Self-struggle starting from Douluo

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Zhuang of Zheng made the State of Zheng very powerful, which led to the Zhou Dynasty's government being controlled by the State of Zheng.

King Ping of Zhou was dissatisfied, so he took advantage of the time when Duke Zhuang of Zheng was dealing with civil strife to elevate Duke Guo's status, attempting to have him replace Duke Zhuang of Zheng.

Duke Zhuang of Zheng naturally refused, and returned to Luoyang in a forceful manner, questioning the Zhou emperor "what his intentions were", forcing the Zhou emperor to send Crown Prince Ji Hu to Zheng as a hostage.

"The exchange of hostages between Zhou and Zheng" was the first time that the authority of the Zhou emperor was trampled upon.

After King Ping of Zhou died, Ji Hu, who was supposed to succeed him, died of illness just after arriving in Luoyang, and his grandson Ji Lin, King Heng of Zhou, succeeded him.

The young and energetic King Heng of Zhou was fearless and unceremoniously dismissed Duke Zhuang of Zheng from his post, which led to the hostility between Zheng and Zhou.

After Duke Zhuang of Zheng was dismissed, he was furious and unwilling to give in. He deliberately sent troops to harvest all the wheat in Wen State and cut down all the rice ears outside Chengzhou. These two places were directly under the jurisdiction of the Zhou emperor.

"Duke Zhuang of Zheng harvesting wheat" is the authority of the Zhou emperor being trampled upon for the second time.

Later, the five countries attacked Zheng, but were defeated by Duke Zhuang of Zheng. They then attacked Song in the name of the Zhou emperor, swallowed Dai and destroyed Xu. This was the third time that the authority of the Zhou emperor was trampled upon.

After these three attempts, not only Duke Zhuang of Zheng, but other vassal states also saw the weakness of the Zhou emperor and their respect for him greatly decreased.

In order to restore his authority, King Heng of Zhou personally led his troops to attack the State of Zheng, but was shot in the left shoulder by an arrow from Duke Zhuang of Zheng on the battlefield.

In this way, the authority of the Zhou emperor was completely destroyed, and the road to hegemony for the various vassal states was thus opened!
……

The Zhuxian Guard is equivalent to the authority of the Zhou emperor. Once they fail to achieve their goals, their authority will inevitably be greatly reduced.

After calming down, Bai Jingting asked, "How can it be so influential if it's just a name?"

Qing Huan shook his head and said: "The Forest Guard is just a guarding army. As long as the "forest" is not cut off, the Forest Guard can be repeatedly established. Moreover, if there are Forest Guards, there can also be Grass Guards, Flower Guards... and so on. Therefore, the Forest Guard can be defeated.

But the Immortal Execution Guards are almost targeting by name. If they fail to kill the immortals, then they are unworthy of the name and naturally have no deterrent effect. "

The grandfather and grandson looked at each other, and after a long while, Bai Jingting sighed and said, "I was wrong!"

Qing Huan comforted him, “Fortunately, most of the immortals are inexperienced and not united, and no one dares to take risks, so the reputation of the Immortal Executioner Guard can last for a while.

However, if we fail to achieve our goal and kill the immortals again and again, then this army will have no deterrent power at all!"

Bai Jingting sighed and said, "No wonder the emperor was frightened into abdicating. His only confidence didn't work. Perhaps this is another reason why he hopes that the Zhenguo Mansion will disappear."

Qing Huan smiled and said, "After all, I have been the emperor for so long, I can still see this truth clearly."

Bai Jingting looked tired and said, "I'm tired. I'll arrange for someone to handle your identity. Ying'er, take him to settle down first and don't let the news leak out for the time being."

Bai Zhuying nodded, carefully helped Bai Jingting lie down, tucked in the quilt for him, and then signaled Qinghuan to follow with her eyes.

Qinghuan silently bowed to Bai Jingting and followed Bai Zhuying out.

……

The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion covers a large area, with red walls, green willows, towering rockery, lush trees and colorful flowers and plants inside.

Bai Zhuying took Qinghuan and walked along an elegant and quiet bluestone path without saying a word. Her graceful figure swayed in front of Qinghuan's eyes.

"How old are you?" Bai Zhuying suddenly asked.

Qing Huan said truthfully: "Sixteen."

Bai Zhuying stood still, turned around and looked at Qinghuan, and said, "I'm nineteen, you can call me sister."

Qing Huan thought for a moment and said, "The Duke has not yet arranged a status for me. Maybe the one he arranges for me is older than you? Maybe you will even call me uncle... or something like that."

Bai Zhuying looked at Qinghuan quietly, then suddenly smiled and said, "Grandpa will let me arrange your identity."

This smile almost made Qing Huan's eyes dazzled...

Fortunately, he calmed down in time, and Qing Huan said, "Then let's talk about it after the identity is arranged."

Bai Zhuying did not comment, turned around and continued to lead the way, saying: "Then I will call you my younger brother first. No matter whether you can solve the Bai family's predicament or not, I will be grateful to you.

Now that you are here, Grandpa is obviously more relaxed. I know that Grandpa has been enduring and persisting. I know the pain he has gone through..."

Qing Huan hesitated and did not reply. Bai Zhuying continued, "The Bai family of the Duke of Zhenguo has been in existence since my great-grandfather. My great-grandfather was granted the title of Marquis, and my grandfather inherited it and went a step further, being granted the title of Duke..."

Bai Zhuying was introducing the Bai family, and Qinghuan listened carefully.

The interpersonal relationships in a large family are really complicated!
The Bai family started out as a marquis, who had seven sons and four daughters, including two legitimate sons and one legitimate daughter.

After Marquis Bai died, the title was inherited by Bai Jingting and the family was divided. In this way, the Bai family had seven branches, and Bai Jingting's lineage was the main branch.

Bai Jingting is not dead yet, so this main branch has not yet split up.

Bai Jingting had three sons and two daughters. His eldest son had a son and a daughter, and Bai Zhuying was the eldest daughter.

The second son had three sons and two daughters, one legitimate son and one illegitimate daughter, two illegitimate sons and one illegitimate daughter. Miss Bai II was the legitimate daughter of the second wife, and she also had a younger sister who was born out of wedlock.

The third son had two sons and one daughter, and Miss Bai was the third daughter of the third wife.

All the male members of the Bai family have died, so now the Bai family has three legitimate daughters and one illegitimate daughter.

But the wives of the three sons of the Bai family are still alive, as well as the grandsons' wives, the illegitimate grandsons' wives... and so on. Together they still make a big family.

Add to that three generations of daughters who married out, and this series of relationships makes things a headache.

Qinghuan just listened and didn't take it to heart. It had little to do with him.

However, Qinghuan noticed the only surviving male in the Bai family. He was the illegitimate son of Bai Jingting's third son who had an affair.

However, for his safety, he was not brought into the palace and was kept outside.

Bai Zhuying didn't say where it was kept, and Qinghuan didn't ask.

……

They walked all the way to a remote courtyard without meeting anyone along the way. Needless to say, this was another special arrangement by the Bai family.

Standing at the gate of the courtyard, Bai Zhuying said: "The building next door is the library, and the martial arts training ground is in the past of the library. Except for me, no one else in the Bai family practices martial arts, so although my courtyard is in the inner courtyard, it is close to the martial arts training ground.

Normally, no one comes here, so you can settle down here now. I will arrange for someone to deliver your daily food and drink."

Qing Huan bowed and said, "Thank you for your help."

Bai Zhuying hesitated for a moment, then suddenly pouted her lips and let out a clear, short whistle.

The next moment, a figure appeared silently behind her. She was a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a pretty face and a good figure, but her pair of black and white eyes were filled with confusion.

His cheeks puffed up and his mouth was still chewing. He looked at Bai Zhuying and then at Qinghuan.

Then, with some pain in his heart, he took out a pine nut candy from the pouch on his waist and handed it to Qing Huan: "Eat candy!"

Qing Huan smiled and asked softly, "Is it sweet? I don't like it if it's not sweet."

The girl nodded repeatedly and said crisply, "It's very sweet. If you don't believe me, try it."

"Then I'll try it." Qing Huan took the pine nut candy from her hand, put it in her mouth, squinted her eyes, and said, "Hmm... It's so sweet!"

The girl immediately grinned happily and said, "I told you it was sweet. You're a good person."

Bai Zhuying looked at the two of them in surprise and said, "This is the first time I've seen Yin Shuang getting close to someone else... Her name is Yin Shuang, and she was once the number one martial artist in the Bai family!
It's just that when I was trying to reach the seventh level, I lost my mind and ended up like this."

Qing Huan raised her eyebrows slightly: "Seventh rank?"

According to what the old man said, martial arts above the seventh rank have not yet been created, right?

Bai Zhuying pulled Yin Shuang over with pity, wiped the corners of her mouth for her, and said: "After Master Zhuang left, we have no clue about martial arts above the seventh rank.

Currently, the highest level of martial arts is the sixth level, but many people are trying to find a way to enter the seventh level.

Yin Shuang is the youngest sixth-rank warrior, and is also the warrior with the greatest hope of finding the path to the seventh rank, but... Alas! "

Yin Shuang grinned at Bai Zhuying obediently. (End of this chapter)