"What do I mean? You should know better than anyone else. I just came out, and I heard you’re getting married. How come I don’t know I’m getting married? You’re my fiancée, yet I don’t know I’m getting married? Isn’t that odd?" Shen Qiu’s words were aggressive.
"Who said I am your fiancée?" Jiang Nan sneered coldly.
"Aren’t you my fiancée?" Shen Qiu asked.
"Your mother was against this marriage from the beginning. Even if you wanted to hide it from me, you couldn’t. What’s more, your mother personally called me over to express her opposition to our marriage. Although you and I made oaths to heaven and earth in the past, wasn’t your mother against it? I can’t waste my youth waiting for your mother to change her mind. You know what kind of person I am, and I have my pride too." Jiang Nan laughed coldly.
Hearing Jiang Nan’s words, Shen Qiu seemed like a speechless loudspeaker with no power, looking at Jiang Nan before him, unable to speak.
"Are all the promises we made to each other in the past worthless?" Shen Qiu looked at Jiang Nan, his eyes filled with grievance, tears glistening in them.
"It’s all in the past; let’s not talk about it anymore. You and I should keep our distance in the future, so Senior Brother Zhou won’t misunderstand." Jiang Nan said, turning to leave, but Shen Qiu’s figure flickered, blocking her path as if by teleportation. "Jiang Nan, you’re joking with me, right? Before coming to the academy, we were so close, and now, just a few months later, everything has changed?"
"Nothing in this world is permanent. What’s most important to me is revenge! I want to destroy Yellow Heaven Dao, to avenge the deep sea of blood. Romantic feelings are nothing but a fleeting illusion to me. Let’s not entangle further, or don’t blame me for being ruthless, and by then we can’t even be siblings!" Jiang Nan bypassed Shen Qiu after speaking and continued on her way.
"You’re all I have in life. How can I live without you?" Shen Qiu’s voice was filled with despair.
"If you can’t live, then just die." Jiang Nan sneered coldly.
Hearing Jiang Nan’s words, Zhang Chen, far away in the Exquisite Tower, shivered and gasped: "This woman is truly ruthless! When the Shen family was powerful, she clung to them and targeted Shen Qiu. Now that Shen Qiu is down, she mercilessly abandons him and has set her sights on Zhou Zhen..."
Zhang Chen gasped, feeling increasingly that Jiang Nan as a woman is terrifying. She spoke of avenging her family, but when her father was alive, didn’t she already use her schemes to get involved with Shen Qiu?
"This kind of woman doesn’t care about her own disgrace, nor her reputation or purity. The only thing she cares about is whether she can climb up. Such a woman, even if beaten to death, I wouldn’t dare want her." Zhang Chen was alarmed by Jiang Nan’s viciousness, feeling more strongly that distancing himself from Jiang Nan early on was the best choice.
As dusk approached, Zhang Chen returned home at the foot of the mountain, pondering the day’s events, feeling an indescribable sense of emotion: "Women, ah, can’t see through them!"
Zhang Chen set up the Soul-Forming Lamp, adding Yellow Spring Water, and looked at the flickering light. Perhaps this was his only opportunity to resolve the Zhou Qiucheng crisis.
The next day, Zhang Chen came to the academy and as usual sought to understand the rules of the Exquisite Tower within. He saw Zhou Zhen standing in front of a wall and approached him to ask, "How are things between you and Jiang Nan?"
Zhou Zhen shook his head, remaining silent, looking somewhat despondent.
"Last night, the teacher called me over, asking me to advise you," Zhang Chen said.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhen smiled bitterly: "To be honest, I don’t know why, but seeing Jiang Nan always troubles my heart. There’s a voice urging me to leave her, the farther away the better. But..." Zhou Zhen paused, about to continue when suddenly a heart-wrenching shout erupted from outside:
"Senior Brother Zhou, I beg you, please give Jiang Nan back to me!"
The voice was loud, drawing countless attention in the quiet academy, with many scholars looking over, seeing Shen Qiu’s haggard and disheveled form kneeling at the Exquisite Tower’s door, continuously kowtowing to the door, crying out, "Senior Brother Zhou, I beg you, for old times’ sake, please give Jiang Nan back to me. Jiang Nan and I are deeply in love. We already pledged our lives to each other at the base of the mountain. As the senior brother of the academy, you shouldn’t rob me of love."
Shen Qiu’s voice was loud, with a sobbing tone, which immediately attracted numerous scholars to crowd around and watch.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Chen also prepared to watch the drama unfold, gazing at Zhou Zhen, whose face suddenly turned unpleasant. Zhou Zhen quickly stepped out of the Exquisite Tower, looking at Shen Qiu kneeling on the ground, and hurriedly attempted to help him up: "Junior Brother Shen, what are you doing?"
"Senior Brother Zhou, I beg of you, please give Jiang Nan back to me. I’m kneeling to you!" Shen Qiu remained kneeling, refusing to get up, continually kowtowing to Zhou Zhen.
As more and more disciples gathered around, Zhou Zhen’s face turned increasingly sour: "Junior Brother Shen, let’s talk it over properly. There’s no need for this, why make a spectacle for everyone?"
"Senior Brother Zhou, I’m at my wit’s end. I have nothing left, my only hope to live is Jiang Nan. If Jiang Nan leaves me, what point is there in living? I’d rather crash into the Exquisite Tower and die." Shen Qiu’s voice was full of sorrow, his words extremely agitated.
"Junior Brother Shen, let’s find a private place to calmly discuss whatever problems there may be. Why act like this now?" Zhou Zhen attempted to take Shen Qiu somewhere secluded to resolve the issue.
But Shen Qiu refused, continuing his desperate, suppressed lament: "Senior Brother Zhou, I beg you, please return Jiang Nan to me! I beg you, I have no family left; Jiang Nan is my only family; I can’t be without her."
Listening to Shen Qiu’s lament, Zhou Zhen felt utterly flustered: "Shen Qiu, Jiang Nan is a living person, not an object for display; how can you use the term ’return’? She’s a living being with her own choices; who can influence her thoughts? If she firmly chooses you, who can force her not to?"
Upon hearing Zhou Qiucheng’s words, Shen Qiu lifted his head, his eyes blood-red: "Junior Sister Jiang Nan pledged eternal love with me at the foot of the mountain. How did her affections suddenly change in the mountain, wanting to marry Senior Brother? Isn’t someone forcing her?"
"What do you mean by that? Are you implying I’m the one forcing her?" Zhou Zhen asked seriously.
"It’s not impossible! The Shen Family is now undergoing a catastrophe and has lost its former glory. Nowadays anyone can take advantage of my Shen Family, and if someone covets Jiang Nan and tries to take her by force, it’s not improbable! The blame is on me, for being useless, unable to protect the woman I love." Shen Qiu knelt on the ground, assuming a posture of weakness.
Fueled by rage, Zhou Zhen was at a loss for words and instead called out to the crowd: "Bring Junior Sister Jiang over here, to see if I was forcing her."
Someone went to fetch Jiang Nan, who soon appeared, storming over angrily. Seeing Shen Qiu kneeling on the ground and hearing his constant pleas to ’return Junior Sister to me,’ Jiang Nan became infuriated, her eyes reddened, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes as she rushed up to reprimand Shen Qiu: "Shen Qiu, you bastard, what nonsense are you making here? Marrying Senior Brother Zhou was my own choice, how dare you spread lies here, how dare you spout such nonsense?"
"Shen Qiu, I beg you to let me go! Your mother already disapproves of us being together, why persist in bothering me here? I beg you, let me go!" Jiang Nan’s legs gave way, causing her to collapse onto the ground, kneeling before Shen Qiu and kowtowing: "I beg you, let me go, stop clinging to me!"
"Jiang Nan, are you sincere? Are you speaking in anger? Now the Shen Family is gone, nobody can stop us from being together..." Shen Qiu pleaded continuously.
"Shut up!" Jiang Nan interrupted him with a wave: "There is no possibility between us, even if I die, it’s impossible! If you stop this clinging behavior now, I might give you some respect, and we can still be relatives in the future. If you refuse and tarnish my name further, don’t blame me for being merciless."
In the crowd
Zhang Chen held a handful of seeds, watching Shen Qiu and Jiang Nan, a hint of amazement in his eyes: "That woman is fierce! Dead set on Shen Qiu’s mother’s disapproval of the marriage. She’s not even mentioning their mutual affection after entering the academy; Shen Qiu is finished this time."
Seeing Shen Qiu foolishly kneeling there like a clown, Zhang Chen couldn’t bear to watch any longer and walked down the mountain.
He had to admit, Jiang Nan indeed had a way.
Returning home, Zhang Chen recalled the scene from the mountain today, feeling a pang of emotion, and a glimmer of helplessness crossed his eyes: "It’s tough. Shen Qiu probably can’t stand dwelling on the mountain anymore!"
The next day, Zhang Chen returned to the academy, his ears twitching slightly as countless voices reached them, hearing many people discussing. And sure enough, Shen Qiu had descended the mountain last night.
Without reaching the entrance of the Exquisite Tower, Zhang Chen was already stopped by Zhou Zhen, who pulled him into a quiet courtyard and handed a jar of wine to Zhang Chen: "Come, drink with me!"
"Why is Senior Brother drinking alone?" Zhang Chen asked.
Zhou Zhen chuckled bitterly: "I’ve embarrassed myself greatly this time! Isn’t it worth a drink?"
Zhang Chen glanced at Zhou Zhen, noticing his reddening eyes, realizing Zhou Zhen was troubled by yesterday evening’s events.