Chapter 14: A Secret Duel of Wits

"How intriguing." There was a hint of a smile on Yang Yun’s face, though a flash of severity quickly passed through her eyes. "Is it the informant of those in the sect who see me as a rival? Or perhaps a spy from the Qian Kingdom? Or someone sent by another noble family?" She pondered for a moment, but gained nothing from her thoughts. Shaking her head, she continued on her way back to her chambers.

Meanwhile, in a nearby water vat, Shen Yan remained motionless in his hiding place. The intense malice emanating from the Heavenly Emperor’s Divine Seal had not dissipated. "Yang Yun is truly too cautious," he thought. Sure enough, moments later, Yang Yun’s figure suddenly reappeared where she had just been. The surrounding servants bowed hastily upon seeing her, but she ignored them, her slender brows furrowing slightly in hesitation.

"Was it just my imagination?" she wondered. After a long while, she left once more.

As dusk fell, the Yang Estate was filled with cheers and laughter, the celebration clearly still ongoing. Yet Shen Yan remained concealed within the water vat, and Yang Yun continued her old tricks. To test her suspicions, she even returned three consecutive times. If not for the warning from the Heavenly Emperor’s Divine Seal, even with Shen Yan hiding in the vat and using his Water Manipulation Technique to form a water mirror to spy on her, he would surely have been discovered long ago.

"The flickering, thunder-like aura surrounding that woman’s body—could it be the unique power of a cultivator?" With the aid of the Divine Seal, Shen Yan, though not himself an immortal cultivator, was extraordinarily perceptive. No one else in the Yang household could sense the terrifying energy around Yang Yun, but he could sense it with absolute clarity.

"Still, her aura is unstable—much like when I first broke through with the Primal Chaos Technique, unable to fully control my power." He mused, "So the servants must have mistaken her breakthrough for transcending the tribulation and becoming immortal."

With this thought, Shen Yan felt a bit of relief. So long as she had not truly become a venerable master, there was still hope for his revenge. "But as long as she lives, I will have no peace. Even if she is an immortal cultivator, she must be eliminated." Shen Yan’s heart steeled with resolve. Her overwhelming power did not concern him; with the Heavenly Emperor’s Divine Seal in his possession, he was confident he would catch up to her in time.

From their previous contest, Shen Yan had determined that Yang Yun was meticulous, cautious, and merciless—once suspicious, she would leave no threat unchecked. Facing such an opponent, he dared not be careless. The best way was to eliminate her completely.

Only when night had fully fallen, and the Divine Seal no longer conveyed any sense of danger, did Shen Yan slip out of the water vat and return to his quarters. He decided to hold off on taking action for now and wait until Yang Yun left the estate.

"Perhaps… if I deliver the Scarlet Gold Silver-Eyed Fish to Mingyue, I might have a chance to get close to Yang Yun." On his way back to his room, Shen Yan gazed up at the bright moon, pondering silently.

With the exception of Yang Yun, Shen Yan paid no heed to the other sons and daughters of the Yang family. Even the Duke of Lu, Yang Ze—if Shen Yan chose to throw caution to the wind, he was certain he could take his life. After Yang Yun’s celebration, the estate returned to its calm routine.

Shen Yan excused himself under the pretense of searching for the Scarlet Gold Silver-Eyed Fish, frequently disappearing for ten days or half a month at a time. The fishery staff had long since grown used to his absences. In truth, his motive was to seek out the fish as a means to approach Yang Yun.

He sailed out to sea, and when night was at its darkest, returned carrying the Scarlet Gold Silver-Eyed Fish to the inner estate. After making his report, Shen Yan was finally admitted to see Mingyue.

"You’ve actually found a Scarlet Gold Silver-Eyed Fish?" Mingyue was astonished at the innate spiritual creature in Shen Yan’s hands. She had never expected him to catch another of these rare creatures from the Jinzhou Bay; even the Yang Estate considered themselves extremely lucky to obtain just one in an entire year.

Even so, such rare spiritual creatures were reserved for the royal family of the Qian Kingdom, and the ducal household could never keep one for themselves. The reason the young mistress issued such an impossible task was simply to uphold the so-called rules of the household nobility.

For these nobles, it was not that they wished to kill you, but rather that your failure to complete the task forced their hand. This pretense of mercy—a cat shedding crocodile tears for a mouse—was partly for their own amusement, and partly to mislead the servants into believing the nobles did not kill without cause.

Of course, those who managed to survive in the household were all shrewd and would never believe such nonsense, but a single dupe was better than none. Mingyue, well acquainted with the ways of the noble household, was genuinely surprised when Shen Yan—whom she had taken for her own private servant—unexpectedly completed the task, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"You flatter me, Miss Mingyue. I was just lucky. I never imagined I could catch another Scarlet Gold Silver-Eyed Fish from the same spot," Shen Yan replied humbly, then asked, "Miss Mingyue, you once said that if I found a Scarlet Gold Silver-Eyed Fish within a year, you would spare my life…"

Hearing this, Mingyue couldn’t help but laugh, surprised that such a naive servant still existed in the estate. Perhaps, she thought, it was precisely this foolish luck that had allowed Shen Yan to repeatedly catch the rare fish.

"Don’t worry. Since you’ve presented a Scarlet Gold Silver-Eyed Fish, you’ve passed the test," Mingyue said leisurely as she toyed with the fish before her. Suddenly, her expression shifted; she looked at Shen Yan meaningfully and asked, "Where’s that steward from the outer quarters? If I recall, he was supposed to assist you with this task, wasn’t he?"

Mingyue, as the young mistress’s confidante, was a master of double-speak, showing no shame in twisting her words. In truth, she had assigned Steward Liu to keep an eye on Shen Yan, but now her tone made it seem as though Liu was to assist him—a seamless change of face.

Her question was, of course, to probe whether Shen Yan had come to her in secret after catching the fish, thus bypassing Steward Liu. If so, she would have misjudged him—mistaking a man who would claim credit for himself as a simpleton.

The rules of the household were absolute. If Shen Yan had bypassed Steward Liu, he would be guilty of a serious infraction, giving Mingyue just cause to deal with him. After all, this fool hadn’t even presented her with the Blood Ginseng Pill.

With this thought, her gaze toward Shen Yan grew cold.

"I have no idea where Steward Liu has gone," Shen Yan replied, catching the suspicion in Mingyue’s eyes. His mind sharp, he immediately understood her intentions and feigned helplessness as he answered her cautiously. "After I caught the Scarlet Gold Silver-Eyed Fish today, I went to look for him, but the people at the fishery said he’s been missing for a whole day."

He was a servant who spent his days at sea—how could he be expected to keep track of Steward Liu’s whereabouts?

"Disappeared? Jinzhou Prefecture is Yang family territory—who could make him disappear? I think he ran off himself!"