home, Xia Hongbing knelt before the head of the family and begged in tears. But Xia Jinchang looked down on the Qi Family. The Qi Family was only a small family and not a suitable match. Moreover, the third young master could not cultivate and was essentially useless. Xia Jinchang would not let his granddaughter throw herself away on such a person.

However, Xia Hongbing was determined and even attempted suicide several times. Meanwhile, the third young master’s fiancée had a conflict with several Wandering Martial Artists on the street and was unfortunately killed. Xia Jinchang loved his granddaughter. Seeing that Xia Hongbing’s mind was made up and hearing that the fiancée had been killed, the final obstacle was cleared. He reluctantly agreed.

The people of the Qi Family were naturally overjoyed. For them, this was a great opportunity to rise in status. The third young master grieved for a while, but eventually, he could not resist the repeated persuasion of his parents and brothers, so he silently accepted the family’s arrangement.

On the wedding day, the third young master started normally. Then, for some reason, he suddenly changed his face and became like a mad tiger. In front of everyone, he gave Xia Hongbing two loud slaps across the face. It turned out that Xia Hongbing had ordered those Wandering Martial Artists to kill his fiancée.

The wedding could not continue. Afterward, the third young master left home and disappeared. Xia Hongbing, who had fainted on the spot, was carried home. Later, she became a promiscuous woman. Her personality became extreme; sometimes she would invite several strong men at once to share her bed. Combined with the wedding scandal, Xia Hongbing became the representative of shamelessness and lust in all of Shangjing.

The most twisted thing about Xia Hongbing was that she could not stand to see others showing affection in front of her. She used beauty to seduce, money to bribe, or violence to threaten, and she had broken up countless couples and lovers.

After reading the information, Su Tang had to abandon his plan. An emotionally unstable and abnormal woman like this was unpredictable. As long as she was in Changshan County, he could not move against the Cheng Family, otherwise, it would bring a great disaster to Miaodao Pavilion.

Mo Xiaobai had been waiting by his side. Seeing that Su Tang had finished reading, he asked, “Sir, how should we handle the things recovered from the Zhao Family?”

“What things?” Su Tang asked.

“There are three Spirit Tools and over a dozen Martial Formulas. That Zhao Liangdong was only a low-level Martial Artist; I don’t understand why he collected so many Martial Formulas… Did Zhao Bocheng really place the hope of reviving the family on that idiot?” Mo Xiaobai said. “The rest are just some gold and silver jewelry; I assume you wouldn’t be interested, sir. Also, the Zhao Family’s property has been transferred to our Miaodao Pavilion. Zhao Liangdong has already signed the documents.”

“How was it handled in the past?”

“Most were auctioned off,” Mo Xiaobai said. “The Great Master… oh no, Wen Ping and a few Enshrined Experts already have their own Spirit Tools and Martial Formulas. Those things would be useless to them.”

“Bring them here for me to see,” Su Tang said.

“Yes, sir.”

Before long, Mo Xiaobai returned. He placed two long swords and a set of pale green soft armor on the table, then took out over a dozen booklets of various sizes.

Su Tang first picked up a long sword. He had completely merged with the other consciousnesses, so his mind no longer gave prompts about whether to refine things. If he wanted to refine something, he only needed to form the thought, and the process would start.

Furthermore, he could clearly sense the quality of the Spirit Tools. Both swords were not very good; compared to Night Cry, they were far inferior. Of course, if he had already opened the third Spirit Aperture, he would definitely refine one anyway, since it would otherwise be empty.

“Take the swords away, but leave the soft armor for me,” Su Tang said. The soft armor gave him a good feeling. He would keep it as a reserve; when he opened the third Spirit Aperture, he could refine it immediately.