At that moment.
In the backyard of Yuchun Courtyard.
Aunt Gui, the madam from earlier, walked up to a quiet private room and stood respectfully outside.
"Come in. Has something happened out front?"
The door to the room opened slightly, and a woman's light, melodious voice came from within.
"Madam, Su Chen, the new head of Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower, has come to our place. He also asked for Qin Lan, our newly promoted top courtesan. This old servant had no way to refuse!"
"I was afraid it might affect your plans, Madam, so I came to report it."
As Aunt Gui spoke, she stepped into the room.
It was very quiet inside.
Incense smoke curled through the air. After entering, she stood with her head bowed.
"Su Chen—the Su Chen Ling Tianhe and the others propped up as a sacrificial lamb. I didn't expect him to come to my Yuchun Courtyard at a time like this!"
"Did he realize his life was in danger, or did he know he wouldn't hold on to his position as head of Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower for long, so he came here to relax? Is he making a show of being a wastrel to let everyone lower their guard and spare his life?"
The woman's voice continued.
It came from behind a string of pearl curtains, beyond which stood an ornate screen, thin as a cicada's wing.
On the screen,
the shadow of a woman with a flawless figure was reflected.
She stood with her back to the screen. No one could tell what she was doing.
"This old servant couldn't tell."
Aunt Gui replied.
"Keep watching him. Or perhaps this is our chance."
"Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower's assets are quite good. What's more, they have ties to Zitan Palace beyond the frontier. Perhaps we can use this opportunity to make contact with Zitan Palace."
The woman known as Madam said.
"This old servant understands!"
Aunt Gui accepted the order.
"Also, pick a newcomer from our reserve and find a chance to send her to that old geezer Cheng Yang."
"That way, the old geezer won't come looking for trouble with us."
Madam continued.
Cheng Yang was the current prefect of Qingcheng, a Great Zhou official who governed a city.
"Yes. This old servant will take her leave."
Aunt Gui bowed and withdrew from the room.
After Aunt Gui had left, the woman behind the screen slowly rose to her feet.
She stepped out from behind the screen.
The woman looked to be around thirty. Her figure was alluring, and she radiated the distinctive air of a mature woman. Beyond that, her face was so captivating that a single glance could stir up countless fantasies.
"I wonder who killed Su Mengbai. He had some ties to that person at Zitan Palace."
"Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower became one of Qingcheng's five great powers because that person supported it from the shadows."
"Was the killer targeting him, or Zitan Palace?"
"But this is our chance, too."
The woman murmured to herself.
Su Chen knew nothing about what was happening in the backyard.
Inside the pink gauze curtains,
Su Chen opened his eyes and looked at the beauty lying beside the bed, a smile spreading across his face.
He glanced outside.
It was already night, and a full moon hung in the sky.
"Master, it's night now. We can continue."
Qin Lan, beside him, spoke up.
Though this was Qin Lan's first time, Yuchun Courtyard was the sort of place where they trained its women in all kinds of things. She was quite skilled.
"Sure. There's nothing for me to do if I go back anyway. Let's continue!"
Su Chen put an arm around Qin Lan and laughed.
He had no intention of going back just yet. What would he go back for? He was waiting.
Waiting to see if anyone would make a move, and whether anyone would give themselves away.
For several days in a row, Su Chen never left Yuchun Courtyard, as if he had put down roots there.
Yuchun Courtyard seemed to have reached an understanding with Su Chen.
They let Qin Lan attend to Su Chen alone.
Ling Residence.
Ling Tianhe's estate.
At that moment, three other men were in his residence: two old men and a middle-aged man.
They were all senior figures in Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower.
"Deputy Tower Master, Su Chen is completely out of line. He's been at Yuchun Courtyard these past few days and hasn't come out once. He's disgraced Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower!"
An old man spoke angrily.
"Deputy Tower Master, it's been so many days and those people still haven't made a move. Can't we find a chance to kill Su Chen?"
The middle-aged man asked in a low voice.
Ling Tianhe shook his head. "What's the hurry? It's only been a few days! Still, Su Chen does have a little cunning. He's holed up in Yuchun Courtyard."
"He's telling everyone that he's the sort of person who doesn't concern himself with Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower's affairs."
"I underestimated Su Chen."
As Ling Tianhe spoke, frost filled his eyes.
The original plan had been to make Su Chen the head of Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower,
then see how those hidden figures reacted.
Unexpectedly, Su Chen had holed up in Yuchun Courtyard instead.
Seated in his chair, he tapped his right hand on the table beside him.
After a moment of thought, he said in a low voice, "Elder Jiang, go to Yuchun Courtyard and tell them Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower has some matters that require the head to come back and handle."
"If he can't bear to part with Qin Lan, the girl from Yuchun Courtyard, buy out her contract and bring her back with him!"
"Don't give him any chance to make excuses!"
"If he handles Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower's affairs and our opponents still don't make a move, then it will be time for us to get rid of him."
A murderous glint flashed in Ling Tianhe's eyes.
"Yes!"
The old man who had spoken earlier answered.
"Deputy Tower Master, should we deal with some of the people in the tower? Some of them were still loyal to Su Mengbai. I'm afraid they might help Su Chen when the time comes."
"We don't need to handle that ourselves. Once these next few days have passed, I'll contact Happy Pure Tower. Then they can take care of it. Those people won't last the night!"
Ling Tianhe replied.
"Happy Pure Tower, the largest assassin organization in Lingnan Commandery. They say it has killed martial artists at the late Spirit Refining stage."
At Ling Tianhe's words, the eyes of the three men in the room lit up.
Happy Pure Tower had the most formidable reputation in Lingnan Commandery.
Getting rid of those people would be easy.
"Happy Pure Tower isn't just the largest assassin organization in Lingnan Commandery. It ranks second among the assassin organizations of the nine northern provinces, behind only Ghost Fiend Mansion."
"You don't need to concern yourselves with that. First, bring our head, Su Chen, back."
Ling Tianhe said.
"Yes!" The three men bowed to Ling Tianhe, then quickly left.
After the three had departed,
Ling Tianhe murmured, "Su Chen, don't blame me, your uncle. I don't know who your father offended, so I can only use your life to test the waters!"
Meanwhile,
at Su Mansion.
In a small building in the backyard.
"Miss, ever since Su Chen inherited the position of head, he's been at Yuchun Courtyard and hasn't come out!"
"He's completely disgraced Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower."
Xiao Lan, standing beside Shangguan Ziyun, said indignantly.
But Shangguan Ziyun, seated there, remained calm and unruffled.
"You underestimate Su Chen. If he hadn't stayed there, he'd probably have already gotten into trouble!"
"But staying at Yuchun Courtyard is only a small trick. Some people don't want you to stay cooped up there forever."
"I want to see whether you're capable of breaking out of this trap!"
Shangguan Ziyun said softly.
At that moment, inside a private room at Yuchun Courtyard,
Su Chen sat upright in a chair, lost in thought.
Several days had passed.
Now, with people outside preparing to make their move, Su Chen was going to make his own move, too.
Over the past few days,
even though he had stayed at Yuchun Courtyard, he had sorted out some of the connections in his mind.
He had identified several people who were close to Ling Tianhe.
He was going to kill a few of them and see how Ling Tianhe reacted.
As for why he would do it himself: now that he had come to this era of martial heroes, he wanted to experience a baptism of blood.
Besides, he had an expert protecting him, so he was safe.
Before you continue