Suijun starts with the principle of rewarding diligence.

"Ling'er, stop your nonsense. Our Zhong family never bullies others by abusing our power. What you're doing is only ruining our family's reputation!"

A gentle voice came from the crowd, carrying an air of yin and yang.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young man in a brocade robe step forward, holding a folding fan in his hand.

"Brother Yun?" Zhong Ling asked with some surprise, not expecting Zhong Yun to be mixed in with the crowd.

Zhong Su had two sons, the eldest being Zhong Chen and the second being Zhong Xi.

Zhong Chen has two sons, and Zhong Ling is his youngest daughter.

Not long after Zhong Ling was born, Zhong Chen's branch of the family died in an accident, leaving only Zhong Ling alive.

Zhong Yun is Zhong Xi's legitimate son.

Zhong Xi was frail and sickly, so the power of this branch of the family was entirely in the hands of Zhong Yun.

If Zhong Su were to die, the position of head of the Zhong family would most likely be inherited by Zhong Yun.

Zhong Yun's words made Zhong Ling, who was already angry, even more furious.

Bu Qu glanced at Zhong Yun, thinking to himself, "Zhong Ling calls him Brother Yun, could he be a young master from the Zhong family? Heh, interesting. He stood by and watched his sister suffer. Now that I've stepped in to help Zhong Ling get revenge, he's playing the peacemaker. There's a traitor in the Zhong family!"

Zhong Lingqi said, "Brother Yun, what are you saying? This old man is bullying people by abusing his power and taking advantage of the Xia family. I'm just giving him a taste of his own medicine. Even if he was abusing his power, he struck first!"

Zhong Yun smiled and said, "He's ruthless, but we can't be unjust. If you act like him, everyone will laugh at our Zhong family, thinking we're cut from the same cloth. Wouldn't that tarnish the reputation of our most prestigious family in Blackwater County?"

Upon hearing Zhong Yun speak up for him, the old man quickly thanked him, saying, "Young master, you are very righteous. I deeply admire you."

He then apologized to Zhong Ling, "Miss, I was blind and didn't recognize your greatness. Please forgive me, just consider me a fart."

Zhong Ling turned her head away angrily, not intending to accept the old man's apology.

Seeing this, Zhong Yun said to Bu Qu, "Young man, this old man is just trying to make a living. You have some skills, there's no need to ruin his livelihood, is there?"

"Everyone knows this; you don't need to say anything."

Bu Qu shook his head inwardly, 'However, this is the Zhong family's own business, and has nothing to do with me. I already wasted a lot of time shopping with Zhong Ling, so this is a good opportunity to slip away. Catching the treasure fish and cultivating are my top priorities. Let the Zhong family stir up this mess themselves.'

Bu Qu gave a polite smile and pulled Zhong Ling toward the awning boat: "Let's go, I've already won the money back for you."

Zhong Ling was somewhat reluctant: "But..."

"You just promised me that if you don't leave, I'll abandon you."

"Ugh..."

Zhong Ling was furious and started biting the air with her little mouth, making "ah-woo-ah-woo-ah-woo" noises.

Bu Qu shook his head: "Stop fooling around, I'm in a hurry to catch the Red-scaled Sturgeon!"

Zhong Ling quieted down a bit when the topic of the red-scaled sturgeon came up.

As she boarded the awning boat, she glanced back at the market and muttered to herself, "You old codger, you're lucky!"

Zhong Yun stood on the shore, fanning himself with a folding fan as he watched the awning boat depart.

As the boat sailed further and further away, Zhong Yun's gaze gradually turned cold, and a sneer was hidden behind his folding fan.

Suddenly, a richly dressed middle-aged man came to Zhong Yun's side, cupped his hands and said, "Young Master Yun, thank you for what you just said."

"Chief Xia, you're too kind. It was nothing at all."

Zhong Yun's gaze remained fixed on the awning boat, unmoving.

The middle-aged man smiled, stood beside Zhong Yun, and looked toward the awning boat.

This man is Xia Zhuxin's father, Xia Baishi.

"Ling'er has been staying at the Zhong residence, making it difficult for her to take action. Now that she has come to the market alone, it's a godsend."

"Young Master Yun, rest assured, I have already arranged for the assassins; they are on their way back."

Zhong Yun nodded and simply said "Okay".

Xia Baishi pondered for a moment: "What should we do with that boy?"

"If it weren't for this troublesome fellow catching the ripple fish, that old man would have died of illness long ago." Zhong Yun sneered, "Let's kill him too."

"this....."

"Clan Chief Xia, rest assured. Once that old fellow is dead, I will become the clan chief of the Zhong family. At that time, I will personally escort Xin'er into our family, and our Zhong and Xia families will be forever united in marriage. From then on, the Xia family will be the second most prominent family in Blackwater County!"

.....

Zhong Ling sat at the bow of the boat, still furious, thinking about going back to her grandfather to complain.

Bu Qu just wanted to send her back as soon as possible so he could go to Blackwater Lake to catch the Red-scaled Sturgeon and continue cultivating his spiritual power.

The two remained silent the entire way.

Just as the covered boat rounded the corner, Buqu saw another covered boat rowing towards him.

There was a man at the bow and stern of the boat, wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat.

Bu Qu looked up at the sky: "Although the sky is overcast, it's not raining. Why are you in such a hurry to put on your rain gear?"

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the two men were not only wearing straw raincoats and hats, but also had their faces covered.

"Could these two be assassins?"

Bu Qu, secretly on guard, called out to Zhong Ling to return to the middle cabin.

Seeing that Zhong Ling wouldn't listen, Bu Qu warned her, "Be careful of those two people ahead."

Zhong Ling is a master of the fourth level of spiritual power, and in terms of spiritual power alone, she is even stronger than Bu Qu.

Of course, if you take into account the concentration of spiritual energy, it is definitely not as good as Bu Qu who cultivated by eating red-scaled sturgeon.

In terms of skill, the two of them were among the top experts in Heishui County.

Those who are able to formally embark on the path of martial arts and Taoism cannot stay in the county town forever.

A spear in the open is easy to dodge, but an arrow in the dark is hard to guard against. Now that he has seen through the other party's identity, even if the other party is an assassin, Bu Qu is not afraid.

He rowed his luxury boat to the right, but the other party clearly didn't understand traffic rules and showed no intention of giving way.

Buqu thus concluded that the ship was coming for him.

When he was attempting to break through to the third level of spiritual power, he had already mastered all three water control techniques to the third level.

Seeing that the visitors were hostile, Buqu used his spiritual power to suddenly accelerate the awning boat.

With the added pressure of three times the normal water pressure, the originally leisurely awning boat suddenly rose up, leaping forward like a flying fish.

As the two boats approached each other, and the two men raised their crossbows, Buqu casually slapped a wave of water onto the other boat.

With their vision obscured by the waves, both assassins' crossbow bolts missed their mark.

Zhong Ling didn't react at first.

Only when he saw the two men pull out crossbows did he realize the meaning behind Bu Qu's words.

"How dare you assassinate me!"

Zhong Ling was furious and casually conjured two lightning balls, which she then threw at him.

The two assassins, already soaked from the water, were further struck by the lightning ball, causing them to convulse on the spot. Their cloaks and masks fell away, revealing two middle-aged faces.

Seeing this, Zhong Ling said smugly, "Now you know how powerful I am, right?"

After saying that, she smiled at Bu Qu and said, "I didn't expect you to be so capable."

She was unaware of the origin of Bu Qu's spiritual power, only believing that He Qing had given him the Spirit Gathering Pill.

Bu Qu smiled and said, "Hold on tight."

He had known all along that Zhong Ling was of the metal element.

Unexpectedly, the metal element is also linked to lightning.

"As expected of the number one attribute among the five elements. This is probably what is meant by 'metal and lightning'."

Xia Zhuxin happened to be passing by the riverbank and witnessed this scene. A question arose in her mind: 'Aren't these two my father's retainers? Why are they clashing with Bu Qu and Zhong Ling?'

Although she didn't know the reason, she realized that something was wrong.

Especially Bu Qu's move just now, he must have used spiritual power.

"Did he catch the red-scaled sturgeon?"

Xia Zhuxin rushed back to the manor, her face full of worry: "This Bu Qu possesses innate spiritual power. If he can cultivate his spiritual power to perfection using the Crimson Scale Sturgeon, he will definitely be a prominent figure in the future. Even Zhong Ling cannot compare to him. Even if we can't take him under our wing, we shouldn't antagonize him. Why did Father offend both of them at the same time?"