Chapter 98

"Junyan, you can call me Baobao." The little girl looked down at the tips of her shoes and spoke softly, her voice very light but clear. Du Qian was quite doubtful whether anyone else could hear it besides himself.

Du Qian knew it was just his feeling. As his combat strength continued to improve, even if it wasn't his own, the enhancement effects of things like the Spirit Pool, Spirit Weapons, and Combat Skill Positions would only make a martial cultivator's perception stronger.

He could only hear it because he was standing close. People standing hundreds of meters away could hear clearly too.

This time, he was really wrong. In the entire reception hall, no one except Du Qian heard the little girl's voice, as if she had never spoken at all.

"Nice name."

"You can't tell anyone else."

"Okay, I won't tell. But if they hear it, it's not my fault." Du Qian found it a bit amusing and also felt a bit sorry for her. It seemed that Junshan's daughter wasn't very smart.

"They won't hear it."

"How could they not hear it? Among them, many are Combat Masters, very powerful." Du Qian said with a smile.

"Don't worry about it. Can you tell me a story? About how you sneaked into the Flying Tiger Team."

"This... isn't it a bit inappropriate now?" Looking around, Du Qian felt he was about to break down. So many important people were staring at him, making him feel like a plucked chicken, ready to be thrown into the pot at any moment.

"Okay, I'll find you after the banquet."

Du Qian found it ridiculous and didn't believe Junyan's words. As the daughter of Lord Junshan, could you just come out whenever you wanted? How easy was that?

Moreover, the entire reception hall was silent, and everyone could hear their conversation clearly. Lord Junshan wouldn't let her go, and if she really did, how many eyes would be on her?

Lord Junshan's handsome nose kept twitching, and more people looked puzzled. Who was this little guy in the patrol officer's uniform named Du Qian? What was he doing, performing a monologue? Speaking to himself?

Indeed, everyone only saw Du Qian opening his mouth from time to time, hearing every word he said, but only his voice. The little girl kept her head down and didn't make a sound.

How bold, do you think Lord Junshan is easy to deal with?

Lord Junshan was from Pingchuan and had left there. He was not only strikingly handsome but also had a temper that was even more famous than his looks.

Du Qian's feeling was right. This Lord was the type who would eat you without leaving a bone and could turn his face at any moment, giving no face to anyone.

Actually, those who could become Divine Masters were rarely good-tempered. Any Divine Master who knew how to control their temper and could do so was a strong candidate for the Three Dukes, Nine Ministers, or the Twelve Army Commanders.

Unfortunately, such Divine Masters were extremely rare, so the empire once had a precedent where a Combat Master served as one of the Nine Ministers. Of course, that was just a fleeting moment. Having a Combat Master as a minister, regardless of reputation, was too risky.

"Okay, Baobao, I'll wait for you." Du Qian was on tenterhooks, smiling and speaking, occasionally glancing at the handsome man with a furious face.

"Don't mention my name, don't tell anyone else."

"Okay, I won't say it."

Fei Xue was about to faint. This kid's luck was truly heaven-defying. Originally, he brought him to change his own luck, but the luck followed him instead.

Unfortunately, whether this was good or bad, no one could say for sure. Everyone wanted to be Lord Junshan's son-in-law, but was it really that easy?

The matchmaking event had been going on for two years, with about one every month. After more than twenty sessions, not only had no one successfully matched, but no one had even spoken to the little princess.

Was Du Qian performing a monologue? Or at least half the people in the reception hall thought so. But if they analyzed it carefully, they would know it was impossible. A so-called section chief who sneaked into the Flying Tiger Team, would he dare to perform in front of Lord Junshan? Would he even have the chance?

Who was Lord Junshan? He was among the top people in the empire. Even if he didn't know Du Qian's past, even if he did, he wouldn't give face to Lord Sitong. Lord Sitong wouldn't risk a falling out with Lord Junshan over a small character like Du Qian.

In other words, Du Qian's protection in Pingchuan City was worth less than a piece of paper in front of Lord Junshan, to be torn apart at will.

"Kid, do you have a teacher?"

"Don't tell me about the teachers from the War Orphan School. You know what I mean." Lord Junshan said fiercely.

Too handsome, even when being fierce, he was so handsome. Du Qian was jealous again, but he didn't dare to show it. Before he knew who he was, Du Qian would have complained, but now he didn't even dare to let out a fart.

Don't talk about a hero's pride or a man's spirit; it was all nonsense. War orphans believed in living, striving to live, and living well.

"Teacher... I guess I do have one." Du Qian understood Lord Junshan's meaning but didn't fully understand it.

"Have one? Are you sure you have a teacher?" This time, it was Lord Junshan's turn to be shocked. He never thought Du Qian might have a teacher. How could he have a teacher?

You, a kid who sneaked into the Flying Tiger Team and just stepped into the threshold of martial cultivation, how could you have a teacher?

Go to hell, even if you did, make that teacher step down, serve you tea, and step down voluntarily.

Well, it had to be said, Lord Junshan's temper was really not good. He could think of such unreasonable things and think they were justified.

Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Kin, and Teacher—these five words held supreme importance in the moral system of the Zhou Shan Empire. They were not laws or unwritten rules but deeply ingrained moral principles.

Respect Heaven for giving life, respect Earth for nurturing, respect the Ruler for the empire, respect Kin for warmth, and respect the Teacher for passing on knowledge.

The five moral principles, with the Teacher last, were still taken very seriously. Truly becoming a disciple was a very formal matter, kneeling and bowing, with the ceremony known to all neighbors.

The ceremony for becoming a disciple was as grand and solemn as a wedding. The empire's laws didn't explicitly state it, but if a disciple betrayed their teacher, the court would definitely punish them severely, without mercy.

Not only the court would intervene, but also the neighbors and relatives. Your reputation would be ruined, and no one would trust you in the future.

Respecting the Teacher was part of filial piety. Although the empire didn't specifically promote filial piety, the people believed that a filial child, no matter how bad, wouldn't be too bad. A disloyal child, no matter how good, wouldn't be too good.

Therefore, teachers were sacred, and no one dared to joke about them lightly.

"I don't know, I guess not yet. She seems to have that intention, I can feel it, but it's not certain yet." Du Qian's words were a mess, but Lord Junshan understood.

"Never mind him. I'll test you first. If you're suitable, I'll help you find a teacher." Lord Junshan naturally wouldn't take a disciple easily, let alone someone like Du Qian, a waste of talent.

At eighteen, with such a tiny bit of combat strength, Lord Junshan, no matter how much he lowered his standards, wouldn't take such a disciple, especially since he never lowered his standards.

"Don't bother, I think she's great, a very good person."

"Shut up, you blind fool. Who is he? Tell me, can the teacher I introduce to you compare to him?" Lord Junshan was angry. If not for his precious daughter, Du Qian wouldn't be worth a glance.

But since his daughter valued him, he had to take him seriously. This wasn't just about loving his daughter; this daughter was not simple.

Lord Junshan had lived for over 160 years, always handsome and youthful, looking like a young man in his twenties. Being more laid-back, he naturally had many women around him, and with many women, he had many children.

At home, Lord Junshan was supreme. His word was final, even if wrong, no one dared to question it.

Until Baobao was born. From the moment she was born, Lord Junshan's attitude changed. The family noticed that the old man doted on this youngest daughter to an extreme, even to the point of being unreasonable.

You must understand, a family like Lord Junshan's would have many issues. For example, his great-grandchildren were much older than Baobao, and with so many children, there were all kinds of people with different ideas.

In such a family, the relationships were incredibly complex, more tangled than a mess of threads.

Lord Junshan didn't care about these things. His word was law, no explanations, no arguments. In the past, those who disobeyed were expelled from the family, left to fend for themselves, whether good or bad.

Without Lord Junshan's protection, the fate of those descendants was predictable. Good was out of the question; at best, they would just survive.

With this precedent, no one dared to argue with Lord Junshan. In the family, his word was absolute, until Baobao appeared.

Baobao was the first to dare to contradict Lord Junshan. He was furious but didn't expel her like before. The family noticed that as the number of contradictions increased, Lord Junshan seemed to calm down, as if he had adapted.

This made Baobao an anomaly in the family. She had no friends from a young age, no siblings of the same generation or age, and she wouldn't even look at those much younger.

Actually, she was extremely cold to everyone, even Lord Junshan. The doctors diagnosed her with severe autism.

Lord Junshan wouldn't compromise just because of an autistic daughter; there was another reason. In the entire Jun family, only two people knew this reason. One was Lord Junshan himself, and the other was the old butler with many wrinkles, who was very old.

Indeed, he was younger than Lord Junshan, by about a dozen years. Originally, he was Lord Junshan's butler, but Lord Junshan found him to have excellent talent and guided him in cultivation during his own practice. He had always been by Lord Junshan's side and was his most trusted person.

In the Jun family, his status was very special, neither master nor servant. Besides Lord Junshan and Baobao, who would dare not listen to him?

He was Jun Tong, the former little butler.