Chapter 43: The Mysterious Lingguo Estate

“You were the one who knocked into my missy, you should be the one apologizing!”

“Let it go, Xiu-er. Let’s go.” A soft, gentle voice like the wind emanated from the side, and many people walking about on the streets could not help but turn and look.

The girl that spoke was small and looked weak. However, she stood straight and had a good posture. In her long, crimson skirt that dragged along the floor, she looked like a blooming flower.

She had clean and immaculate features, as if she was a lotus from the skies, white and pure despite growing from the soil.

“Miss, you’re too kind!” Her helper, Xiu-er, frowned angrily with a sore look on her face.

“You want to leave? Kneel down to apologize first!” The unreasonable lady was arrogant and stepped forward to stop the two of them, clearly trying to make things difficult.

“For what?” Xiu-er angrily said. The lady had bumped into her missy, and now she was asking for an apology? How was that reasonable at all?

“For what? For the fact that my Missy is the lady of the house from the Shangshu estate!” A helper stepped out from behind the arrogant lady, and her sharp voice carried a form of pride.

“Stupid woman, how dare you talk back to me? Who do you think you are? Ah Zi, slap her!” Jiang Ying’s face hardened, and she waved her hands. The helper who spoke earlier on walked up fiercely and raised her hand, ready to slap Xiu-er.

“How dare you! We’re from the Lingguo estate!” Right as the slap was about to land on her face, Xiu-er shouted at the top of her lungs.

The moment she said it, Ah Zi, who was about to hit her, retracted her hand immediately with a face full of shock. The people around took a deep breath as well, clearly in shock.

Lingguo estate?

What exactly was the Lingguo estate that it could give others such a huge reaction?

As she watched this entire scene unfold, Zihou frowned a little the moment she heard about Lingguo estate, feeling a little weird. She tried to recall any news about them but to no avail.

“You, you are from the Lingguo estate?” Jiang Ying opened her eyes wide in fear, and you could tell that she was clearly shocked by her expression. Her voice also quivered a little.

“Missy, don’t you think they said that out of fear of us? Also, people from the Lingguo estate have always been extremely secretive, so why would they appear here?” Jiang Ying’s other helper whispered into her ear.

Jiang Ying felt that whatever she said made a lot of sense. She calmed down and lifted up her chin once again. “If you say that you are from the Lingguo estate, prove it! If you have proof, then show it to us. If not, then you will get it from me!”

“Miss, they’re bullying us, just show it to them!” Xiu-er said angrily and seemed to be in too much of a hurry.

“Okay, then.” The small and frail girl frowned and contemplated for a moment before taking out a token from her sleeves.

“Here is the token of the Lingguo estate, you should believe us now.” The small girl lifted up the token in her hands and spoke softly.

The token in her hands was the size of a palm, and it shone silver under the light. There were simple carved designs on it, as well as a huge “Ling” on it.

“Oh my, you truly are from the Lingguo estate!” Someone exclaimed, and everyone heaved in shock.

“What, you are really from the Lingguo estate?” The appearance of the token caused Jiang Ying to have a huge change in her expression, and the two helpers beside her were almost shocked to tears.

“To bully my missy and to be rude to those from the Lingguo estate is a crime punishable by death!” Xiu-er looked up and happily said with clear pride and honor in her voice.

“We underestimated you, please let us poor souls go!” The two helpers immediately kneeled and began to kowtow, clearly in shock.

“Jiang Ying offended you unknowingly, so please be generous and spare me.” Although Jiang Ying felt a little sore about it, she still had to lower her pride and head to ask for forgiveness.

“Since you have admitted to your mistakes, then I’ll let it go.” The lady from the Lingguo estate looked at them kneeling and waved them off.

“Miss!” Xiu-er could not stand her family’s missy’s generosity. She had a sour look on her face.

“Anyone can make mistakes, so forgive everyone if possible, is what Father taught me when he was still alive. Alright, let’s go now.” The lady shook her head, pulled Xiu-er along with her, and left.

The show ended as the two of them left.

“Qi Shaoyang, do you know anything about this Lingguo estate?” Zihou asked out of curiosity as they were on their way back from buying the ingredients and urn.

“Of course I know. The Lingguo estate is no secret in West Capital, only that people rarely mention them,” Qi Shaoyang said, then explained what he knew to Zihou.

The Lingguo estate existed above the rule of the emperor. They appeared so long ago that it could no longer be tracked, but it was said that when Western Chu was first founded, a forefather that had fought alongside the emperor then suggested having the existence of the Lingguo estate, that would not interfere with the emperor’s rule unless the country was in a crisis.

From the first emperor till today, the Lingguo estate had always adopted the same method of succession, which was to have the current serving superior pick the next talented individual to take over him.

From then on, the Lingguo estate had always been in a hidden state. Over some time, due to how hidden their operations were, people had also begun to forget about the Lingguo estate.

Even if the public was about to forget the Lingguo estate, the empire had always seen them as a threat and would rather get rid of them as soon as they could.

Five years ago, the current Western Chu Emperor Chu Yao wanted to get rid of the Lingguo Estate so as to remove them as an unknown threat. However, the current Cloud King appeared in the courtroom with a peak level black aura cultivation, shocking everyone.

The Lingguo estate had revealed itself, shocking everybody. From then on, no one dared to mess with them anymore.

“If I’m not wrong, the lady from earlier on should be Baili Dujuan, the daughter of the previous lord, Baili Xi.”

“Then who is the current lord of the Lingguo estate?” Zihou asked suspiciously. If he could exceed the peak of the black aura five years ago, then how strong must he be today?

“This Cloud King is too mysterious, and no one knows his full name, even including those who have met him. They only know that he’s extremely powerful and that there is no end to his immense skills.” Qi Shaoyang frowned as if he feared this Cloud King.

“Oh yes, I also heard some news from the Lingguo estate over the past two days. Cloud King, who constantly disappears, has finally gone back to Lingguo estate,” Qi Shaoyang added.

Lingguo estate, Cloud King. Zihou frowned slightly and her eyes sparkled. The name was oddly familiar…