If both parties were to completely tear off their polite facades and resort to force here, it would undoubtedly broadcast to the entire world that Luolan Manor was fractured from within, making Luolan Manor's precarious situation in the Great Xia Kingdom even more grave.
"Everyone, I came here today not to engage in a war of words. What I am striving for is also to ensure that Luolan Manor can continue to stand tall within the Great Xia Kingdom."
"If Junior Sister is willing to break off her engagement with the Young Mansion Master, and you and I join forces, the future Luolan Manor will undoubtedly reach even greater heights." Pei Hao looked around at the crowd and smiled faintly.
"Things having reached this point, we can only blame our Young Mansion Master for being somewhat too greedy."
"However, I will not simply let this go."
With that, Pei Hao produced a token from his robe, upon which the character "Mo" was inscribed. When the various pavilion masters laid eyes on this object, their expressions could not help but change drastically.
"This is Elder Mo's token?" Lei Zhang blurted out in shock.
Within Luolan Manor, apart from the nine pavilion masters, there were also three venerated elder patrons. They were considered the strongest combat power in Luolan Manor, second only to Li Taixuan and Dantai Lan.
All three venerated elder patrons were at the Heavenly Dipper General Stage.
It was just that these three venerated patrons typically did not interfere with the affairs of Luolan Manor; they would only take action when Luolan Manor faced external enemies. This was the agreement Li Taixuan had made with them back then.
This Elder Mo was one of those three venerated patrons.
Yet no one had expected that the very person within Luolan Manor who ought to maintain absolute neutrality would have his personal token end up in Pei Hao's hands. The implications of this were already self-evident.
"Back then, when Master invited the three venerated elder patrons, he stated that they possessed the power of oversight. Therefore, during next year's Mansion Sacrifice, if someone secures the support of two venerated elder patrons and four pavilion masters, that person will have the right to contend for the position of Mansion Master of Luolan Manor."
Pei Hao smiled faintly and said, "So, you don't need to worry that I will fracture Luolan Manor, because what I want is a complete Luolan Manor."
Inside the reception hall, Lei Zhang and the other pavilion masters wore expressions of shock and fury. Clearly, none of them had anticipated that Pei Hao was plotting this exact scheme.
Judging by the current state of affairs, he might even succeed. Evidently, preparing for this day, Pei Hao must have begun making his moves not long after the two Mansion Masters went missing.
Pei Hao cast a glance at Jiang Qing'e's icy visage, then shifted his gaze to Li Luo standing aside, and said indifferently, "So, cherish this final year. When the Mansion Sacrifice arrives, Luolan Manor and you will probably no longer have much to do with each other."
"By that time, you will truly be left with nothing."
As those words fell, Pei Hao turned directly and strode away, closely followed by three pavilion masters.
With Pei Hao's departure, the tense atmosphere in the reception hall relaxed somewhat, yet sorrowful looks lingered on everyone's faces.
Though they had anticipated this outcome to some degree, seeing it actually transpire still proved exceedingly vexing.
Jiang Qing'e, however, displayed considerable composure at this moment. She softened her voice to pacify the six pavilion masters, and after issuing a few final instructions, she dismissed them.
Once everyone had withdrawn, the reception hall grew quiet.
Li Luo kept his gaze fixed on the floor before him, until a pair of straight, slender jade legs entered his field of vision. Only then did he snap out of his thoughts, raising his head to see Jiang Qing'e lowering hers, her golden pupils gazing at him quietly.
"It seems that though you appear calm on the surface, you are still very angry inside," Jiang Qing'e said in a calm tone.
Li Luo gave a bitter smile. "How could I not be angry?"
Today, Pei Hao had essentially treated him as if he were nothing, and that so-called demand to break off his engagement was an outright attempt to grind his face into the dirt.
"Still, you handled yourself quite well and didn't lose your composure entirely." Jiang Qing'e's red lips lifted into a slight smile, her voice carrying a trace of praise.
Li Luo sighed. "Actually, if I had the choice, I'd much rather have smashed him to death on the spot to clean house for my parents."
The reason he hadn't lost his composure was largely because there was truly nothing he could do.
At that moment, Li Luo once again acutely felt the importance of possessing personal strength. The title of Young Mansion Master, once stripped of his parents, amounted to nothing at all.
Naturally, he also understood that the deeper reason was his so-called inborn empty resonance; everyone was convinced he possessed zero potential, naturally leading them to look down upon him.
"No one's path is entirely smooth-sailing. Appropriate forbearance is nothing to be ashamed of," Jiang Qing'e consoled him.
Li Luo nodded. "After today's events, I finally realize just how much trouble our Luolan Manor is currently in. These past two years have truly been hard on Sister Qing'e."
Luolan Manor had risen far too rapidly in the past, but precisely because of that, its foundation had remained somewhat restless and shallow. This meant that once the founders, Li Taixuan and Dantai Lan, went missing, this towering structure ceased to be stable.
If not for Jiang Qing'e striving with all her might over the past two years to steady people's hearts, Pei Hao would likely not have been the only one harboring ulterior motives today.
Jiang Qing'e seated herself nearby, her slender, fair legs crossed with elegance as she said, "You don't need to take to heart what Pei Hao said earlier. I will deal with him; it simply requires some time."
As she spoke, a faint murderous intent flashed across those pure golden pupils.
"Since you and I have an agreement, I will naturally hand Luolan Manor over to you completely intact once the conditions of our agreement are met."
"So you needn't trouble your head over the affairs of Luolan Manor for now. What you ought to be thinking about instead is next month's grand exam at Nanfeng Academy. If you fail to enter Saint Xuanxing Academy, all our agreements will become null and void," Jiang Qing'e said, her red lips parting slightly.
Then, her voice paused slightly. She tilted her head a fraction and offered Li Luo a faint smile. "However, if you feel the chances of that are slim, you can tell me right now, and I can simply treat that agreement as a moment of impulsive bravado on your part."
Li Luo blinked, then reached out a hand and said, "Give me your hand."
Jiang Qing'e stared slightly at the hand extended before her. Had anyone else dared treat her thus, she would in all likelihood have slashed them across with her sword. Yet with Li Luo... after all, their relationship was exceptionally unique.
In the end, with her expression unchanged, she extended a small hand and placed it in Li Luo's palm.
Li Luo slowly closed his fingers around that small hand. Its delicate texture sent a ripple through his heart. Moreover, perhaps because Jiang Qing'e possessed the Light Resonance, her skin appeared exceptionally crystal-clear and snow-white, resembling fine jade that one could hardly bear to let go of.
However, Li Luo forcefully suppressed the urge to stroke that little hand, and instead drove an extremely faint wisp of resonance power to well up from his palm.
Jiang Qing'e's expression had originally been quite tranquil, but the moment that feeble wisp of resonance power surged over, her face instantly turned solemn.
Her five slender fingers curled back, tightly gripping Li Luo's hand as a tendril of perception poured directly into his body. Moments later, she discovered that Li Luo's resonance palace—which had originally been completely empty—now radiated an azure-blue glow.
Jiang Qing'e looked with astonishment at Li Luo's face, which carried a trace of a smile. After a brief pause, she asked, "This is a water resonance?"
"You've awakened a resonance?!"
Only after a good long while did Jiang Qing'e slowly relax her grip and ask, "Did Master and Mistress leave something behind that resolved this for you?"
Li Luo nodded.
Jiang Qing'e let out a soft breath and murmured, "This is truly the best news I've heard today."
"Your water resonance doesn't seem very high in grade, yet it possesses a special sense of purity. This is likely due to certain rare heavenly treasures left behind for you by Master and Mistress."
"Regardless, however, this is a good beginning."
Clearly, Jiang Qing'e's mood at the moment was quite good, her slightly sharp, slender brows smoothing out slightly.
Finally, she even joked with Li Luo: "Congratulations, you are now one small step closer to your goal of breaking off your engagement with me."
Li Luo offered a helpless smile, then fell silent for a moment before asking, "How much credibility do you think there is in what he said earlier about my parents?"
Jiang Qing'e blinked her long eyelashes and replied calmly, "Although I don't know where he managed to dig up those scraps of information, I simply believe that someone of his short-sighted caliber could never fathom the true might of Master and Mistress."
"Even if the two of them have been temporarily hindered by certain circumstances, I believe they will undoubtedly be safe and sound."
Hearing this, Li Luo nodded slowly and emphatically.
"I think so too."
Jiang Qing'e stood up and walked over to the window. Sunlight poured in, falling upon her exquisitely proportioned figure, the light tracing her graceful curves and making one's heart skip a beat.
"I'll be heading back to the royal city tomorrow. If you have any needs, you can speak directly with Sister Cai Wei. She will be staying in Tianshu Prefecture for a period to help manage Luolan Manor's various industries here."
Having given these instructions, Jiang Qing'e turned her head slightly. She looked at Li Luo in profile as the sunlight illuminated her perfect contours.
That pair of golden pupils also shone brilliantly in the light, drawing one's gaze deep within, unforgettable.
"So Li Luo, I hope the next time I see you, it will be at Saint Xuanxing Academy."
She smiled faintly and whispered softly.
Chapter 11: Energy Guidance Technique
On the second day, at the gates of the old estate.
Li Luo watched the carriage bearing Jiang Qing'e off into the distance. Standing beside him was Uncle Liu, hands clasped behind his back, along with the tall and voluptuous Cai Wei.
"Hah."
Watching the convoy vanish from his line of sight, Li Luo exhaled lightly against the morning glow, turned to Uncle Liu, and said, "Uncle Liu, please help me request a week's leave from the academy. I'd like to recuperate at home for a while."
In his current state, owing to the fusion of that acquired resonance, his physical vitality was extremely poor. Going to the academy in this condition would likely only invite idle gossip.
Now that he possessed a water resonance, his most pressing task was to first find an energy guidance technique to cultivate, so as to raise his resonance power grade.
Although Nanfeng Academy possessed quite a few energy guidance techniques, the exchange conditions were numerous, making them far less convenient than his own family's library.
However, since next month was the grand exam, taking a week off at this juncture would likely stir up considerable discussion within the academy. Yet under the circumstances, Li Luo clearly could not afford to care about that.
"Understood, Young Mansion Master." The honest and dutiful Uncle Liu immediately acknowledged the request.
"Sister Cai Wei." Having finished speaking, Li Luo shifted his gaze toward Cai Wei.
Cai Wei cast a glance with her slightly slender, charming eyes, and smiled with reserved politeness. "Does the Young Mansion Master have any instructions?"
"I must ask you to help me procure some Spiritual Water and Strange Light, of the fourth grade," Li Luo said with a smile.
Cai Wei's dense eyelashes blinked. Spiritual Water and Strange Light were items used entirely to elevate the grade of one's resonance. Yet Li Luo was supposedly born with an empty resonance; what use did he have for this?
Though puzzled inwardly, she still agreed, her voice soft and sweet: "How many portions does the Young Mansion Master require?"
Li Luo pondered for a moment. "Let's procure fifty portions first."
Even someone as composed and rational as Cai Wei, a mature beauty, felt her mind go blank upon hearing the number "fifty," staring at Li Luo as if she suspected she had misheard.
"Young Mansion Master, did you say... fifty portions of fourth-grade Spiritual Water and Strange Light?" Cai Wei could not help repeating.
Meeting her astonished gaze, Li Luo nodded earnestly.
Cai Wei bit her sexy red lips with her pearly white teeth. Spiritual Water and Strange Light were expensive commodities, and fourth-grade variants were particularly costly. On the open market, a single portion went for roughly one thousand Heavenly Gold coins, meaning fifty portions would cost fifty thousand Heavenly Gold coins.
Across the entire Tianshu Prefecture, Luolan Manor's combined merchant guilds and industries brought in an annual revenue of around three hundred thousand Heavenly Gold coins, and that figure had been gradually declining over recent years given Luolan Manor's state of affairs.
Of course, the amount of Heavenly Gold wasn't an insurmountable problem; Luolan Manor was, after all, a large estate with deep roots, and fifty thousand Heavenly Gold wasn't enough to make Cai Wei lose her composure. It was just that purchasing fifty portions of fourth-grade Spiritual Water and Strange Light all at once truly struck her as rather bizarre.
This was because the primary function of Spiritual Water and Strange Light was to temper and wash one's resonance, elevating its grade. As everyone knew, Spiritual Water and Strange Light contained certain impurities generated during the fusion of various materials; these impurities would gradually erode the resonance palace.
Consequently, accumulated over time, this would cause the resonance palace to slowly seal up. By that point, any further enhancement of one's resonance would be deemed to have reached its absolute limit.
When utilizing Spiritual Water and Strange Light, most people avoided unbridled consumption, generally restricting it to an orderly schedule—say, using one or two portions a month. This not only minimized the impact of impurities on their resonance palace, but also maximized the tempering potency of the Spiritual Water and Strange Light.
Therefore, even when others purchased Spiritual Water and Strange Light, they bought them in small quantities. For someone like Li Luo to buy fifty portions at one go—was he trying to stockpile enough for several years?