Chapter 4: A Proposal of Marriage

The vast residence was covered in white snow, gloomy and cold, not a third person to be found.

Yet the bedroom was spotless, without a speck of dust. Even the table was free of a single layer of dust. Looking at Anu again, with her otherworldly aura, she didn’t seem at all like someone who diligently cleaned every day.

Everything was shrouded in an eerie feeling.

Shen Sheng hugged the clothes tossed to her, a blush rising on her face. She glanced left and right, then decisively went behind the screen to change.

The two changed their clothes separately. Anu sat on the couch, drinking tea. Steam rose from the tea broth, as if it had just been freshly brewed.

“Where did you get this tea?” Shen Sheng was astonished, turning her head to look around. Still, no one was there.

Anu had changed into a white robe, wrapped in a white cloak, her bearing imposing and majestic, like a white lotus flower meant only for distant admiration, not to be trifled with up close.

Anu didn’t respond. She set down the teacup, her fair fingertip red from the scalding tea. Yet she seemed not to notice it, while it was Shen Sheng who felt a sharp pain in her own fingertip.

How strange.

Leaving the residence, Anu headed towards the Song residence. Shen Sheng followed hopefully: “What are we doing at the Song residence? Shouldn’t we be looking at the crime scene at the inn?”

“Since you already know Song Changyu is framing you, what else is there to see?” Anu mocked her coldly. “You should be looking into who Song Changyu has been associating with, and investigating his motive for killing his own daughter to frame you.”

Shen Sheng understood only partially. She asked: “Is Song Changyu acting on orders from some high official in the Imperial Capital?”

Song Changyu was just an ordinary merchant, deeply rooted in this place for years. Meeting her for the first time, there was absolutely no deep-seated hatred between them.

Even if there were some deep grudge, he shouldn’t have killed his own daughter to frame her.

Harming the enemy by eight hundred while losing a thousand of your own—what a foolish mind.

Anu spoke not another word. Her cold demeanor was like a different person from the passionate woman who had clung to her the previous night.

Shen Sheng was puzzled and frowning.

Reaching the Song residence, Anu avoided the main gate and went around to the base of the wall by the back door, staring blankly at the white wall before her.

Seeing this, Shen Sheng said: “I’ll take you in.”

With that, she gallantly seized Anu’s hand and leaped up. Using her feet against the wall as if climbing stairs, she pulled Anu over it. They landed steadily on the inner side of the wall.

She raised an eyebrow, extremely proud of herself. Anu, however, simply pulled her hand back coolly and took out a handkerchief to wipe her own fingers.

Shen Sheng: “…”

“You should take a bath. Last night… I touched your whole body all over.” She was furious.

Anu’s expression remained unchanged, but her ears, concealed by the cloak, quietly reddened. She swept a glance at Shen Sheng and mocked: “If you applied the same ability you use to bully me to investigating this case, you would have cleared your name long ago.”

Shen Sheng was once again at a loss for words. She knew nothing about investigating cases—she only knew how to fight wars.

“Anu,” she sighed. “If the two of us were together, we could complement each other.”

Anu turned to face her. “Complement what? Use my cleverness to supplement your pig brain?”

Shen Sheng squinted as a gust of wind hit her. Her usually well-behaved wisps of hair on her forehead stood up rebelliously, getting in her way. She frantically tried to press them down, but to no avail—those stray wisps danced along with the cold wind, refusing to obey her. This annoyed her greatly, but Anu merely raised the corner of her lips slightly and continued walking forward.

Shen Sheng followed closely.

The Song Family was wealthy. Many exotic flowers and rare plants were cultivated in the estate, with carved beams and painted rafters that dazzled the eyes.

The deeper they went, the more apparent the Song Family’s wealth became. Shen Sheng still couldn’t understand what the Song Family’s true intent was.

Dodging the servants of the Song household, the two made their way to a certain courtyard. Looking up, the plaque above read “Azure Wind Study”. From the name, it seemed like it might be Song Changyu’s courtyard.

There were guards at the gate. Shen Sheng picked up a stone and threw it into the distance. One of the two guards went to investigate.

One remained.

Seeing this, Anu snapped off a tree branch and, with a ‘crack’, threw it towards the remaining guard. Then, she pushed Shen Sheng aside and ran away first—her figure was surprisingly light and swift.

Both guards were gone. Shen Sheng scaled the wall and snuck into the house.

She had just entered when Anu returned. Her profile was cold and aloof, her eyes like autumn water.

The two guards outside soon returned. Their first action was to open the door and check the room. Finding no one, they slowly retreated.

The two, hiding on the crossbeam, swiftly dropped to the ground. Shen Sheng hurriedly rummaged through the books and objects on the table while Anu tapped along the walls methodically.

Suddenly, there was noise outside. The two exchanged glances. Shen Sheng instinctively grabbed Anu’s wrist and pulled her back up onto the crossbeam.

Just as they were concealed, the door opened. Song Changyu led a young woman inside.

The woman was no more than seventeen or eighteen, with delicate features and charming brows. Shen Sheng knew without needing her brain what would happen next. She was about to take a look when a pair of warm hands covered her eyes.

Shen Sheng: “…”

Last night, indulgent and unrestrained; today, prudish and conservative. Which side was the real one?

Her eyes were covered, but the sounds still entered her ears. Shen Sheng felt her ears burn as she listened.

Suddenly, all sound vanished. It was utterly silent, as if all four senses were empty.

Shen Sheng assumed the two below had finished. She brushed away Anu’s hands and looked down. Her eyes immediately stung at the sight, and she quickly shut them again. Just then, the door was slammed open.

Madam Song stormed in. The two hurriedly grabbed for their clothes. Madam Song rushed forward and seized the young woman, immediately slapping her across the face.

The crisp, clear sound made Shen Sheng’s heart jump in fright. Anu, however, remarked: “You, as the official wife, could also go and hit her.”

“Official wife?” Shen Sheng was baffled. Then she thought about it and remembered that she herself had once had a fiancé, and that fiancé, after canceling the engagement, had married a princess.

She thought for a moment and explained: “We already dissolved the engagement.”

“Is that so? Wasn’t it he who broke off the engagement?” Anu added coolly.

Shen Sheng’s head ached with anger. Fortunately, the commotion below was lively. Song Changyu had people drag Madam Song away, and the room instantly fell quiet.

Song Changyu murmured comforting words to the beauty, his manner flippant. The two on the beam looked at each other. Shen Sheng didn’t want to listen further and asked Anu: “How do you know about my broken engagement?”

The Shen Family held significant weight in the court. The Five Tigers of the Shen family made even Northern Liang tremble with fear. The Zhou Family had proposed marriage for their eldest son, seeking the hand of the Shen Family’s youngest daughter. The Emperor himself had bestowed the marriage, causing a sensation throughout the court.

At the time of the engagement, Shen Sheng was only seven or eight years old. The other party wasn’t some high-ranking Chancellor back then, just a regular third-rank official.

After the engagement, the Zhou Family rose rapidly in status thanks to the Shen Family’s reputation and prestige, climbing all the way to the position of Chancellor.

Unfortunately, the Five Tigers of the Shen family died in battle, leaving only orphans and widows in the vast mansion. The Zhou Family wanted to annul the engagement, but Mother Shen refused. Soon after, rumors spread that Shen Sheng’s fate brought death to her father and brothers. The Zhou family used this as grounds to break the engagement.

Mother Shen was so angry she fainted. Shen Sheng, in a fit of fury, rushed to the border and hadn’t returned for three years.

Shen Sheng had long forgotten what the Zhou Family’s son looked like. He was said to be elegant and refined, but in truth, he was weak and frail. When they were young, the Zhou family told her to study more and do more needlework, wanting a virtuous wife.

But the thing Shen Sheng hated most was precisely those words. She had beaten the Zhou Family son multiple times for it. After the engagement was broken, she actually felt relieved.

Anu didn’t answer her question. Instead, Song Changyu opened the door and sent his little lover away. Then, he himself left.

Confirming the people were far away, the two leaped down. Anu walked to one side of the wall and stopped. “There’s a secret room. Find the mechanism.”

Before Shen Sheng could respond, Anu walked to the desk, shifted the brush holder, and the section of the wall began to move.

Shen Sheng: “…” This might as well be your house.

“You go inside. I’ll keep watch out here.” Shen Sheng took the initiative, moving to the door and peering out cautiously.

Anu didn’t refuse. She slipped into the secret chamber.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she emerged. The secret chamber was closed again, and they left the way they came.

Exiting the Song residence, the two stood in the snow, one in white, one in red—the colors strikingly vivid.

Anu walked towards the yamen. Shen Sheng followed closely behind. “Did you find anything?”

“Let’s go examine Song Ling’s body,” Anu finally deigned to answer once more.

The two hurried to the county yamen. Following the same unconventional route, they scaled the wall to get in.

Anu navigated the place as if it were her own home, walking directly to where the body was kept.

Naturally, there were people guarding the entrance. Anu looked at Shen Sheng. “Create a diversion.”

“Got it.” Shen Sheng waved her hand, once again throwing a stone. She leaped into a treetop, drawing the attention of the guards.

Anu quietly entered the room. Song Ling’s body was covered by a white cloth. Pulling back the cloth revealed that Song Ling’s body was intact—no autopsy had been performed.

Clearly, the small incense burner hadn’t drawn their attention.

She drew a dagger and slowly, methodically, began to dissect the body.

Her movements were swift, cut after cut, performed with extreme speed.

Outside, Shen Sheng ran out of the yamen in one breath, crouching in the snow to catch her wind. Afraid of being followed, she immediately scooped up a pile of snow and covered herself with it.

Snow on the outside, a person on the inside. The yamen runners ran right past her.

Anu strolled out of the yamen. Passing the ‘snowman’, she tapped the ‘snowman’s’ head. “The knife wound on Song Ling was made by a Northern Liang military saber.”

“You mean the Song Family is colluding with Northern Liang?” Shen Sheng stood up, wiping the snow from her face. “Pah, pah,” she spat out the snow from her mouth, her whole body shivering uncontrollably from the cold.

Anu stood with her hands behind her back and smiled slightly—cold, bright, and beautiful. “This point alone is enough to clear your name, but the county yamen might not let you get away so easily.”

“What do you mean?” Shen Sheng paused her dusting motions. “Are you saying the county yamen is colluding with Northern Liang?”

“Truly stupid.” Anu sighed, a rare trace of pity showing in her eyes. She took the letter from the Song residence’s secret chamber and tossed it to Shen Sheng. “Go to the yamen for a walk, and you’ll understand.”

Shen Sheng caught it. Opening it, she saw it was written in Northern Liang script. She could read Northern Liang characters and skimmed it briefly.

Song Changyu was a spy planted here by Northern Liang.

She said in surprise: “With this, the Song Family itself is suspect. You can testify for me—I never entered the bridal chamber last night.”

Anu cut her off: “Why should I testify for you? What are you to me?”

“I… I can give you money.” Shen Sheng, her brain running hot, blurted it out.

Anu ignored her, walking in the direction opposite the yamen, sneering coldly.

“Anu… Anu… I can marry you.” Shen Sheng jumped as she chased after her. “I can give you betrothal gifts, a dowry, I can take care of everything.”

Shen Sheng was so anxious she was at her wit’s end. Anu walked slowly with her hands behind her back, taking in the beautiful winter snow scenery.

“Anu… Anu… The children of my Shen Family choose a partner once, and for life. I will be good to you.”

Anu stopped, scrutinizing the frivolous, spouting girl before her: “You’ve already chosen your partner once.”