Chapter 9: A New Crisis, Shen Xian Responds

In the Flowing Cloud Pavilion of the Ye Family’s eastern courtyard, Liu Hong’er, who had just been slapped, was sobbing with her head resting on Fourth Master Ye Mingyuan’s knee.

Her meticulously applied makeup was already ruined by tears. A clear palm print remained on her left cheek, and her hair was disheveled. Not a trace of her usual seductive charm remained.

“Master, you must stand up for your humble servant…” she sniffled, tugging at Ye Mingyuan’s sleeve, her voice full of grievance. “I was merely concerned about that fifth niece’s marriage, and she just…”

Ye Mingyuan, clad in a dark blue brocade robe, was leisurely sipping his tea.

With his sword-like brows and starry eyes, his handsome features carried the innate nobility of a scion from a great family in every gesture.

Hearing her pleas, he set down his teacup. His slender fingers gently lifted Liu Hong’er’s chin.

“Let me see,” he said, his voice gentle yet carrying an undeniable authority.

Liu Hong’er tilted her face up obediently, revealing the swollen cheek.

Ye Mingyuan’s gaze darkened slightly. The pad of his thumb lightly traced the palm print, his touch so gentle it was heart-stopping.

“Master, that Ye Qingxian doesn’t hold you in any regard at all. Slapping my face is the same as slapping yours,” the woman continued.

A cold smile tugged at Ye Mingyuan’s lips. “Aside from the Matriarch, when has she ever had anyone else in her eyes? However…” He paused, his gaze turning icy as he spoke slowly. “If this were before, I might have let it slide. But now… a good-for-nothing who has lost all her cultivation dares to provoke me?”

His gaze shifted to a golden letter resting on the table.

This letter had been sent by the second son of the Shen Family.

It mentioned that for the Ye Family Matriarch’s millennium birthday celebration, the Shen Family had also prepared gifts. However, these gifts were entirely handled by this younger brother of his. If there was anything inappropriate about them, he asked for understanding…

They were all foxes who had lived a thousand years. Ye Mingyuan saw through the other’s intention at a glance—the Shen Family’s return gifts definitely had problems.

“At the birthday banquet, I will make you repay this twofold,” a trace of malice flashed in the depths of his eyes.

…

Under a bright moon, Shen Xian, having just finished his meal, lay back down on his reclining chair.

The chair was made of special materials. Furthermore, leveraging his mother’s influence, he had specifically requested a family array master to inscribe a simple formation onto it. It was warm in winter and cool in summer, extremely comfortable.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered to bring it along specifically.

“Young Master.”

Xiang’er approached from outside the courtyard, a bright smile on her face. “The letter has been entrusted to Deacon Ye and sent out.”

Having killed all those Shen Family guards required an explanation.

Shen Xian hadn’t planned to hide it, either. He had written down everything exactly as it happened and had Xiang’er contact Ye Tong to send it back.

“Mhm,” Shen Xian hummed, not opening his eyes.

Xiang’er approached and relit the extinguished sandalwood incense for him before continuing. “Young Master, even though you have to attend this birthday celebration, don’t worry. I heard the Ye Family Matriarch doesn’t have much of an opinion about you. So when the time comes, Young Master won’t need to worry about being targeted.”

As she said this, Xiang’er looked rather happy.

Over so many years, she had seen her Young Master mocked too many times. Even though her Young Master always couldn’t be bothered to respond, it made her feel very uncomfortable inside.

So later on, she also tried her best to avoid letting her Young Master interact with outsiders to save trouble.

“How do you know that?” Shen Xian asked curiously.

Although he had learned from Ye Tong that this Ye Family Matriarch held immense authority and wasn’t snobbish in the slightest, he didn’t know what her opinion of him actually was.

“A member of the Ye Family told me,” Xiang’er explained.

It turned out that today, when she went out to find Deacon Ye, she encountered a little girl in the main family area.

Thinking that since there was a birthday celebration, she should understand the situation on behalf of her Young Master, she proactively approached the girl to ask questions. She figured a child would be innocent and carefree and wouldn’t hide things.

“Young Master, that little girl liked listening to stories. So I told her the story of Scholar Zhang and Cui Yingying. She was very happy and told me about things,” Xiang’er said, showing a trace of distress before adding, “However, she insisted I go tell her stories again tomorrow.”

Shen Xian listened and gave a slight nod. “It’s normal for children to like stories. But being able to appear in the main family area means her status is certainly not ordinary.”

“If you want to go, then go. If you don’t want to go, that’s fine too.”

“Young Master, I will go,” Xiang’er said immediately.

She certainly didn’t want to cause trouble for others because of herself. It was just telling stories, anyway.

Shen Xian saw through her thoughts and said calmly, “Use your own judgment. But remember this: our Shen Family does not provoke trouble, but we do not fear it either.”

He was worried the Ye Family might take out their anger on his maid because of him.

“Don’t worry, Young Master, I know,” Xiang’er replied with a gentle smile.

Shen Xian nodded. Then he thought of something else and asked again, “Since it’s a birthday celebration… has our family prepared gifts?”

Originally, he wouldn’t have bothered with such matters.

But with the incident with the guards serving as a cautionary tale, he had become more vigilant.

“Young Master, I’ll go check,” Xiang’er said as she stood up.

The gifts brought from the Shen Family were all stored in a side room and weren’t kept in storage pouches.

After all, neither Shen Xian nor Ye Qingxian could openly use storage pouches anyway.

About fifteen minutes later, Xiang’er came rushing back in a panic. “Young Master! It’s bad! There’s something wrong with these gifts!”

Shen Xian’s gaze darkened. “What is it?”

Xiang’er immediately handed over the ledger she had organized.

He took it and looked. It recorded each gift in detail. There were quite a few gifts listed, but their quality was extremely poor; even the best among them was actually a poison pill.

Shen Xian’s expression gradually turned cold.

If they presented such a pile of gifts at the birthday celebration… they would likely incur the wrath of the entire Ye Family. He might not even make it back alive.

Such obvious targeting… it really was somewhat unexpected.

He muttered under his breath, “Just over one Spirit Gathering Array… is it really worth going this far?”

This time, both the guards and the gifts were prepared by his second brother—clearly meant to make him lose face before the Ye Family.

Shen Xian simply assumed his brother was still holding a grudge over the Spirit Gathering Array matter.

“Young Master, what should we do now?” Xiang’er asked anxiously.

Such gifts definitely could not be presented. But if they didn’t present any gifts, they would certainly be targeted and mocked by the Ye Family, and it might even implicate them in more disasters.

Shen Xian sat on his reclining chair, looking up at the starry sky, deep in thought.

Gifts definitely had to be given.

He did have quite a few things himself. He could wait until after the cooldown period, then use the Marriage Blessing System again to get better returns.

But… even so, given the quality of things he currently possessed, even with tenfold returns, they probably wouldn’t be considered particularly impressive by Ye Family standards.

They needed something truly showstopping.

But the best thing he had was already given to Empress Ye Qingxian…

Wait!

Didn’t the Mystic Universal Talisman have an investigation function?

Perhaps he could use this ancient spirit talisman to buy something better in town. Then, after returning, its quality would be completely sufficient.

An idea formed in Shen Xian’s mind. He immediately said, “This matter isn’t for you to handle. I’ll take care of it.”

Xiang’er was stunned, thinking, Ever since Young Master got married, he seems like a different person. He actually takes initiative on many things now.

But she didn’t find it strange. Instead, she felt quite relieved.

This kind of Young Master made people feel much more at ease.