Interesting Woman

"Shang Xin Lei."

Qian Gongyu's voice trembled as she leaned close to "Jiang Shi's" ear and whispered, "She's the Shang Family's Fourth Young Miss, Shang Xuanwen's most beloved daughter. Her three older brothers all wield great power, and she herself ranks eleventh on the Hidden Dragon Rankings. She can be called one of the most powerful women in Liang... I thought only a collateral member of the Shang Family was coming. I never expected it to be her!"

Yan Qing was not nearly as excited as Qian Gongyu. After all, he had seen top-tier rich beauties before. For example, there was Ying Ru Shi, Le City County Princess, whom he had met in Qi—and he had even splashed her with blood right there on the spot.

The Hidden Dragon Rankings mentioned afterward were somewhat interesting, but this was not the time to ask about them.

"Fourth Young Miss Shang."

Even with his face in a sorry state, Luo Weijin still forced out a presentable smile. "There's no need to trouble yourself over such a minor matter, is there?"

"Since it's a minor matter, why not let it end here?" Shang Xin Lei followed his words. "There's no need to let such a small matter affect everyone's mood."

Luo Weijin was momentarily speechless. It was not that he could not refute Shang Xin Lei's words, but that he could tell she had made up her mind to protect Qian Gongyu and her guard. If he insisted on pursuing the matter, he would be refusing to give Shang Xin Lei face.

Just as Qian Gongyu could not fall out with Luo Weijin because he had humiliated her family, Luo Weijin now found it difficult to decide not to give Shang Xin Lei face simply because he had been punched. Faced with consequences that could not be estimated, people always tended to swallow losses they could endure.

Humans were social creatures, and messengers were no exception.

Anyone who could live apart from society was either a god or a madman.

Just as it seemed the disturbance would end there, another complication arose.

"It isn't a minor matter."

A girl in military attire pushed through the crowd and walked to the front, facing Shang Xin Lei directly. She had a delicate figure, tight-fitting clothes, and long boots, standing out sharply from everyone else, who were dressed in finery. Yet this did nothing to diminish her nobility and arrogance—or rather, being able to dress however one pleased on such an occasion was itself a display of nobility.

Because Shang Xin Lei was slightly taller than her, the girl in military attire stopped three or four steps away, doing her best to keep their gazes level.

"According to Volume Twenty-Two of the 'Great Liang Law,' the Litigation Law, any slave who strikes the master's close relatives or maternal grandparents shall be strangled; if injury is caused, they shall all be executed. Furthermore, according to the rites, the imperial clan is the ruler of the world, the great clans come next, the eminent clans after them, and the Humble Class follows beneath them." The girl in military attire said, "As a member of the lowly Humble Class, she injured someone of the higher-status eminent clans. She should be punished."

"Great Liang governs the world through law and clarifies status through ritual. If the distinctions between high and low are overturned, if slaves can bully their superiors, then how are we any different from the barbarians to the north?"

The tent fell utterly silent. No one dared join the exchange, because the girl in military attire who was confronting Shang Xin Lei had a purple sash wrapped around her wrist.

Only three families in all Liang had the right to wear purple sashes. Behind her stood a top-tier great clan whose generations of high ministers shared the fate of the state!

How could the friction between a vermilion-gate great clan and a purple-sash great clan be something these Clear Colors eminent clans could meddle in?

"Jie Yuanshao, you're right."

Shang Xin Lei suddenly broke into a radiant smile and spread her hands. "I didn't think this through. Then push her out and execute her."

Qian Gongyu's face turned pale, and her legs went weak. She nearly fell to her knees. Across from her, Luo Weijin revealed a delighted expression, his whole body suddenly swelling with pride as he looked at "Jiang Shi" and the others with venom in his eyes.

"Wait!"

Jie Yuanshao stopped the guards and said, "The Qian Family's guard was certainly in the wrong, but that was because you provoked Qian Gongyu first, Luo Weijin, and insulted her family. The Qian Family's guard acted in fury to protect her master's dignity. From the perspective of loyalty and righteousness, the Qian Family's guard deserves merit, not punishment!"

"Violating the distinction between high and low should be punished according to law; upholding loyalty and righteousness should be rewarded according to ritual!"

Shang Xin Lei suggested, "Then why not execute her, give her a grand funeral, and erect a monument to praise her?"

"How can the dead return to life? How could a loyal and righteous person be wasted on such childish nonsense?" Jie Yuanshao slowly shook her head, then looked at Luo Weijin. "The Cloud Float Luo Family descends from a prime minister, but you, Luo Weijin, lack a prime minister's breadth of mind. Instead, you delight in violence and conflict, make enemies everywhere, and show no respect whatsoever to your servants. We members of the great clans and noble families were not born to lord it over our servants and abuse our power. We were born to lead ignorant commoners onto the correct path. This punch from the Qian Family's guard was the retribution you deserved. I hope you recognize your mistake and change, so that one day you may still become a pillar of Liang."

Luo Weijin stared wide-eyed at Jie Yuanshao, trying to discern something from her expression. But no matter how he looked, her little face remained utterly serious, without the slightest trace of mockery. Only then did Luo Weijin truly confirm that she was being serious.

She really thinks that way!

If someone from the Humble Class had said this, Luo Weijin would have treated it as a dog barking and ignored it. If someone from an eminent clan of roughly the same standing had said it, he would have voiced agreement while mocking them in private. But the one saying it now was Jie Yuanshao of a purple-sash great clan, the fifth successor to the Jiangbei Military Garrison!

"Jie Young Miss, you're right." Luo Weijin drew a deep breath and lowered his head, blood still dripping from it. "I was wrong."

"But while the death penalty can be waived," he said, looking at the expressionless "Jiang Shi," "a servant striking a scion of an eminent clan can't go entirely unpunished, can it?"

Even though he might offend Shang Xin Lei and Jie Yuanshao, Luo Weijin had no choice but to say this. Being slapped in the face by a servant in front of everyone at such an important occasion had already left many people secretly laughing at him. Even if he took revenge now, he could not recover the face he had lost. But if he did not retaliate, that would be even more humiliating. He might even become a disgrace to the Luo Family, after which he would have to spend his entire life idling at home, living off the family and acting as a stud.

"Of course there must be punishment."

Jie Yuanshao pointed toward the forest outside the tent. "As everyone knows, the longer one persists in the Wandering Star Forest, the higher both one's individual settlement score and the overall settlement score will be. According to the rules of the Wandering Star Forest, each person may remain inside for at most six shichen per day and may enter for at most three days."

"If that's the case, why not require the Qian Family's guard to persist in the Wandering Star Forest for a total of eighteen shichen over three days? If she leaves early on any day, she will be punished with flogging, five lashes for every shichen she falls short. If she cannot do it, she will naturally have to take the lashes. If she succeeds, then everyone will share in the settlement rewards, and everyone will benefit."

She looked around at them. "Does anyone object to this arrangement?"

Qian Gongyu immediately said, "The Qian Family has no objections!"

The corner of Luo Weijin's mouth twitched, but he still said, "The Luo Family has no objections."

The farce finally came to an end. Luo Weijin left the tent without looking back, clearly too ashamed to remain with his mouth covered in blood. Qian Gongyu also wanted to run, but someone she could not afford to offend blocked her path.

"Sorry." Shang Xin Lei stood before them and spoke politely. "There's something I'd like to ask your guard... Is the blade at your waist a token?"

"Yes."

"What!?"

Qian Gongyu stared at "Jiang Shi" in shock, then looked at the latter's White Iron Straight Blade. Because "Jiang Shi" had never displayed the power of a messenger from beginning to end, Qian Gongyu naturally assumed she was not a messenger. And someone who was not a messenger naturally could not possess a token. The would-be messengers of Liang had to fight for opportunities to act as dogs just to compete for tokens—who could have imagined that an ordinary person would possess one?

Shang Xin Lei seemed to have noticed this long ago. "Can I take a look?"

"No."

Even through the screen, Yan Qing could see Qian Gongyu frantically signaling with her eyes. Her beautiful double eyelids were twitching like Morse code, and her expression seemed to say, As long as you agree to her, I'll do anything.

Emotionally and logically, Yan Qing should not have rejected such a small request from Shang Xin Lei. Emotionally, Shang Xin Lei had been the first to stand up for "Jiang Shi." Logically, Shang Xin Lei had no reason to covet an ordinary First Rank Token like the White Iron Straight Blade.

But Yan Qing still had no intention of changing his mind.

For some reason, Yan Qing's first impression of Shang Xin Lei had been extremely poor. It was like seeing a bear child from some relative's family standing in front of his glass display cabinet of Gundam models: he felt an inexplicable annoyance, along with a strong premonition that she would cause me trouble.

They had clearly never met, and Shang Xin Lei had appeared as a good person. From her looks to her family background to her attitude, she was flawless. But annoyance was annoyance. Yan Qing could not explain why and could only blame it on incompatibility. He had never expected himself to dislike a beautiful girl.

Despite being refused so bluntly, Shang Xin Lei did not get angry. Instead, she asked with interest, "Are you really a guard of the Qian Family? If you're worried about the trial in the Wandering Star Forest, I can help you avoid the punishment. The person my Shang Family wants to protect won't be harmed by Jie Yuanshao, no matter how much sense she makes. You only need to become one of my Shang Family's people..."

"She's the Qian Family's guard!" Qian Gongyu immediately stepped in front of "Jiang Shi," her face flushed red. "She's my, Qian Gongyu's, guard!"

Shang Xin Lei looked at Qian Gongyu, who resembled a mother hen protecting her chick, and let out a giggle. "All right, all right, I was being presumptuous. After all, it's hard not to feel fond of a guard as beautiful and loyal as yours... I'm Shang Xin Lei. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Qian Gongyu. Her name is Jiang Shi."

"Then I'll see you both tomorrow. I hope you'll rest well and prepare for tomorrow's Wandering Star Forest trial." Shang Xin Lei waved goodbye, then smiled again. "But my offer still stands, Jiang Shi. You can come to me anytime."

Faced with such blatant poaching, even though the other party was the Fourth Young Miss of the Shang Family, whom she could not afford to offend, Qian Gongyu still summoned her courage and very forcefully... glared at her.

But even after merely glaring, she felt somewhat frightened and hurriedly dragged "Jiang Shi" back to her carriage.

Shang Xin Lei returned to the second floor of her carriage—yes, as a vermilion-gate great clan, her family could ride a two-story carriage drawn by sixteen horses. Even in the wilderness, they could live in a ground-level palace of ultimate luxury.

She sat before her desk and pulled out a sheet of rice paper, sketching on it. Before long, she had completed a simple drawing of the White Iron Straight Blade. Then she found a book in the bookcase titled "The Language of Blades." It recorded the vast majority of blade-type tokens that had appeared from ancient times to the present—of course, it only recorded tokens from the First to Third Rank.

After spending some time comparing them, Shang Xin Lei quickly checked the appearances of every blade-type token in the book. Not one resembled the White Iron Straight Blade. She could conclude that the White Iron Straight Blade was a blade-type token that had appeared in recent times.

A new token often meant a new secret realm. If anyone else had investigated this far, they would undoubtedly have been overjoyed and begun thinking of ways to pry the location of the new secret realm out of the other party.

Unfortunately, Shang Xin Lei was not seeing the White Iron Straight Blade for the first time.

Jiang Shi of the Wandering Star Forest.

An Wu of Anguo Temple in Chang'an.

And... Yellow Dog of Thieves' Den.

These people had appeared in places scattered across the land, with almost nothing in common, yet they possessed tokens from the same secret realm.

"Things... are starting to get interesting."

Shang Xin Lei's body trembled faintly, and she unconsciously bit her fingernail. Although she still knew nothing, merely knowing that she didn't know was enough to make her tremble with excitement.

She felt as if she had arrived before the curtain of the world. Although she still could not glimpse the secrets behind it, she already knew how to lift one corner of the curtain.

"But Jiang Shi's attitude toward me is a little strange. Could she have recognized me?"

Shang Xin Lei opened her jewelry box and took out a pair of sunglasses. When she put them on, although nothing else covered her face, the woman in the mirror became someone else. She looked somewhat similar to Shang Xin Lei, yet a closer look would confirm that she was not her.

Everyone else in Thieves' Den thought she had not taken her disguise seriously and had simply put on a pair of sunglasses. In reality, her disguise was more perfect than anyone else's.

First Rank Token · Mortal Sunglasses.

Although it was only a First Rank Token, her father had obtained it years ago after mistakenly entering a secret realm. It was the only pair in all Liang. Its effect was very simple: it made everyone unable to recognize the wearer.

Shang Xin Lei had tested the sunglasses' power many times and was certain that the others in Thieves' Den could not recognize her.

Then Jiang Shi's dislike of her was simply because Jiang Shi disliked her.

"She actually dislikes me..." Shang Xin Lei pushed open the window and glanced at the Qian Family's carriage in the distance. "What an interesting woman."