Chapter 169: Do You Think the Royal Family Would Be That Kind?
Once this treasonous thought surfaced in his mind, it completely took root in his heart.
…
Zhu Family Duke's Mansion.
Having just left the imperial study, Duke Zhu Ming of the Zhu family brought Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing straight to the most secret chamber within the residence.
The moment the door to the secret chamber closed, Zhu Ming's expression, which had been submissive and cautious in the palace, instantly turned ashen.
He turned around, his face extremely unpleasant, as he looked at his two daughters.
"You two, tell me the truth!"
Zhu Ming's voice was low, yet it carried an unquestionable authority.
"What exactly has happened to your bodies? Do you really know nothing about the mutation of your martial souls?"
Faced with their father's oppressive scrutiny, Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing remained unusually calm.
Even though they already had answers in their hearts, neither of them revealed anything on their faces.
They exchanged a glance, then shook their heads in unison, saying firmly, "Father, we truly don't know."
Hearing this answer, Zhu Ming frowned tightly, his eyes filled with suspicion.
He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Since you say you don't know, fine."
"The two of you, release your martial souls right now. Let me examine them carefully myself!"
Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing exchanged another look and gave a slight nod.
Without hesitation, the soul power within their bodies began to circulate instantly.
"Hell Spirit Cat, possess!"
Accompanied by two crisp, delicate shouts, two strands of dark black light burst forth within the secret chamber.
However, at the very moment their martial souls were released—
Zhu Ming, the head of the family and a dignified Soul Douluo above rank eighty, suddenly had his expression change drastically.
Because at that instant, he clearly felt a trace of suppression originating from the very source of the martial soul.
This pressure, though faint, was undeniably real.
"This… how is this possible?!"
A storm surged in Zhu Ming's heart.
He was clearly a Soul Douluo expert, yet his two daughters in front of him, one was only over Rank 30, and the other hadn't even reached Rank 20!
With such an enormous gap in soul power ranks, how could he possibly be suppressed by the martial souls of two juniors?
This completely defied logic. It simply shouldn't be happening!
Carrying this intense shock, Zhu Ming quickly steadied his mind, widened his eyes, and carefully observed the changes in his daughters' martial souls.
With this look, he discovered that the phantom of the Hell Spirit Cat behind Zhu Zhuyun had clearly grown an entire size larger than before the mutation.
The black fur on the cat stood on end, emanating a chilling aura that made one's hair stand on end, and its claws were so sharp they seemed capable of tearing through space itself.
In contrast, Zhu Zhuqing—
The phantom of the Hell Spirit Cat behind her still appeared rather small, with no significant change in size.
However, the hell attribute on that small black cat had become slightly more concentrated than Zhu Zhuyun's.
"What exactly is going on?"
Zhu Ming frowned deeply, falling into deep thought.
In truth, on the way back, he had strongly suspected that these two bold girls might have been secretly pulling some trick.
Perhaps to deliberately avoid that cruel royal competition.
But now, seeing the completely different manifestations of their martial souls, he immediately dismissed that thought.
Because if they had tampered with things using some secret method—
Then logically, the direction and manifestation of their martial soul mutations should have been exactly the same.
Yet now, the mutation directions of their martial souls were clearly different.
After confirming this, Zhu Ming withdrew his aura, sighed heavily, and said, "It seems this is definitely not caused by human effort."
"For now, I can only go through the ancient records passed down in the family."
"To see if there is any documentation regarding such rare mutations."
Hearing that their father would no longer press further, Zhu Zhuyun took the opportunity to retract her martial soul.
Looking at her father, she cautiously asked, "Father, since what's done is done—"
"We have now completely lost the martial soul fusion skill with them, and with it, our greatest bond."
"Then from now on, do we no longer need to participate in that cruel royal competition like before?"
Hearing his eldest daughter's somewhat naive question, Zhu Ming let out a helpless, bitter smile.
Looking at Zhu Zhuyun, he shook his head heavily and sighed, "Zhuyun, you've always been a clever child."
"You're much older than Zhuqing and have seen the cold-blooded nature of the royal family. How can you still ask such a naive question now?"
Zhu Ming's gaze turned extremely sharp. "Do you think the Star Luo royal family would be so kind as to let you off easily?"
"You two may already be ruined, unable to perform the Hell White Tiger with Dai Weisi and Dai Mubai."
"But don't forget, your marriage engagements with the princes were already announced to the world long ago."
"As long as those engagements are not annulled, no matter whether you are willing or not—"
"In the future, you will still have to marry into the royal family. In life, you belong to the royal family; in death, you belong to the ghosts of the royal family!"
At this point, a trace of sorrow entered Zhu Ming's tone. "It's just that, having lost the martial soul fusion skill as your greatest bargaining chip—"
"Your status after marrying in will undergo a drastic decline."
"Take you, for example, Zhuyun."
"You were once Dai Weisi's best match. After he ascends the throne, you have a high chance of becoming the Star Luo Empress."
"But now, having lost your value, when you marry over, you may only be a concubine, to be manipulated at will."
After hearing her father's analysis, Zhu Zhuyun's brows tightly knit together.
She bit her red lips lightly and unwillingly uttered three words: "What a pity."
Then, recalling the imperial decree issued earlier in the imperial study, she asked with concern, "Then, if after one month, our Zhu family still can't find any explanation and cannot give His Majesty an answer—"
"What serious consequences will there be?"
Zhu Ming waved his hand, signaling them to be at ease. "That, the two of you don't need to worry about at all."
"My Zhu family has served as ministers for generations, and serving a ruler is like living with a tiger."
"But if the royal family wants to stabilize the empire, they absolutely cannot do without the Hell Spirit Cat bloodline of my Zhu family."
"After one month, even if we cannot present a satisfactory answer, the royal family will at most fly into a rage. We will certainly face some punishment, but it will never truly harm the lives or foundation of the Zhu family."
After soothing this most troublesome issue, Zhu Ming's gaze swept back and forth between his two daughters, finally settling on Zhu Zhuyun.
He looked at her with some concern and said earnestly, "Actually, compared to young Zhuqing, I am now more worried about your situation."
—
End of Chapter