The Qin Room of Anzhi Courtyard looked very ordinary from the outside.
But any sufficiently powerful expert could take one look and detect the fierce killing intent inside the room.
Not far from the Qin Room, Anzhi Courtyard’s owner, Wang Sandong, had a newly purchased singing girl—Yuan Yuan—pretending to admire flowers.
She casually plucked a bloom, her beautiful eyes seemingly aimlessly glancing at the Qin Room.
Right now, Zheng Xiao was inside the Qin Room.
Occasionally, the sound of a qin would drift out from within.
“Yuan Yuan, let’s go.”
Wang Sandong walked over and called out to Yuan Di.
As he spoke, he walked out side by side with Yuan Di.
After a few steps, he turned his head to look at Yuan Di’s clothes.
“Don’t you have any other clothes?”
“Is it that ugly?”
Yuan Di asked.
“Only two sets, and you wear them back and forth.”
Wang Sandong said, then suddenly reached out and grabbed Yuan Di’s skirt hem, lifting it slightly.
Yuan Di was an expert.
If she wanted to stop him, she could have reacted in time.
But…
She was stunned.
She never imagined that Wang Sandong would lift her skirt in broad daylight.
So, for a moment, she didn’t react.
Fortunately, Wang Sandong only lifted the hem a little, just enough to look at Yuan Di’s shoes.
“You don’t have many shoes either, right? The colors are too plain.”
Wang Sandong said, then let go of Yuan Di’s skirt and put on a stern face.
“You’re now this Young Master’s singing girl. If you dress too shabbily, it’ll make me look stingy. Later, I’ll tell Uncle De to have the household seamstress make you some clothes.”
Yuan Di snapped back to reality and examined Wang Sandong’s serious expression, a fire of anger burning inside her.
Hmph!
Childish!
She believed that Wang Sandong’s act of lifting her skirt must have hidden some dark and dirty intention.
Yuan Di’s expression turned cold.
She looked at her own clothes and said casually, “Clothes and things like that—casual is fine.”
Things of this sort, she never cared about.
Besides, she strongly suspected Wang Sandong was up to no good and wouldn’t necessarily make her proper clothes.
“If you’re casual, then just follow my arrangements.”
Wang Sandong smiled, his tone brooking no argument.
For such matters, even if she was sure Wang Sandong had bad intentions, Yuan Di just treated it as humoring a child and didn’t intend to argue.
Since Wang Sandong insisted on buying, she wouldn’t firmly oppose.
So, Yuan Di casually agreed and followed Wang Sandong out the door, getting into the carriage.
After the carriage had moved slowly for a while, Yuan Di suddenly frowned.
She suddenly realized that Wang Sandong’s attitude just now was somewhat…
Somewhat domineering.
That kind of attitude—Yuan Di didn’t like it, even detested it.
No strong person would like being treated like that.
But still, she decided not to pursue it.
Not because she was magnanimous.
Just because she disdained to haggle over trivial matters with a little brat.
“Here.”
Wang Sandong pulled a brocade box from his bosom and handed it to Yuan Di.
Yuan Di didn’t reach out; she just looked at Wang Sandong suspiciously.
“Take it!”
Wang Sandong said, and when he saw Yuan Di still hadn’t moved, he simply shoved it into her hand.
“What is it?”
“Open it and see.”
Yuan Di frowned, opened the brocade box, and saw a pair of exquisitely crafted earrings.
They had the “Jin Family” mark, signifying they were no ordinary items, because the Jin Family represented the highest quality of jewelry.
Yuan Di remained silent.
Wang Sandong laughed.
“Someone gave them to me. I can’t use them, and they’re just wasted sitting around. You can wear them.”
He spoke casually, his attitude also casual.
Yuan Di let out a light snort.
She wanted to ask Wang Sandong: Who would give something like earrings to a man like you?
The words reached her lips but she swallowed them back.
Because she suddenly remembered what Wang Sandong had said to Xing Luo.
She looked at Wang Sandong’s deliberately relaxed expression and that very “casual” attitude just now…
Yuan Di closed the brocade box and tossed it back to Wang Sandong.
“I don’t want it.”
Her tone was harsh and cold, with an air of pushing him away.
Wang Sandong watched the box land at his feet, frowned, and a flash of disappointment and sorrow crossed his face.
He slowly breathed in and out, then picked up the box, pursed his lips, and said softly:
“You… I… ah, well, when we get to Second Uncle’s place, don’t say anything random.”
After saying this, he didn’t dare look Yuan Di in the eyes.
He glanced around aimlessly, then leaned back and closed his eyes.
Wang Sandong was afraid that if he met Yuan Di’s eyes, she would see that his “deep affection” wasn’t genuine enough.
If he could pull off “deep affection,” he’d lock eyes; if not, he’d play hard to get—based on the experience Wang Sandong had gotten from Cui San’er: the more you don’t look at a woman’s eyes, the more she wants to look into yours.
Although Cui San’er’s cultivation was poor, his skill in seducing respectable women was definitely formidable.
At his young age, his greatest “achievement” was successfully seducing a seventh-rank expert—and a married woman at that.
Now, that experience had become Wang Sandong’s.
Cui San’er, through “life experience,” analyzed that the higher a person’s cultivation, the more likely they were to be emotional.
Because only the weak needed reason, while the strong only needed to act on impulse.
The carriage fell into silence.
Only the clatter of horse hooves on the bluestone road could be heard.
The streets of the Old Capital were desolate.
Ever since the Celebration Grand Ceremony, it seemed the city had lost its vitality and never regained its prosperity.
Wang Sandong suddenly sighed softly.
Yuan Di glanced at him from the corner of her eye but said nothing, only looking again at the brocade box Wang Sandong still clutched in his hand.
Just a pair of earrings.
Mundane objects.
Only mundane people would like them.
“Focus on your cultivation.”
Yuan Di reminded Wang Sandong.
“Don’t let your mind wander.”
Wang Sandong remained silent, as if he hadn’t heard, or as if it were a silent rebellion.
Yuan Di sighed and fell silent again.
She told herself: She was not Wang Sandong’s master; she was only using him, so she had no responsibility to teach him.
When the time was right in the future, she would use him to sacrifice to the Demon Abyss.
So whether he became successful or not didn’t matter.
The carriage suddenly stopped.
They had arrived at Wang Zhongli’s residence.
Many people thought that in this world, all members of a great family lived together.
That wasn’t true.
True noble families tried to spread their branches as much as possible.
Only during festivals or moments of great joy or sorrow would they gather again.
Compared to Wang Zhongyi and Wang Zhongxin, the second son, Wang Zhongli, had a particularly deep understanding of “spreading branches”—of course, he “understood” through his actions.
The Wang family did exactly that.
As soon as Wang Sandong got off the carriage, he saw a teenaged boy walking out of Wang Zhongli’s house.
“Oh! Third Brother, why are you here?”
The boy grinned and greeted Wang Sandong.
Looking at the boy, Wang Sandong was a bit dazed.
He couldn’t remember the name of this cousin in front of him.
“Ah, brother, where are you off to?”
Calling him “brother” wouldn’t be wrong and would sound close.
“I have a cricket-fighting appointment with someone.”
The boy answered, and before Wang Sandong could reply, added, “I’m going to be late. Gotta go.”
With that, he ran off excitedly.
Watching the boy’s back, Wang Sandong smiled bitterly and said quietly to Yuan Di, “My second uncle has over a dozen sons. Since I rarely see them, I don’t know most of them.”
Yuan Di frowned when she heard this.
“Your second aunt sure can give birth.”
“It’s not that Second Aunt can give birth—it’s that there are many ‘Second Aunts.'”
Wang Sandong laughed and led Yuan Di into the residence.
By “many Second Aunts,” it was naturally a joke.
Wang Sandong meant that Wang Zhongli had many wives.
With a crowd of wives and concubines, having more children was normal.
He had heard that Second Uncle had taken a fancy to another woman; he’d probably be sending a betrothal gift soon.
If it worked out, likely by this time next year, Wang Sandong would have at least one more cousin—brother or sister.
For the Wang family’s prosperity, Wang Zhongli had contributed significantly.
Even if his cultivation was ordinary.
When uncle and nephew met, there was inevitably a round of polite greetings.
Regarding the matter of Wang Zhongli inviting the famed physician of Xiangcheng to treat his injuries, Wang Sandong thanked him sincerely, putting on a grateful appearance.
However, apart from moving his lips, he hadn’t brought a single gift.
“I originally wanted to buy some gifts.”
Wang Sandong sighed.
“But then I thought, Second Uncle is my own uncle. Besides my father, Second Uncle treats me the best. If I had to buy gifts, it would be putting on airs.”
“Hahaha!”
Wang Zhongli laughed heartily.
“My good nephew is right. Since we’re family, there’s no need for such formality.”
As he spoke, his eyes glanced at Yuan Di, who was standing nearby, and he wondered: This woman has an extraordinary appearance.
She must be that courtesan named Yuan Yuan that Sandong recently acquired?
But why bring her here?
Could it be…
“However…”
Wang Sandong continued, “Coming empty-handed is still not good. So…”
With that, he pulled Yuan Di forward.
“This is Yuan Yuan, my beloved singing girl. I’ve decided to give her to Second Uncle.”
Wang Zhongli heard this and thought, ‘Just as I suspected.’
Yuan Di, however, changed expression slightly.
Though her face remained impassive, her hand hidden in her sleeve clenched, and a flash of cold light flickered deep in her eyes.
Wang Zhongli laughed.
“How could I take what you treasure? Since she’s your beloved, Second Uncle certainly won’t rob you. Enough, enough, don’t mention such alienating words again.”
Hearing this, Wang Sandong didn’t continue the polite refusal.
Instead, he said directly, “Alright, I’ll listen to Second Uncle.”
It seemed his sincerity in offering the singing girl wasn’t very great.
“Ah, by the way, what about that famed physician from Xiangcheng who gave me acupuncture? Is he still at home? I’d like to thank him in person.”
“Bad timing. The gentleman went out to treat someone.”
“What a pity.”
Wang Sandong sighed, then frowned.
“There’s something I’d like to ask your advice on, Second Uncle.”
“Nephew, speak your mind.”
“I think that on that rainy night, someone might have been trying to kill me.”
As he said this, Wang Sandong stared straight at Wang Zhongli.
Wang Zhongli’s brow furrowed.
His pupils contracted slightly, and he stroked his beard.
“What makes my nephew think that?”
“Because I saw it.”
Wang Sandong smiled faintly.
“When I rolled out of the carriage, I immediately checked the surroundings.”
Wang Zhongli’s hand paused mid-stroke of his beard.
He met Wang Sandong’s gaze, his eyes calm.
“Is that so? My nephew is weak in body—could you have been dizzy? Besides, it was raining heavily—maybe you saw wrong?”
Wang Sandong shook his head, speaking with certainty.
“No, I saw clearly. That person must have wanted to see the result with their own eyes. Maybe the result they saw wasn’t what they expected, so they quietly retreated.”
Wang Zhongli pondered for a moment, then asked, “Who was it?”
“Chen Youde!”
Wang Zhongli’s pupils quivered.
He stared into Wang Sandong’s eyes for a moment, then laughed.
“My nephew must have been mistaken. Why would Chen Youde want to kill you? It makes no sense.”
Yuan Di, standing nearby, also glanced at Wang Sandong, thinking to herself:
‘This kid—young, but crafty and cunning.
‘I must be careful with him from now on.’
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