Chapter 27

......

In the hall, the crowd dispersed.

Indeed, today's arrangements were somewhat unexpected, with some feeling sorry for Li Yunzi, while others took malicious pleasure in her misfortune.

"I thought the lady would have Li Yunzi marry a servant to avoid further scandal and disgrace to our clan, but who would have thought she would be sent to be a concubine? How pitiful," Mu Qing said with a tone of lament.

But this lament was too false, her pale face almost bursting with a radiant smile.

Li Yunzi had made too many outstanding women in the clan lose their luster, and now she herself had come to this end.

"At least as a concubine of the city lord, if she serves well, she might live better than us obedient young ladies," someone said.

"She's probably not bad at that, after all, she can even bend over for a lowly beggar..." another added.

"Don't be so loud, she's coming this way," Li Kongxi said.

Now, the young women of the clan all gathered around Li Kongxi and Mu Qing.

Li Yunzi was alone, descending the steps of the hall. The group of graceful young women walked with light steps, and Li Yunzi naturally heard what they were saying.

Li Yunzi glanced at those young ladies who were adding insult to injury, but her expression remained unreadable.

However, those young ladies couldn't help but move closer to Li Kongxi and Mu Qing.

Who knew if Li Yunzi would go mad?

But she didn't make any extreme moves. She walked through another door of the hall, not back to the Li family's royal courtyard, but to the military camp.

Seeing her back, Li Kongxi couldn't help but sneer.

But thinking of the vast difference in their fates, Li Kongxi's face brightened again.

......

A stone bridge, a few withered willows, Li Yunzi stood on the bridge, her gaze fixed on the silver and red carp swimming in the pond, stirring the water to murkiness.

Soon, a tall and robust general in silver-black armor walked over.

Seeing Li Yunzi on the bridge, the general quickened his pace.

"Yunzi, were you waiting for me here?" the general asked.

"Yes, I have something I hope General Cheng can help me with," Li Yunzi nodded, her eyes bright and clear, seemingly unaffected by the extreme humiliation in the hall.

"Your father is easily influenced by the young lady. Since he didn't oppose this, despite your great contributions to the city, you are being sent to the enemy's lair for a false truce. Sigh, come, Yunzi, I will help you escape. Go far away, find a good man, and live a good life. Don't come back; this Li family is not worth it," the general said with pity and helplessness in his eyes.

Even if Li Yunzi hadn't come to him, the general was prepared to help her escape.

The general was a man of the battlefield, and he knew that Li Yunzi marrying into the Ling family in Lingxiao City would make her a complete female captive, especially since she had killed many of the Ling family's sons on the battlefield.

Life for Li Yunzi there would be worse than death.

Hearing the general's words, Li Yunzi felt a slight warmth in her heart.

At least someone was thinking of her.

"Uncle Cheng, Yunzi doesn't want to escape."

"Not escape? You will suffer that humiliation? You are a young woman, and you are still young. This Li family is not worth you sacrificing your whole life for a pitiful truce. Don't worry about the border situation; I will never let the beasts of Lingxiao City step a foot into our territory, even if it costs me my life!" the general said, somewhat agitated.

"Uncle Cheng, do you know why the unrest in Wutu has never been quelled, no matter how many people we kill, the unarmed rioters still rush to the battlefield without regard for their lives?" Li Yunzi asked.

The general frowned.

He didn't understand what Li Yunzi was thinking. She was in such a difficult situation, yet she was still thinking about the stability of Zulong City?

"Wutu is barbaric and primitive, the people are unenlightened. Our Zulong City has fertile and vast land, which they have long coveted. Encouraged by certain people, they are like wolves and tigers," the general said.

Li Yunzi shook her head. "The rioters in Wutu cannot be killed off..."

"You should worry about yourself, Yunzi."

"I won't escape," Li Yunzi said calmly.

The deeper one is trapped in the mire, the deeper one sinks with frantic struggles.

Li Yunzi had felt a bit lost not long ago, as she didn't know who her enemies were.

Now, she gradually saw them clearly.

They all surfaced, grinning with unrestrained joy, rushing to trample her into the mud.

......

Winter was approaching, and Zulong City had not seen a drop of rain for a month. Even the usually fertile Lichuan Plain showed signs of sparse drought. Without the nourishment of the three major rivers, it would have been a sea of withered grass.

Zhu Minglang remembered that when he first entered Zulong City, it was still a vast expanse of green fields. After more than a month at Dragon Taming Academy, the vast land outside the city seemed to have changed its attire.

The grassland was a desolate yellow, the trees were withered, and the distant mountains at the edge of the plain had turned into a continuous silver-white line, majestic yet desolate...

"Achoo!"

Li Shaoying wrapped himself tightly in a woolen coat but still couldn't withstand the biting cold wind in the air, his nose turning red and his nose almost running.

Zhu Minglang glanced at him, not understanding why this guy had also mixed into this field trip.

But seeing that he was riding a flying bird pseudodragon with Nan Ye, Zhu Minglang roughly understood.

At this moment, they were all in the air, sitting on the backs of flying bird pseudodragons, holding the reins in both hands.

The desolate plain was beneath their feet, but the wind was like ice knives, cutting painfully on their cheeks and ears. Li Shaoying, who had clearly not flown much, didn't know what protective measures to take.

There were thirteen flying bird pseudodragons, each carrying one of the thirteen students.

Among these students, some were true dragon tamers who already had dragons, while others, like Li Shaoying and Nan Ye, were still below the dragon gate.

Two teachers led the group: one was Tutor Ke Bei, responsible for the students' safety, the man Zhu Minglang had met that day, and the other was Professor Duan Lan, who was responsible for performing the rain-summoning technique.

In addition to the thirteen students and two teachers, there was an assistant, and that assistant was Zhu Minglang.

Duan Lan, Ke Bei, and Zhu Minglang were sitting on an eagle beast dragon.

The eagle beast dragon had a broad back like a lion, a chest and head like a giant eagle. Over five meters long, sitting on its back was like sitting in a recliner covered with animal fur, a first-class experience!

In fact, Zhu Minglang hadn't expected that a mere odd-job worker would be assigned as an assistant.

"Can the Azure Dragon control the wind and rain? It feels like the Azure Dragon is the true dragon king," Li Shaoying said.

He wore a simple long robe with no patterns or decorations, looking rather shabby compared to the other dragon taming students, who were dressed in more elaborate clothing.

There was no help for it; this was one of Li Shaoying's best clothes. If his ox spirit hadn't suddenly shown dragon characteristics, he would still be herding cattle at home.