Xiao Siyuan said with a smile, "Alliance Head, don't be surprised, Xiao Rong is just like that."

  Xiao Rong? Murong Rong? This name was sure something.

  Tang Doudou glanced towards the left at the head of the Murong family and said with a smile, "I haven't seen him before so I glanced back a couple to times to figure out who he was. Who would've thought I'd end up making him feel shy? But it really is my fault."

  Lin Shuxuan said, "He's probably never been stared straight at by a beauty like Alliance Head before, that's why he was so embarrassed!"

  "Shuxuan! How could you be so impolite?" Stronghold Master Lin's forehead was covered with sweat. Wasn't his son usually pretty clever? Why did he make such a stupid mistake in front of everyone?

  Lin Shuxuan only realized that his words were inappropriate when his father berated him. He recalled that Tang Doudou's identity was now different and he was about to apologize with a salute but Tang Doudou interrupted with a laugh, "It's fine, Stronghold Master Lin. we're all of similar ages, so there's no need to pay so much attention to those convoluted formalities."

  "Even if your ages are similar, Alliance Head is a woman. Shuxuan, you shouldn't say such inappropriate things." Stronghold Master Lin loosened a breath in relief when he saw that Tang Doudou didn't plan to hold this against them. "However, I never would've thought that Alliance Head was acquaintanced with our younger generation."

  "It's called fate ah!" When Lin Shuxuan saw his father relax, he became lively again.

  "Who has fate with you?" Xiao Yi who had been silent this entire time suddenly glowered at Lin Shuxuan.

  Lin Shuxuan furrowed his brows and tapped his fan against his palm. "You're Xiao Yi?"

  "Humph. It's only been a few years, but you don't even recognize me anymore?" said Xiao Yi with a humph.

  "What do you mean by a few years?" Lin Shuxuan's voice got louder. "Barbarians truly don't know how to count, it's almost been ten entire years. Last time I saw you, you were still butt naked and sniveling as you ran away from a dog……"

  Swoosh!

  Before Lin Shuxuan even finished his words, the flash of a blade appeared. Xiao Yi swept his sword towards Lin Shuxuan and Lin Shuxuan almost fell off his horse from the fright. Fortunately, Xiao Siyuan grabbed him and helped him regain balance. "Xiao Yi!"

  Xiao Siyuan called softly, then sent Xiao Yi a pointed look. Both of them simultaneously glanced towards Xiao Qian.

  Lin Shuxuan was still recovering from the fright. He patted his chest while saying unhappily, "Xiao Yi, what do you mean by that? Have you forgotten all about the Xiao family's teachings?"

  While they were talking earlier, the heads of the four large clans had driven their horses to go faster and had moved a distance ahead. They seemed to be negotiating something.

  Although the sound of the sword had been loud, since Xiao Siyuan immediately stopped the conflict, it didn't attract the clan masters' attentions. Xiao Siyuan sighed in relief, then rubbed his temples and sent Tang Doudou an apologetic look.

  "It's fine, you guys can go ahead and keep chatting. I'm thinking about something." Without the heads of the clan here, Tang Doudou felt much more relaxed. At the same time, she didn't feel like paying attention to these guys.

  She was still mulling over what Jun Xin said earlier and guessing at the person who was behind all of it. Could it be one of the heads of the large families?

  When Xiao Siyuan saw that she wasn't paying attention to them, he hesitated for a while. He had Xiao Yi put his sword away, then moved his horse closer to Tang Doudou.

  "Alliance Head."

  "No need to be so polite, just call me Doudou."

  However, there was no way Xiao Siyuan dared to do that. "Lady Doudou, we're here because we have something to ask of you."

  When Tang Doudou saw the serious look on his face, she stopped thinking about the other things and asked, "What do you need to ask of me?"

  Xiao Siyuan glanced at Xiao Yi, then lowered his voice and said, "Were Lady Doudou and Baili gongzi present the day that Senior Brother Ziyu died?"

  Tang Doudou was stunned. No one had known about this.

  When that incident occurred, Baili Yu had reacted very quickly and hid her in the inn. He had taken steps to make sure that no one knew of their presence after the incident, so how did Xiao Siyuan know?

  When Xiao Siyuan saw her shock, he lowered his voice even more and looked around warily. "Someone had told Grandfather about this."

  Tang Doudou was even more taken aback. She recalled that Jun Xin said that Xiao Qian already had a grudge against her. Could it be because of this?

  "How did you find out?" Despite the fact that Xiao Siyuan had come with Xiao Qian this time, his identity was still only that of a disciple. There was no way that Xiao Qian would tell him something this important.

  "It was something that Grandfather had personally told Xiao Yi." Xiao Siyuan glanced at Xiao Yi who was putting away his sword and explained, "After Senior Brother Ziyu passed away, Grandfather started paying more attention to Xiao Yi. Although Xiao Yi isn't in the direct line of descent, in our generation, he's the most intelligent and the one that advances the fastest. If it weren't for the fact that Senior Brother Ziyu was there, Xiao Yi would probably be our senior brother."

  He was the most intelligent?

  Tang Doudou glanced doubtfully at the guy whose body had clearly grown better than his brain.

  And what had Lin Shuxuan said earlier? That Xiao Yi had been chased around by a dog without pants on ten years ago…… Ten years ago Xiao Yi would at least be seven, right?

  __________

  Credits: Translated by Chiyomira

  [Chiyomira's Corner]

  Enjoy~