Chapter 57 Young Master Lu (Minor Revision):

boom--

A vast spiritual consciousness spread out like a tide, instantly surging from the backyard to the frontyard, cleansing the entire Huanxue Manor inside and out.

In the servants' quarters in the front courtyard, Shen Yan jumped out of bed, hurriedly put on her outer clothes, and ran outside. Long Shaoye and Fang Renji also sat up in a daze. The powerful spiritual sense had just shaken them awake like a tidal wave, and they hadn't yet realized what had happened.

Soon, a conversation between Shen Yan and a familiar voice could be heard from the front yard.

"Where is he?" the man asked.

"...I wonder who the Master is asking about?" Shen Yan's aura was clearly suppressed, but he was not defeated and forced himself to ask in return.

"Who else could it be?" the man said coldly.

"If the master is asking about Steward Rong, please forgive me, but I don't know where Steward Rong is either." Shen Yan's voice was somewhat muffled.

"Yanzi has gone mad!"

Long Shaoye and Fang Renji peered out through a small hole they had just poked in the window paper, hiding behind the window.

Long Shaoye became anxious upon hearing Shen Yan's answer.

"Steward Rong clearly went to Shen Family Village, how can he say he doesn't know!"

Long Shaoye was speaking in a low voice, thinking that only Fang Renji next to him could hear him. However, before he could finish speaking, one of the two people standing in the courtyard turned around.

Shen Bingsi's gaze pierced through the night and went straight for Long Shaoye.

Long Shaoye felt a jolt in his heart and instinctively dodged to the side of the window. However, the next moment, he was grabbed by the back of his collar and dragged off the bed all the way to the floor.

Shen Bingsi entered the servants' room at some point and stood on the floor in front of the large communal bed. Long Shaoye was grabbed by his feet and, in his fright, could not get up for a long time.

"Master, Master." Long Shaoye looked up and saw Shen Bingsi appear directly above him like a dark cloud looming over him. His voice trembled slightly.

"Tell me, where did Rong Xie go?" Shen Bingsi's voice seemed to be chilled to the bone.

"I...I..." Long Shaoye's mind went blank, and he blurted out everything in his mind, "Brother Rong went to the Shen family...he...he said he needed to get something, and he'll be back soon..."

Shen Bingsi narrowed her eyes slightly.

When did you leave?

"About half a month ago..."

Shen Bingsi asked a couple more questions, but Long Shaoye shook his head, not knowing either.

Suddenly, the force that had been gripping Long Shaoye's chest was removed, and he could breathe again, but he still couldn't put any weight on his legs and collapsed to the ground.

Shen Bingsi stepped over his body and strode towards the outer room, suddenly transforming into a golden light and disappearing into the night outside the threshold.

"..."

After Shen Bingsi left, Shen Yan came in and helped Long Shaoye up. Fang Renji also got off the bed and took a handkerchief to wipe his face.

"Yanzi, I'm so useless." Long Shaoye's voice was trembling with tears. "The Grand Master is too terrifying. I couldn't control myself and just said everything... Won't this cause trouble for Brother Rong?"

“It’s alright,” Shen Yan reassured Long Shaoye. “After all, the Grand Master is a Nascent Soul cultivator. It’s normal that we can’t withstand his spiritual pressure. If you hadn’t lured him away, I would have revealed Rong Ge’s whereabouts. The most important thing now is to tell Rong Ge that the Grand Master went to find him.”

“Yes, yes…” Long Shaoye breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Shen Yan took out the communication jade pendant from his bosom and sent a communication request according to the method Rong Xie had taught him. The jade pendant floated in mid-air and flashed green light for a while.

The call connected quickly, and a gentle voice came through: "Shen Yan? What happened?"

Shen Yan recounted how Shen Bingsi came out of seclusion, discovered that Rong Xie was not at the manor, and interrogated them about Rong Xie's whereabouts.

"Shen Bingsi has emerged from seclusion?" Rong Xie asked in surprise.

“Yes… Brother Rong, he might come to see you soon,” Shen Yan paused, “…Won’t that cause you any trouble?”

"No, that won't happen. If he comes, things will be easier to resolve," Rong Xie said calmly.

Hearing Rong Xie's words, the three children finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't worry, there won't be any problems. I've already arrived at the Shen family's house, and everything is progressing smoothly. I'll get the official stamp at the government office tomorrow morning, and then things will be almost finished..."

Rong Xie was speaking when someone seemed to be calling him. He smiled and responded, then turned back to remind Shen Yan and the others that summer and autumn are rainy, and they should remember to bring in the clothes they had hung out to dry during the day. He said they would talk about other things when he returned.

After ending the telepathic communication, Shen Yan patted Long Shaoye on the shoulder, and Long Shaoye finally felt at ease.

"However, Yanzi, I still don't understand why you seemed to be deliberately contradicting the Grand Master when he first asked you?" Long Shaoye recalled this and looked at Shen Yan with some confusion.

"Well... I just don't like his self-righteous attitude all the time," Shen Yan said.

"Shh—shhhhh!" Long Shaoye immediately pounced on Shen Yan and covered her mouth. "Yanzi, are you crazy? You can't say things like that!"

Thousands of miles away, in Heyang County, at the Shen Family Manor.

Rong Xie put down the communication jade pendant and walked out of the guest room.

On the porch outside the guest room, a handsome young man with an outstanding temperament and tall stature, dressed in a black bamboo brocade robe, was waiting there.

The young man held a folding fan with the character "Lu" inscribed on it. He slowly fanned himself and waited. When Rong Xie came out, he closed the fan and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Junior Brother Rong, please forgive my intrusion, were you busy just now?"

"There was a little trouble at the manor, but it's been resolved now," Rong Xie said with a smile. "Young Master Lu, please come in."

"Junior Brother Rong, please." The young master surnamed Lu gestured for Rong Xie to leave first before following him at a leisurely pace.

Rong Xie had only been in Shenjiazhuang for a day. During the day, he met with Old Master Shen and Second Uncle Shen, and then went out to meet with all the relatives of the Shen family. He drank tea, smiled, and talked about Shen Bingsi. He barely stopped, and his face was stiff. It felt like he had done ten years' worth of socializing and visiting relatives in one day.

However, things went even more smoothly than expected.

Just as expected, the Shen family, who had initially given Rong Xie a cold shoulder, immediately became enthusiastic upon hearing that he might be getting married and starting a family. They couldn't wait to find out who his other half was, pack the two of them up, and send them to their bridal chamber. They even generously offered to hold a banquet at Shen Family Village, indicating that the Shen family was Rong Xie's own family, and that no matter whether Rong Xie married into the family or established his own household, the Shen family would be his strongest support.

Of course, it would be a miracle to believe such a statement. Based on Rong Xie's extensive experience dealing with the Shen family over the years, the real meaning of these words is that once a servant is married off, they are no longer considered a burden. The Shen family should not expect to accept these burdens. Not to mention that Rong Xie has already been registered as an adopted son, his new wife, who is too embarrassed to show her face, and their future little burden should not even think about being included in the Shen family's genealogy.

This suited Rong Xie's wishes perfectly.

Rong Xie then went along with the idea that he wanted to move out of the Shen family and establish his own household.

Upon hearing this, the Shen family members were momentarily stunned, wondering if they had misheard. In particular, Old Master Shen and Second Uncle Shen repeatedly asked the maids and servants around them what Rong Xie had just said, wondering if they had misheard—how could someone listed in the prestigious Shen family register want to erase their name from it?

An indescribable bitterness rose in the chests of Old Master Shen and Second Uncle Shen. They felt their dignity had been greatly offended. Although Rong Xie had only made a reasonable request in a calm manner—that he had to remove his identity from the Shen family's household registration in order to marry his new bride, whose face he was too embarrassed to show—his calm attitude and tone, devoid of any regret, annoyance, or sadness, still deeply hurt the Shen family's self-esteem. To the point that they began to doubt whether Rong Xie's relocation was really, really, just for the sake of marriage.

Could there be some other conspiracy?

In the eyes of the Shen family, Rong Xie was by no means a kind and honest person. As the saying goes, "You can tell what a person will be like at three years old," and Rong Xie had already displayed cunning and scheming traits from a young age. Before others could even react, he had already taken advantage of the young and naive second young master, fully utilizing his manipulative skills to firmly grasp the second young master's heart. Originally just an orphan with no parents, destined to become a lowly slave, he unexpectedly managed to get the second young master to stand up for him, going to great lengths to get him registered in the Shen family's household register, allowing him to stay as an adopted son. Later, he even tested three spiritual roots on the Spirit Mirror Sect's Spirit Testing Stone, instantly becoming an inner disciple of the Spirit Mirror Sect, reaching a status that even the legitimate young masters and ladies of the Shen family could hardly achieve…

Looking back, we can foresee the future. In the Shen family's view, Rong Xie wouldn't do a losing business. His active promotion of the household registration transfer must have brought him huge benefits, at least greater than the benefits of being listed among the noble Shen family members. Such benefits are probably few, and the Shen family can't guess what they are, but they don't want to let Rong Xie off easily and let him get what he wants without lifting a finger.

Thus, from the moment Rong Xie formally proposed the relocation of his household registration, the Shen family's attitude underwent a subtle change. They were no longer in a hurry to produce documents and push forward the process. Instead, they sat down, drank tea, and tried to find out from all sorts of tricky angles who Rong Xie's shy new bride really was.

Things had reached a stalemate, and Rong Xie only had two choices: one was to continue talking about the arrogant young lady from a remote aristocratic family that he had fabricated, but the more he said, the more mistakes he would make; the other was to give orders to Wang Mu, who was secretly acting, to proceed with Plan Two.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, an unplanned figure suddenly appeared, bringing powerful external assistance to Rong Xie.

This person is Lu Yinglin from the Lu family of Qinghe.

That is, the elegant young man holding a folding fan with the character "Lu" who was waiting outside Rong Xie's room.

The Lu family of Qinghe and the Shen family of Heyang were old friends. The two families had fled from the north together and settled in the upper reaches of the Qinghe River. Later, the Shen family moved to Heyang, and the two families had little contact after that.

Although they rarely interact, the Shen and Lu families still recognize each other, and Lu Yinglin is the most outstanding of the younger generation in the Lu family, whom the Shen family also praises.

Lu Yinglin has the talent for cultivation, but he is lively by nature and dislikes being restrained. He left the inner sect of Xuantian Sect a long time ago and went to Liujin Sect to do business. Later, he ran Yuanbao Auction House with others and now sits in a very high position in the auction house.

This time, Lu Yinglin went to the Lingjing Sect on business and took the opportunity to visit a potential major client, Rong Xie.

As luck would have it, Lu Yinglin was also going back to his hometown, and since he was traveling the same way as Rong Xie, they changed their plans from dinner to going back to their hometown together and discussing the auction on the way.

As they chatted, Lu Yinglin learned that Rong Xie was going to establish his own household and marry a mysterious young lady who did not want to reveal her name.

At the time, Lu Yinglin only asked a few questions casually, seemingly not caring much about things unrelated to business.

Who would have thought that at the tea party hosted by the Shen family, when they suddenly changed the subject and began asking Rong Xie, that mysterious person, Lu Yinglin calmly replied:

"Oh, I've heard of that young lady too. It turns out her beloved is Junior Brother Rong. What a perfect match."

When Lu Yinglin said those words, Rong Xie's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but look at him.

He didn't know what Lu Yinglin was up to, or why he suddenly started testifying for him.

The crucial point is that this mysterious young lady isn't a real person. What if Lu Yinglin's understanding of the wealthy young lady contradicts Rong Xie's previous description?

However, Lu Yinglin's subsequent response made Rong Xie realize that his worries were completely unnecessary.

Lu Yinglin's words were a mix of truth and deception, making them sound so convincing that even the Shen family couldn't find fault with them. Rong Xie, listening nearby, even had the illusion that this rich young lady really existed.

With a third party as witness, the Shen family had no choice but to believe it.

"In my opinion, it's only good for the Shen family that Junior Brother Rong has a good place to go. The Shen family is located in a remote area and can't take care of things—our Lu family has also suffered from this before. Having a reliable friend to look after each other is even more valuable. Junior Brother Rong has established himself, which is like having a second safe haven for Shen Jiansheng...Grandpa, Second Uncle Shen, do you think what I said is right?"

Finally, Lu Yinglin's thoughtful words dispelled the last of the Shen family's doubts, and they immediately agreed to accept his request. The next day, they took the necessary identity documents to the government office to complete the transfer.

Rong Xie thought the deadlock was insurmountable, but it was resolved just like that.

Although Lu Yinglin may have only helped Rong Xie to ensure the smooth progress of his business, Rong Xie was very grateful and thought about finding an opportunity to properly thank Lu Yinglin.

However, from his observation, Lu Yinglin seemed to lack nothing, so he didn't know what to give as a gift, and inviting him to a meal seemed too insignificant.

Just as Rong Xie was fretting, Lu Yinglin said that several young masters and ladies of the Shen family were drinking and enjoying the moon in the garden, discussing important matters of the cultivation world. He asked Rong Xie if he wanted to go. Rong Xie had always declined such activities, but thinking that he could learn more about Lu Yinglin, he agreed.

The two walked toward the garden while talking.

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I made some minor corrections to typos, and the ending adds a little plot development, but it's not much different from the previous version.