Chapter 216 - Times Have Changed
(MC POV)
"The Bei Royal Family cordially invites Master Lin and his Heaven Sect to Princess Bei Guiying's coming of age ceremony in the Royal capital city of Jin blah blah blah…"
I tossed the letter aside after skimming through its contents.
Brendan glanced at the discarded letter, "Does Master not wish to go?"
I raised an eyebrow, "What? Of course I'm going. If the third Prince is actually the Dark Sect leader just as those guys said, I have a feeling the ceremony won't be that simple. It would be rude to refuse anyway so we might as well go."
That was a half lie.
The truth is that I'm curious about this Guiying princess. No, it's not because I'm into her, but I most definitely do not remember that there was a princess Guiying coming of age ceremony in my first life here.
That could mean a few things.
The first and most problematic one is that this princess Guiying never existed during my first life, meaning this is either a parallel timeline or she herself is an anomaly as well.
The second probability is that this princess never survived this far in the first timeline. With the possibility that one of her older brothers was the leader of the Dark Sect, it is quite possible that she might have been killed by him before she came of age.
And of course, there's the last possibility that because I never really cared about politics in general, I totally missed and never took note of her coming of age celebration during the first timeline.
Something tells me the second option is the most possible one, but that will also bring about the question of why she was so important that the third prince would want to get rid of her? And what changed this time that it prevented it from happening?
The only thing that changed this time was the fact that I took in disciples.
And I guess I also took part in this year's Sect Showcase Festival.
I suppose the fact that I interfered with that Dong country's prince counts as a change…
And then there was my return to my hometown and meeting my family again…
There's also my interference with the busybodies and the world with the giant worms...
Not sure if my involvement with all those Dark Sect outposts count as well…
Abaddon, the Great One, the monster army...
Alright, alright, I know. I screwed up this timeline beyond recognition already, sheesh, calm down. I didn't mean it, ok?
What does a transmigrator have to do to get an easy life around here, really?
Ah… I miss those days where I just sit in my courtyard and have Manami pour tea for me while Lian Li massaged my shoulders after a lesson.
Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets taking in all my disciples and if given the chance to relive my life once again, I would most likely do the exact same thing again.
Speaking of disciples…
"What do you think then, Brendan? I believe you still have a bone to pick with the Bei Royal Family right? Any input?"
He shook his head, "I will follow Master's lead. My grudge with them stems from my brother's disappearance, a small matter compared to the grand scheme of things."
I scratched my chin thoughtfully, "You're really close to your brother huh?"
He chuckled, "You misunderstand, Master. The only reason why I want to get him back is just so I can beat him up myself."
"Interesting… Any reason why?"
He sighed, "I did tell you my family used to be poor once right?"
I nodded.
Brendan glanced at the discarded invitation, "We started out fine, had a roof over our heads and at least still had business. But when the Xi Family started suppressing us as a 'potential competitor', we could not even fight back. Previous house was seized, shop was closed and we got relocated to the edge of the Commons District."
"And your brother got scouted by Bei Family's knights after that?" I guessed.
He sighed, "I don't know why, but a couple of knights came to our family one day and said they were here to recruit him. I'm guessing he must have went out and did something to get their attention some time ago. He told us that he would train to become a knight to support our family and we let him go with our blessing. I even trusted him…"
"Didn't he die or something?"
Brendan shook his head, "My family doesn't know this, but my brother is alive and well. It's just that I've been intercepting his letters ever since the first one he sent. Because my family only had each other to rely on during the time we suffered, we trusted one another with our lives. We believed that my elder brother would actually do what he said he would do, but when I saw the first letter he sent to us a month after his admission..."
He sighed, pulling out a ring of polished wood from his breast pocket. I didn't even need to ask to know that it was a storage ring.
The ring glowed slightly before a letter appeared in his hand and handed it to me.
I gave him a look, "You sure this is something you don't mind your Master seeing?"
Brendan shook his head, "You are my Master. It will not do for me to hide things from you."
If he says so…
I unfurled the letter and skimmed through its contents. It was a little hard to read since the letter was chock full of "HAHAHAHA!", "SCREW YOU!", "Dumbasses!" and "I'M FREE!"
Too long didn't read, basically the brother seemed to have found a better life with the knights and chose to cut off ties with his supposedly poor family.
"My parents will be devastated if they get that letter. He still sends a few more every now and then just to mock us. I bet he doesn't even know that we are rich now and even if he comes crawling back, I will personally kick him away."
"Harsh. I'm assuming your hatred towards the Royal family is because?"
"It is obvious they were the ones who changed him into this. They most likely only helped my family out of the slums just so they can grab another knight candidate from my parents. I will not allow them to touch my family anymore…"
"Admirable of you. Though I don't think the Royal Family would actually do that, doesn't really make much sense to me."
Brendan made a face, "I can't think of anyone else that is powerful enough to make my family so affluent overnight. I'd think the third prince is involved since he's the leader of the Dark Sect here right? Speaking of which, who else is in that list?"
I waved my hand, "No one else as important as the third prince I'm afraid. I think we got scammed."
"Should we go get those two?"
I shook my head, "It's fine. Let them think they've won. They will lead us to the big fishes."
Brendan nodded in understanding before bowing his head, "Master, Could I beg of you to allow me to visit my family when we are at Jin city? I would like to check up on them."
I gave him a wry smile, "Well then, I suppose you will need to pack your bags soon, we'll be leaving tomorrow and you can meet the rest of my disciples there as well."
Brendan looked up, his eyes widening, "You mean… There's more of them?"
"Yep. Counting you, I think there's… Six? Yeah, six. Plus one adopted daughter."
Brendan's eyes got even wider, "Master has… An adopted daughter?"
"Yep, she's really cute, you'll like her. Long story, don't ask."
"Oh… Ok… Erm… I don't have much to prepare anyway so… I can go whenever, Master. Should I prepare horse carriages?"
"Nah, we'll just teleport there. I've already told my disciples to prepare for us accommodations. Remember, you'll be meeting your senior sisters so be nice to them ok?"
He gulped, "Yes, Master."
Not sure why he looked so nervous? Maybe his interaction with Sylphy traumatised him with girls? I probably wouldn't be able to keep my calm if I find out the girl interested in me is actually a knife-wielding girl with an unhealthy obsession for me either.
Oh well, my disciples should fix him right back up since they are such good girls.
Oh, I should tell Sect Master Qing about this invitation. Not sure why they addressed it to me when Sect Master Qing was the Sect Master, not me.
I can already see most of the powerhouses gathering in this one little celebration, this is going to be a much bigger event than even the Sect Showcase Festival.
And this kind of events… Well, I will be surprised if nothing happens then.