Chapter 73: A Father’s Kindness and a Son’s Filial Piety, Moving to the Emerald Bamboo Courtyard
Amid the ruins, Shen Yanzhou and Shen Jingxiao enacted a scene of “a father’s kindness and a son’s filial piety.”
Even though the few clan elders were inwardly shaken, they could only suppress their turbulent emotions for now.
After a short pause, Shen Jingxiao waved his hand, ordering the attendants and offerings to withdraw. He then casually instructed others to repair the courtyard and clean up the rubble, before leaving together with the clan elders.
“The Heir truly hides his abilities deeply. It seems having me monitor him was an overestimation of myself,” Ran Yi remarked with a smiling face before also taking her leave.
Shen Yanzhou looked at the devastated courtyard before him and said nothing more.
Indeed, his strike just now had not held back much.
It was only by relying on Lin Qingcang’s power that he could barely reach such a level.
However, each time Lin Qingcang acted, his strength would wane slightly. The first time he made a move, he had easily subdued Tantai Yuxian, who was also at the Second Rank.
Yet this time, he had failed to suppress Shen Jingxiao for a long while.
Shen Yanzhou knew well that Shen Jingxiao was far from simple on the surface. Just now, he had not even used all his means.
As the War God of the Great Qian Dynasty, Shen Jingxiao’s profound martial cultivation was only one aspect; the other lay in his mastery of military command and various secret arts.
With the aid of formation arts and the infusion of military fiendish qi, he could condense a towering martial true form. On the battlefield, he could easily suppress those of the same realm.
“Heir, since the courtyard has been destroyed, perhaps I should inform the Princess Consort to let you move to the Emerald Bamboo Courtyard for a while?”
Chunchao looked at the ruins before her, thought for a moment, and could not help but suggest.
“There’s no need,” Shen Yanzhou waved his hand.
Today, he had exposed many of his strengths and trump cards. Yu Chenyu would certainly start suspecting more, and he did not wish to provoke that manipulative mastermind any further.
If Yu Chenyu lost patience and took action to probe his secrets, it would be troublesome to resolve.
“Heir, the Princess Consort requests your presence at the Emerald Bamboo Courtyard,”’
A graceful palace maid in a long gown had already arrived at the ruins while Shen Yanzhou was still considering his next move. Her gaze showed surprise, but she spoke reverently.
In any case, what had happened today had silently changed how everyone in the Demon Suppression Prince’s Mansion regarded Shen Yanzhou.
Even if, at present, he was merely a “false heir.”
“It seems there’s no avoiding this after all,”
Shen Yanzhou could not help but shake his head lightly. It appeared he had no room to refuse.
……
“Jingxiao, what exactly happened? Even you were injured by that fellow? What kind of fortune did he encounter to possess such terrifying power?”
Inside a meditation chamber, blue smoke coiled from a golden incense burner shaped like a beast’s horn. Several clan elders looked on with concern and confusion.
Shen Jingxiao sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, regulating his breath. His bloodstained, torn robes had already been changed.
His arm, which had nearly been crippled, was wrapped in layers of white cloth. With the Demon Suppression King’s treasury of treasures, such an injury was nothing to him.
However, Shen Jingxiao had intentionally made it known that he was wounded, deliberately bandaging himself so.
“The Nether Curse—he somehow dissolved it without my notice. He’s been deceiving us all this time.”
“That terrifying power of his doesn’t belong to him. I fear he obtained it through some encounter in Hidden Moon Mountain.”
“He never once left the imperial capital before. If such strength came from within the city, it would make no sense. Under His Majesty’s watch, any strange phenomenon—especially one tied to a great fortune—would certainly have stirred the Fate Bird’s reaction.”
Even Shen Jingxiao’s brows furrowed; even he could not understand.
“If it indeed came from Hidden Moon Mountain, then send people to investigate. Didn’t Wu Ruyue also return with him from there?” Shen Zhigao suggested.
“For now, that’s all we can do,”
Shen Jingxiao nodded, then added, “Do everything you can to build up Shen Yanzhou’s notoriety. Let the entire capital know that he bears a mysterious secret. The greater the commotion, the harder it’ll be for him to end well.”
“What about Shen Tian’s whereabouts?”
“From the Southern Border, someone already sent Shen Tian’s personal jade pendant to my residence.”
“He should have fallen into the hands of the Luofu Cloud Cavern. For now, it seems they dare not harm him,” Shen Jingxiao said.
Only then did the clan elders breathe a sigh of relief.
……
The great disturbance at the Demon Suppression Prince’s Mansion naturally drew the attention of all factions in the capital—especially since Shen Jingxiao had just returned home.
Many noble families and officials of the capital used the pretext of visiting the Demon Suppression King to inquire and probe.
With the King’s tacit approval, several clan elders spoke without restraint, exaggerating the account of Shen Yanzhou’s sparring match with the King.
In their telling, Shen Yanzhou had inexplicably displayed terrifying strength—peerlessly brave and unstoppable.
Even Shen Jingxiao, a Second Rank powerhouse, could not suppress him and had been wounded instead, nearly losing an arm and now recuperating in his chamber.
As soon as these words spread, all the visitors were stunned, almost suspecting the elders were mocking them.
After all, Shen Yanzhou was known throughout the capital as a wastrel who could not even read properly, much less touch the Martial Path.
And now they were saying he could overpower the Demon Suppression King himself?
Was this a joke?
It was as if someone claimed that a beggar, known by all on the streets, was suddenly revealed to be the current Emperor.
Who would believe such a thing?
The elders themselves had felt the same at first. Thus, they personally led the visitors to see the ruins.
Yet even with the wreckage before their eyes, the guests still refused to believe—it was simply too absurd, beyond imagination.
Clearly, something unknown had happened within the Demon Suppression Prince’s Mansion, and the elders were using this tale to mislead them.
It must be said—the truth was indeed difficult for anyone to accept.
Even though, by Shen Jingxiao’s order, the mansion’s attendants and retainers spread the rumor deliberately, few believed it. Most thought the mansion was hiding something else entirely.
Perhaps there was another peerless expert residing secretly within, who had clashed with the King for some reason, causing such a disturbance.
But why would the King pin the matter on Shen Yanzhou?
Any sensible person could see—that was impossible.
……
Inside the Emerald Bamboo Courtyard.
The Princess Consort, Yu Chenyu, was dressed in a light, elegant gauze robe embroidered with peach blossoms, with a moon-white inner garment beneath.
Reclining lazily against a bamboo couch, she gazed at Shen Yanzhou before her and said coolly,
“I was wondering why you suddenly had such a temper — so it turns out you’ve found yourself some leverage and someone to back you up.”
“I only wanted to protect myself,” Shen Yanzhou said.
“And then?” Yu Chenyu stared at him.
“Let nature take its course.”
“A fine ‘let nature take its course.’ Those trump cards of yours won’t be usable forever. Do you really think wounding Shen Jingxiao gives you the right to kill him?” Yu Chenyu smiled coldly.
“Mother, by saying that, do you mean you also wish to kill Father?”
Shen Yanzhou asked suddenly.
Yu Chenyu’s tone stalled for a moment, nearly tangled by his question. She said indifferently, “If you’re that arrogant, you’ll suffer for it sooner or later. A tall tree catches the wind and must be broken — brittle after slight bending. Such a simple truth you should understand.”
Shen Yanzhou truly felt her concern; it seemed the anger from earlier had dissipated.
He smiled and said, “If I didn’t understand that truth, I wouldn’t have survived until today.”
Yu Chenyu’s beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, as if she wanted to see through the secret on him: “So by your reasoning, you dared to expose yourself today because you have greater confidence and backing?”
Shen Yanzhou did not confirm or deny, nor did he answer that question; instead he knowingly asked, “Mother, do you still have feelings for Father?”
The marriage between Princess Consort Yu Chenyu and Shen Jingxiao had not been born of free love but had been a political union.
The Sword Lodge of Qilin City, situated by the East Sea on a remote island known as the Land of Eternal Summer, was not originally within the Great Qian Dynasty’s territory.
Emperor Mingde had, at the time, decided to expand the borders and launched an eastern campaign to annex Qilin City, signing an alliance with the old city lord.
Yu Chenyu, as the city lord’s daughter, married into the Great Qian Dynasty, entering a union with Shen Jingxiao, who then stood unrivaled and was celebrated as the Great Qian War God.
This marriage had been blocked by many forces.
The sea peoples from the East Sea had launched massive incursions, waves overturning and flooding many coastal cities, pressuring the Great Qian Dynasty.
If Qilin City were annexed, it would place a dagger at the throat of the sea peoples, extending the coastline eastward by countless miles — they could not agree.
Facing numerous obstacles, Emperor Mingde ultimately used his iron-handed authority to bring the marriage to pass.
To this day, that political union remained a milestone, written in bold strokes in the annals of the Great Qian Dynasty.
“What do you think?”
Yu Chenyu asked calmly.
“I was thinking, if by chance I killed Father by mistake, would Mother be heartbroken?”
“If Mother would be heartbroken, then of course I would never commit such an unnatural parricidal act.” Shen Yanzhou answered earnestly.
Yu Chenyu had not expected Shen Yanzhou to say such words, nor to wear such an expression; it seemed he truly might have the means to kill Shen Jingxiao.
Would one refrain from murder solely not to sadden oneself, even if one hated the target deeply?
Although she knew he said that on purpose, her mood inexplicably lightened; she no longer felt the anger from that morning.
The corners of Yu Chenyu’s mouth lifted a little, but as if afraid Shen Yanzhou would notice, she quickly smoothed it back.
She said coldly, “If you dare to kill your father today, no matter how heavenly your methods, you will never leave the capital. Don’t look at your father as a Second Rank on the martial path — peerless in this age, admired and feared by many — but before the Golden Luan Hall, he still must bow and scrape, kneel.”
“Do you know what that means?”
Shen Yanzhou knew and replied, “Because the Son of Heaven possesses the dragon aura, the nation’s fortune. Within the capital, the current Son of Heaven is invincible.”
“Not to mention a Second Rank, even a First Rank could be suppressed with a wave of the hand.”
Yu Chenyu’s expression cleared a little and she nodded lightly; Shen Yanzhou did understand.
No matter how divine his methods, if he dared parricide and killed a top minister of the court, the one in the Golden Luan Hall could, with a single thought, overturn him and crush him, sending him to the deepest prison of the Heavenly Jail.
Any trump card or backing would be like foam, utterly ineffective.
“So if you want to kill Shen Jingxiao, you must leave the capital,” Shen Yanzhou added.
“……”
Yu Chenyu felt her previous words had been said in vain.
“But rest assured, Mother.”
“I am not a rash man; I would not do something without confidence, nor put myself in true mortal peril,” Shen Yanzhou said earnestly.
(From Yu Chenyu: negative emotion +4+4+4……)
She extended a slender hand and pinched the bridge of her nose: “Your courtyard was destroyed; stay at the Emerald Bamboo Courtyard for now.”
“Lv Ping, go prepare an empty room.”
“Yes, Princess Consort.”
A woman whose figure was slightly more voluptuous and graceful than Chunchao replied.
……
The news that Shen Yanzhou had taken up residence in the Emerald Bamboo Courtyard darkened Shen Jingxiao’s eyes further.
“It seems you are truly ungrateful. If not for the old city lord, I would not have tolerated this all these years.”
“You forbid me from entering the Emerald Bamboo Courtyard; after the wedding night, you even refused the rites due to a wife.”
“Heh — now you treat a fake son as your real one.”
“You pay no mind to your own flesh and blood who went missing and whose whereabouts are unknown.”
“Yu Chenyu, what exactly are you trying to do?”
Shen Jingxiao crushed the cup he held; he believed he had been sufficiently polite and tolerant toward Yu Chenyu all these years, treating her with mutual respect.
He had followed every rule she set; even when stationed in the Southern Border, he had never overstepped or touched another woman.
Yet she had never once looked at him properly.
He, a proud Demon Suppression King, a national war god of Great Qian, had once been admired by many noble daughters of the capital.
Even the heavenly daughters of secluded immortal sects had favored him.
Yu Chenyu — on what grounds did she look down on him?
Why did she treat Shen Yanzhou, who was not her biological son, so well?
A thread of deep rancor flashed in Shen Jingxiao’s eyes before he took a deep breath and forced his expression calm again.
……
(From Shen Jingxiao: negative emotion +23+24+31……)
In the cleanly prepared side room of the Emerald Bamboo Courtyard, Shen Yanzhou sat cross-legged, five hearts toward the sky, but his consciousness was communicating with Lin Qingcang inside the Sumeru Ring.
“Senior, how are you now?”
“The next time I act for you, I will completely dissipate.”
“Don’t worry, Senior — this will absolutely be the last time.”
“……”
Lin Qingcang no longer wanted to speak to him; his current state was but a step away from vanishing.
He hurriedly shielded Shen Yanzhou and entered a so-called ‘power-saving hibernation mode’; unless it was truly a matter of life and death, he would not awaken again.
(From Lin Qingcang: negative emotion +6+6+6……)
“……”
Shen Yanzhou had not expected Lin Qingcang to hibernate so readily.
Senior, I really am not trying to fleece your strength.
Honestly, Shen Yanzhou felt some gratitude toward Lin Qingcang — after all, he had lent his power without question.
Although the old man’s speech was harsh, when trouble came, he truly stepped up.
It seemed the plan to help him live another life would need to be bumped up the priority list.
He was unlike the one who had promised to serve him faithfully and act as a lackey — when danger came, she had shown no reaction at all.