Started out getting scumbags, but then invested in the invincible Empress.

Chapter 131 Princess Nanzhi

The arrogant young man's smile vanished instantly.

"Who the hell do you think you are, to dare drink with me?"

He turned his head and looked him over a few times, then realized it was a stranger. He immediately cursed, "Get your filthy hands off me while I'm in a good mood, or I'll make you walk out sideways!"

Li Wudao's eyes turned cold, and he tightened his grip on the young man's wrist slightly.

"Crack!"

A sharp cracking sound rang out as the arrogant young man's arm was twisted into a pretzel.

"It hurts... Let go! Let go!"

The pig-like screams echoed throughout the restaurant. The arrogant young man's lips were pale, and he trembled all over in pain, his face contorted in spasms.

Despite his wailing, Li Wudao ignored it, leisurely raising his cup with his other hand and taking a sip, looking quite dashing.

Upon seeing the arrogant young man's twisted, bleeding arm, the onlookers stared wide-eyed, their expressions horrified, as if they were witnessing an unbelievable scene.

"No way, the young marquis dared to hit him, and with such force at that. Who is this young man?"

"I've never seen him before, he looks a bit unfamiliar. I guess he's from out of town, otherwise he wouldn't be so bold."

"Alas, this young man is finished. He probably won't be able to leave the capital alive."

"Yes, although Meng Yan has committed all sorts of evil deeds, what can we do when he is the only son of the Marquis of Zhennan?"

"Given the power and methods of the Marquis of Zhennan, those who dare to oppose him in the entire Dayu Dynasty can be counted on one hand."

........

"Boy, you have some nerve! You even dare to hurt the young marquis!"

"Release the young marquis immediately, cripple your own hands and feet, and perhaps we might consider sparing your worthless life!"

Several guards reacted, their eyes wide with rage, and they surrounded the area, shouting.

"The son of the Marquis of Zhennan...?!"

Listening to the whispers and pointing fingers of the crowd, the woman, who had finally managed to calm herself down, looked at the arrogant young man with a near-collapse, her pretty face devoid of color.

Marquis of Zhennan, Meng Zhenhu.

The name of the Great Yu Imperial City is renowned. Commanding an army of 100,000, it holds a high position and great power. What is most awe-inspiring is its ruthless and extremely bloody methods.

It is said that no one who offends him will have a good end. Before they die, they will be tortured by hundreds of kinds of cruel tortures, and even begging for death is a luxury.

"Young master, you must leave quickly! He is the son of the Marquis of Zhennan!"

The woman turned pale and looked at Li Wudao with great anxiety.

Facing the menacing guards, Li Wudao calmly put down his wine cup, looking completely unconcerned: "Marquis of Zhennan? Never heard of him. Is he that powerful?"

"........."

The woman opened her mouth, but was speechless.

"Just listen to me, leave the capital immediately, or it will be too late!"

The woman's eyes were filled with anxiety as she hurriedly urged Li Wudao to leave.

In her view, the young man had never even heard of the title of Marquis of Zhennan, so he was definitely not a local and had no right to resist.

She was just an ordinary girl; how could she possibly offend such a powerful figure?

Seeing the woman's flustered expression, Li Wudao was somewhat surprised and thoughtfully stroked his chin.

He vaguely remembered that when he came to the capital to visit relatives eight years ago, there was no such person as the Marquis of Zhennan.

It seems the power structure has changed somewhat.

However, for him, neither the title of "Marquis of Zhennan" nor the title of "Marquis of Zhenbei" mattered.

"That's right, I am the son of the Marquis of Zhennan!"

Hearing the praise and awe from the crowd, Meng Yan arrogantly raised his head, looked down at the boy who had crippled his arm, and commanded:

"Boy, if you know what's good for you, release me right now, and I might spare your life. Otherwise... hmph..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly cried out in pain, and the arrogance that had just appeared on his face vanished.

Meng Yan's arm, which was already twisted like a pretzel, became even more contorted, with drops of blood dripping down, staining his robes red.

"Young Marquis!"

"Boy, don't do anything reckless, or you won't leave the capital alive today!"

The guards who were about to rush forward immediately turned pale and dared not make any rash moves.

"Damn it, you're finished! My father is the Marquis of Zhennan..."

Meng Yan's temples throbbed with pain, veins bulging as he stared intently at the boy. If looks could kill, the boy would have been killed a thousand times over.

"Damn it, what are you barking about? I don't care who your father is!"

The green-haired turtle, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, couldn't stand the other party's arrogant attitude and suddenly swung its mouth, biting Meng Yan's thigh hard.

I've seen arrogant people, but I've never seen anyone more arrogant than this, especially since the other party is just an ant from a lowly dynasty. How could I tolerate it?

"hiss--"

Meng Yan gasped, taking a long time to recover. His gaze towards the green-haired turtle was like that of a venomous snake, a mixture of rage and amusement:

"A mere stinking turtle dares to insult me... Fine! Very well! Today, none of you will escape..."

Suddenly, Li Wudao gave him a cold glance, increasing the pressure in his hand. "Did I tell you to speak?"

Large beads of sweat dripped from his forehead. Meng Yan endured the excruciating pain and tried to break free from the boy's grip, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even pry open one of the boy's fingers.

"Kid, I was careless just now. If you've got the guts, let me go and we'll have a one-on-one fight again!"

To his surprise, the boy actually let go of him without even the slightest hesitation!

Meng Yan froze for a moment, then hurriedly distanced himself, revealing a triumphant sneer, "You were lying to me, you're such an idiot!"

After saying that, he looked at the guards who were standing there dumbfounded, and cursed angrily, "A bunch of useless trash, what are you all standing there for? Get him and kill him!"

boom--

The four guards responded, rubbing their hands together and unleashing their martial arts aura at the True Essence Realm.

"Crack!"

In an instant, the entire floor was enveloped by a surging aura. The nearby tables and chairs were squeezed by the invisible aura, causing cracks to appear, and some were even crushed into pieces.

The entire venue fell into dead silence. The onlookers held their breath and retreated to the edge, barely daring to breathe.

Most of the people present were ordinary people, and even those who were martial artists were few and far between. The aura unleashed by the four True Yuan Realm experts was enough to make them tremble with fear.

"Kid, have you thought about how you want to die?!"

"He injured the young marquis's arm; cripple all his limbs first!"

The four guards, their faces grim, surrounded Li Wudao with cold mockery.

Now they have no more scruples and can act with confidence and boldness.

"Alas, what a pity for this young man's chivalrous heart that dared to stand up for the weak..."

Everyone felt a pang of sympathy and could not bear to look.

It was rare to find someone willing to stand up and punish Meng Yan, this villain who bullied men and women. I never expected him to die so soon. I felt quite uneasy.

"Young master, you must leave quickly!"

The woman was pale and trembling with nervousness as she said, "I...I'll hold them off!"

Seeing the woman's delicate body trembling with fear, yet still standing before him, Li Wudao was somewhat moved. "Aren't you afraid of death?"

The woman in front of her was clearly weak and had no martial arts aura whatsoever. The mere aura of the True Essence Realm was enough to make her breathless. Where did she get the courage to step forward?

"Fear... how could I not be afraid..."

The woman held the little boy's hand tightly, her palms sweating. After a moment of silence, her pale lips parted slightly, "But I'm more afraid of being ungrateful, more afraid of being tormented by my conscience."

Li Wudao was stunned, taken aback by this answer.

In this world where human life is as cheap as grass, it's so rare to meet someone like this.

"What's your name?"

"Qiao'er."

"I remember."

Li Wudao nodded, a hint of appreciation flashing in his eyes.

"Damn, they still have the nerve to chat in front of us?!"

"Stop wasting words with him, just attack!"

The four guards, their faces contorted with embarrassment, stamped their feet and rushed forward.

As the menacing group drew closer, Qiao'er instinctively shielded the little boy behind her, her eyes tightly shut.

"Damn it, you dared to hurt me, this is what happens!"

Meng Yan spat and roared, cursing as if he could already see the boy being torn to shreds by his guards.

"act recklessly!"

A sneer appeared on Li Wudao's lips as he prepared to end this farce.

He couldn't even muster the slightest interest in four True Yuan Realm ants.

"Stop it all!"

Just then, a delicate shout came from the stairwell.

The entire hall fell silent as everyone turned to look, their eyes filled with amazement and deep awe.

A young girl dressed in a light purple, wide-sleeved dress gracefully stepped forward.

She had long, dark blue hair, a delicate face, snow-white collarbones, and lips as red as crushed cinnabar. The pair of red coral pendants by her ears swayed as she slightly raised her eyes, quite eye-catching.

"Damn it, who's the blind fool who dares to ruin my good time?"

Meng Yan cursed his bad luck and turned around, intending to deal with it all at once.

However, when he recognized the owner of the voice, he was immediately at a loss and awkwardly laughed, "Princess, what brings you here?"

"Do I need to inform you in advance where I'm going?"

The girl in purple stepped forward gracefully, her every movement exuding an air of nobility. Her narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes glanced at Meng Yan with a hint of coldness, and she said:

"You even dare to insult me, Meng Yan! You're getting more and more outrageous!"

Meng Yan shrank back, his eyes visibly clearer, and quickly waved his hand, saying, "It's a misunderstanding, it was all a misunderstanding just now, I didn't know it was you!"

The girl in purple wrinkled her nose, ignoring him, and instead looked at Qiao'er, who was surrounded by guards, and immediately understood the reason.

"You really are a leopard that can't change its spots. Last time you forcibly abducted a woman, your father, the Marquis of Zhennan, beat you so badly you couldn't get out of bed for a month. How long has it been? You've already forgotten the pain?"

The girl in purple gave Meng Yan a cold, mocking look, and glared at him with extreme disgust.

If the latter hadn't had a good father, he would have deserved to be beheaded ten times over for the things he did.

Immediately, she ignored Meng Yan's ashen face and turned her gaze to Li Wudao beside Qiao'er, a hint of admiration flashing across her face.

"Don't worry, with me here, Meng Yan wouldn't dare to do anything to you."

Young people with the courage to stand up for the weak in the face of injustice are a rare breed these days.

"what?"

After sizing up the boy a few times, the girl in purple felt increasingly familiar with him, as if she had seen him somewhere before.

A moment later, she couldn't help but step closer, a hint of surprise appearing in her beautiful eyes, and asked, "You are... Wudao's cousin?"

"you are?"

Li Wudao was taken aback, looking at the girl in purple, and felt a sense of déjà vu.

"Wow, it's really you."

Seeing that the boy didn't refute her, the girl in purple said in a soft, joyful tone, "I'm your cousin, Li Nanzhi... We used to play together a lot when we were little, don't you remember me?"

At the end, she pouted slightly, feeling a little annoyed by the boy's indifferent reaction.

"I have some impression of it..."

Li Wudao looked thoughtful, as fragments of memories flashed through his mind.

Li Nanzhi, daughter of Prince Rui, niece of the Emperor of Dayu, is a principal princess of the main lineage and holds a prominent position.

His mother, Wang Yun, and Li Nanzhi's mother were sisters.

Based on this relationship, he and the girl in purple are indeed cousins.