A goddess dwells in my heart.

Chapter 25 Mother and Daughter

Lu Zheji's expression froze for a moment, then he coughed and said, "...You'll find out later."

The goddess remained silent for a moment, but did not press the matter further.

Suddenly, she made an unexpected move that caused the road to collapse.

She deliberately raised her newly freed left hand high behind her back, assuming the posture of being suspended. Immediately afterward, the three chains that had previously broken and disappeared seemed to reappear out of thin air as if they were reassembled from specks of light, and fastened themselves to her wrists once more.

Lu Zheji was shocked: "What are you doing?"

The goddess calmly explained, "I felt it could work, so I tried it. They're only for decoration now; I can make them disappear whenever I want."

As soon as he finished speaking, the three chains turned into silver light again and vanished without a trace.

Immediately afterwards, a flash of silver light appeared, and the three chains reappeared. The goddess was once again restored to the humiliating posture of having her hands tied high and kneeling with her chest out.

Seeing that she was no longer trying to untie it, Lu Zheji couldn't help but ask, "If you can untie it, why are you doing this?"

The goddess raised her eyelids, her clear, deep eyes gazing calmly at him: "Because I like this position."

I like it because you like it.

She suddenly understood why she had been in this posture since she became conscious.

……

Lu Zheji was unaware of what the goddess was thinking, and assumed that she had truly gotten used to it, so he stopped worrying about it.

He withdrew his consciousness from the Bronze Sparrow Terrace and returned it to his physical body. Then he pushed open the door, eager to test the weight of this superhuman ability to travel thousands of miles.

As dusk settled and the distant mountains appeared like dark eyebrows, lanterns were lit throughout the mountain village, their orange glow casting a warm glow on the bluestone path.

He walked to a secluded path outside the guest courtyard, where no one usually went. With a slight thought, a light and agile force naturally flowed out from under his feet.

This lightness is not a state that needs to be deliberately maintained, but rather like breathing and heartbeat, as if it is an innate ability of the body.

With just a slight touch of his toes, his figure had already covered more than ten zhang, and as he continued to run, his speed continued to increase.

Half an incense stick later, his figure was so fast that he left a blurry green shadow in the twilight, and the fallen leaves behind him were swirled by the air currents into a long tunnel.

Lu Zheji stopped in his tracks, his chest rising and falling slightly, blood rushing through his limbs and bones, bringing him a sense of exhilarating pleasure.

Excellent value for money, absolutely excellent value for money!

The Demonic Transformation of Your Heart might be a flawed version of the supreme technique that was taken from a seventh-realm expert, but since it was a castrated version, the Divine Speed ​​of Ten Thousand Miles wasn't good enough. What he got was the full-fledged version, which gave him several times the speed he used to be. After the continuous acceleration over the course of half an incense stick, it was increased tenfold.

After Lu Zheji returned to his room and drank some water, he was still not satisfied and wanted to ride around some more in the twilight. Suddenly, a slow and steady knocking sound came from outside the guest courtyard.

Upon opening the door, Lin Yuexi stood outside, still looking as delicate and frail as ever. Her long, moon-white dress was lifted by the evening breeze, making her appear even thinner.

She raised her clear eyes and glanced at him, saying calmly, "Change into something decent. The banquet is about to start; it's time to get going."

Now that there were no outsiders around, she was too lazy to force herself to call him "brother" anymore.

Starting tomorrow, Lin Zhengge's formal celebration banquet will begin, and it is said that it will last for several days. Some guests who have traveled from afar have already arrived in Wancheng, and those who have connections with the Lin family have been directly arranged to stay in this villa.

Tonight's welcome banquet is prepared for these distinguished guests who have come from afar.

Now that Lu Zheji is using the name of Lin Chensha, a member of a branch of the Lin family, he naturally has to make an appearance.

He went back inside, took off his slightly soiled robes from slaughtering the pig, and took a quick bath.

When I opened the door, Lin Yuexi was already waiting in the corridor.

Seeing Lu Zheji emerge, she raised her small face, quickly switching back to her timid expression, and softly called out, "Brother, let's go."

Watching her seamlessly switch between acting skills, Lu Zheji also put on a gentle smile: "Yes, thank you for leading the way, Yue'er."

……

The banquet hall was located in the central hall of the Lin residence. Lu Zheji glanced at it during the day and thought it was quite spacious and grand.

As dusk settled, dozens of lanterns illuminated the hall, making it as bright as day. The main hall alone had no fewer than thirty tables, with several rows of seats in the side halls, accommodating several hundred people in total.

He found his seat, and sitting next to him was naturally his nominal younger sister, Lin Yuexi.

The people surrounding him were all members of the Lin family's branch. When they saw Lu Zheji and Lin Yuexi, two unfamiliar faces, they could guess that they were people sent by the imperial court. They understood each other without saying a word and nodded to them in greeting, exchanging a few pleasantries.

Lu Zheji smiled and responded politely, but his gaze unconsciously swept across the increasingly lively hall.

It is said that the doctors sent by the imperial court have already moved into the manor. Given Su Wan Ning's personality, she would never miss such an opportunity to freeload.

I wonder if I'll run into his senior sister at the banquet later...

Lu Zheji glanced around, but the hall was crowded with people, and he couldn't find that familiar petite figure for a while.

Perhaps she is sitting in the side hall, or perhaps she has not yet arrived.

He could only look away with slight regret, deciding to leave the table to search after a few rounds of drinks.

Lin Zhengge was already seated in the main seat.

She changed out of her daytime clothes and into a more dignified and elegant lake-blue palace dress. The skirt trailed on the ground and was covered with a layer of light gauze. Her hair was styled in a high bun and adorned with exquisite hairpins and pearl flowers, which made her beautiful peach blossom face even more graceful and noble.

At this moment, the future Crown Princess was slightly turned to the side, chatting and laughing in hushed tones with several middle-aged men and women who were clearly elders of the Lin family.

She was elegant and poised, and spoke with gentle grace. Despite being only seventeen or eighteen years old, she sat among a group of composed elders without appearing awkward or immature. Instead, she exuded the air of someone in charge.

Empress Lin Xiwei has not yet arrived here, so it seems that Miss Lin the Second is currently the de facto head of the Lin family.

"In this generation of the Lin family, the females are truly far more numerous than the males," Lu Zheji thought to himself, and couldn't help but recall some information about the Lin family that Lin Yuexi had revealed to him in her superior capacity.

The Lin family has an unwritten rule that every generation of the main family's direct descendants must have one member marry into the Lu family.

The one who fulfilled this obligation in the previous generation was Lin Xiwei's elder sister, Lin Xiyuan. For the sake of her family and the overall situation of the North-South peace negotiations, she married into the Southern Wei palace and became the Empress of the Southern Wei Emperor.

Lin Xiwei, on the other hand, was cultivated as the next head of the Lin family from a young age because of her exceptional talent.

The arrangement of the two sisters, one in politics and the other in confinement, was originally a very safe one. However, fate was unkind, and Lin Xiyuan passed away after giving birth to the crown prince for the Southern Wei emperor.

Lu Zheji didn't quite understand how medical skills in a fantasy world could cause an empress to die in childbirth. But a dead woman is a dead woman. Anyway, there were plenty of people who died mysteriously in the palaces of the two Wei dynasties, so it didn't seem surprising that there was one more empress.

However, Lin Xiyuan's marriage was not a mere formality; she bore the heavy responsibility of integrating the Northern Wei forces into the Southern Wei court, a position that could not be left vacant.

However, at that time, the direct descendants of the Lin family were not numerous. After Lin Xiyuan died, only Lin Xiwei remained as the sole heir of the direct bloodline.

The Southern Wei royal family and the Goddess Palace naturally hoped that Lin Xiwei would take over her sister's responsibilities, enter the empress's palace, and continue this crucial marriage alliance.

However, as a family of martial prowess who has guarded the northern border for generations and faced the demon army head-on, the Lin family's main lineage has already withered to such an extent that they cannot accept their only heir going to the deep palace to become a caged bird.

They argued that "Lin Xiwei must inherit the position of family head and take charge of the northern border defenses," and the Northern Wei royal family also put pressure on her.

Lin Xiyuan died under mysterious circumstances, and this debt has not yet been settled. The Southern Wei side was ultimately in the wrong, and the Goddess Palace finally agreed that Lin Xiwei did not need to stay in the deep palace for long.

As for what the Southern Wei royal family thought about this, no one cared.

Later, Lin Xiwei took over as the head of the Lin family, but she never had any children. The two legitimate daughters of this generation, who are now known as the "Twin Beauties of the Lin Family," were actually adopted from a branch family.

There were many intricacies involved, because at that time, Lin Xiwei was the only direct descendant of the Lin family, and as the Empress of Southern Wei, she could not easily claim any offspring. Therefore, the adoption of these two sisters was handled in a rather ambiguous manner.

Nominally, there are no clearly defined direct descendants of their fathers listed in the family genealogy, but they will be considered direct descendants in the future anyway.

As for what's going on behind the scenes... let's leave aside the eldest daughter, Lin Zhenci, who entered the Goddess Palace at a young age. The second daughter, Lin Zhengge, was raised by Lin Xiwei, and her affection for her is said to be overflowing. As for the actual relationship, those who know, know.

Lu Zheji took a sip of the spiritual wine in his cup, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over the person in the main seat.

Lin Zhengge stood up gracefully and bent down to pour wine for an elderly Lin family elder with white hair.

The lake-blue palace dress clung tightly to her as she bent over, outlining the graceful curves from her slender waist to her full hips, as beautiful as a landscape painting, breathtaking and captivating.

Lu Zheji's gaze lingered on that arc for a moment, and he couldn't help but recall Lin Xiwei's naturally graceful and alluring figure.

He withdrew his gaze, downed the remaining wine in his glass in one gulp, and couldn't help but chuckle to himself:

"It seems that even without blood ties..."

"This Miss Lin has indeed inherited the essence of it in some aspects."