Leng Feng asked curiously, “What is it?”
“You wouldn’t understand, and there’s no need for you to know.” Pei Jingheng found the matter strange and of great importance to both him and Shen Mingshu. He couldn’t let this simpleton Leng Feng in on it.
They entered the dilapidated courtyard and sat in the bare, sparsely furnished main hall.
Leng Feng leaned close to his ear and whispered, “This shabby place, are they really going to make us sleep on the floor tonight?”
Pei Jingheng shot him a sidelong glance and reprimanded in a low voice, “In the barracks, you slept under the open sky without complaint, and now you’re suddenly picky?”
Leng Feng pressed his lips together and stood beside him, not daring to grumble further.
Yun Niang had gone to prepare dinner, while Shen Mingshu overheard their conversation without showing any reaction.
She raised her right hand and shook it slightly, the red thread swaying along with the movement. “May I ask your name, young master?”
After spending the afternoon together, she still didn’t know their names.
Pei Jingheng parted his thin lips. “Pei Jingheng.”
Beside him, Leng Feng clasped his fists. “I am Leng Feng.”
Shen Mingshu mimicked his gesture and said, “Shen Mingshu.”
“Master Pei, I’ll be honest with you, this red thread wasn’t tied by me. It was bestowed by the heavens.”
Pei Jingheng frowned slightly. “What do you mean by ‘bestowed by the heavens’?”
Shen Mingshu chuckled softly, her ears warming at what she was about to say.
She twirled her fingertips and spoke slowly, “You and I are fated by destiny. We are each other’s destined partners. That’s why, the moment we met, the red thread hidden within us manifested, to help us recognize and understand one another.”
Leng Feng’s brows furrowed deeply. “Nonsense! How could you possibly be my master’s destined one? Are you spinning tales just because you see him dressed in fine robes, trying to latch onto him?”
Pei Jingheng raised a hand. “Leng Feng, mind your manners.”
“Miss Shen, how can you prove what you’re saying is true?”
“For now, I can’t.” Shen Mingshu shrugged, her gaze falling on the emerald jade ring on his finger. “But the person who gave you this magical artifact, he can prove that my words are not false.”
Pei Jingheng fell silent for a moment before his cold lips curled slightly. “Very well. Then I must trouble Miss Shen to accompany me to meet this person and verify the truth of this matter.”
Shen Mingshu asked, “Where is he?”
“Shengjing.”
“Alright, then we’ll go to Shengjing together.” Shen Mingshu agreed immediately.
In her past life, she had cultivated at the Qingxu Sect in Shengjing. Now, she truly wanted to return and see it again.
The door was pushed open forcefully, and Yun Niang entered with a stern expression. “No! You cannot go to Shengjing!”
She turned to Pei Jingheng and pleaded, “Young master, my Shenshen absolutely must not go to Shengjing. If you have no further business here, please leave first thing tomorrow morning!”
Shen Mingshu looked at her in surprise. “Mother, why?”
“No reason! I forbid you to go!” Yun Niang grasped her hand and implored tenderly, “Just listen to me this once, alright?”
Shen Mingshu said softly, “Is it related to my birth mother?”
Yun Niang hadn’t expected her to bring it up so bluntly. Flustered, she stammered, “Shenshen, I didn’t mean to… No, this servant didn’t mean to hide it from you…”
As she spoke, she began to kneel, but Shen Mingshu pulled her up firmly.
“Don’t call yourself a servant. You raised me, you are my mother.”
Shen Mingshu guided her to sit down and then turned to Pei Jingheng. “Please give us some privacy.”
Pei Jingheng immediately stood up and led Leng Feng into the courtyard.
He had previously noticed that although Shen Mingshu was somewhat thin, her delicate features were still evident, bearing no resemblance to Yun Niang at all.
It turned out they weren’t actually mother and daughter.
Shen Mingshu tightened her grip on Yun Niang’s hand and spoke calmly, “Actually, I wanted to ask you about my birth mother last night, but I was too tired and didn’t get the chance.”
“I’ve already divined that my birth mother is dead, but my birth father is still alive. How did my mother die? And where is my father?”
Yun Niang’s eyes welled up with tears as she recalled the past. “Miss…”
“Mother, you can still call me Shenshen.”
Yun Niang choked back a sob before recounting the events of the past. “Your mother was the eldest daughter of the Duke Ding Guo’s household in Shengjing. She married into the Anping Marquis’s estate and became the marquis’s wife.”
“Not long after entering the marquis’s household, she became pregnant with you. But from that moment on, her health deteriorated day by day, her face grew as pale as paper…”
“Perhaps due to her poor health, she was on the verge of premature labor. By chance, I overheard the marquis speaking with the midwife. He actually wanted the child to die in the womb, and the mother along with it! When I told your mother, she… she slit her own belly and had me pull you out!”
“I was useless, I couldn’t save her. All I could do was carry you, still swaddled in blankets, and flee Shengjing overnight. We hid and wandered until we finally reached this remote Huaihua Village.”
A chilling coldness swept through Shen Mingshu’s beautiful phoenix eyes.
A Yin-born constitution was one in ten thousand, it strengthened the mother’s body to ensure the child’s safe birth.
The fact that the Anping Marquis wanted both mother and child dead meant he had long harbored murderous intentions. That was why her mother’s health had declined during pregnancy. But he hadn’t expected her to be carrying a Yin-born child, allowing her to endure until premature labor.
“Shenshen, you must never return to Shengjing! If the marquis discovers you, he will kill you!” Yun Niang pleaded, her eyes red with tears.
Shen Mingshu patted her hand gently and asked in a measured tone, “When my mother was pregnant with me, did the Anping Marquis’s household have any dealings with mystics?”
Yun Niang nodded. “Yes. They said it was to assess the estate’s feng shui and design a courtyard suitable for nurturing the pregnancy.”
A dark glint flashed in Shen Mingshu’s eyes as she said coldly, “Mother, I suspect they’ve known all along where we live.”
Yun Niang was stunned. “How could they possibly know?”
Shen Mingshu narrowed her eyes, her clear voice laced with killing intent. “There’s an array in this courtyard called the Yin-Gathering Formation, specifically designed for my Yin-born constitution. If a mystic had seen my mother back then, they would have known she was carrying a Yin-born child.”
“So, they followed us here and set up the Yin-Gathering Formation in our courtyard.”
As for why they hadn’t simply killed her and Yun Niang, it was clear they had an interest in her Yin-born constitution.
Yun Niang tensed. “Then… we’ve been living under the Anping Marquis’s watch all this time?”
Shen Mingshu nodded. “Which is why we must return to Shengjing, to avenge my mother and settle the score for this Yin-Gathering Formation.”
“Alright, we’ll go back!” Yun Niang took her hand and studied her. “Shenshen, what exactly is this Yin-born constitution you mentioned?”
Shen Mingshu smiled softly. “The Yin-born and Yang-born constitutions are the most suited for becoming mystics. And now… I am one.”
In the courtyard, Pei Jingheng and Leng Feng clearly overheard the conversation between the two, as the wooden door provided little sound insulation.
Pei Jingheng stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the full moon hanging in the dark night sky. A person with a Yin-dominated constitution was clearly an ill omen, yet she claimed she was suited to be a mystic…
Beside him, Leng Feng suddenly leaped lightly onto the courtyard wall and looked down at the figure crouching by the gate, sneaking a peek. “Who are you? What are you skulking around for?”
The cold glint of his sword reflected in the moonlight. Old Lady Zhang looked up and was so frightened she fell to the ground, hastily pleading, “Spare me, brave sir! I came looking for Yun Niang!”