Chapter 92: The Young Master's Fame Spreads (Part 2)

  "Did that purple lotus girl find Master Gu later?" Shen Bailian asked in a low voice.

  That book boy led the way in front, shaking his head and answering: "Of course not, our young master didn't even tell her where he lived, how could that girl find him? In my opinion, it's better not to tell her, that girl is really fierce when she fights, if she finds out that the young master has already engaged, won't she make a big fuss? Those Jianghu female knights may look good, but they are not worthy of our family status after all..."

  Shen Bailian's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she let out a cold hum.

  That child heard it in his ears, was stunned for a moment, and quickly stopped talking, lowered his head and walked forward, his footsteps faster than before.

  The two of them turned around the screen wall, skirted the main hall, and passed through the corridor to a moon gate. Inside the moon gate was a courtyard, with rocks, grass, and trees arranged in a unique way. The yard was planted with many flowers, and butterflies and bees flitted about, filling the air with fragrance.

  Behind the artificial hill, under a peach blossom tree, sat a young nobleman, dressed in brocade and finery, with a refined and handsome appearance. He held a painting in his hand and was so absorbed in it that he didn't even notice Shen Baiying and Shu Tong standing before him.

  The boy servant looked at Shen Baiying and stepped forward a few steps, saying respectfully: "Young Master, Qingming is back."

  He called out several times before the young master came to his senses, and saw that he carefully covered up the painting scroll first, then got up and looked over, seeing that behind Shu Tong was not the old man he had been expecting all along. He couldn't help but stare blankly, looking at Shu Tong with a puzzled expression: "Qing Ming, who is this...?" His brow furrowed again as he asked, "Where's the old master?"

  "Sir is not at home," said the boy, "the door was opened by this young master, who must be a relative of Sir's. So I took the liberty of asking him to come and console Master."

  The young master's gaze towards Shen Bailian immediately became warm and friendly, and he clasped his hands together in greeting: "So you're a relative of the elderly gentleman. I am Gu Liu Fang, may I ask your honorable surname and given name?"

  Shen Bailian didn't respond, and instead coldly looked him up and down. He had already been harboring some resentment in his heart after failing to find the person he was looking for, and now that he knew this was the man who had deceived Zixuan's feelings, his discontent had grown into a raging fire. At this moment, seeing Gu Gongzi, he didn't have a good expression on his face, and thought to himself: This person looks decent enough, but unexpectedly, he's a scoundrel who can't be trusted. First, he had an engagement with that Miss Lin, and then he went and flirted with Zixuan... If Zixuan really marries this kind of person, she'll truly have met with bad luck...

  In his eyes, the handsome young master Gu was like a raging fire that would eventually reduce Zixuan to nothing but ashes. But thinking of Zixuan's tender expression when she mentioned her beloved, he couldn't help but feel a massive headache - Zixuan was a stubborn girl who would only become more resistant if forced, and it would be a difficult task to make her give up on young master Gu.

  But if this Mr. Gu were to voluntarily distance himself from Zi Xuan... As soon as Shen Bai Lian thought of this, his eyes lit up and his expression softened greatly. Gu Liu Fang was already somewhat uneasy by his side, seeing his face gradually improve, also let out a sigh of relief, and hurriedly smiled: "This young master..."

  "My surname is Shen." Shen Bailian said calmly.

  Gu Liufang nodded and said: "Shen Gongzi, I have something to say..."

  "The painting in your hand doesn't seem bad." Shen Bailian interrupted him, intentionally looking at the painting scroll on Gu Liu Fang's hand, "May I borrow it to take a look?"

  Gu Liufang was taken aback for a moment, hesitated for a second, and then handed over the painting.

  Shen Bailian took the painting and looked at it in the sunlight, only to see that the colors on the scroll were vivid and lifelike. The painting depicted a beautiful woman wearing a purple shirt, holding a small flower lantern in her hand. Upon closer inspection, Shen Bailian realized that the woman's face was actually that of Zi Xuan. His anger intensified, but his expression remained one of admiration as he praised, "Her face is like a lotus flower and her eyebrows are like willows. This woman is truly a rare beauty. What a pity... alas, what a pity!"

  Gu Liu Fang's face changed slightly, and she hastily asked: "What a pity?"

  Shen Bailian rolled up the painting and shook her head, saying: "Unfortunately, I won't be able to marry Gu Gongzi!"

  Gu Liufang's face suddenly fell, this was not the first time someone had said this to him, but he couldn't just accept his fate, so he asked: "Why? Is it really that I have a destined connection with her?"

  Shen Bailian glanced at him and said coldly, "Is it just a matter of having fate but no affinity? Don't mention marrying her as your wife, if you even get close to her slightly, she will be in great danger. If you truly wish for this woman's lifelong happiness, you should stay away from her the farther the better, best not see her for the rest of your life. Otherwise, this woman is likely to die an early death at the hands of Gongzi Ke."

  Gu Liufang's eyes widened in shock and she stuttered: "Th-this... how is this possible?"

  Shen Bailian threw the painting back into his arms, and said with a profound expression: "You don't believe me, do you not even trust my uncle, Gu Xian? He personally stated that you must marry Miss Lin as your wife. Are you not afraid of killing the girl who has captured your heart? Are you not even concerned about your own father's life? Young master, if you try to back out of the engagement, you will already have offended him. If you don't get married soon, I'm afraid there will be endless troubles."

  The more he spoke, the darker Gu Liu Fang's face became, but Shen Bai Lian was in high spirits. Since both Shu Tong and Gu Gongzi took him as Old Master's nephew, he might as well go with the flow, borrowing the name of Gao Ren Xuan Xian to intentionally make the situation sound very serious, just to force Gu Liu Fang to get married soon, so that he could give up on Zi Xuan.

  Just then, another servant rushed into the courtyard and exclaimed loudly before he had even approached: "Young master, sir...he just spat up blood again, madam is calling for you!" The voice was very urgent.

  Gu Liu Fang and Shu Tong were both shocked, only to hear Shu Tong blurt out: "How is this possible? Yesterday the old master wasn't able to get out of bed, how can he...how can he..." As he spoke, his expression turned thoughtful, and he glanced at Gu Liu Fang.

  Shen Bailian was also somewhat surprised, but he quickly regained his composure and a natural expression of "I knew it all along" appeared on his face. He said calmly: "Young Master Gu, that's all I have to say. It's up to you to decide what to do now."

  Gu Liu Fang looked at him, then at the servant who had brought the message. The sparkle in his eyes gradually dimmed, and he simply stood there, as if he had turned into a withered tree or a dead stone, all the vitality in his body disappearing. After a long time, he finally heard himself calling out softly: "Qing Ming."

  Shu Tong hastily replied with an "oh".

  Gu Liu Fang said: "You go tell Guan Jia, let him send someone to Chengdong Lin Fu to discuss the wedding date... just say, the sooner the better." The tone was surprisingly calm, calmly almost a bit eerie.

  That child ate a surprise, staring blankly at him for half a day before coming back to his senses, with a happy face saying: "Young master, you understand now is good, I'll go now!" He said happily and ran out.

  Gu Liu Fang seemed as if she hadn't heard anything, her face expressionless as she lowered her head, staring at the painting in her hand, a hint of pain spreading in her eyes.

  As Shen Bailian stepped out of the Gu mansion, he felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart. He thought to himself that he had done a great favor for Zi Xuan, and just thinking about how a few casual words from him had allowed Zi Xuan to rid herself of an ill-fated relationship made his walk even lighter.

  Just after turning the corner, he suddenly remembered the letter he had obtained in Gaoren's room before, and hastily reached into his pocket. He walked along the way, tearing open the envelope, shaking out a thin letter inside, and read it softly in the sunlight: "More than a month ago, I accidentally got a good omen, knowing that there are friends coming from the underworld, but I have been thinking about the delicious food in Jiangdu for several days, and the famous Chenzhou drunken dates and fried dough sticks. My heart is longing for them, so I decided to start my journey to Chenzhou to taste them. If Shen Xiao's intention does not change, I will wait for him in Chenzhou." The end of the letter was scribbled with "Guaixian Bolan Zhi", the handwriting was the same as the envelope, obviously written by one person.

  Shen Bailian felt extremely helpless, having traveled thousands of miles from the Underworld to Jiangdu, only to find that this senior fellow had grown tired of Jiangdu's cuisine and was now heading towards Chenzhou's snacks. Fortunately, he had left a letter for himself, so now it was just a matter of hurrying along the journey, and his heart felt more at ease, with no need to worry further.

  At this time, Shen Bailian couldn't help but stop thinking about the cause and effect of Zi Xuan and Gu Gongzi, and quickly stepped out of the city, calling out Chunshui Sword, day and night rushing north to Chenzhou.

  As one heads further north, the terrain becomes increasingly higher. However, after a few days of gazing out from the sword's edge, the scenery has already changed its appearance. One clear morning, Shen Bailong hastily finished breakfast at a small inn by the roadside and set off on his journey once again. Just as the first light of dawn appeared, it illuminated a continuous range of mountains, with misty fog shrouding them, resembling layers of thin silk wrapped around the peaks. Amidst the lush greenery, warm colors were added. In the midst of the fog, a long river flowed out like a white ribbon, its silver light rippling and shining as it flowed eastward. From high above, Shen Bailong felt his heart filled with great joy, and the fatigue from days of traveling on wind and sleeping under dew was all swept away.

  Since ancient times, there have been many people living along the rivers and lakes. The more majestic the river is, the more prosperous it becomes. When Shen Bailian arrived, she had also asked around and learned that the long river was the Huai River, and Chenzhou City, where she was headed, was located north of the Huai River. So when she set out again, she followed the Huai River and soon saw a city appear in her line of sight after just a few days.

  Chen State, also known as Huaiyang, has a history of thousands of years since the ancient times when Fuxi established his capital here. There are countless ancient relics. Emperors of all dynasties have attached great importance to this place, and it is also very important for those who practice Taoism. Legend has it that Fuxi initially chose this precious land by the Huai River, not only building his capital here but also setting up a Pre-Heaven Eight Trigrams Formation to protect the city. Any demons or monsters were deterred by the power of the formation and did not dare to cause trouble here. Shen Bailian had read about it in ancient books when he was practicing in the Qionghua Sect, and he had mentioned it to his fellow disciples who knew Xuanxu, saying that one day they would go together to see the remains of the immortal's home. The laughter at that time still echoes in my ears, but it cannot withstand the passage of time.

  Now standing alone in front of the ancient city gate, Shen Bailian let out a long sigh, and a sense of desolation suddenly surged up in her heart.

  Just then, a familiar cold voice suddenly came from behind, softly calling: "Baoying... brother?"