Shrek hasn't arrived yet, Young Master Dai's house has already collapsed

"Who is following us?"

As the carriage curtain fell, Xiao Wu immediately shifted to Brother Su Hang's side, her hand already reaching for the talisman paper at her waist.

Outside, the carriage wheels rolled over the stone road, and the curtain with the Seven Treasures Pattern blocked out the clamor of the academy entrance.

Su Hang spread out an old map, his fingertip pointing to the route from Notting City to Soto City.

"Apply the Breath Concealment Talisman properly, and don't peek outside."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Wu immediately pressed the talisman paper to the inside of her lapel and pressed the carriage curtain down tightly.

"Is it Tang Hao?"

Su Hang did not look up, merely folding a corner of the map.

"There are many people who can make you run around, but very few who can make me take a second look."

Xiao Wu understood, leaning in a little closer.

"Then I won't leave the carriage."

Opposite them, Ning Rongrong clutched her small bag, unable to sit still.

"Can you two stop speaking in riddles? This young lady is in the carriage too, you know."

Xiao Wu immediately retorted.

"Knowing too much makes it easy for you to run off."

Ning Rongrong placed the Seven Treasures Token on her lap.

"This young lady has already run away from home once; I have plenty of experience."

Su Hang pushed the map toward her.

"Enough experience that Sect Master Ning sent secret agents to track you to Notting City?"

Ning Rongrong was stumped for a moment; she took the map and immediately changed the subject.

"Who else is at Shrek?"

Xiao Wu looked at him as well.

"Brother Su Hang, you wrote down so many names last night: Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, and also Zhu Zhuqing."

Ning Rongrong immediately seized on the key point.

"Set the sausage seller aside for a moment—who is Zhu Zhuqing?"

Su Hang leaned against the carriage wall, his fingers tapping on the tabletop.

"Someone from the Zhu Family of Star Luo."

Ning Rongrong became interested at once.

"The Zhu Family? The one that intermarries with the Star Luo royal family?"

Su Hang nodded.

"She has a betrothal to Dai Mubai."

Upon hearing the word "betrothal," Xiao Wu immediately wrinkled her nose, though she quickly suppressed the gesture.

"Then where is Dai Mubai?"

Su Hang flipped the map over to the other side, which marked the post stations near Soto City.

"Soto City."

Ning Rongrong tilted her chin.

"Is he waiting for his fiancée in Soto City?"

Su Hang put the map away and gave her a very flat reply.

"He's living quite a wild life in Soto City."

The carriage fell silent for a moment.

Xiao Wu spoke first.

"What does 'living a wild life' mean?"

Ning Rongrong had already caught on, her expression darkening on the spot.

"A Star Luo prince messing around while betrothed? That is truly classless."

Su Hang did not continue.

"I'll write it in my diary tonight; you can read it yourself."

Ning Rongrong immediately hugged her small bag tight.

"Fine, this young lady will read it tonight. I must get the full scoop on this scandal."

Xiao Wu reached out and poked her.

"Don't gloat; that Zhu Zhuqing sounds quite miserable."

Ning Rongrong did not retort, merely tucking the Seven Treasures Token back into her waist.

"I know, it was Dai Mubai I was scolding."

The caravan traveled westward, and the travel permit from the Seven Treasures Chamber of Commerce proved truly effective.

Before dusk, the carriages stopped outside a post house. Upon seeing the Seven Treasures emblem, the innkeeper hurriedly cleared out the backyard.

Xiao Wu jumped off the carriage first, turning to block the door.

"Brother Su Hang should get off first."

Ning Rongrong lifted the curtain from the other side.

"Your defensive perimeter is getting larger and larger."

Xiao Wu replied righteously.

"When out and about, one must be even more guarded."

Ning Rongrong stepped down clutching her small bag and looked up at the courtyard.

"Where am I staying tonight?"

Xiao Wu immediately chimed in.

"The room furthest from Brother Su Hang."

Ning Rongrong huffed.

"Fine, this young lady is busy reading her diary tonight; I have no time to fight you for it."

After dinner, the lights in the backyard were dimmed.

Ning Chuan led his men to guard the outer perimeter, and the Seven Treasures guards did not approach the main house.

Su Hang sat by the window and opened the Diary.

Xiao Wu sat beside him, holding a cup of hot tea, though she never took a sip.

"Brother Su Hang, who are you calculating now?"

Su Hang's pen tip paused.

"Calculating someone I haven't met yet."

Xiao Wu placed her teacup on the table.

"Zhu Zhuqing?"

Su Hang did not deny it.

"She was originally going to go to Shrek."

Xiao Wu rested her chin in her hands.

"Then write lightly, don't scare her away."

Su Hang glanced at her.

"I write the truth."

Xiao Wu muttered softly.

"The truth is sometimes even more piercing."

The pen tip descended, and the ink quickly spread.

[Leaving Nuoding, the Shrek arc officially begins.]

[Ning Rongrong has started asking about Zhu Zhuqing; this name certainly deserves to be written.]

[The marriage contract between the Star Luo Zhu Family and the Dai Family sounds prestigious, but in reality, it pushes two young people into a life-or-death game.]

[Dai Mubai ran away, fleeing to Soto City and entering Shrek.]

[His escape from the pressure of Star Luo is understandable, but after running away, he indulged in debauchery—that is very hard to wash clean.]

[Zhu Zhuqing remained in the Zhu Family, facing the oppression of Zhu Zhuyun while bearing the pressure from Dai Davis's side.]

[The sister wants to win, the prince wants stability, and she is caught between the marriage contract and the elimination rules, forced to cultivate with her life.]

[One is out seeking pleasure, while the other is forced to grow up within the family.]

[If this marriage contract were to be settled, Dai Mubai would owe her a debt first.]

In the room next door, Ning Rongrong sat cross-legged on the bed. As soon as the diary copy lit up, she flipped it open.

Seeing the words "indulged in debauchery," she slammed the table with a loud bang.

"Dai Mubai is shameless!"

The guard outside the door paused.

"Miss?"

Ning Rongrong pressed the diary down onto the table.

"It's nothing, I just saw a Star Luo prince's reputation collapse."

She continued flipping through the pages, growing angrier the more she read.

"Zhu Zhuqing is being hunted and pressured at home, while Dai Mubai is living it up in Soto City?"

Xiao Wu heard the commotion through the wall and couldn't help but open the door to peek in.

"Why are you slamming the table?"

Ning Rongrong grabbed the copy, suppressing her temper through the door panel.

"I'm cursing Dai Mubai, don't you stop me."

Xiao Wu immediately stood up straight.

"Then carry on."

In the main room, Su Hang's pen did not stop.

[Originally, Zhu Zhuqing would rush all the way to Shrek, only to see Dai Mubai's state with her own eyes.]

[She is cold, she is tough, and she desperately swallows all her grievances.]

[But if she follows the original path, she will be handing her dignity over to someone who fled first.]

[If Dai Mubai wants to pull himself together, fine.]

[But Zhu Zhuqing has no obligation to forgive him first.]

Heaven Dou East Palace.

After finishing the copy, Qian Renxue wrote the names "Dai Mubai" and "Zhu Zhuqing" separately on a piece of paper.

Serpent Spear stood in the shadows, waiting for instructions.

Qian Renxue folded the paper.

"The internal strife within the Star Luo royal family is even more chaotic than I imagined."

Serpent Spear lowered his voice.

"Does Your Highness intend to move against the Zhu Family?"

Qian Renxue placed the paper into a hidden compartment.

"Investigate Zhu Zhuqing first, then find out what Dai Mubai has been doing in Soto City."

Spirit City, Pope Palace.

Bibi Dong finished flipping through the diary, her fingers lingering beside the lines mentioning the Dai and Zhu families.

Chrysanthemum Douluo stood below the hall, his robes neatly arranged.

"Your Holiness, should we also send people to Star Luo?"

Bibi Dong closed the copy.

"Send secret agents to Soto City; add another line of surveillance on the Shrek side."

Chrysanthemum Douluo nodded.

"Should I investigate both Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing?"

Bibi Dong raised a hand.

"Focus the investigation on Dai Mubai."

Star Luo Empire, Zhu Family side courtyard.

The night wind pressed against the courtyard walls, and the light in the room was dim.

Zhu Zhuqing stood before the table, the diary copy spread out in front of her.

At first, she had only assumed this was a new tactic from Zhu Zhuyun.

But the paper wrote of how Zhu Zhuyun forced her to train, how Dai Davis applied pressure, and how the elders of the Zhu Family forced her to accept the rules of the engagement.

Every sentence landed squarely on the life she had lived these past few years.

She didn't call for anyone, nor did she close the diary.

A long time later, she flipped to the final line.

[If she follows the original path, she will be handing her dignity over to someone who fled first.]

The wick flickered.

Zhu Zhuqing walked to the cabinet and took out a long, slender wooden box.

Inside the box lay the token of their engagement.

She picked up the token, her fingertips pressing down until they turned white.

"Dai Mubai, what right do you have to be the one who fled first?"