Chapter 137 Double Happiness

Ji Yunliu always spoke her mind, so Ji Yunyuanzhen quickly pulled her aside and whispered, "Shh, listen to my mother."

Ji Yunyao wasn't stupid. After observing for a long time, she realized that Lu Jinlan was deliberately provoking You Shun, inducing him to fight her.

She observed that Lu Jinlan's words and actions revealed his wisdom far surpassing that of You Shun. Moreover, Lu Jinlan's act of saving her earlier demonstrated his considerable martial arts skills.

Otherwise, given You Shun's personality, he would have taken action long ago; why wait until now?

Ji Yunyao thought that the position of alliance leader was destined to be irrelevant to him today, so rather than letting You Shun sit there, he should let Lu Jinlan sit there.

At least, Lu Jinlan has saved her and her two children many times, so he will definitely not treat the Ji Yun clan members badly in the future.

So Ji Yunyao made up his mind and said, "Since she is my disciple, she is of course a member of the alliance. Today, Lu Er will fight for my Ji Yun clan. Whether we win or lose, we will accept it."

Lu Jinlan was very clever, and immediately went with the flow, cupping his hands and saying, "Please rest assured, Master, your disciple will definitely win this battle. Last night was so rushed that your disciple didn't even have time to prepare the apprenticeship gift. Today, I will win this battle for your master as a gift."

The other leaders chimed in, "Since she's the eldest brother's disciple, she's naturally considered a member of the alliance. It's perfectly acceptable for her to vie for the position of alliance leader. Second leader, let her give it a try."

Lu Jinlan curled the corners of her lips. "Second Master, you're not afraid of losing, are you?"

You Shun shook his head. "Of course I'm not afraid."

Lu Jinlan: "Then please."

You Shun hurriedly said, "Wait!"

Lu Jinlan frowned. "What is it now?"

You Shun addressed the crowd: "Among all the leaders, I am the youngest. To be fair, I went first. After the first match, I was a bit tired. Lu Erxia is about my age and has been resting. She is a young and strong woman, and she fought against me, a man..."

Lu Jinlan raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Now that things have come to this, are you trying to say that a good woman doesn't fight with a man, and trying to persuade me to back down?"

You Shundao said, "That's not what I meant, but since you call yourself a chivalrous person, shouldn't you show some courtesy to a weak man like me?"

Lu Jinlan sneered and nodded. "Fine, if I don't give way, it would seem like I'm bullying a man like you. Three moves would make me seem petty, so I'll give you ten moves."

You Shun's eyes lit up with joy, and then he said, "Actually, I am skilled with weapons. I hope Second Master Lu won't mind if I use weapons."

Before Lu Jinlan could say anything, the other leaders frowned. This was going too far.

As the saying goes, "an inch longer, an inch stronger," and those who practice martial arts know that the length of a weapon can determine the advantage in a battle.

What's more, now you're asking an unarmed person to fight a weaponized one—isn't that just bullying?

The people below the stage also expressed their dissatisfaction, saying, "Second Master, Lu Erxia didn't bring any weapons."

You Shun wouldn't listen. Of course he knew that his current behavior was comparable to that of a rogue, but he also knew that if it came down to real skill, he couldn't possibly beat Lu Jinlan.

Ji Yunyao frowned, unwilling to let Lu Jinlan suffer this loss, and hurriedly ordered, "Sixth Brother, go and fetch my sword for your junior sister to use."

Just as Ji Yunliu was about to leave, Lu Jinlan said, "No need to trouble yourself, I'll just take any weapon here."

You Shun's heart tightened, and he thought to himself: Could it be that this person is proficient in all eighteen weapons and is no longer limited to using any particular weapon?

He immediately comforted himself, telling himself not to boost her morale and diminish his own.

This Lu Er doesn't know the power of the Heavy Yin Skill and is showing off recklessly. Don't be afraid of her, don't scare yourself.

Actually, he wasn't just scaring himself. The reality was far more terrifying than he imagined.

With Lu Jinlan's current internal strength, even a falling flower or a plucked leaf can injure someone. Why should he fear what weapon You Shun might use to deal with a mere child like You Shun?

As long as he doesn't bring out machine guns and cannons, Lu Jinlan really doesn't take him seriously.

You Shun ordered his men to bring him his specially made nine-section whip. The whip had a sharp blade at the end, and each section of the iron whip had two rows of claw-like spikes hanging from it. If these spikes were to embed themselves into the opponent's flesh during a battle, they would tear a piece of flesh from the enemy alive.

Holding such a sharp blade in his hand, You Shun felt even more confident of victory.

He looked at Lu Jinlan with confidence and said, "Go and get the weapons."

Lu Jinlan looked around and saw that many people in the crowd couldn't stand You Shun's cheating and threw out their weapons for Lu Jinlan to use.

Lu Jinlan smiled and cupped her hands in thanks, "Thank you all for your kindness, but these are not what I want to use."

She jumped off the stage, stepped over the crowd, and picked a bunch of wildflowers amidst their astonished gazes. Holding the bouquet up, she said to the crowd, "This is my weapon."

You Shunqi said angrily, "What do you mean by this?"

Lu Jinlan smiled, "It's nothing. Why would I need to go all out against you? I'll just hold this flower in my hand and fight you. I'll give you a handicap."

These words shocked everyone, and the meeting hall, which was filled with thousands of people, immediately erupted in heated discussions.

Ji Yunyao hurriedly shouted, "Disciple, do not underestimate the enemy!"

Yan Wuxin and Xu Lin's hearts skipped a beat. Yan Wuxin whispered, "This is bad. Jinlan wants to take this opportunity to establish her prestige and win everyone's respect. But this You Shun is quite capable. She doesn't use weapons and even lets him use one hand. That's too risky."

Xu Lin hurriedly whispered, "What should we do if the Emperor is in danger?"

Yan Wuxin pondered for a moment and said, "If something unexpected happens, I will rush up to help without worrying about anything else. At worst, we can tear off all pretenses, fight our way down the mountain, and start over."

Everyone felt that Lu Jinlan was in grave danger this time. Ji Yunyuan rushed over anxiously and whispered, "You must not give in to You Shun just because he is a man. If you treat him with courtesy, he will not show you any mercy."

Lu Jinlan said, "He wants to kill me, so of course he won't hold back."

Ji Yunyuan hurriedly said, "Then why don't you give him one hand?"

Seeing the worry on his face, Lu Jinlan smiled and said, "Don't worry, even if I give him a handicap, he still can't beat me. But since you're so worried about me, I should probably think about it."

As Lu Jinlan spoke, she took out a wildflower and tucked it behind Ji Yunyuan's ear. She then gently pinched his ear with her warm fingertips and said in a suggestive tone, "I saved your mother today. If you try to fool me with the promise of the next life again, I won't stand for it. Instead of worrying about this, you should think about how you should treat me in this life."

After speaking, Lu Jinlan leaped back onto the stage, saying, "Can we begin now?"

You Shunman thought victory was assured and swung his nine-section whip, making a chilling sound.

The heads of the household stood up nervously, and the onlookers stared wide-eyed, afraid of missing anything, but Lu Jinlan seemed exceptionally relaxed.

You Shun charged up his whip for a long time before lashing out, but Lu Jinlan leaped into the air and nimbly dodged it; the whip didn't even touch the hem of her clothes.

Everyone gasped in surprise. Lu Jinlan lowered her head, sniffed the wildflower in her hand, and laughed, "One move, huh?"

You Shun gritted his teeth and lashed out with his whip when no one was looking, but Lu Jinlan dodged it steadily.

"Ah!" Everyone couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "This is truly amazing! Even when the Boss was young, he didn't have such skills. Second Master Lu is truly unfathomable, what superb kung fu!"

Ji Yunyao's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was completely relieved, and a slight smile even appeared on her face. She knew that the outcome was already decided.

You Shun's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, completely died. He panicked and whipped the ground left and right with increasing urgency. Sweat beaded on his forehead from the effort, but he couldn't touch Lu Jinlan even a little bit.

In the chaos, Lu Jinlan suddenly stomped on the whip's end, causing it to fall to the ground with a sharp crack. You Shun pulled hard, but it wouldn't budge.

You Shun looked up and saw Lu Jinlan curl the corners of her lips at him. Then her eyes darkened and she said coldly, "Ten moves have passed. It's my turn."

You Shun's heart skipped a beat. He saw Lu Jinlan suddenly appear before him like lightning and slap him across the face.

With a loud slap, before the audience could even see what was happening, Lu Jinlan had already used a cloud hand to turn You Shun around and slapped him on the back again.

You Shun barely had a chance to react, only managing to spit out a mouthful of blood.

Then everything went black again, and Lu Jinlan's piercing kick came straight at him from the front.

With the sound of bones cracking, You Shun staggered back several steps and fell straight off the stage.

Lu Jinlan straightened his clothes, threw the bouquet of flowers in his hand at You Shun's dazed and bleeding face, and said to the You Sang tribesmen, "Carry your chief back to recover from his injuries. I'm not taking his life."

After all, there are still nearly a thousand members of the Yusang tribe here. It would be difficult to explain if they came up and killed the clan leader.

Lu Jinlan turned to the crowd and said, "Gentlemen, if anyone is still not convinced, please come up and challenge me. I am willing to accompany you to the end today."

The audience was completely silent. The leaders looked at each other, none of them daring to accept the challenge.

Lu Jinlan smiled, "Since none of you are going to accept the challenge, please give us an answer."

She glanced at Xu Lin, who immediately recovered from her shock and said loudly, "Lu Erxia has won and should rightfully take the position as the leader of our Eight Clans Alliance."

Ji Yunliu nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, yes! Second Hero Lu is both brave and resourceful. With her as the alliance leader, how can we not deal with that tyrannical emperor? Our Eight Clans Alliance is saved!"

Just as Ji Yunyao stood up and gave up the main seat, the third leader suddenly said, "Wait a moment, First Leader, sisters, and Lu Erxia, please listen to me."

"Everyone has witnessed Lu Erxia's martial arts skills, which can be described as profound and unfathomable, and we are indeed inferior to him."

"Although she is the leader's apprentice, she has only recently joined the alliance. It's not that I disagree with her becoming the alliance leader, but her relationship with the rest of us is not unbreakable. What if she betrays us and turns against the government? We'll be leaderless, and what will we do then?"

The fourth leader said, "This is a concern of ours. Everyone in the alliance is delighted to have such a talented person. But you should think of a way to firmly bind this person to us, so that the sisters in the alliance can feel at ease."

Ji Yunyao said, "I understand what everyone means. If you feel that the master-disciple relationship between me and Xiao Lu is not enough, then the only option is to form a marriage alliance."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jinlan quickly took a few steps closer. The Fifth Leader said, "There are quite a few eligible young men in the alliance, but in terms of status, the Second Leader is the most suitable. This way, the resentment of the Yousang tribe can be resolved. Once he recovers, we can proceed with the wedding..."

"No way!" Lu Jinlan refused outright.

Yu Shun, on the stretcher, struggled to lift his head, only to hear Lu Jinlan say, "Forgive my bluntness, but I am quite picky about choosing a husband. I am not satisfied with the Second Master's age and appearance. If you seniors do not want me to be the leader, please just say so. There is no need to force such a man on me to embarrass me."

The fifth leader chuckled, "It's just a suggestion. Don't rush, there are other candidates."

The third leader chimed in, "Yes, boss, isn't your Yuanzhen still unmarried?"

Ji Yunyao seemed to wake from a dream, "Yes, yes, yes, do you like my Yuanzhen?"

Lu Jinlan glanced at Ji Yunyuanzhen, who immediately lowered her head.

Lu Jinlan didn't speak, but seeing her attitude, the leaders instantly understood.

Ji Yunyao was overjoyed and said happily, "Great! It's settled then! Today we'll have double celebrations: first, to respectfully invite the Alliance Leader to the new position, and second, to celebrate this joyous occasion. Let's all come together to drink the wedding wine for the Alliance Leader and my son Yuanzhen."

A cheer erupted from the crowd. Ji Yunyao gave up the main seat, and Lu Jinlan pretended to decline for a moment, but then sat down without any hesitation.

Several leaders led thousands of allies to kneel and bow, saying, "Greetings, Alliance Leader!"

Seeing this familiar scene, Lu Jinlan almost blurted out "Rise." She took a deep breath and said loudly, "Please rise, everyone."

"I, Lu Er, am honored by the kindness of all the heroines and have been given the position of leader of the alliance. I will certainly seek a bright future for all the sisters in the alliance. As long as you all obey my orders, everything will be clear within thirty days."

Everyone said in unison, "We will obey the Alliance Leader's orders and dare not disobey."

Having been an emperor for so long, Lu Jinlan found being a rebel quite enjoyable today.

Since it was a joyous occasion, everyone took on their assigned tasks and went off to make arrangements. The thousands of people quickly dispersed like birds and beasts, with only Ji Yunliu, an idle man, greeting them with a smile, "Hehe, Alliance Leader."

Lu Jinlan smiled. "Sixth Brother, where's Yuanzhen?"

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Author's Note: Dear readers, I need to take a short break. Piracy has been rampant lately, and I need to spend some time dealing with it. I plan to return for Jinlan's birthday. There will be no ranking updates from tomorrow until the 30th. If it's convenient for you, please recommend this story so more people can see it. Thank you everyone, *bows*. Wait for me to come back, and we'll continue our joyous celebrations! [Please!]