It took no more than a few days before the imperial government finally got involved in the investigation into the death of the mother of the third young master of the Five-Color Pavilion.
Naturally, as an Ancestral Empress, even with weak combat power, she was still an important expert and highly recognized by the imperial forces.
Her disappearance, along with a guard of about 300 experts, did not go unnoticed by anyone.
Still, even though everything pointed to Meilin, they simply found absolutely nothing about her, not even a single sign of her disappearance.
Even Meilin’s mansion, which she had theoretically gone to attack, was perfect. No signs of blood or battle.
After about a week, the investigations changed course, beginning to point to something external and even seeking out Divination Masters who could point them in a direction.
While the imperial forces continued their investigation with the Five-Color Pavilion and the family of the third young master’s mother, Jin Hao focused on something more important.
The wedding of his daughter, Jin Meilin.
He had already rented one of the most luxurious pavilions in the capital, hiring chefs and musicians from across the continent, spending a fortune equivalent to the budgets of entire cities.
He even hired a guard with ten Ancestral Emperors and a hundred Immortal Emperors just for the security of the area surrounding the huge pavilion.
With the Enlightened Emperor himself as one of the guests, such a level of guard and lavish expenditure of wealth was only to be expected from the Gold King.
While the preparations were being finalized, Qingyi had to prepare for another matter.
Meilin’s mother, who was visiting her family’s lands, would finally return to the imperial capital.
"Are you anxious?" Qingyi asked, arriving at the imperial docks alongside Meilin, one of his hands flowing to the beauty’s shoulders.
Behind them, a small entourage of guards followed. It was unnecessary, of course, just a useless formality prepared by the Gold King.
"Yes..." Meilin admitted after a moment of silence. "I haven’t seen my mother in years, and, well... she wasn’t too thrilled about me leaving the imperial capital and leading a branch of the pavilion on my own."
With a sigh, the beauty embraced Qingyi, burying her face in his robes and simply allowing him to guide her steps.
After a few minutes, they finally arrived at their destination, an empty space, but one that did not remain so for long.
Among the dozens of ships that docked and left that place every few minutes was a golden ship bearing the symbol of the Five-Color Pavilion.
There were many others with such a symbol, but none as luxurious, its size no less than a cargo ship.
Meilin took a step back as the ship docked, hugging Qingyi a little tighter.
After a few moments, a woman finally revealed herself at the top of the ship, immediately jumping from above and landing in front of the young couple.
She was not a great beauty, at least not by Qingyi’s standards. She had an ordinary face, a curvy but not very interesting body, deep dark eyes, and a gentle smile.
That was Yunfeng, known as the White Heron of the Five-Color Pavilion, daughter of an expert from the Astral Body Realm, who had undoubtedly inherited her father’s talent for combat.
She immediately focused on Meilin, ignoring Qingyi completely.
Her arms opened and her eyes closed in a pained expression."What’s wrong, girl? Won’t you even give your old mom a hug?" she asked, her voice full of love.
Meilin swallowed hard, leaving Qingyi’s embrace and promptly throwing herself into her mother’s arms.
"I missed you, Mom..." she sniffed, her eyes already teary.
"I missed you too, dear. You were still a child when you left me, but look at you now, you’ve even found a man and are about to leave your mommy behind again!" Yunfeng whined, grabbing Meilin’s cheeks.
"That was three years ago, Mom, I was no longer a child..." Meilin looked away, blushing softly.
"Hm... you’re still like a little baby who just learned to walk to me! You always will be, fufufu~~," Yunfeng laughed, finally sensing Meilin’s Qi.
Her eyes widened and she took a step back in shock. How had Meilin advanced so much in such a short time?
The porcelain beauty needed only a moment to understand what her mother was thinking, turning her face to Qingyi.
"It’s all thanks to my husband and my other sisters as well," she said honestly, her mother’s attention shifting from her to the handsome young man watching everything behind them.
"Greetings, mother-in-law. This is Long Qingyi." Qingyi bowed, clasping his fists under Yunfeng’s complicated gaze.
"Hm..." She took a step forward, her hands rising to Qingyi’s face, making him look into her eyes.
"Ah... my little daughter has such good taste in men, even in this she is perfect! You are a lucky man, you know?" Yunfeng laughed, covering her lips elegantly as she took a step back.
She stretched out her hands and rested them on his powerful shoulders.
"I only hope that you will treat my daughter well, respect her, and protect her. If you fail in that, I promise that even if I die, I will make your life a living hell."
Yunfeng spoke so calmly, gently, and naturally that it didn’t even seem like a threat, maintaining the same calmness and love with which she looked at her daughter, only now focused on Qingyi.
"He won’t fail in that, Mother." Meilin stepped between the two.
"Let’s just go home, okay? Dad is already finishing up the last details of the wedding, and I want you there when I go to choose my dress."
"Hm..." Yunfeng thought for a moment before nodding, waving to her servants to take care of her ship before grabbing her daughter’s hand and quickening her pace, leaving Qingyi and the guard behind.
’Ah... that woman.’ Qingyi smiled bitterly, stretching before quickening his pace as well.
He didn’t dislike people like Yunfeng, quite the contrary.
In the end, what was better than a person who knew what they wanted and made it clear?