Old Mr. Chu

The motorcycle's bell drew closer.

After asking around, Shen Tang came jogging back, putting on a mysterious air. "Why didn't Yuan Liang ask me? Aren't you curious about that person's news?"

Qi Shan was patient, calmly saying the sort of thing that made a person's fists clench. "You Li isn't someone who can keep a secret."

Shen Tang: "..."

Every day, she wanted to leap up and perform brain surgery on Qi Shan.

"It's a wonder someone with a mouth like that managed to live this long in peace." Shen Tang teased, but Qi Shan didn't even furrow his brow, so she had no choice but to continue. "According to the butcher at the meat shop, that old gentleman is still something of a 'local celebrity' around here. His family name is Chu."

Qi Shan asked, "Which character?"

There were plenty of surnames with the same pronunciation.

Shen Tang had made a point of asking the butcher and a few others. She replied, "It should be the Chu in 'taking the clothes and wrapping them in cloth'—cloth used to wrap clothes."

At the sound of that character, Qi Shan's brows furrowed ever so slightly. Shen Tang, two steps behind him, didn't notice.

"Chu... That surname is uncommon in both Xin Country and Geng Country."

Shen Tang asked, "Which country has more people with that surname?"

Qi Shan shook his head, avoiding the question. Then he changed the subject. "Did you learn anything else besides his surname?"

Shen Tang said, "The butcher also said that Old Mr. Chu was brought to the market five years ago and sold as a slave for a pittance. More than thirty slaves were brought in at the time. Apparently there were originally over two hundred, and they'd been planning to take them somewhere else to sell, but a plague broke out along the way and so many died that only a handful were left. They could only sell them nearby, in Xiaocheng. Since the slaves had caught the plague, they were dirt cheap..."

Qi Shan asked, "Five years ago? Are you sure that's when it happened?"

Shen Tang thought carefully about the butcher's words. "The butcher couldn't quite remember, either. It might've been five years and a few months... Old Mr. Chu was bought by the Moonlit Pavilion as an add-on in a bulk deal, and he's been there ever since. I also made a point of asking what kind of place the Moonlit Pavilion is..."

Before she could finish, Qi Shan said, "It's a male brothel."

Shen Tang stopped in her tracks and stared at Qi Shan's back with a strange look, muttering, "How do you know so much about it?"

What kind of place was a male brothel?

A place where both men and women could go for pleasure.

Qi Shan didn't answer directly. He turned his head and spoke in the tone of someone reminding a child, "You Li is still too young to understand these things."

Shen Tang: "..."

She gave him the finger in her mind.

Your big sister here came of age eight hundred years ago, thank you very much!

Qi Shan asked, "What did this gentleman do at the Moonlit Pavilion?"

Shen Tang looked at him as if he'd asked the most obvious question in the world. "He obviously did odd jobs in the kitchen. Old Mr. Chu is advanced in years and has no strength for heavy work, so at most he helped wash plates and bowls, deliver dishes, and do other miscellaneous tasks. At his age, what else do you think he could do?"

Qi Shan: "..."

He'd bet three coins that Young Master Shen had gotten it completely wrong.

Besides—

Qi Shan said evenly, "There's something strange about this man. He's full of contradictions. You could tell from our earlier game of strategizing: his mastery of Literary Heart and Word Spirit isn't low, at least not below mine. Xiaocheng really is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. This is interesting."

Shen Tang was surprised. "Not below yours?"

"Perhaps even above it."

Shen Tang was baffled. "If he has that kind of ability, even if he fell so low that a male brothel bought him, he shouldn't need to do so many odd jobs in the kitchen, should he? It shouldn't be difficult for him to make a better life for himself if he wanted to, but judging by his clothes, he doesn't seem to have done that."

Even a slave could be a slave with a valuable skill.

Qi Shan lowered his eyes and gave a cold laugh.

"Who knows what he's thinking? But speaking of the surname Chu, it reminds me of an old case."

At those words, Shen Tang's gossip-loving soul stirred, and she perked right up. Going by the usual pattern, there was a nine-in-ten chance that this so-called "old case" had countless threads connecting it to Old Mr. Chu.

Even if he wasn't directly involved, he had to be related to someone who was.

It's always the same old story!

"What old case?"

Qi Shan smiled. "The Hundred Kingdoms intermarried, with ties of kinship everywhere. A few years ago, Xin Country was powerful, and the surrounding minor states looked to it for guidance. They even went so far as to send their princesses to Xin Country's inner palace as tribute. One of the princesses who became a consort had the surname Chu."

"Oh, oh! And then?"

Qi Shan continued telling Shen Tang the story. "As soon as this Chu princess from another country entered Xin Country's inner palace, she won the sovereign's favor. For a time, she eclipsed everyone—even Zheng Qiao, the beloved Nü Jiao, had to stay out of her way. They say this favored consort was well-read, gentle, and kind. Before long, she was with child and seemed likely to become empress. But she miscarried in the fifth month of her pregnancy and died under mysterious circumstances."

Shen Tang listened closely to every word, afraid she might miss something important.

"I bet there's more to it than meets the eye."

Qi Shan nodded. "Of course there is. Rumors flew through the streets. Some said the favored consort had an affair with a guard and the sovereign caught them; others claimed the child she carried was actually Zheng Qiao's. Not long after that, Zheng Qiao returned to his country, and Xin Country sent troops to wipe out the favored consort's homeland. They say that when they destroyed the country, Xin Country's sovereign secretly ordered a massacre, and put the little country's royal family and nobles through hell... Judging by the sovereign's attitude, I'd guess there's some truth to the rumors. Of course, Zheng Qiao might also have schemed to frame the favored consort, so he could return home without trouble."

Shen Tang: "..."

Was this the legendary "what goes around comes around"?

Xin Country had also destroyed countries and massacred cities, and had treated other royal families like dirt, denying their prisoners of war even a shred of dignity. Now it was Zheng Qiao's turn to wipe out Xin Country. He hadn't just copied Xin Country's old tricks; he'd come up with a new one, making the Xin royal family's princesses surrender naked.

That was what you called "surpassing the master."

Shen Tang guessed, "Do you mean Old Mr. Chu might be a member of that little country's royal family?"

"Hard to say. He might be, or he might not." Chu was the most common surname in the little country that had been destroyed, so it was too broad to pin down his identity. But he was certainly connected to someone who bore a grudge against Xin Country.

Qi Shan slowly let out a breath, suppressing the complicated emotions churning in his chest for the moment. "Let's leave that aside for now. Young Master Shen, let's find somewhere to stay and get settled. We can take care of the rest one step at a time."

They would be stuck in Xiaocheng for a while.

Shen Tang shrugged indifferently. "I'll leave it all to you, Yuan Liang."

In an unfamiliar place, she could only count on this "Guiding NPC."

Qi Shan led Shen Tang to a small residence tucked away in a secluded spot.

Though small, the house had everything it needed, and the owner's clever handiwork showed in every corner. The owners were an elderly farming couple, both apparently around fifty. The moment they appeared, the old woman greeted Shen Tang with a smile and led her to her room.

The room was beside the courtyard. When Shen Tang opened the wooden door, she could see the courtyard's open well in the center. Qi Shan was staying next door. After the old couple left, she asked, "Do you know these two, Yuan Liang?"

The elderly couple had spoken with Qi Shan with the easy familiarity of old acquaintances.

"I do. It's been five or six years, I think..."

Shen Tang raised an eyebrow.

Maybe she was being overly suspicious, but for some reason, the words "five or six years" bothered her.

Some readers have said that the Literary Heart and Martial Gall setting is sexist and that they find it unpleasant to read. I'll respond to everyone here.

Literary Heart and Martial Gall is the sort of old trope that was popular a few years ago.

Stories in this genre aimed at male readers generally also have a setting where women can't possess this kind of ability. In this novel, the setting is there to increase conflict in the plot. The background is similar to an alternate version of ancient times, so women's status is inevitably restricted. The Literary Heart and Martial Gall setting also draws on the imperial examinations and military examinations, which have historical models.

There's no need to worry about the current situation.

In my view, discrimination isn't the point. What matters is that the story eventually overturns it.

P.S. There will be quite a few important female characters in this novel—specifically, women active in their careers. To put the core idea behind the main plot crudely, "better to build a career than to build a man."