Self-Preservation (Thanks to Alliance Leader Gao Mei +2)

Reaching the steps beneath the corridor, Qi Shan raised a hand to remove his bamboo hat. He bent down and set his wooden clogs neatly side by side, lifted his hem, and stepped barefoot onto the stairs. Taking the water gourd hanging from a wooden pillar, he scooped rainwater from the stone basin beneath the corridor and washed away the mud clinging to his feet.

Shen Tang also took off her wooden clogs and instinctively went to find indoor shoes. After looking around, she found nothing she could change into. Qi Shan rolled up his dirty hem and tied it at the bend of his knees, took a dedicated handkerchief from his sleeve to dry the water from his feet, then handed the gourd to Shen Tang.

The Two of Them were not slow, but the middle-aged man had already removed his ill-fitting, worn-soled wooden clogs and stepped barefoot onto the wooden stairs, leaving several wet, muddy footprints behind—though the courtyard was kept very clean and many places were paved with pebbles, heavy rain would still create puddles of mud, making it Very Easy to dirty one's feet. Seeing Shen Tang and Qi Shan bustling about, he smiled and spoke.

"Please, make yourselves at home. There's no need for such trouble."

Hearing that, Shen Tang rinsed her feet clean with two scoops of water, smiled, tossed the gourd into the stone basin, and stomped up the wooden steps with two loud clacks.

A Few traces of severity entered Qi Shan's voice.

"You Li, where are your manners?"

Shen Tang smiled and beckoned to him. "Didn't they say guests should follow their host's lead? Brother, you're far too formal. Hurry up and come shelter from the rain."

Qi Shan drew a deep breath, seemingly helpless against Shen Tang's behavior. He turned and apologized to the middle-aged man. The man was quite well-mannered, maintaining his smile as he repeatedly said it was nothing. Not the slightest displeasure showed on his face; instead, he praised Shen Tang for her lively and genuine nature.

Qi Shan sighed. "But my younger brother is already Twelve, yet he is still so flighty and immature. I fear he will suffer a terrible loss In the Future..."

The middle-aged man's expression stiffened slightly.

"Your younger brother? This is a Young Master?"

Qi Shan nodded. "Yes, my youngest brother. He took after our mother in appearance. Since he has Male Appearance, Female Features, he has attracted no shortage of misunderstandings over the years."

The middle-aged man gave an embarrassed laugh and repeatedly said that he had mistaken her at first glance, actually taking a young man for a Nü Jiao.

As he spoke, he led The Two of Them to a side room and told Shen Tang and Qi Shan to wait out the rain there. If the downpour did not ease, they could make do and stay the night.

The middle-aged man suddenly said, "I just remembered there's a pot of ginger soup warming in the east kitchen. Would you two like some to warm yourselves?"

Qi Shan cupped his hands and thanked the middle-aged man.

The man said, "Please wait a moment."

As the sound of footsteps gradually faded away, Shen Tang put away her frivolous smile, her expression turning stern and grave. "This Person is lying. He's riddled with holes from head to toe. Whether he truly went to the east kitchen for ginger soup or not, we need to be careful."

Qi Shan said, "Naturally, we must stay alert. The Village Chief said A Yan had a brain disorder and had been abandoned at the estate from birth, neglected and uncared for, so much so that the servants often treated him carelessly. That can be seen from the young son's clothes drying in the courtyard. Yet this man says A Yan is his son. Hah!"

Shen Tang wandered around the room, From Time to Time brushing her fingers over the furnishings. She rubbed her fingertips together; the pads of her fingers were clean, without a speck of dust.

Near the lattice window stood two neatly arranged desks, one large and one small. Bookshelves had been used as partitions, dividing the room into several areas. Shen Tang casually picked up a bamboo slip from the table and opened it, finding it to be a child's primer. It bore both an adult's handwriting and a child's scribbles.

She said, "It's kept quite clean. It seems those servants aren't completely idle... But in weather like this, with wind and rain fierce enough to blow thatched cottages into the sky, no one came out to bring in the clothes drying in the courtyard. That's highly unreasonable."

Qi Shan said blandly, "And that man is dressed like a scholar, yet he has the face of a fiend, fierce eyes, and the stench of blood about him. He claims to be a scholar, but he resembles a bandit more. On Top of that, his mouth is full of lies—I fear it isn't that they didn't want to collect the clothes, but that they were unable to..."

Or Rather, they had no lives left to collect them.

Shen Tang raised her brows. "Bandits?"

Qi Shan said, "With the times in turmoil, it is not uncommon for people to take to the hills as bandits, robbing homes and plundering houses."

Not only was it not uncommon, it had even become some people's only means of survival. Some would even lead an entire village to "prosper and get rich."

"Then things look grim."

"Most likely, there isn't a single survivor. If they aren't bandits, they are thieves. In any case, they Will Not be the owners of this estate."

They had failed to find A Yan and instead stumbled upon a murder case.

Shen Tang sucked in a cold breath.

Qi Shan said with amusement, "Young Master Shen, are you afraid?"

Even he did not believe those words after they left his mouth.

Shen Tang plopped down onto a cushion and blinked. "I am a law-abiding citizen who obeys the law. How could I not fear criminals who may well be vicious to the extreme and have exterminated an entire household? Mister Qi, we have entered a wolf's den. We are meat upon the hungry wolves' platter..."

As she spoke, she pulled out the woodcutter's blade tucked at her waist.

The blade had been hidden beneath her clothes, so the middle-aged man had not seen it.

Qi Shan had not brought his sword with him. This woodcutter's blade was the only thing The Two of Them could rely on. Only with her hand around its hilt did she Feel at Ease by a few degrees. In truth, she still could not understand why she, a shut-in artist who stayed safely at home, had to go through something this thrilling.

Although—

Although she had killed a constable and calmly accepted reality afterward, she believed it had been self-defense. Besides, the remnants left behind by this body had been at work, giving a shut-in woman who could neither lift with her hands nor carry on her shoulders such a fierce, cold-blooded side.

She herself was very friendly.

After all, what bad intentions could an artist have when she was hounded by her editor for drafts, roared at, yet dared to be angry only in silence?

Qi Shan: "..."

"We have entered a wolf's den, but who is the meat on the hungry wolves' platter remains to be seen." When he heard Shen Tang utter the four words "law-abiding citizen," his expression went numb. He mercilessly exposed her façade, smiling as he said, "A law-abiding citizen would not become a fugitive, either."

Who knew Shen Tang would say, "Mister Qi, you do not know the whole story. I have suffered a great injustice. If I were to die without explanation On the Way of Exile, or die on some couch in Xiaocheng's Entertainment Quarter, and someday an upright official reopened the case and discovered there had been an innocent victim like me—by then, however, the person would already be gone, leaving nothing but regret. To keep that from happening, and to defend the fairness of the law, I must preserve my life. Becoming a fugitive is perfectly reasonable."

Qi Shan: "..."

Watching Young Master Shen speak so eloquently, he reflected that after living to his age, his face was still not as thick as that of a mere young lad.

Just as he was about to say something, the smile on Shen Tang's face abruptly vanished. She straightened and Looked Towards the door, raising a hand and Pressed Against her lips in a silent gesture for Qi Shan not to make a sound. Before long, heavy footsteps drew nearer and nearer. The middle-aged man arrived carrying two bowls of steaming ginger soup.

"You two have waited long."

Qi Shan and Shen Tang nodded their thanks.

Under the middle-aged man's watchful gaze, Shen Tang and Qi Shan each lifted a bowl, Lower Eyes as they held it to their lips, about to drink.

Seeing that The Two of Them were completely unguarded, the middle-aged man rejoiced inwardly. But just as a mocking sneer was about to rise at the corner of his lips, a bowl of steaming ginger soup splashed straight into his face. Immediately Following that, the low table flew up and smashed toward his face.

Qi Shan threw the soup; Shen Tang flipped the table.

Then—

Qi Shan quietly retreated behind Shen Tang and said with calm composure, "Know the male, guard the female; when an undertaking cannot be accomplished, retreat and preserve oneself. Such is the way of Self-Preservation."

Shen Tang: "???"

Shen Tang: "!!!"

This was the second update for the 26th. There will be another update on the 27th.