Chapter 151: Chasing

Shen Anran stood in the pitch-black night, gazing at Ruan Zhenhui's retreating figure, her delicate brows furrowing deeper.

She hesitated for a moment where she stood, knowing she shouldn't follow her mother.

But Ruan Zhenhui's unusual behavior tonight truly worried her; Shen Anran couldn't let it go, so in the end, she decided to secretly tail her.

Not long after, Ruan Zhenhui's figure darted like a nightingale, effortlessly avoiding the servants and night patrols through her familiarity with the estate's paths, moving swiftly through the vast compound.

Meanwhile, Shen Anran followed without a single misstep, yet the farther they went, the more uneasy and puzzled her expression became.

Because the direction Ruan Zhenhui was heading was precisely where her father, Shen Liancheng, resided.

At that moment, Li Mu, who had been searching in the direction Hu Rui'an had taken but found no trace of him, suddenly halted atop a courtyard roof.

He squinted slightly, gazing at the mother and daughter trailing each other ahead in the night, then raised an eyebrow and thought to himself:

"They seem quite familiar with this estate—should I ask them for directions?"

Zhanlu Estate was indeed large, with complex, numerous paths, and every courtyard built nearly identically—it was easy to get lost and hard to find anyone.

As Li Mu pondered, Ruan Zhenhui arrived at a grand, solemn courtyard and stopped.

The courtyard ahead was pitch-black, the gate slightly ajar, the rooms inside unlit, as if no one were home.

Ruan Zhenhui stood anxiously at the gate, clearly hesitating for a moment, then cautiously called out into the courtyard:

"Liancheng, are you there?"

Her voice rang clearly through the night, but no one answered.

Seeing this, Ruan Zhenhui's expression shifted slightly, and she asked again.

Still no reply. She seemed to relax, exhaling softly.

In an instant, her figure flickered through the half-open gate and vanished into the courtyard.

Shen Anran, who had watched this from nearby, her skin like congealed fat, wore a shifting, conflicted expression.

For a moment, she seemed unable to accept that her own mother would sneak into her father's courtyard—and in the manner of a thief.

Yet Shen Anran quickly calmed herself.

She neither rushed into the courtyard to reveal herself and stop Ruan Zhenhui, nor did she leave, pretending she saw nothing.

She retreated into the darkness behind her, guarding the courtyard's edge, silently waiting.

Shen Anran knew her mother's nature well, so she believed there must be some hidden truth she didn't understand.

Right now, she only wanted to secretly find out why her mother was doing this.

Not long after, Ruan Zhenhui emerged from the courtyard with a look of relief, holding in her hand a special porcelain bottle.

Yet she didn't linger; immediately, she hurried back the way she came.

Watching from the shadows, Shen Anran did nothing extra—she simply continued silently following.

In the deeper darkness, Li Mu rubbed his chin, his gaze returning from the porcelain bottle in Ruan Zhenhui's hand.

He noticed the bottle matched exactly the one carried by the estate steward, used to hold the Zui Xian Death antidote.

"Could this aunt be sneaking here to steal the antidote—to save someone?"

Li Mu's expression turned thoughtful.

After a moment's consideration, he moved silently, following after her.

He truly had no clue where Hu Rui'an was, nor did he know where the esteemed Lord Hu had vanished after being poisoned.

Now, he could only treat a dead horse as if it were still alive.

Not long after Ruan Zhenhui and the others left, a shadow appeared silently, like a ghost, in the once-dark, empty courtyard.

Lord Shen Liancheng of the estate, clad in a black cloud-patterned robe, stood with his hands behind his back, his brows like ink-brushed mountains, gazing at the direction Ruan Zhenhui had vanished, his eyes deep and unreadable.

The next instant, Shen Liancheng became a lingering afterimage and vanished from his spot, slipping away without a sound.

Ruan Zhenhui sped through the estate, moving even faster than before, returning safely to her own courtyard without incident.

The moment she returned, she rushed to her room, lit the lamps, pulled back the curtains, and urgently checked on Hu Rui'an's condition.

Ruan Zhenhui knew well: if Zui Xian Death poisoned too deeply and the antidote wasn't administered in time, the victim might remain in a permanent coma, never waking again.

She immediately gave Hu Rui'an the antidote. Soon after, he slowly opened his eyes—but his body was weak, his martial Qi unresponsive, unable even to speak.

Meanwhile, atop the room's roof, Shen Anran, dressed in a green long dress, crouched carefully on the tiles, moved one tile aside, secretly observing the scene within.

Seeing a strange man lying on her mother's bed—and Ruan Zhenhui tenderly feeding him medicine—

Her expression turned utterly incredulous; she nearly lost her composure and cried out.

But she clamped her hand over her mouth in time, suppressing any sound—yet suddenly, a man's voice sounded beside her:

"So you're hiding here. This Lord Hu's got some interesting things going on."

Instantly, Shen Anran's spirit trembled; her entire body tensed, and she whirled her head toward the side.

There, beside her, crouched a strikingly handsome young man, rubbing his chin, peering curiously through the tile hole at the scene below.

She had sensed absolutely nothing—had no idea when he had appeared.

In fact, had he not spoken aloud, she would never have noticed him so close.

Realizing this, Shen Anran immediately channeled her internal Qi, instantly retreating backward like a fluttering swallow, leaping soundlessly over a dozen feet to land silently on the other side of the roof.

At once, Shen Anran was on full alert, watching the crouching Li Mu with wary suspicion.

Yet she dared not speak out loud, lest she alert her mother inside the room.

Meanwhile, Li Mu paid no mind to Shen Anran's reaction; he merely stared at Hu Rui'an and Ruan Zhenhui below, his expression strange.

He truly hadn't expected Lord Hu to be this kind of Lord Hu—claiming he'd sneak into Zhanlu Estate to remove obstacles for the campaign against Luoshen Peak.

Yet here he was, sneaking around with the estate's aunt.

He always seemed so proper, an older man still sneaking out behind people to meet and flirt—truly not doing anything worthwhile.

(End of Chapter)