Simmering a Frog in Warm Water

Wang Ping stayed at the Su Household that very night.

As for what he had said to Madam Su... he had merely stated the facts.

Why had Madam Su shown such cold disdain toward the wealthy families in the city and those constables? In Wang Ping's view, it was an exceedingly practical matter.

The two sides were not equal.

Whether the city's wealthy families or the constables from the county office, at their core, they all wanted both wealth and beauty—they wanted her money, and they wanted her person as well.

Moreover, one thing could not be avoided: whether it was the city's wealthy families or the constables, they held an overwhelming advantage over Madam Su. She had no means of keeping either party in check and could only drift with the current. Most likely, she would be cast aside after they had drained her dry.

That was the true reason for Madam Su's attitude.

Though she rarely went out, she had come from the capital. She possessed both discernment and experience. She might indulge in fantasies, but she would never deny reality.

Precisely because of this, she would surely see Wang Ping's difference from the others.

"He is an orphan. Both parents are dead. He is alone in the world, with no children and no backing—only fairly good talent and a body of martial skill."

Inside her bedchamber, Madam Su sat upright with her skirts gathered neatly around her.

She knew very well that with Chen Haoyan dead, there was no way she could keep her family business. The only difference was how to sell it for a good price.

So the wealthy families in the city were ruled out immediately.

Those people wanted to swallow everything whole and wipe the plate clean. No matter how she sold to them, she would lose out.

Then there were the constables. These constables were not weak, and they had deep roots in the county town as well. But precisely because of that, every one of them already had a family and standing.

Thus, selling to them would not lead to much better results.

As for those young constables without backgrounds, they were far too weak to protect even themselves. She might have wanted to sell to them, but they simply could not afford the price.

If Wang Ping had not appeared, she had actually already made her plans. She would choose a relatively kind constable, hand over all her businesses to him, and then fight to keep this residence. After all, it was the first house she had bought with her own efforts, and her final keepsake.

Yet Wang Ping had appeared.

A young constable with no background or foundation, no money either, yet possessing formidable martial strength, exceptional talent, and a bright future.

The perfect buyer.

At least, he was better than the others. If she sold to Wang Ping, how much could one man possibly spend? The costly food supplements needed for martial training would not empty her coffers.

By then, aside from the residence, perhaps she could retain another sum for living expenses and buy herself enough time to contact her clan in the capital.

Of course, Wang Ping had also promised never to treat her with disrespect or improper familiarity. But Madam Su did not believe that at all. She only thought Wang Ping was putting on an act to gain her trust. In any case, she no longer cared. So long as she was not left with nothing, what did such a sacrifice matter?

While Madam Su continued pondering her future—

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Outside the bedchamber, a set of steady footsteps suddenly sounded. They were the footsteps of a man. Madam Su instantly snapped awake and instinctively looked toward the door.

Then a voice came from outside.

"Madam has not yet retired? Please rest assured, those lobbyists sent by the wealthy families in the city have all been driven away by Wang. They will not come to harass Madam again."

Wang Ping had spent the entire day dealing with such matters.

Since Madam Su had taken him in, driving away the unwelcome guests seeking to swallow up the Su Household's assets was his duty. He had even gotten into several fights for it.

But at this point, unless a martial artist at External Arts Perfection acted personally, no one could stand against him. Besides, he wore the mantle of official authority.

"...Madam?"

When Wang Ping received no response from within for some time, he frowned slightly. Then he gently pushed open the door, and brilliant moonlight flowed into the bedchamber like water.

Looking inside, he saw a gentle woman seated upon the bed. Dressed in mourning clothes, her beautiful eyes brimmed with tears. She was like a blooming snow lotus, morning dew still clinging to the tips of its petals, gazing at him with desolate chill. After their gazes met, she closed her eyes as though resigned to her fate.

As if she were saying, "Do as you please."

Wang Ping could not help shaking his head. Rather than entering the bedchamber, he instead took a step back. "My apologies. Wang has offended Madam."

"Please rest assured, Madam. Since I promised I would not act improperly, I will never break my word."

With that, he shut the door himself.

"I will be staying next door. If anything happens, call for me whenever you wish."

Only after his words fell did Madam Su open her eyes in astonishment. Footsteps sounded once more from beyond the door, but they gradually faded into the distance, and the figure was gone.

County office, stables.

After leaving Madam Su's room, Wang Ping hurried back to the county office without pausing for even a moment. He led his beloved Curly-Mane Horse into the Su Household's residence.

Naturally, he used his Spirit Sense along the way to ensure no one was following him.

Only then did he circulate his Spirit Sense and use a few methods to loosen the horse's bowels, making the Curly-Mane Horse pass out the small pill bottle it had swallowed earlier.

Wang Ping did not dare delay. After selecting the pill he would take that night, he resealed the remaining pills and fed them back into the Curly-Mane Horse's stomach.

After finishing all this, he patted the horse's neck. "You've suffered. Bear with it a little longer."

"...Neigh!"

For some reason, Wang Ping felt as though his horse had rolled its eyes at him and snorted a few times. It seemed far more spirited than when he had first seen it.

Next, Wang Ping carefully cleaned up the scene and settled the horse again. Throughout the entire process, he spread out his Spirit Sense to ensure no one had seen him. Only then did he return to his room, take out the pill, mix it with water, and drink it down in one gulp. He then continued digesting its medicinal power, feeling the transformation in his body.

As for Madam Su, he had long since thrown her beyond the nine heavens.

What a joke. How could women possibly be as satisfying as training?

Besides, he had not come for female beauty in the first place. The martial arts Chen Haoyan possessed were the true objective of this trip. How could he waste time on such things?

And if Chen Haoyan had truly hidden some martial arts manuals in secret, Madam Su was the person most likely to know where he had concealed them.

Under such circumstances, he could not force things even more.

He had to simmer the frog in warm water and take it slowly.

Thus, the night passed without incident.

The next morning, when Madam Su awoke from sleep, she discovered it had been the most peaceful rest she had had in seven days. She had even overslept.

Pushing open the door, Madam Su entered the courtyard. There, she saw only a strong young man holding a long saber. As he stepped and moved, saber light crisscrossed in all directions, cold gleams filling the air. Every slash produced a sharp ringing cry, while fists and kicks occasionally accompanied the blade. Amid the chorus of sinews and bones, he seemed to be followed by dragons and tigers.

Madam Su stood there blankly, watching the scene.

Memories of the past surged into her heart one after another. For a moment, she was almost entranced, her fingers unconsciously moving along with the changes in Wang Ping's saber forms.

The Great Shun Dynasty had founded its state upon martial strength.

Though she was a woman, she had grown up in the capital, under an atmosphere where all beneath heaven revered martial arts. How could she possibly have had no interest in martial skill?

Long ago, she too had been a young girl who loved wielding sabers and staves.

But as the saying went, the poor studied literature, while the rich trained in martial arts. Ever since she had been driven from her home and forced to journey far away, she had no longer possessed the means to practice martial arts.

The martial arts she had learned had long since been abandoned as well.

Had that not been the case, with her talent in those days, so long as she had practiced without cease, she could have preserved her family business on her own even after Chen Haoyan's death.

Yet the martial path had always been one where failing to advance meant retreating.

After so many years without practice, her martial skill was far inferior to what it had once been. Her constitution might still be excellent enough to let her live to a hundred, but it could no longer support a life-or-death struggle.

When she had made money in Longxing County and gained property of her own, she had once hoped to take up martial arts again. But that man's arrival had destroyed every aspiration.

"Chen Haoyan..." Madam Su lightly gritted her teeth.

That bastard had indeed helped her greatly when he first approached her. Yet before long, he lost patience and revealed his true face.

Not only had he seized the business she had spent years building, he had treated her as a forbidden possession and imprisoned her in this residence. Other than helping with accounts and managing the books each day, she had nothing else to do. The slightest displeasure on his part brought beatings and punishment, and she even had to tend to his daily needs.

Thinking of this, Madam Su suddenly felt somewhat desolate.

Then she looked around, only to find that the grand residence—so familiar that she could distinguish every flower and blade of grass—now stirred a nameless fury within her.

But what saddened her even more was that in the next instant, she nearly instinctively suppressed that fury, burying all her emotions in her heart as she stood there in a daze.

It felt like a golden canary caged away had suddenly fluttered its wings, only to discover it could not fly out and had no choice but to settle back where it started... That was right. She had long become a domesticated bird. How could she still dream that one day she would break free of the cage and soar into the sky?

Madam Su lowered her eyes, her bearing becoming ever more desolate and broken.

"Madam?"

A soft call interrupted her melancholy. Madam Su looked up and saw that the young constable had somehow already stopped practicing his saber and come before her.

"Would you like to practice together?"

Wang Ping smiled. "Judging from your finger movements just now, Madam seems to have learned martial arts before. That saves me quite a bit of effort persuading you."

"Persuade me?" Madam Su frowned.

Wang Ping nodded. "I had intended to persuade Madam that, no matter what, you should practice some martial arts. After all, I cannot live in this residence forever to protect you."

"Therefore, it would be best if Madam learned some martial arts as well. Once you have the ability to protect yourself, even if Wang is not here in the future, you will still have the ability to keep yourself safe."

As his words fell, Madam Su did not know why, but she suddenly remembered the day Chen Haoyan had imprisoned her in the residence. It seemed he had told her something similar then.

Only, the meaning had been entirely opposite.

"What martial arts does a woman need to practice? If you ruin yourself through training, I will not even be able to take you out for others to see. Just stay home obediently. Rest assured, I will take good care of you."

—Nothing but dogshit.

And now, another man was extending a hand toward her, yet not to tell her to stay obediently at home, but to have her pick up once more what she had abandoned.

Madam Su could not describe what she felt.

Yet when memory and reality, those two images, overlapped, she still instinctively took a step back, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

But before she could speak, Wang Ping moved first. Her fair, slender hand was firmly grasped by another hand, broader, sturdier, and callused. One was delicate, the other rough. The utterly different sensations of their palms made both their hands tremble faintly.

Madam Su's body immediately tensed.

Wang Ping, on the other hand, looked entirely natural, as if he did not find anything improper. Instead, he said with utter seriousness, "Madam, do not let stray thoughts arise while practicing."

"..."

A blush instantly spread across Madam Su's usually snow-white cheeks.

Then, under Wang Ping's firm instructions, she obediently assumed the stance, moved her blood and qi, stretched her limbs, and began practicing martial arts in the courtyard.

I do not want this. He is forcing me. I have no choice...

As Madam Su tried to convince herself, she formed hand seals with all ten fingers, pressing them against her flat lower abdomen like a lotus flower. Her body unconsciously relaxed.

What Wang Ping taught was the Fire-Born Lotus Seal. This seal technique was the most suitable for beginners. Madam Su practiced with great delight, her blood and qi circulating continuously through its cycles. The color in her face grew richer and richer, and warmth spread throughout her entire body. Meanwhile, Wang Ping continuously reached out to instruct her on how to adjust the seal technique.

This only made Madam Su's cheeks grow increasingly flushed.

For every time Wang Ping helped her adjust the seal technique, that solid palm would lightly brush across her lower abdomen, carrying astonishing heat.

At that thought, Madam Su could not help pressing her legs together.

"It's... it's a little hot..."

By the time Madam Su came back to herself, fragrant sweat already covered her body. She could not help stealing a glance at Wang Ping, only to find that he still looked straight ahead without the slightest sidelong look.

Was he doing it deliberately, or by accident?

"Madam?"

Suddenly, Wang Ping frowned slightly and finally looked at Madam Su. But his face was full of displeasure. "Focus. Your hand seals are a mess, and your blood and qi are flowing incorrectly."

Smack!

A palm strike, neither heavy nor light, landed on Madam Su's lower abdomen. In an instant, she felt as though a current of electricity had surged through her entire body.

For a time, Madam Su's heart was in utter chaos. She could only comfort herself that he knew martial arts and was young and strong. If he truly wanted to do anything, she would have no strength to resist.

Over the next three days, Wang Ping guided Madam Su in martial arts every day. He was dutiful and conscientious, often correcting her movements hand by hand and pointing out every flaw.

Madam Su tried her best to resist, but each attempt was weaker than the last.

I cannot trust him...

She tried hard to recall the past, seeking to use Chen Haoyan as an example to convince herself not to be bewitched. But when she came back to her senses, Wang Ping's face was before her again.

"Madam, you may rest now."

A kind smile appeared on the young constable's face as he praised her. "You have practiced extremely well. It seems you will no longer need my guidance from now on."

Having said that, he took a step back of his own accord.

At that instant, the warmth that had remained within arm's reach for days withdrew. Madam Su could not help swaying, nearly taking a step forward herself.

But in the next moment, she came to her senses.

The rosy color in her face instantly drained to deathly pale. Some emotion—whether shame or anger, she did not know—made the jade hairpin in her coiffure tremble.

That jade hairpin had been given to her by Chen Haoyan.

She did not like it, yet she had never dared remove it. Every time she did, she would anger Chen Haoyan. Like this residence, it was a cage trapping her.

"What a pity, though."

Wang Ping's voice interrupted her thoughts again. "I do not know many martial arts. Archery requires great strength, so it is not convenient for Madam to learn it for now. My saber techniques were bestowed by the court and cannot be passed on. Only these little tricks for strengthening the body can be taught to Madam. Please do not take offense."

"...Is that so?"

Madam Su froze upon hearing this and said instinctively, "If that is the case, sir... before his death, Chen Haoyan hid several books in the butcher shop west of the city..."

"Hmm?" Wang Ping turned to look at her.

Only then did Madam Su realize what she had just said. A rosy flush spread over her exquisite, fair cheeks once again, rendering her breathtakingly beautiful.

She hastily explained:

"I-I am only lending them to you for now, because you said you had no martial arts left to teach me... After—after you learn them, you must come back and teach me."

That sentence seemed to contain no problem, yet also seemed full of problems.

Though she knew of those martial arts manuals, she had never considered telling anyone. She had planned to secretly retrieve them after preserving her family business, to see whether she could practice them herself...

How did I become like this?

At that thought, Madam Su was completely too ashamed to remain where she stood. Covering her face, she hurried away, only to see the mourning hall along the path, where Chen Haoyan's coffin had been placed.

It was still in there?

Had the seventh day arrived? How many days remained before the formal burial? These days had felt like a dream, and she could not even remember. For the moment, she could not think of it.

"Forget it. It isn't important..."