Chapter 113: A Hidden Birth Secret, the Advantage of the Reincarnator
Inside the room, the firelight in the bronze lamp flickered; the wick trembled softly.
Upon hearing her words, Shen Yanzhou was not angry in the slightest. Instead, he carefully combed through Yu Chenyu’s long dark hair. Under the glow of the lamp, her flawless jade-like face reflected a faint haze, stunningly beautiful.
“Why aren’t you talking? Did I say something wrong?”
Yu Chenyu turned her head slightly, her voice cold.
“No. I really was bewitched by beauty and accidentally fell into Shen Jingxiao’s trap,” Shen Yanzhou sighed deliberately.
Yu Chenyu let out a cold snort. “That’s what happens when you think with your lower body. He spent years raising Ran Yi, and in the end, you reaped the benefit.”
Even though she hadn’t sent anyone to monitor Shen Yanzhou’s movements these past few days, she could easily guess what had happened between him and Shen Jingxiao.
With Shen Yanzhou’s mind, it was impossible that he didn’t know there was something wrong with Ran Yi.
Yet even so, he still wanted to pluck that thorned rose.
Shen Yanzhou clicked his tongue softly. “I wouldn’t call it a benefit, but the pleasure was indeed not something outsiders could understand.”
Under her brocade night robe embroidered with blue luan birds, Yu Chenyu’s chest suddenly rose and fell—purely out of anger at his words.
So he was willing?
“Heh, serves you right,” she spat the words through her thin lips coldly.
“Mother is worried about me?”
Shen Yanzhou asked.
“Don’t call me ‘mother.’ There’s no blood relation between us. You’re just a dog I raised,” Yu Chenyu replied coldly.
“……”
Shen Yanzhou’s hand paused slightly in the motion of combing her hair.
This was the true temper of Yu Chenyu he knew—what grace and composure, what gentle elegance—it was all an act.
“Chenyu?”
“Don’t disgust me…”
“Then, ‘Master’?” Shen Yanzhou chuckled lightly.
“……”
This time, Yu Chenyu faltered; the words on her cold lips were swallowed back down.
“If you have strange fetishes, you’d better restrain them in front of me,” she said coldly after a pause.
“Why the gunpowder tonight? I rushed back just to remind you of something—and to fetch that monastic robe for you from Fanzhou at the end of the month. Can’t we talk peacefully?” Shen Yanzhou sighed.
Yu Chenyu’s gaze lowered slightly, her breath calming a little. “If you hadn’t angered me first, would I have lost my temper?”
“Then this child apologizes for his disrespectful words earlier, Mother.”
Shen Yanzhou smiled faintly. True Qi flowed in his palm, and a layer of warmth spread out, gently drying the damp strands of her hair resting on her fragrant shoulders.
“You’re quite skilled at this—have you been doing it for someone else often?” Yu Chenyu glanced sideways at him.
“Couldn’t I have learned it just for Mother?” Shen Yanzhou asked with a smile.
“Heh…” Yu Chenyu scoffed softly.
“Recently, there have been too many cases at the Chilin Guards—investigating the reappearance of the Northern Sea Heaven-Transforming Human Pill Art, the remnants of the Grand Radiance Kingdom, the Beiyu spies whose traces were exposed, and even that person in the Palace of the Yearly Rites has been implicated…”
Shen Yanzhou did not continue on that subject.
Instead, he began to talk casually, as usual, about the cases he had encountered recently at the Chilin Guards.
Originally, Yu Chenyu had no intention of listening to his chatter, but upon hearing that it concerned secrets of the Chilin Guards, her expression became a bit more serious, her delicate crystalline ears subtly perking up.
The Chilin Guards and the Bureau of Immortal Inspection were difficult to infiltrate.
One was controlled by Emperor Mingde’s close eunuch attendants; the other was manipulated by the three great hidden cultivation families that had existed since the founding of the Great Qian Dynasty.
Cases within the Chilin Guards were state secrets—rarely could anyone access them.
Even those serving within, such as the various Hundred-Household Commanders, would keep their lips sealed before their families, not daring to speak of or leak anything.
And yet Shen Yanzhou was casually telling her all of it.
“In the Palace of the Yearly Rites—does it involve the Empress?” Yu Chenyu asked, slightly surprised that even the Empress Cui Jingyi was implicated.
“Yes.”
Shen Yanzhou nodded.
Seeing Yu Chenyu’s growing interest, a faint smile curled on his lips, but he stopped there and didn’t continue.
Yu Chenyu had been waiting for him to explain further, her mind racing—was it the Cui Clan of Hejian’s affairs exposed, or something about the Empress’s private matters…
Unexpectedly, the room fell silent.
Shen Yanzhou said nothing, merely continued to comb her hair and dry it with his True Qi.
Even with Yu Chenyu’s extraordinary self-control, she couldn’t help but feel an urge to strangle him.
Speak if you will—why bring it up if you don’t explain? Was he deliberately scratching at her patience like a cat with claws?
Especially when she caught the faint curve of his lips in the bronze mirror, her chest heaved again—he was clearly doing it on purpose.
“Shen Yanzhou…”
Yu Chenyu spoke, her flawless and exquisite face dark as still water, the words nearly bitten through her teeth.
“This is a confidential matter of the Chilin Guards; leaking it recklessly may not be good,” Shen Yanzhou said with feigned hesitation.
Negative emotions from Yu Chenyu +11 +12 +13…
“However, Mother is no outsider. There’s no harm in telling you.”
Seeing she was about to flare up again, Shen Yanzhou stopped teasing her—lest she truly throw him out.
Yu Chenyu took a deep breath, forcing her emotions to steady.
Now she finally understood why others said Shen Yanzhou had such an insufferable personality.
“Mother knows of the destruction of the Grand Radiance Kingdom more than a decade ago?” Shen Yanzhou asked.
“I’ve heard a little,” Yu Chenyu replied calmly with a nod.
“The Grand Radiance Kingdom had tens of millions of people. Because of a heretical sacrifice, almost all perished. Those who survived became remnants of an evil god’s cult—hunted everywhere, their status not unlike that of the Nether Cult.”
“But according to the clues I’ve gathered these past few days, this case may yet be overturned,” Shen Yanzhou said.
Yu Chenyu’s gaze sharpened.
“You mean, there was another cause behind it?”
Shen Yanzhou’s expression grew solemn. “Yes. In truth, that so-called Lord of Holy Light never existed. The so-called Church of Holy Light that the Grand Radiance Kingdom worshipped—was supported and manipulated by someone behind the scenes.”
“The people they supposedly offered in sacrifice to the Lord of Holy Light were secretly transported elsewhere.”
This was the conclusion he had reached from combining many clues from the original storyline.
Moreover, in that same arc involving the Cui Clan of Hejian, there had appeared a heaven-defying item—the ‘Holy Origin Pill.’
Shen Yanzhou suspected that the Cui Clan of Hejian had used the people of the Grand Radiance Kingdom as live test subjects to refine these so-called Holy Origin Pills.
A single Holy Origin Pill could allow an ordinary low-grade martial artist to gain the strength and body comparable to a Fourth-Rank, Dragon-Elephant Realm Grand Master.
The appearance of such a pill was most likely inspired by the Northern Sea Heaven-Transforming Human Pill Art.
Using humans as material, combining them with rare treasures of heaven and earth, one could refine a Holy Origin Pill.
Once such pills could be mass-produced, it would be possible to endlessly manufacture martial Grand Masters.
If one could create an army of fearless martial Grand Masters, then on any battlefield, it would be a terrifying sight.
There would be no army under heaven capable of resisting them. Once unleashed, they would sweep across the lands, unstoppable.
“You think the fall of the Grand Radiance Kingdom was related to the Empress?” Yu Chenyu asked.
Shen Yanzhou knew Yu Chenyu was plotting to assassinate the Empress. Revealing this truth—something only disclosed much later in the original story—was, for her, a timely gift.
“At present, the evidence isn’t conclusive, but every clue points toward the Empress and the Cui Clan of Hejian,” Shen Yanzhou said.
Evidence?
There was none, of course.
He merely trusted Wu Ruyue’s intuition.
Yu Chenyu fell into thought—she hadn’t expected something like this.
“If you investigate this case, it will surely draw the Empress’s attention.”
“Appearing in her sights too early is not a good thing.”
Then, Yu Chenyu’s expression softened; she turned toward Shen Yanzhou, her tone becoming serious.
“What do you mean?”
Shen Yanzhou paused slightly.
“Do you think, why would Emperor Mingde choose to favor you so much?” Yu Chenyu felt it necessary to reveal some crucial information to Shen Yanzhou. With his intelligence, he would surely grasp the meaning soon.
“Because my identity is suitable, and my talent and cultivation aren’t bad?”
Shen Yanzhou frowned. He had pondered over many possible reasons before but found none that made perfect sense.
The most probable explanation was that his position happened to hover between the Demon Suppression Prince’s Mansion and the imperial court.
“When you arrive in Fanzhou and find that monastic robe in the Floating Sky Temple, you’ll understand.”
Yu Chenyu showed no intent to explain further. Then, looking somewhat weary, she waved her hand. “It’s getting late. You should rest.”
“Fanzhou, Floating Sky Temple, seven-colored monastic robe…”
Shen Yanzhou’s mind stirred with thoughts, but he did not linger.
He recalled the cryptic words Lin Qingcang had spoken back in Hidden Moon Mountain, in that underground palace when they first met.
Could there truly be a hidden secret about his birth?
……
The next morning, after breakfast, Shen Yanzhou left the Demon Suppression Prince’s Mansion and went to the Hundred-Household Office to report for duty.
On the way, he kept pondering Yu Chenyu’s words from the previous night.
What exactly was she trying to warn him about?
Before leaving the mansion, he had already sent a transmission message instructing Li Yunpeng and the others to escort Qi Haoran—whom they had captured the night before—to the Heavenly Prison of the Chilin Guards for investigation and disposition.
At the Hundred-Household Office, Shen Yanzhou met Wu Ruyue, who had been missing for an entire day. At first, she seemed somewhat evasive, as if embarrassed to face him.
Shen Yanzhou knew she had accidentally witnessed what happened between him and Ran Yi.
Pretending not to care, he asked her about the progress of her investigation into the remnants of the Grand Radiance Kingdom.
Seeing that Shen Yanzhou hadn’t brought up that morning’s incident, Wu Ruyue exhaled in relief and began reporting her findings.
She hadn’t found any remnants of the Grand Radiance Kingdom but had captured several beggars in a ruined temple north of the city, who claimed to have encountered one of them.
Afterward, she decided to keep watch there for a while.
Wu Ruyue felt that the reappearance of the Northern Sea Heaven-Transforming Human Pill Art bore great resemblance to some of the doctrines followed by the so-called Lord of Holy Light once worshipped by the Grand Radiance Kingdom—perhaps there was a connection.
From start to finish, Wu Ruyue never once asked Shen Yanzhou about what had happened that morning.
Until noon, while Shen Yanzhou was reading case files in a pavilion, the Transmission Jade Talisman inside his Sumeru Ring lit up.
Fu Yuying had finally arrived in the capital.
After a brief exchange, they decided to meet at Shen Yanzhou’s residence. The house Fu Yuying had previously purchased in the capital had long been abandoned—she’d had to give it up when helping him escape the city.
That afternoon, Shen Yanzhou went to the Bureau of Immortal Inspection and found Gu Ruoxi. From her, he confirmed the recent movements of Ye Xingchen.
He remembered clearly—Ye Xingchen also came from Fanzhou.
When he went to Fanzhou, perhaps he could find a pretext for Gu Ruoxi to bring Ye Xingchen along.
“My Third Grandfather wanted me to ask—what are you up to lately? Why are you getting close to Shen Jingxiao again?”
Inside the black-lacquered carriage of the Bureau of Immortal Inspection, adorned with a pattern of dark swallows, Gu Ruoxi leaned against Shen Yanzhou’s chest. His hand slipped beneath her robes; her fair and delicate face flushed crimson, her eyes shimmering with mist.
“Tell Senior Chengyun to rest assured. I’ve always stood with the Gu Family. I’m merely maintaining appearances, feigning civility with Shen Jingxiao,” Shen Yanzhou said.
“Mhm…”
Gu Ruoxi bit her lip lightly, her slender body trembling slightly.
The Gu Family had already decided to use her to bind Shen Yanzhou, so she had gradually set aside her hesitation and yielded to his touch.
“Has Ye Xingchen behaved strangely lately?” Shen Yanzhou asked.
“I can’t quite say what it is, but he seems oddly confident. Oh, and he’s very lucky. He always manages to find good treasures by chance. Some Immortal Officers at the Bureau said he loves browsing street stalls and gambling on spirit stones in the Treasure Pavilion—and rarely loses money,” Gu Ruoxi recalled.
Judging from these habits, he indeed fit Shen Yanzhou’s impression of a so-called Child of Fate.
But what exactly was special about Ye Xingchen?
He was cautious—very cautious.
After dropping Shen Yanzhou back at the Hundred-Household Office, Gu Ruoxi slumped bonelessly in the carriage, motionless for a long while before slowly regaining her strength.
“What makes Ye Xingchen so unusual? Or is he actually connected to some case?”
“Other than flattering me, he seems perfectly normal.”
Gu Ruoxi exhaled softly, cursed Shen Yanzhou under her breath as a scoundrel, and began straightening her clothes. Once she returned to the Bureau of Immortal Inspection, she would need to bathe immediately.
After she entered the Bureau, a young Immortal Officer with a jade flute at his waist appeared at the end of the street.
“I knew something was wrong. Not long ago, Gu Ruoxi barely acknowledged me. No matter how I catered to her tastes or flattered her, it was useless.”
“But these past few days, her attitude has changed. As the Gu Family’s legitimate daughter, ordinary tricks shouldn’t sway her—so why would she treat me differently now?”
“Is she testing me? Or is someone directing her behind the scenes?”
The young Immortal Officer was none other than Ye Xingchen. Frowning, he watched Gu Ruoxi walk into the Bureau, his expression shifting uncertainly.
In his memory, the capital’s current state was supposed to be very different. When the True Heir Shen Tian returned to the capital, he had been dazzling—riding through the imperial city in white robes, elegant and unrestrained. Noble ladies vied for his favor; even Empress Cui Jingyi personally went to the Demon Suppression Prince’s Mansion to offer congratulations.
Meanwhile, the false heir Shen Yanzhou had fallen into utter disgrace—despised by all, mocked by everyone, even caught several times fighting beggars for scraps of food.
As a reincarnator, many events thus far had confirmed the truth of his past-life memories—except for one: everything about the false heir Shen Yanzhou was completely wrong.
“Could it be that Shen Yanzhou, like me, is also a reincarnator?”
Unease stirred in Ye Xingchen’s heart. If that were true, Shen Yanzhou would surely notice his abnormality.
With Shen Yanzhou’s current status and power, how easy would it be for him to crush a mere low-ranking Immortal Officer?
The advantage of a reincarnator lay in knowing the future beforehand. Would Shen Yanzhou allow another man in this world who could foresee everything as he did?
“If I were him, I’d stop at nothing to eliminate me.”
“Right now, Shen Yanzhou is probably only suspecting me. Is he trying to use Gu Ruoxi to test me?” Ye Xingchen’s face shifted again and again before he finally calmed down.
If he wanted to survive, he had to strike first. The True Heir Shen Tian’s madness was most likely the work of Shen Yanzhou’s hand.
“Even the Demon Suppression King Shen Jingxiao can’t deal with Shen Yanzhou now.”
“The Gu Family of the Bureau of Immortal Inspection clearly values him highly, and at the Chilin Guards, he even holds the position of Hundred-Household Commander.”
“In the vast capital, the only ones capable of moving against Shen Yanzhou… are in the palace.”
“I didn’t dare take risks before—but now, I must stake everything on fortune and danger.”
Ye Xingchen looked toward the direction of the Eastern Palace, a sharp light flickering in his eyes, his expression becoming resolute.
As a reincarnator, his advantage lay in his foreknowledge—but he had been too cautious, too afraid to act. Now, he had no other choice.