Chapter 6: Who Gave You Such Audacity?
Zhangsun Ya pressed her lips together and gave a bitter smile. “Whatever I say now probably doesn’t matter anymore, does it?”
Ying Tong looked at Zhangsun Ya, who seemed to have given up struggling. Could it be that she had suddenly come to her senses?
It turned out she had overestimated this person.
“No matter what I say now, it’s clear that the Venerable Yunhuang has already decided I’m guilty,” Zhangsun Ya continued.
Hearing this, Ying Tong took a deep breath. As expected, someone who could be unfaithful and still act so self-righteous was not worth expecting anything from.
“Outrageous!”
Before Ying Tong could respond, Ying Xuechen, standing to the side, had already heard enough.
“Zhangsun Ya, don’t forget that it was your Zhangsun family who first proposed this engagement. It was only because my younger brother liked you that we agreed. If you didn’t like him, why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Ying Tong stood there, expressionless, waiting for Zhangsun Ya’s next move. She had a feeling that Zhangsun Ya would soon shatter her expectations once again.
Zhangsun Ya chuckled coldly. “Why didn’t I say so earlier? The Zhangsun family is just a small clan. How could I dare speak up? Should I have dragged my entire family down just for my own sake?”
She said this with such righteousness, as if the Ying family were some kind of terrifying predators, making her so afraid that she had to endure humiliation for the sake of her family.
“Oh, enduring humiliation for your family—such a noble decision. But if that’s the case, why didn’t you endure it to the end? Or do you think your Zhangsun family now has the strength to stand against the Ying family?”
At this, Zhangsun Ya’s face turned pale. That was indeed what she had been thinking.
The Ying family, with its thousand-year legacy and deep-rooted foundation, was not easily shaken. However, in recent years, the Zhangsun family had grown rapidly, relying on the resources provided by Ying Xuan and the backing of the Ying family.
Zhangsun Ya believed that the Zhangsun family was no longer the same as it had been in the past. Although they still couldn’t stand on equal footing with the Ying family, they were no longer as humble and submissive as they once were.
This was her perspective.
As the Zhangsun family’s status rose, her own worth as the eldest daughter of the family also increased. Moreover, while Ying Xuan was a direct descendant of the Ying family, the position of the family head did not belong to his branch, and the role of the young master had long been determined.
In Zhangsun Ya’s eyes, Ying Xuan’s status had been devaluing over the years. This emboldened her to act so brazenly.
Another factor was her firm belief that Ying Xuan loved her deeply. She was certain he wouldn’t harm her, nor would he harm the Zhangsun family, which gave her the confidence to behave so recklessly.
Ying Tong looked at Zhangsun Ya with a faint smile and continued, “Who gave you such audacity? Was it Ying Xuan? All because he has been providing you with cultivation resources for the past few years?”
“Did you really think that with just those resources, your Zhangsun family could rise from nothing to greatness?”
How naive must one be to believe that?
Over the years, Ying Xuan had indeed given Zhangsun Ya many cultivation resources, but all of them were from his own savings. The resources that Zhangsun Ya treated as treasures were merely the standard provisions used to train descendants in the Ying family.
Zhangsun Ya’s face paled. She felt both embarrassed at having her thoughts exposed and worried about her family’s future.
According to their original plan, they had intended to reveal everything in front of all the guests and then cancel the engagement. With so many witnesses, the Ying family, for the sake of their reputation, wouldn’t have dared to retaliate against her.
The most important thing was that Zhangsun Ya was certain that Ying Xuan would not harm her out of love, allowing her to buy time for herself and her family.
Now, the sudden appearance of Ying Tong and others had completely disrupted their original plans.
The most important thing was…
Zhangsun Ya looked at Ying Xuan.
At that moment, the tenderness in Ying Xuan’s gaze towards her had vanished, replaced only by indifference, as if he were looking at a stranger.
The most important thing was that she felt an unprecedented aura from Ying Xuan, a sense of detachment that kept others at a distance, as if he were looking down from a great height.
She had once felt this sensation from Ying Xuechen.
In fact, the members of the Ying family always had this attitude when facing insignificant people.
The feeling of loss swept over Zhangsun Ya again.
For the first time, the certainty in her heart wavered.
“What the Ying family gives away can naturally be taken back,” Ying Xuechen said coldly.
The Zhangsun family had gained their current status because of the Ying family, so the Ying family could naturally reclaim everything and return it to its original state.
In fact, the resources Ying Xuan had given to the Zhangsun family were precious, but to the Ying family, they were just a drop in the bucket.
However, Ying Xuechen simply could not stand Zhangsun Ya’s attitude.
He would rather feed those resources to dogs than give them to a white-eyed wolf.
Upon hearing this, Zhangsun Ya was completely flustered and, in her anxiety, blurted out, “Those resources were all given voluntarily by Ying Xuan.”
Since Zhangsun Ya had figured out Ying Tong’s identity, Qin Xuan had remained in a state of shock.
Hearing Zhangsun Ya’s excited voice suddenly brought him back to his senses, and he quickly said, “For a dignified Ying family, to ask for back what they gave away—do you still have any shame?”
It must be said that those things had all gone into his pocket.
“You are wrong,” Ying Tong spoke. “Those things were not given to the Zhangsun family, and they certainly weren’t given to Zhangsun Ya. They were given by Ying Xuan to his fiancée. Since Zhangsun Ya wanted to break off the engagement, she should do so cleanly to avoid any lingering ties.”
She turned around and glanced at Ying Xuan. “Without you, my Ying family member wouldn’t have any trouble finding a bride. To give up on someone like Ying Xuan, a true dragon among men, just to choose a mutt—that’s a sign of your blindness. But if your actions cause misunderstandings for Ying Xuan’s future wife, that would be problematic.”
After her words, the two individuals who were insulted with “blindness” and “mutt” looked very displeased. However, since earlier, their bodies had been restrained by an invisible force, rendering them unable to move.
Now, they could only seethe in frustration.
Although they could still speak, they didn’t dare to retort against Ying Tong.
They were well aware that confronting a powerful being in the Deity Transformation stage was nothing short of madness.
Not to mention that Ying Tong had merely called them blind and mutts—even if she had dug up their ancestors and blown them up for fun, they wouldn’t have dared to say another word.
“Bi Luo, take these two away and keep a close watch on them.”
As soon as Ying Tong finished speaking, a woman in a green gauze veil suddenly appeared.
After giving a slight nod to Ying Tong, she led Zhangsun Ya and Qin Xuan away.
Watching the two leave, Ying Tong couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief; half of the problem was already resolved. She then turned to look at Ying Xuan.
**TN
Cultivation Stage – Qi Training (9-10 levels?) – Foundation Building (4 stages?) – Golden Core (4 stages?) – Nascent Soul (4 stages?) – Deity Transformation (4 stages?) – the 4 stages are: early, mid, late, and peak stage
The Cangqiong Realm is probably in the Middle Realm. There’s still the Lower Realm, where most mortals and low-level cultivators live. Then there’s the Higher Realm and probably the God Realm. It depends on the author’s private settings/world-building.
