The deepest affection in Gu Long's world

Chapter 173 The Ruthless Self-Disciplined Person
Ding Baiyun.

She is a member of Ding Family Manor, one of the three great martial arts families, and the younger sister of Ding Chengfeng, who is still the young master of the manor.

According to the original storyline, which is described in "The Wandering Swordsman" twenty years later, this woman and Bai Tianyu, who is now ranked fifth on the Weapon Ranking, will develop a secret relationship several years later, and even have an illegitimate child.

However, Bai Tianyu is a scumbag. When it comes to women, he basically follows the principle of playing around and then dumping them. Therefore, after spending seventy-seven days with Ding Baiyun, he decisively abandoned her.

To commemorate those seventy-seven days, Ding Baiyun also made seventy-seven cuts on her own face. Later, in order to take revenge on this scumbag old man, she secretly planned the Plum Blossom Temple massacre.

By uniting with thirty martial arts masters, including Ma Kongqun, they managed to keep Bai Tianyu's entire family of eleven inside the Plum Blossom Nunnery.

At that time, the Divine Blade Hall had grown to the point of almost surpassing the Golden Money Gang at its peak. However, with Bai Tianyu's death, his estate was completely divided up, and this behemoth disappeared from the martial arts world.

This incident actually served as a strong warning to Fang Yunhua: one must never act recklessly in the world of Gu Long's martial arts novels, because every woman here possesses the perfect foundation for turning evil.

Just like Lin Shiyin, who is now confused by pep talks, there is a trend of her turning to the dark side.

Therefore, after awakening his memories, he became very cautious about dealing with women. Unless it was someone he truly liked, he would never get involved with her.

Sun Xiaohong, who was criticizing Ding Baiyun for being arrogant and disdainful of others, was clearly implying that the two, being daughters of the same family, had had some private contact and interaction.

This further illustrates that these martial arts families have secretly formed a vast network of connections.

This is certainly the direction in which powerful families develop, as they can bring along some relatives through marriage.

Moreover, this vast network extends beyond the martial arts world.

"Little Red Sister, are you familiar with this Ding Baiyun?" Lin Xian'er also noticed the key issue revealed behind the other party's complaints.

“I’ve met her a few times.” Sun Xiaohong pursed her lips. As the eldest granddaughter of the Sun family, she couldn’t avoid some social interactions. “She has a bad personality. She was spoiled since childhood and is too arrogant.”

Fang Yunhua took this assessment to heart. After all, Ding Baiyun needed to be arrogant enough for the other party to be even more unable to accept being treated like trash by Bai Tianyu after he had played with her.

So, with the conviction that he was going to give up the rest of his life, he was determined to kill the other person.

The more proud a person is, the less they can bear this kind of drop in status.

For example, the story of Yaoyue in "The Legendary Twins".

It seems that she is crazy in love with Jiang Feng, but in fact it is more likely that Jiang Feng has his eye on her maid and not her, which is why this woman started to go crazy.

Women's competitive nature is truly terrifying.

“If she comes to Xingyun Manor, she might really make seeing you her primary goal.” Fang Yunhua looked at Lin Xian’er.

"Because of the title of the most beautiful woman in the world?"

"Because of the title of the most beautiful woman in the world."

Fang Yunhua didn't think Lin Xian'er would lose. In the original storyline, Lin Xian'er had a weakness in terms of temperament, but now Lin Xian'er's temperament has become her strength. Moreover, perhaps because she cultivated "Men Can't Be Seen," she also has a mysterious and wonderful beauty.

She is beautiful, gorgeous, and her looks and figure are impeccably perfect.

This seems less like a compliment and more like a confirmation of reality.

This is also one of the important reasons why Fang Yunhua, who has a carefree mindset, has not gone out to have affairs. Because the threshold has been raised too high, only a happy little dog like Sun Xiaohong, who takes a different path, can slightly touch the depths of his heart.

In Sun Xiaohong's description, Ding Baiyun's beauty features overlapped with Lin Xian'er's in some aspects, but she was not quite as good as Lin Xian'er.

"You mean, she might do something bad because she's not as good as me?"

"Who knows~"

Fang Yunhua couldn't be sure about this, but this kind of young lady, who grew up in an environment where she was pampered from a young age, had advantages over her peers in both appearance and martial arts. For this reason, the Ding family even gave her the title of "White Cloud Fairy".

The last person to have the suffix "fairy" was Yunmeng Fairy, wife of the Happy King Chai Yuguan and mother of the Thousand-Faced Prince Wang Lianhua.

According to the original plot, her first major failure was her relationship with Bai Tianyu.

But if he were to actually meet Lin Xian'er now, it's very likely that this first major setback in his life would be caused by Lin Xian'er.

"Then should I avoid the limelight?"

"Why should we avoid it? I'm just giving you a heads-up." Fang Yunhua said calmly, "The title of one of the three great martial arts families is indeed very prestigious. Even with our Tianji Tower's intelligence network, it would be difficult to investigate all their hidden connections."

But if she really turns on us and causes trouble, it wouldn't be difficult to deal with her and the entire Ding family.

After all, no matter how extensive the Ding family's connections were, they couldn't possibly command tens of thousands of heroes and warriors in the martial arts world.

But the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion could drown them with a single spit from everyone in the martial arts world.

The power of public opinion is too unstoppable in this day and age.

Whether someone is good or bad can really be judged entirely by their words, and unfortunately, the owner of those words is Tianjilou now, so why bother avoiding their sharp edge? If they really want to cause trouble, just go all out and beat them to death.

"Actually, she's not that bad."

Sun Xiaohong said weakly.

Because she clearly noticed that Lin Xian'er and Fang Yunhua actually regarded Ding Baiyun and the Ding family as hypothetical enemies, and even as their primary targets, she regretted her earlier boastful remarks.

Fang Yunhua and Lin Xian'er both laughed. After exchanging a knowing glance, they remained silent and looked at Sun Xiaohong together.

The timid puppy turned into a red-warm puppy again.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Ding Chengfeng, the young master of Ding Family Manor, also formally presented his visiting card to Xingyun Manor. In addition to Ding Baiyun, he brought more than thirty skilled fighters with him.

Long Xiaoyun, who was always very hospitable, was waiting at the door for the other party's arrival.

However, compared to the former Master Long who was good at disguising himself and always had a friendly demeanor, his current attitude can be described as polite yet distant.

After arranging a banquet for more than thirty skilled fighters in the front hall, the main hall was reserved for the three sworn brothers, Long Xiaoyun, Qin Xiaoyi, and Zhao Zhengyi, while the Ding family was represented by the brother and sister, Ding Chengfeng and Ding Baiyun.

Although they are siblings, Ding Chengfeng and Ding Baiyun are actually twenty years apart in age, making them look more like two generations apart.

After exchanging pleasantries, Long Xiaoyun first praised Ding Baiyun's beauty.

After removing her thick white cloak, she wore a light gauze dress underneath, the fabric as smooth as clouds, the hem of which seemed to shimmer with light as it fluttered in the wind.

The title of "Fairy of White Clouds" has a certain concrete form about her.

Her skin was as white as snow, almost translucent, like jade formed from moonlight; even the silver thread embroidery on her dress seemed to pale in comparison. Any man who saw her for the first time would be completely captivated.

"And what about the most beautiful woman in the world right now in the manor?"

Ding Baiyun's question stumped even the usually eloquent Long Xiaoyun.

Whether it was intentional on his part to sabotage Lin Xian'er or simply because, from his aesthetic point of view, Ding Baiyun was indeed inferior to Lin Xian'er, the extremely flattering Master Long simply responded with an awkward yet polite smile.

But this is clearly a definitive answer.

Qin Xiaoyi, who was secretly observing this scene, immediately made a note of it.

Without giving his younger sister a chance to continue speaking, Ding Chengfeng took the opportunity to explain their purpose.

Capture the leader of the Plum Blossom Bandits!
In fact, rumors have begun to circulate again in the Baoding area that Li Xunhuan is suspected to be the leader of the Plum Blossom Bandits, and the powerful Ding family in Hebei must have heard about these rumors.

However, Ding Chengfeng did not directly mention Li Xunhuan. This visit seemed more like a briefing between the two sides, or a test of each other's intentions.

After the conversation, the hospitable Long Xiaoyun did not invite the other party to stay at Xingyun Manor. He simply mentioned casually that there were too many martial arts practitioners who had come to help recently, so much so that Xingyun Manor was full.

In reality, Ding Chengfeng brought over a hundred people, and Xingyun Manor could accommodate them all. Young Master Ding also understood the unspoken meaning behind the other party's words.

He stated that he would first stay in a residence in Baoding Prefecture, further demonstrating his determination to capture the Plum Blossom Thief.

Ding Baiyun, who had remained silent throughout, spoke up again at this moment.

“Master Long, Xingyun Manor can’t accommodate more than thirty people, but there should be room for me alone, right?”

Ding Chengfeng frowned, but did not stop the other party.

Seeing this, Long Xiaoyun could only nod in agreement. After all, he still had to give the Ding family of Hebei some face, and he couldn't really break off relations this time.

Before arranging for Ding Baiyun to check in, Ding Chengfeng first pulled her aside to a corner and gave her a few words of advice.

"Little sister, you mustn't act recklessly this time!"

"I'm just curious whether that most beautiful woman in the world is really that stunningly beautiful."

Ding Baiyun clearly didn't care about the Plum Blossom Thief or anything like that, nor did she care about her brother's purpose in coming to Xingyun Manor.

Ding Baiyun, who is not yet twenty years old, is purely here to compete in beauty.

After thinking for a while, Ding Chengfeng decided to reveal some of his guesses.

"I have never met Lin Xian'er, nor do I know if she can compare to you, little sister, but her title as the most beautiful woman in the world is being spread by many people in secret, which shows that this woman is not so simple."

"It's not that simple" means...

"She has a powerful background, and it cannot be ruled out that she is a figurehead deliberately promoted by some big shot."

"Deliberately pushed out?"

Ding Baiyun blinked her big eyes, genuinely surprised by the answer.

Ding Chengfeng, who was about to take over as the head of the manor, knew that many high-ranking officials and nobles liked this kind of game. It was similar to the courtesan of a brothel. She might not be the most beautiful in that brothel, but she must be the one with the most powerful financial backer.

Because such a halo can add a lot of charm to it.

Titles like "the most beautiful woman in the world" are either created by a woman who is overly vain and narcissistic, intentionally cultivating this reputation, or by her wealthy backer playing this card.

It's no wonder he would focus his attention on this, because Lin Xian'er hadn't established a certain reputation before, and this sudden rise to prominence would cause his thinking to go astray.

Ding Baiyun nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Understood, I'm just taking a look, I won't cause any trouble."

After letting out a long sigh of relief, Ding Chengfeng left with the men from Ding Family Village.

Long Xiaoyun had a servant arrange for Ding Baiyun to stay in a separate courtyard, and he intentionally placed this place next to the courtyard where Fang Yunhua and Lin Xian'er lived, so that they would cause trouble for each other and not get involved in his plans.

He then called his two good brothers.

"We can't delay any longer. I plan to take action soon."

"Have you reached an agreement with Lin Xian'er?"

"No, since Li Xunhuan is the leader of the Plum Blossom Bandits, then in his eyes, the so-called most beautiful woman in the world is probably not even as good as half of her!"

Qin Xiaoyi and Zhao Zhengyi both gasped in shock.

If Long Xiaoyun merely tacitly allowed Li Xunhuan to enter and leave that small building, it could be seen as a way to get the other party to properly teach his son. However, this change in the plan can be seen as him blatantly using his own wife as bait.

"This could affect your wife's reputation."

"Once we deal with him, everything will be fine, everything will return to normal, and all the damage to our reputation will gradually fade with time."

Long Xiaoyun's eyes were bloodshot, showing that he hadn't had a good night's sleep in days. The words he kept muttering to himself gave Zhao Zhengyi and Qin Xiaoyi goosebumps.

Because the other person is acting a bit crazy right now, with the air of someone who's possessed.

"Tian Qi and the others will arrive tomorrow, while Yi Ku will probably arrive the day after tomorrow, roughly around the same time as the Nangong family," Zhao Zhengyi reminded them.

"Then the day after tomorrow!" Long Xiaoyun's face was filled with an extremely crazy determination.

"Is two days enough time? Your wife..."

“We don’t need her consent. We can just lure her out of that building beforehand. These days,” Long Xiaoyun paused and then said, “we’ll spread the word about him going in and out of that building and having secret meetings with my wife. We’ll keep it under control in Baoding as a rumor.”

Zhao Zhengyi and Qin Xiaoyi exchanged a glance. They were each other's sworn brothers, but now they were like two younger brothers in front of him.

No wonder they all consider themselves the younger brother. After all, daring to betray oneself and then actively spreading the news is just too ruthless.

If someone can be this ruthless about self-protection, what can't he do!
Zhao Zhengyi felt his confidence had greatly increased, while Qin Xiaoyi quietly started taking notes again.

After arranging everything, Long Xiaoyun fell silent, leaving the two with only a somewhat gloomy silhouette.

Zhao Zhengyi decisively left Xingyun Manor to take on auxiliary duties.

After circling around again, Qin Xiaoyi returned to Xingyun Manor and went to Fang Yunhua to report on the latest progress of the plan.

(End of this chapter)