Chapter 695: A Fresh Flower Stuck in Cow Dung

"Lord Shen, this subordinate is incompetent; I beg you to save the common people of Chengzhou!"

Kneeling in the direction of Shen Yu, Ma Mingchang kowtowed heavily several times; after just a few strikes, his head was already dripping with blood.

Afterwards, Ma Mingchang took a deep breath, placed the dagger he had prepared long ago against his own throat, and then pulled it with a sudden force; fresh blood sprayed out instantly, staining the ground red.

He had prepared this dagger long ago, but he had never had the courage to actually go through with it. Now that Shen Yu had arrived, he had no choice left.

He admitted that he was a coward; some things, once you take one step back, you must keep stepping back in the future, until finally, there is nowhere left to retreat.

Yet, a person must take responsibility for their own actions; cowardice is not an excuse.

"Husband, husband!"

A heart-wrenching cry sounded immediately; Shen Yu looked over subconsciously, and by this time, Ma Mingchang had already fallen into a pool of blood.

He sighed softly; perhaps Ma Mingchang had not defected of his own volition, but his cowardice had caused the entirety of Chengzhou to become the backyard of the Baicao Sect at an extremely rapid pace.

Countless commoners died because of this, and there was no telling how many white bones were added; for all of this, he could not shirk his responsibility.

After taking one more look at Ma Mingchang, Shen Yu left this place and, in the blink of an eye, arrived at a courtyard that occupied a vast area.

Here, pavilions and towers rose and fell with magnificent momentum, not a whit inferior to those of the top-tier families.

And right now, a wedding was taking place here; from the memories of Cheng Moshu, Shen Yu knew that the ones getting married today were the Young Sect Master of the Baicao Sect and the eldest daughter of the Ning Family, the number one family in Chengzhou.

At this moment, basically everyone of status in Chengzhou had come; everyone had to give the Baicao Sect face.

There was no help for it; when one is under the eaves, one must bow one's head. Under the control of the Baicao Sect, whoever dared to say half a word of dissent could just wait to have their home destroyed and their family wiped out.

Viewed in this light, Cheng Moshu, this first person to surrender, did not have nearly as much power as one might imagine.

In their eyes, he was just a dog, perhaps not even as good as a dog.

He didn't even have the qualifications to attend the marriage between the Baicao Sect's Young Sect Master and the Ning Family's eldest daughter; he couldn't even get through the door.

It was no wonder he felt unsettled and went to Ma Mingchang to seek a sense of existence. Perhaps only by bullying his former superior could he vent the resentment in his heart.

It was no wonder there was basically nothing core in his memories; it turned out he had never entered the core circle at all.

When he was being stepped on, he still put on a posture of wanting to trade secrets he knew for his life, but in reality, he was just bluffing; he knew nothing at all, hoping to cheat a little bit and live for one more moment.

From beginning to end, the Baicao Sect was only using him; once he was used up and had no more value, they would just kick him aside.

Even if he acted as loyal as possible, the people of the Baicao Sect dared not include him in the core; they simply made arrangements and shelved him.

After all, for someone who betrays at the drop of a hat, everyone fears whether it might be their turn one day.

These days, Cheng Moshu could only bully others by borrowing the Baicao Sect's prestige, picking on Ma Mingchang, the Prefect who was trapped in the State Yamen and knew next to nothing about the situation outside.

If he tried to bully anyone else, you could see whether they would give this marginal figure any face.

With a light chuckle and a shake of his head, Shen Yu walked in leisurely. At this moment, his perception enveloped the entire mansion; basically all the top figures of Chengzhou were gathered here.

Moreover, the high-level members of the Baicao Sect had all arrived; the Sect Master of the Baicao Sect, the Young Sect Master, and their Elders were all here.

This Baicao Sect's strength was quite high; it was more than a little bit higher than the experts of the various major forces in the surrounding Chengzhou. Only the people of the Ning Family could still be considered somewhat presentable.

In terms of strength, the power of the Chengzhou Ning Family was second only to the eight great aristocratic families of the world. Unfortunately, they were still utterly defeated when the Baicao Sect moved in and had to submit to the Baicao Sect.

And at this moment, the two families were becoming in-laws. The biggest local tyrant and the powerful outsider, the Baicao Sect, were joining together; from now on, Chengzhou would likely be completely under their control.

At the same time, the eldest daughter of the Ning Family patriarch, Ning Wushuang, was marrying the Baicao Sect's Young Sect Master, Bai Jincong, leaving who knows how many people unable to sleep through the night.

Ning Wushuang was hailed as the number one beauty in Chengzhou; not only was she devastatingly beautiful, but her own strength among the younger generation was also outstanding, making her peers feel ashamed.

Such an excellent person was naturally coveted by others; countless people were crazy for her, and she was the dream lover of who knows how many.

Rumor had it that a scholar once caught a glimpse of her by chance and was deeply attracted, unable to extricate himself; from then on, he lost his appetite and grew thinner by the day.

Whether this rumor was true or not, one could not say, but Ning Wushuang's beauty and charm were universally acknowledged.

How many people wanted to marry her and bring her home, only to be politely declined by the Ning Family one by one. Now, Ning Wushuang was already twenty years of age; for people of this era, if she didn't marry now, she would be an old maid.

Some said the Ning Family was broad-minded and willing to let Ning Wushuang choose her own husband. Others said the Ning Family was waiting and watching, wanting to use Ning Wushuang as a stepping stone to marry into even stronger families or sects.

Now, Ning Wushuang's marriage had finally been settled, but it broke the hearts of countless admirers; their chance was gone.

It was just that the legendary Bai Jincong of the Baicao Sect was a completely unlearned, good-for-nothing playboy. For a woman like Ning Wushuang to marry Bai Jincong was like a fresh flower stuck in cow dung.

Aside from not being very good at literature or martial arts, there was nothing he wasn't proficient in, such as eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling.

Ever since the Baicao Sect occupied Chengzhou, there wasn't a single famous courtesan in the brothels of Chengzhou that he hadn't spent the night with.

It was said that any family or major gang force in the city that had a woman with even a bit of beauty was coveted by this shameless person.

In short, he was the scum of the scum, the dregs of the dregs.

Bah, he was just relying on having a good father; if he didn't have his father, what did Bai Jincong count for?

While countless people gritted their teeth at him, they also wished they could take his place; they wanted that kind of life too.

Especially when the news came out that Ning Wushuang was going to marry him, it made people's jaws drop; they just wished they could kick him to death and take his place.

At this moment, after Bai Jincong finished toasting the people around him, he couldn't wait to rush back to the rear.

Everyone watched this scene with great understanding; presumably, the Young Sect Master must be feeling exceptionally hot-headed right now, wishing he could immediately press that rumored peerless beauty, the eldest daughter of the Ning Family, beneath him.

Then again, many people had seen this eldest daughter of the Ning Family; her temperament, her appearance, and her figure were far superior to those courtesans in the brothels, making one simply unable to resist.

It was good to have a good father; beauties that others could only drool over, he could marry home just by saying so. And as for them, besides envy and jealousy, they could only covet her.

Seeing his son leave in a hurry, the Baicao Sect Master, after cursing "Nonsense" under his breath, let him be.

He knew what kind of character his son had; scolding him wasn't even enough to make himself angry.

And Shen Yu followed the footsteps of this Baicao Sect Young Sect Master inside, wanting to learn something from this Young Sect Master.

The reason he didn't make a move against the Baicao Sect Master was also for fear that there might truly be someone behind him; once he made a move against him, it would be easy to alert the enemy and scare away the person behind the scenes.

What he wanted to do was to catch them all in one net; if the true mastermind were allowed to escape, that would not be a good outcome.