“Run away together? Miss Jiang is perfectly fine here. She’s going to apprentice and learn her craft, not running away. Master Jiang, you must be mistaken.”
“Master of the Qi Family, you’re overthinking this. Everyone’s got their own alliances, pretending not to hear or see—my father knows these things inside out.”
Faced with the utterly baffled and straightforward Qi Feng, Shu Fu rolled her eyes just as bluntly. She didn’t bother beating around the bush and quickly laid out the whole story—the way Chu Xiao and Jiang Baozhu had framed her, how ‘Senior Brother Gao’ had the gall to behave disgracefully, and how Jiang Haoran had been biased and indulgent, letting his own daughter be trampled on.
“I can’t stay in the Jiang Family under these circumstances.”
Shu Fu summed it up succinctly. “I am no longer Miss Jiang, so naturally, my engagement to Young Master Qi is null and void. As for whether Second Miss Jiang should be brought into the family, Master of the Qi Family, I suggest you take a good look yourself first.”
“Miss Jiang, don’t be reckless.”
Qi Feng’s words were stern, but the anger in his eyes wasn’t directed at Shu Fu. “This is outrageous, absolutely outrageous! How could Master Jiang be so blind? Such a fine daughter, and yet he doesn’t cherish her. Worse, he lets his wife and illegitimate second daughter bully her. This is unacceptable. The Jiang Family’s century-old reputation—it looks like it’s going to be destroyed by his own hands.”
Shu Fu scratched her head, feeling awkward to remind him that the Qi Family’s “century-old reputation” had already been pretty much ruined by Third Master Qi.
Jiang Xuesheng stood quietly nearby, her hands folded, wearing the inscrutable expression of someone uninvolved yet deeply perceptive. Secretly, she gave Shu Fu a meaningful glance.
Shu Fu’s mind shifted. She calmly and respectfully bowed to Qi Feng, saying, “Master of the Qi Family, in my opinion, it’s best if my master, senior brother, and I keep our distance for now. Please just pretend you know nothing about my whereabouts. Let my father and the others come in, and watch how they behave.”
She wanted to say, “Let the Jiang Family put on their little show,” but Qi Feng was a serious, middle-aged man from ancient times—probably wouldn’t get the joke.
“Oh, so you mean…”
Qi Feng’s brow twitched as he stroked his long beard, pondering for a moment before nodding. “Very well, let it be so. I want to see just how blind Master Jiang really is.”
Shu Fu thought to herself, “Probably just drunk on ten jin of second-distilled liquor with no snacks or peanuts to go with it.”
So, Shu Fu, Jiang Xuesheng, and Liu Ruyi once again hid up on the beams, while Qi Feng sat upright in the main hall. The heads of several smaller clans, eager for entertainment, took their seats below, pretending they were visiting guests.
Bai Tian sat beside his parents, his expression full of resentment. “The Jiang Family is too much. Can I throw a teacup at them?”
Madam Bai scolded, “That’s ridiculous. Are you even my son? If you’re going to throw something, go find the chamber pot in the backyard.”
Master Bai cleared his throat.
Just then, Jiang Haoran entered the hall with a grave expression, arm in arm with his delicate wife and holding his beloved daughter’s hand.
He gave a slight bow to Qi Feng and the other clan heads, hesitating as he said, “Master of the Qi Family, this is a private matter between our two families. Could I ask these honored guests to please step outside?”
He had always cared deeply about face and reputation, still hoping to keep some family shame from being aired in public and avoid giving people a reason to laugh at them.
Chu Xiao didn’t bother to care about the details; her intention was clear—to slander Jiang Ruoshui, ruin her reputation so thoroughly that she would never dare set foot in the Jiang Family again. The more onlookers and gossipmongers, the better.
Seeing Jiang Haoran hesitate, Chu Xiao and Jiang Baozhu exchanged a knowing glance. Scoundrels think alike, and each had their own plan brewing.
Chu Xiao was the first to start the show. She covered the corner of her eye with a handkerchief, sobbing pitifully, “It’s all my fault. I failed in my duties as a mother.”
Bai Tian retorted with a “Ugh.”
Jiang Haoran frowned. “Wait a minute, did I just hear something strange?”
Master Bai chuckled awkwardly, “Sorry, sorry. The little one ate too much this morning and feels a bit nauseous.”
Jiang Haoran was speechless.
Shu Fu and Liu Ruyi were laughing heartily from the beam above.
Chu Xiao felt something was off. Rubbing her reddened eyes, she sobbed, “Master Qi, I truly apologize. It’s all my fault for not disciplining Ruoshui properly. She committed such a disgraceful act, bringing shame upon both the Jiang and Qi families, and disturbing Sister Tong Yao’s spirit in the afterlife.”
Qi Feng’s temper flared instantly when he heard her shamelessly mention Tong Yao. “How dare you!” he snapped.
Master Bai coughed, “Ahem, ahem.”
Qi Feng continued, “You are more than worthy of being the matriarch of the Jiang Family, so there’s no need to belittle yourself.”
Master Bai nodded vigorously.
Qi Feng clicked his tongue and took a big sip of chrysanthemum tea to calm himself, then lowered his voice as much as he could. “Miss Jiang is someone I’ve watched grow up. She’s always been gentle, polite, and respectful. I can’t imagine her committing such a rebellious act. Madam Jiang, there must be some misunderstanding here.”
Chu Xiao hadn’t expected Qi Feng to defend Jiang Ruoshui. Her throat tightened, and she cried even harder. “I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears. How could it be a misunderstanding? Ruoshui was involved in an illicit affair, her virtue tarnished. I couldn’t let her disgrace the Qi Family’s name. I tried to discipline her, but she refused to obey and even injured me and Baozhu. Then she ran away with that scoundrel.”
Shu Fu leaned back dramatically. “Oh wow.”
In just one day, the rumor had already escalated.
Jiang Xuesheng and Liu Ruyi exchanged glances and simultaneously pointed at themselves. After a brief pause, they both said, “Is that scoundrel supposed to be me?”
Then they added in unison, “Well, she certainly has good taste.”
Shu Fu snapped, “Don’t use me as your narcissistic prop, thanks.”
Jiang Xuesheng had already explained everything to Qi Feng. When she met Shu Fu on the street, Shu Fu was alone; at the inn, there was only a frail little maid nearby. So, Qi Feng didn’t believe a single word of Chu Xiao’s emotional performance.
Despite his disbelief, under Master Bai’s subtle prompting, he maintained a courteous front. “Madam Jiang, please don’t get too upset. You say Miss Jiang had an illicit affair—may I ask who the other party is? Is there any witness or evidence? This is a serious matter, so we shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”
“Master Qi.”
Jiang Haoran sensed the tension on Qi Feng’s face and wanted to smooth things over, but he couldn’t stop his wife and daughter from stirring up trouble.
Jiang Baozhu’s eyes brimmed with tears as she, fragile as a willow branch, collapsed into her mother’s arms, sobbing plaintively, “Mother, please, enough already. What’s the use of this? My sister shamelessly disgraces herself, sinking to such depths, yet we must still protect her reputation. If we expose her disgraceful deeds, it will only sully the ears of our uncles for no good reason.”
Chu Xiao held her daughter tenderly, his face full of pain. He gritted his silver teeth and said, “Baozhu, if Ruoshui framed you and besmirched your honor, yet you still worry about her reputation—no, this cannot be left unresolved. Today, all the family heads are here. I insist we have witnesses so everyone knows just how much injustice you’ve suffered.”
Everyone was silent.
What to do? I really want to laugh.
No, I must hold it in. I can’t laugh out loud.
After all these years of rigorous cultivation and such a monotonous life, it’s rare to have a front-row seat to a slapdown. How can I lose my composure now?
Hold it in, hold it in—if you can’t, you’re not a true comrade.
Liu Ruyi burst out laughing—ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Within Jiang Xuesheng’s soundproofing skill range, his laughter was especially wild and unrestrained, like a child over two hundred years old.
Among the gathered noble youths, a few had secretly admired Jiang Baozhu’s beauty and harbored romantic fantasies about her. Now, seeing this scene, it was as if a bucket of icy water had been dumped over them, chilling their young hearts to the bone, freezing them into a lump of ice shards.
Fans of the three beauties—Jiang Baozhu, Qi Xinlei, and Qi Yuwei—finally converged at this moment, all experiencing a collective disillusionment, and simultaneously preparing to jump ship.
Master Bai watched Qi Feng press his hand hard against the table, leaving five deep finger marks on the solid sandalwood surface. He quickly interrupted, “Madam Jiang, as the second wife of Master Jiang, you must have your reasons. Since everyone is here today, we will ensure justice is served. Please, speak freely.”
Of course, there were reasons—namely, that cheap daughter Jiang Ruoshui was a constant thorn in the side, and to make matters worse, she had Qi Yuxuan, the perfect match, wrapped around her finger.
Chu Xiao, thinking he had gained an ally, brightened and quickly followed the lead, “Exactly. They say stepmothers have it hard, and it’s true. Ruoshui is polite and humble in front of others, but to Baozhu and me, she shows no restraint. She always acts like she’s the legitimate eldest daughter of the Jiang Family and refuses to accept us.”
“My sister is cunning and heavy-hearted. She always suspects our parents favor me and resents me deeply.”
Jiang Baozhu wept softly, “I’ve always yielded to her, but who would have thought she would steal my birthday gift and give it to Senior Brother Gao as a token of their secret love?”
Master Bai’s smile remained unchanged. “May I ask, what was this birthday gift? And where is this Senior Brother Gao now?”
“It was a rare pearl from the East Sea—a large, lustrous gem, exceedingly precious.”
Jiang Baozhu’s delicate face was streaked with tears, her eyes shimmering with innocence and weakness, more captivating than the legendary pearl itself. “As for Senior Brother Gao, he eloped with my sister, and now no one knows where they’ve gone.”
Shu Fu scoffed, “Nonsense. Chu Xiao probably paid him off to go gallivanting somewhere for a year or two, to pin the elopement on me for good.”
Jiang Xuesheng said, "Don’t worry, he won’t be causing trouble for that long."
Shu Fu asked, "What?"
Liu Ruyi replied, "Exactly. Because we’re even more unruly than he is."
Shu Fu was left speechless.
Before the question marks above her head could fully form, a pitiful wail suddenly pierced the air. A figure tumbled wildly inside, rolling on the ground several times before coming to a stop right at Qi Feng’s feet.
"Spare me, heroine, please spare me!"
He lifted his dirt-smudged, disheveled face and pleaded over and over, "I won’t dare again, I swear I won’t."
Qi Feng was baffled by being called "heroine" and asked, "What’s going on?"
"Yeah, what’s going on?"
At the same time, Shu Fu was also asking Jiang Xuesheng, "Why is Gao Ping here?"
Indeed, the young man on the ground, looking like a beggar covered in grime, was none other than the "Senior Brother Gao" mentioned by Jiang Baozhu—the very same Gao Ping who had been bribed by Chu Xiao and conspired with them to frame Jiang Ruoshui.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my apologies for the scene."
Before anyone could react, a clear, melodious female laugh came from the doorway.
Soon after, a tall young woman in flowing white robes, a sword at her side, appeared. Her sharp eyes carried a fierce sword aura, and her graceful demeanor radiated heroic spirit and brilliance.
With a casual flourish, she cupped her fists and bowed slightly, lifting her delicate head as she smiled at the confused Qi Feng. "Senior, sorry to disturb you. Master Tanhua can be quite mischievous. If we have offended you, please don’t take it to heart."
Qi Feng was speechless.
Who exactly is the elder here?
The Jiuhua Sect is a prestigious and grand faction, yet their style is so unconventional.
The young woman’s eyes sparkled as she spoke clearly, "I am Zhong Lan, a disciple of the Tianxuan Peak of the Jiuhua Sect, currently traveling around Qingcheng. Not long ago, I received a message from Master Tanhua of the Yaoguang Peak, instructing us to find a cultivator named Gao Ping and bring him to the Qi Family Manor before dawn. As long as he can still speak, nothing else matters."
She tapped the tattered Gao Ping on the ground with her toe and smiled faintly. "My junior brothers have bad tempers. Master Tanhua asked us to keep him alive, but didn’t say we had to keep his hands and feet intact. We just played around with him a bit, which caused some delay."
"Played around," indeed.
Looking at Gao Ping’s utterly ruined expression, Shu Fu felt like she barely recognized the meaning of that phrase anymore.
Gao Ping, thoroughly beaten and humiliated, dared not resist. He fell to his knees at Qi Feng’s feet, tears streaming down his face, bowing his head frantically like a pestle pounding rice, "Heroine, please have mercy! Master of the Qi Family, spare me! I’ll tell everything! It was Madam Jiang who ordered me—she forced me to slander the young lady, saying she had an illicit affair with me to ruin her reputation, just so her own daughter could marry into the Qi family."
Fearing disbelief, he hurriedly reached into his bosom and pulled out a large, round pearl. "It—it’s this! This is an East Sea Shark Pearl. Madam Jiang used this to bribe me."
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
Chu Xiao’s face darkened. Losing all composure, she rushed forward and slapped him hard on the temple. "Who do you think you are, a scoundrel pretending to be Gao Ping? How dare you slander me and Zhu’er like this?"
"Oh?"
Zhong Lan lifted the corner of her eye. "So, Madam Jiang means to say we’ve made a mistake?"
Chu Xiao straightened her neck defiantly, "Of course."
Zhong Lan’s expression turned serious, a cold smile flickering across her sharp features. “With all due respect, our Tianxuan Peak is responsible for law enforcement within the sect. Pursuing criminals across a thousand miles is routine for us. We have never spared a single villain, nor have we ever wronged an innocent. Even if you have mistaken your own man, we will not be mistaken.”
“You shameless little girl, you’re so young and yet so brazen.”
Chu Xiao’s pale face flushed crimson, still wanting to argue, “Even if you are a disciple of the Jiuhua Sect, so what? Baozhu will also apprentice someday—perhaps her talent will even surpass yours.”
“Silence!”
Qi Feng, seated at the head of the table, could no longer contain himself. Suddenly rising, his fingers dug deep into the surface of the heavy sandalwood table before him. With a mighty heave, he lifted the table and slammed it down toward the center of the hall.
With a loud crash, the table missed Chu Xiao and her mother, but the tea cups and snacks atop it were all overturned, splashing hot liquid and crumbs over them.
Chu Xiao had deliberately come today to propose a match for Jiang Baozhu; mother and daughter had both dressed meticulously, their garments and jewelry of the finest quality. Many of these treasures had been taken from Jiang Ruoshui years ago.
Now, drenched in tea and strewn with crumbs, their hairpins disheveled and half their coiffures ruined, the hot tea streamed down their carefully styled long hair, carving colorful, chaotic streaks across their faces.
“Master Qi, what is the meaning of this?”
“It’s your ancestors,” Qi Feng snapped before Jiang Haoran could respond.
“Jiang Haoran, have you lost your mind? What sins did I commit in my past life that my family must suffer misfortune and be saddled with a friend like you—one who can’t tell right from wrong?”
Jiang Haoran knew he was at fault but refused to admit defeat in front of everyone. He stammered, “Master Qi, there must be some misunderstanding here.”
“Misunderstanding, ha!”
Master Bai chuckled heartily, his round face radiating a kindly, benevolent expression like a god of wealth. “Master Qi already said it—there might be some misunderstanding. But your wife insists she saw and heard everything with her own eyes and ears. Madam, what do you call that?”
The last words weren’t addressed to the Jiang family, but to his own wife.
Madam Bai raised a delicate brow and retorted coldly, “You weave your own noose and bring shame upon yourself. Take your pick—either be shameless or give face and receive none.”
Master Bai clapped his hands in agreement. “Madam speaks the truth, indeed she does. Heh heh.”
Jiang Haoran’s heart trembled with every “heh heh,” and he hurriedly said, “My wife spoke in haste and without thought. We can discuss this matter further.”
“No need.”
Qi Feng leaned heavily back against his chair, his chest rising and falling sharply. With a wave of his hand, he declared, “From this day forward, the Qi and Jiang families are done. I, Qi Feng, a rough man, am not worthy to be allied with a calculating family like yours. If you have anything to say, don’t say it to me—go and explain it clearly to your daughter.”
“Daughter, wait—your meaning is—”
“Master Qi, did you call me?”
At the moment Jiang Haoran was lost in thought, Jiang Xuesheng dispelled her concealment technique and gracefully descended from above the crowd, revealing herself openly.
Then she pressed her foot hard against Gao Ping’s lower back, grinding down twice with force until his eyes rolled back and he collapsed unconscious on the spot.
“Master Jiang. Madam Jiang. Miss Jiang.”
She greeted them one by one with a gentle smile as warm as a spring breeze, taking her time to savor the panic and disarray written across their faces.
Since Gao Ping had already confessed everything, she no longer needed to prove anything. All that remained was to lay bare the feelings in her heart, along with the grievances and unwillingness left behind in this body.
She said, “Is it fun, hurting me like this? Seeing me alive, living better than Jiang Baozhu—does that make you unhappy?”
“Well then, good. Knowing you’re unhappy makes me feel at ease.”
“Oh, by the way, let me introduce someone.”
She tugged Jiang Xuesheng’s sleeve and pushed him forward like presenting a treasure. “This is Master Tanhua, my teacher. From today on, I will follow him to the Jiuhua Sect to learn the arts.”
“This parting may last for years, across mountains and rivers. I hope everyone will take good care of themselves. If one of you slips up and dies of anger, that would be a laughingstock.”
Jiang Xuesheng stood obediently by her side, reaching out to smooth her jet-black hair. “Good girl.”
Shu Fu—
The sudden affection twisted my waist.
Jiang Xuesheng’s aura was simply dazzling. Not only was he the most handsome figure in the crowd, but he was also like the brightest star in the sky, as if he carried a level ten beauty filter and halo. All that was missing was the words “Celestial Brother” stamped on his face.
The Jiang family of three looked at each other in disbelief. Chu Xiao and Jiang Baozhu burned with jealousy, so furious they didn’t even bother to wipe the tea leaves off their hair. Their bloodshot eyes glared fiercely. “Jiang Ruoshui, on what grounds—”
Jiang Xuesheng said, “Because she’s adorable. Because I like her.”
Chu Xiao—
Jiang Baozhu—
Jiang Xuesheng asked, “Anything else you want to say?”
“I don’t think so.”
Shu Fu smiled sharply, then bowed once more to the assembly of clan heads. Her clear voice echoed in the morning light.
“Honored elders present, please bear witness. The Jiang family harbors filth and deceit. Madam Jiang and Miss Jiang bear me hatred, conspiring with Gao Ping to slander me. The evidence is irrefutable. Master Jiang turns a blind eye, condoning the violent acts of his wife and daughter, unworthy any longer of being a father.”
“From this day forth, I am only Tong Yao’s daughter, disciple of Master Tanhua, and have no further ties to the Jiang family. Once Third Master Qi is brought to justice, I will set off for the Jiuhua Sect.”
“The mountains remain, the rivers flow, so we part here. When we meet again, we will still be fellow cultivators on the same path.”
Her smile blossomed, carrying a fresh, lively youthful spirit—as if the Jiang Ruoshui who had been bound all her life by family, gratitude, and human ties was finally smiling too.
“As for the Jiang family’s conduct, whether they still deserve to be called fellow cultivators, I leave that to the elders to judge carefully. In my view, some things become dirty once touched. It’s better to keep a distance, isn’t it?”
Indeed.
Why not keep far away from such despicable, filthy, disgusting dirt?
In just one day, she had achieved what Jiang Ruoshui had longed to do her entire life but never managed to accomplish.
Under the bright spring sunshine, the young girl’s clothes fluttered in the breeze, her eyes sparkling with life. She glanced back at the Jiang Family with a look of indifference, as if they were nothing more than a speck of dust by the roadside.
She mouthed the words,
“See you again, you bastard.”
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