Chapter 97: Chapter 89: Something Big Has Happened

Zheng Xiu was fast; he vanished the moment he jumped.

But he had heard Feng Bei’s question.

So he pushed himself to run even faster.

’Has Feng Bei figured it out?’

A cold sweat beaded on Zheng Xiu’s forehead. He had been impersonating his own son, and he couldn’t imagine how Feng Bei would react if she knew the truth. He could almost see it now: Feng Bei, her face grim, peeling off her black silk gloves as she advanced on him with a cold smirk.

Feng Bei’s Ability was definitely beyond the conventional. Zheng Xiu couldn’t imagine a squad of soldiers blocking even a single one of her strikes.

Ultimately, ranks like Star Position and Celestial Position could only measure mortals; they couldn’t be used to evaluate the inhuman.

Feng Bei clearly belonged to the latter category.

The day passed without incident. Then, night fell.

Zheng Xiu went to their meeting, his heart pounding with apprehension.

Feng Bei acted as if she had never asked the question. When Zheng Xiu arrived as scheduled, she simply offered him a faint smile.

This routine continued, and as it simmered, his Experience Level skyrocketed.

Never mind Zheng Er’s Basic Attributes—with Feng Bei’s help, every single Trait that Zheng Xiu could freely equip had reached the "Masterful" level.

Outrageous.

Even beyond "Masterful," he still gained a "thin" amount of experience every time he sparred with Feng Bei.

He didn’t know where the progress bar ended, but as long as it kept moving, there was hope.

Feng Bei, his Treasure Queen, was like a bottomless loot drop of experience, and Zheng Xiu found himself addicted, unable to think of leaving.

It was just too good.

Even if Feng Bei discovered the truth, Zheng Xiu couldn’t help but feel he could die without regrets. It was all worth it.

And in the worst-case scenario, even if he exposed the "truth" that Zheng Shan was Zheng Er, he absolutely could not reveal the real him, the one hiding behind both Incarnations.

If an angry Feng Bei slapped Zheng Shan and Zheng Er to death, he could start over. But if Feng Bei slapped *him*, Zheng Xiu, it would be game over for real.

From time to time, he would check the Affinity of [Post Station Feng Bei] in his Heart Prison.

It was still "Spoiling."

Only then could Zheng Xiu relax.

Feng Bei’s words could be deceptive, but [Post Station Feng Bei] couldn’t lie.

Spoiling was Spoiling. It was the real deal.

The days passed in peaceful routine. Zheng Xiu worked day and night, yet "Zheng Shan the Painter" still hadn’t found his way onto the Painter’s Path.

Zheng Er’s Scholarship stat was steadily increasing. Notably, whenever Zheng Er transcribed the wildly popular works of the Great Scholar Ximen Bei, his [Scholarship] gained a massive amount of experience. It had now reached "twenty-six," the level of a truly profound scholar.

It was said that after receiving funding from the Zheng Family, the Great Scholar Ximen Bei was moved to tears of gratitude. He vowed to work even harder to write a masterpiece for the ages, one even more sentimental and heart-wrenching than *Lanxin Ruomeng*.

When Pingping relayed this to Zheng Xiu, he was taken aback. ’A book even more outrageous than *Lanxin Ruomeng*?’ he thought. ’Could any person even handle that?’ But then he thought about the potential gains to his Scholarship, and with a heavy heart, he had a message sent to Ximen Bei. The Great Scholar should write boldly, without any regard for paltry worldly conventions. When the masterpiece was finished, however many copies were printed, the Zheng Family would buy them all. Money was no object.

「In the blink of an eye, it was the twentieth of the Twelfth Moon.」

A fine snow fell in the dead of winter. The day was dim.

That day, Zheng Xiu was in the middle of drawing eggs when a commotion erupted below. Scarface Liu rushed up, panting for breath, followed by a thin figure completely wrapped in a sable cloak.

The person pulled back their hood, revealing their face. It was Zheng Erniang.

"What are you doing here?!"

Zheng Xiu never would have expected to see Zheng Erniang. ’Logically,’ he thought, ’she knows about the child’s identity. She should be the last person to worry.’

"Master Zheng, there isn’t much time! I, Old Liu, have sent away most of the Prison Guards, leaving only my trusted men. You have about the time it takes to drink two cups of tea! You two, get to it! No one will disturb you!"

Scarface Liu didn’t waste any more words. He shot Zheng Xiu a meaningful look, opened the unlocked cell door for Zheng Erniang, and left the two of them alone.

Zheng Erniang paused, slightly taken aback that the cell wasn’t even locked.

The moment she saw Zheng Xiu, she was stunned yet again.

She felt that her master looked exceptionally handsome today, as if he were surrounded by a hazy, brilliant glow.

’Is it just because it’s been too long?’

"What are you doing here?! It’s freezing out! Don’t you know how delicate your health is?" Zheng Xiu quickly helped Second Lady inside to warm herself by the fire. After a burst of scolding, he had her sit in the Grandmaster’s Chair, tucked the golden silk goose down wedding quilt tightly around her, and only then did his brow furrow. "Has something happened?"

According to the usual schedule, the Evil Child wouldn’t appear until after dark. For Zheng Erniang to rush here now... she wasn’t one to misjudge a situation. She wouldn’t force Scarface Liu to bring her into the Celestial Prison for some trivial matter. This meant it was anything but trivial. Zheng Xiu knew his adopted sister; she was never one for theatrics.

Otherwise, she never could have managed the vast Zheng Family enterprise so impeccably all these years, merely as an adopted daughter and Zheng Xiu’s older sister.

"Master!" Zheng Erniang inhaled deeply, taking in the lingering warmth and long-missed scent of Zheng Xiu from the quilt, then said in a grave voice, "Something has happened."

"Don’t rush. Tell me slowly. Have some tea. Calm down. If the sky falls, I’ll be here to hold it up."

Zheng Xiu calmly picked up the priceless Cyan Heaven White Jade Phoenix Patterned Chilong Brush.

He still had two hundred and thirty eggs left to draw today.

Last night, nothing had happened.

But after the morning court session, the Inspectorate issued a lengthy official document. It stated that in the matter of Princess Yu Run, Zheng Xiu was a major suspect with undeniable connections to the case. The plan was to detain him indefinitely until the truth came to light.

This in itself wouldn’t have been a big deal. But immediately after, starting early in the morning, Zheng Xiu’s various businesses were targeted by troublemakers of unknown origin. Someone unfurled a banner in front of the Fragrant Pavilion, claiming the "crooked merchant" had poisoned their food, killing their eighty-year-old mother, and demanded that the merchant pay with their life.

In the Zheng Clan’s commercial street in the West Market, people produced fake gold, silver, and jade, insisting they had bought the items from a Zheng Clan store and demanding compensation.

Heaven on Earth hadn’t even opened yet, but several women were weeping and wailing that their husbands had died of "excitement" inside. A few bodies lay on the ground, the area was draped in strips of White Silk, and incense and paper money were being burned furiously at the entrance.

A Zheng Clan caravan heading south was ambushed by masked robbers just outside the Imperial City, who demanded their money and their lives. Although the Zheng Clan’s Beating Man decisively counter-attacked and killed the robbers, the clan’s caravans hadn’t been targeted in years. It was obvious someone was orchestrating this from behind the scenes.

All these incidents happened simultaneously. Vicious rumors began to spread among the populace, even worse than when Zheng Xiu was first imprisoned, all saying that the Zheng Clan was about to collapse and Tycoon Zheng was finished.

As a result, Zheng’s Bank was hit with a terrifying run of withdrawals first thing in the morning. Fortunately, the bank’s reserves were deep enough to weather it, but it clearly couldn’t continue like this.

Overnight, the Zheng Clan had been thrown into chaos. Multiple parties had moved at once, launching a coordinated attack against the Zheng Family.

Zheng Xiu asked calmly, "Did Qing Shisan leave a message?"

"Yes!" Zheng Erniang, curled up in the quilt, blurted out. She pulled a small velvet pouch from her robes, which contained an embroidered brocade box. "Qing Shisan told me to deliver this to you personally."

At this point, Zheng Xiu had already finished drawing a thousand eggs. He put down his brush, somewhat dejected.

His dejection wasn’t because of the trouble the Zheng Family was in, but because he had once again failed to glimpse the Path. It was too difficult.

Only then did Zheng Xiu cancel his [Projection]. His body let out the faint sound of bones contracting.

The brocade box was wrapped in three layers. Opening it revealed a large, yellow bowl placed upside down inside. Zheng Xiu carefully took out the bowl and turned it over. On the bottom were written two words: Center One.

"So that’s how it is." Zheng Xiu smiled. "It seems the matter of establishing the heir on the third day of the third month has made some people antsy."

"Things have come to this, and you’re still speaking in riddles, Master?" Zheng Erniang’s chest heaved. Although Zheng Xiu had told her not to worry, the Zheng Clan was facing a crisis unlike any since its founding. The string of calamities had left a lone woman like her exhausted. With Zheng Xiu gone, the family had lost its backbone, leaving her unable to eat or sleep in peace. How could she not be anxious?

No matter how calm she appeared on the surface, it was all an act. The worry in her heart could not be deceived.

"Look, what’s written on the bottom of the bowl?" Zheng Xiu showed the bottom to Second Lady and asked with a smile.

"Center One."

"A long time ago, I established a set of secret codes with some of the city’s most influential people, using tiles as markers. Different tiles correspond to different people. East, South, West, and North refer to locations. Center, Fortune, and Blank, along with numbers one through nine, correspond to several key Military Generals and Civil Servants. A while ago, using my identity as Zheng Er, I sent a message via whistle to have Qing Shisan step up his investigation."

"Center..." Zheng Erniang followed Zheng Xiu’s line of reasoning. Her expression suddenly changed, and she whispered, "The Imperial Palace?"

"Correct. ’Center’ refers to inside the palace. Qing Shisan is telling me he has confirmed who is behind all this. If the message was only ’Center,’ it would mean the Great Emperor, disregarding the debt he owes my family’s ancestors, is determined to move against the Zheng Family. It would mean that even though I send him money every year, his greed is insatiable, and he wants to slaughter the fat sheep that is my family. If that were the case, I, Zheng Xiu, would have nothing to say. It is the way of history—logical, reasonable, and in line with human nature. But Daqian is prosperous, the national treasury is full. Old Wei isn’t so foolish as to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. If he truly lacked funds or military pay, he could have just sent a hint, and I would have personally delivered the money to the treasury. What would be the harm in that? There’s no need for such convoluted schemes."

"By all rights, Old Wei should understand me. My actions over the years haven’t been those of a heartless, crooked merchant. Wealth, to me, is merely a worldly possession."

Zheng Xiu finished with a smile, striking a pose that said, "I have no interest in money." Then his brow furrowed in thought. "But the message from Qing Shisan wasn’t just ’Center,’ it was ’Center One.’ That makes things more difficult."

Zheng Erniang asked, "The Eldest Prince?"

"Yes, the Eldest Prince! The Eldest Prince!" Zheng Xiu looked at the yellow bowl and said slowly, "Old Wei once said the Eldest Prince was steady, far-sighted, and would only act after thorough planning. I didn’t expect that aside from the Second Prince, he would be the first to lose his patience and make a move. But now that he has, it can only mean one thing: he is confident of success and has been plotting this for a long time. The matter of succession may have disrupted his plans, but he now has a reason he must force my Zheng Clan to declare our stance!"

Zheng Erniang was truly a remarkable woman, honed by years of managing the Zheng Family. An ordinary woman would have gone pale with fear hearing such a terrifying deduction. But the more he spoke, the calmer her expression became. She watched Zheng Xiu, who spoke with such confidence as if the sky falling was of no concern, her eyes shining brightly as she stared at her good younger brother.

"What do you intend to do, Master?"

Zheng Xiu held the yellow bowl in one hand and countered with a smiling question, "Do you know why Qing Shisan placed this bowl upside down in the box?"

Without explaining or waiting for Second Lady to answer, he slowly turned the bowl upside down again. "He’s asking me if we should..."

Zheng Erniang understood instantly, but she didn’t dare speak the treasonous word aloud.

For a mere woman to utter such a word would require immense courage.

Zheng Erniang knew, Qing Shisan knew, and Master Zheng knew. That was why the message had to be so cryptic.

"That’s why I said it’s difficult. If it were just ’Center,’ I’d overturn it, and that would be that. But ’Center One’... heh."

Zheng Xiu placed the bowl right side up back into the brocade box, wrapped it again, and handed it back to Zheng Erniang.

"Go back now. Remember to have the maids brew you a bowl of ginger soup to warm you up."

Zheng Xiu’s composure left Zheng Erniang not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Look at the time! And you’re still worried about Second Lady’s health?"

"No rush. Let them fly for a little while." Zheng Xiu looked out at the Ravens circling in the sky.

After a moment of silence, Zheng Xiu smiled.

"But... perhaps I’ll be home for the reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve after all."