Chapter 518 – Family Gathering
The marriage was settled, but Dong Bai insisted that the wedding ceremony would be held in private among the royalty due to the danger of Ma Chao and Sun Ce's rebellion.
Many court officials wanted to participate, but Dong Bai refused. Not a single of her faction supporters could enter the wedding.
This move was to hide Zhang Min's pregnancy status. As for the baby, they would announce its birth date a few months after it was born, so nobody would suspect that it might not be Li Feihong's baby.
However, the private wedding aroused suspicion. Cao Cao, Te Langpu, and even Sima Yi questioned why it had to be too secretive, but they got no answer.
The meeting ended in the early afternoon as Dong Bai sent everyone away to resume their work. She ordered that no assembly meeting would be held until the private wedding was over.
Also, the inner palace was now considered a no-fly-zone. Any flying cultivator in the area would be arrested and executed.
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*VHOOM*
Liu Xie, Zhang Yi, Zhang Guo, Liu Ye, Lu Zhi, Zhang Jiao, and Hua Tuo entered Li Feihong's private dimension as instructed by Dong Bai. The latter also came with them to have their secret meeting with everyone.
Sun Quan and Sun Shangxiang also came to this world because of Wu Guotai's instruction. She demanded the two that they had to surrender to Diaochan, or she would be killed.
Without a choice, Sun Quan dragged his sister here to submit to Medusa.
Other consorts, Cai Wenji, Du Shi, Xiao Qiao, and Da Qiao also joined them. The former two saw Diaochan as their big sister and supported Tong's endeavor, so they had no problem joining Tong's political faction.
As for Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao, they accepted Wu Guotai and Sun Quan's invitation since they needed a benefactor to survive in this infighting war.
Without the empress faction's help, they might be in danger, just like Cao Xing and Cao Qinghe.
The two latest consorts, Cao Xing and Cao Qinghe, couldn't participate in this meeting because of their relationship with Cao Cao. They isolated these concubines for now until further changes.
Most of the political leaders who supported Tong's regime gathered. Unfortunately, several strategists and generals, such as Zhao Yun, Wei Yan, Ju Shou, Jia Xu, Xun Yu, and former Cao Cao's generals, were not invited as Diaochan didn't trust them.
*VHOOM*
Another mother and daughter also joined them.
Surprisingly, they were Liu Yang and Zhang Ying. Diaochan invited them herself, so she could dissolve their past enmity and clear out a couple of karma knots they had.
Zhang Min was also waiting for everyone there, standing next to Li Feihong, displaying her status as his official wife.
When the newcomers noticed Zhang Min's condition, they understood why the wedding had to be held in private.
\"Was it yours, General Li?\" Lu Zhi asked what was in everybody's mind.
\"Yes. I'm sorry.\"
Li Feihong hid the secret of the incident and took responsibility.
\"I see. Everything makes sense now,\" Lu Zhi turned to Diaochan and bowed, \"Congratulations, your majesty. You have an admirable son-in-law.\"
Liu Xie laughed and patted Li Feihong's back, \"I guess you're now my brother-in-law. Should I call you big bro?\"
\"… Just call me Feihong as usual. No weird title for me, please.\"
While Lu Zhi and Liu Xie didn't mind that Zhang Min and Li Feihong had a baby in secret, Hua Tuo and Zhang Jiao were a bit angry.
\"You should have told us that you were seeing each other. We could have accommodated you in Julu.\"
Hua Tuo misunderstood that his granddaughter secretly met Li Feihong behind his back.
However, Zhang Jiao had his suspicion since his intelligence agency reported that Zhang Min never had any relationship with a man.
\"Since when have you two been going out?\"
Zhang Min smiled as she was about to tell them the truth, but Li Feihong interrupted her.
\"Since his majesty entered his secluded cultivation. I've been going back and forth between Julu and the frontline to see her.\"
Zhang Jiao shrugged as he didn't want to make it hard for Li Feihong. Since Zhang Min looked so happy being by his side, he was satisfied.
\"Take care of them, okay?\"
\"Yes. Grandfather.\"
\"You know. It feels weird having someone with my son's age calling me a grandfather.\"
Hearing the remark, Li Feihong rolled his eyes, \"You have no idea how hard it is for me to call Tong FATHER. We have the same age.\"
Everybody laughed, amused by the complicated relationship between Tong and Li Feihong. Both were at the same age, but the latter had to call the former as a father.
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\"I'm sorry,\" Liu Yang apologized to Diaochan. She prostrated on the ground without caring about her former pride as a goddess candidate.
\"I'm curious. What changed your mind? How did you end up in the harem anyway?\"
Thinking of the past when Tong was obsessing on entering Liu Yang's chamber whenever he had a chance, she couldn't help but get jealous. Still, Medusa was amused about how and why Liu Yang surrendered herself to Tong.
\"At first, Lilim tricked me into joining Zhang Tong's harem. She wanted to experiment with something about mixed wing cultivators.\"
\"Making a high ranking demon copulating with an angel, perhaps?\"
\"Yeah. She forced me to cultivate until I get 4 wings or higher after I got pregnant. You can see the result.\"
Liu Yang introduced Zhang Ying to Medusa. The little daughter revealed her mixed wings, which was the same with Sun Quan's wings.
\"… Creator's wings.\"
\"Pardon?\"
\"She has the same wings as the creator. Lilim is experimenting with something dangerous.\"
\"Eh?\"
\"I'll explain everything. For now, don't tell anyone.\"
\"How did you know-O-Okay!\"
Both Diaochan and Wang Yi chatted in secret while Zhang Ying flew around and played with the two young princes.
While Diaochan and Wang Yi were conversing in private. A few immortal oaths were audible to others in the dimension, but they thought it was Li Feihong's system doing to work, so no one noticed it.
Nobody but the two 8-wing immortals were aware that these two former nemeses amended for their past grudges and joined hands. Moreover, they got one step closer to get their 9th wing.
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Sun Quan could finally see his sisters-in-law, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao. The two concubines looked more refined than when they were in the other timeline because of the immortal cultivation and extra lifespan.
\"How's life in the harem? Did Zhang Tong bully you?\"
\"To be honest, it's better than when we were in Jiangdong with your brother. The prime consort treats us well, but Bofu just saw me as a political tool,\" Da Qiao was frank as she felt more comfortable in Ye over the other past.
\"Bofu is going to be sad to hear that.\"
\"He's dumb enough to abandon us. He should have picked us up ages ago, but he was too engrossed in power struggling. Well, first come, first serve.\"
Da Qiao blamed Sun Ce for their current situation, but she was covering up her sister's mistake. It was Xiao Qiao's fault that came up with the silly idea that Tong was a good warlord and led them to this mess.
Xiao Qiao was also aware of that. She kept her silence and pretended ignorant even though she regretted her decision of betraying Zhou Yu.
\"That wasn't his fault. When he got his first wing, you guys already had joined Zhang Tong's harem.\"
\"N-No! Zhang Tong refused to accept us when we first arrived! It was because Sun Ce and Sun Fang's resistance against Zhang Tong's expansion, so Zhang Tong married us to spite them!\"
Xiao Qiao's mouth slipped, which caused the atmosphere to become awkward.
Da Qiao facepalmed as her sister just confessed that they came here for the sake of joining Tong's harem from the very beginning.
The disgrace and embarrassment were unbearable. Xiao Qiao's eyes became watery as she regretted what she had just said.
\"I-I-It's okay, sister-in-law! I understand why you did that! You didn't have the other life's memory, so it's a very logical choice. Yes, it's nothing to be ashamed about!\"
Sun Quan soothed Xiao Qiao as he was afraid that she might create a commotion, and everybody would blame Sun Quan that he made Xiao Qiao cry.
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Wu Guotai glanced at Sun Shangxiang, who ignored all the commotion and sat cross-legs, cultivating in earnest.
After Wu Guotai had learned about reincarnation and the afterlife, she finally noticed that her daughter seemed more mature than everybody else at her age. Sun Shangxiang also oddly obsessed about cultivating to the point that she rarely spoke to her mother.
'Another reincarnator, I see. Oh well, Shangxiang in the other world was spoiled rotten because of Sun Quan and the generals. I like this serious hardworking daughter more.'
Wu Guotai didn't mind that Hua Shi stole Sun Shangxiang's body. Instead, she was grateful.
Had Hua Shi never used Sun Shangxiang's body, Tong might never have accepted Wu Guotai and the Sun Clan under his wings but slaughtered everyone, including Sun Quan long ago.
In a way, Hua Shi ended up saving the Sun Clan indirectly.
'But seriously, do I have to call my daughter \"Sister\" when Zhang Tong comes back and marry her?'
The family complex continued.
…
The big family exchanged pleasantry for an hour before Diaochan stopped the party and got to the main point of this gathering.
\"Alright. Enough party. Take a seat. From now on, listen carefully because it relates to the late stage of cultivation preparation.\"
Everybody stopped talking and paid attention to Diaochan's lecture.
Medusa taught Li Feihong, Sun Quan, and everybody about karmic chains and soul utilities. She explained how karma and cultivation related in the late stages.
Although most of them were not into martial arts, the info was helpful as they could raise their cultivation faster.
\"Some of you are still in the early stage, but if you can get your mindset straight and abandon all of your past grudge or resentment toward the others, your cultivation will progress faster. Also, if you express the regret of your past mistakes through your empowered words with sincerity, there are chances that spirits or souls within the karma river can hear you and forgive you from the deeds. Then, the karma chains will free you from their shackles…\"
Both demons and angels had the same cultivation foundation. They had to abandon their worldly desire and walk the higher path as saints, able to forgive and forget. They also had to repent from their past sins or prove themselves that they had changed.
Angels were saints that refined their good karma to obtain miracle power.
Demons were redeemed sinners who accepted the curses, so they could understand the way of the karma.
In the end, they walked on the same path that the creator had paved for them, the wing cultivation system.
The essence of their redemption and karma would bolster their physical constitution, turning them into a proper immortal, which was the traditional cultivation technique without the universe system's help.
Those were the basic knowledge that everyone in Heaven and Hell knew, but Medusa was aware of a few secrets as she was taught by the former first-generation archangel, Morning Star.
\"Zhongmou, Feihong, Shangxiang, Ying'er, Friday, you five come with me. As for the rest of you, Wang Yi will teach you about the basics and improve your cultivation techniques.\"
Diaochan separated the group, so she could tutor these promising allies into their trump cards against Lilim.
