As he listened to the story of Shangguan Bing Xue's past, the commotion inside Bai Zemin's heart only grew more and more for every sentence that came from her lips.
"After I was born, my life was not as simple nor was it as bright as the daughter of the man with the highest authority and greatest power in all of China should have enjoyed." Shangguan Bing Xue seemed to mock herself as she narrated her past, "While that man gave me his surname, that was all I had. My mother and I were sent directly to the other side of Beijing's central district on the orders of that scum's wife and I basically grew up without a parental figure."
Since the central government was located between Changping District and the surrounding districts, Shangguan Bing Xue's mother should be around that area if she was still alive.
"Of course, even though my mother and I were thrown into a corner like a trash bag, Xuanyuan Bing Xue was still Xuanyuan Wentian's daughter regardless of whether she was a bastard daughter or not." Shangguan Bing Xue explained with a composed expression on her face, "Therefore, it could be said that many high society people approached me at a young age to try to get my favor. However, my mother was treated as if she was a lowly prostitute only seeking power when in reality she never asked for anything."
"Fuck the love." Bai Zemin could not help but spit out those words.
Shangguan Bing Xue smiled slightly and nodded before continuing, "When I was growing up I naturally didn't understand all of this, however, when I finally reached old enough to realize that my mother was suffering, the hatred in my heart towards the man named Xuanyuan Wentian reached such an intense level that my chest hurt just thinking about his name."
In the end, Shangguan Bing Xue's voice was indifferent and did not seem upset or hateful toward her father; the man who abandoned her as if she had no value.
"It was around that time when all men began to look at me differently, even one of my best friends." Shangguan Bing Xue seemed to have lost herself in old memories as her eyes looked slightly unfocused as she narrated, "Gradually, my mother's health began to deteriorate as she worked very hard to give me the best education possible and to make sure I lacked nothing... Although I was the daughter of the President of China, we never really received anything from him because his wife made sure that no one gave us much help. Therefore, our family consisted of a weak small girl and a woman who had no choice but to become strong."
With slight coldness in her voice, she continued, "However, even when some people like Yijun's family or Chen He's family tried to help us, my mother refused. She wanted to show everyone that women could also stand on their own without depending on any man... And she succeeded, she raised me perfectly."
Shangguan Bing Xue was not only incredibly beautiful, her demeanor, her movements, every gesture she made, the elegance with which she behaved at the table, her distinguished personality like that of someone superior, her extremely high intelligence, her capacity for understanding and adaptation, her personal strength, etc.... Everything was excellent beyond all words.
In fact, were it not for Bai Zemin knowing a monstrously talented woman like Lilith, he would undoubtedly have to call Shangguan Bing Xue the most talented woman he had ever met in his entire life.
"Looking at the current you, I must say that your mother did a job worthy of being called a work of art." He sighed and praised from the bottom of his heart, "In the end, she proved that women are not inferior to men in any way."
"Thank you." Shangguan Bing Xue smiled faintly and continued, "However, even though she succeeded in her goal, she never received even a simple nod from the person she truly loved. In the end, my mother simply lived for me and by me, like an empty shell."
Love was a very powerful, but double-edged weapon. It was an emotion that could strengthen a person to the point that in the course of just a few hours he or she could become someone completely different.
At the same time, love was an emotion that could sink someone to the bottom of the ocean, never to rise again. In the case of Shangguan Bing Xue's mother, she was a pitiful woman who, if it were not for her beloved child, would probably have decided long ago not to continue to exist.
"When I turned 12, I decided to change my last name to remove any trace of that man from me. In fact, if it were not because it is not possible I would even like to tear out every last fiber of genetic code from me that represents him." Shangguan Bing Xue said coldly. "As I observed my mother's suffering, as I remembered my scum of a father, and as I gradually realized that all men always looked at me in a similar manner, I began to feel disgust for the male gender. My aberration for men reached its peak when I even disdained to disdain them."
Bai Zemin forced a bitter smile into his heart. He still accurately remembered Shangguan Bing Xue's gaze the first time they came face to face during the first day of the apocalypse when the world changed.
She continued, "In the end, I also wanted to prove my mother's point to everyone. However, unlike her, I wanted to show everyone that women can be even superior to any man!"
With a self-deprecating smile, she pointed out, "I wanted to make the man known as Xuanyuan Wentian lose everything, I wanted to make him regret making my mother suffer so much as to spend every day of her life in sorrow. Therefore, I worked really hard to improve myself in all aspects without deviating and thinking about things that girls my age usually do... However, how could it be so easy to take down the most powerful man and family in all of China? Even though I knew it was just wishful thinking on my part, I decided to live with it and for it."
A 23-year-old girl wanting to take down the President of China? That was naturally impossible. Even if it wasn't impossible, it would probably be easier to ascend to the heavens than to accomplish such a feat.
Shangguan Bing Xue was the person with the highest grades at Beijing University, one of the most prestigious universities in the entire world. However, so what? Even if she graduated with a perfect record, in the end, she would end up working for a good company or maybe she could have opened her own company; but that was all.
Money was important, no doubt. But money could not buy real power unless one possessed enough capital to buy an entire country.
It was simply impossible for her, a young adult basically on her own to bring down the man with the most power in the whole country... Of one of the most powerful and dangerous countries in the world.
Even if Chen He claimed to love her, even if Wu Yijun was her best friend; they were both just young people in a big and powerful family. It was impossible for their elders to start a takeover just because they asked them to.
Besides, even if Chen He and Wu Yijun ever took charge of their families, Bai Zemin did not believe that both of them were really willing to sacrifice everything for Shangguan Bing Xue... But such a thing was simply impossible.
In a patriarchal country like China, it was impossible for a woman to take the position of Prime Minister, so Wu Yijun could never control the Wu family regardless of how much love his grandfather felt for her.
As for Chen He's Chen family, unless his grandfather or someone else had a great rank within the army, they were too weak to try to oppose a person on the level of Xuanyuan Wentian. After all, Chen He's father was just a Regimental Commander whose rank in the army was Colonel.
"That... Sounds like a tough target to hit." Bai Zemin sighed and looked at her with a bit of pity.
He had really judged the woman in front of him without even knowing anything about her life.
"Tough to hit? In the end it was just an impossible one." Shangguan Bing Xue smiled bitterly and nodded. Soon, however, her eyes shone brightly and her bitter smile turned into a sardonic one, "But that was before.... Times are different now!"
Bai Zemin looked at her with slight surprise for a moment before realization dawned within him. A faint smile appeared on his face and he nodded, "Indeed, times are different now."
If it was in the past, Shangguan Bing Xue's dream of overthrowing the President of China, his father, could probably only remain as an eternal dream that would most likely never come to a successful conclusion.
However, things were now completely different!
The unknown entity that called itself Soul Record, a seemingly all-powerful entity capable of controlling the legendary energy known as mana, had arrived on planet Earth.
Animals turned into terrifying beasts that ran rampant and uncontrolled, most humans could not withstand the mana wave and turned into mindless zombies that just wandered without an apparent goal on Earth; even plants mutated.
With the society collapsing, China was no longer what it was a month and a half ago.
Even if Xuanyuan Wentian was strong, so what?
Even if he had entire armies at his disposal, so what?
At the end of the day, it was no longer the firearms one controlled that mattered, and while numbers helped, they didn't mean the absolute; under the influence of mana and Soul Power, humans now gained the ability to endlessly evolve to levels never dreamed of before!
With humanity evolving into entities known as soul evolvers, the rules could no longer remain the same even if one wanted them to.
Soul evolvers were the new rulers of this world and of this new era that had only just begun!
Coincidentally, that young adult who longed with all her might to bring down the man who abandoned her and her mother as if they were trash turned out to have become an extremely talented and powerful soul evolver... Before, her dream might be just that, a dream; but now, that dream would not necessarily not come true!
Shangguan Bing Xue's blue eyes, which were always as cold as ice, suddenly burned as an intense flame ignited in her soul, "Do you remember my second request yet to be mentioned?"
Bai Zemin nodded. Naturally he remembered how she had told him that, in case she joined his conquests, he would have to accept two conditions from her. The first condition was already promised by him, but the second was still a mystery.
However, Bai Zemin somehow already knew what she wanted.
"If it was before tonight, my second request to join you would have been for you to hand over Xuanyuan Wentian's head to me." Shangguan Bing Xue said with a tinge of murderous intent in her voice. Surprisingly, her murderous intent soon disappeared and then she said with a mocking smile on her beautiful face, "But you know what, you're right. Doing that in the end would be no different than showing that I am dissatisfied with myself, and I love myself! Therefore, I have decided to change my second condition."
If Shangguan Bing Xue wanted the head of the President of China to join his faction, then Bai Zemin would accept without hesitation. After all, his faction and the former government of China were destined to be enemies; so killing the highest authority was something he would probably have to do at some point.
However, now that he knew that the man was her father, things were a bit awkward for him since regardless of how much she hated her father, since they now had the possibility of living forever, it was hard to know if that hatred would persist for all eternity.
If Shangguan Bing Xue as the years went by realized that her hatred for Xuanyuan Wentian would disappear.... Then she would regret it for all eternity, and such a thing was not something Bai Zemin wanted.
Putting aside the fact whether he cared for her as a friend or not, she was basically his right hand at the moment and until he had the strength to fight alongside Lilith, Shangguan Bing Xue would continue to occupy that position for a long time.
Besides, there was also the matter of her mother. Shangguan Bing Xue's mother might be resentful, but Bai Zemin did not know that, if she were still alive, her love for the man she had met in her youth still persisted.
Fortunately, Shangguan Bing Xue changed her mind.... Although judging by the coldness in her eyes and the mocking smile at the corner of her lips, Bai Zemin felt that Xuanyuan Wentian would probably prefer death to the future she had planned for him.
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Thanks a lot to all those who use their Golden Tickets to vote for BW <3