Chapter 70: Killing the Master [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

This time, Chu Yao couldn't help but laugh out loud.

While fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan to cool off, he mocked recklessly: "Qi Yuanliang, you actually let an eleven or twelve-year-old child trick you into revealing information?"

Qi Shan glared at Chu Yao with a hint of threat in his eyes, but Chu Yao wasn't intimidated at all and just watched him make a fool of himself.

"Young Master Shen, who did you meet outside?"

When a glare proved ineffective, Qi Shan decisively changed the subject.

Shen Tang said, "A person surnamed Gu."

Qi Shan waited for her to describe it in detail, but all she got was a meaningless remark.

But then Chu Yao interfered and started causing trouble, joining in with Young Master Shen's question: "The one surnamed Gu, male or female?"

Shen Tang, understanding the implied meaning from the music, immediately joined in the teasing.

"Oh, so your old flame can be a man?"

Chu Yao quipped, "Well, that's hard to say. The fact that brothels like Yuehua Tower have thrived for years shows that this trend is still quite popular. Given Qi Yuanliang's reputation for womanizing in his youth, what if…?"

Shen Tang clicked her tongue: "It really is a man."

Ignoring Qi Shan's expression as he tried to pin the half-woven bamboo strips over his head, Chu Yao continued his reckless behavior: "What does that person look like?"

Qi Shan interrupted the two's charade by speaking up.

He said firmly, "There's no 'what if'!"

Shen Tang and Qi Shan didn't dare to tease him too much, lest they really provoke him. Chu Yao continued fanning himself with a palm leaf fan, urging the chubby boy to continue practicing, but his ears were secretly perked up, with most of his attention focused on Shen Tang and Qi Shan. Qi Shan said, "Tell me, who exactly is it?"

Shen Tang: "I really don't know his name."

Qi Shan was both angry and amused, her teeth itching: "You don't know his name, you only know his surname, how can you just blurt out that he's my 'old flame'?"

"It's that gentleman from Yuehua Tower, the scholar who hid Gong Cheng with the courtesan. He said he knew your 'way of the scholar,' and there was an underlying intention to sow discord in his words. If he wasn't your old flame, he was your enemy or rival, otherwise how could he know so much? Well, I was wrong too. I used the word 'old flame' inappropriately."

Qi Shan's expression suddenly changed.

"My 'Way of the Scholar'?"

“I think this fellow is really up to no good. I still have leverage over him, yet he still dares to sow discord. His exact words were like this—” Shen Tang imitated Mr. Gu’s tone, deliberately making faces and even mimicking some of his small expressions perfectly, “I took an instant liking to Shen Lang, and I said this because I was worried about you. If you don’t believe me, Shen Lang might as well go back and ask Qi Yuanliang about the way of the scholar.”

Qi Shan's expression became very intriguing.

With an uncharacteristically faint smile playing on his lips, he asked, "Young Master Shen, would you also like to know my way of the scholar?"

Shen Tang truthfully replied, "To be honest, I am a little curious, but the answer isn't important. What I want is the process of uncovering the mystery. If you just lay out the answer in front of me directly, it would take away a lot of the fun. Um, it's probably not some kind of mind-reading, right?"

Qi Shan countered, "Is that fellow's way of the scholar to read minds?"

Shen Tang: "..."

Qi Shan: "My way of the scholar is not mind reading."

Shen Tang breathed a sigh of relief.

Qi Shan's gaze became subtle: "You seem quite relieved?"

Shen Tang subconsciously said, "Of course I'm glad, otherwise I..."

"Otherwise, how you make up stories about me in your mind would give you away, wouldn't it? Is that what you're trying to say?" Qi Shan felt her fist hardening.

Shen Tang: "..."

Her silence spoke volumes. Qi Shan narrowed his eyes, taking in her expression: "You really did make things up."

This statement is made in the confident tone of a declarative sentence.

Shen Tang: "..."

|ω｀)No, no, I'm innocent!

After the banter, it's time to get back to the main topic.

"My scholarly ways are indeed feared, even more so than 'mind reading.' If Young Master Shen is afraid, please don't 'go along with' someone like me." Qi Shan stopped "threatening" Shen Tang, but his expression carried a rare hint of gloom.

Shen Tang did not speak.

The atmosphere was so heavy that it made people feel hot and uncomfortable.

Chu Yao waved his palm-leaf fan.

The air was quiet, and Qi Shan's fingers, which were weaving bamboo strips, betrayed her emotions, unconsciously tightening her grip until her knuckles turned white.

Shen Tang frowned in thought: "Is it that serious?"

These words not only failed to ease the atmosphere, but instead pushed it to another tense peak, causing even Chu Yao to become anxious.

"I don't know much about the ways of the literati; the only things I know come from Mr. Wu Hui." Shen Tang didn't understand why Qi Shan was so serious, and looked puzzled. "Do you need to consider the other person's way of the literati when making friends? You people have pretty high standards for friendship..."

Isn't it said that the way of the scholar is a trump card that can play a crucial role at critical moments, and is not usually revealed to outsiders?

Qi Shan countered, "What if it's not just about making friends?"

Shen Tang was completely stumped by this question.

Suddenly, a thought struck her.

"You—could it be that you—"

Shen Tang seemed to have suffered a huge blow.

With one hand covering her chest and the other bracing herself against the wooden floor of the corridor, she retreated rapidly, her expression saying, "Don't come any closer!" Under the questioning gazes of Qi Shan and the other woman, she loudly questioned Qi Shan, "Qi Yuanliang, I want to become sworn brothers with you, and you want to register me in your household?"

Chu Yao: "..."

Qi Shan: "..."

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he slammed the half-woven bamboo strip onto Chen Tang's head, gritting his teeth: "If you can't speak human language, then don't open your mouth!"

Shen Tang: "..."

Qi Shan strode back to her room, still not quite herself. Besides becoming sworn siblings or getting married and registered, what other kind of relationship could they possibly develop? And did this relationship necessarily require them to know each other's scholarly ways?

Shen Tang took off the bamboo strips and stared wide-eyed.

"Speaking in half-heartedly is really unsatisfying."

Chu Yao said, "Some things can only be understood intuitively, not explained in words."

Shen Tang pouted: "I, Shen Tang, am clever and intelligent, but it's too much of a stretch to leave people to understand what I'm saying in half a sentence..."

This is a "guide NPC" with its own opinions.

Shen Tang then turned to Chu Yao for guidance: "Mr. Wu Hui knows what he wants to 'understand implicitly,' so why don't you—reveal it to him?"

Chu Yao seemed to be speaking to Shen Tang, but also seemed to be muttering to himself: "It's not the right time yet. We'll know when the time is right."

Shen Tang was completely confused.

Her expression right now must be exactly like the "black guy with a question mark face" face!

Out of concern, she could only follow behind, carrying the bamboo strips, muttering to the closed door, "Yuanliang? Yuanliang? Yuanliang? Are you there? Let me make it clear, I really won't fall for any divisive schemes. Since the way of the scholar is related to one's own character or some kind of quality, what's there to be afraid of? Although we've only known each other for a short time, I believe you're a good person."

As long as it's not mind reading, it's fine.

What's the difference between this and "silencing" in the context of talkativeness?

There was no response from inside, so Shen Tang called out several more times.

Finally, the wooden door to the room was pulled open from the inside.

Qi Shan looked at Shen Tang, who had an utterly innocent expression, with a leisurely air. He put his hands in his sleeves, leaned against the door, and asked her with a playful expression, "What if my way of the scholar is 'killing the master'?"

Shen Tang: "???"

Killing one's master?

Holy crap, there's such a thing as the way of the scholar.

I've thought about the scholar's way of praying for good deeds for a long time, considering many options, but in the end I've decided on this one.

Killing one's master.

(End of this chapter)