Book 1 - Chapter 93: Rumors

Chapter 93: Rumors

It was a man with a slender figure and wearing a moonish-white long robe with a collar made of ferret fur. A snow-white long sword was sheathed at his waist, and he looked very handsome and heroic. There were two people next to him; one of them was a handsome young man who was dressed extravagantly, wearing a mink fur overcoat. The other was a woman who was actually Gu Qingluo.

For Gu Qingluo to appear in this place caused Su Chen quite some surprise. However, he concealed the surprise in his eyes extremely well.

But it was Mingshu who, upon seeing the male taking away the recipe, said unhappily, “Hey, who are you? Don’t randomly take other peoples’ things!”

“Hm?” The mink overcoat male looked at Mingshu, then looked at Su Chen and suddenly laughed, “Isn’t this the blind Young Master of the Su Clan? When did a blind Young Master become able to open a prescription?”

The well-dressed youth to his side laughed and said, “Perhaps his old illness has turned him into a doctor.”

The mink overcoat male said with a face of shock, “If that’s the case, he should be opening prescriptions to treat his eyes.”

The well-dressed youth replied, “Perhaps he also commonly experiences Origin Energy rebound.”

The two of them looked at each other, then began to laugh, wearing an unrestrained expression of mockery.

Gu Qingluo’s eyebrows slightly knitted together.

She had been in Northface City for quite some time, and she also knew that while the Four Great Clans were not at peace, they were also not at the point yet where they would fight with each other upon sight. These two people most likely were just performing in front of her.

Youths always believed that if they stepped on others, they could display their own strengths, obtaining the admiration of close female friends.

However, they didn’t know that girls didn’t like fighting, not to mention that Gu Qingluo and Su Chen were secretly friends. Even if they weren’t friends, she wouldn’t like their behavior.

Since the two of them didn’t know, they were busy inflating each other’s egos and were very pleased with themselves, as if they had no other way of displaying their heroism and greatness.

At that moment, Mingshu was already so angry that his face was red. He opened his mouth and cursed, “Where did the wild dogs come from and how do they dare howl at my Young Master?”

The mink overcoat male’s expression changed. “Courting death!”

He raised his hand, and a streak of wind shot out from his finger towards Mingshu.

Just as Mingshu was about to be hit by the blow, Su Chen grabbed Mingshu and pulled him backwards, dodging the wind. That finger strike landed on a nearby column, boring out a hole in it.

Su Chen slowly said, “Is the Lin Clan planning on doing battle with the Su Clan?”

The two of them were simultaneously stunned.

The well-dressed male said, “You know that we are from the Lin Clan?”

Su Chen laughed, “Members of the Lin Clan always have a smelly odor about them. It would be difficult for me to avoid smelling it even if I wanted to.”

Because the Lin Clan was constantly raising beasts, it was unavoidable that they would be polluted by the smell of wild beasts. However, this odor was usually only found on servants, and it was impossible for these two, who were clearly Young Masters of the Lin Clan, to smell like that. Su Chen had said this on purpose, just like how the two of them had mocked that he was blind. It was a contest of wits – who was stronger, who was afraid of who?

The expression of the mink overcoat male once again changed. “Damned blind man, don’t think that just because you earned the top spot among the pile of trash in the Su Clan that you are something!”

He opened his right hand, and another vortex appeared in his hand. However, this time it had taken on the form of an arrow.

The mink overcoat male launched the air arrow towards Su Chen. The arrow let out an ominous hum as it shot towards Su Chen’s arm. Evidently, this attack was only meant to injure rather than take his life.

However, even if it was just an attack meant to injure, Su Chen couldn’t let him do whatever he wanted. He used his hand as a blade and chopped out towards the wind arrow. The wind arrow was cut into pieces. Surprisingly, it didn’t dissipate because of this; rather, it became ten or so even more tiny wind arrows, shooting towards Su Chen.

The mink overcoat male laughed, “Wind is formless. How could you defend against it so easily!”

Su Chen’s palm was placed in midair.

In the next moment, everyone seemed hear the low roar of thunder, as if it were a bell ringing from within their hearts. At the same time, it appeared as if it had never existed; the nearby assistants, the storekeepers – none of them seemed to have noticed it.

However, following this noiseless thunder, all of the wind arrows were completely dissipated.

Su Chen retrieved his palm and said with a gentle smile, “Such a large yet noiseless sound, how could you so easily hear it?”

When using the Thunder Blade to deal with the Wind Arrow, the two of them were actually evenly matched.

The mink overcoat male was also somewhat surprised. He evidently had not expected that Su Chen’s reaction would be so quick and accurate, and his strength had also exceeded his expectations.

He said with a savage expression, “Impressive, but it’s not enough. Try this one on for size!”

He was just about to make a move when Gu Qingluo suddenly interrupted, “Lin Yemao, Lin Jingxuan, are you finished yet? I am here to get medicine for Blue Night, not to watch you stir up trouble.”

“Qingluo.” The mink overcoat male’s expression instantly changed, and he gazed at Gu Qingluo, his face full of smiles.

Gu Qingluo had already turned around and left. “The battle between your Lin and Su Clans has nothing to do with me. Hurry and get the medicine and let’s leave. I don’t want to waste any time here.”

“Okay, okay!” the mink overcoat male hurriedly replied.

He fiercely glared at Su Chen and said, “Damned blind man, remember my name. I am Lin Yemao. On the day of the Hidden Dragon battle, I’ll give you something to look at.”

The well-dressed male also walked forwards and laughed, “My name is Lin Jingxuan, I await the day where we can do battle.”

As he spoke, he also left with the mink overcoat male and accompanied Gu Qingluo to go and buy medicine.

“Lin Yemao, Lin Jingxuan……” Su Chen repeated these two names in a low voice.

If he remembered correctly, these were two of the four names that Gu Qingluo had mentioned to him earlier.

That was to say that the four seedlings that the Lin Clan had sent to the Gu Clan had already returned?

It seemed that since the Hidden Dragon battle was near, the Lin Clan was no longer concealing their existence.

However, no one knew how their strength had increased upon entering the Gu Clan. This truly did make people look forward to it!

Su Chen paid them no more attention, instead returning to the Su palace upon purchasing the appropriate medicinal ingredients.

Upon arriving at the Su palace, a maidservant hurriedly rushed towards him. “Fourth Young Master, you’ve finally returned.”

“What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?” Su Chen asked.”

“It’s Madame…… Madame, she……” The maidservant was unable to continue for a moment.

Su Chen’s expression changed slightly. “What happened to mother?”

“Mother passed out after spitting out blood,” the maidservant finally replied.

——————————————————

Inside the Bright Prospects Pavilion.

Tang Hongrui lay on her bed, her face deathly pale, unable to awaken from her sleep.

An elderly person was examining her condition. Upon finishing, they said, “She is ill because of the flames of anger assaulting her heart. She will require peaceful recuperation. I will help Madame open a few prescriptions later. As long as she ingests the medicines according to the prescription, she should be well in a short period of time. But please remember, don’t let the afflicted person become any more agitated.”

“Thank you, Doctor Sun,” Su Chen replied courteously.

Doctor Sun was the best doctor in the Upwind Pavilion. With these words from him, Su Chen felt much more at peace.

After sending the doctor out of the Su palace’s front door, Su Chen returned to the Bright Prospects Pavilion.

He sat in the chair that his mother commonly sat in as he spoke in a low tone, “Xiang Xiu, tell me, why did my mother suddenly have flames of anger assaulting her heart without reason?”

“This……” Xiang Xiu hesitated for a moment.

“TELL ME!” Su Chen’s tone clearly became more savage.

Xiang Xiu was greatly frightened. She hurriedly said, “Madame fainted because she heard certain rumors.”

“What kinds of rumors?”

Xiangxiu replied, her voice trembling, “Last time during the end-of-year competition, everyone said that Second Young Master would definitely win; even the clan leader didn’t stand on your side. However…… however, Third Elder always supported Fourth Young Master, and was even willing to make a bet with Second Elder of five thousand taels of gold. If Fourth Young Master lost, then this five thousand taels of gold would go to Second Elder, while if Fourth Young Master won, Second Elder would crawl in a circle around the battle stage.”

“I know about this. What does it have anything to do with the rumors though?”

“Third Elder always cared for and favored Fourth Young Master, so the rumors said…… said……” Xiang Xiu glanced at Su Chen, then finally said, gathering her courage, “Said that Fourth Young Master was not actually First Elder’s son, but rather the son of Third Elder and Madame.”

BANG!

Su Chen smacked the incense altar next to him, smashing it to pieces.

Even though his temperament was patient and forbearing, but he was still thoroughly enraged by these rumors.

In that moment, he tightly clenched his fists, letting out a loud howl. After a long time, his heart slowly began to settle down.

After another long period of time, Su Chen said, “How long has this rumor been spreading around the Su palace for?”

Xiang Xiu touched her head to the ground and replied, trembling, “It’s been roughly seven or eight days.”

“Seven or eight days…… then the underlings should have known about it for quite some time, right?” Su Chen asked.

“……Yes!”

“Were you the one that told my mother?”

“No, not me!” Xiang Xiu yelled in fright, “How could this little one have such gall to prattle my tongue in front of Madame!”

“Then how did she know?”

“It was Lan Zhi!” Xiang Xiu replied. “When Lan Zhi was talking to the underlings, they were discussing this matter, and Madame just so happened to hear it.”

“Call Lan Zhi over for me.”

A moment later, Lan Zhi appeared in the pavilion.

Apart from Su Chen, not a single other person was in the large pavilion.

Su Chen was sitting on the chair, holding a cup of tea in his hand. He didn’t drink it, instead staring blankly into the distance. It was unknown what he was thinking.

Lan Zhi knelt on the ground, but Su Chen didn’t say anything for quite some time, as if she didn’t exist.

After a long while, Su Chen said,” Who told you to spread the rumors to my mother?”

Lan Zhi was greatly shocked. “What does Young Master mean by saying this? It was just a slip of the tongue from this servant……”

Su Chen said calmly and unhurriedly, “Before you arrived, I already asked around. You said this in the Refreshing Pavilion while you were picking flowers. That place is quite broad and the field of view is very good. If anyone were to come, they would see you very easily. In addition, my mother commonly goes to the Ancestor Hall to burn incense and will always pass by there. You have been with her for so long, and you must know this. I also asked Cui Xin, Yu Yun, and Qiu Tang, and they all testified that while they were just idly conversing, someone suddenly brought up the conversation related to the rumors. It was you…… who chose to say something that you absolutely shouldn’t have said at that time. Do you still want to try and claim that you are innocent?”

Lan Zhi began to yell loudly, “Young Master is giving me a bad name and then condemning me. Lan Zhi truly did say something she not have said, but it definitely wasn’t intentional. The rumors began to spread from within the residence, and Madame was bound to know sooner or later. Why have you decided that it was I who purposefully told Madame?”

“How do you know that Madame would know for sure?” Su Chen drank some tea. “The rumors have been spreading for seven to eight days now, but when did it ever reach Madame? The servants in the palace are not idiots. They wouldn’t listen to what they shouldn’t listen to, and they wouldn’t spread what they shouldn’t spread. If there are some matters that the master doesn’t like, as long as the servants aren’t idiots, they will never spread it to their masters. Evidently, this did not benefit the person spreading the rumors…… Didn’t the opponent want my mother to hear it? After all, rumors that never reach the opponent have no effectiveness.”

Lan Zhi’s body trembled. “Even so, Young Master can’t just claim that I did it on purpose. Lan Zhi knows that I did wrong, but there really wasn’t any kind of conspiracy!”

Su Chen faintly smiled. “Still trying to deny it.”

Even though Lan Zhi had denied it the entire time, she had made the same mistake that everyone before her had made, which was treating Su Chen as a blind person.

Just like the scam at the True Jade Pavilion, she had made the same mistake. She believed that she was performing in front of a blind person, and so she did many things half-heartedly. A disdainful expression, a careless movement, or even a fearless attitude had all exposed her, but she didn’t know that.

This was also why Su Chen wanted to talk with her alone.

Only in this way could he “see” the other party’s true attitude!

At this moment, Lan Zhi was still fiercely denying it and crying out that she was being wrongly accused.

However, Su Chen had no heart to continue playing the farce with her.

He directly said, “The person directing you must have been Yan Wushuang, right?”

Lan Zhi’s expression changed, and her face revealed an unconcealable expression of panic, though she continued to cry out that she was being wrongly accused.

Su Chen harrumphed, “Do you think that because I have no evidence, I can do nothing to you?”

Lan Zhi continued to yell with grief and indignation, “Even if Young Master says this, Lan Zhi is still unwilling to admit to this crime. I don’t believe that there isn’t a single place of reason in the entire Northface City. You won’t be able to cover the entire sky with just your hand!”

Su Chen indifferently replied, “I can’t cover the entire sky with just my hand, you’re right. I also don’t have any evidence. But when did I ever say that I needed evidence? When I crippled Mo Dayan, did I ever search for any evidence? All that happened was I had to do the Scarlet Punishment.”

Upon hearing the names Mo Dayan and Scarlet Punishment, Lan Zhi’s expression finally changed.

Su Chen had already spoken. “Iron Cliff!”

“I await your orders, Master!” Iron Cliff walked in with large strides, kneeling in front of Su Chen.

“Pull this woman out…… beat her to death for me,” Su Chen indifferently commanded.