Lord of the Court

After what Hansa said to Nina, Nina froze in place and her face stiffened. Pointing her finger at Hao Lin, she said:

"Are you saying that person is the one nicknamed 'Asilesk'...?"

Hansa nodded hesitantly: "Hmm..."

Nenia's face remained frozen, then they returned to the table.

Mrs. Ling looked at Lena Tuan and said:

"You really are beautiful, my daughter. If only my son hadn't joined the court, I would have introduced him to you as a husband."

Lina Tuan bows slightly and replies with a cold expression and a respectful tone:

"Thank you for your praise, Madam, but I don't think I am worthy of marrying the greatest talent of our generation."

Ninia looks at Lena Tuan in surprise:

(Hey! Even Lena knows him... Am I stupider than Lena...?)

The matriarch speaks and responds to Lin Tuan, emphasizing her great talent, that she is one of the four greatest talents in the Central Plains, and that she should not belittle herself.

As Hao Lin looked at Lin Tuan with a serious expression, he thought to himself:

(Tuan? One of the thirteen great families of the Heavenly Demon Sect... It seems that this girl is illegitimate from the Tuan family, but I also heard that she has an older brother... I must tell the court master about this.)

The Fragrant Tower delegation greets the lady of the family and the others and leaves.

The scene shifts to the top of the family master's office, where Fan and the family master are standing, looking out at the city stretching between huge houses, surrounded by great walls, and distant mountains hugging the horizon. The air blows against their faces in a moment of solemn silence.

The head of the family, Sheng, looks at the front courtyard, where the Al-Atar delegation is leaving, and says

"That girl with black hair, I think she's the daughter of the demonic Tuan family..."

Fan replied in surprise:

"The Tuan family? That girl? ... Then what is she doing here, in the midst of your family? I thought the relationship between the Morim Alliance and the demonic sect wasn't strong enough to include the daughter of one of the great families."

Sheng replies with a slight laugh:

"Actually, that girl is the illegitimate daughter of a mother who was deceived and expelled from the main family on false charges..."

Fan looks at the horizon and replies in a calm voice:

"Oh... An illegitimate daughter and an expelled mother... That's sad."

Xing replies:

"Actually, that girl also has a brother, and they were separated at some point."

Fan replies in a tone that seems indifferent, but carries a deep curiosity:

"So, it seems you have an interesting story to tell."

Xing replies with a gentle smile, recalling distant memories:

"Of course... It's a story that happened a long time ago..."

❖ 33 years ago ❖

In the demonic sect, in the fourth province ruled by the Tuan family, currently the second most powerful family.

Ting Ting Province was one of the most commercially active provinces in the east, with dozens of mines and dozens of families and commercial organizations.

In the "Red House," the main residence of the Tuan family, the head of the family at the time, Zong Tuan, had two daughters.

The first was known for gathering followers and seeking greater influence, and she was also skilled in economics, politics, and trade.

The second daughter, although somewhat naive, had a terrifying talent for martial arts.

The eldest daughter was afraid that her younger sister would take her place as heir, so she secretly poisoned her food, causing her to develop black heart disease, which destroys a person's life and follows them throughout their life.

She falsely accused her sister of trying to poison the head of the family in order to quickly take his place.

Because of the eldest daughter's authority and trustworthiness, she was believed, and the poor second daughter was expelled.

She left her home and headed west, crossing the entire continent on foot, hungry, sick, mentally broken, and heartbroken.

She arrived in the Western Empire and lived as a poor woman, wandering from place to place for a whole year.

Until she met a young man who had left the Shaolin sect in search of a wife and to start a simple family.

He was impressed by her and married her, and two years later, they had a son whom they named "Zong" after her father.

They lived a good and peaceful life, and after ten years of trying to conceive, which was difficult due to the mother's illness, they had a second child, whom they named after their eldest daughter, "Lynn."

The reason she named her children after those who had abandoned her stemmed from her kind heart, as she believed that her father and sister had lost their senses due to the sudden death of the previous lady of the family—the mother of the eldest daughter.

Two years later, the father began frequenting brothels, then indulged in gambling and drinking.

On one tragic night, he came home with a prostitute, which devastated his wife and caused her to die of shock.

Zong, 12, was shocked, but he resisted his grief and buried his mother with tears, while he heard his father having sex with that woman, indifferent to his wife's death.

Zong rejected his despicable father and carried his two-year-old sister, carrying only a few supplies for her.

He undertook an arduous journey on foot, in the middle of winter and snow, feeding his sister while satisfying his own hunger with a few twigs and dirt.

He reached the central plains and learned that the only place that would accept his sister was the Fragrant Tower sect, which consisted only of women.

His sister was accepted after he explained that he could not take care of her, and he cried as he parted with her, but he had no choice.

When asked her name, he said "Lynn Tuan" and gave her her mother's surname, not her despicable father's, and asked them not to tell her anything about him, but to tell her that she was an orphan who had been adopted.

After that, he couldn't find shelter, so he decided to go to his former father's place, the Shaolin sect.

Years later, thanks to his great talent, he became the highest elder of the sect and one of the "Ten Greats," ranking eighth as the most powerful human in the world before he turned 40.

But he gained all this power for one purpose only: to be able to protect his sister if she needed him in the future.

And what irony...

His sister now knows nothing about her past, nor about her great brother, nor about her kind-hearted, naive mother.

❖ Back to the present ❖

After hearing that story, Van stood tall, the wind blowing against him, and began to clap, saying:

"A great man... He is truly a great man."

Then Sheng smiled and began to clap into the air like Van.

To be continued...