Luo Mingzhu’s cheeks were suddenly kissed pink, and she coquettishly communicated, “Dad, why did you suddenly bringing this up?”
“My daughter has learned to tweak like ordinary girls now? How can we waste an opportunity to find you a husband from the heroes present? Why are you acting coy when it’s perfectly normal for you to marry at your age?”
“You are being rash. You do not even care.” Luo Mingzhu pouted, albeit her primarily being bashful. In spite of her whinging, Luo Mingzhu accepted the reality that her father would be electing her husband on her behalf from a young age as it was a long-practiced custom for affluent families.
“You’re better off watching the heroes present. All of them are true heroes. It might be the last time I can gather so many exemplary individuals.”
Luo Mingzhu was already scoping out every man present. Unlike Luo Siming, who grew up with the mentality of succeeding his father, or her other brothers, Luo Mingzhu grew up spoilt, not to mention the natural crafty blood coursing through her.
Every sect has young disciples. Thing is, Luo Sword Manor was after weapons or Edge Realm style adepts, which narrowed the list of candidates down to middle-aged men who were clan leaders or patriarchs. Of course, elders would also be among those likely in possession of either. The likes of Xiao Huangquan, unorthodox sects’ members or second-rate martial artists, such as Chigan Sha, wouldn’t tickle her fancy, leaving her with a pitifully small pool to choose from. The only ones she had any interest in were Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary’s Young Master Ling, Kuang Lu, Dugu and Venerable Mianhua.
Owing to the silence everyone exercised to listen to Luo Ming, Shen Yiren’s entrance stole all of the attention during Luo Ming’s pause.
“I, uh… went back to my room to fetch something,” Shen Yiren expounded.
Ninety percent of the people there: “Oh… Okay…”
“V-, Sister Yiren, over here.” Su Xiao was reminded not to address Shen Yiren as Vice-Captain outside of business.
The moment Su Xiao called out and waved, Luo Mingzhu’s eyes instantly made their way to him. He didn’t stand out as an exceptional man compared to the others, but his lady-killer reputation wasn’t bestowed upon him on unjustified grounds.
Luo Mingzhu purposely tried to not pay attention to Su Xiao ever since first meeting him, lest she feel bothered. Alas, his ability to magnetise her eyes surpassed her resistance. Noticing her gaze on him, Su Xiao flashed his pearly whites: “Hi.”
Luo Mingzhu’s blush seared through her cheeks. For a minute she thought her face was on fire. She suddenly felt awkward, demure, and coy; even going as far as attempting to hide her rosy features behind her father.
Shen Yiren pulled confounded Su Xiao over to fill her in on what she missed out. The more she heard, the closer her eyebrows came together. As Luo Ming began to inform them where the event would be held tomorrow and what time, Shen Yiren voiced, “Patriarch Luo, may I ask a question?”
“How can this one help you, Miss Shen?” Luo Ming never underestimated Shen Yiren’s sagacity.
“I am purely curious as to what sort of sword you are forging that would motivate you to pull out all the stops in order to ensure its success?”
Luo Ming tugged up the corner of his lips ever so slightly: “This one was going to get to that.”
Shen Yiren smiled back at Luo Ming despite seeing through the shameless lie.
“As this one mentioned, the methodology comes from an ancient book, and this one has never seen it before. This one spent ten days staring straight at the page to study it when he first discovered it. You know about this one’s blacksmithing knowledge. He swears on his head that the sword has never been forged before and will never be replicated.”
Luo Ming would succeed as a businessman – easily. His oath added to his credibility, while his trumpet work had them dying to see what sort of sword would have someone with one of the Seven Dynasty-Founding Blades lauding it.
“How is it forged, Patriarch Luo?”
Luo Mingzhu scoffed, “That’s an awful lot of questions. Win the competition, and nobody will bother you no matter what you do with it. You’re being a nuisance.”
While perplexing to most, Shen Yiren had no trouble discerning why Luo Mingzhu wasn’t polite to her – jealousy.
“That is not a very good deal to me. Would I not have to marry you if I win? I cannot afford to raise a pampered missy.”
Luo Mingzhu pulled her sword on Shen Yiren: “I dare you to insult me again”
“You’re getting married, Boss?” Ming Feizhen, unflinching at the individuals who turned to the entrance, remarked, “What? I went to fetch something from my room.”
They say weak characters are forgettable, but Ming Feizhen was memorable because Luo Ming mistook him for an intruder.
“Wasn’t he on the island just now? Did he say he fetched something from his room?” everyone thought. Everyone shifted their gaze back to Shen Yiren, who said the same thing, and then shook their heads.
Shen Yiren was stuck with tormenting blushes for there was no way to explain the coincidence. In the end, she turned her head to the side to avert her gaze.
Ming Feizhen ambled over to Shen Yiren to pass her something wrapped in red silk. At a glance, the silk resembled a dudou. He said, “Boss, you left this at my place.”
Emperor Yuansheng formed to cannonballs with his hands and muttered under his breath, “Bring him here.” Others chortled or showed disdain.
Baffled, Ming Feizhen whispered, “Boss, what’s with them? Those look like depraved grins.”
“You… You… You idiot!” Shen Yiren snatched over the inkstone wrapped in red silk and whacked Ming Feizhen as if his head was on a swivel.