My Senior Sister Says She Will Marry No One But Me - Chapter 39

The footsteps were hurried and chaotic, as if made by someone with clumsy martial arts skills. Yet, the only person upstairs was Xue Shuyan, who was reviewing the account books, how could the footsteps possibly be hers?

No sooner had Du Yunge thought this than Xue Shuyan appeared at the top of the staircase, startling Du Yunge immensely.

If not for the fact that Xue Shuyan had regained her composure by the time she descended, her footsteps as light and silent as treading on snow as usual, Du Yunge would have almost believed those earlier footsteps were a warning signal triggered by a sudden ambush.

When Xue Shuyan appeared at the staircase, it wasn’t just Du Yunge who was startled, the girls of Tian Zaishui were equally taken aback. However, while Du Yunge was merely surprised by Xue Shuyan’s sudden appearance, the other girls were genuinely intimidated by her icy expression. They silently marveled at how Xue Shiyan truly lived up to her reputation stoic and unsmiling while inwardly admiring their sect leader, who remained unfazed in the face of such coldness.

Unaware that her standing among the surrounding girls had just risen another notch, Du Yunge felt reassured the moment she saw Xue Shuyan. She desperately signaled with her eyes for her senior sister to come over, lamenting her own lack of skill and shallow internal energy that prevented her from using voice transmission:

Senior sister, come quickly and back me up! This person is seriously suspicious!

As if sharing a telepathic bond and hearing her silent plea, Xue Shuyan strode over without a word, positioning herself beside Du Yunge with arms crossed, exuding an aura of “one guarding the pass, ten thousand cannot breach it.” Yet, the Qinhuai courtesan in red, her raven-black hair styled in a chaoyunjinxiang bun, seemed completely unaffected by this imposing presence truly a case of skill breeding boldness. She continued to smile playfully at Du Yunge and asked:

“What’s wrong, Sect Leader? Do you not like my name?”

Du Yunge instinctively shifted closer to Xue Shuyan and murmured, “That’s not it…”

“I was thinking that if the Sect Leader dislikes my name, I’d change it right away.” Qin Shanshan hid half her face behind the pipa, evoking the image of a beauty “half-hidden behind the instrument,” and cast a flirtatious glance at Du Yunge:

“So, does the Sect Leader like it?”

The myriad charms she exuded in that moment starkly contrasted with her plain, almost bland features, further fueling Du Yunge’s suspicion:

Has this person disguised her appearance?

True beauty lies in the bones, not the skin. Just as in Du Yunge’s previous life, even when she had fallen into destitution, He Zhenzhen had hurled every insult imaginable at her but never once criticized her looks. And now, this Qinhuai courtesan standing before her, pipa in hand and smiling, possessed strikingly captivating, amorous eyes paired with hair so beautiful it seemed almost unreal creating a subtle sense of dissonance.

That single glance seemed to shimmer with the seductive allure of the golden-dusted Qinhuai River, nearly causing Du Yunge to break out in a cold sweat. There was no particular reason, it was just that in Du Yunge’s extremely short life, spanning two lifetimes that together hadn’t even reached fifty years, she had never encountered anyone besides He Zhenzhen who could, how to put it? Infuse a simple glance with such inexplicable flirtation, as if whispering intimately in one’s ear, “I want to sleep with you.”

After objectively comparing Qin Shanshan and He Zhenzhen in her mind, Du Yunge was horrified to realize that when it came to the art of seduction, the person before her seemed even more skilled?!

In a flash, a terrifying thought silently surfaced in her heart:

Could this person be He Zhenzhen in disguise?

Once the seed of suspicion took root, it was difficult to uproot. With this preconceived notion in place, Du Yunge suddenly felt that every aspect of this courtesan named Qin Shanshan was suspicious. Glancing around, she noticed with alarm that all the women of Tian Zaishui were staring intently at this bold or perhaps reckless courtesan, ready at Du Yunge’s command to toss her and her pipa out the door.

Before she could speak, Xue Shuyan let out a heavy, cold snort beside her, then pushed open her scabbard with her thumb, producing a sharp metallic clang. For a moment, it was hard to tell whether the sound of the Yanling Blade was colder or Xue Shuyan’s voice:

“How dare you be so insolent!”

Before confirming whether this courtesan was indeed He Zhenzhen, Du Yunge neither wanted to take a life rashly nor alert a potential enemy. To save the life of this still-suspicious courtesan, she quickly responded to Qin Shanshan’s earlier question, easing the tense, explosive atmosphere:

“I wouldn’t say I like it, but I wouldn’t say I dislike it either.”

“Since it’s a name given by your elders, why change it arbitrarily based on outsiders’ opinions? You should keep your original name.”

Du Yunge felt she had successfully eased the tension and had done her utmost to spare this dubious courtesan’s life. If she were truly just an ordinary person, she shouldn’t have to suffer an unjust fate or spill blood at Tian Zaishui just for singing a song. However, in this world, there were indeed those with extraordinary courage people who could withstand Xue Shuyan’s deathly glare and still persist with their flirtatious schemes. Just like this courtesan, who held her pipa and gazed at Du Yunge with a smile:

“But in my heart, the Sect Master is no outsider at all.”

“Ah, seeing is truly believing. The Sect Master is exactly as rumored.”

She gently plucked the pipa a few times, and amidst the crisp, melodious notes, the Qinhuai courtesan, dressed in fiery red and exuding endless charm in every movement, smiled as she gazed at the enchanting leader of the Miaoyin Sect. She couldn’t help but feel that this delicate beauty, so meticulously protected by Xue Shuyan, was like a vibrant and fragrant flower guarded by a fierce, brilliantly patterned tiger truly a sight to behold. If there were anyone in the world unmoved by such unparalleled beauty, they must surely be lacking in sensibility:

“Even the heartless would be stirred.”

Du Yunge: That’s not me! It’s not! I didn’t! Where did you all pick up these strange stories and hear such absurd rumors?!

Just then, a soft chuckle drifted in from outside the door:

“Heh.”

Du Yunge was all too familiar with that laugh. The moment she heard it, every hair on her body stood on end, and she nearly felt her soul flee her body. Instinctively, she grabbed hold of Xue Shuyan’s sleeve. Only then did the voice leisurely follow up with the rest of the sentence, a testament to how swiftly Du Yunge had reacted something that, in turn, lifted Xue Shuyan’s spirits ever so slightly:

“I never expected to see Sect Leader Du here. You truly have a refined taste for leisure.”

This was the real He Zhenzhen!

At this point, Du Yunge had no desire to turn her head or listen to any more music. With Xue Shuyan by her side, she felt a surge of confidence. The fresh resentment over the former Qinhuai branch leader’s collusion with the He Manor, combined with the old hatred of having lost her life to He Zhenzhen in a past life, ignited a murderous intent so fierce it seemed to blot out the sky:

If she were to silence He Zhenzhen here and now. Given the level of trust the Tian Zaishui girls had in her, sealing off the news would be no trouble at all. With He Zhenzhen dead, the He Manor, which had risen from humble origins, would lose its venomous leader. What strength could a ragtag group of misfits possibly muster? Why not wipe out the He Manor altogether and avenge her senior sister Xue from their past life?

But the thought only flickered through her mind before being buried deep within her heart, for she knew full well that now was not the right time for such actions.

When navigating the martial world, the most important principle was “righteousness.” Years ago, during the chaos of the Five Barbarians’ invasion, the entire martial arts community set aside their sectarian differences to unite against the enemy, all for the greater righteousness of the nation. The founding leader of the Miaoyin Sect, Du Baoqin, vowed to stand up for all women, driven by the righteousness inherent in humanity. Her mother, the former leader of the Miaoyin Sect, once pursued a shipment of Crimson Cloud Brocade which later became her wedding dress for three hundred li through the night, all to uphold the moral duty of maintaining the Miaoyin Sect’s longstanding alliance with the imperial court.

Since the He Manor had not yet openly broken with the Miaoyin Sect, Du Yunge could not, for the sake of preserving the sect’s hard-earned reputation over generations and avoiding the stigma of “acting without righteousness,” resort to such reckless and treacherous methods driven solely by momentary rage.

Moreover, taking advantage of someone when they are isolated and vulnerable, leveraging the advantages of one’s own territory to bully the weak, how is that any different from the despicable behavior of someone like He Zhenzhen? If Du Yunge truly intended to sever ties, she would first need to clarify why the secret poison of the He Family Manor had appeared here. Once she presented these ironclad pieces of evidence to the He Family Manor, making it impossible for them to talk their way out of it even with the most eloquent excuses, even if Du Yunge ordered Xue Shuyan to unleash a bloodbath on the spot, outsiders would likely have little to say. At most, they might ambiguously praise the contemporary Miaoyin Sect for its ruthless efficiency.

He Zhenzhen remained completely unaware that she and her attendants had just narrowly escaped death, their heads barely spared by sheer luck. At first, she hadn’t even noticed Qin Shanshan and was still politely exchanging pleasantries with Du Yunge:

“A guest from afar, I wonder if the Sect Leader would be willing to offer me a cup of wine?”

Xue Shuyan abruptly stepped forward and said coldly:

“Tian Zaishui will not be receiving outsiders these days. Please make yourself at ease, Manor Lord He.”

In all of the Central Plains martial world, aside from leaders like the Emei Sect’s chief, He Zhenzhen only felt wary of Xue Shuyan among the younger generation. If Du Yunge had been the one to say “no reception,” He Zhenzhen might have shamelessly lingered a while longer after all, it was well-known in the martial world that Du Yunge was beautiful and kind-hearted, or, to put it bluntly, a bit naive. But if Xue Shuyan said it, she didn’t dare to joke or brush it off and could only prepare to leave in disappointment.

As luck would have it, when Xue Shuyan stepped forward, she inadvertently revealed Qin Shanshan, who had been facing Du Yunge. Just as He Zhenzhen was about to say something more, her gaze shifted and landed on the newly crowned courtesan of Qinhuai, still holding her pipa. Both women were dressed in fiery red robes and were not particularly attractive Qin Shanshan might have been disguised, so that is set aside for now but their eyes alone exuded a captivating charm.

As the saying goes, it’s not embarrassing to wear the same outfit; what’s embarrassing is being the one who looks worse in it. The two stared at each other, the atmosphere suddenly thick with tension, one could almost hear a clang if someone tapped the air between them with a chopstick.

Xue Shuyan’s move was almost too perfectly timed, so much so that one couldn’t help but suspect she had deliberately redirected the trouble.

In the end, it was He Zhenzhen who broke the awkward silence. Her voice lacking its usual confidence, she forced a smile and asked Du Yunge:

“Sect Leader Du is this one of your Miaoyin Sect members?”

Du Yunge silently apologized to Qin Shanshan with genuine sincerity:

I’m sorry, I really wronged you earlier. You’re still much more likable than someone like He Zhenzhen. To have mistaken you for her earlier was a grave misjudgment.

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