“Qinghuan, you’re not stupid. Think about it yourself.” An Zhengzheng didn’t say much more.

The truths others tell you a thousand times are not as good as the truths you come to understand yourself and the truths you come to think about them over and over again.

An Qinghuan looked at the frank and open An Zhengzheng.

Her face shone brightly under the light of the magical artifact, and the determination and resolve on her face added to her aura.

So strikingly beautiful, so out of place.

For reasons unknown, An Qinghuan blurted out, "An Zhengzheng, you say appearance isn't important, so why not... disfigure yourself to show your resolve?"

She didn't believe that such a woman truly existed in the world.

An Zhengzheng glanced at her in surprise.

Seeing that she didn't seem to be up to any evil, An Zhengzheng calmed down.

“First of all, I didn’t say that appearance is unimportant,” An Zhengzheng said. “I think beauty is good, but I don’t agree with paying too much price and time and energy for it, unless beauty becomes your career and the foundation of your life.”

"Then if I cultivate the Joyful Union Sect, wouldn't that be..."

"Really?" An Zhengzheng interrupted her, asking in return, "Think about the elders in our clan who came from the Hehuan Sect, think about Auntie."

An Qinghuan shut her mouth.

The steward manages the sons and daughters, cannot stop her husband from taking a concubine, and is pressured by her grandmother to have a son every year, causing her cultivation to stagnate.

My aunt was the most beautiful among the elders in the clan. She was one of the top performers in the Qintianfu Hehuan Sect's assessment, and my uncle went to great lengths to marry her.

Maintaining her beauty is difficult these days, and I've also heard that my uncle has been keeping mistresses outside the marriage, and not just one.

She wants a divorce, but she has no way to establish herself in the relationship unless she finds another man, but there are so many young female cultivators out there…

An Qinghuan suddenly became afraid.

"But, aren't all women..."

An Zhengzheng smiled at her without saying a word.

My aunt used to say that women are all mediocre, but now An Zhengzheng has proven that hard work pays off and can overcome gender limitations.

There is no such thing as "all women are like this or that".

“Secondly, I won’t be disfigured,” An Zhengzheng said. “I said hands are important, but don’t put all your effort and reliance on them for maintenance. To prove that, am I supposed to cut them off?”

If a woman says she won't have children in the future, does that mean she has to have her uterus removed?

"Besides, An Qinghuan, I've worked so hard, even risking my life to win the top scholar title... Why don't you compete with me in swordsmanship and talisman drawing, instead of focusing solely on my appearance?"

"My clansmen want me to be included in the family genealogy, and the Siyue Sect gave me 100,000 spirit stones, pills, and talismans. Is this all thanks to my appearance?"

That night, An Qinghuan left with a heavy heart.

An Zhengzheng really knelt in the ancestral hall for three days.

On the last day, Mrs. Lin came to pick her up with red eyes.

"She's so stubborn, so stubborn." These past few days, Lin has been crying every day, but her mother-in-law has made a harsh statement, forbidding anyone from visiting her.

Apart from An Qinghuan, who bravely sneaked over on the first night, no one else dared to come.

"I'm sorry for making Mother worry." An Zhengzheng held Lin's hand.

Lin hated herself for being cowardly: "It's because your mother couldn't protect you."

"Mother, what's your name?" An Zhengzheng asked.

Lin was stunned. No one had called her by her name for hundreds of years.

She was either Madam An or Third Aunt; even her mother-in-law called her Zhengzheng's mother.

“My nickname is Jingniang.” She thought for a long time before finally finding the name in her memory. “My formal name is… Lin Jing.”

“Mother’s name is so beautiful.” An Zhengzheng smiled as she was helped up by the maid. “Both of our names contain the character ‘zheng’ (争), and I like that character.”

Lin Jing remained silent.

After a moment of silence, she said, "Your father wants to see you."

An Zhengzheng was helped by a maid to the study.

Three days was enough for An Mao to calm down. The moment he saw An Zhengzheng, his gaze swept over her knees, which had been kneeling for three days.

There was still heartache in her eyes.

But his tone was cold and serious: "Do you know your mistake?"

An Zhengzheng said, "I've made my father and mother sad."

An Mao sighed inwardly, knowing that his daughter still insisted on her own ideas.

Have you checked the Jade Slip Forum these past few days?

"No, reading the jade slip is interfering with my cultivation." An Zhengzheng was puzzled. Seeing her father's worried face, she asked, "Did something happen?"

"...It's good that you didn't see it. Don't take the rumors outside seriously." Seeing his daughter's indifferent expression, An Mao quickly changed the subject, "I heard you and Zhou Xu made a public duel?"

“Yes.” An Zhengzheng nodded.

As for the rumors her father mentioned, she assumed they were about what happened when she first entered Siyue Gate.

"Are you confident?" An Mao asked.

An Zhengzheng thought for a moment and said, "Based on my strength, I'm 70% confident."

But the contest of magic is not just about strength, but also about elixirs, magical artifacts, cultivation techniques, and talismans.

Compared to the promising young talents nurtured by the wealthy Zhou family... well, An Zhengzheng is simply incomparable.

"Where did you get that 70% confidence level?"

“I’ve seen him fly on a sword. Back when I was at home, I also tried to learn about the various martial arts techniques in the martial arts world. Also, during the joint exam, I never left after handing in my paper early. I observed several other disciples in the same exam room drawing talismans and flying on swords, including one from the Zhou family.”

That was one of the few opportunities she had to understand the capabilities of others.

Hearing An Zhengzheng's answer, An Mao was filled with mixed emotions.

If Zhengzheng had had the opportunity to go out and gain experience, and participated in the training of various families and organizations, things wouldn't have come to this.

They have more opportunities to observe and train when they go out, and they can even spar with each other in advance.

An Mao suddenly understood An Zhengzheng's unwillingness to accept defeat, and why she worked so hard yet was so resentful.

What her kinsmen obtained so easily, she… she…

Perhaps out of guilt and unease, he asked An Zhengzheng, "Aren't you afraid of losing?"

An Zhengzheng laughed and said, "Winning and losing are common occurrences. If you lose, you lose. This time, I lost to him, but I gained a better understanding of the strength of that genius from the Zhou family. It was worth it."

"If I lose to him once, I will improve myself and compete with him again. If I lose again, I will try again... There will always be a day in my life when I defeat him."

At that moment, An Mao was stunned.

He knew before that An Zhengzheng was determined, had her own ideas, and was ambitious.

But he was also convinced that An Zhengzheng's ambition would be worn away, and that those were just the ignorant remarks of a young girl.

Until she became the top scholar in the imperial examination, refused the Qin Tian Mansion, retaliated against the Wuqing Dao, made a duel agreement with the recognized genius, and then caused the incident of kneeling for three days to protest against the family genealogy.

It was only at this moment that he realized his daughter was serious.

He said, "Zhengzheng, do you know what a woman's thoughts are like after she has a husband and a lover..."

"That's because the whole world tells them that appearance is important, husbands are important, and that women are inherently weak, don't need to work hard, and need to find someone to rely on... Everyone says that, even storybooks portray women as making countless sacrifices to redeem men."

At this point, she looked up at An Mao and asked, "Father, do you think I believe in those things?"

An Zhengzheng laughed, her laughter tinged with sarcasm.

But An Mao knew that if An Zhengzheng could do something to fight for fairness for the women in the family, it was definitely not because she was mocking those women.

What she was mocking was this world that taught women how to be women in every way.

An Mao turned around and took a box from a secret compartment in the study.

The box had many mechanisms, which he twisted and turned in various ways, casting spells.

Under An Zhengzheng's questioning gaze, the box opened with a "snap".

Inside were many treasures that An Zhengzheng could only dream of, including the sword made of Xuan Tian Han Shi.

“These are the treasures that were allocated to our third branch of the family.” An Mao smiled helplessly. “They were originally meant for your younger brother who will be born later.”

"Everyone knows I have no son, so they all wait for me to take a concubine and have a child."

"Then go and prove that daughters are no less capable than sons. My daughter can be just as outstanding as their sons."

"This time, your father believes you."