“Alright!” Xiao Zuo said, “Then please tell me, Steward Feng, what is your purpose in setting up this scheme?”
“Young Master Xiao is exceptionally intelligent; how could you not guess this?” Feng Qiansu sneered. “Since ancient times, people have died for wealth, and birds have died for food. Besides money, what else is worth me going to such lengths?”
"Yes, as you just said, the expenses for the Hundred Ghosts are enormous," Xiao Zuo nodded. "But what you're after is probably far more than that, isn't it? You not only want the Gong family's wealth, but you also want to use that wealth to achieve your ambitions! Steward Feng, am I wrong?"
“That’s right!” Feng Qiansu said with a calm smile. “Why can’t I have ambition? Just because I’m a woman?”
She paused, forcing herself to endure the excruciating pain that felt like needles pricking her body, and slowly said, "I wonder if Young Master Xiao would be interested in hearing a story?"
Xiao Zuo's calm eyes held tacit agreement, so she continued, "There was a man with a photographic memory. He could remember anyone he saw at a glance for a lifetime; he could recite any book after reading it once. He went to take the imperial examination, believing he would naturally become the top scholar, but he failed time and time again. By the time he realized it was because he hadn't bribed the examiners, he was already thirty. If you were him, Young Master Xiao, what would you do?"
Xiao Zuo pondered for a moment and said, "He should abandon his studies and pursue other things. He has such expertise, he won't starve to death."
Feng Qiansu lowered her eyes and continued indifferently, "He entered the Six Doors, where he was in charge of clerical work, and worked there for ten years. During those ten years, he read through all the confidential files and became very knowledgeable about the affairs of the world. Just as his career was flourishing, his superior had a concubine who admired his literary talent and had an affair with him, resulting in a child. When his superior found out about this, he was furious and killed the concubine on the spot. He was also going to kill him, but fortunately, his colleagues pleaded for him, so his superior only broke his legs and threw him and the infant, who was less than a year old, out. What are your thoughts, Young Master Xiao, after hearing this?"
Xiao Zuo's eyes flickered, and after a moment he replied, "In any case, the child is innocent."
Feng Qiansu scoffed, "Yes, the child is innocent. In that case, that boss was already quite lenient. How many heroes throughout history have fallen because of their attachment to their children? This man, after suffering this calamity, lost all will to rise again, spending his days drunk. The child was raised by a widow next door. The child is a prodigy, with a memory even better than his father's when he was young, and he's very precocious. When he's drunk, he tears up books, and the child just watches coldly, not stopping him. After his father falls asleep, the child picks up the scraps and glues them back together. Until one day, the hotel owner and his men came to their house, demanding he pay back the money for the drinks. His house was bare; how could he possibly pay? So they beat him up. The child hid behind the straw in the corner, watching his father being beaten, biting his lip and remaining silent. After the group left, the child ran to help him up, and seeing his father's disheveled and miserable state, he cried for the first time in his life. The child cried, 'Father, you're so useless!'"
Xiao Zuo's face showed emotion, and Feng Qiansu, seeing that expression, felt her heart grow even hotter—sympathy? Sympathy was useless. Sympathy only made people weaker; it offered no help whatsoever! She had understood this truth a very, very long time ago… a very, very long time ago…
"I don't know if he was moved by those words, but from then on he gave up drinking and made a living by selling information. Gradually, everyone in the martial arts world knew about this extraordinary person who was very knowledgeable about everything under the sun."
Xiao Zuo suddenly interjected, "The intelligence provided by Senior Feng, regardless of its importance, is always accurate and reliable. Therefore, despite the considerable reward, his door is always bustling with visitors, and wherever he goes, he is treated as a master by people in the martial arts world..."
Feng Xiansu glanced at him and said, "Yes... it seems to be the beginning of a turning point, if... if he doesn't make the same mistake again."
She gazed into the distance; a red line appeared on the horizon—the sun was about to rise. "It was then that he fell in love with a young woman, but one day when he awoke, he found her dead beside him. A cold figure sat on the edge of his bed and asked him, 'Do you know who she is?' Only then did he learn that the young woman was the fiancée of He Aotian, the leader of the martial arts alliance at the time. He had offended He Aotian; he had no choice but to die. He Aotian gave him three days to settle his daughter. He considered it all night and finally decided to send his daughter to Luoyang."
Luoyang, who could know that all her subsequent stories originated from such a hasty and helpless decision?
He said to his daughter, "My life is over, but luckily I still have you. You're so smart, it's a pity you're a girl..." His daughter replied, "I don't want to be a girl!" He smiled and said, "Okay, then don't be. But remember, you can only be more outstanding than others if you are more patient and stronger."
Xiao Zuo's lips moved a few times, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
Feng Qiansu said softly, "These are the words my father told me when I was five years old, and I have never forgotten them for a single day in the past seventeen years. I have ambition, but is that wrong?"
Xiao Zuo simply sighed softly and said nothing.
Feng Xiansu felt that her heart had been burned through and solidified into charcoal. It no longer hurt. When the pain reaches its extreme, it stops hurting.
“I went to the family of the richest man in the world. I was determined to do something great with my own abilities. I was determined not to be like my father, who had extraordinary talents but failed repeatedly and lived a life of poverty. The day after I arrived, rumors spread that my father had mysteriously disappeared. Only I knew that he was dead. Twelve years later, when I had gathered enough power, the first thing I did was to set a trap to assassinate He Aotian.”
Xiao Zuo said, "The death of the former martial arts alliance leader He Aotian has always been a mystery. It turns out you were the one who did it."
Feng Qiansu's voice grew increasingly cold, as if the matter had nothing to do with her: "At eighteen, I became famous throughout the land for my 'Purple Cornelian Cherry Fragrance.' A year later, I plotted to have the Grand Steward die in an accident, and then, with everyone's support, I took his position. It was then that the Marquis of Dingyuan took a liking to me and wanted to take me as his concubine. I politely refused, and at the same time, I poisoned myself to ruin my appearance. Seeing my faded beauty and resolute attitude, the Marquis had no choice but to give up. I looked in the mirror and coldly smiled at myself, saying: 'Women need beauty to win men's favor and elevate their status. But I don't need men, I don't need beauty, and I can do it all myself. What men can do, I can do too.'"
She paused, gave Xiao Zuo a malicious look, and said leisurely, "Young Master Xiao, you don't need to deny it. All men are lustful. If Miss, I mean Gong Feicui, weren't so beautiful, would you have fallen for her? Or rather, would you have even noticed her?"
Xiao Zuo said in a deep voice, "Jade is indeed beautiful, but what is even more precious is that she has a pure heart like a child."
"Clean?" Feng Qiansu said sarcastically, "Isn't it ignorance? She thinks she's the only one who matters in the world, and everyone has to pamper her, indulge her, and coax her... But then again, who told her to be born so well, with such an amazing father, and now such an amazing lover..."
Xiao Zuo interrupted her: "You could have done it too."
"I can't."
"You can!" Xiao Zuo's voice suddenly turned stern. "You are Feng Li's daughter! His understanding of the world gave you an intangible asset from birth, making you luckier than many! Later, you came to the Gong family, and with your intelligence, as a woman, you were second only to the emperor and above a thousand others. You were already living a better life than most. You could have lived a simple life, married a good man, and lived happily ever after, but you didn't. You are greedy, your desires are insatiable, and your evil thoughts are endless... You..."
Feng Qiansu grew angrier as she listened, and before he could finish, she shrieked, "Happiness? What a joke! Marrying, having children, being subservient to your husband, and being a subservient woman is happiness? Give me a break, Xiao Zuo, put away your fallacies. That's just an excuse men created to stifle women's talents! Why can't I become a powerful ruler? I went from a helpless orphan to the chief steward of the richest family in the world, then replaced Gong Feicui, and used the Gong family's wealth to expand my power! I will let everyone know that women can also stand tall in the world, with no one able to resist them!"
"No one can resist?" Xiao Zuo repeated her words softly, a smile suddenly appearing on his lips. "You can't."
You can't do it!
These three words struck Feng Qiansu like a thunderbolt. She staggered back a few steps, her heart, already charred, reigniting.
"You are naturally weak and not suited for martial arts. Even if you are exceptionally intelligent, even if you possess poisons that strike fear into the hearts of all, so what? Not to mention someone like me who is immune to all poisons, even if it were Jade, as long as she wears the Transformation Lock, killing you would be as easy as turning her hand. The martial world is the martial world. In this world, martial arts are the foundation for taking whatever one wants."
Each word struck Feng Qiansu's face like a slap, leaving her unsure whether she felt anger, shame, hatred, or grievance. All she knew was that Xiao Zuo's figure was so terrifying, so indestructible, because he possessed martial arts skills that she lacked... If his martial arts skills weren't so high, how could she have lost so miserably?
So be it, a loss is a loss. Feng Xiansu, you have to be able to accept defeat!
Feng Qiansu took a deep breath and softened her tone, saying, "Fortunately, there is only one person in the world who is immune to all poisons, and there is only one Hualin Lock in the world. People are alive, and I may not be able to do anything about them, but things are inanimate, and it is not difficult to destroy them."
Xiao Zuo's eyes flashed, and he suddenly leaned in and grabbed her wrist: "Do you think you still have a chance?"
Feng Qiansu calmly smiled and said, "Whether there is a chance or not depends on how deep Young Master Xiao's feelings are for Miss."
Xiao Zuo's expression changed drastically: "You... what did you do to the jade?"
"The Transformation Lock can cure poison, but if the poisoned person is unaware that they have been poisoned, they naturally won't use it. Isn't that right, Young Master Xiao?"
Xiao Zuo's expression turned both surprised and anxious.
Feng Qiansu smiled and said, "I used a slow-acting poison, so slow that it is undetectable. I made a bet with Young Master Xiao that I am the only one in the world who can cure this poison. If I die, Miss will be finished too. So, Young Master Xiao had better be polite to me. Now, please let go of my hand."
Xiao Zuo's expression changed, and in the blink of an eye, he released his grip.
Feng Qiansu looked at him and saw that the muscles in his cheeks were tensing and relaxing, clearly indicating that he had been clenching his teeth again and again. A sense of pleasure welled up in her heart, and she deliberately shook her now-free hand, saying in an extremely relaxed voice, "Why is Young Master Xiao so nervous? Perhaps I was just saying it casually to scare you?"
Xiao Zuo stared at her for a long time, then sighed softly and said, "You said it yourself—maybe...maybe it's true? I'd bet my life on it with you, but she...Feng Qiansu, you bet on the right horse."
Feng Qiansu sneered and said, "Now, Young Master Xiao, please answer a few questions for me. When did you begin to suspect me? The bracelet?"
“No,” Xiao Zuo replied, “it was the poem you recited to the little devil—you live at the head of the Yangtze River, I live at the tail of the Yangtze River. The Wind General has an exceptional memory, how could he have recited the wrong line? And I happened to change my itinerary at the last minute and decided to disembark in Hancheng.”
“As expected…” Feng Qiansu frowned. “I know that what I said was inappropriate, but there is no other more suitable solution at the moment.”