Upon hearing Yu Zheng’s words, Yu Xingwu clutched her chest, looking so shocked and grief-stricken that she seemed ready to cough up a mouthful of blood.
She was worried that her acting wouldn’t be convincing enough and Yu Zheng would notice something was wrong.
Once she got into the performance, she couldn’t resist improvising a few extra lines.
“Adopted daughter… Niannian… What right does some woman of unknown origins have to suddenly become the True Young Miss?! And steal everything that originally belonged to me! What gives her the right?!”
Now that the True Young Miss had returned, wasn’t she, the Fake Young Miss, supposed to fight her tooth and nail?
She had seen this kind of plot in novels hundreds of times, if not a thousand. Naturally, playing the part came effortlessly to her.
The system announced, “Storyline progression detected! Host has been awarded 50 points. Please keep up the good work and remember to maintain your vicious persona at all times~”
Yu Xingwu was secretly delighted. She had simply gotten carried away with her acting and improvised a little more than necessary. Who would’ve thought she could earn points for it?!
A trace of mockery flashed through Yu Yuefu’s eyes, but she put on a helpless expression, biting her lip as she timidly looked toward Yu Zheng.
“Father, I… I didn’t. I’ve never thought about fighting anyone for anything. I only returned to the sect with Father because I wanted to stay by your side and take care of you.”
Having finally found his biological daughter after so many years, Yu Zheng naturally couldn’t bear to see her suffer any grievances. He also felt that Yu Xingwu’s words had gone too far.
His gaze settled on Yu Xingwu, and his tone became noticeably sterner. “Niannian’s identity has already been verified. She is indeed the biological daughter of your mother and me.”
“She has only just returned to the sect. What exactly has she taken from you? I’ve spoiled you too much over the years, which is why you’ve become so willful and unruly.”
Yu Xingwu rolled her eyes inwardly. He was talking as though she didn’t already know the plot.
Covering her face, she crouched down and burst into uncontrollable sobs. “Do I really have to spell out what she’s going to take from me?”
“She’s your biological daughter, while I’m nothing but an outsider! You had someone release me from Reflection Cliff and summoned me back to the peak. Wasn’t it because you wanted me to hand over my Storage Ring to her?”
“You haven’t even arranged a place for her to stay since bringing her back to the sect. Don’t tell me you weren’t planning to let her move into my palace! Then you’d drive me off to Master’s Zhaoyao Peak and make me live in the disciples’ quarters!”
“Before long, she’ll be by your side every day, and I, your adopted daughter, will become completely dispensable, won’t I?!”
“I hate both of you! Yanyun Peak, my Storage Ring—I won’t give her either of them! Don’t even think about it!”
Yu Xingwu rose from the ground, her body trembling. She cast one last stubborn glance at Yu Zheng with her reddened eyes before rushing out through the doors in tears.
Watching Yu Xingwu run out of the palace, Yu Zheng furrowed his brows slightly, an uncomfortable heaviness settling in his chest.
People often said that no one knew a daughter better than her father. He knew the temperament of the daughter he had raised better than anyone, yet he hadn’t expected his usually spoiled and willful daughter to voice the very thoughts he had been harboring.
That Storage Ring had been left behind by his late wife. But Niannian was their biological daughter, so the ring rightfully belonged to her.
As for the palace, although the Tianlan Sect was one of the Four Great Sects, it ranked fourth among them.
A hundred years ago, the Tianlan Sect had relied on the legacy of its ancestors to rank among the foremost middle-tier immortal sects. It had not yet been considered a top-tier sect.
Its current position among the Four Great Sects of the upper-tier immortal sects was inseparable from the large number of powerful cultivators gathered within its ranks and its tens of thousands of disciples.
Of all the sects, the Tianlan Sect had the largest number of disciples.
There were eighty-one peaks within the Inner Sect. Setting aside the Inner Sect Lecture Hall and its various buildings, only respected masters and exceptionally talented Direct Disciples possessed peaks of their own. The remaining peaks were all used to house Inner Sect disciples.
Each peak housed no fewer than a thousand Inner Sect disciples, which meant there wasn’t a single unoccupied peak left in the Inner Sect.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have considered having Jiaojiao return to Zhaoyao Peak for the time being.
He knew her temperament well. There were quite a few disciples in the sect who had suffered at her hands. In fact, as soon as he returned to the sect today, he had heard about her seriously injuring a fellow senior sister.
If Niannian lived on the same peak as her, she would inevitably be bullied.
“Niannian, for the next two days, you can stay at Guanlan Peak. I’ll have someone prepare one of the side halls for you.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll publicly announce your identity. Three days from now, I’ll also host a banquet and invite people from the other sects to attend. It will serve as your Disciple Acceptance Banquet.”
“Once you’ve formally become a disciple, you’ll be able to live on your master’s peak as a Direct Disciple.”
“Direct Disciples have the best accommodations of all the disciples in the sect. When the time comes, whatever you need, Father will make sure everything is provided.”
“As for the Storage Ring your mother left behind… Later, come with me to Zhaoyao Peak. First, you’ll meet Sword Venerable Feng Chen, who will be your master from now on. Second… I’ll have Jiaojiao return the Storage Ring to you.”
Yu Yuefu nodded, her fingers tightly clasped together as though she were nervous. She spoke in a soft, gentle voice. “Niannian will follow Father’s arrangements.”
But inwardly, she was absolutely furious.
Why had everything changed when it was Yu Xingwu’s turn to be the Fake Young Miss?!
In her previous life, Yu Xingwu had been the True Young Miss, while she had been the fake one.
After Yu Zheng brought Yu Xingwu back to the sect, she had lost everything that originally belonged to her. She became someone whom anyone could bully, insult, or spit on. Everyone looked down on her with contempt.
All the affection from her father, master, and senior brothers had gone to Yu Xingwu! Why should that woman have been allowed to take everything from her simply by appearing?!
Consumed by jealousy and resentment, she had bullied and framed Yu Xingwu at every opportunity. Her only regret was that she hadn’t managed to kill her!
Why had Yu Xingwu ultimately won everything while she herself had fallen into a deep chasm, her corpse left exposed in the wilderness?
She had died full of hatred, refusing to accept her fate. At the moment of her death, she prayed to the gods, wishing that if she were granted another life, she would make sure Yu Xingwu met a miserable end!
Unfortunately, there were no gods watching over the world.
Fortunately, after her death, her resentment had summoned the most evil of all Evil Gods.
The Evil God told her that her fate had been predetermined long ago and that she was destined for a tragic ending.
She found it laughable that her entire life had actually been written by someone else.
She sold her soul to the Evil God, and the Evil God rewrote the words in the book that determined her fate.
In this new life, she was the True Young Miss whom Yu Zheng brought back to the sect. Meanwhile, Yu Xingwu, who had been the True Young Miss in the previous life, had become the fake one instead.
Not only had she been reborn, but she could also hear Yu Xingwu’s inner thoughts. Heaven was truly on her side.
Everything she had suffered in her previous life, she would make Yu Xingwu experience in this one!
Her father, her master, her senior brothers—anyone Yu Xingwu cared about, she would take them all away.
She swore that in this life, she would trample Yu Xingwu mercilessly into the mud!
But in her previous life, her Storage Ring and her Yanyun Peak had both ended up belonging to Yu Xingwu.
So why, after being given another life, had Yu Zheng not made Yu Xingwu move out of Yanyun Peak? Why was he instead making her, the True Young Miss, live in the disciples’ quarters?!
Then again, perhaps it was for the best. Living in the disciples’ quarters on Zhaoyao Peak would make her appear even more modest and uninterested in fighting for anything, allowing her to win the goodwill of everyone in the sect. It would also put her in a favorable position to gain what she wanted.
The only thing that surprised her was how different Yu Xingwu’s personality was from her previous life.
Then again, it made sense. Having been raised and spoiled by Yu Zheng in this life, Yu Xingwu had naturally become just as arrogant and domineering as she herself had been back then.
But she was no longer the person she had been in her previous life.
Now, she was the delicate, fragile, and pitiful True Young Miss who inspired everyone’s sympathy.
She was the true daughter of the Tianlan Sect’s Grand Elder.
Yu Xingwu was nothing.