Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1843 The Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty 3

With so many eyes suddenly watching her, how could Jiang Xinxin not feel anything? In just three days, she had already figured out the situation quite well. She never expected that simply stumbling upon the scene of Shi Feixuan and Wanwan's competition would attract the attention of Cihang Jingzhai and Yin Gui Sect. Even the Yuwen Clan and Dugu Clan had their eyes on her stunning beauty, but they dared not act immediately because she didn't seem to come from a humble background.

But they had already reached a tacit understanding. If they could find out her background in a short time, that would be fine. If not, they would simply shift the blame to another party, drug her, and offer her to the tyrannical Emperor Yang Guang, so that the power behind Jiang Xinxin would be exposed. This would both strike a blow at Yang Guang and resolve their unresolved issues, achieving multiple benefits in one fell swoop.

Although she knew that the struggles in the martial arts world were all scripted as power struggles, Jiang Xinxin did not expect to step into the game so quickly. She had no intention of staying in Luoyang any longer and simply headed west to Taiyuan.

As expected, Shi Feixuan also went to Taiyuan.

In the teahouse, the storyteller was telling the story of the emperor's immorality, which aroused widespread public resentment. Jiang Xinxin was not disguised and still looked like a wealthy young lady. She wore a high-waisted pomegranate-colored ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) with a pale yellow cross-collar and wide sleeves. Her hair was adorned with only a red gold phoenix hairpin with pearls, which was very eye-catching, but she was also decorated with various exquisite pearl flowers. At her waist, she had a sachet, a pouch, a jade pendant, and a sash.

Such attire was particularly eye-catching to Li Xiuning, the eldest daughter of the Li clan in Taiyuan. She couldn't help but whisper to her younger brother Li Shimin beside her, "This must be the rumored Miss Jiang. She truly has the air of wealth and nobility. No wonder the Yuwen and Dugu clans both wanted to send her to Yang Guang's side to test who was behind her."

Li Shimin stared at Jiang Xinxin, somewhat lost in thought, and murmured, "Regardless of her identity or background, just by her demeanor, she must have an extraordinary origin..."

Seeing her second brother staring at her with wide eyes, Li Xiuning couldn't help but laugh and say, "Not only is she of extraordinary origin, but she probably also deserves the title of the most beautiful woman in the world."

When Li Shimin heard the title "the most beautiful woman in the world," he immediately came to his senses and said to his sister with some disapproval, "Sister, beautiful women have always had tragic fates. Miss Jiang has an extraordinary background, so we'd better not get involved."

Li Xiuning glared at her younger brother with annoyance. "What, in your eyes, do you think I, your own sister, am some petty person who is jealous of others who are prettier and more elegant than me?"

After saying that, Li Xiuning walked directly towards Jiang Xinxin without waiting for Li Shimin's reaction.

Jiang Xinxin sat upright on the second floor, propping her head up and listening with great interest to the storyteller downstairs, whose voice was full of ups and downs. Although the story was very old-fashioned and the news was outdated, the storyteller was obviously good at creating an atmosphere. His voice was loud and powerful, and people on the second floor could hear it very clearly. No wonder there were already quite a few silver ingots in the plate next to him.

As she was listening, she caught a glimpse of movement beside her out of the corner of her eye. A quiet and beautiful young woman walked over with a smile and even curtsied. "Is Miss Jiang here in Taiyuan? My name is Li Xiuning, and I come from the Li family of Taiyuan."

Jiang Xinxin had heard of the Li family's good reputation in Taiyuan City before. The Li family now has four sons. The eldest and second sons are both outstanding talents with dragon-like appearances and phoenix-like demeanor. They are also related to Emperor Yang Guang of Sui. If you really want to count, Li Yuan, the head of the Li clan, should call Emperor Yang Guang of Sui his cousin.

The other two young masters are still young. It is said that the youngest one is somewhat ugly, while the one with the best reputation is none other than the only young lady, Li Xiuning. Everyone says that she is beautiful inside and out, and kind-hearted. It is said that the Li family intends to use her to form a marriage alliance with the Chai family.

When Li Xiuning came to meet her in person, Jiang Xinxin quickly stood up to return the greeting, "You're too kind, Miss Li. My name is Jiang Xinxin, but I don't know if the Miss Jiang you're referring to is me."

Even so, Jiang Xinxin quickly invited Li Xiuning to sit down and talk. Li Xiuning was very talkative, especially knowledgeable, and could respond to whatever Jiang Xinxin said, and even offer her own unique insights. But it was precisely because of this that Jiang Xinxin felt she should keep a certain distance from her, because she always felt like she was being forcibly taken care of, which made her quite uncomfortable.

Li Xiuning had only come today to say hello, but because she was convinced that Jiang Xinxin had an extraordinary background, she planned to see if she could win over Jiang Xinxin and her backers to work for the Li family. However, she keenly sensed that Jiang Xinxin didn't seem interested in befriending her, and suddenly realized that she had somewhat lost control today. Her behavior in front of Jiang Xinxin had exceeded her expectations of simply saying hello and leaving a good impression.

Jiang Xinxin felt that Li Xiuning's emotional intelligence was too high, and she was being forcibly tolerated. Li Xiuning also felt that Jiang Xinxin was really clever, able to make someone like her, who had always been self-disciplined and polite, lose control without her even realizing it.

Back in his seat, Li Shimin noticed that his sister's expression wasn't good, even rather strained. He quickly went up to her with concern: "Sister, weren't you having a good chat with Miss Jiang just now? Did you discover something?"

Li Xiuning solemnly said to Li Shimin, "Miss Jiang is indeed remarkable. I originally just wanted to say hello and chat casually to give her a slightly better impression of our Li clan, but I didn't expect to suddenly lose control and talk so much!"

Li Shimin knew that the Yin Gui Sect of the Demonic Clan had planted people in the harem of Emperor Yang Guang of Sui and even in the harem of the late emperor. He also knew that the Yin Gui Sect had already made contact with his elder brother Li Jiancheng in their Li clan. He also wanted to make a name for himself, so he wanted to contact outside forces. Therefore, he had quite a bit of knowledge about the outside world.

After hearing what Li Xiuning said, he immediately thought of evil techniques such as "soul-capturing" and "bewitching." "Could it be that Miss Jiang is not from a noble family, but is a person trained by the demonic sect?"

"Nonsense!" Li Xiuning glanced at Jiang Xinxin and gently scolded her second brother, "Don't jump to conclusions about people being associated with the Demonic Sect. Although I don't know when I fell for their tricks, I'm certain that Miss Jiang didn't use any underhanded methods like mind control. You should have heard that some people are naturally very approachable and can easily make people lower their guard and become very honest. Miss Jiang is very likely such an extraordinary person."

Li Shimin immediately apologized sincerely: "I'm sorry, sister, I misspoke. I just saw many beauties with strange skills in the palace when I was in Luoyang. As you know, wasn't Lady Xuanhua, the one who caused the late emperor and our great-aunt, a loving couple who had gone from humble beginnings to become enemies, the one that the Demonic Sect offered to the late emperor?"

"I was prejudiced and misjudged the heroes of the world; in the end, it was just that my vision was too narrow..."