Yun Chuji had been raised in a family steeped in Confucian values. For her, respecting the elderly and caring for the young was practically etched into her DNA.
Therefore, she could never bring herself to let a woman in her seventies protect them.
However, it seemed this was no longer a matter of what she wanted.
Before her stood her grandmother, luggage packed and dressed in exceptionally neat attire. Among her belongings was a particularly conspicuous item—the weapon she had been training with for days.
Yun Chuji realized Gu Yun was serious.
She turned and gestured to Tang Jianxi, hoping she would quickly try to talk some sense into her. Even if her grandmother was still hale and hearty, eating more than Yun Chuji herself at a single meal, her age was undeniable. She should be enjoying a peaceful retirement, not running around with them in dangerous places. Such an act was the very definition of unfilial.
Tang Jianxi caught Yun Chuji’s glance and, after a moment’s thought, said to her enthusiastic grandmother, “Grandmother Chu Meng won’t agree to you coming with us.”
To handle a naturally A-Virtuous alpha like Gu Yun, the best method was to bring up her omega.
To their surprise, Gu Yun just smiled smugly. She looked fifty at most, and her smile even had a dash of dashing charm. “Haha, I already asked Mengmeng! If she hadn’t agreed, how could I possibly leave my Mengmeng to go out with you two little brats?”
Tang Jianxi: “…”
Yun Chuji: “…”
Your proud expression and your overly, overly henpecked words are truly blinding.
Unwittingly subjected to a public display of affection by their elder, Tang Jianxi and Yun Chuji were temporarily speechless. After all, in terms of actual combat ability, even factoring in her age, Gu Yun was likely not much weaker than Yun Chuji. In her youth, she had relied on her strength to forcefully drive away all of Chu Meng’s suitors—though winning her heart had relied on her exceptionally professional A-Virtue.
But the problem was her age. Tang Jianxi quickly realized that this grandmother of hers, who was as docile as an undifferentiated youth on Marshal Chu Meng’s territory, had been a notorious troublemaker everywhere else. When she was young, it was one thing to go around beating up alphas, but it was different now that she was older. Whether she could win a fight was one question; it would be a great sin if she accidentally broke a bone while throwing a punch.
So, to verify Gu Yun’s claim, Tang Jianxi made the rather unfilial choice to ask Chu Meng. After all, Grandmother Chu Meng was always thorough and kept Gu Yun on a tight leash. If she had truly agreed, it probably meant she felt Gu Yun was perfectly capable of handling the situation.
Enduring Gu Yun’s resentful glare, Tang Jianxi called Chu Meng. After about a minute, Chu Meng’s calm voice filled the air: “Let Gu Yun go with you.”
“But, Grandmother, we have our own bodyguards.”
Chu Meng replied faintly, “But your bodyguards aren’t the partner of the Omega Legion’s Marshal.”
Ah, Tang Jianxi had a sudden realization. So, in reality, was Gu Yun’s role that of a mascot?
A deterrent function, something along the lines of, ‘If you dare touch me, I’ll have my wife send troops to beat you to death’?
Reassured, Tang Jianxi spoke a few more words with Chu Meng, getting an update on the current external situation. Then, she looked at Gu Yun, who was showing off her modular K85 weapon, with a strange expression.
She had to admit, with Gu Yun present, most nobles would think twice before making a move.
And for the most part, the touching scene of a seventy-year-old woman protecting her granddaughters was unlikely to occur. Tang Jianxi gave Yun Chuji a slight nod, then turned to Gu Yun with a helpless sigh and instructed, “Grandmother, no matter what happens, please don’t be impulsive.”
Gu Yun folded the weapon back into its original block shape and put it in her backpack. Her solid biceps were quite eye-catching. She shrugged and said, “I was just joking with you. You two little ones are always so grim-faced. Don’t you know you should turn to the adults when you run into trouble?”
It was true. Neither their experience nor the resources they could mobilize could compare to Marshal Chu Meng’s. It was precisely because of Chu Meng’s protection that Yun Chuji had been able to livestream in peace these past few days.
But Yun Chuji didn’t want to become a dry symbol or a dull storyteller. She couldn’t separate herself from the real situation in that way; it would make everything she preached seem utterly hypocritical.
“We have challenges we must face on our own,” Yun Chuji replied with a wry smile.
Gu Yun simply looked at her with the tolerant gaze of someone with more experience, patted her shoulder, and said in a resonant voice, “I’ll supervise your training.”
The three of them boarded a ship and headed for the Imperial Capital Star.
John was from the Imperial Capital Star. His family lived in the fifth ring of C-District, belonged to the middle class, and owned a medium-sized company.
In recent days, as the influence of that vicious incident grew, traditional alphas led by Prince Emile had once again gained the upper hand in public opinion. They attacked the radical actions of the A-Virtue faction and Spartacus for disrupting the originally peaceful lives of the empire’s people.
They claimed that the omega groups, led by Spartacus, were exaggerating the suffering of omegas merely for their own gain.
They had plenty of “evidence” for this: the rising prices of omega products, the increasing number of attacks on omegas, and the growing number of omegas who, during their heats, blindly chose to endure with inhibitors or willpower out of distrust for alphas, resulting in irreversible glandular damage.
Under these circumstances, John’s family undoubtedly became the center of attention. Their deceased son was seen as a criminal by some and a hero by others—it all depended on the visitor’s stance.
Overwhelmed by the harassment, John’s family soon began refusing all interviews, maintaining a tight-lipped silence in response to all inquiries.
The interview footage currently circulating and being repeatedly played on the StarNet was from before they stopped talking.
In the interview released by Emile’s faction, John’s mother said sorrowfully, “John was always a good boy who loved to help others. I can’t imagine him doing something like that.”
Meanwhile, in the interview released by Spartacus and Lucia’s faction, John’s father said guiltily, “I deeply regret that this happened. I hope all the victims can make it through this crisis in good health.”
The conflict hadn’t stopped; it had merely changed its form.
It was at this moment that Yun Chuji and the others arrived.
However, they didn’t go to John’s home first. They began by visiting all the involved parties and victims’ families who had agreed to meet with them.
These were not easy visits. Even the families of the protestors received them with hearts full of resentment. It was less a reception and more an opportunity for them to find an outlet for their pent-up anger.
The families of the alphas who had participated in the street brawl were even worse. Most were only willing to spare them a glance because of Gu Yun. Fortunately, Yun Chuji’s purpose wasn’t to change their minds or put on a show for the media. She simply wanted to compensate, as much as possible, the people who had been affected by the changes A-Virtue had brought.
However, not all the meetings were bad.
While visiting one of the alphas from the brawl, Yun Chuji and Tang Jianxi were unexpectedly treated with courtesy.
Yun Chuji knew very well this wasn’t because of the money or gifts she brought. After all, this was the fifth ring; the amount of money was only enough to cover the patient’s hospitalization and subsequent recovery costs. And the gifts, while somewhat unusual, included advanced inhibitors and newly developed alpha rut-assisting medication from Tang Jianxi, as well as bauhinia pastries designed by Yun Chuji based on imperial customs (made by Ms. Gu Yun) and a wellness sachet she had personally blended.
This patient had unfortunately been hit in the thigh with a bottle. With the empire’s current medical technology, it wouldn’t affect her ability to walk in the future, but it still required a week of bed rest.
When Yun Chuji and the others arrived, the patient, named Sara, was undergoing rehabilitation with the help of an AI nurse.
Yun Chuji’s face was highly recognizable. In recent times, she was perhaps one of the most famous people in the entire empire.
When Sara saw her and the group of people behind her, her expression changed instantly. “What do you want?”
Yun Chuji was already used to this scene. Hearing the question, she hefted the gifts in her hands and said, “Miss Sara, we’ve come here out of pure goodwill. At the same time, I am very sorry for the impact this has had on your life.”
Sara eyed them suspiciously for a moment, then cautiously took out her comm and scanned the area. Only after confirming there were no recording devices did she relent and let them into the hospital room.
A nearby AI attendant brought them fruit. The stark white single room, now filled with Yun Chuji, Tang Jianxi, Gu Yun, and their two AI bodyguards, seemed almost lively. After returning to her room, Sara, with the attendant’s help, half-reclined on the bed. After resting for a moment, she looked at Yun Chuji, who was sitting primly to the side, and said, “I don’t want to get involved in the disputes of you big shots. I only got involved that day because I couldn’t stand how arrogant that group of protestors was. And, well, I’ve learned my lesson.”
Sara shifted her injured leg slightly, making her position perfectly clear.
But for Yun Chuji’s group, Sara’s respectful but distant attitude was already considered above average—at least it was much better than the other patients and families who had pointed at them and called them conspirators.
Yun Chuji quickly put on a gentle smile, took a card from her pocket, and said sincerely, “We truly have no other reason for visiting you today. If I had to name one, it would be the hope that you would accept this card and these gifts. You can rest assured, all the money on this card comes from donations to the A-Virtue livestream. Since you were harmed because of A-Virtue, then A-Virtue should compensate you.”
Sara was stunned. She took out her comm again, but still couldn’t detect any recording devices in the air.
Finally, she said cautiously, “Has anyone ever told you that you’re pretty strange?”
Yun Chuji blinked, smiled softly, and said, “Mm, in the past, many people have asked if I was sick in the head.”
Sara stared at her with a horrified expression. “I knew it! No normal person would ever come up with something like A-Virtue!”
Yun Chuji didn’t get angry. Instead, she went along with it and asked, “What kind of thing do you think A-Virtue is, Miss Sara?”
Sara rubbed her chin, glanced cautiously at the two bodyguards behind Yun Chuji and the particularly imposing Ms. Gu Yun, then at the functioning surveillance monitor in the hallway and the AI attendant in the room.
She wasn’t an extremist alpha. Like John, she was an alpha who didn’t have strong feelings about A-Virtue. As long as it didn’t bother her directly, she was usually quite reasonable and didn’t harbor any chauvinistic delusions that alphas must be superior.
So she said frankly, “I think A-Virtue is an idealistic dream. I believe it will pass sooner or later. It might cause a lot of turmoil, but that won’t be because of what it is in itself.”
“In itself, it’s just an empty dream.”
This was also why Sara wasn’t interested in A-Virtue. She had only gotten involved in the incident because she had been provoked.
Hearing this, Yun Chuji was silent for a long time. Tang Jianxi, sitting beside her, squeezed her hand, much to the envy of the single Sara.
Then, Yun Chuji replied, “There are many things in this world that are solved with realism. And they are all solved very well. I used to think that was amazing. Later, after reading some books, I gradually understood that a realistic solution is actually just choosing the path most likely to succeed from all possible solutions. And those successful paths are generally paths of downward compatibility.”
“If, as you say, A-Virtue is just an idealistic dream, then I hope it can bring a bit of upward-moving air to this world.”
At this, a gentle smile appeared on Yun Chuji’s serious face. “At the very least, for an alpha, to receive an omega’s sense of security—one not born from fear or anxiety—that in itself is something to be happy about, isn’t it?”
Sara tilted her head and scanned the air for recording devices a third time, while also checking the recording device she herself was using.
Alright, the truth was, she was a newly hired intern journalist.
She had been at the scene of the incident to find a story. She had found one, but because she got injured, a senior colleague had stolen the credit.
But that didn’t matter.
She had found a bigger story now.
Sara smiled and said, “Miss Yun, I have to admit, in this conflict filled with conspiracy and violence, you possess a purity and kindness that would surprise anyone.”
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