Everyone turned in the direction of this voice after it rang out.
When Duanmu Ming Xue saw the person that this voice belonged to, there was a complicated look that appeared on her face.
It was a good thing that there was a cloak that was hiding her face, or else everyone would have seen this reaction from her.
As for why she had this reaction, there was only one explanation.
It was naturally because she knew the person that this voice belonged to.
It was hard for her not to know this person because…this was the person that gave birth to her.
The voice belonged to the Second Madame of the Duanmu Family, the second wife of the Duanmu Family Head.
She was Duanmu Ming Xue’s mother.
Ever since what had happened with Duanmu Ming Xue, she had lost the favour of the family head and had lost most of the privilege that she had before.
Her face looked much older than Duanmu Ming Xue remembered and the wrinkles that were on it showed the hardships that she should have suffered.
However, there was no time for a heartfelt reunion.
That was because…
“I’m more surprised that she would even come back to this place after everything that’s happened. However, it isn’t as if it’s a bad thing that she’s back.” A faint smile appeared on the face of Duanmu Ming Xue’s mother as she said this.
The Duanmu Family Head had slightly knitted his brows, but he could tell that there was some sort of confidence in the words that his second wife said. It seemed that she was certain of what she was implying.
In that case…he wanted to hear what she had to say.
Seeing that no one said anything, Duanmu Ming Xue’s mother continued by saying, “It’s funny that none of you recognize her when all she’s done is hide her appearance and change her voice. Is she someone that can actually push the Duanmu Family around now?”
Even more confused looks appeared after Duanmu Ming Xue’s mother said this.
After all, none of them knew what she was referring to.
Duanmu Ming Xue’s mother confidently came up in front of Duanmu Ming Xue and said, “Ming Xue, it’s good that you’ve seen the errors of your ways and have come back to be punished. As long as you accept our punishment, we’ll allow you to be useful to the Duanmu Family again.”
Everyone had to take a moment to process what she said, but then they all looked at Duanmu Ming Xue with strange looks.
There was only one person that they knew who was named “Ming Xue” after all.
And if there was anyone that would be able to recognize that person named “Ming Xue”, it would be the Second Madame of the Duanmu Family, the one who gave birth to her.
“Is it true?” The Duanmu Family Head asked in a low voice.
As if she was eager to please, Duanmu Ming Xue’s mother stepped forward and reached out to grab Duanmu Ming Xue’s arm as she said, “Of course it’s true, master. I’ll show you…”
Before she could finish her words, there was a person that suddenly appeared by Duanmu Ming Xue’s side. With a single flip of his hand, Duanmu Ming Xue’s mother fell to the ground.
After falling to the ground, there was a scream of pain that came from her as she grabbed the arm that she had been reaching out towards Duanmu Ming Xue.
Everyone was able to see that it was completely dislocated with the way that it bent in strange ways.
But no one cared about helping Duanmu Ming Xue’s mother.
Rather, they were all frozen because they were shocked to see the appearance of this old man who suddenly appeared by Duanmu Ming Xue’s side. Not a single one of them had sensed his approach, they hadn’t even sensed that he was in the area.
For him to be able to do something like this, he either had some kind of special stealth technique or…
He was much stronger than them.
Based on the aura that had been released when this person waved their hand, they could tell that it was the latter rather than the former.
There was a deathly silence that lingered in the air, almost as if no one dared to say anything.
But in the end, the Duanmu Family Head had no choice but to speak since he was still the head of this family. He had no choice but to speak since he was the one that was in charge of this territory.
Most importantly, he could see the way that everyone was looking at him.
It was clear that they were pushing this responsibility to him.
“Who are you?” The Duanmu Family Head asked in a calm voice, or at least as calm as he was able to make it. Even though he tried to remain calm, it was hard to do so when this kind of dangerous person appeared out of nowhere.
The old man who had appeared by Duanmu Ming Xue’s side just calmly turned to look at the Duanmu Family Head and said, “I’m nothing more than a guard for this person. If you want to do anything to them, you’ll have to go through me first.”
Everyone gave a gulp when they heard this before looking at Duanmu Ming Xue’s mother on the ground.
“Master, please help! It hurts!” She shouted at the Duanmu Family Head, but he just completely ignored her as he looked at the old man and Duanmu Ming Xue.
There was a complicated look that was on his face as he looked at the two of them.
But eventually, he had no choice but to swallow his pride.
Especially when there was someone as terrifying as this old man here.
With a bow of the head, he said, “I apologize for any rudeness that we’ve caused.”
The old man just shook his head and said with a sigh, “It’s not me that you should apologize to.”
The Duanmu Family Head was surprised to hear this, but then he turned to Duanmu Ming Xue and said, “Miss Envoy, please accept our apologies.”
After saying this, he looked carefully at Duanmu Ming Xue, as if he was trying to observe any reactions from her. But all he found was that she stood there as if she wasn’t affected by anything that had happened.
She looked at him and said, “You should know what kind of compensation you’ll have to pay for this kind of insult.”
The Duanmu Family Head couldn’t help trembling when he heard this, but he slowly nodded in agreement.
Instead of facing this terrifying old man, if he could resolve this issue by just paying some compensation…then that would be the best choice. As for his second wife who was screaming in pain on the ground, that was the result of her own actions.
He wasn’t planning on helping her at all, it could even be said that he was completely abandoning her.
However, there was something about what she had said that he couldn’t get out of his mind.
It was what she had said about Duanmu Ming Xue.
If it really was Duanmu Ming Xue who was working with the envoy from the Mu Empire, then that was bad for their Duanmu Family. After all, the way that things had ended with her, it wasn’t as if they were on the best of terms.
If it really was Duanmu Ming Xue who was here…
After a moment of silence, the Duanmu Family Head asked, “Miss Envoy, about this matter…What do you suggest we do with this person who has offended you?”
This was his final test for her.
If she was Duanmu Ming Xue, then she would have some hesitation about how to deal with his second wife.
“Do what you want with her, I just don’t ever want to see her again.”
“Are you certain of this?” The Duanmu Family Head asked.
“Do I have to repeat myself?” Duanmu Ming Xue said in a cold voice.
The Duanmu Family Head quickly shook his head before the doubt in his mind faded.
The way that this person said it, it was as if they sincerely didn’t care about what happened to his second wife. It was as if they sincerely didn’t care if she died or not.
If it was Duanmu Ming Xue, she wouldn’t have acted this way.
Duanmu Ming Xue then added, “There’s another matter that I want to bring up with you. It’s the matter of the one that you’ve sent to the Mu Empire.”
The Duanmu Family Head was surprised to hear this since he didn’t expect Duanmu Ming Xue to bring this up.
His expression filled with even more surprise when he heard what she had to say next.
“He’s dead.” Duanmu Ming Xue said in a calm voice.
After a moment of shock, the Duanmu Family Head slowly asked, “What happened to him?”
“He offended the wrong people and died. Nothing more, nothing less.” Duanmu Ming Xue’s voice turned a bit cold when she said this, which caused a chill to run down the Duanmu Family Head’s spine.
“I see.” The Duanmu Family Head simply said, not pursuing this matter any further.
“It isn’t her.” That was what the Duanmu Family Head and the other members of the Duanmu Family thought.
After all, they knew Duanmu Ming Xue and in their minds, she wasn’t someone that would be this cold hearted.
There was no way that this would be Duanmu Ming Xue.
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