Chapter 44

Her path blocked, Shen Qing refused to reveal her plan, turning away and becoming silent.
Seeing her remain mute, Liu Jiyue said, “Fine. The time to return to Xuanji Pavilion has come. Why wait? Let’s go today.” He leaned forward, lifting the carriage curtain, instructing the driver, “Please, ”
Before he could finish, Shen Qing rolled and clamped her hand over his mouth, dragging him back.
“Senior brother!”
Liu Jiyue looked at the hand covering his mouth, signaling her to release it.
Shen Qing, red-faced, forced out, word by word, “I may never return to Xuanji Pavilion. Even if you forcibly take me back, my parents will come for me.”
Liu Jiyue didn’t understand her words, thinking she was merely threatening him with her parents. But the next moment, he froze at what she said.
“I am betrothed to Li Daoxuan. By the Emperor’s decree, the wedding is to be this October.”
She would marry in October, become someone else’s bride, and no longer be able to live at the pavilion.
Seeing Liu Jiyue remain frozen, Shen Qing tentatively released her hand, waving her palm in front of him. “Senior brother?”
The usually mild-tempered Liu Jiyue was stunned like never before. He could hardly believe it, asking again, “The Emperor’s decree?”
Shen Qing lowered her head and nodded slightly.
“Wedding in October?”
“Mm…”
“And you agreed?”
“Mm. I let my father accept this marriage proposal.”
“…”
Liu Jiyue’s chest heaved, lips trembling for a long while. He could not speak a word. With a thud, he collapsed onto the soft seat, mind spinning: How could this be?
Seeing his reaction, Shen Qing feared she had shocked him into some ailment. “Senior brother! Are you alright?”
Liu Jiyue closed his eyes, placing his hand horizontally to block her support. “Let me be a moment.”
Seeing his complexion not ill, Shen Qing gradually sat down, eyes never leaving his face, fearing he might faint at any second.
After a while, Liu Jiyue seemed to recover. He leaned on the cushion, slowly sitting back, fingers tracing his forehead, his spirit wandering as he said, “What is happening? I thought the words you spoke before I left in May were mere jest, expressions of affection. How is it that upon my return, you’ve already arranged a marriage?”
“I don’t know. Shortly after you left, the Emperor inquired of my father regarding my marriage. Father asked for my consent. I agreed, and the Emperor issued the decree,” she said succinctly.
“Do you know that this is a decree marriage? No matter how wronged or miserable you may feel later, this marriage cannot be dissolved?” Liu Jiyue questioned.
“I know, but I trust him. He would never truly harm a girl like me.”
Even if the life with Li Daoxuan later was unpleasant, it could not compare to the calamity she was about to escape. Once she finished the Li Daoxuan path, broke free from the system, and survived three months with him, she could poison him, becoming a young widow.
Dead husband, vast fortune, no need to serve in-laws, just live freely, a life worth hoping for.
However, for some reason, Shen Qing said the wrong word, and Liu Jiyue’s face immediately darkened. “You’ve barely met him a few times, and you say you trust him! Do you even know his character, his preferences?! How do you know there isn’t another woman in his heart? You… you’re being reckless! Reckless! You really are… really, ” He was so angry he could barely form a complete sentence, finally turning into a living pressure cooker, unable to release the fury boiling inside him.
“I don’t know, but he’s so handsome, he doesn’t look like a bad person. I trust he’ll treat me well, senior brother,” Shen Qing continued, adding fuel to the fire.
“You say he’s handsome, so that means he’ll treat you well?!”
“Mm-hmm! Senior brother, what’s wrong?”
“You know how many times I’ve told you, don’t judge by appearances, you have to see, ”
He paused, looking at Shen Qing’s innocent, bewildered expression, and finally broke down, clutching his head. “Stop the carriage!”
The driver jumped in fright, pulling the reins. Before the carriage even stopped, the normally composed and self-controlled man had already whipped out like the wind, vanishing from sight.
Shen Qing stretched her hand half-heartedly into the air for a moment, then withdrew it, feeling guilty.
That was fine. At least for now, he wouldn’t have the energy to question her motives.
After all, reincarnation was no less absurd than regrowing after beheading, a total fantasy.
If someone wanted to harm the Shen family, she needed convincing proof.
At the very least, she had to follow the line of the Bai Shuisha to trace the mastermind, find evidence of someone scheming against the Shen family, and only then reveal the connection between the Xisangyao and Bai Shuisha to her senior brother.
Otherwise, telling him prematurely would lead to one outcome only:
Liu Jiyue would try to eliminate both great demons at once. Once the mastermind was alerted, they would retreat further into the shadows. With enemies hidden and her knowledge incomplete, any future investigation would be near impossible.
For now, the best approach was to avoid alarming anyone.
At the same time, she faintly regretted telling Liu Jiyue about Bai Shuisha. But on second thought, if she hadn’t, he would have investigated her disappearance thoroughly anyway. So in the end, it made little difference.
The flood of information whirled in her mind, tangling her thoughts into a knot. Shen Qing rubbed her throbbing head and called out, “Back to the Shen residence.”
When she looked up, the carriage began to sway again.
Shen Qing lifted the curtain and stared at the slowly receding scenery, lost in thought.
The Xisangyao had yet to appear, and only Bai Shuisha roamed outside. From their prior conversation, Shen Qing inferred that Bai Shuisha didn’t seem familiar with the person who had caused her fall into the underground palace.
In the previous life, when the Xisangyao massacred the Shen residence, Shen Qing had clearly heard the words “revenge” from her mouth.
The Shen family had never wronged anyone, yet they became the target of the Xisangyao’s vengeance. This left only one possibility: someone had deliberately misled the Xisangyao into thinking the Shen family was her enemy.
Bai Shuisha was devoted to the Xisangyao, even willing to die for her.
Thus, the Xisangyao and Bai Shuisha conspired together. Bai Shuisha caused chaos in the East Market to draw away most of the Xuanji Pavilion’s sorcerers and even Liu Jiyue, while the Xisangyao took advantage of the distraction to massacre the Shen residence.
Realizing this, Shen Qing suddenly understood why the Xisangyao had targeted her so relentlessly in her previous life.
A perfect “lure the disaster eastward” move, a flawless “kill with a borrowed knife”!
Whether it was the Xisangyao, Bai Shuisha, or even Shen Ling, they were all mere pieces on the chessboard. The true player’s meticulous arrangement was designed to stay above the fray and watch the Shen family fall.
Shen Qing felt as if she had sniffed the tip of a massive conspiracy, though she could not see its entirety.
She began to wonder: if the Shen family were to fall, who would benefit the most?
Yet the court was like a constantly shifting chessboard, the situation complex and unpredictable.
Various forces intertwined, each person both player and pawn, like masked puppeteers hiding among puppets on the stage. With a flick, puppets were bound by threads called “power,” manipulated by others, while the puppeteers beneath the masks remained calm and collected.
The political scene changed by the second. Shen Qing had never involved herself in court matters; her simple, naive guesses were useless.
For now, she could only take one step at a time.
After reviewing the situation, she unraveled the tangled threads in her mind, though the headache persisted.
She pinched the Glass Heart pendant around her neck, puzzled. In her previous life, Shen Ling had bonded with the Glass Heart. Though it had not formally accepted her as master, she benefited from it, strong and full of energy every day.
Now, after she, the true master, bled to bond it, it seemed dead. Her ailments came in waves with no respite.
The Glass Heart was effectively useless in her hands.
Shen Qing pursed her lips, about to drop the curtain, when she noticed a commotion by the street. Curiosity drew her head out to listen:
“Damn it! How dare you sleep with my wife! I’ll kill you!”
“It was that woman who seduced me! How dare you yell at me?!” A skinny, bare-chested man shouted, dragging up his pants at someone across the street.
A skinny man, face red, grabbed a butcher’s cleaver from a nearby stall, ready to strike, but a woman clutched his arm.
“Old Zhu, calm down!” she cried.
“Calm down?! You’ve slept with everyone else, so how am I supposed to calm down?! You’re my wife!” The skinny man wrenched free.
The woman fell with a cry. Her loosely tied collar instantly fell open, revealing smooth skin. She shrank, covering her neck in embarrassment.
Looking up, she saw the enraged man chasing a fat man with a knife. Her face went pale.
Seeing the danger, the fat man ran. The skinny man pursued relentlessly.
Chaos erupted immediately.
Someone shouted, “The magistrate’s officers are here!”
The spectators scattered like birds, vanishing.
“Dare to fight in public! Seize them and take them to the county office!” the lead officer commanded.
The skinny man protested, “He slept with my wife first!”
“No matter the reason, you broke the law. You must be punished! Take them away!”
In the end, both men were arrested. The skinny man repeatedly glanced back, telling his wife, “Behave yourself! Prepare a little surprise and come see me!”
Tears streaming, she promised, “Second brother, I’ll find a way to see you!”
After witnessing the farce, Shen Qing suddenly had a spark of inspiration. Her eyes gleamed, her smile sly, like a cunning little fox.
That evening, before curfew, two servants had a conflict with the Jinwu Guard near the Dali Court.
They had insisted on buying sesame cakes for their mistress, failed, and refused to return. In the heat of the moment, they clashed with the guards.
The Jinwu Guard immediately detained the brash pair and sent them to the Dali Court for temporary confinement.