Call It Whatever You Like

Gong Cheng stared at Shen Tang's back.

His lips moved soundlessly. "About this... I'm sorry..."

The destruction of the Shen Clan was inseparably connected to the Gong Clan.

He should have protected the last surviving bloodline of the Shen Clan, but he had failed to do even that.

This left the forthright young man tormented by shame and indescribable guilt whenever he faced his "wife's elder brother," Shen Tang.

"What use is apologizing to me?" Shen Tang seemed to come back to herself only now. She turned around, those dark eyes mingling a thousand unspoken words, and looked indifferently at Gong Cheng's guilt-ridden face. "I know perfectly well who my enemy is! What good would it do to take my anger out on you, another victim?"

Gong Cheng froze.

A mist of tears, tinged with red, spread from the corners of his eyes.

He nearly choked on his words. "Thank you."

In just two short months, his life had been turned upside down. He had once been a noble son in fine clothes, riding spirited horses and brimming with ambition. Overnight, he had fallen to the status of a prisoner, his entire clan sentenced to exile. Forget saving his clansmen—even his own life had been preserved by an old friend.

When he saw Shen Tang, he had already prepared himself mentally to be seized by the collar, beaten, and cursed out. He had never expected her not to blame him.

"The one who deserves to die is Zheng Qiao!" Shen Tang paused, then added with killing intent on her face, "You don't need to apologize!"

She hated seeing other people cry more than anything.

Especially young, pretty ones.

Whenever someone cried, her brain began to ache. She was terrified she might drown in their tears.

Those forceful words landed like a blade, cleaving through the confusion, despondency, and gloom that had piled up in Gong Cheng's heart over the past days. That's right. The current Geng Country Lord, the former favored courtier Nü Jiao—Zheng Qiao was the true culprit, the instigator. His dull, dead eyes flickered for a moment. The emotion called "hatred" gave birth to new strength and spread inch by inch through every limb and bone.

The hand hanging at his side slowly clenched into a fist. He repeated Shen Tang's words one character at a time, as though saying them to himself as well.

"Yes, you're right... The one who deserves to die is Zheng Qiao!"

Seeing this, the attendant's suspended heart finally settled.

Gong Cheng's dantian had been crippled. He had spent more than a month walking in shackles, personally witnessing fellow clansmen and relatives being humiliated by the escorting officials, some dying of untreated grievous wounds, some succumbing to lingering illness, and others starving to death... Though he had survived, he himself possessed little will to live.

With his heart knotted in despair, his vital essence collapsed, and his physical foundation destroyed, even the finest medicine could do no more than let him barely survive.

If he could bring himself to see things clearly, he should recover soon.

Shen Tang: "..."

Fine, then. ┓(`)┏

Wife's elder brother it is. If you like it, that's all that matters.

Her gender truly was Schrödinger's gender. Ordinary people called her a young lady, while these people with Literary Hearts and Martial Spirits called her a young master.

Everyone unanimously believed the other party had something wrong with their eyes.

The young man, who had remained silent for a long while, swept a sidelong glance over Shen Tang. As if pondering and examining something, he asked her, "May I ask an impertinent question? Zheng Qiao ordered the extermination of the Shen Clan. The operation was as swift as thunder, and not a word leaked out. How did Young Master Shen escape?"

Shen Tang said, "I wasn't there at the time. I survived by picking up my life amid the chaos."

The young man pondered. "Oh?"

Shen Tang let out a cold, sardonic laugh and answered in a cutting, sarcastic tone.

"What? The Gong Clan's Wudafu could escape and remain at large, but I wasn't allowed to get lucky and pick up my life?"

That remark brought the art of sarcasm to its absolute peak, and it also stabbed Gong Cheng straight through the heart. He hurriedly cut off the young man's words and said, "Mr. Gu, the entire Shen Clan was loyal and righteous. They feared neither power nor death. They absolutely could not have been as you suspect."

The young man's face darkened. "..."

How did Gong Yun Chi know what he suspected?

Did he think he was questioning whether this Young Master Shen was a coward who clung to life, fleeing faster than a rabbit after hearing the news and abandoning his entire clan?

Questioning her character and morals?

How shallow!

He clearly thought there was something wrong with this "wife's elder brother" of Gong Yun Chi's! She had mentioned several times that the Shen Clan had been exterminated down to the ninth degree, and with such intense hatred—hundreds of lives weighing on her conscience—even the best emotional control would reveal some flaw. Yet this person's heart was a complete blank!

Was this a beaver?

This made no sense!

If she had used a Word Spirit to guard against his mind-reading, that would be one thing. But she had not stirred her literary qi. In other words, this Young Master Shen had deliberately emptied her mind, thinking and feeling nothing, remaining on guard against him the entire time.

How could someone so cautious have nothing to hide?

The attendant, however, noticed one detail.

"The Gong Clan's Wudafu is still at large?"

Shen Tang nodded. "That's what I heard, but the news is from a month ago. I don't know whether he's been captured by now."

Gong Cheng's eyes suddenly lit up. He grabbed the attendant excitedly. "Wudafu... Weng Zhi? Mr. Gu, that must be my second uncle!"

Though Wudafu was only the ninth rank among Martial Spirits, Gong Cheng's second uncle was still young, and his talent was universally acknowledged as excellent. He was a paragon of one who had made a name for himself in his youth, with immense room for growth. Without this upheaval, his future achievements would have been no lower than the fourteenth rank, Right Geng!

This was the best news he had heard in all these days.

As long as his second uncle was still alive, there was still hope for the future!

Shen Tang couldn't bear to throw cold water on him. The words rolled around in her throat several times, but in the end, she swallowed them back down.

"If there's nothing else, I won't trouble you any longer."

That young man surnamed Gu could read minds. Being in the same space as him and breathing the same air made her whole body feel uncomfortable.

Gong Cheng said, "Wife's elder brother..."

Shen Tang forcibly suppressed the throbbing veins and violence itching to erupt inside her. Her smile was exceedingly strained. "Since the three bows were never completed and she has already passed away, let's dispense with that form of address."

Gong Cheng's face went deathly white. "But..."

"I am Shen Tang, courtesy name You Li. Call me whatever you like." Shen Tang's expression was wooden. Any name was fine, as long as he stopped calling her "wife's elder brother." She didn't need to be reminded over and over that, despite having the face of a beautiful young girl, she was mistaken for a boy every day. It was too tragic.

Gong Cheng exhaled in relief. "All right, You Li."

Shen Tang gave him a perfunctory salute. "Farewell."

"Wait!" Gong Cheng struggled to rise and looked at Shen Tang sincerely. "If you ever need my help in the future, I will not hesitate to assist you."

He had originally wanted to say that Shen Tang could come to him if she ran into trouble. This former wife's elder brother, this big brother-in-law, had a handsome face and was still young. Wandering alone outside, who knew how many difficulties he might encounter? Setting everything else aside, food, clothing, and daily necessities alone would be enough to give him a headache. But then he thought about it and realized that he was even worse off than her. At least her dantian was intact. Even if her Literary Heart's rank was low, she could still barely get by. But what about him?

He was an injured man who still relied on an old friend for support and care.

If trouble really came, it was hard to say who would be helping whom.

Thus, all he could offer was a promise for the future.

Shen Tang's footsteps halted, and her expression turned complicated.

"All right. I'll remember your words."

As soon as she left, the young man asked, "Yun Chi, how much do you know about the Shen Clan? How many people belong to the main branch?"

With the support of the other two, Gong Cheng returned to the couch and lay down.

"Why does Mr. Gu ask?"

"Your wife's elder brother said that these paintings..." As he spoke, the young man handed over the few Erotic Illustrations that made both men and women let their imaginations run wild. Gong Cheng stared at them blankly. "They were all painted by the 'elder brother' your wife's elder brother mentioned. So, how many offspring does the Shen Clan have?"

Gong Cheng took them and opened them without the slightest preparation.

The shock struck him head-on.

In the next instant, it felt as though his fingers had been licked by tongues of flame. He hurriedly dropped the paintings, looking as if he had seen a ghost, utterly shaken.

There's an early update today as well.

It goes on sale on September 1. Is everyone's guaranteed monthly ticket ready? (#^.^#)

There was a BUG in the previous chapter. The Shen Clan should have been exterminated down to the ninth degree, not the third.