Chapter 1971
Late Ming Dynasty 7
Having won so much money, the casino certainly wouldn't let the three of them leave.
Before any of the three of them left the casino, the thugs came out.
Unfortunately, even though these thugs were skilled in martial arts, they were no match for Liu Dong and his two companions.
Without Liu Tong even lifting a finger, Liu Yinxia and Zhu Youjian had already beaten everyone to the ground.
Amidst the fearful gazes of everyone in the casino, the three men left triumphantly.
Afterwards, Zhu Youjian wanted to go to the casino, but Liu Tong and Liu Yinxia stopped him.
Let's give the casinos a chance to survive.
Over the years, the three of them have used their martial arts skills to roam around the capital, getting to know the city inside and out, and even making connections with some of the local martial arts factions.
However, all three of them used aliases, and those in the martial arts world did not know their true identities.
Zhu Youjian's true identity was also revealed to Liu Tong and Liu Yinxia.
Although the two were somewhat angry about Zhu Youjian's concealment, they were also too concerned about his true identity.
After all, there was a member of the Zhu family in their school, and Zhu Youxun would later become the son-in-law of the Liu family.
Liu Yinxia and Zhu Youjian were childhood sweethearts, so their relationship naturally blossomed.
Because this selection process was to choose a consort for Prince Xin, Liu Yinxia was angry with Zhu Youjian and ignored him for a long time.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Youjian directly asked the emperor to grant him and Liu Yinxia a marriage.
The day after the imperial decree of marriage was issued, Zhu Youjian arrived at the door in high spirits with a large pile of betrothal gifts.
Apart from the old lady who was worried about Liu Niandong, everyone else was very excited to receive Zhu Youjian and discussed the wedding date with him.
Just three months later.
The Liu family witnessed Zhu Youjian's eagerness to marry Liu Yinxia.
Little did they know that marrying his beloved was one reason, but another reason was that Zhu Youxiao had promised Zhu Youjian that he could leave the capital to travel to other places after his marriage.
Seven days later, Liu Niandong returned to the Liu family.
She was not selected.
This deeply affected her.
It turns out there are quite a few women prettier than her.
Among all the women selected for the imperial harem, she was not the most outstanding.
Each of the young ladies had her own strengths; in singing, dancing, poetry, and painting, there was another young lady who surpassed her in every aspect.
To make matters worse, when she returned home, she discovered that her second sister, whom she looked down upon, had been betrothed to Prince Xin by the emperor without participating in the imperial concubine selection, and had become his princess.
From now on, when others are high and mighty, she can only kneel and kowtow to them.
How could the proud and arrogant Liu Niandong stand this?
Liu Niandong is sick again, and this time it is more serious than the last time.
The Liu family knew why she was being treated so badly, and they looked down on her, but they didn't want her to die. Instead, they asked the doctor to treat Liu Niandong as best he could.
At this time, people from the Marquis of Huai'an's residence came to propose marriage.
Previously, Lady Hou looked down on Liu Niandong and did not want her son to marry her.
But now, the Liu family has produced a Princess Consort.
As the status of Liu's daughter rose, and her son still couldn't forget Liu Niandong, after considering the pros and cons, Madam Hou agreed to let Liu Niandong enter the family.
Once Liu Xueyi and Liu Niandong's marriage was settled, Liu Niandong's illness was cured.
Although she was still jealous of Liu Yinxia becoming a princess, Liu Niandong was still very happy that she could join the Marquis's mansion and marry the man she loved.
Three months later, Liu Yinxia married into the Prince Xin's mansion.
A month later, the young couple left the capital with Liu Dong, who was like a third wheel, and went off to wander the world.
Zhu Youjian continued to use his alias Liu Deyue, and Liu Tong and Liu Yinxia also gave themselves aliases: Yang Rui and Yang Lianting. The latter name was Liu Tong's idea; it suddenly flashed through his mind and he blurted it out.
Both Zhu Youjian and Liu Yinxia praised the name as well-chosen.
After that, Liu Yinxia used the name Yang Lianting to travel the martial arts world.
All three were highly skilled in martial arts, and it wasn't long before they made a name for themselves in the martial arts world.
The three of them met quite a few people, one of whom, a guy named Cheng Qingzhu, left a deep impression on the other two.
Cheng Qingzhu used two bamboo poles as weapons because his name contained the character for bamboo.
In fact, he was also from an official family, and he had an older brother named Cheng Benzhi, who served in the military.
Cheng Qingzhu was unaware of Zhu Youjian's identity, yet she addressed him as a brother and even tried to get him to become sworn brothers with her.
Zhu Youjian quickly refused. To appease Cheng Qingzhu's enthusiasm, Zhu Youjian made a promise to Cheng Qingzhu that if they had children in the future, the children would become Cheng Qingzhu's disciples.
The three of them arrived in the Jiangnan region, and as soon as they entered the area of Shiliang, they were spotted.
They were dressed richly and looked like wealthy people.
So, a group of people surrounded them.
Zhu Youjian and Liu Yinxia chuckled, "Another bunch of reckless fools."
They encountered many robbers along the way, but they all killed them.
Liu Tong even gave them advice, telling them to rob the bandits in return, run to the bandits' lair, and take all the loot they had stolen.
This time, the two used the same tactic: after defeating the group, they interrogated them about where their hideout was.
From these people, we learned that Shiliang was the territory of Wenjiabao.
The Wen family has five brothers, known in the martial arts world as the Five Elders of the Wen Family. They are highly skilled in martial arts, and their most powerful technique is the ancestral Wen Family Five Elements Formation. Based on the principle of the mutual generation and restraint of the five elements, the five brothers cooperate and complement each other to form a unified formation system.
The Wen family's Five Elements Formation combines offensive and defensive capabilities. By feigning weakness to lure the enemy, it triggers a continuous offensive. The five members' moves and footwork complement each other perfectly, and the formation has no weaknesses to exploit.
Even top-tier martial arts masters would be trapped and captured if they entered the formation.
The five elders of the Wen family are not good people. Their disciples bully men and women, run rampant in the countryside, and often rob and kill passersby.
The Wen family is utterly wicked.
Zhu Youjian was furious: How could there be such evil forces committing crimes in our own territory! Doesn't the government care?
A passerby explained to them: the government officials and the Wen family were in cahoots, and the county magistrate's wife was from the Wen family.
Zhu Youjian chuckled and said to Liu Tong and the other man, "Let's go and rid the people of evil."
Liu Yinxia exclaimed excitedly, "Let's go, let's go!"
The three men stormed into Wenjiabao.
No one else in Wenjiabao could match them.
They were not indiscriminate killers, and Zhu Youjian even wanted the government to step in and deal with Wenjiabao, to give the people an explanation.
They showed mercy and only crippled these people's martial arts.
The five elders of the Wen family finally stepped forward.
They realized that all three were formidable opponents, all top-tier experts.
While feeling alarmed, they joined forces to use the Wen family's Five Elements Formation to deal with the three.
Zhu Youjian and Liu Yinxia were trapped, but Liu Tong was well-versed in formations. Before long, he analyzed the Five Elements Formation and pointed out the location of the formation's core to Zhu Youjian and Liu Yinxia.
Zhu Youjian and his companion broke through the formation's core, severely injuring the five elders of the Wen family.
At this moment, the prefect whom Zhu Youjian had contacted earlier rushed in with his yamen runners. (End of Chapter)