Chapter Thirteen: Enlightening with Emotion, Persuading with Reason

After a long day of bustling about the inn, Lu Chenyuan exited through the rear door of the Watching Tide Inn, considering that the generous sum given by Lord Zhou still left him with plenty of silver. He planned to buy another flask of Autumn Dew White at the Taibai Tavern.

Thinking of his master’s satisfied expression after drinking, his steps unconsciously grew lighter.

He had only walked a short distance when he sensed footsteps behind him—subtle, unhurried, shadowing his every move.

A chill seized his heart. He stopped abruptly and turned to look.

Under the lantern’s glow at the street corner stood Shangguan Chuci, clad in moon-white silk, holding a white jade folding fan, smiling at him with a gentle air.

Lu Chenyuan frowned. Ten years roaming the world had taught him to despise being watched without cause.

His expression darkened; he cut straight to the chase, coldly asking, “Why do you follow me?”

He expected excuses or perhaps for her to drop the pursuit altogether.

Yet Shangguan Chuci was not angered; instead, she snapped her fan shut with a crisp sound, tapped it lightly against her palm, and stepped forward, her smile growing even brighter.

“Lu brother, what you said is admirable!”

“Admirable?” he echoed.

Her voice was warm and amused. “They say, in the world of wanderers, those who treat you with courtesy are guests; those who speak without pretense are true friends.”

She paused, seeing Lu Chenyuan’s confusion, and her smile deepened.

“You risked your life to save me, and now you address me so frankly. It shows you no longer see me as an outsider.”

She gently waved her fan and declared with perfect confidence, “Since we’re confidants, it’s not a matter of me ‘following’ you, but rather, we ‘travel together.’”

“Lu brother, you see, changing the wording makes all the difference in meaning, doesn’t it?”

Her words were dazzling, spun with their own peculiar logic.

Lu Chenyuan was left speechless, his initial impatience transformed into a helpless amusement by her deft reasoning.

He opened his mouth, unable to find a retort, and took a deep breath, letting his gaze sweep past her.

He asked, “Young Lord Chuci, you say we travel together, but you’ve left your four guards behind to walk with me, a mere inn servant you’ve met twice. I don’t understand your reasoning.”

This caught a flaw in her argument, and he felt a small victory.

But Shangguan Chuci showed no embarrassment. Instead, she smiled even more radiantly, her bright eyes almost speaking in the night.

“With Lu brother beside me, no army could make the night in Zhenhai safer.”

She tilted her head, regarding him with surprise.

“Unless… Lu brother thinks he cannot protect me?”

“I…” Lu Chenyuan was at a loss for words, when suddenly a muffled cry sounded from ahead.

They turned toward the source, and saw not far ahead, a figure stumbling out of a pharmacy—his face swollen and bruised, his eye sockets ringed with black, limping badly.

Though his clothes were luxurious, his face was so swollen it resembled a pig’s head, his mouth bulging comically.

Lu Chenyuan stared, shaken. This was none other than Zhao Chengde, the young lord of Pingyang Marquis’ household, who had acted so arrogantly the day before!

Zhao Chengde only wanted to find somewhere quiet to hide. Looking up, he met Lu Chenyuan’s astonished gaze and froze.

His eyes shifted, and upon seeing the white-robed gentleman with a folding fan and a smiling face beside Lu Chenyuan, his already miserable face turned pale as paper.

He looked as if he’d seen a ghost, horror etched in his eyes at the sight of two bringers of doom.

Ignoring his pain, he cried out and tried to flee.

“Young Lord, why such haste?” came a soft laugh.

Shangguan Chuci’s figure blurred, seeming to stroll, yet she silently blocked Zhao Chengde’s path like drifting cloud.

Zhao Chengde’s legs went weak, almost collapsing, stammering so badly he couldn’t form a sentence: “Chu… Young Lord Chu… I…”

Lu Chenyuan watched, more and more astonished.

He looked at Zhao Chengde’s shocking injuries, then at Shangguan Chuci’s serene composure, and a difficult realization dawned in his mind.

Shangguan Chuci, seemingly unaware of Lu Chenyuan’s thoughts, turned and smiled at him, gently saying, “Lu brother, what a coincidence.”

She pointed her fan toward the trembling Zhao Chengde and spoke slowly: “Last night, seeing you leave in anger, I thought over it and decided the young lord’s actions were indeed excessive.”

“So I took some time, invited him onto my boat for tea, and had a sincere, heartfelt conversation.”

The words “sincere, heartfelt conversation” sounded to Lu Chenyuan, seeing Zhao Chengde’s almost tearful face, like the height of irony.

“Fortunately,” Shangguan Chuci continued, “the young lord is reasonable. After our exchange, he was deeply remorseful for his rashness yesterday.”

“So today, I thickened my skin to act as a mediator, hoping the young lord might apologize to you, and the matter may be put to rest. What do you think?”

Looking at Zhao Chengde’s tragic state, Lu Chenyuan felt the anger from yesterday’s humiliation had vanished, leaving only disbelief.

“No need,” he said.

No sooner had he spoken than Shangguan Chuci’s gentle gaze landed on Zhao Chengde.

Zhao Chengde shuddered, not daring to utter a single word of refusal.

He feared that any hesitation would subject him to another round of last night’s torturous “sincere conversation.”

Too anxious for dignity, he pleaded with Lu Chenyuan, voice trembling: “Yes, yes! Lu brother—no, Lu elder brother! Yesterday I failed to recognize your greatness and offended you. Please, be magnanimous and don’t hold it against me!”

The heartfelt “Lu elder brother” struck Lu Chenyuan more forcefully than any ridicule.

Shangguan Chuci nodded with satisfaction, then turned to Lu Chenyuan with a smile: “Lu brother, is your anger soothed? If not—”

“Enough,” Lu Chenyuan quickly interrupted, unable to bear seeing the young lord’s comical misery any longer.

He understood Shangguan Chuci was standing up for him, settling yesterday’s debt of gratitude.

Shangguan Chuci nodded in approval, lightly waving her white jade fan inscribed with ‘Justice for All,’ as if she had accomplished something wonderful.

“Since Lu brother finds the young lord’s apology sincere, I’ll say no more. But the young lord must remember, whenever he sees Lu brother, he must address him as ‘Lu elder brother.’”

Zhao Chengde, as if granted amnesty, hurriedly promised, casting a grateful glance at Lu Chenyuan, bowing deeply, and then fled, stumbling and crawling around the corner.

His retreat was truly the epitome of disgrace.

Lu Chenyuan stood in stunned silence.

He looked at the white-robed gentleman at his side, and his astonishment had turned into deep wariness.

Such ruthless tactics, such deep calculation—remarkable!

With a few casual gestures, she had made the marquis’ heir submit. What powers must she have backing her?

Moreover, the method she used to intercept the young lord proved she was not only a cultivator, but an exceptional one.

He recalled how yesterday he’d felt a charitable impulse toward her in a humble alley, and now realized how naive that had been.

Shangguan Chuci saw his changing expression but did not mention it, only smiling: “Come, Lu brother. Weren’t you going to buy wine for your master?”

This time she didn’t speak of confidants, but deliberately made the word “master” sound meaningful.

Lu Chenyuan came to himself, gave her a deep look, said nothing more, and silently headed toward Taibai Tavern.