The Backyard! Sheng Lanzhi's Invitation

"Godfather is wise!"

Seeing Lord Eunuch say this, Guan Bao hurriedly reined in his thoughts and flattered him.

"Leave!"

Lord Eunuch merely waved a hand, signaling that Guan Bao could depart.

He then picked up another jade treasure and began to toy with it.

Guan Bao waited a while longer before finally bowing and backing away.

Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun had already returned to the residence.

He had assumed that, at this hour, the maids and servants in the residence would already be resting.

Yet upon returning, he discovered the entire residence brightly lit. Though the maids and guards all wore exhaustion between their brows, they stood obediently beneath the corridors, not daring to make any move.

"What is this about?"

When he saw Xing'er approach, Ye Liuyun casually asked.

Xing'er first took the outer robe from Ye Liuyun before speaking softly.

"Madam asks Master to visit the backyard. She says there is something to discuss."

"The backyard?"

Ye Liuyun raised his brows in surprise. Ever since entering this residence under the identity of an elder brother, this was the first time he had been invited to the backyard.

Was he finally going to see his sister-in-law?

But why had she suddenly invited him over now?

After pondering for a moment, Ye Liuyun immediately thought of his nominal father-in-law Sheng Li's death. Sheng Lanzhi had likely learned that her father was dead, which was why she had summoned him.

A banquet at Hongmen Gate?

Though he did not know what Sheng Lanzhi wanted to do.

Ye Liuyun still nodded and said to Xing'er.

"Lead the way!"

Since the other party had invited him, Ye Liuyun was no coward. What was there to fear? He directly motioned for Xing'er to lead him.

"Please follow me, Master!"

No one knew what Xing'er had thought of.

There was an unshakable worry between her brows. But since things had come to this, nothing she said would matter. She could only lower her head and honestly lead Ye Liuyun onward.

After being here for so many days, Ye Liuyun was finally seeing the backyard of this residence.

Judging by its decorations, it was indeed far more spacious and luxurious than the remote place where he lived.

After walking farther inside, Ye Liuyun saw from afar a beautiful woman in plain robes seated in the courtyard, sipping the wine in her cup.

In his memories, he had only seen Sheng Lanzhi once or twice.

The expression on her face had always been one of confidence and pride, lofty and aloof.

Yet the Sheng Lanzhi before him had a shadow of gloom between her brows.

Was she not sad?

Though he was far away, after his cultivation realm had risen, Ye Liuyun's eyesight had long surpassed that of ordinary people. He could see everything clearly from a distance.

Sheng Lanzhi seemed merely vexed that Sheng Li had died, with no sign of grief for him.

It seemed the affection between this father and daughter had not been all that deep.

And according to Ye Liuyun's understanding.

Even without Sheng Li, Sheng Lanzhi still had quite a few shops under her control. The profits from those shops alone were enough to let her continue living in comfort.

At most, she had lost the connections Sheng Li had brought her.

"Miss!"

While he was thinking, Ye Liuyun had already followed Xing'er into the courtyard.

Seeing that Sheng Lanzhi seemed not to hear him and continued drinking as though no one were there.

Ye Liuyun did not mind. He simply sat down opposite Sheng Lanzhi.

The dishes before them were quite good, but Ye Liuyun had just returned from the Imperial Brothel and was truly full, with no appetite at all.

Seeing Ye Liuyun sit down just like that.

Sheng Lanzhi paused in the middle of drinking. Her exquisite eyes drifted over and sized Ye Liuyun up from head to toe.

While Sheng Lanzhi assessed Ye Liuyun, Ye Liuyun was also assessing Sheng Lanzhi.

She really was beautiful!

But what surprised Ye Liuyun most was that, under the system's scan, although Sheng Lanzhi possessed no particularly powerful traits and her highest was only blue, her cultivation had actually reached the level of a Second-Rate Martial Artist.

It was not high, but it was better than Ye Liufeng, who had previously only been a Third-Rate Martial Artist.

Had she begun cultivating recently, or had she possessed it all along?

Just as Ye Liuyun was wondering inwardly, Sheng Lanzhi, after examining him for a while, seemed to have discovered something utterly laughable and directly let out a soft chuckle.

"As expected, your brother really is a useless piece of trash!"

"???"

Those simple words pulled Ye Liuyun from his thoughts. He looked at Sheng Lanzhi before him in surprise.

Had she discovered him?

Just as when Yan Shuzhu had pointed out his identity, Ye Liuyun only found it surprising, without feeling the slightest panic.

Had his identity been exposed at the very beginning, he would have been flustered.

But now.

He was already in the Innate Realm. What the hell was there to worry about? If she had the guts, she could just make a move and see whether he was afraid.

"How did you find out?"

Ye Liuyun was merely curious.

He had not even said a word. Sheng Lanzhi had only looked at him for a while, yet she had determined that he was not Ye Liufeng, but Ye Liuyun?

"Though you look the same on the surface, still..."

As she spoke, Sheng Lanzhi paused and continued drinking the wine in her cup.

Only then did she look at Ye Liuyun and say with a light laugh.

"If you were Ye Liufeng, then upon learning that my father had died, the first thing you would have done upon seeing me would have been to hand over the divorce papers. But you did not!"

"..."

That made so much sense that he could not refute it at all.

So it was not that there was anything wrong with his acting. He simply was not as much of a bastard as Ye Liufeng.

Thinking about it, that was true. Ye Liufeng had devoted himself to the officialdom, currying favor with those above and trampling those below.

If Sheng Li had died, then Sheng Lanzhi was of no further use to Ye Liufeng. It was hardly difficult to imagine that he would immediately sever ties with her.

"So, the one who died that night was Ye Liufeng, right?"

Seeing that Sheng Lanzhi's expression remained normal, seemingly without the slightest sadness, Ye Liuyun still nodded.

He had thought that after learning this, Sheng Lanzhi would want to avenge Ye Liufeng. Yet judging by this, she seemed to have no such intention whatsoever.

"What, do you think I would avenge that man Ye Liufeng?"

Although Ye Liuyun had not said it aloud, Sheng Lanzhi had still guessed his thoughts.

"He is only a dead man!"

Without waiting for Ye Liuyun's response.

Sheng Lanzhi began speaking to herself.

"In this world, people die every day. Even my father could die, so why could Ye Liufeng not die?"

You had said everything already. What else could I say?

"Clear-eyed!"

Ye Liuyun raised his wine cup and made a toast toward Sheng Lanzhi.

Sure enough, in a sense, Sheng Lanzhi and Ye Liufeng were the same kind of people.

Anyone useless to them could be discarded at the first opportunity.

"Originally, I called Ye Liufeng here because I wanted to preserve some dignity."

As she spoke.

Sheng Lanzhi pulled a sheet of paper from her sleeve—the divorce papers.

In this era, if a woman was cast aside by her husband, no matter her status, people would look down on her.

Though people would still wag their tongues after a divorce by mutual consent, it was still better than being cast aside.

Sheng Lanzhi had been certain that after Ye Liufeng learned of Sheng Li's death, he would definitely cast her aside, so she had prepared the divorce papers in advance.