“Don’t worry, we’ll know the reason soon enough,” Hua Qiyue said calmly. She took a sip of wine and her gaze couldn’t help but travel to Hua Mengshi who sat across her.

Hua Mengshi looked like she had lost some weight but her eyes were sharper than they ever were. As her gaze swept past Hua Qiyue, her eyes gave off a murderous look.

Hua Qiyue was the only person who could feel the murderous intent in her eyes.

“She’s approaching us!” Huangfu Xuan exclaimed softly. He felt that Hua Mengshi was not one to be trifled with.

She didn’t conceal her aura, so everyone could tell that she had attained lower Round Sun cultivation, which was equivalent to Hua Qiyue’s cultivation.

However, no one knew if she had any other lethal skills or secret arts hidden up her sleeve.

If she did, then even Hua Qiyue would probably not be her match.

Hua Qiyue did not fear Hua Mengshi. She had mastered the Spirit Summoning Art, an art that had been lost for thousands of centuries. Moreover, the three old freaks from the Continent could naturally not be able to impart the Spirit Summoning Art to outsiders.

She was certain that Hua Mengshi didn’t know the Spirit Summoning Art, which also meant that her chances of emerging victorious were very high.

Hua Mengshi approached her with two maidservants. She held a teacup in her hand and said with a gentle laugh, “I’ve heard much about you. You must be Hua Qiyue, right?”

Hua Qiyue did not move from her seat as she said with a smile, “Yes, I’m surprised to see that you’ve undergone such a significant transformation since we last saw each other three months ago.”

Everyone was shocked by Hua Qiyue’s words.

They knew that Hua Mengshi came from a small family from Changjing Kingdom and although some people had tried to investigate, they had been unable to uncover her true identity.

This meant that someone had helped Hua Mengshi erase all negative news about her.

Everyone’s curiosity was piqued by Hua Qiyue’s words. Where did Murong Mengshi come from? And how was Hua Qiyue acquainted with her?

“I’m sorry, but this is our first meeting. I merely sensed that you must be Hua Qiyue,” Hua Mengshi said as she shook her head and put on an innocent act.

Ji Jing was not fond of Hua Mengshi so she scoffed coldly and said, “Drop the act, Hua Mengshi. Did you really think that we wouldn’t recognize you? I must admit that I’m impressed with your transformation from a nun to the First Miss of the Murong Family.”

Everyone was excited when they heard the name ‘Hua Mengshi’.

Hua Mengshi smiled and seemed unruffled as she replied, “Miss, please don’t slander my good name. My name isn’t Hua Mengshi but Murong Mengshi!”

“Bah! Murong Mengshi? You’re truly pathetic if you’ve turned your back on your own family name. You didn’t even mind betraying your own ancestors to pander to the Four Great Families of Yuewu Kingdom!” Ji Jing said coldly.

The two maidservants behind Hua Mengshi suddenly rose to their feet and said, “How dare you say such slanderous things about our mistress! You should be careful for the Murong Family might make you pay with your life!”

These two maidservants were extremely arrogant and they were so overbearing to the point that even the good-natured Ji Feng stepped in and said expressionlessly, “Hua Mengshi, it doesn’t matter you don’t wish to acknowledge us but we used to be acquaintances. Please control your two bitches and make sure that they don’t go around barking for no reason at all.”

“Yes, you don’t have to watch what you eat but please watch your mouth,” Huangfu Xuan added coldly.

The audience watched on in rapt attention when they saw that these two groups were exchanging snide remarks.

They were dying to find out what Hua Mengshi’s origins were but several of her admirers felt upset on her behalf.

“Hey, Hua Qiyue, you’re an invited guest from a foreign land, so how dare you and your friends treat the most outstanding woman of Yuewu Kingdom with such disrespect? Be careful or you might pay for your actions with your lives!” a young man shouted.

“Yes. Don’t treat this place like a marketplace. You’ll be in trouble when the City Lord makes his appearance later!”

Other people started to speak up for Hua Mengshi.

Hua Qiyue was not bothered by the criticism and said, “I must have mistaken you for someone else and I’d like to apologize for that. However… Miss Murong, we are guests of the City Lord but we aren’t your guests, so there’s no need for you to look after us.”

Hua Mengshi had wanted to lord over Hua Qiyue with her newly established status as the mistress of Yuewu Kingdom, so she was surprised by Hua Qiyue’s words.

Hua Mengshi’s smile froze on her face and retracted her hand that had reached out to drink to Hua Qiyue.

“Sorry for disturbing,” Hua Mengshi said as she reined in her temper and glided back to her seat.

The two maidservants glared angrily at Hua Qiyue before they left with their mistress.

Hua Qiyue’s brows arched. This was truly a surprise since she hadn’t expected to see Hua Mengshi here. No wonder Xuan Ji said that it would be beneficial for her to attend this banquet.

The Hua’s mansion had constantly been sending out men to search for Hua Mengshi and no one could have imagined that she would be enjoying such a high status at Yuewu Kingdom. She no longer needed the protection of the Hua’s Mansion.

Since she didn’t return to the Hua’s Mansion, this indicated that she was very satisfied with the treatment that the Murong Family had lavished upon her.

Her Qi Arts had increased so quickly in such a short time that her foundations were definitely unstable. Thus, she had to remain with the Murong Family or Spirit Heaven City for some time to cultivate and stabilize her foundations. Once that happened, the gap between herself and her peer of similar cultivation wouldn’t be too obvious.

The guests were almost all seated and Hua Mengshi had been the last to arrive. Her arrival had caused a stir and her admirers flocked toward her.

The most outstanding woman of Yueweu Kingdom?

Hua Qiyue treated her title with indifference.

Hua Mengshi had once been the most outstanding woman of Changjing Kingdom as well but she had lost this title after Hua Qiyue had been reborn.

“Xuan Ji, is the Murong Family very influential within Yuewu Kingdom?” Hua Qiyue asked softly. She wanted to have a better understanding of the Murong Family.

“Yes, the Murong Family is the most powerful family of Yueweu Kingdom and their eldest legitimate daughter is the Empress of Yuewu Kingdom and thus, her family enjoys a privileged status. They are also the most powerful secret arts family in the past thousand years. As long as one was talented enough, one would be able to obtain a secret art that has been lost to the outside world. Hua Mengshi had used this secret art to significantly raise the level of her Qi Arts but this also meant that her foundation is very unstable,” Xuan Ji said.

Hua Qiyue froze for a moment. She was surprised that her earlier speculations had been validated by Xuan Ji.

“Do you know Hua Mengshi?” she asked curiously as this question occurred to her.

Xuan Ji looked at the men who gathered around her and said, “I’ve only met her once or twice.”

Realization dawned on Hua Qiyue as she finally understood why Xuan Ji knew what Hua Mengshi’s cultivation level used to be.

“Humph, I can’t believe I’ve been overshadowed by that woman again. This is such a killjoy,” a cold female voice rang out from the gate at the backyard.

Everyone turned to see a young woman in a purple dress walk through the gate, her displeasure written clearly on her face.

She was accompanied by a young man in white. Hua Qiyue remembered meeting them once before.

She had met the young woman in purple at the city of mercenary soldiers.

The young woman in purple looked like a brash lady and tended to speak thoughtlessly, just like Hongyi. Yet, she was more sensible than Hongyi.

“The Second Miss of the Murong Family has arrived!”

“Ha ha, we’re in for a good show. I’ve heard that the Second Miss thoroughly dislikes the adopted daughter of the Murong Family.”

“Yes, I guess it’s because the Murong Family has given Murong Mengshi the best items. Murong Zhen’er is extremely resentful of that fact but she is both younger and less talented as compared to Murong Mengshi.”

“Murong Zhen’er is rather pretty as well and that looks like her elder brother Murong Lingzhe.”

Hua Qiyue smiled and said, “Ji Jing, I guess we’re in for a good show. Murong Zhen’er doesn’t like Hua Mengshi at all.”

“I don’t like her either. She’s so hypocritical. Didn’t she try to get her maidservant to bully you once before? I had always thought that you were someone special and now I realized that you’ve always outwitted them all!” Ji Jing said with a smile as she remembered how Hua Qiyue had stunned everyone on the Ji Family’s arena.

Hua Mengshi had lost publicly to Hua Qiyue. She had pretended to be ill but to her surprise, Ji Jing had called her out on her actions.

After Hua Mengshi’s scheme was brought to light, her fame slowly started to wane before she was finally forgotten.

The name that was on everyone’s lips in the capital these days was none other than Hua Qiyue’s name.

“Hmm, isn’t that Hua Qiyue?” Murong Zhen’er suddenly spotted Hua Qiyue who had taken her seat. She couldn’t help but exclaim excitedly, “Brother, we’ve run into the heroine again!”

Murong Lingzhe’s eyes lit up. He had thought that Hua Qiyue could possibly be invited to the City Lord’s banquet tonight but he was still pleasantly surprised to see her.

Murong Zhen’er ran over to Hua Qiyue and said, “Princess, I’m so happy to see you here. We weren’t able to catch up to you no matter how hard we tried the other day. Ha ha ha, we guessed that you’d be invited tonight and we were right!”

Murong Zhen’er ran up to Hua Qiyue and an innocent smile spread across her face.

Murong Zhen’er was a much kinder person as compared to Hongyi.

“Haven’t you caught up to me now?” Hua Qiyue said with a smile.

“Hello, I’m Murong Zhen’er and this is my elder brother Murong Lingzhe!” Murong Zhen’er said with a smile but her eyes were serious.”Shall we join forces to bring Murong Mengshi down?” she continued softly.

Hua Qiyue and the others were a little taken aback by her words.

“Isn’t Murong Mengshi the adopted daughter of the Murong Family?” Hua Qiyue said with a small smile. However, Murong Zhen’er had attracted a lot of attention by running over to Hua Qiyue’s side.

“Indeed, but I hate her. I objected to my grandmother acknowledging her as an adopted daughter of the Murong Family, but every one of them refused to listen…” the purple-robed young woman huffed angrily.

There must been deep enmity shared between Hua Mengshi and Murong Zhen’er, right?

“Sis, don’t speak so loudly when you’re in public!” Murong Lingzhe tried to counsel his younger sister. Murong Zhen’er was still the Second Miss of the Murong Family so her image would be tarnished if word got out.

The Second Miss of the Murong Family was also the Second Miss who was the second legitimate daughter, so she enjoyed a lofty status within the Murong residence. However, she did not receive any grooming from her family because she did not show much talent.

Moreover, the Murong Family had always been of the thought that women would one day be married out of the family, so her lack of talent wasn’t a significant problem to them.

Mingrong Lingzhe was not as talented as Hua Mengshi and his Qi Arts were unremarkable and ordinary, so the Murong Family was disappointed in him as well.

It was only the First Miss Murong Wan’er amongst all the legitimate children who brought glory and honor to the family after being crowned empress. Thus, no one dared to show any disrespect toward Murong Zhen’er and Murong Lingzhe despite their lack of talent.

Murong Zhen’er was bored to tears at home and since Murong Lingzhe would give in to all his sister’s whims and fancies, he naturally followed her out.

The Murong Family was such an important family that no one dared to show any disrespect to them even if they weren’t accompanied by Qi Artists.

“Humph, I don’t care about my image. Our family’s image had been tarnished by that woman a long time ago!” Murong Zhen’er said harshly as she glared coldly at Hua Mengshi who was surrounded by the crowd.

“Please sit with us, if you don’t mind,” Ji Jing said as she pointed at the last two empty seats.

Murong Zhen’er was thrilled and naturally would not turn down the offer since she had wanted to instigate Hua Qiyue to bring down Hua Mengshi. She had been planning to do so ever since she found out Hua Qiyue’s identity.

“The City Lord has arrived!”