Chapter 4: The Man Who Brought Shame on the Shen Family!

"Young Lady, the preserved fruits, sugar figurines, snowflake crisps, and water chestnut cake you wanted…"

The round-faced girl with twin bun hairstyle, clutching over a dozen snacks, hurried back.

The moment she climbed onto the carriage and saw the scene before her, her eyes went wide as saucers, and she stammered, "Young Lady, y-y-you're…"

"I don know eitha, he rusht in himslef."

Shen Zhixia swallowed the osmanthus cake stuck in her throat, pounded her chest hard, and after great difficulty got her breathing back in order. "He said he was the son of the Mao Youfu… the Mao Youfu…"

"Mao Youfu Censor-in-Chief?"

Qing'er calmed herself down and said, frowning.

Shen Zhixia nodded. "Right, the son of the Mao Youfu Censor-in-Chief, and he even asked me to see him home."

Qing'er took a deep breath and asked, "Young Lady, do you still remember why we came out?"

"Of course I remember. I was hungry, so I came out to forage." Seeing Qing'er's forlorn gaze, Shen Zhixia added, "And to demand an explanation from that bastard while I'm at it."

Qing'er pointed at Chen Mo and said through gritted teeth, "We've been staking this place out for an hour, waiting for him! He's Chen Mo! The man who unilaterally tore up the engagement for a woman of the streets and brought shame on the entire Shen family!"

Shen Zhixia was stunned by the words.

She reached out, hoisted Chen Mo up, and examined him closely.

His complexion was fair as porcelain, his features as beautiful as a jade crown, the knife-carved lines of his face sharp and distinct.

Even with his eyes tightly shut, a familiar air could still be glimpsed between his brows.

—He really was her "fiancé" she hadn't seen in years.

"Young Lady, what do you make of it?"

"He's good-looking. I like looking at him."

"???"

"I meant how do you see this matter!"

Qing'er stamped her foot, indignant. "Look at his weak, listless state — he must have done something unspeakable with that fox-woman!"

"In broad daylight, and right after breaking off the engagement he's already this debauched, and to top it off he shared a carriage with you… If word of this gets out, how will you ever hold your head up again?"

Shen Zhixia pinched her smooth, rounded chin and nodded. "You have a point."

Qing'er breathed a sigh of relief. "So…"

"So as long as we don't let it leak out, isn't that fine?"

"…"

"Anyway, only you know about this. If I hear any rumors, I'll have you caned."

"…"

Qing'er's expression looked as though she were constipated.

"Pfft."

Shen Zhixia broke into a smile, reached out and rubbed her little head. "Alright, I'm just teasing you. What do other people's opinions have to do with me? Besides, he only tore up the engagement letter — he never got the elders' approval, nor did he formally send a betrothal-breaking document. So nominally, I'm still the Chen family's fiancée."

"But, Young Lady…"

Qing'er tried to say more, but Shen Zhixia cut her off. "In any case, let's get him home first. The rest can wait."

"Yes."

Qing'er sighed.

Her mistress had already given the order, so naturally she didn't dare disobey.

She shot a glare at the unconscious man, then twisted her slender waist and stepped out of the carriage cabin.

Shen Zhixia looked at Chen Mo, a strange glint flashing in her eyes. She grabbed his wrist and channeled a wisp of true essence into him.

A moment later, her willow-leaf brows lifted slightly.

"Meridians in disarray, true qi depleted, body severely overdrawn — looks like he just finished a fight with a powerful enemy."

"Did he come here to meet a lover, or to seek out a foe?"

……

Qing'er went to the front of the carriage, nimbly hopped up onto the driver's seat, took up the reins, and gave them a sharp shake.

"Giddyap!"

The fine steeds neighed and galloped off down the street.

The petite figure handling two tall, large horses with apparent ease — that incongruous scene drew quite a few gazes.

"Look at that crest — isn't that the Shen family's carriage?"

"General Shen has a rule: no Shen family member may set foot in pleasure quarters. Who has the nerve to come openly to this red-light alley?"

"Just now I saw that carriage parked near the Cloud Water Pavilion the whole time…"

The crowd buzzed with discussion.

The Court of Entertainers, the largest money pit in Tiandu City, occupied half a block — the registered singing girls and music girls alone numbered over a thousand.

Among them, there were only five "courtesan queens."

Each had been selected through strict screening — looks, family background, learning all top-tier, each excelling in her own way at the four arts and poetry.

The Cloud Water Pavilion was the residence of the "Zither Fairy" Gu Manzhi.

A standalone courtyard, secluded and tranquil — only invited guests were permitted to enter.

At this moment, a pot-bellied man said, "In my view, the Shen family must have come to demand an explanation."

A bystander asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"You don't know yet?" The fatty looked left and right, lowered his voice, and said mysteriously, "Just today, Chen Mo tore up the engagement letter in public and demanded to break off the engagement. The Shen family is in an uproar!"

"Break off the engagement?"

"For real?"

A wave of murmuring broke out all around.

"I have a nephew serving in the Shen residence—this is the absolute truth!"

Seeing his word being questioned, Fatty's expression darkened, and he tossed out another "bombshell": "And I heard the Shen family's Young Lady has achieved success in the martial Dao, and has already left Martial Saint Mountain to come home to visit her family!"

"That martial-arts fanatic ranked sixth on the Green Cloud Ranking is back?"

"Well, well, this time there's going to be a fine show to watch."

"The Chen and Shen families have been close friends for generations—why has it come to such a state?"

"Need you even ask? In all of Tiandu City, who doesn't know Chen Mo is utterly devoted to Gu Manzhi?"

"For a courtesan queen, he didn't hesitate to fall out with the General's Manor… this Young Master Chen really is a lovesick fool."

"A beauty is a curse upon the realm…"

The murmuring grew ever more heated.

Within the crowd, a gray figure slowly retreated, melting into the shadows.

……

The Music Bureau, Cloud Water Pavilion.

In the bedchamber, Gu Manzhi sat cross-legged; a green glow surfaced at her brow, and on closer look, it turned out to be a shrunken scripture.

"Azure light shields the body, covering my form…"

As she softly chanted the incantation, the pages slowly turned; characters streamed out like a tide, ceaselessly sinking into her body, and her pallid cheeks gradually regained color, her breathing steadying considerably.

But this had only temporarily suppressed her injuries.

The force of those eight palms had been far too ferocious.

Even though the "Lu Qingyu Mirror" had absorbed part of the force, it had still nearly beaten her to death, and the fire poison contained within was still ceaselessly burning her heart meridian.

To fully recover, she would need at least several more months of recuperation.

"I underestimated him."

Gu Manzhi sighed.

No matter how many tricks a sorcerer has, they need space to deploy them; the greatest taboo is letting a martial artist get close.

She had relied on being a full realm above Chen Mo, and inevitably grown overconfident—she hadn't expected Chen Mo to be this strong, his strikes this vicious!

That cold, ruthless look was simply like a completely different person from before!

Thinking on it now, all that attentiveness and meticulous care toward her in the past had been nothing more than playacting…

"Tsk, tsk—who would have thought that Gu the Holy Maiden, long famed for toying with people's hearts, would end up wounded like this by a man?"

At that moment, a teasing voice rang out.

The shadows in a corner twisted, and a figure wrapped in a gray robe stepped out.

Gu Manzhi's brow furrowed. "What are you doing here?"

"Naturally, I've come to watch you make a fool of yourself."

"Wasn't that fellow utterly bewitched by you? What—hunting geese all day, only to have a goose peck out your eye?"

The gray-robed figure's voice was hoarse and grating, impossible to tell as man or woman.

"Those who scheme against others will themselves be schemed against—it's merely mutual calculation."

Facing the mockery, Gu Manzhi's expression remained calm as she said, "Chen Mo came prepared this time; he saw through every move I made… I don't lose unfairly."

"Is that so?"

The gray-robed figure folded their arms, tone playful: "But don't you find it strange? Since he clearly knew it was a trap, why did he still take the risk and come alone?"

"When he clearly could have killed you at the end, why did he still spare your life?"

Gu Manzhi's gaze flickered slightly.

This was also the part she found puzzling.

Given her status, slaying or capturing her alive would both be a Great Achievement for Chen Mo.

There was no reason to let her off so easily…

Especially those words he said at the end—they seemed almost like a warning to her to leave quickly.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Gu Manzhi said in a low voice.

The gray-robed figure shrugged. "I heard Chen Mo publicly broke off his engagement for your sake, not hesitating to tear things apart with the Shen family… Is it possible he never intended to scheme against you at all, but has truly fallen for you?"

Gu Manzhi felt as if struck by lightning upon hearing this, the whole person stunned and dazed.