The accounting courtyard had fallen into a deathly silence.

“You… you dare to kill?!” Shen Tan staggered backward, knocking over the stone stool behind him in his panic.

His finger trembled violently as he pointed at Shen Xian, his voice sharp and cracking with strain. “Publicly slaughtering a steward! Do you have any respect for the clan rules?! Are you rebelling?”

Gasps of horror erupted from the servants watching from outside the courtyard. No one had expected this universally acknowledged good-for-nothing Young Master to suddenly erupt and kill.

Shen Xian stepped forward slowly, his boots clicking rhythmically against the bluestone pavement. He showed absolutely no fluctuation in emotion, as if the life he had just taken meant nothing.

“Rebelling?” He suddenly let out a light laugh, the sound carrying a bone-chilling coldness. “As the legitimate son of the Shen Family, would I be rebelling against myself?”

He then retrieved an exquisite five-inch-long crossbow bolt from his sleeve… a gift his mother had given him long ago. Its power was limited, but it was more than enough to deal with a mere Qi Refining cultivator.

He looked coldly at the four men before him, resembling a god of death. “Speaking of which, when did the Shen Family start letting a few dogs decide this Young Master’s guilt?”

“Go get the Head Steward!” one of the other stewards shrieked, shrinking back in terror. “This madman is going to kill us all!”

Before his words could fade, Shen Xian’s finger twitched lightly. The spirit arrow shot out, piercing through the man’s throat and sending up a spray of blood mist.

The steward’s eyes went wide. He clutched his throat with both hands, but he couldn’t stop the blood from gushing forth. Finally, he fell to the ground with a heavy thud, twitched a few times, and fell silent.

Shen Tan’s eyelids twitched incessantly, his heart filled with shock. Looking at the corpse on the ground, he swallowed hard and unleashed his late-stage Qi Refining cultivation base with a roar.

A surging aura enveloped the area. He glared at Shen Xian and spoke in a deep voice, “Third Young Master, public murder will be pursued by the Punishment Hall. I can take you down right now!”

With his cultivation, subduing the other party should be effortless.

“Is that so?” Shen Xian retorted. He suddenly flipped his hand and produced a Sound-Retaining Talisman, which began to play back their earlier discussion and mockery of him.

So, their private ridicule had been overheard after all.

“I’d like to see who exactly will be held accountable once we go to the Punishment Hall!”

Before the recording finished, Shen Xian raised his arm again, aiming directly at Shen Tan.

Shen Tan’s face changed dramatically, but he forced himself to remain calm. “Even if they made mistakes, they should be sent to the Punishment Hall. It is not for you to carry out a private execution.”

He hadn’t spoken in the talisman recording, so he felt emboldened.

Shen Xian wasted no more words. He raised his right arm, preparing to strike again—

“Third Young Master.”

Right then, Head Steward Shen De finally appeared. Dressed in dark brocade robes, he walked out slowly from the inner courtyard. His face was steady, carrying a smile. The corners of his eyes bore a few traces of time’s passage, yet he showed no sign of frailty; instead, he exuded an air of authority.

Seeing his backer arrive, Shen Tan rushed over immediately. “Head Steward! The Third Young Master has gone mad! He used private punishment to kill publicly! Now he wants to silence us all!”

The matter of the monthly allowance had already blown up. To save his own skin, he had to frame the other party. After all, it was someone higher up who wanted to deal with Shen Xian. As long as he clung to this point relentlessly, those above would naturally handle it.

Facing this false accusation, Shen Xian’s gaze remained calm as it settled on Shen De. “Head Steward Shen finally deigns to show himself?”

So this old fox had been here all along. He couldn’t possibly have been unaware of what happened in this courtyard.

Shen De cupped his hands respectfully. “Third Young Master, it is my failure in discipline.”

Having said that, he looked at Shen Tan beside him, killing intent flashing in his eyes. “These lowly servants dared to insult you behind your back? They were simply seeking death!”

Panic surged in Shen Tan’s heart. He opened his mouth to explain. “Head Steward, about this matter—”

Smack!

Shen De suddenly struck out. His palm slammed directly onto the crown of Shen Tan’s head, shattering his skull and killing him on the spot.

Shen Xian’s brow twitched slightly. This old fox is quite decisive.

“My apologies for startling you, Third Young Master.” Shen De resumed his smile and retrieved an exquisite storage pouch from his sleeve with both hands. “This is your monthly allowance for this month. This old servant has personally counted it; not a single coin is missing.”

He paused and took out another slightly larger storage pouch. “Additionally, this is a small token of my sincerity as an apology.”

Shen Xian did not immediately accept them. Instead, he looked at him with a faint smile that wasn’t quite a smile. “Head Steward Shen certainly knows how to handle people.”

Shen De gave a slight smile, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes smoothing out. “You jest, Third Young Master. As Head Steward of Accounts, I naturally must act impartially. It is just that those below occasionally have lapses in judgment; I beg your understanding.”

“I have already ordered some top-grade spirit tea prepared. Would you care to move to the inner courtyard for a chat?”

Shen Xian took both storage pouches and weighed them in his hand, a slight curve appearing at the corner of his mouth. “That won’t be necessary. I appreciate the Head Steward’s kindness; however…”

He looked at the other man, a cold light flashing in his eyes. “Tell the person behind you: if there is a next time…”

“I won’t mind making an even bigger scene.”

Shen De’s heart trembled as he hurriedly bowed. “Understood. Understood.”

Shen Xian turned and left.

Afterwards, because Nangong Wan personally intervened, not only was Shen Xian not held accountable by the Punishment Hall, but his monthly allowance was even increased by one grade.

As for Head Steward Shen De? For failing to properly discipline those under him, he was fined one year’s worth of allowances.

However, his subordinate, Shen Lingyue, used this opportunity to rise gloriously to the position of Deputy Head Steward.

It was said… this was upon the Third Young Master’s request.

Anyone with eyes could see this was the Third Young Master’s move to check Head Steward Shen De’s power—after all, standing behind Shen De was the Second Young Master himself.

Upon learning of these events, Shen Li currently reclined lazily on a sandalwood chair, idly playing with a short blade whose edge gleamed with a cold, sinister light under the lamplight.

He listened intently as a trusted subordinate reported everything back. His fingers paused abruptly before he sent the short blade flying—thunk—embedding it deep within the wooden tabletop.

“Well, well… truly excellent.”

Though he was smiling openly, the aura radiating off him felt utterly frigid.

He never imagined that his trash of a younger brother would dare to not only publicly murder but also brazenly prop up another person to encroach upon his authority.

It seems I still underestimated my opponent after all.

Immediately afterwards, he turned his gaze towards his trusted aide and asked, “How goes the progress regarding that matter?”

“Master, this subordinate has already replaced the Jade Marrow Crystal with Cold Crystal Sand,” replied the aide respectfully.

Nodding slightly, a faint smile curled Shen Li’s lips. “My dear third brother certainly cut an imposing figure today—daring to even kill stewards. Pity, though… he’ll never realize that the true killing move never lies out in the open.”

Withholding the monthly allowance served merely as an opening gambit, because he knew their mother would inevitably step forward to resolve the issue.

Thus, the real trap lay within the Jade Marrow Crystal included in the later apology gift… which had long since been swapped out for Cold Crystal Sand.

Both items shared an identical appearance and luster. Yet, the former was a vital cultivation resource, while the latter amounted to a deadly poison.

If a Golden Core Realm expert carefully examined it using their spiritual sense, they could easily distinguish between the two. But Shen Li refused to believe a mere second-layer Qi Refining trash was capable of telling the difference.

By the time he realized something was amiss, it would already be too late.

At that moment, a cruel smile surfaced upon Shen Li’s face, his voice icy cold.

“My dear third brother shall soon learn that some things… are simply beyond his reach.”