294: Chapter 74 Misfortunes Never Come Singly

Hearing Qin Hongmian's Soul-searching question, Qiao Feng was instantly dumbfounded, his mind filled with question marks.

Duan Zhengchun is my biological father?

What is going on?!

Didn't my father die thirty years ago?

Besides, I am a Khitan, and Duan Zhengchun is from Dali!

Could it be...

Thinking of a certain possibility, Qiao Feng quickly asked Duan Zhengchun, who was being supported by Ruan Xingzhu and Qin Hongmian: "You weren't the leader of the group during the Yanmen Pass incident thirty years ago?"

"What leader?" Duan Zhengchun's voice was weak, his pale face full of confusion.

The quick-witted Ruan Xingzhu instantly reacted and retorted to Qiao Feng: "Aren't you the romantic debt left behind by Brother Chun outside?"

Qiao Feng's eyes widened: "The sins and wicked deeds you speak of refer to romantic debts?!"

"What else would it be?" Qin Hongmian realized something was wrong at this moment and asked with an angry expression.

Seeing the expressions on the three people were not feigned, Qiao Feng was struck as if by lightning.

Seeing this, Duan Zhengchun and the other two also understood that there seemed to be some misunderstanding, and they couldn't help but look at each other.

The next second, Qiao Feng snapped back to his senses, hurried forward, and wanted to heal Duan Zhengchun.

Qin Hongmian adopted a defensive posture and asked vigilantly: "What do you want to do?"

Qiao Feng said: "Heal Duke Duan."

With that, regardless of whether Qin Hongmian and Ruan Xingzhu agreed, he directly sent out a gentle stream of Qi to stabilize Duan Zhengchun, pushed the two women aside, then walked behind Duan Zhengchun, sat down cross-legged, placed his palms against his back, and began channeling Internal Energy to heal him.

However, Qiao Feng's Internal Energy healing was merely a basic skill gained from achieving success in Martial Arts; it couldn't be considered profound or powerful.

After outputting Qi for a while, he only managed to stabilize Duan Zhengchun's condition, preventing his injuries from worsening temporarily.

After finishing, Qiao Feng showed shame: "My abilities are limited. Duke Duan's injuries will likely only fully recover if a master of medicine intervenes."

Then, he resolutely guaranteed: "Please rest assured, sirs. This matter is Qiao's fault, and Qiao will take full responsibility until the end. If Duke Duan suffers any mishap, Qiao will certainly repay the debt with his life."

Duan Zhengchun, now supported by Ruan Xingzhu and Qin Hongmian, felt speechless upon hearing this.

I'm not dead yet, and you're already thinking of repaying with your life. Is this supposed to wish me dead or wish me alive?

Qin Hongmian angrily stated: "How can your life compare to Brother Chun's?"

"If Brother Chun has any accident, I will definitely slice you into ten thousand pieces, making you wish for death but unable to find it!"

Ruan Xingzhu sighed helplessly.

It was true that Qiao Feng held some responsibility for this matter, but Duan Zhengchun himself also had issues. If he hadn't left so many romantic debts outside, such a misunderstanding wouldn't have arisen.

But saying this now was useless.

She pulled Qin Hongmian's sleeve and said: "Sister Qin, now is not the time to be angry. The most urgent thing is to find a master of medicine to save Brother Chun."

Seeing Ruan Xingzhu say this, Qin Hongmian suppressed her anger and said helplessly: "I know that, but where is a master of medicine so easy to find?"

After speaking, she glared at Duan Zhengchun again and said hatefully: "I told you, you would eventually die because of your romantic debts."

Duan Zhengchun: "..."

He desperately wanted to argue but was powerless to refute.

Because of the misunderstanding, Duan Zhengchun thought Qiao Feng was one of his romantic debts from outside. Feeling guilty, he agreed to duel him. He thought it was just a romantic debt; at most, he would get beaten up to let the other party vent their anger, just like last time with Wang Yuyan.

Who knew Qiao Feng was here to take his life, escalating things immediately!

If he hadn't seen the situation was wrong and temporarily blocked and evaded, and if his Martial Arts weren't decent, he might have ended up like A Zhu in the original plot, dying on the spot.

What stung even more was that after taking such a heavy blow, he found out in the end that it was all a misunderstanding.

This...

Duan Zhengchun wanted to curse someone for the first time.

Damn it! If he had known it was a misunderstanding, he must have been out of his mind to agree to fight Qiao Feng.

But digging to the root of the matter, he couldn't entirely blame others; who told him he had accumulated so many romantic debts that he couldn't even remember them all?

Therefore, Duan Zhengchun could only swallow his bitterness.

Just then, Duan Yu, Zhu Danchen, and Chu Wanli returned.

After Duan Zhengchun's group left Canhe Village, Qin Hongmian stormed off in anger. Duan Zhengchun chased for a while but failed to catch up, causing his unhealed injuries to show signs of worsening. Thus, he had to give up chasing Qin Hongmian and planned to find a place to recuperate first.

With this thought, Duan Zhengchun ran to Xiao Jing Lake.

Near Xiao Jing Lake lived his other lover, Ruan Xingzhu.

Ruan Xingzhu was the birth mother of A Zhu and A Zi.

Although she bore Duan Zhengchun two daughters, she never competed or fought for anything, nor did she marry, choosing instead to live in seclusion alone.

When Duan Zhengchun came to find her, she treated him gently, just like in the old days.

If he wanted to leave, she wouldn't force him to stay.

Ruan Xingzhu was an unqualified mother, but an excellent lover—one could even call her an ideal type.

Among all of Duan Zhengchun's women, she was probably the one who pleased him the most. This could be seen from the fact that Qin Hongmian, Gan Baobao, and others only bore Duan Zhengchun one daughter each, while Ruan Xingzhu successively had A Zhu and A Zi.

However, Duan Zhengchun was incorrigibly flirtatious; no matter how much he liked a woman, he wouldn't cling to her.

It had been a long time since his last meeting with Ruan Xingzhu.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Upon arriving at Xiao Jing Lake, Duan Zhengchun and Ruan Xingzhu were naturally extremely affectionate.

Qin Hongmian saw that Duan Zhengchun hadn't come to find her and knew immediately that he had run off to enjoy himself elsewhere. In her anger, she also thought of Ruan Xingzhu and ran to Xiao Jing Lake as well.

Then, as expected, a scene of domestic chaos unfolded at Xiao Jing Lake.

Duan Yu already found the excessive affection between Duan Zhengchun and Ruan Xingzhu somewhat distasteful, but being a Junior, it was inappropriate for him to say anything.

When Qin Hongmian arrived later, the scene became even more awkward.

Duan Yu could no longer bear it and proposed leaving.

Duan Zhengchun felt it was indeed inappropriate for Duan Yu to stay there and happily agreed, telling him to go walk around and clear his head somewhere else. To ensure his safety, he ordered Zhu Danchen and Chu Wanli to follow and guard him.

Duan Yu and the other two returning this time was not because they had finished their outing and naturally came back; rather, they had encountered an unexpected situation.

While eating at a nearby Market Town, they happened to hear that the Four Evils were looking for Duan Zhengchun and had already arrived in the vicinity.

Duan Yanqing was leading this matter.

He desperately wanted to find an opportunity to reclaim the throne.

Duan Zhengming had previously designated Duan Zhengchun as the heir to the throne to extinguish his ambitions.

When Duan Yanqing learned of this, he saw through Duan Zhengming's intentions and was filled with resentment.

The rebellion thirty years ago had nothing to do with Duan Zhengming or Duan Zhengchun; the former's throne was purely a stroke of luck, picking up a windfall.

Therefore, although Duan Yanqing was indignant, he didn't hate them. Remembering that the two were also of the Duan clan and his relatives, he didn't harbor murderous intent.

Setting up the scheme to cause scandals involving Duan Yu and Zhong Ling was solely for the purpose of reclaiming the throne.

But Duan Zhengming's action of naming Duan Zhengchun the Crown Prince clearly showed he didn't want Duan Yanqing to ascend the throne, which Duan Yanqing could not tolerate.

Thus, along with his resentment, he developed murderous intent.

All talk of being unrelated to the past turmoil, belonging to the Duan clan, or being relatives was dismissed.

If you block my path and oppose me, then you must die!

Initially, Duan Yanqing wanted to go to Dali to kill Duan Zhengming, the legitimate ruler, but the other party had already become a monk at Tianlong Temple.

Duan Yanqing was very clear about the situation at Tianlong Temple and knew he couldn't succeed there.

So, he could only shift his target to Duan Zhengchun.

The Crown Prince, the future ruler of the Dali Kingdom? Just eliminate him!

Duan Zhengchun was used to roaming outside and rarely concealed his whereabouts. Consequently, after some inquiries, Duan Yanqing and the other three found the area near Xiao Jing Lake.

Duan Zhengchun and his group learned this news from Duan Yu, and their hearts cried out in distress.

Duan Zhengchun had just suffered severe injuries due to a misunderstanding, and now the Four Evils had arrived—truly, misfortunes never came singly!

However, before they could discuss countermeasures, a frivolous and mocking voice drifted over from the distance.

"There are two great beauties here too. My luck is made!"