Chapter 232: The Sharp-Tongued Junior Sister

In the days that followed, Zhou You added another item to his schedule: reporting to Zeng Fu every day.

After obtaining the Tuopian, Ceng Ruyu studied it day and night, keeping the lamps lit until dawn, which left her eyes red and weary.

Even so, her natural beauty did not suffer in the slightest; instead, she looked like a rabbit spirit descended from the Moon Palace.

She exchanged insights with Zhou You, listing every possible interpretation of the Tuopian and citing classics in an attempt to identify the corresponding school of writing from later ages.

The more Zhou You interacted with her and the deeper his understanding grew, the more he realized that this Junior Sister was a genius beauty.

She was not only beautiful but also highly intelligent; her approach to researching the Seal Script was clear and meticulous, exhausting every possibility.

Through their exchanges, Zhou You's Seal Script proficiency rose from level 8 to level 11, jumping three tiers and gaining over 2000 Experience Points.

The Tuopian also deserved credit for this, as its profound and difficult nature forced them to exhaust everything they had learned and strive for improvement.

"Senior Brother Zhou, I estimate the origin of this text dates back to before the disappearance of the Nine Cauldrons of Heaven and Man."

Through Ceng Ruyu's research, the general dating criteria for the Ancient Seal Script were finally deduced.

The end of the ancient era is marked by the disappearance of the Nine Cauldrons of Heaven and Man from the world.

From that point on, the sole benchmark for the Heaven and Man of the past vanished, and various schools of thought sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain, leading to a hundred schools of thought contending.

The Release God Sect and the Golden Immortal Dao were born during that period, rooted in their differing interpretations of the Heaven and Man.

To this day, many great families and sects tirelessly collect Tuopian of the Nine Cauldrons of Heaven and Man, attempting to prove that their own interpretation is the only truth in the world.

The Tuopian consists of two parts: the carrier and the text.

Ceng Ruyu had already deduced that the text existed before the Nine Cauldrons of Heaven and Man and very likely originated from them.

Even a single fragment, with incomplete text, was a priceless treasure.

"Senior Brother Zhou, I guarantee that only the three of us know about the Tuopian; you must not let it leak out."

Ceng Ruyu's expression was grave, fearing that Zhou You did not understand the severity of the situation.

If the two great families in the city found out, it would immediately bring the disaster of annihilation upon Zhou You's family.

Zhou You certainly understood this principle; he had already copied the Tuopian five or six times, erasing all suspicious clues.

However, Ceng Ruyu was still not at ease...

"Senior Brother Zhou, accompany me on a trip; I need to prepare some things to transfer the Tuopian onto a physical object."

Zhou You asked subconsciously, "You can go out?"

"Senior Brother, please accompany me, and please keep it a secret for me; do not let my father know."

Oh, so she was sneaking out; thinking about it, it was quite exciting!

Ceng Ruyu wore a veil when she went out; the veil was thick and heavy, as if she had hung a door curtain, making it impossible to see her face clearly, or even tell if she was a man or a woman.

TV dramas are all lies; a thin, transparent veil is just a fetish item.

On the way, she explained to Zhou You that for his safety, this Tuopian could not be kept; to be safe, she would use the technique of metal and stone engraving to replicate all the details of the Tuopian onto a physical object.

This technique is called metal and stone transcription, which requires a large number of tools and manual labor.

The destination was a tool shop to purchase the necessary engraving tools.

"That shop is run by one of my Senior Brothers; he opens it to make a living and, incidentally, to continue studying metal and stone."

The shopkeeper was a scholar who, due to the high cost of studying metal and stone, had embarked on the path of selling goods to support his studies.

Seeing Ceng Ruyu arrive, he was somewhat flattered; upon hearing her introduce Zhou You, he looked shocked and took a few extra looks at him.

"Please come in and wait a moment."

After inviting the two into a side room, he personally busied himself with gathering the tools Ceng Ruyu needed.

Outside the shop, a little maid of eleven or twelve years old, who had followed Zhou You into the shop, turned around and ran away.

Panting, she returned to the Shen residence, slipped in through the side gate, and found Shen Siying, who was sulking. "Miss, I found Zhou You; he is shopping."

Shen Siying thought that she had finally caught him; today she must have a showdown and make things clear.

Her father and brother were determined to marry her to Zhou You, and no matter how much she cried or made a scene, she was helpless; the only way left was to make Zhou You retreat in the face of difficulties and refuse the marriage himself.

Having finally found Zhou You's whereabouts, this time she would definitely seal the deal.

"Let's go, take me there quickly."

The little maid nodded excitedly, "Miss, let's take the side gate; no one is watching there."

The two snuck out of the Shen residence one after the other; a moment later, a servant woman discovered the young miss was missing, screamed, and fainted on the spot.

While the Shen residence was in total chaos...

"Everything is ready; you should go home as soon as possible!"

The shopkeeper could hardly imagine that his Junior Sister, who had been a lady since childhood, would actually dare to go out privately with a man.

He was somewhat terrified; if the Master found out...

Ceng Ruyu smiled faintly from behind her veil, "Thank you, Senior Brother; we will head back now."

When they reached the shop entrance, Shen Siying and the little maid arrived in a rush; they were panting from the run, their delicate palms pressed against their knees as they gasped for breath, their porcelain-white faces flushed red like apples.

"Zhou You, I've finally found you, huff, huff, huff!"

It took Zhou You three glances to recognize that the girl in front of him was Shen Siying.

Hmm, her constitution is too weak; she's panting like this after running just a few steps. Will she be able to do housework in the future? Behind the veil, Ceng Ruyu revealed a playful smile; sure enough, there were surprises when going out, and hadn't they just bumped into Senior Brother Zhou's romantic entanglement?

Hmm, it seems the girl opposite is the young miss of the Shen family, a mere merchant's daughter!

"Zhou You, I came here to warn you: don't harbor any delusions of climbing the social ladder by marrying into my family."

"Even if I, Shen Siying, never get married in my life, I will not marry you."

"You had better take the initiative to make it clear to my father and give up the delusion of this marriage; otherwise, don't think your father will be able to keep working at my house."

Zhou You watched her gesticulating wildly, saying what she thought were vicious and hurtful words, and found it somewhat amusing.

This marriage was something your family begged me for, not something I initiated.

He smiled and shook his head, just about to say something...

Ceng Ruyu on the side wouldn't have it; what a big mouth on this merchant's daughter, Zhou You is Ceng Fuzi's Disciple, what makes you think you're worthy of talking about him?

She lifted her veil and questioned, "Does a merchant family have no upbringing?"

The shopkeeper Senior Brother on the side, upon seeing her bare face, had his eyes turn dazed on the spot.

Shen Siying had originally been furious, but seeing Ceng Ruyu's appearance, she subconsciously lowered her head, a wave of shame welling up in her heart.

The little maid behind her opened her mouth wide; how could there be anyone in the world more beautiful than her young miss? "Master Shen begged for three years before my father would write a plaque for him; Miss Shen, let me tell you, Zhou You is currently studying literature under my father."

"Therefore, this marriage is not him climbing high, but you climbing high to reach him."

"With your willow-like constitution, if you hadn't been born into a merchant family, you would never be able to get married in this lifetime."

Shen Siying wailed, covered her face, and rushed out of the shop, running wildly toward home, the little maid chasing after her until she even lost her shoes.

A genius beautiful girl, and sharp-tongued—but I like it! Zhou You gave Ceng Ruyu a thumbs-up, then immediately reminded her to lower her veil.

More and more passersby outside the shop were captivated by her radiance, stopping in their tracks and standing on tiptoe to watch, and it looked like trouble was about to happen.

Ceng Ruyu stuck out her tongue, lowered her veil, and immediately, sighs of disappointment rang out.

"You two should leave through the back door!"

The shopkeeper sighed and invited them inside; if they continued to use the front door, what would happen if a stampede occurred? (End of chapter)