Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Using Each Other

“Exterminating nine generations… How did the Shen clan offend Zheng Qiao so badly they ended up like this?”

Shen Tang didn’t find her voice again for a long while.

The vice censor had openly gone against Zheng Qiao. Madam Gong was even suspected of hiding the state seal. Those two households were only exiled—not wiped out. Exile was brutal, sure, but at least you could keep breathing.

But the Shen clan? Straight to exterminating nine generations.

A clean, collective erasure from the household register.

If this body really belonged to Tian Zhong’s niece-in-law, then the girl’s life had been nothing but bad luck stacked on top of bad luck.

Stay with the Shen clan and die with them. Marry into the Gong household and get shipped off to the courtesans’ training ward in Xiao City—an ending that was likely worse than death.

Tian Zhong shook his head. “No one knows.”

“You don’t know?” Shen Tang’s voice rose. “How can no one know?

Think, Young Gentleman Tian. Did the Shen clan impeach Zheng Qiao? Cut off his path upward? Anything like that?

If there was no grudge, why would he start by exterminating nine generations?”

“That’s what confuses me.” Tian Zhong’s expression tightened. “After the extermination, old friends and disciples connected to the Shen clan tried to help. Anyone who dared speak up was either reprimanded and demoted… or killed.”

He swallowed. “Zheng Qiao’s methods were vicious. His stance was absolute. No one dares stand up for the Shen clan anymore.”

Then he added, almost to himself, “And it’s not like they were some great clan in Xin State. How did they even catch Zheng Qiao’s eye?”

That was already putting it politely.

To be blunt, back when Zheng Qiao was stirring up chaos in Xin State, the Shen clan didn’t even qualify to breathe too loudly in front of him.

From top to bottom, they’d walked the middle road—skilled enough not to be ignored, cautious enough not to stand out. They didn’t grovel after the minister’s favorites, and they didn’t go out of their way to offend small officials with no backing.

No matter how Tian Zhong searched his memory, he couldn’t recall any direct clash between the Shen clan and Zheng Qiao. Yet only the Shen clan was exterminated.

And Shen Tang’s reaction… it bothered him.

He tested the waters. “Young lord, you seem unusually concerned about the Shen clan. Did you have ties with them?”

What he really wanted to ask was sharper. Was this youth the eldest young lady of the Shen family’s twin brother? A child hidden among commoners for reasons unknown?

They were too similar.

Tian Zhong had suspected it once—until he saw the literary heart signature seal hanging at Shen Tang’s waist and forced the thought down. Many things could be faked, but not that. And not one’s sex.

Even if this Young Master Shen wasn’t the eldest young lady’s twin brother, he was sure there were threads tying him to the Shen clan.

Shen Tang didn’t nod. Didn’t shake her head either.

Tian Zhong took the hint. In a world like this, less trouble was always better. The fewer people who knew, the safer it was.

So he changed the subject, bringing up Qi Shan.

To be honest, Tian Zhong was curious about Qi Shan. He couldn’t understand how Shen Tang had ended up traveling with him at all.

He’d asked his father about Qi Shan once and earned nothing but a glare.

Shen Tang sighed. “Maybe it was fate.”

Tian Zhong blinked. “You met by chance and just decided to travel together?”

“Why not?”

“It’s not that it can’t work,” Tian Zhong said carefully. “The benefactor is extraordinary. His literary heart and word-spirit… the potential is rare in this age. At least, that’s how I see it.

“If he later meets the right enlightened ruler and is willing to submit, the growth of his literary heart won’t be something anyone can ignore.

“It’s just—”

“Just what?”

That wasn’t Shen Tang.

A familiar male voice came from behind them.

Both Shen Tang and Tian Zhong turned at once. They ran straight into a pair of dark, deep eyes. The two of them fell silent as if someone had yanked out their tongues. Tian Zhong sprang to his feet, hands stiff at his sides, shame flushing up from his neck to his cheeks.

Qi Shan was the lifesaving benefactor of their father and son, and Tian Zhong had been gossiping about him behind his back.

If he weren’t afraid of startling him, he would’ve slapped himself.

His father was right. This mouth of his deserved to be sewn shut.

He opened his mouth to apologize, but Qi Shan lifted a hand, stopping him.

“While I was up, I heard some coughing over by Teacher Tian…” Qi Shan said lightly.

Tian Zhong seized the excuse like a lifeline. “Father’s unwell?”

He was gone in a flash.

Qi Shan sat where Tian Zhong had been. He’d clearly heard everything. With an easy smile, he prodded the fire with a stick.

“I didn’t expect to be wrong,” he said. “Young Master Shen isn’t Madam Gong’s clansman, but comes from the Shen clan…”

Shen Tang stared at him. Don’t speak too soon.

Her instincts told her Qi Shan would get proven wrong again.

Without solid proof, even she didn’t dare be certain this body belonged to the Shen clan’s eldest lady.

She stayed quiet. Qi Shan continued, “Since the Shen clan has been exterminated, Young Master Shen has no relatives left in this world. There’s no need to go to Xiao City.”

“When did I say I wasn’t going?”

Qi Shan looked genuinely startled. “You’re going?”

Shen Tang met his gaze. “Of course I’m going. I’m with Yuan Liang to learn how to survive. In times like these, staying alive comes first. Everything else can wait.”

Then she pressed, “But I’m curious—what is it about me that Yuan Liang values?

You seem determined to bring me to Xiao City. From where I stand, taking dead weight on the road doesn’t help you at all.”

Qi Shan’s expression shifted. For once, he answered without games. “Young Master Shen, you’re not dead weight.”

Shen Tang understood what he didn’t say.

Strategists never moved without profit. That was their trade—cold, sharp, and hungry.

She smiled and let it go.

She used Qi Shan as a walking encyclopedia. Qi Shan used her as a tool toward some goal.

Using each other. Fair enough.

“Yuan Liang, I have one more question.”

“You ask.”

Shen Tang glanced toward the direction Tian Zhong had fled. “Earlier, Tian Shou Yi said something I don’t understand. He said, ‘If you later meet the right enlightened ruler and willingly submit, the growth of your literary heart won’t be something to underestimate.’ What does that mean?”

Her instincts prickled. There was something buried under those words.

Qi Shan didn’t even blink. “You don’t need to know.”

Shen Tang’s brows jumped. “What?”

Qi Shan looked at her with an expression too tangled to name. “Young Master Shen. A literary heart isn’t always the same as another literary heart. Tian Shou Yi’s words were aimed at most strategists and warriors who possess a literary heart and martial gall.”

His voice dropped. “But I sincerely hope you’re not among them.”

Shen Tang stared at him. He was doing it again—dangling half-truths like bait.

She switched tactics. “Then tell me this. What are you going to Xiao City for?

At least let me brace myself.”

Qi Shan tilted his head, looking up at the bright moon. The night wind stirred his hair, hiding whatever was in his eyes.

“To collect a debt,” he said. “An old one. I’ll cross ten thousand miles to collect it—if only to take back a little interest.”

Shen Tang didn’t answer. In her head, she scoffed.

A debt?

Yeah. Sure.

What kind of “old debt” made Qi Shan look like he wanted to kill someone?

Night bled into dawn.

The next day, Shen Tang and Qi Shan parted ways with the Tian family. They were going to seek refuge with kin. Staying within Zheng Qiao’s reach meant death sooner or later.

Shen Tang and Qi Shan headed for Xiao City.