Chapter 45 If someone offends me, I will repay them twofold.

Shen Chu lowered her gaze.

Sun Jingli stood with his hands behind his back, a smug and arrogant smile on his face, as if to say, "What can you do to me?"

Beneath his feet lay the search catalog that Shen Chu had spent the better part of a day compiling.

With a few more improvements today, it will be fully usable.

Now it's being trampled underfoot, the huge footprints on it are quite glaring.

Shen Chu raised her eyes and suddenly gave Sun Jingli a gentle smile.

Sun Jingli thought that Shen Chu had finally given in and was smiling and trying to please him, and a smug smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

During his ten years in the Inspectorate, he subdued countless young people who came in through this method.

So what if Shen Chu is the newly appointed top scholar? He still has to submit to him.

His smile was only halfway across his face when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm, followed by a dizzying spin, and he was slammed hard to the ground.

When his back hit the floor, Sun cried out in pain.

"Chen Chu, you dare to hit... Oh, um..."

A foot stepped on his face, squeezing his mouth into a circle and silencing him before he could utter a word.

Shen Chu still wore that gentle and harmless smile, and even her voice sounded as clear and bright as before.

"The land survey files from six years ago, right? Mr. Sun, take a good look at where they are."

Sun was in so much pain that his face was almost contorted. He rolled his eyes and realized that his face had landed right on the search catalog he had thrown away.

Looking up sideways, I met Shen Chu's smiling eyes.

Sun Jingli felt a chill run down his spine. How exactly did he manage to trample him underfoot?

Isn't Shen Chu supposed to be a weak, bookish nerd? How come he's so agile?

He tried to struggle and jump up, but his body was strangely unable to move.

Shen Chu managed to pin him down with just one foot.

Damn it.

"Chen Chu, how dare you treat me like this? If Lord Zhao finds out, he won't let you off the hook."

"I am merely teaching you how to be a person. As a superior, it is my duty to instruct my subordinates. Even if Lord Zhao understands this, I presume he will not say that I have done anything wrong."

Sun was furious.

Shen Chu's rank was only one level higher than his, yet he kept referring to him as "superior," clearly a deliberate attempt to humiliate him.

"Did you see it clearly, Mr. Sun? If you don't see it clearly, I can kindly help you change the angle until you see it clearly."

The gentler Chen Chu's voice was, the harder he exerted his footwork.

Sun felt as if his cheekbone was about to be crushed.

Meeting Shen Chu's slightly curved eyes, he suddenly realized that Shen Chu really dared to crush his face.

He gritted his teeth, swallowed his resentment, glanced hard at the torn paper, and shouted:

"The fifth shelf, the third compartment of the second tier."

Shen Chu turned to look at the minor official.

The clerk was startled by her gaze and only then did he realize what was happening.

"I...I'll go find it right away."

He ran over quickly, grabbed a file, and said with a beaming smile, "Young Master Shen, I...I found it."

Shen Chu remained calm, his gaze sweeping over the mess on the ground.

"I hate it most when people touch my things without permission."

The clerk felt a chill run down his spine for no apparent reason. "I will put them back in their places right away."

He hurriedly picked up the files and quickly put them back on the shelf, afraid that if he was even a little slow, he would be the one being rubbed into the ground.

In no time, the ground was cleaned up.

Aside from the search directory obscured by Sun Jingli's face.

The junior official looked uneasy. "Lord Shen, what do you think of this?"

Shen Chu tilted her head slightly. "Get lost."

The minor official felt as if he had been granted a pardon and ran away in a flash.

Shen Chu leaned slightly forward, looking down at Sun Jingli. "Sun Jingli, my principle has always been: I will not offend others unless they offend me, and if they do offend me, I will repay them twofold."

I hope this happens again, otherwise, I will strip you of your official robes.

Sun's pupils contracted slightly. "You dare!"

"Heh, you can give it a try."

Sun Jingli jumped up, his face full of gloom, "I am not easily frightened, Shen Chu, do you really think you are still the glorious top scholar?"

"Bah! You injured the Sixth Prince; you might not even be able to keep your official robes on, yet you dare to scare me?"

Shen Chu raised an eyebrow. No wonder he was so unscrupulous; it turned out he thought she had "seriously injured" Pei Yuan.

Sun Jingli was still clamoring, "I am Lord Zhao's confidant, and I can speak with authority even before Prince Heng."

I worked in the Inspectorate for ten years, and everyone in the Inspectorate was on good terms with me.

You've offended me; you'll regret it later.

Shen Chu picked at his ear, looking surprised. "Really? You only reached the sixth rank in the Inspectorate after ten years?"

Tsk, looks like you're not so capable after all? By the way, you're a scholar who passed the imperial examination, right?

No wonder, he didn't even pass the imperial examination, so his promotion was naturally slow.

"Seeing that I've been appointed as a fifth-rank Vice Censor-in-Chief right off the bat, you must be very jealous, right? You must be feeling quite upset, right?"

Shen Chu always knew how to infuriate people, and his words made the veins on Sun Jingli's forehead bulge.

"You... today's case file is for Prince Heng. If His Highness finds out that you were the one who delayed things, and blames you, you can expect to be punished."

Haha, you might not even get the job of organizing the files.

"You're being sensible; apologize to me now, and maybe I'll be magnanimous enough to forgive you."

Shen Chu scoffed, "Sun Jingli must have eaten too many bones; all he can do when he opens his mouth is bark."

"You dare call me a dog? Shen Chu, you just wait, I'll make you pay for those words today, I'll make you..."

Bang.

Something suddenly flew in from outside the door and hit Sun Jingli squarely in the mouth, getting stuck right in his half-open mouth and making him choke so hard his eyes rolled back.

"Who's spewing nonsense here so early in the morning?"

An old man with gray hair and a thin frame walked in through the door, twirling a walnut in his hand, and glaring at Sun Jingli with a sullen expression.

"Oh, it's Little Sun. Why aren't you at your office this morning? What are you barking about at the mill?"

Pfft.

Shen Chu couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Sun Jingli pulled the walnut out of his mouth, his face turning blue with anger.

He seemed somewhat wary of the old man, glared fiercely at Chen Chu, snorted coldly, grabbed the dossier beside him, and stormed off.

The old man called out with a smile from behind, "Remember to buy me a new walnut. I've been playing with this walnut for three years, it's all patinated. You'll get a good deal."

Sun stumbled and fell face-first into the mud at the doorway.

He angrily got up, glared fiercely into the room, and left in a disheveled state.

After laughing enough, Chen Chu turned to the old man and bowed respectfully.

"This humble official, Chenchu, greets Lord He."

The old man raised an eyebrow, somewhat curious. "Do you know who I am?"

Shen Chu nodded, "Before I came here, I heard that the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Lord He, was an upright and impartial person."

"Having just witnessed you speaking up for me, I dare to guess that you are Lord He Zhengxiang."

He Zhengxiang curled his lip, "Stop flattering me. I know what they all say about me behind my back, that I'm rigid, old-fashioned, hypocritical, and crazy."

Shen Chu smiled. "Does Your Excellency know?"

"So what? You could have guessed it, but so what?"

I enjoy seeing them resent me but can't do anything about it, and can only curse me behind my back.

Chen Chu...

He Zhengxiang suddenly leaned close to her, his hands behind his back, looked her up and down, and chuckled, stroking his beard.

“Sun, the clerk, is Zhao Dewen’s confidant and a seasoned veteran in the Inspectorate. Aren’t you afraid he’ll sabotage you behind your back?”

Shen Chu shook her head. "Don't worry, let him come at me."

"Hahaha." He Zhengxiang patted Shen Chu on the shoulder. "Young man, you're quite arrogant, but..."

He changed the subject, "I've seen plenty of young people like you, and in the end, they all bent their backs under the weight of hardship."

He glanced at Chen Chu sideways. "You don't look any different. I'm curious, how long can you endure Sun Jing's bullying?"