“Bang!”
No sooner had the guard who stepped forward to remind him finished speaking than Gummu kicked out, sending the man flying.
Ignoring Tongyun’s murderous glare, Gummu pointed angrily at the guard who had reminded him and shouted, “You useless fool! Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
The guard got up from the ground, rubbing the spot where he had been kicked, and stood to the side with a miserable expression.
Gummu waved his hand, lifting all the spells he had cast on Fenyao and the others.
“Waaah—”
“Ugh, waaah—ah!”
Almost the moment Gummu released the spells, Fenyao, Liangyue, and Yexiang burst into loud sobs.
Normally, the weeping of beauties would be delicate and pitiable, like pear blossoms drenched in rain. But now, though these three were still beauties, they cried without any grace—snot and tears streaming down their faces.
“Enough!”
Tongyun was already in an extremely foul mood, and the cacophony of their wailing only made her head throb with pain.
“Elder Tongyun~ Waaah~ Elder Tongyun~”
After Tongyun’s sharp rebuke, Fenyao scrambled forward on her hands and knees, still sobbing, stopping a few steps away from Tongyun and kowtowing heavily.
Through her sobs, she cried out bitterly, “Elder Tongyun, you must seek justice for us lowly servants!”
“What happened? Speak, and I will see justice done!” Tongyun said darkly.
Fenyao kowtowed heavily again, pressing her forehead to the ground as she wailed, “We… waaah~ we servants… our thousand years of cultivation… have been destroyed~ waaah~”
“Who did this?!”
Tongyun’s voice trembled with barely suppressed rage as she asked, though her sharp eyes were already fixed accusingly on Gummu.
Gummu pretended not to notice, maintaining an expression of perfect innocence.
Through her tears, Fenyao gritted her teeth and cried, “Elder Tongyun, it was—Qian—Dai—!”
“Please, Elder Tongyun, seek justice for us!” Liangyue and Yexiang also prostrated themselves, weeping in despair.
“Guards! Summon Qian Dai at once!”
Tongyun clenched her fists. Even when beating a dog, one must consider its master. Qian Dai had dared to openly destroy Fenyao and the others’ cultivation—this was nothing less than a slap to her face as the Great Elder!
“Wait!”
Just as the maids were about to fetch Qian Dai, Lan Xin calmly stopped them.
Tongyun glared at Lan Xin. “What is the meaning of this, Second Elder? Even if Qian Dai is the Flower King’s personal attendant, she cannot act so lawlessly!”
“Great Elder, do not be hasty,” Lan Xin said coolly, her gaze sweeping over the sobbing Fenyao and the others. “I am not taking sides. But there must be a reason for everything. Qian Dai would not destroy someone’s cultivation without cause, would she?”
“Exactly, exactly!” Gummu chimed in, as if afraid of being forgotten, only to earn a furious glare from Tongyun.
“Why did Qian Dai destroy your cultivation?” Lan Xin asked Fenyao and the others coldly.
Fenyao sobbed, “I don’t know… At the time, I was serving the Flower King when Elder Gummu suddenly appeared out of nowhere and restrained us three sisters with his magic. Then Qian Dai arrived. First, she urged Elder Gummu to kill us. When he refused, she… she took advantage of us being trapped by his spells and destroyed our thousand years of cultivation without another word…
Waaah~ Elder Tongyun, please seek justice for us lowly servants… waaah~”
“Elder Gummu, shouldn’t you give me an explanation?”
As soon as Fenyao finished her tearful account, Tongyun turned her piercing gaze on Gummu.
Gummu met her gaze calmly and replied unhurriedly, “I happened to be passing the Flower King’s palace when I heard His Majesty screaming for help in distress. Without thinking, I acted immediately…”
“You believe the ravings of a fool like Yun Qingxue?” Tongyun interrupted angrily.
“Great Elder, I must ask you to mind your words!” Lan Xin frowned, speaking sternly. “Even if His Majesty is childlike in nature, there is still a distinction between superior and subordinate. As elders jointly managing the clan’s affairs on behalf of the Flower King, we must be especially mindful of our speech and conduct to avoid criticism!”
Tongyun snorted and flicked her sleeve dismissively.
“Elder Gummu, please continue,” Lan Xin said, ignoring Tongyun and turning back to Gummu.
“Very well.”
Gummu nodded and went on, “I assumed these three ladies were assassins and acted without hesitation to subdue them. Just as I had them restrained, Qian Dai returned with the Flower King’s meal…”
He recounted the events at the Flower King’s palace in full detail.
By the time he finished, Fenyao’s sobs had grown even more heart-wrenching. She wailed pitifully to Tongyun, “Elder Tongyun, Qian Dai did this on purpose! All these years, I have faithfully followed your teachings, taking every opportunity to care for the Flower King in his palace. Yet Qian Dai, as His Majesty’s personal attendant, not only failed to appreciate our efforts but grew jealous of the Flower King’s favor toward us, often mocking us sisters.
Though you taught us servants to be tolerant and kind, we endured her provocations in silence…
But never…
Waaah…
Never did we imagine Qian Dai could be so vicious…
To… to seize the chance to destroy our thousand years of cultivation…
Waaah~
We beg you, Great Elder, Second Elder, to seek justice for us lowly servants!”
“Summon Qian Dai,” Lan Xin ordered the maids.
The maids bowed and left.
Before long, Qian Dai was brought to the Golden Phoenix Hall.
By then, Tongyun had retaken her seat at the head of the hall. She had intended to condemn Qian Dai the moment she arrived, but to her displeasure, the foolish Flower King, Yun Qingxue, trailed in behind her.
No matter how unwilling she was, with Lan Xin and Gummu present, she had no choice but to rise and join them in bowing to Yun Qingxue.
“Greetings to His Majesty, the Flower King!”
Yun Qingxue clung to Qian Dai’s sleeve, ignoring their salutes.
The three elders, accustomed to the Flower King’s childlike mind, rose without waiting for acknowledgment.
However, Yun Qingxue’s presence meant that Tongyun, Lan Xin, and Gummu—who should have been seated to interrogate Qian Dai—now had to stand. In the presence of the Flower King, even a mentally deficient one, hierarchy mattered. Before the king, there was no place for them to sit!
“Qian Dai, do you confess your crime?” Tongyun demanded, her anger undiminished even as she stood.
“I do not know what crime I have committed.”
Qian Dai bowed slightly to Tongyun, her voice calm and steady.
“You don’t know? Hah!” Tongyun sneered. “You dared to destroy Fenyao, Liangyue, and Yexiang’s cultivation on your own authority, and yet you claim ignorance?”
At this, Qian Dai dropped to her knees with a thud, her face a picture of grievance. “Great Elder, I am wronged! Not only have I not seen Fenyao and the others today, but even if I had, how could I, alone, destroy the cultivation of three people?”
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